Gary Gauger

[Cindy M]

Monday I'm meeting with Gary Gauger, drummer on There Is A Breeze. Any one have any questions about the recording? He has a wonderful story about Leo Kottke on In Your Eyes. I'll write it down this time and share it.

[Rizzuto]

How did the meeting with Gary go, Cindy?

[Cindy M]

How did the meeting with Gary go, Cindy?

Thanks for asking! 2-1/2 hours. He mostly told me about his RIMS invention and the marketing (https://www.gaugerpercussion.com) which was very interesting. Michael's former agent, Keith Christianson, was also involved.

The story about Leo Kottke was when Chris Dedrick, Michael and Gary, among others were recording Breeze in Toronto. MJ told Gary that one of the songs (Rooty Toot Toot) was written by a neighbor (Greg Brown), and another (There is a Breeze) was written by a neighbor (Mark Henley), and another neighbor was going to stop by and play guitar on In Your Eyes. Gary asked him, what kind of neighborhood do you live in, some kind of cult?  Ha. So Leo Kottke comes by - he was unknown nationally in those days; Gary did not know who he was but ended up living near him in Minnesota and ran into him often, like at the auto mechanic, their kids' schools. 

So they did it in 2 or 3 takes that day, the Leo had to take off. Leo blew them away of course. Crow (Amy) Johnson wrote the song and was MJ's sister-in-law. If you've heard MJ's demos I've put up on YouTube, you'll know it had been a slower tempo. 

Crow recently posted on Facebook: I loved the way Michael and Leo played. Michael called me after they had recorded my tune "In your eyes". "Crow, I think we turned your song into a barn dance!" I loved it. A mixture of dreams and philosophy-- honesty and hope.

Since my memory was mush, I recorded the meeting on my iPhone, not a great recording, but I'll listen to it soon and pull out any stories about the Breeze recording, if there were any more.

[Cindy M]

I'm picking up the conversions today!