Nothing Is Real

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Strawberry Fields forever.

John Lennon was not my favorite Beatle. He was a little scary, when I was a kid. Later I found a lot of his music abrasive. Of course he was an immense talent and created many beautiful, permanent songs. He also sang a lot of shit, and I never got the Yoko thing.

 
Still, no one can argue against John Lennon being the most interesting Beatle. Outspoken, rebellious, edgy, experimental. He fought the law, the law won, but John scored on appeal.

 
This drawing was produced on drugs. I admit it. Oral surgery painkillers. Turned out pretty well; maybe there's something to it. John seemed to like them very much. But I wouldn't like to try it again. I was awake for three days and had a headache for four.

The other new and interesting thing about this drawing, for all of the boredom aficionados out there, is the technique. A lot of this was drawn with the side of the pencil tip, particularly the shading. But in the end I didn't like the results -- too fuzzy -- so I went over it again with the pencil tip, to sharpen things up.

 
I, too am feeling more sharp. It was an ordeal but I like the results. This is a big one, like Lennon's mouth.
To tell the truth, my favorite Beatle was George.

John Lennon "Nothing is Real"
Pencil, 3' x 5'
This illustration is for sale.
Inquiries to hankbonesman@embarqmail.com

The Last Sexy Bullet

Tom,

I just read your info on the Erie Lackawanna 833.
My father JP Seifarth was the last engineer on that Youngstown to Cleveland run.
He passed away in 1993 at 75 years old, 45 years on the railroad, WWII vet, Combat Engineers.
Very proud of my father and mother, who sold War Bonds during the war.
I rode with him several times to Cleveland up in that E8 Diesel.
Thanks you for your site, it put a big smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart.

John P. Seifarth II

Everybody loves a happy ending.

This 47th birthday gift to my brother was a little late. Erie Lackawanna 833, however, was usually on time.We used to watch this gorgeous gray, maroon and yellow bullet pull into downtown Warren, taking businessmen to and from Youngstown and Cleveland.

Erie Lackawanna 833, March 2011, 3' x 4'
Click on photos to view larger. 

"6:50 was the stop time in Warren, where the tracks are no longer there," brother Gerry says.
It was my father's ritual, getting little bro and I out of the house after supper -- and giving the parents a break from each other, I think.

A sexy bullet

The train station used to be off of Youngstown Road and Pine Avenue. There were two tracks and a parking lot that let you get dangerously close to the trains, which would occasionally sway.
We'd come home from these excursions covered with rust and railroad grease from exploring on the tracks, while we listened for the arriving diesel locomotive's horn off in the distance. Pennies we'd put on the rails would be flattened and we'd fetch them after the passenger train pulled away. Our father would stay in the car, reading the paper -- and then he'd put the paper in the foot wells so that we kids didn't mess up the Ford's carpeting.

Two views of Erie Lackawanna 833 and the sketch in progress.

Once or twice we rode this bullet with my dad and grandfather. It was strictly a guy thing. I remember  the passenger cars were like a charter bus on the inside, with high-backed seats and little towels on the headrests.  It was noisy and bumpy and epic badass bitchin' cool.
My brother loved this train. He amassed dozens of sound recordings of its passages, and took many photographs. He has HO scale electric trains that he's hand-painted in Erie Lackawanna colors.

Between Youngstown and Cleveland

Our mother Linda could not escape the rail fans living in her house. She did a large oil painting that hangs over Gerry's fireplace in Michigan. He was still in high school when she died. It was her special gift to him and is the most beautiful of her several dozen paintings, in my opinion.

My mother's gorgeous painting.

The 833 herself was a General Motors Electro-Motive Division E8, built in 1951. After Erie LackofMoney railroad got absorbed into Conrail, her beautiful stripes were painted over with a bland blue and white scheme.
According to American Rails Forums, 833 was the last E8 delivered to Erie and is the last surviving original Erie E8.
Conrail acquired No. 833 in 1976 when it absorbed Erie Lackawanna. It remained in use as a commuter train between Cleveland and Youngstown before that service was discontinued.

Happy birthday, my mother's other son.

After the Conrail takeover, there was one more active passenger equipped E-unit, No. 825, and she too would run between Youngstown and Cleveland.  When the units were re-numbered it became CR  4014 and, incidentally, pulled the last Cleveland-Youngstown commuter run into Youngstown.
Here's a sad picture of her sister 825 (4014) at the end: http://www.trainweb.org/randysrr/cr/engines/cr4014_2.html

End of the line.

For 825, there was no respect for what had been a showpiece locomotive for so many years.
The 833, meanwhile, moved west for use on Conrail commuter trains between Chicago and Valparaiso, Ind.
After Conrail got out of the passenger business, it scrapped most of its passenger units. The 833 was the only one spared, and became its business unit. The 833 was numbered 4022.
Gerry says: "Interestingly, this engine lived on to be the Conrail inspection train unit 4022, and with Conrail gone, went to Norfolk Southern, were it was sold to a museum and is restored. Of the several E8 units saved from this era, Erie 833 is in the best shape, and operable."

Our girl today.

The New York and Greenwood Lake Railway acquired the unit in 2007, christening the refurbished Erie E8A No. 833 from Conrail 4022. The original NYGL became part of Erie Railroad in 1943 while the modern operation can be found on the former Erie Railroad Dundee Spur in Passaic, NJ.
The respect for 833 has come full circle and it feels right.

Here she is at work, still beautiful. The whistle and bell sound just like I remember: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684_O02iRbY
Also here: http://www.rail-videos.net/video/view.php?id=7681

Oh brother!

The Grass Was Greener

Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
In a world of magnets and miracles ...
The grass was greener
The light was brighter.

"High Hopes." David Gilmour/Pink Floyd Music Limited

I recently rescued about 100 family memories from oblivion. Four generations on my side of the family had become dried out, disintegrated, flood-damaged, faded and curled. I was 12 the first time I cut and framed these, on a Sunday in the living room of my grandparents' home. I'm 56 now.

For nearly four decades these photos, mostly old Polaroids, were protected to some extent inside ratty, ugly, unstable frames left over from my mother's painting days. They were too ugly to hang and were relegated to out of the way spaces, closets and until recently, the recesses of the basement. I felt guilty.

Most of these photos were taken by by grandfather, L.I. Wills, or my great-uncle, Paul Richel. They had big-bulbed Polaroid and Kodak cameras and I remember how annoying holidays would become -- all those flashes taking away from better things kids had to do.

Live and learn.

Click on photo to enlarge. Click again for greater magnification.

Here you can see Uncle Paul in the upper left, holding my dad, Thomas L., my grandparents' only son. The chubby kid to the right is my dad. Slightly under that picture is Dad holding me. The folks in the middle are my grandparents, Lorrain and Kathryn. There's a shot of me with grandpa next to that. Dad's Warren G. Harding High School graduation photo is in the center. The picture too faded to see is my grandmother, her two sisters, her mother and stepdad.

The sepia toned woman in the fluffy outfits is Grandma's mother. I do not know her first name but her last name was Kimball. She's holding Grandma in the one to the far right.  Under her is a snapshot of my brother Gerry. My parents' wedding photo is in there. The dapper dudes at the bottom are my grandfather, my grandmother's stepfather Gerry Gibbons (from England!) holding me, and Dad. The photo at bottom left is from my grandfather's retirement bash at Chateau Restaurant, Warren, Ohio. He was paymaster at Republic Steel for decades, when they did it all by hand. I did not inherit his math skills.

Click on photo to enlarge. Click again for greater magnification.

The sepia toned dumplings here are Grandma and her sister Evelyn (Richel), top, and her sister Lillian (Kean), center left. Evelyn and Kathryn are being held by their dad, center. Again, I do not know Mr. Kimball's first name. Next to them are junior high shots of Tom'n'Gerry. There's a photo of my drummer Dad in his Harding band uniform. There's a picture, top left, of Dad's cat George. Strange I can remember that. Upper right are the brothers Wills with mom Linda, and Dad. 

Click on photo to enlarge. Click again for greater magnification.

Lots of dapper shots here of Grandpa, Uncle Paul, Dad. Baby pictures of yours truly. Dad in his Army uniform. A picture of brother Gerry and I playing in the Gibbons' goldfish pond. Mom seated with her sons. Mom and Dad seated at the same fireplace at Grandma's house.

There's a picture of me with one of those Playskool bubble mowers. God I hate to mow. There's a shot of Mom and Grandma with me riding a toy fire truck. God I love fire trucks.

I had a wonderful childhood, fabulously cool parents, amazing grandparents and wonderful aunts and uncles.

The point of this occasionally teary exercise is to make sure none of their names and events are lost with me.

I admit to calling Dad to name-check a few folks.
My grandmother's parents names were Milton and Laura Kimball.
Grandma's stepfather was Gerald Gibbons, so she became Laura Gibbons
My grandfather's folks were Earl and Bessie Wills.

Now you know. Now I know.

Turn on the juice, cut the damned thing loose

Tom Wills with "Join Together," April 2011

I have been immersed in music since the age of 4, when I mastered the skill of putting a record on a turntable and laying down the tonearm. The singers, musicians and songwriters became my heroes and have inspired a lot of my drawing and painting. Here are some of my favorites. I'll add to this as I create more. Still have to do Eric Clapton! Jimi Hendrix! So many more.

Some brand new Who. Pete and Keith take off.  2' x 4' March 2011, pencil.

One of the first records I bought for myself was the 45 of "I Can See For Miles."
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey (vocals), Pete Townshend (guitar), John Entwistle (bass) and Keith Moon (drums). They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction.  The Who have sold about 100 million records, and have charted 27 top forty singles in the United Kingdom and United States.

Towser Tunes
Pete Townshend (born 19 May 1945) is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career. 

High school. Camaro. Seger. All a boy needed to know came from the radio.
Bob Seger (born May 6, 1945) is an American rock musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning five decades. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. SOLD

Perhaps the world's greatest living guitarist.
David Gilmour, CBE (March 6, 1946) is an English rock musician, best known as the lead guitarist, one of the lead singers and one of the main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd and has enjoyed a successful career as a solo artist.  SOLD

I went nuts for Miles in college and hoarded all of the vinyl I could find.
Miles Davis (May 26, 1926 – Sept. 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. One of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music. SOLD

So many styles. Amazing.
Jimmy Page, OBE (born Jan. 9, 1944) is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.

Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar
Frank Zappa (Dec. 21, 1940 – Dec. 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. Zappa produced all of the more than 60 albums he released over 30-plus years.

Too Tough
Keith Richards (born Dec. 18, 1943) is an English musician, co-songwriter, and founding member of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His innovative rhythm guitar playing was cited when Rolling Stone magazine ranked Richards as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time."

Little Red Rooster
Sir Mick Jagger (born July 26, 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, actor and producer, best known as the lead vocalist of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has also acted in and produced films.

Torn and Frayed
The Rolling Stones formed in London in April 1962 by guitarist and harmonica player Brian Jones, pianist Ian Stewart, vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. SOLD

You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool  in 1960, and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison. SOLD

Don't You Ever Learn?
Todd Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He has also been prolific as a producer and engineer on the recorded work of other musicians. SOLD

 

The Satellite Sings

Bill Nelson (born Dec. 18, 1948) is an English guitarist, songwriter, painter and experimental musician. 

Ring of Fire
Johnny Cash (Feb. 26, 1932 – Sept. 12, 2003), was an American singer-songwriter primarily remembered as a country music artist. But his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as well as blues, folk, and gospel.

Nightclubbing
The Rat Pack was a group of actors who appeared together on stage and in films in the early-1960s.  Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. were regarded as the group's lead members

Luke The Drifter
Hank Williams (Sept. 17, 1923 – Jan. 1, 1953),  was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most important artists of country music.

All of these drawings are for sale, except as noted SOLD.
For inquiries: hankbonesman@embarqmail.com
Tom Wills Productions, 2009-2013.

I Think You Know

TODD RUNDGREN 18' x 22' Pencil, February 2011

"I Think You Know"

The visitors were never seen
They missed my monologue between
But I think you know
The letters came, the letters went
The last reply was never sent
But I think you know
I can't explain what's in my brain
That tells me where to go
But I think you know

For I would draw a diagram
To signify the things I am
But I think you know
And in the end it all boils down
A useless bit of running 'round
'cause I think you know
And love I send to you my friend
But never tell you so
But I think you know

"I Think You Know"

I love that song. And I really, really like Todd Rundgren.
He had green hair. And pink, a little yellow, some brown and black.
I didn't know this, at first.
All I knew was that my little brother had a 45 rpm record called "I Saw The Light," backed with "Marlene." Both were good songs.

Bearsville

I am the family record collector.  "I Saw The Light" was my brother's ONLY 45 at the time, in 1972. It was from Todd's third album "Something/Anything," which also spawned "Hello It's Me." Played most or all of the instruments himself, too. Nifty.But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I was 11. The 45 had a bear on it. Bearsville records. Dumb name, I thought. Learned later that it was named for Bearsville, N.Y.
Again, ahead of myself.
So my brother Gerry and I bounced around to "I Saw The Light," which was on the radio, and our dad bought for Gerry. Our mother was a comedienne. Tom & Gerry. Get it? You're floored.

There goes Todd

Now, it turns out that Todd was (and is) a pretty prolific guy. He also dabbles in a lot of styles. There is always a pop underpinning, but something spacey is going on. Fuzzed out guitar tones, phased in keyboards by the tons, lots of studio wizardry.
By 1974 I was 13 and in junior high school, and Todd cranked out a half-live album called Utopia. Still had a bear on the label but a cool eyeball and colored orbs on the album cover. It was long and it was deafening and I still love that record. This was the first Todd album to hit my house.  All of the rest have followed.

"Todd" was the double album released about the same time, with the multi-colored hair portrait on the cover. "A Wizard A True Star" had a gatefold with boob pictures and Todd with a heart drawn on his ass.
He'd occasionally show up on TV, with his colored hair and winged outfits and rainbow guitar. People would way things like, "How can such a freaky dude make such sweet music?"
It's because he is a master of the craft and knows just how far to push before people will push back, or disregard. It's always interesting with Todd.

A review. High school.

My first foray into journalism was a review of Todd's "Hermit of Mink Hollow" album, in high school. I refuse to hold that against him. It's not his fault. There are even 39 Todd songs loaded into iTunes on my Mac at work. At a newspaper.

"I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day."

(It's the only Todd song I hate, tho I'm sure it pays his bills.)

This frame is made of wood from a demolished century barn.

GERRY WRITES:

Remember the 45 as well. Mom and Dad got the wrong one the first time, some artist with the Christian theme "I Saw the Light"--the message was good, but not the song.

The first albums I copied on that crappy Realistic piece of shit were Utopia, and... Something-Anything. They played well until the cheap electronics failed, and again in the basement on the trusty mono Panasonic cassette.

Life was simple then. Tomorrow's 6 AM commute will involve deactivation of the XM radio, and a Todd CD for the trip.

Todd is off to a Man Cave in Spain, January 2012.

TODD RUNDGREN, pencil, 2' x 3'  February 2011
For inquiries on this and all other drawings: hankbonesman@embarqmail.com
A Tom Wills Production, 2011.
"I Think You Know" P.C. 1974 Earmark Music/Screen Gems Music

American Finger

"American Finger," February 2011, in Johnny's second frame.

"You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was 12. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way.” -- Johnny Cash

This is country music, and it's rock and roll.
The iconic finger photo of Johnny Cash was shot at a 1969 concert at California’s San Quentin prison. Legend has it that the photographer, Jim Marshall, had asked Cash for a shot "for the warden."


“Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight.”

 

I have had this picture in a small frame, in various places in my home office, for probably 15 years.  I'd cut it out of a Rolling Stone magazine. Always thought it was cool, always wanted to draw a great big version and finally did. I've been advised not to hang it up at work, aimed at certain desks.

Some people just won't appreciate the art of it.

“I love songs about horses, railroads, land, Judgment Day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. And Mother. And God.”

I was 8 years old in 1969 (thereabouts) and I first heard the San Quentin record in my Aunt Maxine and Uncle Stu's family room in New Bethlehem, Pa. I didn't really know what I was hearing. I just knew that I liked records, loved record players -- and that the relatives had a pile of 'em that were new to me. So, Johnny. And 'A Boy Named Sue."  Cash cut the Shel Silverstein-penned song live at the prison.


"After about three lessons the voice teacher said, "Don't take voice lessons. Do it your way."”

Some decades later I discovered another Cash classic, "Ring of Fire." It was Frank Zappa's version, at first. And Frank was talking about a whole 'nuther type of ring. ("It burns ..." )   I do have the original Cash Ring of Fire album on Columbia Records, however, in glorious monophonic sound. Love that record.

Growing up, the only Johnny Cash record we ever had at home was my mother's copy of Orange Blossom Special, which I liked mostly because it had a boxcar on the cover. My dad, brother and I had a thing for trains. Still have the album. Long ago sold my electric trains (and miss 'em.)

“My father was a man of love. He always loved me to death. He worked hard in the fields, but my father never hit me. Never. I don't ever remember a really cross, unkind word from my father."

Cash was popular, and prolific. The pile of vinyl below only begins to hint at his output. He also was troubled, and his career waxed and waned until a final resurgence in 1998 and his American Recordings albums. Producer Rick Rubin paid $20,000 to place a full page ad in Billboard: The finger to Nashville.

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.”
 
I did acquire a lot of Johnny Cash music at two times in the last decade, both from friends passing forward their own, or a loved one's, collection. Mostly these records looked very much played, but some are pristine.

 “When I think about country music, I think about America.”

A former neighbor, who was ailing and is now deceased, also had me tape record his entire collection for him (plus Hank Williams Sr.) so that he could play the cassettes at his bedside. I made open reel tape copies for myself, too. Talk about a treasury. 

There are just a handful of Cash CDs in my library, a two-disc Best Of deal and three of the American Recordings. But I play those tapes and the vinyl most. They release the most memories.

"I have no illusions about who I am and how old I am—but that has nothing to do with it when I'm in that studio or on that stage and that thing is coming out of me. That fire is just as bright and hot as when I was 23. I and the song are one—and whatever I was meant to do with my music, I'm doing it."

AMERICAN FINGER
February 2011, pencil, 2' x 3'
$150

For inquiries: hankbonesman@embarqmail.com