Simon Casas - We Couldn't Play But We Had Gig!

We couldn’t play but we had a gig!

It was never my idea to be a bass player in a rock band. I owe that idea to Leon Becken.

Leon is my childhood friend, and he has been my dearest and closest friend since we were both 12 years old. It’s hard to believe we’ve been friends for over 60 years.

Anyway, back to the story. Leon was in a band with some other local kids named Mike Miller, John Montley, John Valenzuela, and Dee Allgori. The boys all played the guitars except for Leon, he played the drums. They were getting ready to play at a party and Leon had an idea. He said, “hey you could be the singer.” I used to like to sing, and I sang all the time. I used to sing along with recordings of the day and fantasize I was on American Bandstand singing. Gosh, it was so much fun.

Leon always felt that I could sing like a bird. He would tell everyone I would make a good singer. What a great friend!

I liked the idea but before I could say yes or no, he had another idea! Leon said, “I bet your Dad could teach you how to play the bass and you can sing and play the bass in the band.” This was Leon’s way of killing two birds with one stone. Well, I guess it was a great idea because it started me on a musical journey.

It seemed as though we played the same song over and over again. We played mostly surf music and my father had actually taught a simple bass line to play. The other kids showed me a lot too. After all, they had been playing the guitar for a few months, so they knew more than I did. It didn’t matter, the kids listening made us feel like we were big stars.

This is why I say we didn’t know how to play. But we had a gig!