The world of rock & roll and the planet in general lost Mike Parks two years ago today; January 7th, 2018. (For the uninitiated, Mike Parks was the lead guitarist of Colin’s band The League Bowlers and – in my humble opinion – the GREATEST lead guitar player in the history of Columbus rock & roll. You can read much more about that in my original Mike Parks: Guitar Slinger Pencilstorm blog from 2014, linked here.)
Last week my lovely wife Debbie & I were driving home from New Year’s Eve dinner when The Blues Magoos’ “We Ain’t Got Nothin’ yet” came on my Sirius/XM car radio courtesy of The Underground Garage channel. Right at that moment I missed Mike more than I had in a long, long time. There’s no reason most of the Pencilstorm readership would know that tune by The Blues Magoos (or indeed, even know or remember WHO The Blues Magoos WERE) but Mike & I used to talk about them – and many more of their mid-1960’s rock & roll brethren – A LOT back in our tenure in Willie Phoenix’s True Soul Rockers in the early 1990’s. (Mike was the 2nd lead guitarist & resident bad-ass of The True Soul Rockers, I was a roadie.)
I originally wrote a whole other blog to run here, but that one was sad, and kinda contemplative, and I decided this morning in the shower, “Fuck that, Mike would HATE sad and kinda contemplative.” So instead, I decided that I would attempt to preach and spread the True Gospel of The Rock & Roll Rama-Lama by gathering up a few 60’s videos that I know for a fact Mike would have loved and deliver the message, “Fuck Donald Trump; fuck the board president of Nissan in Japan fleeing to Lebanon to escape prosecution; fuck the fact that the super-rich don’t even have to PRETEND to respect the law anymore; fuck wildfires in Australia; fuck the Golden Globe Awards, I just WANNA HEAR SOME ROCK & ROLL!”
Mike, I raise a glass to you today………
THE BLUES MAGOOS / “WE AIN’T GOT NOTHIN’ YET”
THE MUSIC MACHINE / “TALK TALK”
THE YARDBIRDS / “HAPPENINGS TEN YEARS TIME AGO”
THE MC5 / “KICK OUT THE JAMS”
MOTT THE HOOPLE / “AT THE CROSSROADS”
I’m including this video because if Mike told me once in The League Bowlers days, he told me 20 times, “I’m gonna work up the Mott The Hoople version of “At The Crossroads” as my first lead vocal in the Bowlers.” “That’d be great,” I’d reply, “you should run it by Colin, I know he’d go for it.” To my knowledge, in all the years Colin, Mike, Dan Cochran and Jim Johnson shared stages, Mike never once brought it up.
I bet it would’ve been great.
For a different commemorative slant on Mike, check out this blog entry by Jim Johnson from January, 2018:
Jim Johnson - I guess it's time to post my thoughts. I lost one of my best friends yesterday. Mike Parks passed away peacefully yesterday, with his wife, Danya Linehan, and his cats by his side. Mike had a lot of cats. More than one household really needed, but Mike loved his cats. He had this thing, a sort of telepathy with cats. If you know anything about cats, you know cats don't trust anyone. Cats trusted Mike. They knew he was one of them, and they loved him as much as he loved his cats. It really was amazing to see.
I first met Mike, back in the "Sugar Shack" days. I think he was playing in Flasher, and I was playing in Lizzy Borden. I used to watch Mike play, and he would do this thing, with a violin bow and an echoplex. It was amazing. Every bit as good as Jimmy Page, but I didn't have to go to Madison Square Garden to see it. I could stand 5 feet away, at the Shack, and then walk home. Those were amazing days. I thought to myself, "I hope I get to play in a band with this guy someday." My wish came true. Mike and I played in three bands together: The Retreads, Willie Phoenix & the True Soul Rockers, and The League Bowlers. All cool bands, and it was a pleasure to share the stage with Mike. The Retreads used to play at Bernies, and we had a gig the day Mike's first child was born. We weren't sure if he would make it to the gig. After all, his kid was being born. Mike showed up 5 minutes before we were supposed to go on, dressed in full Operating Room scrubs, including surgeon's mask, and played the gig. I wish there were pictures. That's the Mike I remember. There are some tapes of the True Soul Rockers playing the High Beck Tavern in 1992 floating around in cyberspace. The band was really at its best in those days, and if you ever get to hear that music, you'll hear Mike and Willie Phoenix, tearing it up. Those two together, man, it was magic. That's the Mike I remember.
After the TSR's broke up, Mike quit playing for a while. I used to call him, and he'd say, "Man, I'm retired. I'll do my sculpting. I got other stuff I can do." I said "We'll see." I went on to join The League Bowlers, and when we needed a guitar player, I suggested Mike. I said "Come down & jam, and if you hate it, you can go back to your sculpting." Long story short, Mike had a new rock & roll home. Colin Gawel had some cool songs, we recorded them with Rick Kinsinger and Some Balls was born. Rick reminded me of a story about Mike not long ago. Mike was having a little trouble coming up with a lead for a song, so I told him, "Play it like Chuck Berry would, if he was in a surf band." Needless to say, Mike NAILED it. He had an amazing amount of Rock & Roll Knowledge. After all, he lived with the MC5 for a while. That's the Mike I remember.
Some Balls Deluxe is finished now, and Mike left some great guitar playing for us to remember him by. Colin said not long ago, "There are a lot of guitar players that are artists. Mike is an artist that plays guitar." There's a difference. The world lost a gifted human being yesterday. I'm lucky to have known him, to have him in my life, and I have some great memories. That's the Mike I remember. - Jim Johnson