Lucky Man

He had white horses / And ladies by the score / All dressed in satin / And waiting by the door / Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

I remember walking from my house in the 60s to my girlfriend's house one night...."Lucky Man" was playing somewhere and there was an earthquake.......it was a warm windy night and dark..no streetlights..I walked back home in the wee hours (wink,wink)....

we'd been in Santa Barbara for a few years..some things you just never forget, thank God!

 

and we met some really cool people..from school..and we'd start bands and end bands...I was friends with some guys and some guys I was friends with their friends...but the thing was we were all friendly towards each other, pretty much...I romanticize those days of course, but that was our introduction to Santa Barbara...the local kids were real cool!

my world consisted of some streets..I'd go from Woodley Road to Barker Pass to Chase Drive to Cedar lane..and then everyone would end up on Mountain Drive at one time or another...there were pig roasts and music....drugs were pretty much not an issue..well maybe some pot now and then, but it was a nice American dream....oh and there were lots of motorcycles..I can still smell the oil burning thru the trails!!

well I went over to Barker Pass a few days ago and the sun was peeking through the clouds, and I could see Mountain Drive...it was a great place...the best place to grow up...


like I said we met some cool kids..who are now adults...life goes on..but I heard that one of the Barker pass guys died, Mike Creek...the Creeks were synonymous with Barker Pass...we went to school together..weren't close friends but I did have a crush on Mike's sister..probably a few others did too!

the circle of friends was pretty big so we always saw someone we knew...in Santa Barbara ....and music of course was a big deal...always has been a big deal with me...Mike Creek had a radio gig at KMGQ playing jazz with a touch of soul..I listened to him and it was a good show....you can't go wrong playing music for people...

it seems you had to make a run through Barker Pass to really get what Santa Barbara was about....and those who did, in a certain space and time, are the lucky ones