Band Chronology

Quack and the Pneumatic Ducks  --  Mach 7  --  Cinnimon Haze  --  Membrane
Links: Band Home Page Band Chronology Lifetime Song List Cinnimon Haze Pix (4/68) Membrane Pix (1971) Hangtown / Woody Duke Where Are They Now? Read the Guestbook!	This is my effort to fit all the key people and events that were our band into a consistant time frame.  It is still a work in progress -- there many fuzzy areas, and we're not even close listing all the gigs we played.  As each former band member and friend has shared their memories, it has helped to fill in some of the blanks, or sometimes has raised new questions and problems. Were you there?  I would very much like to continue to refine and add to this, so please send me any additions, changes, or especially any memories that come to mind.   -- Chip Chapin.
Visitors since July 3, 2000	Updated July 22, 2000
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New! The chronology has been updated using recently discovered notes in Chip's mother's engagement calendars.  7/12/00	Join the Cinnimon Haze discussion list!  CinnHaze@topica.com

Contents:

• Quack and the Pneumatic Ducks
• Mach 7
• Cinnimon Haze
• Membrane

Quack and the Pneumatic Ducks

• 7th grade (1965-66), Earl Warren Junior High School, Solana Beach, California. (note: EW was grades 7-9 at that time).

 

Larry Minton wants to start a band, recruits various friends and classmates from Miss Nikkel's English class.  The lineup soon includes Larry, Bill, Carl, Kim, Monte, Chip, Chris Kane, and Nancy Fisher.  The name:  Quack and the Pneumatic Ducks

Miss Helen Nikkel, 1965 (1966 Caballitos)

Chip: My first contribution to the band was the word "pneumatic".  The name started as "Quack and the HYDRAULIC Ducks".  But I had recently finished reading "Brave New World", and imagined that "pneumatic" was sexier.


It was generally understood that Larry was "Quack".  :-)  Somewhat less clear is when, exactly, we started having practices.  The general concensus is that practices began during the Summer of 1966.  However there is no evidence that I (Chip) actually participated in any practice until March 1967.  The full chronology of this first year may never be known, but it is definitely an area for further research.
 

• 8th grade (1966-67)
• Saturday March 4, 1967: Chip's mother's calendar records: "Chip at Larry Minton's for little music group rehearsal."  This is likely the first band practice that Chip attended; its uncertain just how many (if any) had gone before.  The instrumental lineup at this stage is problematic, however, because only 4 of the 7 of us actually have an instrument, and the choice of instruments is, in some cases, unusual for a rock band.  To wit:

Bill Lawrence - Lead Guitar	Carl Geiberger - Organ  (but doesn't have one yet)	Kim Hujsak - Rhythm Guitar
Monte Etherton - Wannabe Drummer (never played, no instrument)	Larry Minton - Autoharp, with intent to get mandolin.	Chris Kane - Clarinet
Chip Chapin - Wannabe Drummer (never played, no instrument)	Quack and the Pneumatic Ducks:  8th Grade, Fall, 1966  (Earl Warren 1967 Caballitos yearbook)

Chip: I have a clear memory of beating on a ferrotype plate (anybody else remember those?) with drumsticks at Larry's house.  I remember this because it ruined my ferrotype plate!  Pots and pans may also have been involved.
• 8th grade (1966-67):  Monte buys a Norma drum set, thus proving he's actually serious about this.
Chip: Meanwhile, I've done nothing, so my dreams of being a drummer go up in smoke.
• 8th grade (early 1967): Nancy Fisher is recruited as singer.  She describes the endeavor in her own words:
 

Nancy Fisher, 8th grade  (1967 Caballitos)

Nancy: I was, indeed, the first choice of Quack and the Pneumatic Ducks.  Unfortunately, I could only intermittently carry a tune (I remember Bill's mom walking through the room with a basket of laundry and wincing at some note I hit) -- and it didn't help that our entire repertoire was Buffalo Springfield and I was expected to sing the lead on "For What it's Worth."  Stills could barely do it!  Everyone wanted me there anyway, which was very sweet, so I was given a tambourine and encouraged to look cute...silently.  I tried it for awhile, but was too embarrassed by my lack of talent to continue.  Or maybe I was kicked out and have successfully blocked it.

Chip: The song "For What It's Worth" was released some time in 1967, so Nancy's memory can be no earlier than that.  She doesn't remember me being there, and I don't remember her being there, so it must be from the limbo period before I became the bass player.

Nancy adds: We actually played a job with me on tambourine.  It was for a party for one of our teachers, so it almost had to be Miss Nikkel.  Seems like it was in Encinitas, but could have been Solana Beach.  There were very few of us, but I'm positive that at least Bill and Monte were there.  I remember Monte, especially, because I had a bit of a crush on him at the time (see, I wasn't always the crushee!).   Again, since we only knew a few songs from the recent Buffalo Springfield album, we quickly ran out of things to play, and played one song over at least once, maybe twice.  I think it was "Sit Down I Think I Love You."

• Monday May 1, 1967:  Chip rents his first bass from Finder's Music in Escondido (HGC).  Chip recounts the decision to play bass:
Chip: A delegation of several band members come up to me on the lawn at Earl Warren and tell me that I need to either get a bass and play it, or I'm out of the band.  It is truly a pivotal moment in my life, considering how important bass playing has been to me ever since.  Odd that I didn't so much choose the bass, but rather chose to be in the band with my friends.  Bass was the only job left.  I have no regrets at all...  I rented a Teisco Del Rey bass for 1 month, and took 1 month of lessons from Don Quilter at Finder's Music in Escondido.  During this month I ordered a cheap Japanese "Beatle" (i.e. violin-shaped) bass via Monte's wholesale connection with Coast Music.
• Chris Kane becomes singer.
Chip: I remember a "practice" at Kim's house where we tried to figure out who would sing.  We each took turns singing something, and Chris Kane seemed to do best.  Also, we didn't really need or want a clarinet player.  So he became the singer.  When did this take place?  I suppose it was in 1967 some time after Nancy was gone?  I don't remember if this was before or after I had a bass.
• Thursday June 15, 1967 (HGC): Our public debut in a Battle of the Bands versus a group led by Rudy Gutierrez in the Earl Warren Cafetorium.  Larry recalls playing the autoharp with us, unamplified.  Carl didn't play at this, because he didn't have an electric instrument yet.  Chip on bass and Chris singing the songs including Louie-Louie, Wipe-Out, Gloria, When I Was Young (see Lifetime Song List).  We apparently also played for a "1st period class party", but so far nobody has indicated any remembrance of the event.
• Wednesday July 19, 1967 (HGC): Possibly our first paid gig, a garden party for Chip's mother.  Debut and last performance of Chip's song Fantasy Man.  Larry plays electric mandolin.  Carl was there but it's unclear what he did.  Possibly he played the Chapin's piano.
Chip: Even then we were "too loud": we played in the living room and all the guests were on the other side of the house, around the pool.
• Saturday September 2, 1967 (HGC): Play for RSF Junior Tennis Club.  Chris Kane, our singer, was already a notable tennis player and was probably the connection by which we got this gig.

Mach Seven

The Suzie Calen Era

• Early 9th grade (1967-68) brings many important changes:
• Band changes name to Mach 7, "Seven times the speed of sound."
• Chris Kane drops out of the band because his Dad wants him to concentrate on tennis (Chris was already nationally ranked).  Also, Chris leaves Earl Warren to attend University High.
• The trauma of losing Chris is relieved somewhat when Suzie Calen replaces Chris.  She is already an excellent singer and, from our perspective, much better looking!
The exact order of the name change/personnel change is still unclear, but .  Note that Larry is still in the band at this point or else we wouldn't have "Seven".
• Wednesday October 25, 1967 (HGC): First band practice at Suzie Calen's.  Still unclear is exactly when she joined the band, but the last practice at the Kane's is recorded on September 10th.  Then there is a mad flurry of practices starting October 20th which must have included Suzie.

Suzie Calen, 9th grade (1968 Caballitos)

Suzie with Diane Gossard, 8th grade (1967 Caballitos)

Chip: I don't remember exactly what prompted the name change, but fundamentally a bunch of 13 or 14-year olds called "Quack and the Pneumatic Ducks" were just hard to take seriously.  "Mach 7" seemed to connote a more serious enterprise.  However, the name suffers from being ambiguous in pronunciation and somewhat obscure: it was usually necessary to spell out M-a-c-h for people, and often to explain what it meant (mach 1 = the speed of sound, mach 7 meaning "seven times the speed of sound").

• Saturday October 28, 1967 (HGC): Gig at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, our first with Suzie.  Carl and Larry do not play, Carl because he still does not have a keyboard.  It's less clear why Larry didn't play the electric mandolin, maybe we had banned him from doing so, or maybe he hadn't been able to make the solid week of practices leading up to this gig.
Chip: I used to have a great picture of this with Suzie out front in a blue dress.  Hopefully the picture will turn up.  We knew about 15-20 songs, but either it had never occurred to us to make a set list or else we hadn't been able to agree on one.  So we argued after each song, sometimes for minutes, about what to play next.  Many songs were repeated during the course of the evening.  I remember The Letter and Expressway (to Your Heart).  A pleasant feature of our band throughout its existence was that no one was in charge.  But this makes it more difficult to work as a unit.  At this early stage of our career, we were still much like a herd of cats.

Larry:  I did play at the garden party (mandolin) but not at St. Peter's though I remember it - I was essentially a "roadie" and not happy about it.

• Saturday December 2, 1967 (HGC): Second gig at St. Peter's.
• Christmas 1967: Larry gets a Crucianelli electric 12-string.  Now that he's finally ready to take a serious place in the band, we dump him.  Not very nice of us, I'll admit.  It's also a sign that the band had started to develop seriously as a unit and I think the fact that Larry hadn't really played (audibly) with us that much, despite being the founder, contributed to the feeling that he was no longer "one of us".  Perhaps we also felt that two guitars were enough, and there may have been some clash of musical tastes.

Cinnimon Haze

• January 1968: Band changes name to Cinnimon (sic) Haze, reflecting our changing musical tastes and resolving the numerical discrepancy inherent in six people being known as Mach 7.
Chip: I'm pretty certain that we didn't change the name to Cinnimon Haze until after Larry had left.  I have a vivid memory of him showing off the 12-string at a practice in the library at my house in RSF.  If he got it for Christmas, then that dates his departure, the name change, and the arrival of David Blair to early 1968.  I think the variant spelling of "cinnamon" was unintentional -- just a mistake.  Carl claims to recall that we needed the narrower spacing to fit on Monte's drum head.   Whatever the reason, once committed, we stuck with it.
• Our $200 bank loan for the PA is in the name of "The Cinnimon Haze Group" so must have been early 1968.
• Saturday January 20, 1968 (HGC): Play for Teen Dance at Methodist Church on Birmingham Ave in Cardiff.  This is the first gig at which Carl uses his new "red" organ.  It is possible that the so-called "April 1968" Cinnimon Haze photos are really from the practice just before this gig or the Cotillion gig on Feb 3rd.
• David Blair becomes manager.

David Blair, 9th grade (1968 Caballitos)

David: I remember being somewhat envious when you all formed Quack and the Pneumatic Ducks so I decided to start my own band.  I don’t remember if we ever had a name, and I can only remember one other member, the guitarist, George Nameth [probably Nasif -- chip] .  I had a homemade amplifier built into an old wooden hi-fi stereo cabinet and we played “Louie Louie” and “The Little Black Egg with the Little White Specks” over and over and over again.   Failing to get any paying gigs, the band soon broke up and I turned my attention to figuring out what I could do to become a part of your group.  I don’t know if the name had yet officially been changed to “Cinnimon Haze” or if I had anything at all to do with the odd spelling of the name, but my spelling and handwriting have always been bad enough that I certainly could have!  I had already been asked sometime earlier to be on the Dance Committee for The Cotillion which was held at the Garden Club in RSF and one of the our duties was to pick a band for the end of the season party.  I asked you guys if I could act as your manager, something that every successful band really should have, if I could get you a paying job.  My fee: a mere 15% of the contract, a real bargain, as most managers got 25% I explained.

• Saturday, February 3, 1968 (HGC): San Dieguito Cotillion gig.  The first one that David booked for us.  He describes the booking process:
David: Now for some reason the Cotillion Dance Committee held it’s first meeting during the school day in a classroom at Earl Warren Junior High.  When it came to the point in the meeting at which we were asked for our suggestions for the band for the party, I played it so cool. I slowly raised my hand and began to speak, but before I could get a word out, Madeline Scalice, seated in the next row to my right blurted out “Oh, we all really want Cinnimon Haze to Play”. Without even stopping to take a breath between sentences she then turned to me and continued “Oh, and by the way David, Bill says that if they get the job I get the 15%”.  Not wanting to blow the gig for the band altogether, I just quietly said, “We’ll talk about that later.”  Well, you did get the job and I did get the 15% and from that point on I was officially the Manager.

Bill: We were all bummed because we had to forsake our usual psychedelic shirts [they were Nehru shirts.  I still have the gold chain that went with mine - cc] with matching white collars for dress shirts and ties.  I remember the MC asking us to play a tango--we all looked at Chip, (the only Cotillion-trained member of the band) and he suggested Mr. Spaceman [nah, couldn't have been me -- cc].  The MC was obviously less than pleased with our choice.

• Thursday February 29, 1968 (HGC): Peagreen (7th grade) dance at EW.
Chip: Wouldn't this would have been the Sadie Hawkins dance, since it's on 2/29?

Bill: Then there was our long standing run at the 7th grade dance series at Earl Warren. I remember how no one danced until one of us got the idea to announce a girl's choice number, which turned the situation around immediately.
 

• Friday March 29, 1968 (HGC): Band plays for Blossom Day Dance at EW.
• April 1968: The pictures at Chip's house.  The SuC-fronted Cinnimon Haze at its peak.  By now our sets would have included such songs as Dancing in the Street, Bus Stop, Ballad of Billie Joe, and White Rabbit.  (see Lifetime Song List)

Cinnimon Haze with Suzie Calen April 1968  Chip's house in Rancho Click on image for more April 68 pix.

Chip: We were going to a gig when these "April 68" pictures were taken.  But my mom's calendar lists no gigs in April.  So either there was an omission or these were from earlier in the year.

• Friday May 10, 1968 (HGC): Double header!?  According to my Mom's notes we played at Oak Crest Jr. High (grades 7-8 in Encinitas) in the afternoon, and for San Dieguito High School in the evening.  Since this is the only record of a gig at San Dieguito while we were in 9th grade, I think it must be the "Earl Warren mega talent show" mentioned by Bill.
Bill: Anyone remember us playing "White Rabbit" at the Earl Warren mega talent show held at the San Dieguito gym?  I remember holding on to one of our mikes and touching the fire hose plumbing at the same time.  Carl (one of the few of us who prevailed in Mr. Landfear's science class) reminded me that in so doing I was the human link between 110 volts and all the plumbing of Encinitas.  No wonder there were stars in my eyes.  Was that 9th grade?
Monte: We played "White Rabbit" for an assembly at San Dieguito, and SuC sang.
• Saturday May 25, 1968 (HGC): Band plays for 7th Grade Cotillion at the RSF Garden Club.
• Friday June 14, 1968: Last day of 9th grade.  No more Earl Warren.
• Tuesday June 18, 1968 (HGC): Disneyland Trip (follow link for some pictures).

• Summer of 1968: Suzie leaves the band.  I cannot remember the circumstances that led to her departure, but vaguely recall that it was not entirely amicable, and included some dispute over the PA system.  Perhaps I'm wrong about this.  I asked Kim and he said that he thought Suzie left to devote more time to cheerleading.  He didn't remember any dispute.  My recollection is that Bill takes on lead singing, but I don't know how many gigs we had before he left.
• Sunday August 18, 1968: Band practice at David Blair's.
Chip: We only practiced at David's twice I think (the police were summoned due to the noise) and I don't recall Suzie ever practicing with us there.  If that's true, then she must have left the band by this date.
• Saturday August 31, 1968 (HGC): My mother's calendar records "Chip, Monte, Carl, Kim here for rehearsal & lunch".
Chip: Where was Bill?  Had he already left?  I thought it was later in the year...  And no mention of David.

• September 1968: Start of 10th grade at San Dieguito High School, Encinitas California
• Sunday September 22, 1968 (HGC): Rock festival at Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Chip: This was my first big rock festival and I really enjoyed it.  It was my first real exposure to the Grateful Dead, Ike & Tina Turner Review and many others.  I don't think Bill attended, but I know that Monte and Kim, and probably David and Carl, were there.
• Friday, September 27, 1968 (HGC): Roller Rink gig, Solana Beach.
• Saturday, September 28, 1968 (HGC): "Band plays at Sally Johnson's wedding reception - La Fremontia"
Chip: We were never big on the wedding circuit, this may have been our only one.  Of course we were too loud, and didn't know many different styles of music.  We didn't have much of a stage act either, and what we did have wasn't geared for a wedding crowd.
• 10th grade (1968-69): Bill leaves the band.  I don't remember when, but I think it was shortly after a gig in the Earl Warren Cafetorium.  My recollection of the "why" is that the type of music we were playing was increasingly at odds with his faith.  Bill's departure leaves a big hole, but fortunately the separation was friendly.
• 10th grade (1968-69): We audition Colin Shatz for singer, and maybe guitar player too.  It doesn't work out.  Once again, the exact dates are very uncertain.

The David Blair Era

10th grade (1968-69): David Blair becomes singer.  As he pointed out, since he was already our manager we got a singer for free!  The band personnel now remains stable until our breakup in 1972.  There is considerable uncertainly about the dates of Bill's departure, Colin's audition and David's ascension.  I have always thought that Bill didn't leave until sometime in 10th grade, because we played at least one EW gig together (in the Cafetorium, not outdoors) while he was going with Jenny.  David is sure the outdoor gig at EW was not during school, but was a community event during the summer or a holiday with nice weather.  We all remember Colin being there.  It being Solana Beach, the nice weather could have been any time, and so does not exclude December.  It couldn't be too late in 1969 because I think David had been our singer for quite a good while before we went to Newport 69.

Carl Geiberger Keyboards	David Blair Lead singer, Management	Monte Etherton Drums
Kim Hujsak Guitar	Cinnimon Haze with David Blair 10th Grade  (San Dieguito H.S. 1969 Hoofprint)	Chip Chapin Bass

David: One of our very first gigs with me as lead singer was at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. I was still reading the words off of a piece of paper for several songs I hadn’t yet memorized and I remember hiding behind one of the amps while I was singing so no one could see me reading.

Chip: Could this possibly be the infamous "Meeting House" gig?  It's infamous because Kim refused to come to a practice unless we could actually practice at the Meeting House, the place where the gig was supposed to be.  So we put up a sign at the end of my driveway that said "Meeting House", told Kim that, yes, we were practicing at the Meeting House, and then somebody picked him up and brought him over.  He was not amused.  The sign was attached to one of those very cool "pointing hands" that Carl used to make.  Then somebody stole the sign during the night :-(.  Kim was still living in RSF at that time.  The other thing I remember about this gig is that I was using my old 1-15 amp (the one in the April 68 pix) and it quit working during setup.  I whipped out the trusty tool kit, opened it up, and found that one of the internal speaker wires that went from the voice coil to the lugs had broken.  Soldered it back together and on with the show.

• 10th grade (1968-69): Outdoor gig at Earl Warren with David.  David describes it:
David: We came up with what still seems like a great way to introduce our new, hip “Sound”. We began the performance with our “old” standard “Calling out around the world are you ready for a brand new beat?” at which point we broke into “Purple Haze” which surprised the audience and got us a great round of applause when it was over. I remember ending the set that day with “Time” by the Chambers Brothers in which I got to use my new, cool reverb box!

• Saturday, October 5, 1968 (HGC): Republican Block Party in RSF.  Outdoor stage in front of the drug store.
Chip: Since everyone in Rancho was a Republican, this amounted to a community picnic.  I remember doing a rousing version of Soul Kitchen, probably with David singing.  Also, we were experimenting with ear plugs at this time, which assumed new importance after an unfortunate incident in which kleenex got stuck in my ear at Monte's house.  Monte's Dad took me to the doctor in Encinitas.
• Friday November 22, 1968 (HGC): Play for dance at San Dieguito Military Academy.

• Saturday May 17, 1969 (HGC): Cotillion gig.

• Friday-Sunday June 20-22, 1969: Newport 69 at Devonshire Downs, Northridge, attended by Monte, David, Kim and Chip.  A major 3-day rock festival featuring the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Spirit, Credance, and Jethro Tull.  This counterculture immersion experience did much to harden our edge and attitudes about music.

Publicity photo taken in field adjacent to Chip's house in RSF.  View to the south shows virgin hills of Fairbanks Ranch. Note the reversed lettering on the kick drum.  Monte had a double bass kit with the band name written in black on white on one drum, and in mirror image in white on black for the other drum.  For this photo he only used the reversed drum. It took us a while to figure this out. Click photo for larger image.

Cinnimon Haze c. 1969 (l-r) Kim, Carl, David, Chip, Monte

• Friday September 12, 1969 (HGC): Play for dance at Solana Skating Rink.
Monte: Solana Beach Roller Rink Gig, where Fred Franklin and I played the InnaGaddaDaVida drum solo simultaneously.
• Monday September 15, 1969 (HGC): First day of 11th grade, San Dieguito High School.
 
• Wednesday December 10, 1969 El Cortez Hotel (HGC).  This gig seems to have sparked a lot of memories:
David: And how about the weirdest gig of all: The El Cortez Hotel - where the MC was Jane Wyatt from “Father Knows Best”.  They had a professional light show crew set up just for us and we played only a single number: a ten-minute jam version of the Door’s “Soul Kitchen”.  I was wearing an old, red silk pajama top of my dad’s with bell-bottom pants and though I looked “way cool”.  When we finally ended the song the “mature” crowd appeared to be in shock and it took an excruciatingly long time before the weak applause began.

Carl: Our set was "enhanced" by dancing members of an Up With People cast that also performed there that day.

Monte: Oh well, I do now at least remember trying to get a twin bass drum set into an elevator...

Chip: Huh?  El Cortez?  Oh wait!  This is the one where some people on stage are talking about "today's music" and the older character (probably Jane Wyatt) complains, "It starts with a bang and ...."  That was our cue and we started Soul Kitchen.  But it was stupid because Soul Kitchen starts very quietly!  No one had told us beforehand what the context was!  This has bothered me ever since, because we could have done "Light My Fire" and it would have been perfect.

David: I took along a friend from San Dieguito, Bobbie Polkemp (sic?) who was well over 6' tall and quite good looking. The two or more professional light show guys who were several years older than us zoomed in on her right away. They kept trying to get her to go out with them telling her that she was way to hot to be hanging out with the likes of us. I was surprised by her loyality as she just grabbed my arm and kept saying "No way! I'm with David"
 

• Friday December 26, 1969 (HGC): Play for dance at St Peter's Episcopal Church, Del Mar.

• Other gigs in 11th grade (1969-70): By the end of 1969, I think we all had our driver's licenses.  This allowed us much more flexibility in where and when we could play.
Chip: I'm sure we played places like Poway High, Vista High, and Meadowbrook Intermediate School as Cinnimon Haze during this year.
Carl: I think we played at the Army/Navy Academy in Carlsbad, and I know we played twice at the military academy in Solana Beach (SDMA?).
 
David: Does anyone remember playing at Sara Lyon's birthday party (was it her sweet 16th?) in the Ranch where we had to set up outside at night in wet grass and kept getting wicked electrical shocks?  To make matters worse a neighbor kept complaining about the noise and her parents kept asking if we could turn it down, eventually asking if we could play without amplifiers!
 
• Friday January 9, 1970 (HGC): Play for dance at San Dieguito.

Membrane

• 1970: It's still unclear when we changed our name to Membrane, but I am pretty sure it was in 1970, prior to graduation.
Chip: The intent, as I think of it, was to acquire a name that was more "bad" and heavy; less soft and cutesy-psychedelic.
• May 16-17, 1970: San Dieguito High School all night After-Prom at the San Diego State Student Union.  We had a tough time figuring out whether this was in 1970 or 1971.  Actually from my mom's calendars it looks like we played for both the 1970 and 1971 afterproms.  Odd that none of us remember doing it twice, but it helps to explain some variations in our memories:
Carl: I went to the prom in our junior year with Margie Moreno, took her home, and then went to the afterprom to play...so, I vote for 1970. As you know, the room we played in was separated from the bowling alley by a closed door. I don't recall luring in more than a half dozen "dancers" at any given time, so it's no wonder no one remembers any details.

David: This was a weird one, and possibly one of our last together as Membrane. I think we started about midnight and played till dawn. Things were going ok until about 3AM when for some reason I decided to sing my own imagined “dirty” lyrics to “Louie Louie”. I must have sung too loud and too clearly as the room quickly cleared with several people shaking their heads in disgust as they walked out. Some time later, I nearly fell off of the stage, maybe from lack of sleep, but more likely from some kind of substance abuse. On the drive home after the job I had to hang my head out of the car window to stay awake as I drove home and nearly fell asleep behind the wheel several times.  I remember this being a low point for me with the band and situations like this may have contributed in part to Carl leaving soon afterward.
 

• Chip: I remember a number of details about this gig.  It was one of the only ones where I was actually loud enough!  That's because I not only had my own two ElectroVoice 15s (in the white cabinet that I built), but I also had borrowed Jim Jack's cabinet with two 15s.  I think his was a Carvin.  I'm pretty sure that I drove both of them with my 130W Carvin power amp, or maybe it was Jim's amp, or maybe even both.  Also, we played in a cave-like room with concrete walls.  The acoustics were worse than The Pit.  Last memory: the student center featured a bowling alley, and we stole a bowling ball.  Some time later, this bowling ball was sent rolling down the back side of El Zumaque in RSF.  Near the bottom it hit the curb and went airborne for about 20 feet, squarely striking a telephone pole about 10 feet up.  It left a mammoth dent in the wood of the pole.  Someone should check to see if it's still there.
• Friday June 26, 1970 (HGC): Play for dance at RSF Riding Club.
• Summer of 1970: Monte and Debbie get married!

Debbie Deloy the future Mrs. Etherton San Dieguito H.S. Hoofprint, 1969

• 12th grade (1970-71), San Dieguito High School (except Kim, who attends La Jolla High)
• Friday October 23, 1970 (HGC): Play for Halloween Dance at Oak Crest Jr. High.
• Friday October 30, 1970 (HGC): Play for after-game dance at San Dieguito.
• Friday January 8, 1971 (HGC): Play for dance at Meadowbrook Intermediate School, Poway
• Sunday March 21, 1971 (HGC): Play for "First Day of Spring" celebration at San Dieguito Park.  This was a free gig, where our buddies the Hangtown, Volcano and Whiskey Flats Resistance Band also performed.

May 1971, Chip and Carl at practice in The Pit. Part of a set of 1971 photos by Chip's mother.  Click on the picture to see the whole set.

• Saturday May 15, 1971 (HGC): It appears that, for the second year, we played for the San Dieguito After Prom.

• 12th grade.  Various gigs.  Here are several good recollections, though some of these may have been as Cinnimon Haze:
San Dieguito High School Auditorium – Night time dance
David: I think we played for at least two of these, probably more. Several main recollections: For some reason at one dance all of our power cords were plugged into outlets on the front face of the stage with easy access by anyone on the dance floor. During the middle of a song some wise guy (Vincent Heimstra comes to mind – You remember him, don’t you Larry?) of course pulled the plug and we went totally dead, except for the drums. Being in the front of the stage, I saw it coming and quickly stepped forward, attempting to kick the offender in the face, barely missing. Perhaps at the very same dance we started our 8+ minute version of “Soul Kitchen” [I'll bet it was "When the Music's Over" -- chip] about two minutes before the dance was scheduled to end. At the stroke of the ending hour (9PM?) there was Bill Barrier in my face at the front of the stage, rapidly sliding his index finger across his neck signaling “Kill the Music!” Being true professionals and being in a position for the first time in my life to disobey him, I just shook my head “NO” and we played on! At some point (probably a different dance) we had begun to let Mike Benelli play his guitar and sing during our breaks. This seemed like a good way to keep the audience entertained while we were offstage, and in fact he wasn’t too bad.  This however turned out to be a big mistake. He was told to play for 10-15 minutes, but 30 minutes later he still wouldn’t leave the stage! I had to walk on stage and take over the microphone before he would finally leave.

Vista High School – After Football Game Dance
David: When we first arrived at the school we found the entrance road that we had been directed to blocked by a locked gate. We just parked in the driveway and waited for someone to open it for us. Soon two cops arrived, told us that we were illegally parked in a fire lane, searched our vehicles and wrote us parking tickets. At some point during the performance we announced that we had gotten tickets while trying to load in and we sent a couple of girls that were with us (Heidi and one of her friends?) around with a hat to take up a collection to pay for the tickets. Later one of the girls told me between songs that they had actually collected more than enough to pay for the tickets. I took the excess change and began to toss it into the crowd.  Well why not? Real rock stars were always throwing things into the crowd.  Another big mistake – for the next two or three songs pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters came zooming past my head as the crowd flung them back at us!

Vista High School – Another after-game dance
Chip: We were booked to play an after-game dance at Vista.  Now, about this time we had discovered Carvin in Escondido, which was then still a very small and personal company.  The owners, brothers Carson and Gavin, had a policy of letting local bands try out a full Carvin PA system at a live gig.  So I arrange this with them for the Vista dance. The procedure is that they actually load up the PA system in their own van, bring it to the gig and set it up.  The very afternoon of the dance, we get a call from Vista: they've cancelled the dance!  It's after hours, but I frantically call Carvin in hopes of heading them off.  Fortunately they answer the phone, but meanwhile they've already loaded their van with all the gear, and are a little pissed off about it.  They tell me that they will never be able to do that for us again.  I've been just a little scared of them ever since.

 
• June 1971: High School graduation.  Chip gets drunk for the first time ever!

Membrane after High School: 1971

• Friday September 17, 1971 (HGC): Play for after-game dance at Vista High School
• Saturday September 18, 1971 (HGC): Play for dance at San Marcos High School
• late September 1971: Chip, Carl and Kim all start at UCSD.
Chip: One reason I passed up Stanford for UCSD was to stay in the band.  In hindsight, probably not a great decision, but it could have worked if I hadn't fallen into "teenage wasteland" during 1972.
• Other gigs, late 1971: I'm almost certain that there were at least one or two gigs prior to Poway High in December.
• December 3, 1971: After-game dance at Poway High.  This is where and when "Membrane Live at Poway High", our only known, surviving live recording, was made.  The practice recordings "Carl's Good Example" and "In The Pit" also date from around this period.

 

 
 
 

The last documented performance of "Membrane" was at Poway High, December 3 1971.
 

1972: The Band Breaks Up

When I first started the project to figure out the whole "Cinnimon Haze" chronology I wrote down the following: "1972: Sometime during the first half of the year, the band just fades away as we go our separate ways.  Or maybe I just faded away: I drop out of school, give away many possessions, give up soap, and hitchhike around the USA with no money."

Since then I've had the unique opportunity to refresh my memory from my mother's calendars.  The last band practice mentioned in her notes was on May 26, 1972.   Five days later I began a series of long treks across the USA, largely alone, either hitchhiking or by car, which kept me away from home almost continuously until November.  I have to admit that my own absences contributed greatly to the band's end.  When I returned in November we were all very different people and the band was dead.

Those of you who kept in close touch with me during the period 1972-1973 (mostly Monte, Kim and David) know that substance abuse led to some serious problems for me.  I thank God for the patience of my friends and family, and for allowing me to survive those years without a criminal record and with my mind mostly intact.
-- Chip Chapin