My first really good guitar was a Gibson J-45.

I was rooming with Jimmy Bowen at the time, doing some gigs, then I went back to New Orleans and played there in '62.

I'd gone through periods where I didn't work live performances for probably seven or eight months at a time.

When I came back to California in the early '60s I was hanging out with Jimmy Bowen, Phil Spector, and I wanted to be a record producer and work with other artists.

Guys like Otis Blackwell and Bobby Darin, and all the guys who were writing songs for Elvis at the time, just hanging around, writing songs, talking about music.

I was working at this club in downtown L.A. from four to eight at night, just Eddie Rubin, the drummer, and I.

That rich guy you've been seeing, must have put you down. Welcome back baby, to the poor side of town.