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\nContinued from Part One<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n
During this period, Phil says that the unsigned band \u201cdid some session work for Terry [Melcher] to make some money.\u201d One of those projects included writing and playing on a pair of songs that would eventually appear on Barry McGuire\u2019s 1968 album The World’s Last Private Citizen<\/em>. The March 30, 1968 issue of Billboard<\/em> mentioned one of these in its \u201cSpecial Merit Spotlight.\u201d In this section \u201cspotlighting new singles deserving special attention of programmers and dealers,\u201d Billboard<\/em> cited McGuire’s Dunhill single titled \u201cTop o’ the Hill,\u201d and credited the composers as \u201cSmith-Volk-Levin.\u201d Billboard<\/em> described the track as \u201ca wild and raucous gang sing-a-long performed with a \u2018live\u2019 audience.\u201d Phil likens the song\u2019s arrangement to Dylan\u2019s \u201cRainy Day Women #12 & 35.\u201d The other \u2014 and better, says Phil \u2014 tune they gave McGuire was called \u201cThe Grasshopper Song.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At this stage the band was managed by Leo Makota, a tough character Phil describes as \u201csort of a John Wayne on acid.\u201d In early 1967 Leo brought Donald \u201cBuddha\u201d Miller in from San Francisco to work for the band. \u201cI had had to leave the Bay Area,\u201d Buddha chuckles, without further elaboration. His new duties included serving as Drake’s driver. \u201cDrake was a wonderfully horrible driver,” laughs Buddha, \u201cand he had lost his license.” Living at Drake\u2019s \u201cCamellia House\u201d in the San Fernando Valley, Buddha was witness to the goings-on there; the house was the site of frequent jam sessions. These involved Lee Michaels, members of The Turtles, Buddy Miles and many others. Although drugs would influence some of the band\u2019s work, at this early stage \u201cthere were not a lot of drugs flying around the compound,\u201d Miller stresses. Brotherhood\u2019s newest member, Drake\u2019s friend Ron Collins, lived there too, as did many other people, some \u201cliving in closets,\u201d Buddha recalls. \u201cLeo had left to go help David Crosby form CSN,” Buddha explains, and he was left behind as aide-de-camp to Drake and his bandmates.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While awaiting resolution of the lawsuits, the quartet retreated to a remote location to relax and get away from the bad vibes. \u201cWe used Smitty\u2019s credit card and took a trip to Hawaii,\u201d laughs Phil. \u201cWe left our families, our wives behind, and we went to Hawaii with hardly any cash in hand.\u201d Shortly after landing, they rented a pickup truck and drove to the far side of Oahu. \u201cThe four of us slept in the cab of that pickup, because we had no place to go.\u201d The next morning, they found some coconuts, broke them open and ate from them. \u201cThat was our breakfast,\u201d Phil says. The quartet finally \u201chooked up with some of Drake\u2019s hippie friends\u201d and crashed at their place. While in Hawaii they wrote some songs and played a few gigs. \u201cWe had some fun experiences there,\u201d Phil says, \u201cbut we had no money. So we had to come back home.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though the band wasn\u2019t making much headway, these were fun and interesting times. Once the band was back in California, Buddha recalls a trip that he, Drake and \u201ctwo TV execs” took to visit the infamous Sonny Barger at the Hell’s Angels clubhouse. \u201cWe went up there to pitch Sonny on an idea Drake had: to follow the Hell’s Angels, documentary style, and film a day-in-the-life piece.” Buddha says that Sonny was interested, \u201cbut the other presidents didn’t \u2018grok\u2019 the concept,\u201d and nothing came of it. Buddha recalls other spontaneous excursions that he and Drake took, including flights to San Francisco to see Jimi Hendrix at Winterland (probably February 1968).<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/barry_mcguire_private_citiz.jpg\")
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