During the mid to late 70s, Marin County was home to Bay Area music legends like Elvin Bishop, Van Morrison, and Jerry Garcia just to name a few. They often sat in with local bands trying out new material or just to plain jam, it was a thriving tight nit musical community. At that time Marin and the Bay Area in general was a musicians paradise, plenty of places to play and eager thirsty patrons ready to listen, with a lifestyle filled with all the trappings the 70s had to offer. Two of my favorite bands back then were Clover and Sound Hole. The two bands were for the most part all local guys from Marin. They were friendly rivals often jockeying for top billing at the same gig. I saw them both many times at “The Lion’s Share,” Marin’s first mosh pit. It was a crowded and smokey little sauna disguised as a nightclub on Sir Francis Drake boulevard in San Anselmo that had a seating capacity of one hundred fifty people, but always felt like three hundred. Not only did you rub elbows with the patrons at The Lion’s Share, but you also unintentionally rubbed every other part of your body as well. It was to say the least, very intimate! Both Clover and Sound Hole were stocked full of talent but very different musically. Clover was Country / Rock and Sound Hole was more rhythm and blues, featuring a horn section. In the mid-seventies my friends and I were bummed out when we heard that Clover and Sound Hole had broken up. A number of factors led to their demise, but a reunion of sorts was in the works. One day a friend who was a particularly good jazz guitarist told me the guys from Clover and Sound Hole were getting together at this little strip mall nightclub called Uncle Charlies in Corte Madera on Monday nights. They were calling it “The Monday Night Live Band.” And to top it off, my friend was in the band. I was already a regular at Uncle Charlies and the owners Jeannie and Bobby made it feel like home. So off I went almost every Monday night. I was so happy for my friend; this gig was big for him. Monday nights were dead around Marin, so a fun time was had by all. The entertainment industry is a tough nut to crack. For every Carlos Santana there are thousands upon thousands of musicians that never make “The Big Time”. And as fate would have it, some of the Monday Night Live band members got signed to a record label and some guys did not. When the dust had settled Huey Lewis and Sean Hopper from Clover and Johnny Colla, Mario Cipollina and Bill Gibson from Sound Hole had joined forces. They then added lead guitarist Chris “The Kid” Hayes from San Francisco (Bonnie Hayes’s little brother) and the rest is music history. They had paid their dues, playing in every dive bar, and nightclub that the Bay Area had to offer. Under Bob Brown’s management they were transformed from an unpolished but talented club band, into a mainstream multi-platinum record selling juggernaut, with over thirty million records sold. They had successfully infiltrated the music business with their new Hip to be Square image. Their videos were a staple during MTV's infancy, their song The Power of Love from the movie Back to the Future received an Academy Award nomination, for best original song. And during 49ers and Giants games their acapella renderings of the national anthem at Candlestick Park were legendary. They had become Huey Lewis and the News. During their prime, pound for pound, one of the tightest units in show business. And if not for Huey Lewis’s tragic hearing loss, they would still be pumping out the hits. But still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And that, as they say, is show business. Here is Homespun, music by Huey Lewis and the News with the Tower of Power Horns, Clover, and Sound Hole. Produced and edited by LaMont R. DeBarbieri. This video is a non-profit informative and commemorative labor of love. Video meets all fair use guidelines. Happy Birthday to Hugh Anthony Cregg III!

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