The Gang’s All Here

“New Led Zeppelin album comes out tomorrow.”
“House of Sound opens at 9 o’clock.”
“Shotgun!”
“You can’t call shotgun the day before.”
“Rockcritic is going to write a review for The Mole Press.” (editor’s note: The Mole Press was an underground newsletter produced by my journalism class and Rockcritic was my pen name.)

The next day we piled into my Pinto station wagon and went to our favorite record store to pick up a copy of Physical Graffiti.  Five neighborhood friends: me, my brother David (a.k.a. Bert), Horton, Rippee, and Miller. I drove because I was the only one who was 16. Bert, Horton, and Rippee fought over the passenger seat. Miller has cerebral palsy and it was always easier just to stick him in the “cage,” the cargo area in the back of my station wagon.

On any given day, you would find the five of us in one of our basements. Rippee and Miller had pool tables, Horton had a bumper pool table and Chinese pinball machine, and we had a foosball table and pinball machine. We also had a large stash of board games usually played three at a time. Winning a Triple Crown was the ultimate goal. Of course we all had stereos and listening to music was the centerpiece of our entertainment. We listened to all genres of music: classic rock (e.g. Led Zeppelin), folk (Neil Young), singer/songwriter (James Taylor), Southern rock, (the Allman Brothers), Progressive rock (Pink Floyd), and even comedy (Cheech and Chong). The Beatles were, of course, my favorite. Miller liked KISS, and Rippee was a Rush fan.

Bert and I left for college and he now lives in Fenton, MO. I have lost touch with Rippee. Horton still lives in Springfield and he periodically checks on Miller. Miller lives in his childhood home where his original pool table still resides.

“All Together Now” is a song by the Beatles written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song was recorded during the band’s Magical Mystery Tour period, but remained unreleased until it was included on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack.  It was released as a single in 1972 in European countries such as France and Germany, backed by “Hey Bulldog.”

Yellow Submarine is the tenth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 13 January 1969 in the United States and on 17 January 1969 in the United Kingdom. It was issued as the soundtrack to the animated film of the same name, which premiered in London in July 1968. The album contains six songs by the Beatles, of which “Yellow Submarine” and “All You Need Is Love” had previously been released as singles. The remainder of the album was a re-recording of the film’s orchestral soundtrack by the band’s producer, George Martin.