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MY STORY WITH JOHNNY CASH WHO WAS THE RECORD MAN? I was about 4 years old when a family friend Cody gave mom an early Johnny Cash album. It soothed me to sleep at night, thus the songs I heard became a huge part of me. Although I was too young to know what any lyrics meant or who Johnny Cash was, as a child I was comforted by the man on my mommy's record player. . . "The record man." Many years later, Johnny Cash had a television show. I remember how I sat right in front of the TV every Wednesday night for a "front row seat". I wanted to be close and wished I could meet him some day. I attribute much of my spiritual belief to Johnny Cash. His faith poured out richly, not only from his music, but from his being. I wrote a song called "Record Man" which tells how he helped inspire me to become a singer. A CHILDHOOD DREAM COME TRUE My childhood dream of meeting Johnny Cash came true when I was an adult! When I was manager of a Morgan Horse Ranch (which was part of the National Park Service) I told one of the ranch volunteers named Marilyn that Johnny Cash was my idol and I was planning to go see him in concert up in Quincy, California. My jaw dropped when she said she had been to Johnny's house while she was dating Johnny's piano player, Earl Poole Ball. I was very excited when she agreed to join me on the trip and that we'd get to meet everyone. Wow! I was beaming! It turned out that Marilyn could not come with me so I went alone. However, she called Earl and set things up for me. I met up with Earl at the Hotel where the Johnny Cash gang was staying. I knocked on Earl's door and he greeted me with his arms wide open like a long lost friend. He smiled and said, Hello, I'm Earl" and gave me a big hug. We hung out back stage at the out door concert. I got to meet Johnny Cash and the Carter Family and even ate some of Johnny's home made chili. And if that wasn't enough, Earl, who was such a wonderful person and a great musician, became an admirable friend. We had some meaningful times together. I loved the way he talked with his southern drawl and how he treated me like a lady. I ended up going to several Johnny Cash shows with Earl. I loved to listen to him play the piano so effortlessly (go to www.earlpooleball.com). Earl, if you ever read this, I want to thank you. When you took me under your wing for a while, you made me feel special . . . and made the little girl in me feel complete with her childhood dream that came true.
ALONE IN THE DARK WITH JOHNNY CASH One of the Johnny Cash shows that Earl brought me to was in Missouri. I was standing back stage in a corner at the side of the curtains while watching the Carter Family perform. Although it was dark, I could see the audience because most of them had gray hair. As I stood there feeling blessed my thoughts were wonderfully interrupted by a big dark shadow of a man walking right toward me. Although I had already met and spoke with Johnny a few times, I felt completely speechless being alone with him in the dark as we stood together while he waited to go on stage. I told him how I loved the show but I don't remember what else we said to each other because I was nervous to say the least. Let me tell you, Johnny's presence was just as great off stage as it was on stage. Later on, Earl told me that Johnny Cash called me a "quality person". Words could not describe how good I felt. JOHNNY CASH'S NUMBER ONE HIT VIDEO ON MTV! (Did I have anything to do with it?) At one of the shows during my stay in Branson Missouri, I asked Earl if he would be so kind as to ask Johnny to sing an old folk song called "Delia's gone". Earl came back to me and said Johnny could not sing it because he forgot the words. I understood because he recorded that particular song so long ago . . . perhaps in the late 50's or the early 60's! Three months after my return home from Branson, my music producer/engineer Gary Potterton asked me if I saw Johnny's new number one video hit on MTV. I said, "No, what is the song?" He said, "Delia's Gone". I was stunned! When I was finally able to see the video, I realized that Johnny must have indeed forgotten the words as he claimed because some of the lyrics were quite different . . . albeit, better and a little on the, shall we say, "dark side". I often wonder, did I put a bug in Johnny's ear to record that song which landed him a number one hit? Wow! If so, I must have good taste in music! Ha!
WHERE DID THE GRAY-HAIRED AUDIENCE GO? After the number one hit with Delia's Gone on MTV, I went to see Johnny Cash sing at the Fillmore in San Francisco. The audience was a different crowd altogether . . . virtually no gray hair! The songs Johnny Cash had recently recorded with "American Recordings" (including "Delia's Gone") seemed to attract a younger audience; something I hadn't seen during my seventeen prior Johnny Cash shows. I remembered when other kids used to tease me for listening to Johnny Cash instead of the Rock and Roll stars. I looked at the audience that was my age and said to myself, "See? Who's listening now?" (I knew a good thing when I saw it . . . even as a kid!) THERE IS MUSIC IN MY BLOOD My mother Eleanor Muzinich was once a professional singer known as "Linda Kuhne". Does anyone remember the jingle, "Do you know the muffler man?" That was one of the commercials she sang during her live TV and radio shows. At one of her singing performances at Hammy's Chuck Wagon in San Rafael, California, a man walked in and saw Linda Kuhne singing on stage wearing a mini skirt. He liked her legs. His name was "Moose". To make a really special story short, they got married and had two daughters, my older sister Melanie and me, Gina. Since mom was busy raising us kids, she could no longer perform, but that didn't stop her love of music and her singing to us kids. Her old songs and love of music helped inspire me to become a singer. My mother's parents were musicians as well. Her mother, Clara, played the mandolin and the piano. Mom's father, Carl, played the guitar. In fact he gave me his old acoustic Gibson guitar before he passed away. I wrote a song called "Grandpa's Guitar" which is on my "Ride the Wind" album (you can hear a segment of the song on this website). The song tells about grandpa's journey down the rivers in Europe in a paddle boat with his band members, stopping in different towns and cities along the way to play music for the people in trade for meals and a place to spend the night. Grandpa said those two years were the best of his 97 years of life! WHERE I WAS RAISED My father, Melvin John Muzinich (1924-2008), who was also known as "Moose", was a Ranger for the Marin Municipal Water District for 45 years. This district was located in Marin County, California and consisted of 22 thousand acres and six lakes. I was raised on this land in the lake-keeper's house at Phoenix Lake for 27 years. Dad practically ran the entire place single-handedly. He was the deputy sheriff, the historian, the game warden, the coroner, the dog catcher, the tree faller, the dam builder, the carpenter, the plumber, the bull dozer operator, you name it. If it wasn't for my father and his rustic, stoic and old-fashioned way of life I would not have been patterned for the style of music that kick-started me and captured my heart. I have so much gratitude for my beloved father whom I miss terribly. Right outside our front door was the lake, Mt. Tamalpais, and Mt. Baldy. We had many animals, both wild and domestic such as horses, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks rabbits, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, turkeys, pheasant, quail, owls, deer, raccoons, fox, badgers, mice, squirrels and so on. Also, there was a log cabin (still standing) that used to be owned by the Porteous family. My parents held parties there for both their horse riding clubs and family. Sometimes I'd go find the padlock key to the cabin door and go inside and either enjoy the mystery of it's history or to sweep the floors. I just loved it in there. I was a lucky kid. I STARTED MY SINGING CAREER IN THE LOG CABIN I started my singing career being a back up singer in a San Francisco Salsa band called "T.N.T." originally known as "Alma". Edgar Reyes, who I met in 1976, was the drummer and the leader of this band. We were a couple for eight years and during that time I learned a lot about being a musician and I loved it. After parting from Edgar, my new partner and I started a country band called "Gina Gaye and the Rangers". We rehearsed in the old log cabin which, back then was 150 years old. This cabin was 100 yards from where I lived. My mom would cook a country dinner for the band. They never forgot it. I didn't know many songs except for Johnny Cash songs, so that's what we played. Later, I sang rockabilly, country, folk, and crossed over into blues and gospel. The band was quite successful. Some of the success I attribute to my special friend and companion, Sergio Monsanto. He helped me so much by getting gigs, rounding up musicians, kicking me in the rear when I needed it and all the other managerial tasks. But most of all, I thank him for his belief in me.
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