OIB Party June 15! We’d Really Love To See You At The Bijou, Music Legend John Ford Coley Joins Hollies Hall Of Famer Terry Sylvester In Concert

OIB is having a party and you’re invited as our guest at the Bijou Theatre on Saturday June 15 to see John Ford Coley with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Terry Sylvester for a rare night of songs that have become the soundtrack for millions of music fans. You’ll hear John Ford Coley hits and classics from the Hollies such as Long Cool Woman. Doors open at 7 p.m. Concert at 8. The Bijou, 275 Fairfield Avenue Downtown is a blast. Join us. Concert ticket on us. And don’t forget, the best gossip in town.

John Ford Coley cranked out numerous hits with his partner “England Dan” Seals in the 1970s including I’d Really Love To See You Tonight, Nights Are Forever Without You and the Todd Rundgren-penned Love Is The Answer. In 2010 Sylvester was voted into Rock royalty as a member of the Hollies. In 1968 Sylvester replaced Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) in the Hollies and among the hits recorded during his time were He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, with then-unknown session man Elton John playing piano. OIB conducted a Q&A with JFC about his life and music and what to expect when he hits the Bijou stage Downtown.

Q. The Bijou Theatre in Bridgeport is an exquisite intimate venue that will complement your musical storytelling. Your pairing with Terry Sylvester adds an interesting dynamic with a former member of the Hollies. What can fans expect the night of the show?

A. For those who do not speak English English it would be me translating for Terry so they could understand his accent. But for that to really work, first they would have to understand my Southern accent. Just kidding. Actually Terry and I began performing together with a good friend of ours, James Griffin of the group Bread, and we called ourselves “Softrock Cafe” just before 9/11/2001. Our first gig together was 2 days before 9/11. Jimmy unfortunately passed in 2006 but occasionally Terry and I perform together. It’s quite a thrill for me still to be able to sing all the Hollies songs with Terry. They were such tremendous songs and it’s fun to take everyone back to that time period of singing the Hollies songs and the songs that my former partner England Dan sang as well. So you will hear quite a number of those songs. Plus Terry and I laugh a lot and tell stories and joke. We have a fun time and the audience does as well.

Q. In the Dallas of your youth you began a musical partnership in high school with “England Dan” Seals. What were your creative expectations then coming out of the Dallas music scene in the 1960s?

A. Dan and I went to the same high school in Dallas, TX. He was a year ahead of me. I ended up being the new piano player in a “combo” he was part of. Dan and I didn’t get along well at first because he wanted another guitar player in the group and got voted down by the other members who wanted a piano player. As far as expectations, I truly don’t think I had any expectations except to have fun, play music and make a few bucks for gasoline and not have to throw my two paper routes anymore. It was all so new for me and I had the best time during my youth because of it. However, it was very difficult on a relationship because we were working almost every weekend when the other kids were out dancing to our music and our girlfriends had to sit at home and we were quite popular with almost everyone but our girlfriends. Truthfully, I seriously doubt that any of us ever thought it would go as far as it did. It just seemed to take on a life of its own. Even when I went to college I thought I would be off to medical school or something but it seems that life and G-d had different plans for me, that and the fact that my grades wouldn’t have allowed me to be a butcher’s assistant much less go to med school. Fortunately, I still love being able to perform and travel all these years. It’s been a life of adventure that continues to expand.

Q. When “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” became a chart topper how did you deal with the attention that followed?

A. Ironically, Dan and I never worked under the assumption that we were out there to be stars. We just wanted to play and provide for our families. Fortunately we had a tremendous “upbringing” from traveling on the road for so many years and watching how the groups that we toured with did it. Bands like Bread, Three Dog Night, Chicago, Carol King, Seals and Crofts, Elton John, The Youngbloods, etc. They were the pros and we were just neophytes on a learning curve. They actually taught us how to live on the road, how to behave, how to treat fans, who and what to avoid, how to come to the conclusion that you’re life was no longer yours if you were in this profession, etc. So, when we finally did have a hit record of our own, I felt prepared to deal with the demands that that success brought. Truthfully, it’s not all fun and games. There’s a staggering amount of work that is associated with it. Radio interviews, press interviews, dinners for sponsors, television shows, record store signings, standing signing autographs after the gigs, rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals, sound checks, meet and greets, on and on. Sometimes we would be gone on the road without seeing home for two months. Most of the time we were just exhausted because you get very little sleep. Yeah, it all looks glamorous, but there’s a lot of work that is required to keep it going. The music and film industry work on the same principal as the fastest gun in the West syndrome. You can’t rest because there is always someone there ready and willing to take your place.. I even had one doctor friend of mine tell me that I’d better slow down or I’d be dead in a year. But I really do love it and have been doing it a long time. What really kept me from falling in the trap of “stardom” was that I continued to have the same friends as before. They knew me and didn’t treat me like I was something new. They wouldn’t let me get away with anything just because I had records on the charts. I was just John to them.

Q. Your book Backstage Pass chronicles the bizarre world of a musician on the road. Any favorite stories to share?

A. I had such a fun time writing this book. I thought at first I might, possibly, have about 50 pages of stories. 350 pages later I’m cutting out things. It’s not about drugs, sex and rock & roll, it’s about the ridiculous things that would happen to us. I truly enjoy laughing, mainly because I’m very intense by nature so it’s to relieve the tension in me that I laugh that much. And besides, life truly is funny. People are funny and being on the road can be some of the most stress filled times you can imagine. There are so many stories and they continue to come each and every time I’m on the road. I think one of my all-time favorite stories was of the woman in California that told me after the show, in a very sweet voice, how my song Nights Are Forever Without You was her and her fiance’s favorite song. They danced to it, he proposed to her by it, they loved to it. She said “we did everything to that song.” Not being remotely interested in what her “everything” might include, I politely said thank you. Right before my eyes this woman completely changed in her appearance. She squeezed my hand so tight and got within an inch of my face then in a voice I didn’t recognize as coming from her previously, this crazed eyed, demonically spitting voice said, “And then that &(**^()*%$^&^% left me and I’ve hated your song every since.” When I recovered all I could say to her was, “Cool.” Life is funny.

Q. Finally, a question I ask often of artists: for those of us follicularly challenged, why is it that so many musicians manage to keep their hair later in life? Is it the sex, drugs and rock & roll of their youth?

A. I think many of us live by the credo: “I remember the days when our hair was thick and our waists were thin, instead of the other way around.” Even after a show periodically some well-intentioned person will ask if we want to go out and party. I generally just tell them that I’m looking for a buffet these days. So, in answer to your question, the answer is a clear resounding, I don’t know. Genes maybe. Tight-fitting jeans, of course.