Hangin' with the band in Miami

This was one of my first record albums. It was given to me by the band's members when I was a kid.

Pacific Gas & Electric was staying in the same Miami Beach hotel as my family. It was sometime in the late 1960s. I was no more than 12 years old.

I was shooting pool by myself when the dudes walked into the room. It was obvious that these guys were either in a rock band or a biker gang. I liked music but never heard of this band. Still, it was very cool meeting them. We played pool together a few times over the course of several days. I was somewhat of a cocky little kid from Long Island, so this didn't feel that strange to me.

The band took a liking to me for some reason. I found out that they were basing themselves in Miami for a couple weeks while they gigged around the state and into Georgia. They took small, private planes to their shows and were playing in some music festival locally. They even invited me to one of the gigs, which in hindsight seems almost a bit creepy. My parents weren't thrilled that I was hanging out with long-haired hippies. Still, I wasn't going to be denied a chance to be an unofficial part of the band for a few days. I didn't make it to the gig, however. That just wasn't going to fly with the parents.

For a kid who was well on his way to being a fan of all things rock 'n' roll, this chance encounter with the band sent me on my way to learning to play guitar and starting up some garage bands. I never took a lesson, but neither did PG&E's guitarist, Tom Marshall. Like him, I was self taught.

My favorite guys in the band were Brent Block, bassist, and Charlie Allen, lead singer. To this day, I remember how Block signed my album cover: "Boogie on." Unfortunately, the vinyl album is long gone. I remember Block looking like a taller version of Dennis Hopper in the movie, Easy Rider.

Allen was originally a drummer from Baltimore. He eventually became lead singer because of his bluesy, dynamic voice. He was replaced on drums by Canned Heat's former drummer, Frank Cook.

The band's only hit was Are You Ready. The song is rarely if ever played on classic rock radio stations. But I can still hear it in my head. Probably played it a thousand times when I was a kid.

I liked Charlie Allen the best, probably because he had that lead singer, charismatic quality. But he also had a down-to-earth, lived-the-blues aura about him. If I recall correctly, he was the only black guy in the band. When I Googled his name recently, I found out that he died in 1990 at age 48. Not sure what the caused of death was, but living the rock 'n' roll life was pretty hard on many musicians from that era.

I remember that vacation ending with my walking through the hotel lobby and being handed the autographed album. Allen and Block were there to give it to me. Might have been one or two other guys there, too. Roadies or managers. They also signed some hotel brochure cards.

It was depressing leaving the hotel and going back to being an ordinary kid. At that age one can have all sorts of dreams about being famous and living the life. It was kind of nice to be able to dream like that - to be able to think that everything would just fall into place in life.