Vicki Abelson's Broadcast: The Road Taken

I knew I was about to be face-to-face with five-time Grammy Nominee, producer, composer, arranger, vocalist, and guitarist extraordinaire, Johnny Gale, for the first time in three-plus decades, when I was booking rock, and Johnny was playing it, back in the heady daze of the New York club scene. What I didn't know is that we actually met five decades ago. What?!? Earlier today, listening to an interview Johnny did recently, at the tail end, more than an hour and a half in, he mentioned his friend, Vinny Graffeo. I knew Johnny was from Queens. I lived in Queens. My boyfriend in 1970, Vinny Graffeo lived in Queens. Could there be another guitar/bass player at that time, in that place, with that name? I screen-shared some pics. Turns out no. We shared the same Vinny. Upon seeing the pics, Johnny recognized 15 year old me. What a way to kick off a conversation. The fun didn’t stop. We talked the early days, the music he was listening to, his ascent to playing, the bands, the gigs, the players, from Vinny and Ma