Broken Branches on the Family Tree
The other day I received an email from Dennis D (why is it that some of the more interesting comments come as emails instead of as comments on the blog?):
Subject: A record that MUST be in your collection [with a link to the above image]:
Content: Relative?
The funny thing is, I have a relative named Bill Lavorgna that was a drummer but it isn’t this drummer Bill Lavorgna!
You see the Bill in Dennis’ email was Born in Paterson, N.J., on June 3, 1933 making him just a few years older than my father who was also from Paterson. This Bill Lavorgna passed away in 2007 (my father passed away in February of this year). And this Bill played with people like Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Liza Minnelli (that’s Liza with a “z” not Lisa with an “s” because Lisa with an “s” goes ‘sss’ not ‘zzz ‘- those lyrics still torment me).
My cousin Bill, he’s actually a first cousin once removed is the next generation younger than my father (that’s why he’s once removed) and he played on some groovy 60s records like The Free Design’s Kites Are Fun. And you know what? They are. (Light In The Attic Records has reissued a bunch of The Free Design’s LPs including Kites Are Fun!).
I hadn’t thought about my cousin Bill for many years (thanks Dennis D!) – I never knew him and we only met a few times that I can recall. There’s the obligatory hushed hellos at funerals but our most memorable meeting was when Bill stopped by our home some 35+ years ago selling Shaklee health products door-to-door. So I can’t be absolutely certain this drummer Bill is my cousin. But how many Bill the drummer Lavorgnas can there be in this world?
there’s also a Bill Lavorgna playing drums on Bruce Merdoch’s 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute
I plan to research this some more. The odds that a drum-playing Lavorgna from Paterson who played with Frank Sinatra escaped our family tree or my father’s radar is slim to none. Yet I don’t recall my father ever talking about him. He did mention our cousin Bill having played on some ’60s records but the bands remained nameless – they didn’t register on my father’s radar.
yup, the younger Bill the drummer Lavorgna plays on Richie Havens Mixed Bag
It’s funny – one thing I’ve noticed when someone you know dies is they leave these little holes within you that pop up in unexpected places. Unanswered questions that may remain that way forever. Then again, maybe not.
on August 14th, 2010 at 4:14 am
Ahh, but the minutiae of our people was often not available to us even when they were. So we’re left with their essence. Not their symptoms but the roots that gave them the hitch in their step. That’s why a found letter or olfactory memory is so startling, moving us from their essence to their physicality, the voice from beyond. Time for that coffee now, while I’m still with us.