I've known Roy for at least six years. I written about him before. (see below) When i first met him he introduced himself as a guitarist, bassist and someone who had toured the world playing with people like JONI MITCHELL, THE ASSOCIATION and others. He was also a graduate of Hollywood High School in the era of STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT JOHN RITTER. His mother played piano, and she was like a promoter for some of the stars. Roy was adopted and didn't know his real Canadian parents. They may have been killed in a car crash. Anyway Roy's parents discovered early that he had musical talent and later discovered that he has perfect pitch. In fact often he would tell me i was out of tune. Roy did all the music things while in school, was a surfer; in fact he told me a lot of the history of Hollywood and Santa Monica. Then he went to U.C.L.A and got straight A'S majoring in music. He said he didn't have to study much, and he played in bands and was making money while in music while in high school and college. Once he graduated, he was touring the world playing music. Then he served as a medivac in the Vietnam War; he saw lots of blood and helped a lot of soldiers.
I think Roy began drinking when he was young and continued throughout his adult life. And after two failed marriages, he ended up on the street. His belongings supposedly were in storage. However when i first met him I didn't know he slept on the street. He seemed like a good guy; had a lot of musical knowledge, and I would let him sing when I had to go to the bathroom or something. He's helped me on and off all this time except when he was missing for months at a time; he would disappear, and often i didn't know where he was except once I visited him in a nursing home. He had been hit by a car and was recuperating in a nursing home for nearly a year. Also in the past six years, I took him on many gigs, most recently to BOB UDKOFF'S FUNERAL and before that to A GREAT DAY IN L.A. He helps me carry my stuff, and he gets to eat at these gigs!
Roy's health has deterioraged a lot since I've known him. When I first met him he used to read a lot. He was able to push my bag and carry all my stuff with no problem and also walk as fast as I could. However since his last hospitalization, he can only walk slowly and can't carry much; so now I either do the heavy work myself or hire another homeless person. And Roy now takes some kind of heart medicine.
Despite all this, Roy has charm, and a very smart young lady 30 years younger was attracted to him, and actually married him in the last year. She and her mother crashed her mother's Mercedes, and the mother died from the accident. Roy's wife was O.K and now works for Merrill Lynch. They had some marital problems, and Roy was on the street again.
However today Roy buzzes my apartment and brings me $50 cash, some money I loaned him; He may have owed me more, but I lost track over the years.
SOMEHOW ROY QUALIFED FOR SSI. (SOME FORM OF SOCIAL SECURITY.) HE NOW RECEIVES $900 A MONTH AND IS TRYING TO GET SECTION 8 HOUSING. HE ALWAYS HAD FOOD STAMPS. AND NOW HIS WIFE IS GOING TO TAKE HIM BACK, AND THEY'RE PLANNING TO BUY A HOME ON CATALINA ISLAND. HER MOTHER WAS A WIDOW AND USED TO LIVE IN BRENTWOOD. SO SHE INHERITED SOMETHING.
MIRACLES CAN HAPPEN, BUT I THINK GENERALLY ONLY IN THIS COUNTRY. SOMEONE LIKE ROY SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD LONG AGO IN MOST COUNTRIES!
I EVEN INVITED HIM TO VITELLO'S THIS THURSDAY FOR THE BILL CUNLIFFE CD RELEASE BECAUSE ROY LOVES THE MUSIC.
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