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“I stayed in hiding for twenty-five years because people threatened to kill me,” says PF Sloan, songwriter behind '60s hits like “Secret Agent Man,” “Where Were You When I Needed You,” “California Dreamin’” and the anti-war anthem “Eve Of Destruction.”
“It eventually wound up with [my record label] putting a gun to my head and saying ‘Either you die and your family dies or you get out and you give us everything you’ve made,’” Sloan alleges. He signed away his song rights to Dunhill Records in the late sixties and essentially retired from the music business. It's only been a few years since he made the decision to embark on his first-ever solo concert tour.
“Most of the people that have threatened me for all these years have died,” he says.
Sloan recalls being in San Diego in the early sixties and recording locals Sandi and the Accents.
“They called and asked if I’d write a song and produce a record for them,” he says of the band’s 1964 single “I’ve Got Better Things To Do.” “I was about nineteen and my bosses in L.A. couldn’t understand why I was going down there. San Diego was considered creatively untouchable, mainly due to provincial thinking on their part.”
Of the group, he remembers “Sandi [Rouse] had a really lovely voice and the band came up with some great guitar parts…Some of the members later went on to become the Wondermints,” he says, referring to the ensemble who eventually became Brian Wilson’s backing band.
Before Sloan performs at Acoustic Music San Diego in Normal Heights on January 12, don’t be surprised to find him having dinner at Anthony’s downtown. “I love their fried fish.”
According the AMSD honcho Carey Driscoll (who's hosted nearly 500 concerts at the Normal Heights venue), "The first time PF Sloan played at AMSD [November 2006] was, and will always be, one of THE signature nights in what has been a great concert series. If you were one of the lucky people who was there, you know what I mean."
"And if you weren't, you're lucky, too, because you have the chance to see the guy who wrote a lot of the hits you've heard for well over 45 years, and played and sang on many of them and many others, as a session musician in the mid-60s Los Angeles recording scene."
Among those tunes: "A Must To Avoid" (a hit for Herman's Hermits), "Eve Of Destruction" (Barry McGuire), "Let Me Be" (The Turtles), "Secret Agent Man" (Johnny Rivers), "Summer Means Fun" (Jan & Dean), "Where Were You When I Needed You" (The Grass Roots), and "You Baby" (The Turtles).
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/27/37561/
In June 2007, Sloan was joined for his second AMSD show, as he will be for this one, by Creed Bratton, who was in the Grass Roots and later became a recurring cast member on the Office.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/27/37563/
The Grass Roots (originally just PF Sloan, his songwriting partner Steve Barri, and some studio musicians) scored chart hits like "Let's Live for Today" (U.S. #8); "Things I Should Have Said" (U.S. #23); and "Midnight Confessions" (U.S. #5, their biggest hit) before Creed left the group.
"Sloan and Bratton will sing the songs, tell some great stories, and open the floor to questions from the audience in the kind of intimate setting AMSDconcerts is known and loved for," says Driscoll.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/27/37562/
Here's the deets:
PF SLOAN and CREED BRATTON at AMSDconcerts: 4650 Mansfield Street January 12, 2013 - TICKETS: $20 / $47 (Dinner Package) -- Go to http://AMSDconcerts.com/January.html
“I stayed in hiding for twenty-five years because people threatened to kill me,” says PF Sloan, songwriter behind '60s hits like “Secret Agent Man,” “Where Were You When I Needed You,” “California Dreamin’” and the anti-war anthem “Eve Of Destruction.”
“It eventually wound up with [my record label] putting a gun to my head and saying ‘Either you die and your family dies or you get out and you give us everything you’ve made,’” Sloan alleges. He signed away his song rights to Dunhill Records in the late sixties and essentially retired from the music business. It's only been a few years since he made the decision to embark on his first-ever solo concert tour.
“Most of the people that have threatened me for all these years have died,” he says.
Sloan recalls being in San Diego in the early sixties and recording locals Sandi and the Accents.
“They called and asked if I’d write a song and produce a record for them,” he says of the band’s 1964 single “I’ve Got Better Things To Do.” “I was about nineteen and my bosses in L.A. couldn’t understand why I was going down there. San Diego was considered creatively untouchable, mainly due to provincial thinking on their part.”
Of the group, he remembers “Sandi [Rouse] had a really lovely voice and the band came up with some great guitar parts…Some of the members later went on to become the Wondermints,” he says, referring to the ensemble who eventually became Brian Wilson’s backing band.
Before Sloan performs at Acoustic Music San Diego in Normal Heights on January 12, don’t be surprised to find him having dinner at Anthony’s downtown. “I love their fried fish.”
According the AMSD honcho Carey Driscoll (who's hosted nearly 500 concerts at the Normal Heights venue), "The first time PF Sloan played at AMSD [November 2006] was, and will always be, one of THE signature nights in what has been a great concert series. If you were one of the lucky people who was there, you know what I mean."
"And if you weren't, you're lucky, too, because you have the chance to see the guy who wrote a lot of the hits you've heard for well over 45 years, and played and sang on many of them and many others, as a session musician in the mid-60s Los Angeles recording scene."
Among those tunes: "A Must To Avoid" (a hit for Herman's Hermits), "Eve Of Destruction" (Barry McGuire), "Let Me Be" (The Turtles), "Secret Agent Man" (Johnny Rivers), "Summer Means Fun" (Jan & Dean), "Where Were You When I Needed You" (The Grass Roots), and "You Baby" (The Turtles).
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/27/37561/
In June 2007, Sloan was joined for his second AMSD show, as he will be for this one, by Creed Bratton, who was in the Grass Roots and later became a recurring cast member on the Office.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/27/37563/
The Grass Roots (originally just PF Sloan, his songwriting partner Steve Barri, and some studio musicians) scored chart hits like "Let's Live for Today" (U.S. #8); "Things I Should Have Said" (U.S. #23); and "Midnight Confessions" (U.S. #5, their biggest hit) before Creed left the group.
"Sloan and Bratton will sing the songs, tell some great stories, and open the floor to questions from the audience in the kind of intimate setting AMSDconcerts is known and loved for," says Driscoll.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/27/37562/
Here's the deets:
PF SLOAN and CREED BRATTON at AMSDconcerts: 4650 Mansfield Street January 12, 2013 - TICKETS: $20 / $47 (Dinner Package) -- Go to http://AMSDconcerts.com/January.html