Imagine El Cajon without Valley Music!

Unfortunately if things don’t turn around pretty quickly, in all likelihood that will happen! As hard as I am trying to make a go of things here on North Magnolia, the economy just will not co-operate, and the clock is ticking. I feel like I am sitting out on a limb that is being sawn off of the tree. Word of mouth can only do so much in letting people know we are here. Even though I informed the schools that we were still in business and in a new location, I only made a couple of the band directors’ lists of places where parents could rent instruments for their children. It’s hard with no money for advertising, and what money comes in goes right back out for bills. My inventory is much smaller, and where I used to order in boxes, now I order in singles.

Our open microphone is doing well, however it doesn’t generate a lot of money for the store, even when I offer 20% off of everything in the store except consignments, sales are pretty slow. The donation bucket at least covers the cost of pizza, water and coffee.

We were hoping to have a benefit to help raise money for the behind rent. But I think we are about out of time.  If anyone has any suggestions, leave them in a comment below, (at least I will know someone is reading this) and I AM listening…….

Friends in Far Away Places

It’s amazing to me how, so many people all over the United States, know about Valley Music Store! When word got out via a couple of articles in the papers and a spot by Larry Himmel on channel 8, That we had been ousted from our long time space on Main Street, I had messages from people all across the country from Washington State to North Carolina!

One such person is a very nice gentleman from Texas, Mr. Kenneth MacDonald.  Before we had to leave the original store, (We were given 60 days to move, but we had to take over 300! It was hard to find and build in another suitable place so quickly!) Mr. MacDonald had contacted me curious about the history of My Father and his connection to Spade Cooley and Tex Williams and about the Music Store. He had heard about the move we had to make from one of the newspaper articles online and after a pleasant conversation asked me if I would accept a small donation. He was going to send me $25.00 if I would take it. I was flabbergasted! And told him how kind the offer was! A very nice letter followed shortly thereafter, and instead of twenty five dollars, he had sent $100.00. I burst into tears… couldn’t believe it. What a wonderful thing he had done! He called again a couple of days later to make sure I had gotten it. I didn’t know what to say. I am not used to such kindnesses. And it was hard to talk through the lump in my throat. Even now, when I think of what a kind soul he is, I start to tear up! He repeated his kindness a few months later. I got another letter from him, out of the blue with another check for $100.00. The next time I spoke with him, I promised to dedicate a wall to him where I would hang the older pictures I had in the store of my Father during his beginnings in his music career. I wanted to hang pictures of him with “Texas” Jim Lewis in the mid thirties, where he got his start and with “Spade” Cooley’s Orchestra in the forties, and later with “Tex” Williams and the Western Caravan. I still plan on doing that, and will when I manage my ‘mobility’ issues!

Mr. MacDonald actually got to come to San Diego a couple of months ago to visit a friend of his. Both he and his friend came by the store and I was pleased to chat with him face to face. He brought me a sheaf of papers he had researched on his passion, country swing music. It was so very thoughtful of him to do that. I showed him around the new store, but I wish he had been able to come out when we were still in the original building! There was so much history there!!

He called me a couple of days ago to tell me his friend had passed away suddenly. I offer my deepest heartfelt sympathies to his family and to Mr. MacDonald.

Where Were You When the Towers Fell?

I was up early getting ready to cook breakfast for my Rotary Club. I was doing some pre-preparation in the kitchen. I had CNN on in the living room so I could hear the news while I was working. My coffee was ready and I poured a cup and stepped into the living room to take a minute for myself before I loaded my car. The news alert came on that a plane had just flown into the North tower and there was the footage of the terrible flames. What a terrible accident I thought, how very surreal!  I awoke my room mate and told her what had happened. She stumbled into the room bleary eyed. She wasn’t a morning person. I started loading my car….slowly, even though I was running late it was hard to look away from the terrible scene on television. It was almost daylight and I was usually on the road by now.. I was stopping in the living room each trip I made to stare in horror at the footage. My car was finally loaded up, but by now, I had a tough time pulling myself away from the television. I had almost succeeded when the second plane hit the second Tower. No coincidence …No accident!  I sat down hard and couldn’t tear my eyes away, but I knew I had to. I was already late. I don’t even remember the drive to the center where we held our meetings. I was in the kitchen trying to fix breakfast and everyone was in the secretary’s office huddled around the radio. I would get periodic updates….. And then the unthinkable happened, the first tower fell!

How could that be? I tried to cook but it was hard to see with the tears streaming down my face. I burned the biscuits and the scrambled eggs were brown. It didn’t matter; no one wanted to eat anyway. The second tower went down and we all stood there crying and prayed. I don’t really remember much of the rest of the day, except that there were two more devastating crashes, The Pentagon and that lonely field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania where the Heroes on the plane took matters into their own hands. We had a television at work and watched the chaos all day until it was time to go home and watch some more.

I think we all knew by then that this was not just a bad dream; our lives would never be the same in America. It was time to grow up!

Now I hear that Mayor Bloomberg has said that there is not enough room for Clergy (of any kind) the fire fighters and first responders at the 10 year anniversary. Not enough room? There was enough room on THAT day for all of those Heroes who responded and died saving those citizens trapped in the building. The first counted casualty was a Priest who rushed to the World Trade Center to minister to the injured and fallen and pray for the city. Mayor Bloomberg…Shame on you!

Just my opinion, but turn of events is as wrong as you can get!

As the 11^th grows near, keep all those who were lost in your hearts. And especially, remember those who were climbing the stairs as the workers were going down. Ten years after the fall, it should still take your breath away…Embrace it and take the time to grieve.

Alan East at Open Microphone August 27th 2011

Our Open Microphone Had a Great Turnout!

We had a really good turnout for our Open Microphone this past Saturday night. It’s really nice to have our ‘regulars’ come out, but it is really sweet to have new people show up to play. Everyone seems to like our open mic because the people, who come, come to actually listen to the music. It’s nice because you don’t have to compete with the cappuccino machine, or people eating and chatting while you play. It’s the music that they come for.

Hub and Anne Thompson have been posting performance the videos on our own station of Youtube. You can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=valleymusicstore&aq=f  Anyone who plays, can get a dvd of their performance, usually ready by the next weekend.

Everyone is welcome to come, from musicians to poets to comedians. Our audience is ‘up’ for it all. We have coffee and pizza (we ask for a small donation to cover costs) and have a liberal 20% discount on all items in the store with the exception of consignment pieces. We would love to have new faces show up this coming holiday Labor week-end!

Any of you who attended the Open Mic, I would ask that you please join the Blog and post your experience!

I Ended My Mom's Career!

I was born in Cleveland Ohio, and in effect pretty much ended my Mother’s career in music. Three months after my birth we traveled to California. Dad and Smokey were playing with the Spade Cooley Orchestra so it was Sunny California for us…. In early 1943, my father was drafted and went to do his service in the Army, for a short time, leaving my Mother and me to stay with his Mom and Dad in North Hollywood. I still have the note that Spade Cooley sent to Dad, promising to keep his job open for him on his return. Luckily for our family, Dad never really saw any combat, and didn’t have to stay in long, but being away from home is tough on everyone. When his tour of duty was over, Dad rejoined the Spade Cooley Orchestra, who was playing regularly out at Forman Phillips Barn Dance in Riverside Rancho. I believe he was with Spade until around 1944 or 45. Around that time, for about a year, because of a Musician’s Union Strike, no music was recorded by Unionised Musicians in America. (The only important group of musicians not part of the union was the Boston Symphony!)  Before the strike took effect, the record companies recorded as much music as they could possibly turn out in the run up to the strike . I heard my Mom and Dad talk about those recording sessions. My Dad went into the studio and they recorded for more than 27 straight hours. When that was over he got three checks, one for musician, one for arranger and one for songwriter. The checks were substanial enough that they paid for a house in North Hollywood, just up the street from Roy and Dale Roger’s place.

A little Valley Music History:

Valley Music, original location 1952-2008

Valley Music has been a mainstay in El Cajon since September of 1952, when Smokey Rogers and my father, "Cactus" Soldi formed a partnership and opened the shop on what was once the main roadway through town, Highway 80, connecting San Diego to all points east.


Fresh from the breakup with Tex Williams, the Western Caravan needed a place to play, so they opened the Bostonia Ballroom in Bostonia, California.  But, as everyone knows, a musician needs a day job to support their passion....Playing music.  Both businesses flourished, possibly because Smokey and the Western Caravan were local celebrities.  Early on, I remember going to the store, which was the only Music Store east of San Diego, and seeing it filled with Fenders, Martins, Gibsons, and Gretsch guitars, Rogers drum kits, accordions and all the accessories a musician could possibly want or need.  Local musicians flocked there and "hung" out daily, talking and jamming.  Occasionally, I remember when Dad (Cactus) sold a guitar to Audie Murphy for his son.  For those of you who do not know, Audie Murphy, turned Hollywood actor, was the most decorated soldier of WWII, and starred in his own story...To Hell and Back!

This picture was taken on the stage of the Bostonia Ballroom, about 1960, left to right, Larry "Pedro" DePaul, Cactus Soldi, Johnny Weiss, Joquin Murphy, unknown, Myron Sutton, Dean Eaker, in the front is Smokey Rogers.

Times were a lot different back then, especially for kids!  You could actually play outside without the fear someone would "snatch" you up!  Most Moms were stay at home housewives.  You could drink water out of the hose on a hot summer day, more likely you were encouraged to (and we didn't die from it).  Cars were huge "boats" that had no seat belts, (the cars back then were made out of metal, not tin foil like today).  You could pretty much take out a street sign and not leave too much of a mark on your car!  You didn't have to lock the doors at night because no one would dream of breaking in and stealing your stuff!  When you got into a scuffle, the lady up the street could pretty much tell you to "knock it off and go home" without fearing a lawsuit.

That's when the Bostonia Ballroom was the place to be on the weekends!  When the house band (The Western Caravan) wasn't playing there, the likes of Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Bob Wills, George Jones, or Jim Reeves would be headlining on Saturday night.  People would come from all around for the shows and pay $1.50 or $1.75 a head to get in.  Sailors would come by twos and threes in taxi cabs, dressed in their "blues", most of whom were from somewhere east of the Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and looking for a little piece of "home" in a place where they knew no-one but their fellow sailors.  It wasn't like it is today, communications are so inexpensive now that we take it for granted.  Back then, a call home was an event that cost a pretty penny.  You made a list of all the things you needed to say because the time between calls were sometimes few and far between!  A lot of these boys were "adopted" by my Mom and Dad, and during the week, when they had nothing to do, they would hop a bus to El Cajon and take the hour long ride to "hang out" at the music store and talk about home.  In the late fifties, my Mother, "Ginger" sold tickets at the door, and my Dad "Cactus" played fiddle on the stage, and I used to baby-sit my little brother upstairs in the apartment occupied by Smokey's parents.  After he would go to sleep, I would sometimes sneak down the stairs, hide in the utility room and look out through the end of the bar where I could see the stage and watch some of the performers, ready to scamper back up the stairs before anyone could see!  Or go down the long hall to the back of the apartment that ran the width of the Ballroom on the street side and sneak out the  back door that opened onto the roof.  I could peer down into the patio and watch the sailors trying to pick up girls.  Oh yeah, I was sailor crazy...that was the prey of the day for a young girl.