Two Tower of Power members hit by train

[duaneiac]

Right in front of Yoshi's in Oakland as they were on their way to the band's gig there last Thursday.  Very sad.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/13/entertainment/tower-of-power-band-hit-by-train-trnd/index.html

[duaneiac]

An article I read in a local paper said Marc Van Wageningen was filling in for regular bassist Frank Rocco Prestis.  That's what was meant by "current bassist" in the quote above.

[Teasing the Korean]

Any updates?  Will they be OK?

[duaneiac]

The article I read in Saturday's edition of the San Jose Mercury News stated that drummer Dave Garibaldi suffered head and facial injuries and official were optimistic about a full recovery for him.  Bassist Marc Van Wageningen suffered broken ribs, a concussion and internal injuries and underwent surgery.  Officials were waiting for his condition to stabilize before conducting more tests.

This is a weird situation, with a major city street running through a commercial district of restaurants and some stores which has train tracks headed in both directions running right down the middle of it.  Yoshi's has done a very good job of sound-proofing their venue, but one can certainly feel the rumble of the trains as they travel by and if one is seated at a table near the streetside wall, the trains can even be faintly heard.

[Bill Nelson]

Really terrible for Tower of Power's current bassist and original drummer to get clocked by a downtown Oakland train.  In 1971, Dave Garibaldi emerged from the Bay Area scene as the hottest white drummer of the funk, starting with TOP's 'East Bay Grease'. 

The following year, they got signed to Warners and upon releasing 'Bump City', they 'donated' a few tracks to a 2-LP comp on Blue Thumb in recognition of Abe 'Voco' Keshkarian, the legendary FM underground DJ of SF.  (The un-groovy Warners had Blue Thumb remove the 'Tower of Power ' name from the outer jackets.)

Anyway, here's a killer track from the above, with Dave Garibaldi laying down an incredible drum breakbeat:

 

      

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

went there one time, to see jackie, found it odd how the freight train rolls right thru town, assumed the track was there 1st and they just built around it.  cause who would purposely deign something so dangerous.  it obviously was an ACCIDENT....i mean they were obviously just trying to safely cross the st and something went wrong and i am awaiting video or investigation because something went very very wrong.  i guess didnt it say one place, that train 1 passed and the proceeded but train 2 they didnt see, or something to that effect.  

[duaneiac]

Yes, the news account I read said that they waited for a north bound freight train to pass and once it had, they began to cross the tracks even though the warning lights were still flashing and the barricades were still down.  When they crossed to the other set of tracks is when they were hit by a southbound Amtrak train.  The Amtrak station is just down the street from Yoshi's, so I'm assuming the train was going at a somewhat slower speed since it was nearing its stop at the station.  That may have been what saved their lives.

I'm sure the train tracks were there first, probably dating back to whenever the Port of Oakland first became a major freight harbor.  I'm kind of surprised there are not more accidents around there, what with tourists visiting the area and perhaps having a bit too much to drink at one of the bars/restaurants and then trying to find their way around the unfamiliar terrain at night.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

its weird we had a notice here that freight tracks which usually have slower trains every now and then, are going to be used now for faster speed, more frequent, non freight trains, so watch out the notice said

[duaneiac]

Yoshi's will be holding a benefit concert next Monday to help pay some of Marc Van Wageningen's medical bills.

http://www.yoshis.com/event/1418731-marc-vw-benefit-oakland/?utm_source=MEL&utm_medium=209389

 

[clifford_thornton]

Is Marc Van Wageningen related to drummer Paul and saxophonist Rob?

[Caravan]

17 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

Is Marc Van Wageningen related to drummer Paul and saxophonist Rob?

Don't know the answer to that, but Paul van Wageningen and Rob van Wageningen are (were?) not related.

[clifford_thornton]

On 1/20/2017 at 2:51 AM, Caravan said:

Don't know the answer to that, but Paul van Wageningen and Rob van Wageningen are (were?) not related.

oh, thanks! I had just assumed they were because they both played in Dulfer's band. Paul was in Groep 1850 if memory serves.