From AP via
WP:
Guitarist Rod Price of Foghat Dies at 57
The Associated Press
Thursday, March 24, 2005; 9:39 AM
WILTON, New Hampshire - Guitarist Rod Price, founding member of the blues boogie band Foghat, died Tuesday after falling down a stairway at his home, a family friend said. He was 57.
The London native's solos drove Foghat to three platinum and eight gold records during the band's quarter-century career. After many years of touring he settled in Wilton in 1994.
Many in town knew Price as a loving father who never missed his son's baseball, soccer or basketball games. Fewer people knew of Price's musical background.
Price had played with Champion Jack Dupree, Eddie Kirkland, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and Honey Boy Edwards.
In recent years, Price concentrated on his blues projects, cutting several CDs and giving private guitar lessons at his home.
© 2005 The Associated Press
.... And that on the heels of
this:
Teen's love of 'Slow Ride' inspires quest
Song replaced bell used to signal lunch
By Chris Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 19, 2005
CHULA VISTA â?? A song can champion a cause, but in the case of a clever and persistent high school senior, the song is the cause.
Daniel Dorman's tale begins with a ring and ends with an overpowering anthem. He used Gandhi-inspired tactics to confirm the power of one person to change the world â?? or at least high school lunch period.
And, as Daniel explains, "Every story sounds better with the name 'Foghat' in it."
The ring is, by Daniel's reckoning, an "E-sharp" bell that dismisses fifth period and calls Bonita Vista High School students to lunch. It annoys Daniel, and once he decided it needed to be replaced, there was only one worthy substitute: "Slow Ride," the classic rock staple by 70s rockers Foghat.
So Daniel went to Principal Ramon Leyba and asked: How about playing "Slow Ride" in place of the lunch bell?
<img src="http://crossword.uniontrib.com/uniontrib/20050319/images/foghat300.jpg" alt=" - " />
Daniel Dorman (right) hugged Matt Smith as "Slow Ride" played on Bonita Vista High School's public address system.
Leyba was amused, and told Daniel that he'd look into it. Really, though, Leyba thought that was the end of it. But Daniel was just getting started.
"Gandhi beat the British Empire by not eating," Daniel said, so getting his school to broadcast "Slow Ride" was surely attainable. Also, the 17-year-old said, "I have a lot of free time."
He put it to use with a three-page letter that eloquently made the case for "Slow Ride." He launched a petition drive for Proposition Slow Ride and gathered 300 signatures. He secured the band's endorsement. Foghat sent him what drummer Roger Earl calls "Fogstuff" â?? CDs, autographed photos and the like â?? and wished him well.
Daniel didn't get any follow-up from Leyba after the meeting, so he and his friends devised messages in their Web design class to be delivered to Leyba daily. The first featured a photo of Daniel and an ultimatum that the principal had 10 days to play Foghat. If Leyba didn't play "Slow Ride," Daniel would go on a hunger strike. It was followed the next day with a photo of Daniel holding up nine fingers.
When the countdown reached six days, Leyba called him in. Leyba agreed to play it, but just once. He said it wasn't possible to wire the song into the school's bell system, and he would not waste staff time playing "Slow Ride" each day.
It was a high point for a boy who had almost dropped out of school before he got to high school. Daniel and his mom say the trouble started when he made a threat against a teacher in a moment of frustration. It wasn't a serious threat, but in the wake of the Santana High School shootings that year, administrators didn't take any chances.
Daniel was transferred to Fifth Avenue Academy, a Chula Vista school that specializes in tough cases. He thrived there for two years and then entered Bonita Vista High in 11th grade.
Daniel previously distinguished himself at Bonita Vista High by having an apprentice â?? a student who followed him everywhere, addressed him as "The Daniel," performed menial tasks for him and dressed like him. That meant wearing a derby hat and carrying a pocket watch.
Daniel had 10 applicants for a second apprentice. They submitted résumés providing references, listing favorite television shows and answering questions such as, "If Daniel were to decide to miss school to watch 'Montel,' would the apprentice write down a short synopsis of what Daniel missed that day at school?"
Yesterday at 12:36 p.m., the music played, and Daniel's story had a triumphant ending.
And it has an epilogue. Foghat's Earl called Daniel last weekend. The drummer thought back to his high school days and wondered what would have happened back if he had asked his principal to play Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On."
"He probably would have kicked me out," Earl said, but this Leyba "seems like a reasonable fellow."
So when the band plays at Sycuan Casino this summer, Daniel and three of his buddies will be there as guests of the band. Earl said Leyba's invited, too.
