July 7, 2025 • 39 mins
Continued conversation with American musician and rock star Peter Wolf, best known for being the lead vocalist of The J. Geils Band. Wolf has lived quite an adventurous and exciting life starting at an early age. As a rock star, Wolf had the privilege of crossing paths and rubbing elbows with legendary figures in the world of entertainment and culture. Notably, some of the icons he met include Andy Warhol, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Fred Astaire, Aretha Franklin and so many more! To share his incredible stories with the world, Peter Wolf authored a book called, Waiting for the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses.
Now you can leave feedback as you listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the FREE iHeart Radio app! Just click on the microphone icon in the app, and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Now you can leave feedback as you listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the FREE iHeart Radio app! Just click on the microphone icon in the app, and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's night Side with Dan Ray on DELGBS, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
That's right, that's right, Nightside with Dan Ray. Bradley Jay
in for Dan. We're with Peter Wolf and we're concentrating
on this book, which is just fantastic. That's the reason
we hear folks, Let's remember that if you call in,
if you can, it would be really cool if you
kind of focus on questions about the book. But if
you haven't read it, you can still figure out a
question about it. Waiting on the Moon Artists, Poets, Drifters,
(00:28):
Drifters and Goddesses by Peter Wolf. And just before we left,
we were talking about something we have in common. We
were both overnight radio people, and the overnight it's an
interesting thing. It's very different from the daytime and one
of the things that's different about it is it seem
to make tighter, closer and more interesting relationships. And that
includes someone that Peter had a tremendously instant, tremendously interesting
(00:52):
relationship with us and Morrison. That's how you kind of
met Van Morrison through the radio. I'm fascinated by that story.
It's just one of many, many stories like thirty seven
thirty eight fool stories in the book. But this will
give you an idea of the kind of people that
will show up in this in this book.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Well, yeah, you know, Van was a listener in Boston
at that time. There wasn't very much going on at
night because the TV went off at midnight, all the
stores closed, the MTA closed, and except for all night diners,
there wasn't really much going on. So when you're on
(01:32):
radio at midnight, every you know, you were the only
sort of game in town. Because I think we were
the only music station other than some college radio stations,
and many of them didn't broadcast all night. It proved
to be a sort of I loved it because I
(01:54):
was left alone, I played the music. I loved you.
It was the phone fall. And matter of fact, i'll
do a little reading from the book here.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
My early years in Boston included a stint at a
radio DJ. As a radio DJ, my show was on
WBCN from midnight to five o'clock am. There was an
unusual sensual element to be in a late night disc jockey,
broadcasting all alone in a small, dimly lit studio while
the city sleeping and closed till morning. I never knew
(02:29):
who or if anyone might still be up in the
wee house, Perhaps just one mysterious listener somewhere off in
the distance, far away, tuning in because perhaps they needed
me as much as I needed them. And it just
goes on from there. And I think you and I
(02:50):
both share that mysterious nocturnal aspect of radio.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, I can feel it. One of your listeners was
Van Mars and when you met on the street, you
didn't really know who each other was, and it came
out through the conversation. Can you share that conversation?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, I actually was in the Boston tea party and
I was in the band, my first band of art
students called the Hallucinations, and we used to play a
lot with bands like Barryon, the Remains and The Lost,
and they were the first bands out of Boston to
really be recorded on major labels. And we were in
the tea parties because we were hearst there every day,
(03:29):
the Hallucinations, And this young guy comes walking in short
guy and talks to me in a strange kind of
accent and was asking me about you know gigs, You
know a gig you're looking for guikes and so I
couldn't quite understand, but he was basically, once I figured
out his accent, he was asking where the manager was
(03:53):
so we can find out.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
If he could get a gig at this club.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
That someone told him about. And I try to look
for the manager and he was gone and would be
back in about twenty minutes. So he and I just
continued talking. And in that conversation, he told me how
much we talked about.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
The music we liked and what kind of.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Bands we had, and then he mentioned about this you know,
big old black guy that would be on the radio
late at night playing all this rhythm and blues record,
you know, the Wolf of Goofa. He said, man, I
love listening to him every night because he plays all
this Bobby Blue Bland and John Lee Hooker and and
(04:37):
you know, he said, he even plays some of my records.
And then I said your records and he said yeah.
And that's when he introduced himself as Van Morrison. And
he was telling me about this guy, this old guy
(04:57):
that was on the radio, who you know, the Wolf
a Goofer And when I told him, hey, wait a second, man,
I'm the Wolf of Gooper, and he couldn't believe it
and kill that he couldn't believe it, and I couldn't
believe it was Van Mollison looking for a gig because
he had just had Brown Eyed Girl come out, and
that was the beginning. Van was in a band called Them,
(05:20):
and that was the beginning of his solo career, and
he was in Boston, and the whole story I try
to explain in the book of how he ended up
in Boston pretty unique in itself. And Van and I
have remained friends even to this day, So that friendship indoors.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Now, that's something that is consistent with you. A lot
of these meetings, I guess pretty much all of them
are not one off ships in the night. Most of
the time you develop lifelong, profound relationships with these folks.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Well, it's true, and a lot of Like when I
met my you know, wife to be, say Donaway, it
was you know, sit somebody happened to bring her to
a show. When I was invited to Julia Child's house,
it was a friend that asked me to go with her.
When I was looking for a place to stay when
I first got to Boston, a guy came up to
(06:18):
me and asked me if I wanted to share his
apartment as a roommate, and I happened to be David Lynch.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
So all these people.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I met, like Van were really happened just by being
in that place that I guess the right time. And
most of these people I've remained in contact and we
were remain friends with and when the Guys band through,
you know, we were together for seventeen years. When we
would tour, we would be the opening act to a
(06:46):
lot of the big bands like The Who and led Zeppelin,
et cetera, et cetera. And as we continued on, many
new acts became our opening acts. So people Billy Joel,
the Eagles opened up for the Giles Band, You Two
opened up for the Guiles Band, and Tom Petty was
(07:09):
an opener for the Giles Band. And what really struck
me is when I got a phone call from Tom
asking me to join but sadly became his last tour
and we did about eight dates together, me and the
Sleepless Travelers, Inn Travelers. We all went out and hit
the highways and byways. So it was a great thrill
(07:33):
to be playing with Tom again. In the Heartbreakers, who
are an amazing group.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
There are lots of stories like that in the book.
Believe me, we haven't scratched the surface. What do you say.
They're thirty seven or thirty eight of them, and you
know we're talking about people like Andy Warhol, John Lee Hooker,
Louis Armstrong, we mentioned Dylan. Stories about all these folks Tennessee, Williams,
Rolling Stones, Leon, Harry Nilson. Wow, I won't go through
(08:03):
all of them. I have time for one quick phone call.
We have Peter and Boston, who's been waiting a long time.
Anything about the book is best, but you know, give
us what you got. Peter in Boston, Hi.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Hey Brobley, Hey Peter, how you doing?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Who is this Peter?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Peter? And to Peter's no.
Speaker 6 (08:24):
Waiting like that?
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Yeah, we've run into each other over the year. So
I want to be respectful everyone else. But I really
enjoyed your book. I think it was great. I think
it will inspire other people to write books about their
own personal experiences, even though they may not be involved
with people like super famous.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Well, you know, Pete, I didn't want to write a
book about people who are just super famous. It just
happened to be. As I explained a little while ago,
people I just happened to know who admired and uh,
I really felt the idea of getting to meet these
people were very significant to me, and I wanted to share,
(09:07):
not you know, about me, but what try to bring
them to life.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Because when I read.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
A lot of musicians autobiography, they talked about, oh, we
ran into so and so or Sonny Ball of Williamson
down in Arkansas, but it never told you really what
Sonny Boy Williamson was like. So and all the people
I chose to write about, I really chose to bring
their story and to show what it was like to
be backstage with the Rolling Stones and be on a
(09:34):
Rolling Stones tour, and so it was really more about
the people, at least I hope if I succeeded correctly.
It was more about them than about me.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
And that's what I really liked about the book, you know,
because a lot of the experiences you shared sort of
hit kind of an emotional ping with me, because I've
had some of those experiences, but with people who are
not famous or well known, but we all share some
kind of common humanity, whether we're in electing with John
(10:08):
Lee Hooker or with someone that we liked in the
local band just down the street. So I really really
enjoyed the book.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Thanks people, Thank you great Carl and being.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
So I just I just I just want to tell
you like you kind of threw me off. I turned
down an opportunity to have my photograph on the twenty
by twenty four because the first job I got out
a graduate schools with Edward Land, who built the twenty
by twenty four, and he thought I should be photographed.
But I hate to have my picture taken, and now
(10:40):
I really regret it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
All right, thanks thanks for that. Speaking of not being me,
me me, the way you kind of do that, it
springs from this notion from Christal issue would about just
being a camera.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Correct, right, And I he wrote a line in a
book Berlin Stories that was the that they turned into
the play and the movie Cabaret, and the line was
I am a camera with the shutter always open. And
so that's basically how I went about writing a book
(11:15):
that was the theme sort of being that I was
the camera and they were the people that I was
taking the picture of became became the focus, right, and that.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Way you're not inserting your ego the into the thing.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Well, I tried not to for sure.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Okay, one more. We we have one more segment with
Peter Wolf and talking about his wonderful book once again,
Waiting on the Moon. Artist, Poets, Drifters, Drifters and Goddesses.
Really get it. They're going to run out. I checked
it the booksmith up at Coolidge Corner last night. Checked
they had nine, but that was a while ago. They
probably have a couple, but don't wait more In a
moment with Peter Wolf on WBZ, It's.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Night side with Dan Ray on Boston's news.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Radio Grady Jay and for Dan tonight we're with Peter
Wolf talking about Waiting on the Moon, Artist, Poets, Drifters,
Grifters and Goddesses, tremendous book and I want to make
sure I get this in so I'm going to do
it first. And that is well, folks, most of you
know or many of you know Peter Woolf from The
Guiles Man, but but he has a tremendous solo career
(12:20):
with a great, great body of solo work and it's
worth diving into. I listened to a bunch of it
today and it's so solid and so it's good. You know,
it's critically acclaimed, it's it's the real deal and it's
worth you checking out. And that brings me to the
question any touring plans going forward? And maybe I don't know.
(12:42):
You did a book, you do music. What about a
combination of the two, like a words and music kind
of situation. I don't know if you call it a show,
what a tour or something like that. Anything on the
horizon Bradley.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Before the book came out, I did a bunch of dates.
It was called an acoustic evening of Story Song, and
Duke Levine and Kevin Barry too great guitars came along
with me and we did just that Stories and Song.
But we were going to start in October, but I
believe in March we're going to myself in the entire band,
(13:15):
We're going to kick off and start a tour. I
think it'll be some New England dates, but a lot
of it will be in the Midwest, but we'll be
rolling through bars, being town for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
That's good. Is there a record an album on the horizon.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
There's an album about eighty percent done, and that's when
I'm in the midst of completing as we speak, so
that should be coming out at probably in February.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Great, let's jam in a couple more calls, and thank
you for staying longer. I appreciate it. Bobby, I appreciate it,
Bobby and Lynn. I'd like to get to three people,
so try to keep it short.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Thank you for waiting, Yeah sure, thank you.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
Peter.
Speaker 7 (13:53):
Great to hear on the radio. A huge Muddy Water.
Huge Mundy Water is fan love Money my all time
favorite musician. And Uh, I love the story in the
book about how you got in front of the club
and invited them back to your place and pretended that
you were like somehow associated with that club and you
got to meet all those guys probably James Cotton maybe
(14:15):
and no big fan of all those guys, Junior Wells.
I myself sought those people out. I'm a hot player,
so I really loved the hot The college of hot
playing is the Muddy Waters band, you know, as you know.
And uh, full House, I'm looking at it hanging on
(14:35):
my wall and my base ver right now. Magic Jick
Sided for me one of the greatest live albums of
all time, that thing Full House. I was listening to
that when I was a little kid, and I would
listen to that over and.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
All the weekend of all the Guys records, that's.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I would say that's on top of the list of
one of my favorites because it's just it really shows,
you know, kind of what we did. Wait, great album.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Uh, I can't say enough about it than you. Like
I said, I'll let you go in. I want to
ask you is your book is on Amazon? Can you
get her on Amazon?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I believe it's available on Amazon. But you know, as
Bradley said, we'd like to support our independent bookstores, but where.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
We want to get right too. Yeah, yeah, that's all right,
I'll let you go. Good talking to you.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Thanks. It's actually it's fun to go into a bookstores.
I hadn't been in for a while and I spent
some time in there. There's a there's a particular vibe.
It's filled with excellence in there, Rachel. In that way
you're on WBZ with Peter Wolf, Well you will be.
As soon as I pushed the button successfully, there we go.
There you go, Rachel.
Speaker 8 (15:43):
Hi, Hey, brad Way, it's good talking to you. I
used to listen to you all the time, and I
listened to your podcast, so I'm a huge fan of yours.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Thank you. We have limited time with Peter, so let's
concentrate on Peter in the book.
Speaker 8 (15:56):
Okay, Peter, my question for you is are you on
this app? And it's called bard B A R D
and it is through the Library of Congress. I'm visually impaired,
So are you on there? Is your book on there?
Speaker 9 (16:16):
I'm not sure if the book is on there. I
really don't know. I I really couldn't answer that question.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
But there is an audio book that you can yet.
Speaker 9 (16:28):
Which is there is an audiobook that that I recorded
and that might be on there. So I really don't
know the answer.
Speaker 8 (16:38):
Well, the only way to find out, I guess, is
to search your name through that bart app and I'll
see if your.
Speaker 10 (16:44):
Your book pops up there.
Speaker 8 (16:46):
Thank you, love you.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
Both, Thank you so if you can, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
If you can search search for the audio book. I
love audio books. And to hear the stories told in
Peter's own voice, well, I think that would make it
even better. Now it's in super short time. Dutch and
nor Nowwood, what's up Dutch?
Speaker 11 (17:05):
Hey guys, are people hopefully appreciate we got two rock
and roll royalties on yourself and Peter. It's a great show,
Wicked quick question and I'll hang up. Peter, do you
remember some of the venues you played on Cape Card
And by the way, I'm going to get your book
tomorrow and just just looking back some of your old
venues on the Cape. And also, who was your favorite
(17:27):
duet done with?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Oh?
Speaker 11 (17:29):
Yeah, have a great night, Have a great night, guys.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Thank you. I was actually going to ask that myself.
Good question, Well, who is your favorite duet with? Peter?
Speaker 9 (17:38):
Oh? I love working with Nick Jagger, Wreeth Franklin. You know,
there were so many that I did, Keith Richards, Merle.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Haggard was comes to mind, Nico Case that there's been
so many duets, but they all are you know, for me,
there all are you know, memorable moments just being in
the studio with these great artists that I admire so much.
But Bradley, I want to thank you for having me on.
I want to thank all the people are called in
(18:08):
and thank you for doing what you do. And I Vicinia,
it's got to come out because after rock and roll
is all about doing it, a tuning and getting right
through it and have a little fun until the midnight sun.
This is Boo Google, Mama, Tufa thank you all for
thinking about and thinking about and talking about the book.
And I hope to see you sooner than later.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
You're the man. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Thank you, Bradley, Bye bye, Pierre.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
All right, Uh so I have a couple of minutes
to chat Jane, Chris, Pamela, and Priscilla. You didn't you
didn't get in there, but if you want to, we'll
have more time now in the next half hour to chat.
If you want to talk with me, that's great. We
can talk about the book. I and I didn't write
the book, but I read the hell out of it
(18:50):
and I studied it. I know lots about it and
again a big fan. I'm not just saying it. Uh
there are a lot of rock books out there. This
is top of the pile. And you'll be blown away
at some of the people that Peter interacted with and
then went out to have lifelong, profound relationships with. Again,
(19:13):
Julia Child, who would have guessed, I guess, you know,
once you get up into a certain strata, you're just
starting to start meeting these people. But a lot of
it was not luck. Peter worked hard, he had a
high energy. When he's talking about muddy Waters, and you know,
becoming friends with Muddy Waters. He made that happen. He
(19:34):
showed up at the gig way early, and that's you know,
people who are driven like that succeed. And he would
show up freezing cold, way before the band did. The
band showed up. They thought he was with the club
and he said, canna help you out and they said, yeah,
I take this gear in. And that's how it's done, folks.
(19:56):
And then of course you got to be good more
in a moment on WBZ news Radio ten thirty, It's.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Night Side with Dan on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
All Right, well, thank you again to Peter Wolf for
sharing so much time and so much of himself. Most
of us no one aspect of Peter or another aspect
of Peter. But when you read this book, you're going
to find out, you know, how much there is to
the guy, A lot more than people know. And that's
(20:32):
one of the big values of the book. Completely worth
the money. How many books did I buy this year? One?
And probably that'll be the only one because I won't
be able to beat that. He set the by very
hard again. The book is Waiting on the Moon. Artists, poets, drifters,
Drifters and Goddesses by Peter Wolf and Peter if you
(20:57):
still live, Thank you for that cool sign off, which
which brings me to one thing about when Peter was
a DJ. He is really he worked hard. I know
what his system was like because I worked the wheel
for him in one of his WBC and Birthday shows.
I was a producer, so I got to see how
(21:19):
hard he works when he does a show, and doing
that it was probably five hours overnight. A lot of work.
Now we have time to chat, say hello for a
few minutes, and then we'll have another guest at ten o'clock.
So let's go to Chris in Connecticut. We can talk
about whatever, whatever you like. It'll be chill chill for
(21:41):
a while. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty.
We have Chris in Connecticut. Hello, Chris, Chris.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Hi.
Speaker 12 (21:51):
I read The Peter Wolf Buck and I loved it,
and uh, what I really liked about it is how
devoid it is of any bitterness as a really good heart.
And I thought I'd only be interested in the parts
where it was about Jay Giles, but I actually really
(22:13):
enjoyed it. When he was talking about growing up in
New York City, it really was well described, and I
felt like you really got a sense of that place.
And I wasn't surprised because I have an anecdote about
Peter Wolf. I went to see Shelby Wynne at the
(22:34):
Iron Horse in Northampton and she agreed to take a
photo with me and her trailer after and she handed
the camera to Peter and I just about had my
jaw drop when he took the photo. And he just
did it with no you know, just a regular guy
doing something for somebody. And the book was great.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
There's talk about the Giles Band and how that went down. Now,
Peter initially did not want to talk about say Dan
Away or the Giles Band much, but and I saw
this an interview in an interview he did with someone
(23:16):
in Pennsylvania, and so I know it's Sarah game. He
answered that he was happy to answer the question for
the interview, so I'll share what I heard a little.
He addresses it in the book, and people told him, dude,
it's a pivotal part of your your story. It's a
pivotal part of your journey, and it's what people want
to hear. He can't just blow that off, and so
(23:39):
he did include something about that, and again it's treated
with the same I don't know, it's treated with the
same in the same excellent way as everything else is treated.
So just so you know, even though we didn't mention it, it
does get talked about in the book. What I found interesting,
what I liked a lot was and I wondered, how
(23:59):
did how did Peter end up in Greene's village? How
did he insinuate himself into that scene? Well? Where did
he come from so that that was possible? Who were
in the early people that he knew? Maybe through his
parents or maybe through really young connections. How did he
get into that scene? How did he happen to be
(24:19):
hanging around Bob Dunn and hanging around Van Morrison? So
I really love that stuff. I'm glad you liked the
book of the book, Chris, thank you very much. And
now it's Priscilla in Newtonville. Priscilla, how do you do, Pilla?
What's going on?
Speaker 12 (24:38):
All? Right? Well?
Speaker 10 (24:38):
I wanted to talk to Peter. He Jake Giles been
lived in my house in Wellesley, at the Roger Babst
House on Swathmore Road. That's where they there was a
commune and we moved in after they moved out. We
could tell it was Jake Ailes bed because there was
a crate in the garage. It was printed on the
(25:01):
crate it said Jake Giles Ben And we had the
best time and uh.
Speaker 11 (25:08):
So, yeah.
Speaker 10 (25:08):
They came over once and my brother asked him something
about the band Jake Giles, and then he put his
hand to his back pocket and he said, uh yeah,
band or something, and uh uh so, yeah, we listened
to Jake Giles band and we had a stereo and
(25:29):
that was fun. I don't know, that's all I want
to say.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Cool, all right, thank you for that. If true, that's
pretty interesting.
Speaker 12 (25:38):
You know.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
I want to share a story with you and I
want to see how if you feel about it like
I feel about it. It's you know, it's been I've
seen a lot of things since I spoke to you
last A lot of them bothered me. So I have
a library of complaints and one of them is this.
It has to do with bicycles. But this is not
This is not me a motorists being upset about cyclists.
(26:04):
It's not the usual thing. Let me tell you what
I saw, and you tell me if you think the
parents of the parent in this case is endangering their child.
As you know, riding a bicycle in the city of
Boston or any big city, but I can maybe particularly
the city of Boston is a highly dangerous activity. Highly
(26:25):
dangerous you have. It's a choice that you make. You
realize it's dangerous, and you say, well, it's a calculated risk.
I'm going to do it. I'm an adult, I'm going
to do it. And I understand people get hit on
bikes all the time. There are white ghost bikes painted
all over the place where people have been killed on bicycles.
But you, as an adult, you decide to go ahead
(26:48):
and ride a bike. You're gonna be careful and hopefully
you will wear reflective stuff. It really burns me when
people don't wear it any reflective stuff. They don't have
any lights. And I understand cyclists being sort of irritated
(27:09):
by motorists because they're vulnerable out there. But you got
to remember, if somebody hits you, it changes their life forever. Yeah,
you'll be dead, but their life will be never the same,
and a little bit of them will be dead inside
too because they hurt you. I had a kid I
knew in grammar school hit someone and kill them and
(27:30):
basically committed suicide by drinking, so their life's never the same.
And you could if you don't want to be self
preservational and survive and where stuff like that reflective clothing
and lights, at least think of the other person's life
(27:51):
is going to be completely messed up if they hurt you.
But that's not the point of the point of this
is what I saw in the dangerous environment of city
urban Boston bicycle riding, which is dangerous for everyone, both
the cyclists and the driver and the pedestrian, which I'll
get to in a little while. What I saw was
(28:11):
a mother, I assume it's a mother, a woman, or
someone who looked like they identify as a woman with
two little kids on the back. And I thought instantly
that hey, this is dangerous. It's the most dangerous activity
anyone can do. It's more dangerous than riding without a
(28:33):
seat belt. It's more dangerous than driving on rot it's
more dangerous than flying, it's more dangerous than zip lines.
It's dangerous. Now. It's one thing if you made the
decision to ride a bike in the city, but is
it fair to your children who are not making that decision.
(28:55):
They're trusting you to keep them safe, and yet you
are exposed than them to a very very high risk.
And in a world where it's mandatory to or a
seat belt, why is it okay? Why is it allowed
for someone to put the two kids on the back
of a bicycle in Massachusetts? Car seats? Car seats are
(29:16):
a thing. You have a child, you gotta put the
child in a car seat. You gotta put the car
seat in the back seat. It's got to be up
to spec it's got to be facing the rent the
right way to keep the child safe. Yet it's okay
to put a child on the back of a bike,
two of them. As a matter of fact, I think
(29:40):
it's I don't know if it's official child endangerment, but
I think it's bad parenting. I think it's bad. What
do you think? Six one, seven, two, five, four t
thirty Have you ever seen this kind of thing? Do
you agree with me? That's that's out to lunch, that's
way too much of a risk. And if I'd said anything,
I would have probably broken some new societal rule. I
(30:03):
know that bicycles are the thing which brings me to
the next portion of my little screed on this. I've
been wanting to talk about this for a long time.
I come at the bicycle situation not as as an
irritated motorist, although sometimes I am this is. I come
(30:24):
as a pedestrian. It's a new angle, and as far
as I'm concerned, pedestrians are getting thrown under the bus
if you will, or thrown under the bike. It seems
to me like a lot of money, a lot of resources,
a lot of time is spent on bicycles, all held
the bicycle, the bicycle path. Hundreds and hundreds and thousands
(30:50):
of dollars to spent on bicycle lanes, and here's what's
going on with them that there are a number of
things going on with bicycle lanes that you may not
have thought about. But maybe you've seen this, And if
you have seen it, please let me know. Six is
the number, and we do have extra. Actually, if the
(31:10):
lines get full, we have another separate line. But they're
not full yet. Here's what I see. Do you see
this stuff? I see motor scooters using bike lanes. How
is that? Okay? That's right? Gasoline powered motor scooters sometimes
(31:34):
delivery scooters using bike lanes. If you were a bicycle
rider that is dangerous to you. Lots of money were
spent on bicycle lanes for safety of bicycle riders. Why
is it okay to allow motor scooters on bicycle paths?
It's not next E bikes. E bikes all the rage,
(31:57):
but you know now e bikes are closer to motorcycles
than bicycles. I'll get I have more to go on this,
but have you seen stuff regarding misuse of bicycle paths
and what do you think about parents taking their kids
on the back of the bike in a world where
in a world where seatbelts are mandatory. We'll get to
(32:19):
Mike and Austin next. On WBZ.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
That's right, Bradley J for Dan Ray on night Side tonight.
Talking a little bit about a thing I saw where parent,
a parent was riding with two little child children on
the back of the bike perch TD teetering on the
back of the bike going through traffic, heavy traffic. I
think that that's child and dangerment there you go. Imagine
(32:53):
if something happened where you know it's a long way
to the ground when you're when you're a little kid.
What if she hits what if the mother hit a pothole,
even if a car didn't hit the bike, it's a
highly risky thing and I don't think if it's not
going to be made illegal, it just shouldn't be done.
It should be a stigma against doing that. And there's
(33:16):
a lot of other bike lane oriented issues. I see
them being misused. A lot of money was spent on them,
and I'd like to know what to do about it.
Maybe you have a suggestion. I have Mike in Alston here, Michael,
how do you do sir? You're on WBZ.
Speaker 6 (33:32):
Yeah, hey Bramley hear me, yes, I hear you. A
long time follow with you. It makes you big time
on the on the over night.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (33:46):
But yeah, you know from Wolf and I could tell you.
You know, a thing I've seen was I'm going up
have Ad Avenue to have a street into Brookline and
there's a woman well you know, she's in front of
(34:10):
her two kids. She had an older one right behind
and a small one you know, you know, way back
behind it, you know, and I was there was you know,
buses going up there, you know, you know how that
goes and you know, and she was like she had
(34:30):
her eye and she had them things in her ears
and stuff, and I'm like, I'm with my wife and
my daughter and look at this. Just you know, I'm
looking at this kid.
Speaker 7 (34:40):
Man.
Speaker 6 (34:40):
I'm just hoping nothing happens to this kid.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Yeah, I think that there's this rush to you know,
I get the green thing and there's a rush to bikes,
but I don't I think people are a little too
involved in a paying attention. There's a lot of dangerous
things now happening that are related to bikes. Thanks for
sharing that, Mike. I appreciate it. Here's something that here's
(35:09):
something that burns me frost my pumpkin, maybe more than
anything I was. I like details. By the way, details
are some of the things that made Peter Wolf's book
so great, extremely detailed. So let me give me some details.
I'm standing at the corner of Tremont Street and Park Street,
(35:31):
right by you know, the church there, the granary bearing ground,
the Park Street station, that intersection, and I end there's
a bike lane and I see, and I've seen this
a lot since a motor scooter get out of the
traffic lane into the bike lane and use the bike
(35:52):
lane to blow through the red light and then get
back into traffic, And like, where's does anyone care? Does
anyone care about the rules anymore? There are rules for
a reason because if they're not traffic rules, people die,
people get injured, and I don't see anything being done
(36:13):
about it. I have more beefs with I've seen some
more things that bother me. How about you? Have you
seen something that really irks you when it comes to
the bike lanes? And this is not just the usual.
I'm a driver irritated by bicycles. This is other stuff.
(36:34):
I'm more nuanced and different stuff that's starting to develop.
I think it should be I think towns need to
clamp down on it now before somebody's grandmother or somebody's
kid gets killed. It's Nick and Medford. How do you do.
Speaker 12 (36:47):
Good?
Speaker 2 (36:48):
This is Nick and Medway Medway him? Nick?
Speaker 13 (36:52):
How you doing sir? I'm a first time call and
I've been listening to beas for forty five years now.
Speaker 10 (36:59):
But what about the school buses?
Speaker 13 (37:00):
It they don't they don't wear seatbelts do they're the kids?
Speaker 12 (37:04):
You know?
Speaker 2 (37:04):
I don't know that they didn't nice.
Speaker 13 (37:07):
Kids getting on the bus and obviously they're not putting
them in a seat belt because the bus takes off
right away.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Yeah, I don't know about that.
Speaker 13 (37:15):
Yeah, I think our kids should be wearing seat belts
in school.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
It makes you think there's no seat belts on the bus.
Speaker 13 (37:21):
Well, the seatbelts on them, but I don't see them
mandatory making the kids, you know, put them on.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
I I know it's difficult. You know, it's difficult for
teachers these days, and it's probably difficult for bus drivers
to get kids to do anything because if you say
anything to the kid, the kid's going to complain and
then when you lose your job. Mommy, Mommy, the mean
man made me put on my seat.
Speaker 13 (37:47):
I was just wondering if they're not mandatory to put
the kid in a seat belt. Wore they moved the bus,
That's all.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
I don't know. So Nick, you're you're living Medway or
you're retired?
Speaker 13 (37:56):
Do you live in Medway? And I've done tree work
to day Ray when he lived in Sureborne about thirty
years ago. He's a great guy. You guys, you guys
do a good job.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Good well, thank you.
Speaker 13 (38:09):
He lived on Woodland Street and Shoreborne. I did work
four years ago he's a great, great guy.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Great, he is a great guy. All right, Nick, thanks
thanks for checking that out. That's a good question. Does
anybody know are their seat belts on buses and today
enforce that. So before we get to the top of
the hour and my next get my next guest. Maybe
we can return to this a little bit in the
final hour, or you can just say hi. But some
of the other things I have one minute too, Yeah,
(38:36):
share these What do I see? I see money spend
on on red lights, specifically for bicycles, and they're paying
no attention. Lots of money, thousands of dollars blowing right through.
I see scooters using bike lanes to go blow through
red lights. I see uh oh, e bikes. This is
big now. E bikes used to be fine there with
(38:58):
bicycles that powered by electricity. Now they're more like motorcycles.
Some of them go forty to fifty miles per hour.
They're even designed like motorcycles. They look like motorcycles. And
I went into one of the shops and kind of
did a little investigating and he said yeah, he said.
The guy said, yeah, we just stick pedals on them
so they'll be legal on the bike lanes. All Right,
(39:21):
is the time for the news yet, Rob? All right,
the news. I'm WBZ.
It's night Side with Dan Ray on DELGBS, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
That's right, that's right, Nightside with Dan Ray. Bradley Jay
in for Dan. We're with Peter Wolf and we're concentrating
on this book, which is just fantastic. That's the reason
we hear folks, Let's remember that if you call in,
if you can, it would be really cool if you
kind of focus on questions about the book. But if
you haven't read it, you can still figure out a
question about it. Waiting on the Moon Artists, Poets, Drifters,
(00:28):
Drifters and Goddesses by Peter Wolf. And just before we left,
we were talking about something we have in common. We
were both overnight radio people, and the overnight it's an
interesting thing. It's very different from the daytime and one
of the things that's different about it is it seem
to make tighter, closer and more interesting relationships. And that
includes someone that Peter had a tremendously instant, tremendously interesting
(00:52):
relationship with us and Morrison. That's how you kind of
met Van Morrison through the radio. I'm fascinated by that story.
It's just one of many, many stories like thirty seven
thirty eight fool stories in the book. But this will
give you an idea of the kind of people that
will show up in this in this book.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Well, yeah, you know, Van was a listener in Boston
at that time. There wasn't very much going on at
night because the TV went off at midnight, all the
stores closed, the MTA closed, and except for all night diners,
there wasn't really much going on. So when you're on
(01:32):
radio at midnight, every you know, you were the only
sort of game in town. Because I think we were
the only music station other than some college radio stations,
and many of them didn't broadcast all night. It proved
to be a sort of I loved it because I
(01:54):
was left alone, I played the music. I loved you.
It was the phone fall. And matter of fact, i'll
do a little reading from the book here.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
My early years in Boston included a stint at a
radio DJ. As a radio DJ, my show was on
WBCN from midnight to five o'clock am. There was an
unusual sensual element to be in a late night disc jockey,
broadcasting all alone in a small, dimly lit studio while
the city sleeping and closed till morning. I never knew
(02:29):
who or if anyone might still be up in the
wee house, Perhaps just one mysterious listener somewhere off in
the distance, far away, tuning in because perhaps they needed
me as much as I needed them. And it just
goes on from there. And I think you and I
(02:50):
both share that mysterious nocturnal aspect of radio.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, I can feel it. One of your listeners was
Van Mars and when you met on the street, you
didn't really know who each other was, and it came
out through the conversation. Can you share that conversation?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, I actually was in the Boston tea party and
I was in the band, my first band of art
students called the Hallucinations, and we used to play a
lot with bands like Barryon, the Remains and The Lost,
and they were the first bands out of Boston to
really be recorded on major labels. And we were in
the tea parties because we were hearst there every day,
(03:29):
the Hallucinations, And this young guy comes walking in short
guy and talks to me in a strange kind of
accent and was asking me about you know gigs, You
know a gig you're looking for guikes and so I
couldn't quite understand, but he was basically, once I figured
out his accent, he was asking where the manager was
(03:53):
so we can find out.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
If he could get a gig at this club.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
That someone told him about. And I try to look
for the manager and he was gone and would be
back in about twenty minutes. So he and I just
continued talking. And in that conversation, he told me how
much we talked about.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
The music we liked and what kind of.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Bands we had, and then he mentioned about this you know,
big old black guy that would be on the radio
late at night playing all this rhythm and blues record,
you know, the Wolf of Goofa. He said, man, I
love listening to him every night because he plays all
this Bobby Blue Bland and John Lee Hooker and and
(04:37):
you know, he said, he even plays some of my records.
And then I said your records and he said yeah.
And that's when he introduced himself as Van Morrison. And
he was telling me about this guy, this old guy
(04:57):
that was on the radio, who you know, the Wolf
a Goofer And when I told him, hey, wait a second, man,
I'm the Wolf of Gooper, and he couldn't believe it
and kill that he couldn't believe it, and I couldn't
believe it was Van Mollison looking for a gig because
he had just had Brown Eyed Girl come out, and
that was the beginning. Van was in a band called Them,
(05:20):
and that was the beginning of his solo career, and
he was in Boston, and the whole story I try
to explain in the book of how he ended up
in Boston pretty unique in itself. And Van and I
have remained friends even to this day, So that friendship indoors.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Now, that's something that is consistent with you. A lot
of these meetings, I guess pretty much all of them
are not one off ships in the night. Most of
the time you develop lifelong, profound relationships with these folks.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Well, it's true, and a lot of Like when I
met my you know, wife to be, say Donaway, it
was you know, sit somebody happened to bring her to
a show. When I was invited to Julia Child's house,
it was a friend that asked me to go with her.
When I was looking for a place to stay when
I first got to Boston, a guy came up to
(06:18):
me and asked me if I wanted to share his
apartment as a roommate, and I happened to be David Lynch.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
So all these people.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I met, like Van were really happened just by being
in that place that I guess the right time. And
most of these people I've remained in contact and we
were remain friends with and when the Guys band through,
you know, we were together for seventeen years. When we
would tour, we would be the opening act to a
(06:46):
lot of the big bands like The Who and led Zeppelin,
et cetera, et cetera. And as we continued on, many
new acts became our opening acts. So people Billy Joel,
the Eagles opened up for the Giles Band, You Two
opened up for the Guiles Band, and Tom Petty was
(07:09):
an opener for the Giles Band. And what really struck
me is when I got a phone call from Tom
asking me to join but sadly became his last tour
and we did about eight dates together, me and the
Sleepless Travelers, Inn Travelers. We all went out and hit
the highways and byways. So it was a great thrill
(07:33):
to be playing with Tom again. In the Heartbreakers, who
are an amazing group.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
There are lots of stories like that in the book.
Believe me, we haven't scratched the surface. What do you say.
They're thirty seven or thirty eight of them, and you
know we're talking about people like Andy Warhol, John Lee Hooker,
Louis Armstrong, we mentioned Dylan. Stories about all these folks Tennessee, Williams,
Rolling Stones, Leon, Harry Nilson. Wow, I won't go through
(08:03):
all of them. I have time for one quick phone call.
We have Peter and Boston, who's been waiting a long time.
Anything about the book is best, but you know, give
us what you got. Peter in Boston, Hi.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Hey Brobley, Hey Peter, how you doing?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Who is this Peter?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Peter? And to Peter's no.
Speaker 6 (08:24):
Waiting like that?
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Yeah, we've run into each other over the year. So
I want to be respectful everyone else. But I really
enjoyed your book. I think it was great. I think
it will inspire other people to write books about their
own personal experiences, even though they may not be involved
with people like super famous.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Well, you know, Pete, I didn't want to write a
book about people who are just super famous. It just
happened to be. As I explained a little while ago,
people I just happened to know who admired and uh,
I really felt the idea of getting to meet these
people were very significant to me, and I wanted to share,
(09:07):
not you know, about me, but what try to bring
them to life.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Because when I read.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
A lot of musicians autobiography, they talked about, oh, we
ran into so and so or Sonny Ball of Williamson
down in Arkansas, but it never told you really what
Sonny Boy Williamson was like. So and all the people
I chose to write about, I really chose to bring
their story and to show what it was like to
be backstage with the Rolling Stones and be on a
(09:34):
Rolling Stones tour, and so it was really more about
the people, at least I hope if I succeeded correctly.
It was more about them than about me.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
And that's what I really liked about the book, you know,
because a lot of the experiences you shared sort of
hit kind of an emotional ping with me, because I've
had some of those experiences, but with people who are
not famous or well known, but we all share some
kind of common humanity, whether we're in electing with John
(10:08):
Lee Hooker or with someone that we liked in the
local band just down the street. So I really really
enjoyed the book.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Thanks people, Thank you great Carl and being.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
So I just I just I just want to tell
you like you kind of threw me off. I turned
down an opportunity to have my photograph on the twenty
by twenty four because the first job I got out
a graduate schools with Edward Land, who built the twenty
by twenty four, and he thought I should be photographed.
But I hate to have my picture taken, and now
(10:40):
I really regret it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
All right, thanks thanks for that. Speaking of not being me,
me me, the way you kind of do that, it
springs from this notion from Christal issue would about just
being a camera.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Correct, right, And I he wrote a line in a
book Berlin Stories that was the that they turned into
the play and the movie Cabaret, and the line was
I am a camera with the shutter always open. And
so that's basically how I went about writing a book
(11:15):
that was the theme sort of being that I was
the camera and they were the people that I was
taking the picture of became became the focus, right, and that.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Way you're not inserting your ego the into the thing.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Well, I tried not to for sure.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Okay, one more. We we have one more segment with
Peter Wolf and talking about his wonderful book once again,
Waiting on the Moon. Artist, Poets, Drifters, Drifters and Goddesses.
Really get it. They're going to run out. I checked
it the booksmith up at Coolidge Corner last night. Checked
they had nine, but that was a while ago. They
probably have a couple, but don't wait more In a
moment with Peter Wolf on WBZ, It's.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Night side with Dan Ray on Boston's news.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Radio Grady Jay and for Dan tonight we're with Peter
Wolf talking about Waiting on the Moon, Artist, Poets, Drifters,
Grifters and Goddesses, tremendous book and I want to make
sure I get this in so I'm going to do
it first. And that is well, folks, most of you
know or many of you know Peter Woolf from The
Guiles Man, but but he has a tremendous solo career
(12:20):
with a great, great body of solo work and it's
worth diving into. I listened to a bunch of it
today and it's so solid and so it's good. You know,
it's critically acclaimed, it's it's the real deal and it's
worth you checking out. And that brings me to the
question any touring plans going forward? And maybe I don't know.
(12:42):
You did a book, you do music. What about a
combination of the two, like a words and music kind
of situation. I don't know if you call it a show,
what a tour or something like that. Anything on the
horizon Bradley.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Before the book came out, I did a bunch of dates.
It was called an acoustic evening of Story Song, and
Duke Levine and Kevin Barry too great guitars came along
with me and we did just that Stories and Song.
But we were going to start in October, but I
believe in March we're going to myself in the entire band,
(13:15):
We're going to kick off and start a tour. I
think it'll be some New England dates, but a lot
of it will be in the Midwest, but we'll be
rolling through bars, being town for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
That's good. Is there a record an album on the horizon.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
There's an album about eighty percent done, and that's when
I'm in the midst of completing as we speak, so
that should be coming out at probably in February.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Great, let's jam in a couple more calls, and thank
you for staying longer. I appreciate it. Bobby, I appreciate it,
Bobby and Lynn. I'd like to get to three people,
so try to keep it short.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Thank you for waiting, Yeah sure, thank you.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
Peter.
Speaker 7 (13:53):
Great to hear on the radio. A huge Muddy Water.
Huge Mundy Water is fan love Money my all time
favorite musician. And Uh, I love the story in the
book about how you got in front of the club
and invited them back to your place and pretended that
you were like somehow associated with that club and you
got to meet all those guys probably James Cotton maybe
(14:15):
and no big fan of all those guys, Junior Wells.
I myself sought those people out. I'm a hot player,
so I really loved the hot The college of hot
playing is the Muddy Waters band, you know, as you know.
And uh, full House, I'm looking at it hanging on
(14:35):
my wall and my base ver right now. Magic Jick
Sided for me one of the greatest live albums of
all time, that thing Full House. I was listening to
that when I was a little kid, and I would
listen to that over and.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
All the weekend of all the Guys records, that's.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I would say that's on top of the list of
one of my favorites because it's just it really shows,
you know, kind of what we did. Wait, great album.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Uh, I can't say enough about it than you. Like
I said, I'll let you go in. I want to
ask you is your book is on Amazon? Can you
get her on Amazon?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I believe it's available on Amazon. But you know, as
Bradley said, we'd like to support our independent bookstores, but where.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
We want to get right too. Yeah, yeah, that's all right,
I'll let you go. Good talking to you.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Thanks. It's actually it's fun to go into a bookstores.
I hadn't been in for a while and I spent
some time in there. There's a there's a particular vibe.
It's filled with excellence in there, Rachel. In that way
you're on WBZ with Peter Wolf, Well you will be.
As soon as I pushed the button successfully, there we go.
There you go, Rachel.
Speaker 8 (15:43):
Hi, Hey, brad Way, it's good talking to you. I
used to listen to you all the time, and I
listened to your podcast, so I'm a huge fan of yours.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Thank you. We have limited time with Peter, so let's
concentrate on Peter in the book.
Speaker 8 (15:56):
Okay, Peter, my question for you is are you on
this app? And it's called bard B A R D
and it is through the Library of Congress. I'm visually impaired,
So are you on there? Is your book on there?
Speaker 9 (16:16):
I'm not sure if the book is on there. I
really don't know. I I really couldn't answer that question.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
But there is an audio book that you can yet.
Speaker 9 (16:28):
Which is there is an audiobook that that I recorded
and that might be on there. So I really don't
know the answer.
Speaker 8 (16:38):
Well, the only way to find out, I guess, is
to search your name through that bart app and I'll
see if your.
Speaker 10 (16:44):
Your book pops up there.
Speaker 8 (16:46):
Thank you, love you.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
Both, Thank you so if you can, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
If you can search search for the audio book. I
love audio books. And to hear the stories told in
Peter's own voice, well, I think that would make it
even better. Now it's in super short time. Dutch and
nor Nowwood, what's up Dutch?
Speaker 11 (17:05):
Hey guys, are people hopefully appreciate we got two rock
and roll royalties on yourself and Peter. It's a great show,
Wicked quick question and I'll hang up. Peter, do you
remember some of the venues you played on Cape Card
And by the way, I'm going to get your book
tomorrow and just just looking back some of your old
venues on the Cape. And also, who was your favorite
(17:27):
duet done with?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Oh?
Speaker 11 (17:29):
Yeah, have a great night, Have a great night, guys.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Thank you. I was actually going to ask that myself.
Good question, Well, who is your favorite duet with? Peter?
Speaker 9 (17:38):
Oh? I love working with Nick Jagger, Wreeth Franklin. You know,
there were so many that I did, Keith Richards, Merle.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Haggard was comes to mind, Nico Case that there's been
so many duets, but they all are you know, for me,
there all are you know, memorable moments just being in
the studio with these great artists that I admire so much.
But Bradley, I want to thank you for having me on.
I want to thank all the people are called in
(18:08):
and thank you for doing what you do. And I Vicinia,
it's got to come out because after rock and roll
is all about doing it, a tuning and getting right
through it and have a little fun until the midnight sun.
This is Boo Google, Mama, Tufa thank you all for
thinking about and thinking about and talking about the book.
And I hope to see you sooner than later.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
You're the man. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Thank you, Bradley, Bye bye, Pierre.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
All right, Uh so I have a couple of minutes
to chat Jane, Chris, Pamela, and Priscilla. You didn't you
didn't get in there, but if you want to, we'll
have more time now in the next half hour to chat.
If you want to talk with me, that's great. We
can talk about the book. I and I didn't write
the book, but I read the hell out of it
(18:50):
and I studied it. I know lots about it and
again a big fan. I'm not just saying it. Uh
there are a lot of rock books out there. This
is top of the pile. And you'll be blown away
at some of the people that Peter interacted with and
then went out to have lifelong, profound relationships with. Again,
(19:13):
Julia Child, who would have guessed, I guess, you know,
once you get up into a certain strata, you're just
starting to start meeting these people. But a lot of
it was not luck. Peter worked hard, he had a
high energy. When he's talking about muddy Waters, and you know,
becoming friends with Muddy Waters. He made that happen. He
(19:34):
showed up at the gig way early, and that's you know,
people who are driven like that succeed. And he would
show up freezing cold, way before the band did. The
band showed up. They thought he was with the club
and he said, canna help you out and they said, yeah,
I take this gear in. And that's how it's done, folks.
(19:56):
And then of course you got to be good more
in a moment on WBZ news Radio ten thirty, It's.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Night Side with Dan on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
All Right, well, thank you again to Peter Wolf for
sharing so much time and so much of himself. Most
of us no one aspect of Peter or another aspect
of Peter. But when you read this book, you're going
to find out, you know, how much there is to
the guy, A lot more than people know. And that's
(20:32):
one of the big values of the book. Completely worth
the money. How many books did I buy this year? One?
And probably that'll be the only one because I won't
be able to beat that. He set the by very
hard again. The book is Waiting on the Moon. Artists, poets, drifters,
Drifters and Goddesses by Peter Wolf and Peter if you
(20:57):
still live, Thank you for that cool sign off, which
which brings me to one thing about when Peter was
a DJ. He is really he worked hard. I know
what his system was like because I worked the wheel
for him in one of his WBC and Birthday shows.
I was a producer, so I got to see how
(21:19):
hard he works when he does a show, and doing
that it was probably five hours overnight. A lot of work.
Now we have time to chat, say hello for a
few minutes, and then we'll have another guest at ten o'clock.
So let's go to Chris in Connecticut. We can talk
about whatever, whatever you like. It'll be chill chill for
(21:41):
a while. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty.
We have Chris in Connecticut. Hello, Chris, Chris.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Hi.
Speaker 12 (21:51):
I read The Peter Wolf Buck and I loved it,
and uh, what I really liked about it is how
devoid it is of any bitterness as a really good heart.
And I thought I'd only be interested in the parts
where it was about Jay Giles, but I actually really
(22:13):
enjoyed it. When he was talking about growing up in
New York City, it really was well described, and I
felt like you really got a sense of that place.
And I wasn't surprised because I have an anecdote about
Peter Wolf. I went to see Shelby Wynne at the
(22:34):
Iron Horse in Northampton and she agreed to take a
photo with me and her trailer after and she handed
the camera to Peter and I just about had my
jaw drop when he took the photo. And he just
did it with no you know, just a regular guy
doing something for somebody. And the book was great.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
There's talk about the Giles Band and how that went down. Now,
Peter initially did not want to talk about say Dan
Away or the Giles Band much, but and I saw
this an interview in an interview he did with someone
(23:16):
in Pennsylvania, and so I know it's Sarah game. He
answered that he was happy to answer the question for
the interview, so I'll share what I heard a little.
He addresses it in the book, and people told him, dude,
it's a pivotal part of your your story. It's a
pivotal part of your journey, and it's what people want
to hear. He can't just blow that off, and so
(23:39):
he did include something about that, and again it's treated
with the same I don't know, it's treated with the
same in the same excellent way as everything else is treated.
So just so you know, even though we didn't mention it, it
does get talked about in the book. What I found interesting,
what I liked a lot was and I wondered, how
(23:59):
did how did Peter end up in Greene's village? How
did he insinuate himself into that scene? Well? Where did
he come from so that that was possible? Who were
in the early people that he knew? Maybe through his
parents or maybe through really young connections. How did he
get into that scene? How did he happen to be
(24:19):
hanging around Bob Dunn and hanging around Van Morrison? So
I really love that stuff. I'm glad you liked the
book of the book, Chris, thank you very much. And
now it's Priscilla in Newtonville. Priscilla, how do you do, Pilla?
What's going on?
Speaker 12 (24:38):
All? Right? Well?
Speaker 10 (24:38):
I wanted to talk to Peter. He Jake Giles been
lived in my house in Wellesley, at the Roger Babst
House on Swathmore Road. That's where they there was a
commune and we moved in after they moved out. We
could tell it was Jake Ailes bed because there was
a crate in the garage. It was printed on the
(25:01):
crate it said Jake Giles Ben And we had the
best time and uh.
Speaker 11 (25:08):
So, yeah.
Speaker 10 (25:08):
They came over once and my brother asked him something
about the band Jake Giles, and then he put his
hand to his back pocket and he said, uh yeah,
band or something, and uh uh so, yeah, we listened
to Jake Giles band and we had a stereo and
(25:29):
that was fun. I don't know, that's all I want
to say.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Cool, all right, thank you for that. If true, that's
pretty interesting.
Speaker 12 (25:38):
You know.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
I want to share a story with you and I
want to see how if you feel about it like
I feel about it. It's you know, it's been I've
seen a lot of things since I spoke to you
last A lot of them bothered me. So I have
a library of complaints and one of them is this.
It has to do with bicycles. But this is not
This is not me a motorists being upset about cyclists.
(26:04):
It's not the usual thing. Let me tell you what
I saw, and you tell me if you think the
parents of the parent in this case is endangering their child.
As you know, riding a bicycle in the city of
Boston or any big city, but I can maybe particularly
the city of Boston is a highly dangerous activity. Highly
(26:25):
dangerous you have. It's a choice that you make. You
realize it's dangerous, and you say, well, it's a calculated risk.
I'm going to do it. I'm an adult, I'm going
to do it. And I understand people get hit on
bikes all the time. There are white ghost bikes painted
all over the place where people have been killed on bicycles.
But you, as an adult, you decide to go ahead
(26:48):
and ride a bike. You're gonna be careful and hopefully
you will wear reflective stuff. It really burns me when
people don't wear it any reflective stuff. They don't have
any lights. And I understand cyclists being sort of irritated
(27:09):
by motorists because they're vulnerable out there. But you got
to remember, if somebody hits you, it changes their life forever. Yeah,
you'll be dead, but their life will be never the same,
and a little bit of them will be dead inside
too because they hurt you. I had a kid I
knew in grammar school hit someone and kill them and
(27:30):
basically committed suicide by drinking, so their life's never the same.
And you could if you don't want to be self
preservational and survive and where stuff like that reflective clothing
and lights, at least think of the other person's life
(27:51):
is going to be completely messed up if they hurt you.
But that's not the point of the point of this
is what I saw in the dangerous environment of city
urban Boston bicycle riding, which is dangerous for everyone, both
the cyclists and the driver and the pedestrian, which I'll
get to in a little while. What I saw was
(28:11):
a mother, I assume it's a mother, a woman, or
someone who looked like they identify as a woman with
two little kids on the back. And I thought instantly
that hey, this is dangerous. It's the most dangerous activity
anyone can do. It's more dangerous than riding without a
(28:33):
seat belt. It's more dangerous than driving on rot it's
more dangerous than flying, it's more dangerous than zip lines.
It's dangerous. Now. It's one thing if you made the
decision to ride a bike in the city, but is
it fair to your children who are not making that decision.
(28:55):
They're trusting you to keep them safe, and yet you
are exposed than them to a very very high risk.
And in a world where it's mandatory to or a
seat belt, why is it okay? Why is it allowed
for someone to put the two kids on the back
of a bicycle in Massachusetts? Car seats? Car seats are
(29:16):
a thing. You have a child, you gotta put the
child in a car seat. You gotta put the car
seat in the back seat. It's got to be up
to spec it's got to be facing the rent the
right way to keep the child safe. Yet it's okay
to put a child on the back of a bike,
two of them. As a matter of fact, I think
(29:40):
it's I don't know if it's official child endangerment, but
I think it's bad parenting. I think it's bad. What
do you think? Six one, seven, two, five, four t
thirty Have you ever seen this kind of thing? Do
you agree with me? That's that's out to lunch, that's
way too much of a risk. And if I'd said anything,
I would have probably broken some new societal rule. I
(30:03):
know that bicycles are the thing which brings me to
the next portion of my little screed on this. I've
been wanting to talk about this for a long time.
I come at the bicycle situation not as as an
irritated motorist, although sometimes I am this is. I come
(30:24):
as a pedestrian. It's a new angle, and as far
as I'm concerned, pedestrians are getting thrown under the bus
if you will, or thrown under the bike. It seems
to me like a lot of money, a lot of resources,
a lot of time is spent on bicycles, all held
the bicycle, the bicycle path. Hundreds and hundreds and thousands
(30:50):
of dollars to spent on bicycle lanes, and here's what's
going on with them that there are a number of
things going on with bicycle lanes that you may not
have thought about. But maybe you've seen this, And if
you have seen it, please let me know. Six is
the number, and we do have extra. Actually, if the
(31:10):
lines get full, we have another separate line. But they're
not full yet. Here's what I see. Do you see
this stuff? I see motor scooters using bike lanes. How
is that? Okay? That's right? Gasoline powered motor scooters sometimes
(31:34):
delivery scooters using bike lanes. If you were a bicycle
rider that is dangerous to you. Lots of money were
spent on bicycle lanes for safety of bicycle riders. Why
is it okay to allow motor scooters on bicycle paths?
It's not next E bikes. E bikes all the rage,
(31:57):
but you know now e bikes are closer to motorcycles
than bicycles. I'll get I have more to go on this,
but have you seen stuff regarding misuse of bicycle paths
and what do you think about parents taking their kids
on the back of the bike in a world where
in a world where seatbelts are mandatory. We'll get to
(32:19):
Mike and Austin next. On WBZ.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
That's right, Bradley J for Dan Ray on night Side tonight.
Talking a little bit about a thing I saw where parent,
a parent was riding with two little child children on
the back of the bike perch TD teetering on the
back of the bike going through traffic, heavy traffic. I
think that that's child and dangerment there you go. Imagine
(32:53):
if something happened where you know it's a long way
to the ground when you're when you're a little kid.
What if she hits what if the mother hit a pothole,
even if a car didn't hit the bike, it's a
highly risky thing and I don't think if it's not
going to be made illegal, it just shouldn't be done.
It should be a stigma against doing that. And there's
(33:16):
a lot of other bike lane oriented issues. I see
them being misused. A lot of money was spent on them,
and I'd like to know what to do about it.
Maybe you have a suggestion. I have Mike in Alston here, Michael,
how do you do sir? You're on WBZ.
Speaker 6 (33:32):
Yeah, hey Bramley hear me, yes, I hear you. A
long time follow with you. It makes you big time
on the on the over night.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (33:46):
But yeah, you know from Wolf and I could tell you.
You know, a thing I've seen was I'm going up
have Ad Avenue to have a street into Brookline and
there's a woman well you know, she's in front of
(34:10):
her two kids. She had an older one right behind
and a small one you know, you know, way back
behind it, you know, and I was there was you know,
buses going up there, you know, you know how that
goes and you know, and she was like she had
(34:30):
her eye and she had them things in her ears
and stuff, and I'm like, I'm with my wife and
my daughter and look at this. Just you know, I'm
looking at this kid.
Speaker 7 (34:40):
Man.
Speaker 6 (34:40):
I'm just hoping nothing happens to this kid.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Yeah, I think that there's this rush to you know,
I get the green thing and there's a rush to bikes,
but I don't I think people are a little too
involved in a paying attention. There's a lot of dangerous
things now happening that are related to bikes. Thanks for
sharing that, Mike. I appreciate it. Here's something that here's
(35:09):
something that burns me frost my pumpkin, maybe more than
anything I was. I like details. By the way, details
are some of the things that made Peter Wolf's book
so great, extremely detailed. So let me give me some details.
I'm standing at the corner of Tremont Street and Park Street,
(35:31):
right by you know, the church there, the granary bearing ground,
the Park Street station, that intersection, and I end there's
a bike lane and I see, and I've seen this
a lot since a motor scooter get out of the
traffic lane into the bike lane and use the bike
(35:52):
lane to blow through the red light and then get
back into traffic, And like, where's does anyone care? Does
anyone care about the rules anymore? There are rules for
a reason because if they're not traffic rules, people die,
people get injured, and I don't see anything being done
(36:13):
about it. I have more beefs with I've seen some
more things that bother me. How about you? Have you
seen something that really irks you when it comes to
the bike lanes? And this is not just the usual.
I'm a driver irritated by bicycles. This is other stuff.
(36:34):
I'm more nuanced and different stuff that's starting to develop.
I think it should be I think towns need to
clamp down on it now before somebody's grandmother or somebody's
kid gets killed. It's Nick and Medford. How do you do.
Speaker 12 (36:47):
Good?
Speaker 2 (36:48):
This is Nick and Medway Medway him? Nick?
Speaker 13 (36:52):
How you doing sir? I'm a first time call and
I've been listening to beas for forty five years now.
Speaker 10 (36:59):
But what about the school buses?
Speaker 13 (37:00):
It they don't they don't wear seatbelts do they're the kids?
Speaker 12 (37:04):
You know?
Speaker 2 (37:04):
I don't know that they didn't nice.
Speaker 13 (37:07):
Kids getting on the bus and obviously they're not putting
them in a seat belt because the bus takes off
right away.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Yeah, I don't know about that.
Speaker 13 (37:15):
Yeah, I think our kids should be wearing seat belts
in school.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
It makes you think there's no seat belts on the bus.
Speaker 13 (37:21):
Well, the seatbelts on them, but I don't see them
mandatory making the kids, you know, put them on.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
I I know it's difficult. You know, it's difficult for
teachers these days, and it's probably difficult for bus drivers
to get kids to do anything because if you say
anything to the kid, the kid's going to complain and
then when you lose your job. Mommy, Mommy, the mean
man made me put on my seat.
Speaker 13 (37:47):
I was just wondering if they're not mandatory to put
the kid in a seat belt. Wore they moved the bus,
That's all.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
I don't know. So Nick, you're you're living Medway or
you're retired?
Speaker 13 (37:56):
Do you live in Medway? And I've done tree work
to day Ray when he lived in Sureborne about thirty
years ago. He's a great guy. You guys, you guys
do a good job.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Good well, thank you.
Speaker 13 (38:09):
He lived on Woodland Street and Shoreborne. I did work
four years ago he's a great, great guy.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Great, he is a great guy. All right, Nick, thanks
thanks for checking that out. That's a good question. Does
anybody know are their seat belts on buses and today
enforce that. So before we get to the top of
the hour and my next get my next guest. Maybe
we can return to this a little bit in the
final hour, or you can just say hi. But some
of the other things I have one minute too, Yeah,
(38:36):
share these What do I see? I see money spend
on on red lights, specifically for bicycles, and they're paying
no attention. Lots of money, thousands of dollars blowing right through.
I see scooters using bike lanes to go blow through
red lights. I see uh oh, e bikes. This is
big now. E bikes used to be fine there with
(38:58):
bicycles that powered by electricity. Now they're more like motorcycles.
Some of them go forty to fifty miles per hour.
They're even designed like motorcycles. They look like motorcycles. And
I went into one of the shops and kind of
did a little investigating and he said yeah, he said.
The guy said, yeah, we just stick pedals on them
so they'll be legal on the bike lanes. All Right,
(39:21):
is the time for the news yet, Rob? All right,
the news. I'm WBZ.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.