1,389,174 @ 10:41 am
The band in 1983
Young and handsome Legendary Count in brown suitcoat and white pants out on the island...29 years of age...over half a lifetime ago. One of Boston's FIVE Best Bands in Playboy Magazine, a record deal in Paris with worldwide distribution, and the world's record for performing at The Paradise Theater, 49 performances! How legends are born...
Thanks Barbara M. for the photos.
Fudge is gone. He worked with Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Sib from the band Boston. He was our guitarist in 1983 and 1984...the great Jimmy Miller, Rolling Stones producer, said Fudge was in the "upper third" of guitarists that he had worked with - Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Dave Mason, Eric Clapton, Denny Laine.
"The lower part of the upper third, you understand" Jimmy said with a smile. What a compliment.
then...and now...
The Legendary Count...Rocking the Casbah
August 31, 2019!!!
RIP Teddy
I lived with Teddy back in the 1980s. He was part of the above band with photos on the rocks ...Richie is in that photo, he replaced Teddy and then Todd joined the group.
Only Jeff, Eric, Richie and I are still around, Todd passing recently, Fudge in a horrific accident on the Mass. Turnpike when his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend took him on an alleged suicide ride because Fudge's girlfriend was pregnant....our cassette album was in his top pocket, produced by Jimmy Miller. The undertaker was in a local band and phoned me when it happened. The undertaker said Fudge/Francis' blood was on the album found in his pocket, his new band having been interviewed on WBRS Waltham the day before.
At the wake there was a big display of the bands Fudge performed in, it was chilling to see our photos in a funeral parlor and the realization that a friend was gone, gone in such a terrible, violent way.
__________________________________
Fudge, Todd, Teddy, the undertaker Richard (who also embalmed the late Archbishop Cardinal Cushing) and Jimmy Miller have all passed on
The music survives
Fudge and Teddy were two very kind and gentle people. They did not deserve to be murdered (in Ted's case) or allegedly murdered (in Fudge's case.)
In murder-suicide, Marin musician recalled as beloved, Calistoga man troubled
https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/08/26/in-murder-suicide-marin-musician-recalled-as-beloved-calistoga-man-troubled/?fbclid=IwAR1bMobTuUUpy0Wcmbd_N8NsWLtLnzeAVW8LbhFjKwkusTOzNLGPlZrF20E
The man who detectives suspect shot a Strawberry musician to death before taking his own life next door had always seemed strangely off base, the victim’s family said.
Andreas Kreiden, 41, often visited his parents at their home at 152 Carlotta Circle, and his wayward manner quickly drew the attention of Ted and Kaye Rodden at 154 Carlotta.
Kreiden’s behavior was so odd that Ted Rodden once described him as “the crazy guy next door,” according to Stephen Rodden, Ted’s brother.
“This neighbor guy was off mentally a bit, used to smoke constantly in the backyard while coughing continually and then throw the butts in my brother’s yard,” Stephen Rodden said. “He would also urinate through the fence on occasion.”
Ted Rodden, 61, a veteran sound engineer at Rancho Nicasio, was found shot to death in his backyard Wednesday night, apparently slain as he prepared to polish his wife’s shoes. On the other side of a fence separating the backyards, Kreiden was found dead as well, a rifle at his side.
Others in the area heard what sounded like a shot at about 1 p.m., followed by another several hours later. Rodden’s body was found by his adult son at about 7:30 that night. Kreiden’s body was found the next day by a deputy investigating the Rodden slaying.
So when you hear my name and "legendary" in the same breath, trust me, surviving so many decades later is a legendary achievement.
Rest in peace dear friends. We are still out there rocking for you...
