Aerosmith Memories of Dana Francis

      I lived in Hopedale from the summer of 1963 until the fall of 1968. One of the bands that I remember
    seeing at the Hopedale Town Hall was called "Flash." If my memory serves me, it was a power trio
    with Joe Perry on guitar, Dave Meade on bass and Dave Carchio on drums. There was also Joe
    Perry's Jam Band which may have been the last incarnation before Aerosmith began. Dave Carchio
    and I both got our Eagle Scout awards at the Hopedale Community House on December 28, 1968. He
    was a great drummer as I recall.

      In October of 1968 I moved to Mendon and was at the Aerosmith gig on November 6, 1970 at what
    was then Nipmuc Regional High School. I had Carl Olson for history both junior and senior year. The
    one song I distinctly remember them playing that night was a cover of "Cold Turkey" by John Lennon. (I
    suppose that was a portent of things to come in another ten years or so). The other thing I remember
    was the sense of fun and swagger in their music. Lots of cover tunes with a few originals thrown in.
    Back in those days they were covering Rolling Stones tunes (Live With Me) and old Peter Green era
    Fleetwood Mac (Oh Well). Also Johnny B. Goode and Blue Suede Shoes were show stoppers at the
    end of the night. These were songs that they played at what was then Lakeview Ballroom on the
    shores of Lake Nipmuc. And the famous Nipmuc Phys Ed T-shirt can be seen in one or two photos in
    the Walk This Way autobiography and also very briefly in the photo collage that ran during the larger
    video collage shown during their induction into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame back a few years ago.

       I will be 50 this year and I play in a band that does covers of "Walk This Way" and "Same Old Song
    and Dance." I have a day job as a hospital social worker and two young kids, but it was the thrill of
    watching Joe and Steve and Tom and Ray Tabano and Joey play way back then that inspired me to
    want to play rock n' roll to this day.

      Thanks for the memories!

      Dana Francis
      Nipmuc Regional High School
      Class of 1973, (Class President)

      In an email a day or two later, Dana added, "I was disappointed to see (in "Walk This Way") that Tom
    Hamilton remembered their first gig being in Hopkinton. Oh well.

      "Re: that Aerosmith gig, I had some vague recollection that Judy [Scribner] Robbins had something
    to do with arranging that event since she lived right there at the end of Dana Park  and I figured she
    knew Mary and Tony Perry."

                               Mr. Know-it-All Aerosmith article             Bill Wright's Aerosmith Memories   

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Mike Connelly (left) with Dana in Chicago, 2015.