Beginnings
I was born August 17 1948 in Tampa FL at MacDill Air Force Base Hospital. My father was Brownlow Reaveley Beaver (1916-1958) son of Dr Edgar Beaver (1886-1971) and Mary Beaver (1898-1958) of Gallup, New Mexico. Originally from Georgia, Dr Beaver took his family to Gallup, NM to operate the the Public Health Facility situated in the historic McKinley County Court House. He had a practice in Aztec, NM where he had built a historic home. It was listed in the National Historic Register at one time.
Brownlow attended The New Mexico Military Institute. He enlisted in the Army Air Corp during WWII and was assigned to the Stars and Stripes Army New paper. He was a reporter/photographer assigned to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL.
Mother was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. (May 11, 1923-May 10, 2006). She was one of four children of Martin Vasquez and Maria Gastambide. Her mother passed away when she was very young and she ended up being the mother/caregiver for her father and the two brothers. Her sister had been sent to live with a relative. She was working at the base PX when my father and she met. They had two children. Leyla Beaver ne Gallegos of Socorro, NM and myself. My father was a Staff Sargent and my mother went to work for the General of the base.
When Brownlow had been shipped to Germany for his last tour of duty. Mother had to go to Gallup with two children by herself. Imagine a woman who has never been away form Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Ocean, crossing the United States in a Crosley Station Wagon with two toddlers to end up in Gallup, NM. When we arrived, she was met with hostility from my father's mother and sister, They did not appreciate her culture and loose attitudes. Much like many strict Anglo Protestant's of the time, she was not welcome. The one redeeming factor at the time was that mother had a winning personality and Grandpa Beaver was kind to her.
Then Dad came home.
Like many of the men who went to war Daddy came home with an affliction that was not visible. He liked to drink and the local Elk's Club was welcoming to the amicable Brownlow Beaver. He and my mother used to many evenings at the Club, which led to jealousy and fits of rage from both parents. Mind you, this was not unusual for the time and place, Gallup is the Indian Capitol of the World and still had the air of an old west frontier town. It included the EL Rancho Hotel famous for the movie stars who came to film in Gallup. My aunt, Alice Hanks, was Martin Hanks, the General Manager's wife and participated in many soirées for the town's visiting celebrities.
Mother became a reporter and photographer for the Gallup Independent the local newspaper. Daddy worked the press room as he did not like being in the public eye. Mother thrived on it. Soon. she was a force to be reckoned with and that drove my Grandmother and Aunt crazy. This affected my growing up there. When I arrived in Gallup, I could not speak a word of English. I was reared in Puerto Rico and my father spoke fluent Spanish. My Grandmother was appalled. My grandfather thought it was cute.
San Miguel County Courthouse
Gallup, NM
Gallup was a rugged railroad town surrounded by high desert mesas. For a young kid with endless curiosity, the alleys, trading posts, and train yards became an open classroom in self-reliance. Like many kids who grew up in Gallup, I was pretty much on my own for most of the time. Mother had to go to photograph events, wrecks and/or murders. They were never during normal work hours. Once she had to go photograph the murder-suicide scene of her best friend. It was tough but she did it because it was her job and nobody else could or would do it. Meanwhile my father and mother separated. We went back to Puerto Rico for a time and I loved it there. However, mother's family held it against her that she had married a Anglo soldier and she was not too happy there. She and my father reconciled somewhat so we went back. While in Puerto Rico, Mother hosted the Munoz Marin Nestle hour.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Mu%C3%B1oz_Mar%C3%ADn
I was an unpaid actor playing the role of Tarzan's son, "Boy" in the commercials. It did me no good when I went back to New Mexico. My first lesson in the memory of the public regarding celebrity. Once your are gone the memories fade quickly.
Mother fit right in to the politics of wherever she was living.
Then in 1958, tragedy struck. My father had a myocardial infarction (MI),infarction (Massive heart attack). It was sudden and over in a minute. Mom and I were on our own. It was the beginning of the end for our time in Gallup. I sold newspapers and converted to Catholicism as I became more spiritually aware and wanted to get to to the root of Christianity believing the Church was the original historical Church. Heavy thoughts for an 11 year old.
Then, we moved to Grants, NM.
Grants, NM was a desolate little town between Gallup and Albuquerque. It is located on historic Route 66 and is touted as the Uranium Capitol of the World. It was there that I got to ride my first motorcycle. I became my own person. Nobody had heard of my father and mother was the society editor of the Grants Beacon. In retrospect, Grants was a major turning point for me, I received my last spanking form my mother. When she started to spank me, I took the belt away from her and said that was enough. No anger or violence; just stated the fact and she accepted it. We were there for two years when my mother saw the writing on the wall. I was getting too wild and uncontrollable. She had remarried in Gallup to an Italian Bar Tender after my father had passed. He was not my favorite person. The interaction between him and I were to result in therapy sessions for me in later life.
I was enrolled in Saint Michael's high School in Santa Fe, NM
St Michael's High School 1962=1966
Saint Michael's High School was a Catholic boarding School that was founded by the Christian Brothers in Santa Fe, NM. It was everything you would expect from a Catholic Boarding School at the time. It was there that many young boys became men (whatever the hell that means).
I entered there as a Freshman boarding student. I did not fit in at first. Hence the term "Freshman". My class was the second to the last class to graduate " Boarders". The Christian Brothers were shrinking their dominion and the Sisters of Loretto Girls School was closing down as well. It was the time of transition. St Michael's was going co-ed in 1968. Flower Children and hippies discovered Santa Fe. The graduating class my Freshman year was dominated by machismo jocks with all the entitlement that came with that. By the time I graduated in 1966, the culture had changed. Sports were still important but the attitude had changed. It was during this time that my musical inclinations took form.;
My grandfather had bought me a nylon string guitar from Mexico for $35. I put a tape recorder microphone in it and ran it through a cheap amplifier the school had available. My first complete song I learned was La Bamba, a traditional Mexican folk song turned into Rock and Roll by Richie Valens. Next was any three cord rock and roll song that were in the key of C. Finally. I broke out and learned House of The Rising Sun, the Eric Burton and the Animals. By the end of he senior fall semester we had a band that played at school dances. "The Rejects" were all boarders and it was much easier to get the girls than dealing drugs or contact sports. I already had a girlfriend so it was not a perk for me.
A synopsis of my High School years would read something like this:
1962-1963/Freshman year - Testing the waters to find my own level. Sports? Not really interested in devoting my time to getting bruised and beaten up by the older jocks and gangs in Santa Fe.
1963-1964/Sophomore Year - By this time I came to realize that I was not interested in academic achievement. I just learned to be cool about it. My persona had begun its transformation from a follower to a leader. I had no followers and no purpose other than to be cool.
1964-1965/Junior Year - I had settled into my High School persona. Grades be damned! I was having fun.
1965-1966/Senior Year - I was in love.
Susan Gomez from Loretto High School and I had finally found each other. It was to be a tragic tale. We ended up pregnant and wanted to get married. Her parents (father) was totally against it. In retrospect, I can see why they were so adamant. We were young and not familiar with life outside of family and school. I was not disciplined enough to be concerned with what others thought of me.
But, we were in love.
After the birth of our daughter, Sharon, we stayed together for about three years total.
I remember working two jobs while going to college. I had a B+ average and had been accepted into the College of Business Administration a year early.
It was not easy. He parents were wealthy and wanted her to have the life they had worked for, I felt disposable. After a lot of consternation and ego tripping on both sides, I decided I wanted to move from Santa F to Albuquerque, and attend UNM I had a friend who was a member of the Rejects in High School and he was playing a lot there. I figured I could get some weekend gigs and not have to work so much at a second job.
I came home and received a phone call. She said, "You can have your divorce. My father does not think a married man should play music in a band". At this point I hung up and never spoke to her again. It was an education for me to deal with lawyers and the politics of going against a powerful family. It hardened me. I gave up custody of my daughter and promised I would not interfere with her life as she grew up. Gossip had it that her father had paid me off to leave. that was not an option for me. I knew that, had I stayed, I would always be under the thumb of her father. I knew that my daughter would suffer from my presence in their lives so I cut myself off. The next few months , living in Santa Fe were not fun.
I had been playing at the Ramada Inn in Santa Fe when one of the owners asked me to play at their club in Richardson, Texas. It was Rick's Club at the Ramada Inn there. It was a Friday and I had to start on Monday. I left Santa Fe that Saturday and drove to Dallas. I did not give notice with my job at the State nor did I withdraw from College. That was my state of mind then, Everything I had lived and worked for was gone! I would have fought for my daughter more except that I had no chance of winning and had nothing to offer her. I believed her mother was a good person and would raise her well. Time to start living my destiny.
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