BK Lick, Tom was a dear, personal friend of mine who was capable of ANYTHING. He was, truly one of the funniest, least affected, unpretentious performers I've ever had the privilege to be around. When I saw him wearing sunglasses I laughed out loud...and for just a few seconds he wasn't gone. His humor could be SO understated HE might be the only one in the room who 'got' it. But, he LOVED it when any of his buddies would pull a good joke on him.

We were working on his 1st LP entitled 'A Delicate Balance' @ Birdland Studios in Chicago. The song was 'You're So Pretty When You Smile". Tom was having trouble getting the vocal just right. Buster Ursini who, also co-produced along w/Tom and me suggested we take a break and go get a beer. So, we went to a little dive around the corner where we had several...beers AND shots. 25 odd games of 'flipperball'(pinball) and we staggered back arm in arm singing Jim Reeves' 'He'll have To Go'...Poot yer SWWWWEEEEEETTT Leeips a leetle closer, etc. Three VERY drunk young men w/o adult supervision. So, Tom goes into the vocal booth and proceeds to render the most heart-wrenching, tearful, achingly FLAT vocal in the history of recorded music. Buster and I looked at each other and said, 'Oh, we can't pass THIS up...let's tell him it was SO good we want to wait 'til tomorrow to listen to the playback." And that's what we did. In front of a room full of people Buster played the track...NOBODY laughed louder than Tom. He saved a special copy of the song w/THAT vocal. I'll bet it's around in his personal effects someplace. He told me later that was his favorite moment in the entire process. Man, I REALLY miss him...