Over the last couple episodes of my column, I have been telling you about the amazing talents of the infamous artist/photographer/musician Doug Miller of Laguna Beach.
We covered his art and photography previously. Today I want to get into his music. The dude is one of those rare people who can make his instrument come alive. And his is one of the hardest of them all, the violin.
I have been letting Doug tell it in his own words through messages we sent back and forth. His start was like many others, but the result was way beyond.
“Lita, my mom’s mom, she got me into the free grade-school program in the fourth grade – had a choice of flute or violin. Those or choir. I could sing, but I didn’t want to be singing, I took the violin,” Doug said. He then got a private teacher in Long Beach who taught violin and accordion. “After a couple years, Lita found Merwyn Tucker advertising to teach private violin lessons – he was a worker at Douglas Aircraft and a member of the Long Beach Symphony.”
He said Tucker had a “slow and very intense technique to get tone and control. I didn’t want to practice, but dad put me in my room for an hour every night. He griped, ‘We’re not wasting that fiddle money’ and I sawed away.”
“I kept tunes in my head – and they stayed there,” Doug continued. “I could memorize a few symphonies and classical pieces even if I couldn’t play them – and show tunes and pop tunes, I don’t remember lyrics, but the melodies stick. Once I have the melody, I can play it – even years later.”
“I got invited to play violin at the Pelican Fish Company around Thanksgiving of 1972 – hitchhiked to Dana Point,” Doug said. “They liked me, and I became the third member of that group – Dave McMahon and Bob Hawkins.”
He said they played at the Pelican for a year and then at the Dana Point Jolly Roger on the harbor for six months and then six more months at The Quiet Woman in Corona del Mar.
“I got to know the songs of Dylan, Jackson Browne, Little Feat, John Prine, and a lot more of the bar-stool standards,” he said. “Bob’s brother, Phil Hawkins, came in as our drummer at the Quiet Woman. We were joined on different nights by April Fulladosa, Mark Turnbull, Greg Thorne, Greg Leisz, with his steel pedal, Beth Fitchet, Steve Wood, Richard Stekol and several others.”
It was at this point that I met Doug, and we became friends. In 1973 and ’74 I left the beach and lived in Sun Valley, Idaho. Skiing, playing tennis and playing music in local bars. Doug hitchhiked from Laguna Beach all the way up there and spent some time with us. We played music together and he took a ton of photos.
When I moved back to the beach, in the summer of 1974, we organized the Funk Dog Surf Band. Doug played lead violin. We didn’t have a lead guitar player, I only played rhythm at that time. It provided a unique kinda sound and Doug’s playing was really the heart and soul of the band.
And the part about him being able to play anything he had heard was a fact. During one of our gigs, he got up on stage during intermission and did a set of famous TV commercial jingles; it was incredible and brought the house down. He truly can make that violin cry or sing.
During this time, we got asked to record a song for a surf film. Doug met the guy who made the film and fell in love with his daughter. He and Becky have been married ever since and have two sons, Jesse and Josiah.
One thing I learned about Doug right off the bat, is that not only is he talented beyond the level of most humans, but he also has a very unique and deep way of “feeling” things. He can read deeper into stuff than most of us would even be aware enough to consider.
That is probably why he is so good at the things that he does, he feels things. It’s in his photos, art and music. When I heard that he got married my immediate thought was, “Wow, that dude is gonna be a great husband and partner.”
You can see Doug pretty much any day of the week walking around Laguna Beach taking photos or at the Sawdust Festival when it is going on. I know my life has been better for having known him. If you see him go up and say hello. He’s very friendly and probably won’t bite. You will be glad you did.
