Casey Sanchez is the kind of guy that all the ladies, and some guys, want to fuck. He is a muscular six foot two inches tall with long flowing blond hair that bounces and vibrates every time he does his signature hip shake. Some journalists describe his face as the idea of perfection, dramatic cheekbones accented with perfect blue eyes and puffy, full pouty lips. There are rumors floating around about how he has slept with almost every famous movie actress on the planet and there are even more rumors about his infatuation with young pubescent boys. His performances as the lead singer and guitarist for The Blues Cats have become legendary. He will do anything to sell an album or ticket. But the eccentric Casey Sanchez has not always been the superstar he is today, in fact Casey Sanchez hasn't always been Casey Sanchez at all.

The rockin' Sanchez grew up as the well-mannered Thomas Livingston Gambles. He grew into his teenage years like most other American boys in the late seventies/early eighties, loving baseball and snow cones. It wasn't until he heard Dr. John's raspy voice come out of the sparkling Wurlitzer Jukebox in the The Iron Shackle Bar that Casey Sanchez made his first appearance. From that day forward Thomas was officially obsessed with the blues and rock 'n' roll.

Thomas and his friends had been regulars at The Iron Shackle ever since they were able to drink and smoke. The Shackle, or the Shack, was a dark and dirty hole of a bar that had nothing to offer the world besides booze and the sounds that came out of it's magical jukebox. The actual bar in the Shack was nothing more than five feet of water damaged fiberboard that wobbled every time someone rested their arms on its surface. Needless to say Thomas and his gang were the only humans that stepped foot inside of the Shack besides the owner, who also acted as the bartender. Even though none of the boys were older than eighteen the owner never once asked for an ID from any of them, he was just happy to finally have some regulars.

So it was there inside the shittiest bar in the tri-state area that Thomas Livingston Gambles lost his identity to the powerful persona of Casey Sanchez. Although Casey wanted to be a huge rock star immediately after hearing Dr. John's funky rhythms, it wasn't until he learned of Philip Baker's secret that his dream slowly started to become a reality.

Philip Baker was pretty much entirely the opposite of Casey Sanchez. He was a short, stocky boy who was amazingly quiet and shy. The fact that he ever became friends with Casey and his gang is really a miracle in itself. Casey, Jonathan Harting (later renamed Davy Thunder), Victor Wells, and Stephen Traxler were racing out of their high school parking lot in Victor's beat up Chevy Celebrity when they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from somewhere around the football field. Victor immediately stopped the car and the boys raced around the field trying to find where the smell was coming from. Stephen was the first to find Philip behind the concrete walls that made up the football player's locker rooms. Philip was by himself toking on a splif and just like that he was accepted into Casey's gang.

No one ever knew where Philip scored his grass, but he always had some and that alone made him one of Casey's closest friends. For the next couple of months the boys fell into a routine of cutting class, getting high, and going to the Shack for some pitchers of Pabst Blue Ribbon. It wasn't until the last week of classes that Philip's unknown talents finally came to the surface. Victor, Philip, Stephen and Casey were driving back from Stan's Discount Record Emporium in Elkhart, Indiana when Philip dropped the news on the stoned freaks. Just like everyday since hearing Dr. John at the Shack, Casey was talking about how the guys should start a band and become superstars. All the other guys loved to hear Casey ramble on about the chicks and the money they would make, but none of them really believed they could do it, basically because the only one they knew that had ever played an instrument was Victor, and he had stopped playing the drums once he got kicked out of the junior high band for playing too loud. Casey declared that their band should be called The Blues Cats and he would be the lead singer. Philip choked and coughed on the joint they were smoking and calmly said, "I play guitar and drums. I also play trumpet and saxophone, but I really like playing the keyboard." Casey proclaimed that Philip must be smoking too much pot, and the others laughed, but Philip just sat calmly looking out of the side window.

The next day Victor picked Philip up at his house and loaded his Celebrity full of Philip's various instruments. They drove over to Stephen's house where the other guys were waiting to hear if Philip could actually play all the instruments he said he could. After arriving Philip unpacked his guitars, drums, and horns one by one and then proceeded to set up his drum kit. For the next hour or so Philip completely destroyed all of the boys expectations. He laid into his drum kit producing some sick rhythms and then began to blow some flowing jazz licks on the trumpet. The saxophone was next, then the bass guitar. Each instrument sang a different tune and Philip continued to mesmerize the captivated onlookers. None of the guys said a word during Philip's display of pure musical brilliance. Philip then played the guitar and the entire time Casey's mouth displayed a look of pure shock. Finally, Philip set up his keyboard and glanced over to the boys and said, "I can really cook on this baby." None of them could believe his keyboard playing could be any better than the rest of the instruments, but it was. Philip's fingers bounced and gyrated along the keyboard like a flock of ballerinas doing a dance to the Flight of the Bumblebee. Philip produced sounds and melodies that the boys had never heard before. As he played they could hear his astounding originality and could see their futures taking shape.

After Philip's performance ended, the boys immediately decided to officially form The Blues Cats. Philip would act as their mentor and instructor, while Casey pronounced himself the leader of the band. For the next three months the boys immersed themselves into their instruments under Philip's expert guidance. Throughout these months each member of The Blues Cats learned a little bit more about how to play music in a rock band, while at the same time learning a little bit more about the mysterious childhood of Philip Baker.
* * *

Victor was able to surpass his adolescent drumming skills very quickly and that greatly helped with Jonathan Harting's quest to become a competent bass player. Jonathan had the greatest difficulty of The Blues Cats in developing musical skill. The first few weeks of his bass training was like watching a fish try to walk down a sidewalk, awkward and impossible. But very slowly, Jonathan began to learn and develop a bass style that fit with the rest of the band, and it helped that he looked cool holding his bass. Stephen and the newly renamed Casey had a great thirst and desire to play the guitar. Casey wanted to learn enough licks so he could write some songs and be able to play along as he sang, but Stephen wanted to know it all. Stephen's unquenchable desire resulted in him becoming the closest friend to Philip. Stephen and Philip would spend every second of their days together. At first Philip showed Stephen everything he knew on guitar, and then they would sit up all night playing along with Philip's records and tapes. Starting with the blues riffs of Albert King and Chuck Berry, then gradually graduating to the jazz-rock work of Frank Zappa and Carlos Santana. Pretty soon Stephen would play the guitar and Philip would jam along with him on whatever instrument was around. The two budding friends were inseparable and because of this Stephen was able to see where Philip obtained his immeasurable talent.

One early August night after band practice Philip and Stephen decided to go back to Philip's house and jam away the rest of the balmy, sweaty summer night. Stephen and the other guys always assumed that Philip lived at home with his parents just like everyone else in their small country town, but Philip's home life was far different than that of the regular American family. When Stephen and Philip arrived at Philip's small two bedroom one story ranch styled house they were not greeted by a Philip's mother and father, in fact no one was in the small dwelling at all. Stephen thought this was a bit odd, because his parents were always home at night and they would have immediately greeted the boys with a hundred parental questions about how, where, why, and what they were doing. Stephen shrugged this off and the two boys started to jam for a little bit in the house's family moron shag carpeted living room.

After a couple of hours of playing, the boys stopped and Philip grabbed them a few beers from the Frigidaire. "Are you sure? What will your parents say when they come home?" Stephen asked Philip as he pulled off the metal tab of the red, white, and blue can of Pabst.

"They won't be home, so don't worry." Philip replied.

"Where they at? Oh, let me guess they are some wild musicians out on the road and that's how you got so damn good at playin' all these instruments." Stephen said with a laugh.

"Actually, you are kind of right," Philip paused and took a big swig of Pabst, "they were musicians, but they were both killed in an automobile accident in Mississippi when I was twelve. My older sister raised me after that, but back in April she took off to California with her boyfriend."

"Wow, I'm sorry man." Stephen said as he looked down at his torn Converse sneakers.

"Don't sweat it, that was a long time ago. Hey, you wanna smoke a dobbie?"

* * *

When winter rolled around The Blues Cats had finally become confident enough to make their first official stage performance. Casey's cousin was able to get them a gig at The Soft Rock Café, which was a bar that was neither soft nor café. The crowd that showed up at the Soft Rock was leather clad and extremely oily. The Blues Cats were immediately intimidated by the firey and wild crowd, but once they hit the stage their music made all their fears go away. The raunchy pack of human angst shouted and spit their approval at the young band, and each member got their first taste of stardom. It was evident at that very first show that there was some intense tension in their music. Casey tried and did anything to get the attention of the crowd. Screaming, dancing, crying, falling, bleeding, anything to get the audience to wonder what was going to come next. Casey would play the part of the rock star while the rest of the band painted the musical background. Casey worked hard and most of the time he did get a large reaction from the audience, but it was the playing of Philip that naturally won the audience over. Every time Philip would take a solo or play a funky little fill on his keyboards the crowd would instantly go bananas. It was as if his playing was a drug, everyone wanted more and more. After Philip's keyboard runs, Casey would always try an extra bit of showmanship to get some praise from the crowd. These musical pissing contests would drive the crowds mad and leave them crying for more.

The Blues Cats quickly became a popular local draw, and word spread around the surrounding areas about the little rock band that had a truly wild keyboard player and a dramatic, good looking lead singer. The band's shows were the thing to do for the youngsters in the tri-state area and everybody that saw them live would boast about Philip's unique playing for weeks. The first real break that the band got came from the owner of a bar in Jackson, Michigan named Eddie Crawly. Eddie's uncle owned a bar in Chicago and had caught The Blues Cats in Jackson and instantly fell in love with the sounds of the band and especially the keyboard player. Eddie's uncle booked the boys for a solid month as his bar's house band in Chicago. After only four months of playing dives in little farm towns, the boys would have a chance to play in a place that would ultimately change their lives forever.
* * *

It didn't take The Blues Cats very long to gain some recognition in the busy nightlife of Chicago. After only two weeks of shows the boys had already begun to draw a crowd that would pack Eddie's uncle's bar and most of the time they drew a crowd that was too big for the smoky pub. Casey immediately took full advantage of all the success the band was earning. He would indulge in all of the cliché rock 'n' roll items of excess; women, drugs, alcohol, and more drugs. Victor and the newly renamed Davy Thunder also eased their way into the wild lifestyle that was being handed to them. Even though the boys were only making a few hundred dollars a week and had yet to land a recording contract, they had defiantly stepped into luxurious rock star personas. Stephen and Philip were the only two of The Blues Cats that didn't totally overindulge in all that was happening around them. They both partied and drugged their nights away, but they chose to abuse themselves in the privacy of their small rented rooms rather than stumbling through the streets of Chicago heading for another drink at Nick's Uptown.

Both Philip and Stephen were a bit scared of the instant popularity that they were getting and each of them secretly desired to be back in the comfortable country surroundings that they had grown up in. But their apprehensions about city life would completely disappear when they hit the stage with a raw rush of power.

After seeing the success the band had gathered in their first two weeks in Chicago, Eddie's uncle signed the boys on to do another month with the option for two more after that with an increased percentage of the money taken at the door. The crowds continued to grow and the hype about The Blues Cats was on the tongues of all of hip underground beings of the city. A couple of weeks of wildness passed and by that time each member of the band had graduated to the same level of overindulgent rock stardom that Casey constantly enjoyed. Even the reclusive Philip and Stephen had begun to let themselves go out and create the insane drunken scenes that rock 'n' roll mythology is based upon. Bottle breaking, barfing, public sex and urination began to dominate each one of their lives, and this excess only fueled the fire that their music had originally started.

It was after a show on June 20th when The Blues Cats were courted by a record executive who wanted to make them into the stars that they already thought they had become. All of the boys' eyes lit up when the Arista Records executive offered them the 'chance of a life time.' "Just sign with me and I'll take you to the top, were you belong," the well-dressed businessman told the group. "I want you guys to record here in Chicago as soon as possible, so here is my card. Call me when you want to become stars."

Casey wanted to sign the contract right then, but he was too stoned to get the words out of his mouth. All the boys agreed they would call first thing the next morning, and they decided to celebrate their futures with some hardcore partying. The boys headed out of Eddie's uncle's bar in route for a late night at Nick's Uptown. Victor and Casey caught a ride with a couple of chicks that wanted to get them naked and Davy said he was going to grab a cab. Stephen asked Philip what he was going to do and spontaneously Philip jumped onto the back of some girl's (who he wanted to see naked) Vespa and waved at Stephen as they sped off down the narrow city street under the shadow of night. Stephen let out a laugh and flipped his friend a peace sign then hopped into the back of the cab with Davy. Stephen had no idea that it would be the last time he saw his soul mate alive.

Somewhere between North Kinsbury Street and West Armitage Avenue Philip and the girl were struck directly in the side by a large Cadillac. They both were taken to the hospital at DePaul University, but neither of them ever regained consciousness again. Philip Baker was twenty years old when he died, one day away from signing his name to a contract that would have surely made him a millionaire and one of the world's most recognized keyboard players.

Stephen and the rest of The Blues Cats did not find out about Philip's accident until the next morning after they had called the Arista Records executive and accepted his offer to record in Chicago. When Philip had not shown up at Nick's Uptown they all thought that he must have finally scored with the Vespa chick. They were all excited about his apparent conquest, but unfortunately Philip's conquest never happened. Eddie's uncle was the one that called and told the band about Philip's death. None of The Blues Cats believed him, but when the police called to have them identify the body, the reality of the situation set in.

Stephen and the rest of his band mates were devastated. Not a single one of them had ever been through a loss like they were experiencing. They canceled their gigs for the rest of the week, and each individually wallowed in a state of depression and drug abuse. During that dark week Stephen did not talk to anyone. He just sat in his dirty rented room playing his guitar for hours. The rest of The Blues Cats called a meeting to discuss their future without Philip and they all decided that they needed to continue on and do the recordings for Arista. Casey was the one that told Stephen of the bands decision. Stephen said nothing, but when they went to Alligator Studio the following Tuesday Stephen was there with the rest of his band mates.

The sound The Blues Cats made without Philip's keyboard playing was far different than the underground and original music they had been making in the midwestern bars. They no longer sounded unique, but instead they had become a rather cliché average version of themselves. The Arista executive and his producers still liked the new 'pop' rock sound that The Blues Cats had developed. "You guys will be the new Rolling Stones!" the pony tailed record executive declared. "Shit you guys are going to be bigger than the damn Beatles!"

"Fuck you, you stupid cunt." Stephen muttered under his alcohol-laced breath.

"I heard that Steve." Casey whispered in his ear, "And this guy may be a cunt, but he is going to make us all rich, and that's what is important.

Stephen's eyes rolled away from Casey's glare, and he took another swig from the handle of Jack Daniels that was constantly by his side. Stephen didn't care about money or fame, in fact he didn't even care about the music anymore. Stephen was there, but his spirit had died with Philip. He wondered why he was there, why Philip wasn't, and what was the point? But then he realized that he had nothing better to do, and he definitely didn't want to go home and become a farmer, so Stephen played his guitar and let The Blues Cats become whatever Casey and Arista wanted them to become.

The Arista Records executive may have been wrong in his prediction that The Blues Cats would become bigger than The Stones and The Beatles, but he wasn't very far off. The Blues Cats debut album called Baker's Blues reached number one on the Billboard music chart and The Blues Cats went on a three year long world tour that would make them millionaires and legitimate rock superstars.

Stephen and the other Blues Cats don't talk about Philip Baker that much. Every time Casey is on the cover of some pulp magazine the interview on the inside never contains a question about Philip and that's all right with Casey. Casey Sanchez and The Blues Cats are household names all over the globe, but only a few hundred people ever heard the real Baker's Blues. Stephen Traxler's soul burns and fades a little bit more every time he closes his eyes and lays his head down on the newly fluffed pillow of some anonymous hotel, in some anonymous city, while the sweet melodies of Philip's keyboard keeps him from sleep.