Remembering George Cabaniss
Ohio Rock's MVP, August 15, 1956 - July 17, 2020
This is my friend, the late George Cabaniss. He passed away in July of 2020, after surviving an arduous 6-year treatment for cancer.
I met George in 1979, upon his joining Stiv Bators’ band when they were still calling themselves the Dead Boys. George was playing the Cheetah Chrome parts; Jimmy Zero was still in the lineup, as was Johnny Blitz. But Stiv, Zero, and Blitz were the only original Dead Boys. Stiv’s childhood friend, Frank Secich, a founding member of Blue Ash, had joined in on bass, and continued to work with Stiv on a power pop set of projects that culminated in the album, DISCONNECTED.
This photo of George is from a portrait session I did with each band member for the back cover of Disconnected. So are these:
That’s David Quinton Steinberg goofing around with George and the 1/4 inch tape. They were the two youngest members of the Disconnected band, and I am exactly in the middle, age-wise, between them. It’s easy to see how much fun we had, and our friendliness jumps off the celluloid.
The following bio is from the obituary of George that you can read here, if you wish.
George was a notable and talented guitar player from his teens, known throughout the NE Ohio region for his distinctive style. George's musicality was well appreciated, not only locally, but by aficionados coast to coast, as well as in the UK, EU and Japan. Besides being a guitarist of great skill, he also worked tirelessly to compose clever pop and rock songs for both male and female singers, words and music that you wished you had written yourself. His guitar solos had an adventurous style, well crafted and executed with bursts of jaw-dropping flash, passion, and always superb tone, vibrato and feel. He loved electric guitars and amps and how they worked together, continually searching for the perfect combinations of sound, response and playability, whether from vintage or brand-new instruments. But George sounded like George, no matter what he played! Every town has a guitar player that every other guitar player in town respects, and he was Akron's for over four decades. George was in the following bands over the past 40+ years: Kil Cooley, Yankee, Hammer Damage, Dead Boys, Stiv Bators Band, Sodbusters, Color Me Gone, Village Idiots, Bad Dudes, Paper Crowns, Orange Ruffians and the Psyclones.
In 2019, there was a birthday celebration gig at Musica in Akron, Ohio, in George’s honor. About five of the aforementioned bands performed, and George performed with each of them. He was on stage the entire evening, and I think that’s how he wanted to celebrate his birthday, which turned out to be the last mortal birthday celebration he would have.
You know how we all complain about people shooting video with their iPhones at concerts? Well, this time, I am glad I did. I wasn't blocking anyone’s view, as I was on George’s side of the stage (that’s him in the t-shirt with his back to the camera). Here’s the Disconnected Band performing “Pills.” Clockwise from the drums: David Quinton Steinberg, Pete Drivere (guitar, not an original Disconnected player but we had a reunion at his studio around 2003, so he’s definitely family), Frank Secich on bass and vocals, Jimmy Zero on guitar and vocals. And George. It should be noted that this was Jimmy’s first public appearance after a long recuperation from surviving a car crash where he went through a wind shield.
The photo flurry above includes Jimmy Zero, David Quinton Steinberg, Pete Drivere, and Frank Secich.
Here’s a photo of Mark Klein, Ohio studio owner, producer, and drummer (Cobra Verde, among others), self, Lisa & Jimmy Zero.
I only got one more chance to see George after this show. It was in February of 2020, and I visited him in an Akron hospital, and met some of his family that I’d not previously met, and of course, Frank Secich and his wife Lisa were there. COVID was happening abroad and we were already taking precautions, and one month later, the pandemic was declared.
These low-res images are from the 2003 session the Disconnected Band did at Pete Drivere’s Youngstown studio, where they recorded a track (“Him or Me” the Paul Revere & the Raiders song) for a Greg Shaw Tribute Album. The first image is David and George, and the second is George, Jimmy Zero, David, and Frank Secich.
Earlier in 2019, there was another gathering of the Disconnected Band at the Cleveland premier of Danny Garcia’s film about Stiv, entitled No Compromise, No Regrets. This is the last photo of George and me together.
I’m pleased to use someone else's words when I say to George, “wherever you are tonight, I wish you the best of everything.”
George was unflappable and stoic, but at the same time, 20 megatons of fun, and what he could do with a guitar was otherworldly. He loved cats and dogs, and was one of the kindest people I have ever known.
Rest easy, and happy heavenly birthday.
