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RIP Billy Bacon of Forbidden Pigs
In the early 80s I met Billy through a guy named Samuel at Jim’s House of Guitars. Billy and I were kids. We met - we played - we hit it off. Pete Conway (who can pull tones from a tele most mortals dream off) and Paul DeSauls(?) on drums were there as well. They were good friends from high school and I was a welcomed outsider. Billy and I got together regularly to write and record bits using an old Realistic tape recorder and a giant wooden entertainment center to bounce tracks. Learned the basics of song writing with Billy. Some of his songs morphed into bits I heard on his later recordings. Pete was a really talented writer as well. We eventually decided on the name the Forbidden Pigs. I designed and painted the first version of the logo on Paul’s drum head. For me it was a heavy time. When my Pop passed the Pigs were a cool (we thought so) gang that directed some serious emotion in a productive direction. After what now seems like a very short period of time, we started getting these gigs around San Diego. We opened for some amazing people like the Beat Farmers, Paladins, Mojo and Skid, and once for Rosie Flores. We had to be brought in through the back entrance as snot-nosed kids for a few venues. I thought this was how every musician experienced the local music scenes when starting out. Didn’t realize until much later how the stars had aligned. So lucky. Bodies Bar opening for Mojo and Skid and the Beat Farmers? Happened more than a few times. The Beat Farmers were truly a freight train in a china shop… stunning. If I remember correctly Paul was gone by the time I left for personal reasons. Billy, Pete, and I fell out for a while. By the time we got back in touch , Pete was gone and Billy was touring a lot. We went back to snotnoseville pretty quick when we were laughing about his exploits. Billy had developed friendships with people who appeared in his vinyl collection of heroes. Amazing. We touched base less frequently over the next few decades. In 2012 Billy invited me to help him write a song for what was eventually his last album. I flew out to Texas for a week and we wrote and recorded two songs. Bucket and Tie One On. Just like the old days, we split percussion duties and played multiple instruments. He let me sing backup in few select parts. It definitely sounds raw as neither of us, admittedly, should be allowed behind the kit. Being a badass, Billy pulled together our rough tracks and had them mastered. He had the original painted drum head hanging in the “studio.” It was really a cool space to record. Since he passed, I appreciate his talent more and more. His live version of Cold Outside is beyond good. Some extremely talented players stepped in and out of Billy’s band over the years. I was fortunate enough to be there once myself. RIP Buddy. Signed - Snot-Nosed Pig Jeffrey Jowls, Guitar— February 15, 2021 5:53 p.m.