Life isn’t always fair. A friend in California sent me a clipping about Rodney Bingenheimer, where he just got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I wouldn’t be very surprised if most of you greet this news with, “Who the hell is Rodney Bingenheimer?”

Well, Rodney was best known for his talent of being “best known.” Rodney Bingenheimer is a “groupie.” Or he was, when I knew him back in L.A. in the 60’s. He has always had one major talent — hanging out with stars. And he got so good at it, that investors started a nightclub, with him running it. It folded after a while. He got various “jobs” — doing PR for Sonny and Cher, being a stand-in for Monkee Davey Jones and, eventually, landing a DJ spot on a popular radio station. For this, he gets a star on Hollywood Blvd.

If you Google Rodney Bingenheimer’s name, or do a Wikipedia search, he’s got tons of listings and references, but nothing of substance. Mainly because he doesn’t have a lot of accomplishments, he’s just Rodney Bingenheimer.

Flash forward to yesterday, March 4, 2007. I’m watching the Independent Film Channel and they’re showing Festival Express, a film of some great groups from 1970 (like the Band, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Flying Burrito Brothers, and a whole lot of others) on a cross-country Canadian train tour. And they’re using JBL musical instrument speakers, or the Acoustic Control amplifiers — that I designed back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.

And so, I started looking back at some of the things I’ve done in music over the last six decades: JBL MI speakers, Acoustic Amps, worked with Harold Rhodes on Rhodes pianos, Moreley pedals, Black Widow guitar design, Ross, Charvel, and Jackson amplifiers and speakers, the Mic (became the CAD E200 and introduced offshore mic design). I was a Byrds songwriter (and got a Gold Record), started “Folk Rock,” a guitarist with Sweetwater, started the Association, turned Dylan onto electric guitar, and a ton more shit I’ve done that I can’t even remember anymore.

But here I am, sitting in a double-wide trailer outside of Krum, Texas, while Rodney gets a f#*kin’ star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As I said, “Life isn’t always fair.” But, that’s how life is.

So, while I’m a little jealous, I don’t begrudge Rodney his 15 minutes of fame. And I don’t regret my life either. I don’t have a lot of “I shoulda’s” — I did pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted to do.

What’s the point to all this rambling? It was the realization that hit me, as I approach my 70th birthday in May, that “Life is all about the journey.” It’s what you do along the way that counts. The people you meet, the friends you make, the things you do with your life.

I’ve seen a lot of groups come through the studio that shoulda made it, but didn’t, for one reason or another. Some groups broke up; some went on to form new groups. Those people, win or lose, are on a great journey. They may never make it, but at least, they’re trying, and that alone will make their life richer.

What’s the old saying about ‘it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all’? Life is about passion. Life ain’t always fair, but it can be exciting. Playing it safe ain’t the way to go. If you need to take an office job to get enough money to live, that’s fine, but life ain’t just about making enough to live; it’s about getting out and tasting life.

Maybe you’ll never get a star of your own on Hollywood Blvd., but you’ll have memories that will stay with you, long after others have forgotten about you.

(Harvey Gerst), ITR Studios, http://ITR studio.com