VELVERT TURNER, JIMI HENDRIX'S ONLY GUITAR STUDENT

A few days ago I picked up a copy of the only album by The Velvert Turner Group.  

Yes, them

You are now currently saying to yourself, "Who the hell is Velvert Turner"?!?!?!?  So did I.  This is where it gets interesting.

Velvert Turner happened to be a close friend and the only student of Jimi Hendrix.   They met in 1966 and took to each other as they both had a love for the guitar.  Jimi mentored him through instructional sessions at Jimi's apartment in Greenwich Village.

As Jimi's popularity grew, Velvert was invited to the concerts and would mention he is friends of Jimi.  Almost no one believed him.  After Jimi's death in 1970, Velvert decided to form his own band, the Velvert Turner Group.  In 1972, their only album was released.

 The guitar stylings and vocals eerily resemble Hendrix's.  He would even play guitar with his teeth and behind his head.  Here's a track from the album.  And yes, this does sound almost exactly like Jimi Hendrix, vocals and all..  

But this album did not sell well.  It was seen as "behind the times".  Fickle audiences of 1972 had moved on from Jimi's wild psychedelic 60's style.

He performed sporadically after the LP, and his former bandmates went on to play in other groups including The Motels, The Knack, The New York Dolls and Burning Sensations.  Quite the backup band....

Sadly he passed in 2000 at the age of 49.

This pink vinyl reissue was a Record Store Day release back in 2017.  2,000 copies were pressed.

And yes, it will make you wonder what it would have been like to see them play together at the same time.

Here's another track..  Unreal.

Take care folks!

I'll be working on picking up the pace posting bits and pieces of my record colection that I think are interesting.

2020 GOAL UPDATE THROUGH OCTOBER

 Posting my 2020 New Years' goals was a great idea.  It forced me to focus on meeting these goals or otherwise look like a massive chump. 

Well, at least no so chumpish..

FINANCIAL GOALS:

Not only did I keep up with my goals, but I have completed the goal of matching all but one of my goals for the year.   The overages are going into the 2021 goals.

This is a twisted way to find a positive in the Covid lockdown.  I just could not spend my money.

PERSONAL PROGRESS:

1. Take a spring road trip.  Yellowstone would be ideal.  SUMMER ROAD TRIP THROUGH OREGON COAST & CALIFORNIA.  RIGHT BEFORE THE FIRES.  PHEW.

2. Exercise more.  DROPPED OFF SINCE SEPTEMBER  

3. Drop about 20 lbs.   I AM NOT GOING HERE.  THE COVID 15 IS REAL. MY NEXT GOAL WILL BE 35 LESS.  GRRRR.

4. Drink more green tea. HITTIN' IT.  ADDING SOME JASMINE, OOLONG, WHITE, AND EARL GREY

5. Sell off some of my record collection.   It was a long term goal to sell eventually.  Well, I have run out of room.  I think I would rather sell than keep some of the ones I rarely listen to.  GOT RID OF SOME, BUT HAVE RENEWED MY INTREST IN SOME NEW ALBUMS, SO THE COLLECTION IS GROWING AGAIN.  AND I WILL BE POSTING ABOUT VINYL MORE.

6. Improve piano skills and improve guitar skills. STILL NOODLING ON A PIANO AND A BOUZOUKI NOW 

7. Blog more. I HAVE LITTLE TIME WITH A FULL LIFE TO BLOG AS MUCH AS I WOULD LIKE.  BUT I WANT TO ADD MORE VINYL POSTS.  I HAVE AN ABUNDANT AMOUNT OF MATERIAL FOR THIS.

8. Enjoy more oysters like these.  HAVE NOT HAD THE CHANCE LATELY.


UNTIL NEXT TIME FRIENDS!

OCTOBER 2020 BUYS

I've been looking forward to writing this piece for the whole month.

My purchasing activity for October 2020 has been unforgettable.  

Why?

Well, this was the month I decided to divorce myself from Best Buy (BBY).  You can read all about that here: SOLD SHARES FOR ETHICAL REASONS.   

Long story short, they ripped me off selling me a broken TV and refusing to return it.   So I cashed out.  I refuse to be a part of a company that shows this kind of blatant disregard for its customer.

The resulting activity was huge increase in my annual dividend payout.  So much so, I closed out of another company (QCOM) that was not paying a fat dividend, took the profits and purchased shares that have a higher return. QCOM had performed well, but was only growing their dividend by 6% over 5 years.  That is not keeping up with inflation.

The final tally was that I invested a total of $662.60 new dollars and will earn an additional  $448.46 in dividends per year.  That's a 73.7% return!

How?  

My equity gain was over 100% for both BBY and QCOM.  BBY was only earning me 1.89% on the investment.  QCOM was earning only 2%.  Selling them cost me $374.60 per year in dividends.

With the finds from the sales and the additional $662.00 I put in, my new purchases will earn me $863.06, a 4.37% rate.   More than doubled my dividend income.

Take a look at the details....

You may have noticed that I sold some shares of HBAN.  That was a mistake.  I was intending to buy a bunch, and hit "sell" like the dumbass I am.  (made up for that later)

The only one I started a new position in was Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF).  Learned of them from a purchase by Lanny over at the dividend Diplomats.  Dividend Stock Purchase: Lanny’s September 2020 Summary

 Loved the look of this company, and decided to dip my toes in.

The other major purchases was a good sized chunk of Citibank (C), the Vanguard Exchange Traded Fund VYM, and of Macatawa Bank (MCBC), which I was longing to get more of with their low P/E at this time and a 4% yield.

What do you think?  Was it smart of me to cash out of QCOM and go shopping for higher dividends?  I feel good about it.

OCTOBER 2020 DIVIDEND INCREASES

 Howdy folks!   I am glad to report that we are actually beginning to see the return of the increasing dividend.

A central focus on my investment strategy is to buy shares in companies that have a solid pattern of increasing their dividend.  If it happens on a regular basis, your original investment will earn a giant percentage back in dividend payments.  That's the appeal of Dividend Aristocrats, companies that have increased their dividend for 25 years or more.

For October, I saw increases to 6 companies.  The biggest gainers were ABBV, with a surprising 10.2% increase, and Onemain Holdings with a whopping 32% dividend increase.   Also saw a 10% gain from Williams Sonoma (WSM). 

 Stuff like that beats inflation.  That's the name of the game.

Overall, I saw a $59.92 annual increase in my dividends, just for hanging on to them.  Taking these increased dividend payouts and re-investing them in more dividend growth stock will result in a passive income snowball that can make a huge change in your life.   Remember, if I can do it, anyone can.  and your dog...

OCTOBER 2020 DIVIDENDS

I love Halloween.  My favorite holiday.  The pandemic changed it a lot, but still fun.  My kid was in top form!  

I was a male Billie Eilish.  I will spare you the look....

But I can't believe there are only 2 months left in this year.  2021 can't come fast enough.  2020 sucked eggs.

But for dividend income, 2020 was not too awful.  A couple of cuts were expected, but once dealing with that,  things have stabilized.

Wasn't the biggest month, but have a good base to grow on.  Even with the $689.99 in dividends I earned last month, I still average over $1,000 per month overall.  That's the important thing.

Normally, the first month of each quarter, I was earning a massive dividend from Whitehorse Finance (WHF).  They had sustained massive losses and their dividend payout ratio was totally unsustainable for my comfort level.  It was by far my largest holding so I faced the reality of getting out before a dividend cut and a huge hit to the equity value.  

The result was a loss of $431 for this month's dividend.  The positive was that the other months are much larger from the reinvestment of the WHF shares.

Here's the breakdown:   21 payments for $689.89

Date	Company	Dividend
10/1/20	KO	$38.13
10/1/20	HBAN	$43.95
10/1/20	PPL	$56.03
10/2/20	KMB	$39.59
10/5/20	CNQ	$2.45
10/6/20	BBY	$46.20
10/7/20	MRK	$29.89
10/9/20	CB	$10.92
10/12/20	OMC	$33.80
10/13/20	VTR	$29.70
10/15/20	MAIN	$20.50
10/15/20	O	$15.68
10/15/20	STOR	$48.96
10/21/20	CSCO	$29.52
10/22/20	ORCL	$18.48
10/23/20	SYY	$28.35
10/26/20	AMNF	$28.19
10/28/20	BNS	$38.51
10/28/20	CM	$41.02
10/29/20	TWO	$49.56
10/31/20	TD	$40.56	$689.99

Slowly plugging away results in this amount of passive income.  All invested a little bit at a time.  If I can do it, you can do it better!