These photos of Al Feldstein were sent to me by Dan Hull. He added a beautiful note to the original memorial post; I’ll paste it in here as well.
Al and Luke at the Lomita house circa 1991
Al at my wedding day 1980
I believe that Al was the happiest when he was playin’ in the band.
Caryn, all Al’s friends and loved ones, My heart goes out to you all. I’m still in shock and just kind of numb. Al and I were like brothers since we were about thirteen. We literally grew up together. We made our way through adolescence with a friendship and brotherhood that was true Americana. Emerson Jr High, the first boy-girl parties, going steady, hangin’ out at the student union at UCLA and on the beach each summer at Sorrento Beach. We thought we were so cool. Then it was Uni High, punks again. We played together on the C-Basketball team our first year. We went 12- 0, undefeated league champs. Wow. Not so much because of Al and me but because of Bobby Shamberg and Fred Sakomoto. Then 11th grade. Al’s in student government, getting A’s and I’m barely passing but we were still best buds. I fell in with the stoner gang while Al was more in the in-crowd. We still played a lot of basketball, saw a lot of rock and roll shows together. The summer between 11th and 12th grades my friend Mike Viscovich and Gregg VanAllen turned me on to the Dead. Then I in turn turned Al on to them but he put up a fight as Al would. He came around and that’s how we came to be Dead Heads. We were silk screening and wearing Dead T-shirts before you could ever buy them. We saw a lot of shows together throughout the years. Great memories. So many.
Then he was off to Cal. It was tough on me but I made a lot of trips up to see him. Hangin’ out with the Piedmont gang then to Etna listening to the Bobcats then the Reptiles upstairs at Etna. Al and I wrote a song together that was a main stay in the Reptiles repertoire forever. That will always mean a lot to me. [Note: That song, "Watchin' for the Bear," can be heard coming out of "Playing in the Band" here]
In 1980 I got married and the boys came down to LA to play. What a set. What a party. Anyone who was there will never forget it.
I’m skipping ahead but this is getting too long. Al and Caryn married and lived in Burbank. I fondly remember lots of afternoons by the pool. In fact, my son Luke (20 now) learned to swim in that pool. Then May ‘94 we moved to Colorado and I didn’t see Al much after that. We still talked on the phone frequently. He visited the house in Longmont once. Then the Reptiles came to Boulder. That was a special night backstage at a Reptiles show with Luke. Then up to the Devil’s Thumb Ranch for Steve’s wedding. Another just fantastic day of good friends, good cheer and good music. That was the last Reptile set I saw and I only saw Al once after that. It was last Thanksgiving. Fred Luke and I were out for a week at Hemet and Sierra Madre. Al was real busy while we were there but made a point to come to my sister Mutia’s house the afternoon before we left. We had a great visit. Al and me, Fred Luke, Mutia and my mom. It was like we had seen each other often even though it had been many years.
Al was a fine person and my best friend. I will miss him dearly. Thanks to David for putting this together and thanks to all of you for sharing your memories. I would love to hear from ALL of you, especially Richard Briskin, Steve Kirshbaum and Randi Kinsler. I’m not a computer guy, real cowboys don’t use computers. You can reach me at
PO Box 366
Hygiene, CO 80533.
303.775.1180.
May God bless you all. Dan Hull.
P.S. Come visit me. I’ve got a beautiful, peaceful quiet little ranch here in Northern Colorado.
