Cosmo was born in Hollywood, California in the 1950s. At age 8 Cosmo's mother signed him up for piano lessons. He learned to read music and perform piano recitals. At age 14, he began playing guitar, composing songs and formed his first rock band Size Four.Age 16, Cosmo renamed the band The Winfield Trust and later the members solidified with Cosmo on guitar, Gary Arluck bass and Mike Curotto drums. This is the band that performed at the Fillmore Auditorium, Haight Ashbury, Winterland, Avalon Ballroom_ and many other historic San Francisco venues.

This photo circa 1970 shows Cosmo (left) with band manager Pete Marino. Pete was the record promoter for Melody Sales in San Francisco. When an artist released a new record album, Pete would take the artist around to the TV and radio stations to do interviews. Sometimes Pete would throw parties inviting entertainment reporters to meet the artists. To the best of memory, Pete became the manager of Cosmo's band in 1967.
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Note: Almost everyone mentioned in this History was either completely unknown or at the very beginning of their music careers. Exceptions would be Neil Young who had hit records with Buffalo Springfield and CSNY. The Chambers Brothers who had the 1966 hit "Time Has Come Today". And Linda Ronstadt who had been with The Stone Poneys. Even Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart didn't become famous until early 1970s.

Cosmo Performs at a Private Party for Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart
The newly reformed band renamed Faces featuring Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, released their first album titled First Step March 1, 1970. Pete Marino promoted their first album by throwing a private party for local entertainment reporters, radio Djs and local dignitaries at the famous Bimbos 365 Club in North Beach, San Francisco. Performing on stage was Cosmo's band, The Winfield Trust and a local theatre troop named The Cockettes (yes, that's their name). The band Savoy Brown also attended the party. Ronnie Wood left Faces in 1975 to join the Rolling Stones. Photo courtesy of Dan Cuny.

Cosmo's Friend Willie ChambersIn 1966, the Chambers Brothers released a song titled Time Has Come Today co-written by brothers Willie and Joe Chambers. This song became the anthem of the psychedelic music era and was produced by David Rubinson who later trained Cosmo. Cosmo and Willie became good friends after they met at a Chambers Bros concert. In fact, they co-wrote and recorded a song titled, Friends. When the Brothers were in San Francisco, they would come to Cosmo's parents house in Woodside, CA. Cosmo's mother in the photo, circa 1968, would cook for them and they would relax by the pool.

Cosmo Meets John Fogerty of CCR
In late 1967, Pete Marino, our manager, booked studio time at Fantasy Records, Natoma St, San Francisco to make demo tapes. Our time slot was 6 pm until whenever. When we arrived, there was a band packing up that had recorded during the daytime. Cosmo introduced himself. The main guy said, "Hi, I'm John". Cosmo asked what was the name of their band. He said, The Golliwogs. That was it, back to packing up. Two days later Cosmo's band returned to Fantasy Records to continue recording. At 6 pm here came John and The Golliwogs. Cosmo said Hi to John. The "Wogs" had the evening slot. Later in the year The Golliwogs released their first album on Fantasy Records. Only they had changed their band name to Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR). And John was of course John Fogerty.

Cosmo's Almost Fist Fight With Michael Shrieve of Santana
Cosmo's High School, had two resident bands. One was an all girl band named, The Freudian Slips, and the other was Cosmo's band, The Winfield Trust. Wendy Haas played keyboards and sang for the Slips.
The keyboard player for Cosmo's band left. So one day Cosmo went over to Wendy's house to talk and see if she wanted to play keyboards for the Trust. All of a sudden this guy bursts in yelling at Cosmo. Cosmo thought they were going to get into a fist fight. He was yelling at Cosmo "that's my girlfriend" (referring to Wendy). Cosmo learned his name was Mike and he played drums. He was completely unknown to me or anyone else. A while later this Mike guy, full name Michael Shrieve, joined the band, Santana. He played the legendary drum solo, Soul Sacrifice, at the Woodstock Festival in 1969.
Wendy Haas later jioned Santana and played in another group, Azteca. In 1982, Wendy married comic actor and brilliant guitarist Martin Mull. They had a daughter, Maggie Rose, and remained married until Martin's death in 2024. Cosmo's condolences to Wendy.

Neal Schon Asks Cosmo to Record With Him
Around 1969 (date uncertain) Cosmo was contacted by Neal Schon who later formed the band Journey (1973). He asked Cosmo to come to Pacific Recording Studios in San Mateo, Calif. and record with him. And Cosmo did record with Neal. That was Cosmo's only contact with Neal. Cosmo had his own band at the time writing his own material. His band, The Winfield Trust, was managed and putting together demo tapes for record labels and was playing the Fillmore Auditorium and elsewhere. There was no reason at the time to look elsewhere and Neal is 3 1/2 years younger than Cosmo (not that that is important). Neal was cool.

Columbia Record's David Rubinson Trains Cosmo
Concert Promoter, Bill Graham, and record producer, David Rubinson formed Fillmore Records in 1969. To jump start the new company, they decided to mentor small groups of persons on concert promotions and record production. Cosmo attended the record production sessions held at Wally Heider Recording Studios and elsewhere. Shortly thereafter Cosmo became the in-house producer at Mantra Recording Studios in San Mateo, Calif. David produced the album Herbie Hancocks' "Head Hunters" which was named No. 254 in the 2020 Rolling Stones Magazine "Best Top 500 Albums of All Time."

Chicago Transit Authority at the Fillmore West August 15, 1969
Cosmo was involved in the recording production mentoring program being put on by David Rubinson of Fillmore Records. As such, Cosmo had limited access to the backstage of the Fillmore Auditorium. He talked with many artists. One particular conversation stands out. Cosmo asked a guy backstage what band he was with. The reply was Chicago Transit Authority. They had released their first album, but Cosmo was not familiar with them. Cosmo and this person made small talk for a while. Later his band went on stage. Cosmo was blown away how good their songs and band were. Cosmo was able to ascertain from photos of the band; he had been talking with Peter Cetera.

Cosmo Acts in Play Directed by Kenny Ortega
Cosmo started his college career at Cañada College in Redwood City, CA. While attending, there was an advertisement for actors for a college play, Marat Sade. Cosmo got a part as a supporting actor. Of interest, Shirley Temple's daughter, Linda Black, was also an actor in the play. The director was Kenny Ortega who is 5 months older than Cosmo. Cosmo and Kenny became friendly and Kenny came over to Cosmo's house and sat by the pool. Kenny began making music videos for the band, The Tubes. He later branched out working for Disney, Cher, Michael Jackson and many others. Kenny was awarded 3 Emmys and other awards. You can go to Wikipedia to get a full list of his accomplishments.

Joel Williams, Soundman. Cosmo's Friend 50+ Years
The Circle Star Theatre was a historical landmark of the SF Bay Area. It was theatre in the round and the stage revolved. It started out in 1964 hosting Broadway plays. Then later switched to concerts. Cosmo was working as the in-house producer at Mantra Recording, San Mateo CA. Joel Williams was the manager of Mantra's cassette duplication operation. Joel also was the soundman for the Circle Star Theatre until it's closing in 1993. Joel and Cosmo became good friends. Cosmo sat with Joel in the sound booth for almost every concert at the Circle between 1969 until Cosmo moved to San Diego in 1982. Cosmo actually worked at the Circle before Joel as scenery setter for Broadway shows. As of this writing, Joel had contacted Cosmo just two months ago.

Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5
No, Cosmo did not know Michael Jackson personally. However, he was around the Jackson 5 for their initial soundcheck and 7 performances at the Circle Star Theatre in 1974. This ties into the two prior sections about Kenny Ortega and Joel Williams. Cosmo sat in the sound booth with Joel for every rehearsal and performance of the Jackson 5. Then Cosmo's college friend, Kenny Ortega, became Michael Jackson's concert producer in 2009 when MJ unfortunately died. Cosmo finds it coincidental that two of his friends were directly involved with MJ.

Cal Tjader Asks Cosmo to Play With His Jazz Ensemble
Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. was an American Latin Jazz musician, often described as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, especially small group modern jazz, even as he continued to perform the music of Africa...[Wikipedia excerpt].Cal Tjader was one of Cosmo's all-time favorite jazz musicians. Cosmo's band, The Winfield Trust, opened for a concert with Cal Tjader. After Cosmo finished their set, Cal came over to Cosmo and asked him to play one song during his performance with his band (on flute). Cosmo to this day believes this was one of the biggest honors of his life.Cal Tjader died May 5, 1982 while touring in the Philippines. RIP Cal.

Before Fleetwood Mac There Was Fritz
A friend of Cosmo, Javier Pacheco, had a band named Fritz. The lead singer was Stevie Nicks and the bass player (yes bass) was Lindsey Buckingham. Stevie also made demo tapes in the recording studio in San Mateo CA where later Cosmo became the in-house producer. Of course, Stevie and Lindsey later moved to LA and joined Fleetwood Mac. Stevie and Cosmo attended neighboring High Schools at the same time in the Mid 1960s. Stevie and Cosmo may have attended Cañada College in Redwood City, Calif. at the same time but didn't have classes together as far as Cosmo remembers.

The Grateful Dead and Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly became a friend of Cosmo's after Cosmo became a house producer at Mantra Recording. Matthew became a studio musician along with his friends Chris Herold, Dave Torbert and others. Matthew contributed to two Grateful Dead albums and formed his own group, Kingfish. When the Dead were not touring, Bob Weir would join Kingfish.

Elton John at Nashville West
In 1970, Pete Marino contacted Cosmo and asked if he wanted to watch a new artist perform at the Nashville West. The artist was Elton John and he was releasing his first self-titled US record. Elton was completely unknown at the time. Elton had a bass player and drummer accompanying him. Cosmo watched and liked the trio. After their set, Pete introduced Cosmo to Elton. He told Elton he liked his music. Elton was very pleasant. The rest is history.

Cosmo Plays Guitar and Sings to Linda Ronstadt
About June 1971, Linda Ronstadt was touring with Arlo Guthrie. Glenn Frey and Don Henley were backing her up (before Eagles formed). Cosmo composed and recorded a song titled "Lovely Linda" (over 50 yrs ago). Cosmo went to Pete Marino and requested to meet Linda and play the song for her. Pete got Cosmo a backstage pass. Security asked Cosmo to wait in a dressing room until Linda was ready to meet Cosmo. So Cosmo went into the dressing room which belonged to Arlo Guthrie. There were two other people in the dressing room, Glenn Frey and Don Henley. Cosmo discussed with Arlo he had heard part of Arlo's upcoming album because he was in a recording studio in LA and the producer was working on the album.Security eventually came to the dressing room and said, "Linda will see you now" to Cosmo. Cosmo picked up his Martin guitar and went to her dressing room. To this day Cosmo has to laugh. Just the two of them, Cosmo (20) and Linda, in her dressing room. Cosmo is singing live a love song to Linda (one of the greatest singers ever). Linda thanked Cosmo and he left a cassette tape of the studio recording of the song. Cosmo wonders if he had taken out his Martin guitar and harmonized with Glenn Frey and Don Henley, instead of talking with Arlo, might he have been invited to join the Eagles??? We will never know.

Cosmo Invited to Dinner with Neil YoungChristmas 1971 Cosmo and his father were invited to dinner with Neil Young and his then partner Carrie Snodgress (Gloden Globe Best Actress). Cosmo's father the month before had just completed a successful record setting flight in a twin-engine airplane. This dinner came about because the contractor building Neil's ranch was acquainted with Cosmo's father.Neil invited Cosmo to visit his Broken Arrow Ranch to see the recording studio under construction (and Cosmo did visit the Ranch). Neil Young was very gracious and pleasant.

Name Dropping - Not in chronological order.
When Black Sabbath's first album was released in 1970 Pete Marino (Cosmo's manager) asked Cosmo's band to open for a promotion he arranged with Black Sabbath. Unfortunately, Black Sabbath's plane was delayed and Cosmo's band did the promotion alone. So for the rest of his life, Cosmo has to say he almost met and was the opening act for Black Sabbath. Darn airlines.

More Name Dropping
Cosmo's band, The Winfield Trust, had a very good sound system. Cosmo was told (but didn't attend) that The Doobie Brothers borrowed the band's sound system for a concert at San Jose State University in the cafeteria. Cosmo's band was performing in the SF Bay Area years before the Doobies got together in 1970 and the Doobies were from San Jose. The Doobie Brothers didn't release their first self-titled album until 1971.

More Name Dropping
Cosmo's band manager, Pete Marino was well connected to the entertainment scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pete knew people at Lee Mendelson Film Productions in Burlingame CA. This is the company producing the Charlie Brown TV Specials. Cosmo received a phone call from Lee Mendelson's assistant asking Cosmo to come tour the production facilities. Cosmo was a trained studio producer with album credits. Cosmo did tour the facility, but no job offer was made maybe since Cosmo was in his early 20s.

Toys for Tots Benefit, Winterland SFCosmo's manager, Pete Marino contacted Cosmo and said I want your band, The Winfield Trust to open the Toys for Tots Benefit Concert. This was probably 1970 or 1971. The headliner was Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. Also playing was the Elvin Bishop Band and two other bands that escape Cosmo's memory.Trivia: Cosmo got constant comments that he looked very similar to Kenny Rogers. Unfortunately Cosmo was not able to get a photograph of Kenny and Cosmo side by side.The band's photographer, Steve Heselton took photos (see the Gallery).

Cosmo Up for a Role in Otto Preminger FilmOtto Preminger was a famous producer/director who was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture. Pete Marino, Cosmo's manager, contacted Cosmo to tell him his band, The Winfield Trust, was up for a part in one of Otto's upcoming films. A couple of months went by and Pete told Cosmo that they didn't get the part only because the band was too clean cut for the film. Cosmo's long hair was Ok but the other band members had short hair. Otto wanted a more hippie look. Haven't you ever heard of wigs Otto? You can't win them all.

Cosmo and the Topless Dancers -> Pete and Cosmo Go Separate WaysThe last job offer Cosmo received from his manager, Pete Marino, was around 1973. The offer was to be the producer for a topless lounge show in a well-known Casino chain. Cosmo turned the offer down as it would have required him to move away from the San Francisco area where Cosmo had all his contacts and family.In 1973, Pete left Melody Sales. At this point Pete and Cosmo went their separate ways on good terms. Pete Marino, a San Francisco legend, died March 29, 1990. Cosmo will always be thankful to Pete for his guidance and the opportunities he made possible. RIP Pete.

The Event that Paused the Music for 34 YearsIn 1974, Cosmo met Toni a singer/song writer. They began to sing and record together. Cosmo takes the blame on this one. He became too attached to Toni and they stopped working together. Will Cosmo never learn? Let the women chase you, don't chase them.So Cosmo decided to put aside his music career for more stable income. The next section details what Cosmo did for the next 34 years.

What Cosmo Did For the Next 34 YearsWith no band, no Pete Marino, Cosmo decided to leave the music industry and get a "real job". Fortunately, Cosmo had a degree in Finance. He went to work in Silicon Valley, California as a Controller in a medical laboratory equipment company.After that for over 20 years, Cosmo founded a software company. His company was also a business partner and third-party developer for Hewlett Packard (HP).Finally, Cosmo went to work for a Wall Street firm until he was laid off due to the Great Recession of 2008-09. Like many others, the bank foreclosed on one of Cosmo's homes and he had to downsize right as he went into retirement. Don't shed any tears, Cosmo was prepared for tough times and looking forward to returning to music.

Cosmo and Friends is LaunchedSo once Cosmo retired, he said to himself "Self, what do we do now?" The answer was obvious and quick. Let's do what we love and born to do; create music. And Cosmo and Friends was begun. The rest is history.

Cosmo
y Amigos

Bienvenidos. Cosmo es un productor musical con más de 50 años de experiencia. Recibió formación profesional de David Rubinson, de Columbia Records. La banda de Cosmo, The Winfield Trust, fue un referente de la escena musical de San Francisco en las décadas de 1960 y 1970. Lea la sección Historia para más detalles.

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Esta foto de alrededor de 1970 muestra a Cosmo (izquierda) con el mánager de la banda, Pete Marino. Pete era el promotor discográfico de Melody Sales en San Francisco. Cuando un artista lanzaba un nuevo álbum, lo llevaba a las estaciones de televisión y radio para entrevistas. A veces, organizaba fiestas invitando a periodistas de espectáculos a conocer a los artistas. Si mal no recuerdo, Pete se convirtió en el mánager de la banda de Cosmo en 1967.
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Nota: Casi todos los mencionados en esta historia eran completamente desconocidos o estaban en los inicios de sus carreras musicales. Las excepciones serían Neil Young, quien había tenido éxitos con Buffalo Springfield y CSNY; los Chambers Brothers, quienes tuvieron el éxito de 1966 "Time Has Come Today"; y Linda Ronstadt, quien había estado con The Stone Poneys. Incluso Ronnie Wood y Rod Stewart no alcanzaron la fama hasta principios de la década de 1970.

Cosmo se presenta en una fiesta privada para Ronnie Wood y Rod Stewart
La banda recién reformada, rebautizada como Faces y con la participación de Rod Stewart y Ronnie Wood, lanzó su primer álbum, titulado First Step, el 1 de marzo de 1970. Pete Marino promocionó su primer álbum con una fiesta privada para periodistas locales de espectáculos, DJs de radio y dignatarios locales en el famoso Bimbos 365 Club en North Beach, San Francisco. En el escenario actuaron la banda de Cosmo, The Winfield Trust, y una compañía de teatro local llamada The Cockettes (sí, ese es su nombre). La banda Savoy Brown también asistió a la fiesta. Ronnie Wood dejó Faces en 1975 para unirse a los Rolling Stones. Foto cortesía de Dan Cuny.

Willie Chambers, Amigo de CosmoEn 1966, los Chambers Brothers lanzaron la canción "Time Has Come Today", coescrita por los hermanos Willie y Joe Chambers. Esta canción se convirtió en el himno de la era de la música psicodélica y fue producida por David Rubinson, quien posteriormente entrenaría a Cosmo. Cosmo y Willie se hicieron buenos amigos tras conocerse en un concierto de Chambers Brothers. De hecho, coescribieron y grabaron la canción "Friends". Cuando los hermanos estaban en San Francisco, visitaban la casa de los padres de Cosmo en Woodside, California. La madre de Cosmo, que aparece en la foto (hacia 1968), cocinaba para ellos y se relajaban junto a la piscina.

Cosmo Makes Music History
Cosmo produced an album titled, "Introducing Mitch Tubman" in 1972. To promote the album, Cosmo produced a music video of three songs from the album.