The story of the Toke Brothers, 
It all started in a smoke-filled bar called Smokey Joes. Mike Toke was playing the bar that night, just as he was always playing in some bar every Saturday night. His voice filled the place as he accompanied himself on his guitar. The crowd was a happy one, but Mike wasn’t happy. There always seemed to be something missing when he played his gigs. In his mind he could always hear the harmonies of the songs he played. Singing alone, he could only sing the melody. The crowd never noticed, but Mike did.
Some girl at the bar requested he play “American Pie” and Mike obliged. As he was going into the chorus, a voice, clear and bright and in perfect harmony came from the back of the smokey room. The voice blended with Mike’s and filled the joint. The crowd got quiet, sensing something rare and wonderful was happening. This was what his music was meant to be and it made Mike feel higher than a long drag from the choicest blend joint.
Smokey Joe's Cafe: Where the brothers were abandoned as babies and reunited years later !
When the song was over, Mike invited the singer to join him on stage. Out of the throng appeared a bedraggled, emaciated man with long stringy hair. He smiled as he walked onto the stage.
“Toke On, brother!” Mike said as he shook the man’s hand. The man looked shocked.
“How did you know?” he asked.
“Know what?” Mike queried.
Then the man lifted up his torn t-shirt. There, on his chest, was a birthmark shaped exactly like a cannabis leaf.
“Oh my God! “ Mike cried,” You’re my brother!”
Yes, it was true. This man was the long lost Kevin Toke. He and his older brother Mike had been found in the bathroom of a bar in San Francisco. Kevin was a baby, wrapped in sheets of Rock music. Mike, only three, was wearing a and hugging an old Fender Broadcaster guitar. Each had the identical birthmark. They were separated and adopted by two different families. Mike went to a wealthy couple in the Hamptons. He had all that money could buy; the finest clothes, world travel, and the best schools. His father and mother were connoisseurs of classical music. They made sure that little Michael was not exposed to the popular music of the day. However, when Mike was 16, his parents sent him to Eron Prep School. His chauffer, Bernie, would turn on the radio during the ride to school. He introduced Mike to rock music and marijuana.
 
Bernie chauffered Mike to Eron Prep. Mike's home in the Hamptons !
When he graduated from college, he set out on a tour of Europe. He had bought a guitar from a pawnshop and taught himself how to play. He paid his way by singing and playing the music he had come to love. It was while he was performing on a hilltop in Germany overlooking the Heidelberg castle burning, that Mike decided that he had found his vocation in life… as a musician. When he returned to the states .He told his adopted parents, who promptly disowned him.
 Mike pan handling in Europe
Heidelberg Castle, where Mike vowed to be a musician.
His parents disowned him !!
Kevin’s story was a little different. He had been adopted by a black minister and his wife. They would only allow him to listen to and sing gospel music. When his abilities on the guitar and his singing were discovered, he was put into a blind, black gospel group. None of the other members of the group noticed his color deficit, but he stood out on stage. Kevin liked the music he was performing, but something was missing. He could hear a different kind of music in his head and wondered where it was coming from.
 
Where Kev learned Gospel ! Kev gets ready to perform !
Then one day,his sister, Wanda, told him he was not really part of the family.At first he did not believe her. She took him to the bathroom mirror and stood next to him.
Look, fool,” she said, “you got blue eyes and that pasty complexion.”
Kevin looked hard at himself and then at his sister.…and the truth dawned on him. He was White! He must have been adopted!
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His Sister Wanda told him the truth ! ... " Oh my Lord, I'm Caucasian ! "
He was still struggling with this revelation,when the group was touring near a farm in Woodstock, NY. Kevin heard the strains of his kind of music coming from a distance. The leader of the gospel group said, “Dats the devil’s music.”
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Kevin wanders thru the crowd at Woodstock! Find him!
Kevin wandered from the tour bus into a field. There were all kinds of people dancing around in the mud. He looked around at all the happy, smiling faces. “This can’t be the devil’s music,” he thought, “ Look how happy it makes everyone.” He joined a band and traveled the country with them learning how, with some recreational chemical assistance, to play rock music.
Coming down from an acid trip, Kevin had wandered into Smokey Joes and into his destiny. Cosmically,he had recognized the voice and the face of the man on stage. It all became clear. He had found his brother.
And now, finally feeling complete and whole, the two brothers set out on a mission. They no longer needed drugs. They would go around the world, one smokey bar at a time, sharing the high that no drug could ever give them. The high that only acoustic retro rock music could bring. And some day, if you are fortunate, you can be one of the ones chosen to share that high.
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THE TOKE BROTHERS : TOGETHER AT LAST !
It is possible that some portions of this story may resemble the truth. !!!!
Author: Bulshido Fulov
CHECK OUT COUSIN BILL"S SAD,SAD, SAGA
TOKE BROTHERS: THE BEST 60's,70's, 80's to the Millenium Music !!
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