RIP Dave Billings aka California Dave

kvinbrwr said:
I take full credit (what's new there?) for Billings playing 3-C. I had been out in Los Angeles maybe a year, playing a lot of pool with Billings and Joe Richland (and I mean a lot) when one of my friends from Ann Arbor Michigan, Dennis Dieckman, came out to visit. Dennis wanted to go out to North Hollywood Billiards (I think it was Tiffs at the time), home of Allen Gilbert (also RIP) and Frank Torres, and play 3-Cushion Billiards and learn what Bert Schrager (also RIP) could teach him about building cues. Tiff's was a 3-C mecca at the time, and I ended up dragging my pals Billings and Joe up there so they could be introed to the game. They later brought Dennis Tillotsen and Rick Davis out there, spawning a whole crew of SoCal 3-C players. Davis plays out of a wheelchair with a huge long fabulous Ginacue, now on flawless equipment in a flawless space in his beautiful home high in Laguna.

Speaking of Ginacues. Joe and I are quite good pals now with Ernie Gutierrez. As matter of fact and self-confident positive a manner Billings had about expressing his opinions, coupled with his knowledge of Engineering, anyone that knows both Ernie and Dave would have to amused thinking of the possibilities for discussion between those two (Ernie shares some of that self-confident air and also claims to know something about Engineering and wood also). I'm sorry not to have seen that meeting happen.

Rest in peace Dave. You have the belt. Take it with you man.

Anyone mentioned in this post who is NOT RIP, hang in there guys and good luck to us all.

Kevin
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Nice memories of North Hollywood Billiards / Tiff's. What years were these? I moved there in late '76 & played there a lot, but fizzled out in Sept of 77 when I started back to school.

That must have been some meeting w/Dave & Ernie :thumbup:.

Dave
 
12squared said:
Nice memories of North Hollywood Billiards / Tiff's. What years were these? I moved there in late '76 & played there a lot, but fizzled out in Sept of 77 when I started back to school.

That must have been some meeting w/Dave & Ernie :thumbup:.

Dave
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Dave

I'm so bad at years, but I'm thinking it was super late 70s.

I know you held back expressing opinions on cue tech to Ernie, and unless Billings mellowed much since I knew him, I highly doubt that he would have.

Kevin
 
oldgame said:
Sorry about your loss, but why did he hate Cognoscenti's so much?
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Thanks OG

Dave didn't like South West cues, not a Kikel fan either, but he despised Cog's.
I'm going to miss his opinions, whether I agreed with them or not.
Last time I saw him at Hank's he called the tip on one of my old Ernie Martinez cues a hockey puck.

RIP Billings
 
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