John Livsey, Mason Houghland                  and the Nashville Boys During that time of working at College Press, Dabek also became friends with John Livesey, who was a partner in a small ad agency that did printing there. John knew of Dabek’s music and songs and suggested he meet a friend of his named Mason Houghland who had come from Nashville to do music in L.A. Mason’s music was melodically remarkable, with great chord progressions and excellent modulations.  Sort of romantic yet ingrained with a good country feel. Dabek and Houghland teamed up and put together a number of songs, the whereabouts now unknown. Dabek wrote lyrics to several of his works (the most memorable of which was “Highway Song”) but they would soon go on divergent paths, but for a short time their collaborations were active and productive. There are no known recordings of these songs. It turns out that Mason also knew several notable Nashville based songwriters and they were temporarily renting a house in the Valley (San Fernando). Sonny Curtis (Mary Tyler Moore Theme, I Fought the Law, Walk Right Back), Bobby Russell (God Didn’t Make Little Green Apples, The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia), Mason, John and Dabek gathered there on a couple of occasions and shared music, stories, and beers and listened to each other’s works.  There was a visit with Vicki Lawrence at one point in time, and they just hung out and played the music for awhile. Everyone went their separate ways rather quickly:  Mason worked in music in L.A. for some years after that and then went back to Tennessee where it believed he still resides and Sonny Curtis and Bobby Russell went on their various endeavors and projects across the country.  John Livsey continued in his art and became one of the excellent photographers over the years, photographing many famous entertainment personalities and traveling the world with his ability to capture the essences of human moments. One his most famous photos was that of Frank Zappa naked on the toilet (definitely a classic).