Honoring the memory of Jose Silva & his loved ones

“The bass is the heartbeat of the music. It speaks to you, it moves you, and it makes you feel alive…”

Hi everyone, I’m Jodi Eylicio, daughter of Jose Silva. I’m organizing this fundraiser to assist in covering expenses in his battle against Stage 4 Colon Cancer. He’s a private man so convincing him to let me do this was not easy but he understands why it needed to be done. ☺️

Through the years I’ve heard people say many things about my Dad, (mostly good )

“He’s a cool cat!”, “He’s a loyal friend, brother/compa”, “He’s the best bass player they’ve ever played with”, “He’s a legend!”.

He is all that and so much more! He loves with his whole heart and if you are lucky enough to call him a friend, you know that’s a lifelong commitment he upholds. He has such special relationships with so many people, I even have a hard time keeping up with them all. When you’ve traveled and toured all around the world, you get to meet a ton of people and he’s taken them all along with him, all the way to Ninety Six, SC, a tiny little town he moved to with his wife Debbie. They moved from California in 2006 to take care of Debbie’s Mom & Dad. Both medically & financially. Sadly, since then, they’ve both passed away.

Jose is a self-taught musician. He can play bass (obviously), guitar, saxophone, and the harmonica. As a boy, in Fresno, CA, when he wasn’t helping his Dad in the raisin fields, he locked himself in his room and listened to all the greats like, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, & BB King all while strumming his guitar teaching himself how to play. He taught himself so well, he ended up in a band called, “Ray Camacho & the Teardrops”. He moved on to “J and the Gents” and then to “Jim Doval & the Gauchos”. It turns out, the Gauchos lost their bass player, so my Dad said, “Well, I’ll just learn to play bass”. So he taught himself how to play and started his journey playing the bass guitar. After a lot of hard work & practice, the Gauchos got their big break and were invited to play on television shows like Shivaree & Shindig! He met many musicians during this time. Three in particular who would eventually make a huge impact on his life. Barry Rillera (one of the baddest guitarists you will ever hear), Bobby Hatfield, and Bill Medley, The Righteous Brothers. (But that’s later in the story). The Gauchos were making it big, but unfortunately split up due to creative differences.

My Dad moved around and played in many different bands, The Stone Parade, Sun Brother (with good friend Artie Perez), Brother Brown Swamp Band, Fat Back, TLC, and Jerry Lacroix Band - White Trash. Then the call came. He was asked to go on tour with The Righteous Brothers as their bass player. He of course accepted and played with them for almost 40 years up until the heartbreaking and tragic death of Bobby Hatfield in 2003. Bobby’s unexpected passing, affected my Dad deeply, as Bobby was one of his closest friends.

During the years, when he wasn’t playing with The Brothers, he played with Greg Topper, Dick Dodd - “The Dodd Squad”, Bim Bam, The Barry Rillera Band, & was a part of the Dirty Dancing Live in Concert Tour. He’s also backed up greats like Bo Diddley, Herman’s Hermits, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Chuck Berry, and Redbone. Redbone being great friends of my Dad. Pat & Lolly Vegas, Pete Depoe, Tony Bellamy, Butch Rillera, & Artie Perez. (RIP Lolly & Tony)

There are sooo many other musicians he’s played with and admires, but this would go on for days if I listed them all.

Okay, back to the reason we’re here. The “C” word. This is not my Dads first battle with cancer. In 2008 he was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. He was able to undergo a Prostatectomy, where doctors removed his Prostate. After 5 years of testing, he was given the “all-clear” and dubbed “‘Prostate’ Cancer free”.

In 2011, he noticed a small lump on his neck had gotten significantly larger so he made a trip to the ER. He was put into an induced coma for 3 days so they could intubate him and relieve the pressure the mass was putting on his airway.

After many tests it was determined, yet again, he had cancer, and this time, Throat Cancer. He had to undergo, both, chemo and radiation.

After many rounds of the treatments and 5 years of testing, again was given the “all-clear” and dubbed “cancer free”.

On November 3rd, 2022, after experiencing some pain, and severe weight loss, my Dad made a trip to the ER, which ended up being a week long stay. During that visit, and after many tests were run, it was determined he had a mass in his colon which was, yet again, cancer. He was released from the hospital but a couple weeks later, he collapsed in his home and although he did not lose consciousness, he was extremely disoriented. It turned out, he was bleeding internally from the cancerous mass. He had to undergo a blood transfusion.

After what seemed like forever, his final results came in. He had Stage 4 Colon Cancer which has metastasized into his lymph nodes. Debbie, myself, and my brother, Mike were able to be with him when he got the news and as you can imagine, we were all heartbroken. When told his options, just like the warrior he is, he said “he’s not ready to go yet & wants to FIGHT!!” So on December 16th a port was inserted under his skin, over his left collarbone to get ready for chemotherapy.

On Monday, 1/09 he will start his first round of chemo. These will be 12 low dose bi-weekly treatments to see how he takes to the chemo since he’s 81 years young and has gone through chemotherapy previously. He will also need Filgrastim Injections, which are supposed to be extremely painful. These injections treat neutropenia (low white blood cells) and will help the bone marrow make new white blood cells.

He will need in-home care to help Debbie manage his pain and make sure he’s comfortable and well taken care of. Insurance only covers 80% of all medical so the other 20% will have to be paid out of pocket.

You may think, after you’ve read all the success he’s had, “Why does he need the money?” Let’s just say, the band life doesn’t always make your pockets fat, especially back in those days. He played (and still plays) because it’s his passion and he LOVES IT!

The only thing we need him to focus on right now is getting stronger and defeat this beast inside of him. We can’t have him worry & stress about how the expenses are going to be paid.

Anything you can spare to help during this difficult time is appreciated more than you’ll ever know. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you know me, you know family means more to me than anything in this world and I will do anything to protect them and keep them safe.

Thank you so much for either sharing this, donating, or both. All of you are in our prayers. We will be adding updates when able, so please check back.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy & Blessed New Year, from our family to yours.