|
Let's
start at the beginning... |
| I've
been playing guitar since the age of nine, but even before that, I was destined
to play music. Here, at the ripe age of two, in 1956, Las Vegas Nevada,
was apparently my first performance. It was a duet. I don't know who my
partner was, but hey, what a looker, don't you think?. I had good taste
even back then. Must have been a country gig, otherwise why would we have
worn cowboy hats? Of course, everyone in Las Vegas wore cowboy hats. When
we moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1957, I lived with my grandparents on
4th Avenue West, close to Lowe's skating rink, not far from Legion Field.
On one side of us was Jessie Warth, who played bass guitar for The Lamp
Lighters. They practiced in an open garage. I would sit on the back steps
and listen to them. On the other side of us was Ross Gagliano, drummer for
Ross & The Rebellion. Henry Lovoy of Razz-Ma-Tazz sang with them. They
practiced in the house, so I had to go sit on THEIR front porch to hear
them well. I used to see them play everywhere from Holiday Beach, to The
Hub Teen Club in Roebuck. With two bands practicing on either side of me,
I guess it was just meant for me to play music. |
|
When
I was nine, Jimmy Channell had been given the task of cleaning out their
attic. My Dad said I had to clean out the garage. The garage wasn't big.
It was just large enough to barely squeeze a Volkswagen Beetle in it and
open the doors. I dreaded cleaning out the garage cause I had to take
everything out, sweep, and straighten up, as I put it all back. Jimmy
and I made a deal: He'd help me with the garage and I'd help him with
the attic. The garage was done, and we headed over to his house for the
attic job. He climbed up a rickety ladder, got into the attic and started
handing me dust-covered stuff down. Eventually, he found a guitar with
one string on it. He figured out how to play the opening to the song for
the T.V. show "Peter Gunn". He showed me, then we could both
play guitar. He immediately took his "attic money" (yes, we
both got paid for our hard work with extra allowance money), rode our
bicycles to the local drug store and bought a set of Black Diamond Strings.
He began to play stuff, so I had to have a guitar too. I bought a cheap
acoustic guitar mail-order by saving up my allowance money, and my brother
gave me $5.00 for my birthday to complete my goal and even ordered it
for me. The total came to about $30.00 and I was on my way to be a rock
star!. |
| There
was a lot of talent in our neighborhood, which was what probably dangled
the proverbial carrot in front of me to want me to play. Larry Lester had
a Gibson Melody Maker, and along with Frank Thurman who played guitar also,
and drummer Chuck Kennedy, had a group called "The Unknowns".
Jimmy Channell, Larry Lester, Gary Wheeless, and Tom Strickland had a group
for a while. I remember them playing "I Can See For Miles" by
The Who on Tom's driveway. That must have driven his neighbors crazy. (Long-haired
hippie music). Steve Freeman was the lead singer, with drummer Barney Baker,
in a group they called "Benedict Arnold and The Traitors". They
all wore the Colonial 3-cornered hats like Paul Revere & The Raiders.
E.T. Hollander, Henry Lagman, Pat Patrick, Hugh Crosley and David Short
had a group called "The Shades". They all wore sunglasses. That
was cool. They played stuff by The Animals, The Kinks, etc. They were the
first band I actually heard practicing in the neighborhood. The Hollanders
lived across the alley right behind me. After hearing a band playing a couple
of times, I figured out where it was coming from, so I went over and sat
on their front porch and listened to them. I had just gotten my guitar and
didn't know how to play anything (except Peter Gunn). When they finished,
I asked E.T. if he would teach me how to play guitar. He told me he played
bass, and he was left handed, so he couldn't, but Pat Patrick could. He
gave me Pat's telephone number, and I called him. I told him what I wanted,
and he said he would teach me, because he was teaching a couple of kids
in the neighborhood. I went to his house. It turns out I had met his mother
about a year prior to that. I was skateboarding, and had fallen and skinned
my knee. His mother had cleaned and bandaged my bloody knee. When I knocked
on their door, his mother answered. She remembered me. I told her I was
there to take guitar lessons. She invited me in and we chatted until the
student Pat was teaching was finished. Pat had great equipment, and I found
out how that really made a difference when Jimmy got his Strat. Wow! It
didn't take 3 people to mash the string down. |
| Pat
Patrick gave me some lessons that summer. I paid him $5.00 for a Mel Bay
Chord book, fifty cents per lesson twice a week, and away we went. Jimmy
Chanell got the first good guitar in the neighborhood; a '66 White Strat
and a Fender Amp. Some lucky kids had drums. No one had a P.A. system. We
plugged microphones into a guitar amps. Some amps had two plug-ins. Two
mics fit as well as one. It didn't make any difference if no one could hear
the vocals, no one could sing well anyway. But we played real loud, and
that was good. We sang through the 5 watt Bogen P.A. at our grammar school
when we shook the dust off the rafters playing "Born To Be Wild"
as loud as we could. I still play "Born To Be Wild". |
| My family
used to pack up and go to a distant cousin's (on my Grandmother's side of
the family) house in Riverside, Georgia. Nancy Rumsey, who was about my
age, played the organ. When I was about 12 years old, I carried my cheap
acoustic guitar with me, and she showed me how the keys on a keyboard related
to the notes on the guitar neck. I sort of understood, and learned a few
chords, but never really put any of it to practice, till a few years ago,
we couldn't find a keyboard player, so I bought a Yamaha PSR-630, and re-learned
the keyboard. I can chord around and do a few things to add something besides
guitar to a tune. Jamming with other guys can get to sound like "Guitar
Wars" if too many folks are strumming. So, thanks, Nancy... |
I played
in talent shows, and stuff in grammar school. We actually got paid once
for playing at a party at someone's house. We put together a group. Randy
Speakman played drums. David Eads and I played guitars. We were called
"The White Plains Revolution". We didn't have a bass player.
We didn't need one. I think we made about $5.00 each. I remember playing
"A Day In The Life" by The Beatles, and "Sunshine Of Your
Love" by Cream. We weren't that good, but we were loud and no one
cared. They had a live band at their party. It was huge! When I was about
14, Jimmy Channell began to play with a guy named Joe Cerravalo, who played
bass and sang. Terry Huffstutler played drums, and Jimmy played guitar.
Joe was 15, and would get his grandfather in the car to let him drive
to practice. He would come to pick up Jimmy and I would tag along. We
were coming back from Forestdale one night, and the Beatles "Hey
Jude" came on the radio. It was the long version, and after a while
of the "na-na-na-na-na-na-na-nas had been going on, I remember Joe's
grandfather reached over and turned the radio off and said "Enough
of that na-na-na sh*t". Why do you kids listen to that?" |
| While
in high school, I didn't really play in any bands. I knew lots of bands,
so I would get them to come and play at "Activity Period" at our
school. "Nation" came and played. Chuck Kennedy, Frank McAnnally,
and some other guys. I jammed with bands, and would end up running sound
and hauling equipment for them. I hung around (and got paid for doing it)
with David Walls and The Persuasions. David Walls sang, Chuck Kennedy played
drums. Jimmy Channell was playing guitar with them, which is how I got hooked
up with them. He left and Dennis Price played guitar. Kenny Williams had
a Hammond B-3 & a Leslie. He also had a Fender guitar, knew a few chords,
and played about 2 songs on it. Once, they were playing for a High School
"Lead-Out", at "The Top Of 21". Kenny and his girlfriend
Vicky, went down to the garage to make-out during the break. It was time
to start back and Kenny was nowhere around. So they played "Heartbreaker"
by Grand Funk Railroad and I played rhythm guitar. Kenny was embarrased
when he walked in and I was playing his guitar. It served him right. You
snooze, you lose. I knew I was destined for greatness! They had a Shure
Vocal Master, and would put the amp/mixer down on the side of the stage
where I could adjust it. I'd go out into the audience, then adjust the P.A.
and tell the guys who needed to turn up or down. Later, when snakes became
about, it was so much better to run sound from 50 to 100 feet from the stage.
I've been underneath a stage 15 minutes before a concert soldering wires
to a monitor send line to get it to work. I'm glad electronic keyboards
came along. I got real tired of carrying Hammond B-3s and Leslie speaker
cabinets. |
| I was
still going to Lowe's Skating Rink for socializing on Fridays or Saturdays
and would spend the night with my grandparents until I was about 12. I gave
it all up when my nephew and niece, Rex & Melodie DeFoor invited me
to come spend the night with them and go listen to a live band at a place
called "The Attic" in Bessemer. I had never been to any place
like that. It was a nightclub for teenagers. No alcohol, just soft drinks
and snacks, but they had live bands on Friday and Saturday nights. It was
dark, the band, "The Sounds Of Time", was loud, and even though
I was scared to death because I didn't know anyone, I was thrilled. Kids
danced. I didn't know how to dance, so I parked myself up against the back
wall, and just absorbed the sights of all the kids, and the sounds of the
band. They wore Naru Jackets like The Beatles. At intermission, they changed
jackets, and I thought it was a different band coming in for a second set.
Someone's parents had bought a lot of equipment. They had a wall of amplifiers
and speakers. It was the first time I ever heard "Fire" by Jimi
Hendrix. I don't remember any other songs they played. But the next day,
I went out and bought "The Jimi Hendrix Experience". I was soooo
disappointed when I went to play the record on my little 3 watt Philco record
player. It was nothing like the extreme mounds of wattage volume I had heard
"Fire" blasting away the night before. I never went back to the
Roller Rink. I knew at that point live bands was where it was at. I knew
one thing: I was going to have to learn to dance if I was to survive in
the social world. More about that, later... I started going to hear live
bands at all of the teenage nightclubs. The Teen Scene in Ensley, which
was the old closed down Ensley Bowling Lanes, where my Dad had bowled when
I was younger, was huge. They had hung all black lights in the place, so
it really made a difference what you wore. It was there I saw The Bubble
Puppy perform Hot Smoke and Sasafrass. There was The Hub Teen Club in Roebuck.
I lived in West End. Even though we were only 14 or so, we would walk to
Five Points West (3rd Avenue) and thumb to Roebuck which was on the other
side of Birmingham. There was no Interstate back then, so 3rd Avenue was
a busy street. We could catch a ride with someone to downtown 20th Street
because they were going to Homewood. Then we'd catch another ride to Woodlawn
because they were going to Eastwood Mall, so they'd drop us off on 77th
Street. Then we'd catch one last ride to Roebuck. We always found someone
we knew there, offered them a dollar for gas, and we had a ride home. On
Sundays, we'd go to Holiday or Cherokee Beach. They'd have a live band from
2:00 - 4:00 pm. Or we'd go to Avondale Park on Southside and hang out with
the hippies and try to look cool wearing tie-died jeans, no shirt and a
fringed leather vest. That was my first experience with cool outdoor festival
type concerts. They had great bands out there. |
| My Junior
and Senior year of high school, I went to Phillips High School for 2 hours
a day to learn Data Processing and Computer Programming. This is where I
learned how to really dance. I picked up on a lot of moves from the girls
in class there, and really started watching Dick Clark's Bandstand, and
Soul Train. Eventually I wound up at The Boom-Boom Room with a group of
friends to enter dance contests. I did pretty well if I do say so myself.
Wednesday and Saturday nights they have contests. It was all about the smooth
moves with a sharp dance partner... and the shoes, so I had a pair of 4"
platform shoes. Didn't everyone? |
|
| As a graduation
present to myself in 1973, I took out a loan and bought a brand new 1973
Gibson Les Paul Deluxe and a Peavey 400 Musician from Ronnie Clifton at
Alabama Music Center. The amp was a 270 watts RMS head with built-in Fuzz,
Distortion, Reverb, and a 6 band graphic equalizer. I got a 4/12" cabinet,
and eventually added another 4/12" cabinet. That thing would crank!.
I hauled that Peavey around all over the place and eventually traded it
or a vintage VOX Super Beatle Amp. I still have my Les Paul. No other guitar
plays like it! |
| About
1976 or so I was living on Southside in my very first 1 bedroom, no-roommate
apartment. It had 4 rooms, and was affordable. One day, I saw a guy come
out of an apartment in the next building with a guitar case. A few days
later, I was coming home from practice with my guitar as he was driving
by. We didn't know each other but had given a nod or small wave in passing.
He stopped and asked if I played. I said yes. He said we'd have to get together
some time, and drove off. A few days later, he showed up at my door with
a six-pack of beer, and said, "Hey let's talk music". I invited
him in. He looked at my record collection, we downed a few beers while talking
about our favorite music we liked to play and what we liked to listen to.
I put on a 10" reel of rock and roll, and told me he played bass guitar
in a band named "Joker" with his brother, who was a drummer. He
invited me to one of their practices, so I went. This is where I first met
Ben Treschel (Trexel). He was about 15 years old. Stuart Kracke sang. The
bass player's name was Ray Armstrong. Ray died about 2000. Jessie, his brother
played drums. Chris Goins was the other guitar player. They were awesome!
"Joker" was a high-energy, serious Rock-n-Roll group playing Foreigner,
Alan Parsons Project, Led Zeppelin, etc. They would rent the Highland Racquet
Club, tack up flyers on all the telephone polls in the neighborhoods, charge
$5.00 to get in and a huge crowd would show up. (See photo below). I solicited
a good friend who liked the same kind of music to run the lights. I didn't
know at the time he was color blind. We'd have to tell him what color the
gels were, but he knew the songs, could keep time and worked from effect
rather than just trying to make it look pretty. We sat tables on top of
each other so we could see the stage. That's us in the blue & yellow
shirts in the back with the reel-to-reel playing during the breaks. I earned
the nickname "Knobs", he was Ron "Rox" (and he did).
I was Audio, he was Visual. I still have my "Joker" T-Shirt. I
think Ron does too. They don't fit anymore, but I refuse to throw it away.
What great fun we had! Ben Trexel has about six CDs out now. He's been a
studio recording engineer for some very important people including "Train",
and produced a lot of great local talent. He recently starting playing with
a newly formed band "Rock
Candy", and after the sax player asked me to run sound on their
first job, I told him I would but not to tell Ben I was coming. When Ben
showed up, he was surprised and told everyone in the band not to worry,
"Knobs" was running sound. All they had to do was play, and I'd
make sure they sounded good out front. |
Gary running sound for "Joker" at Highland Raquet Club circa
1976
|
| When I
got to college, I began to play with one of the best bands I've ever played
in. Bruce Andrews sang and played Harmonica. Pat Patrick played guitar and
sang. Scott Gwin played bass guitar and sang. Billy Narro played drums and
sang. I played guitar and sang a little backup vocals. Everyone in the band
was a Pike (Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity) except Billy, but he knew most of
the guys in the fraternity, so he was Brother by Proxy. I wanted to call
the band just "Logic", but Steely Dan had made a big hit with
"Pretzel Logic". We learned how to play Pretzel Logic, so we used
it; sort of went by both names depending on who you talked to in the band.
We had some special guests play with us sometimes. Doug Noel brought a horn
section to a few gigs. On one such "horns added" New Year's Eve
gig we played at the Sheraton Downtown. We were one of about seven bands
playing in the various banquet rooms. After about two sets, the other rooms
had emptied and everyone had come into our room. The other bands just quit
playing 'cause everyone was partying with us. By having horns play with
us, I learned to play in Eb, Bb and other weird horn keys. We had Danny
Grundhoffer play keyboards with us some. The original idea was to call the
band "Nine Ears". Ask Pat about that one. |
Logic 1973 |
|
So, beginning
New Year's Eve, and then just about every weekend in 1994, The Steel City
Ramblers, Rex deFoor on Cajun accordian, Don Parker on guitar, Al Picarelli
on drums, Roger James on fiddle, and me playing bass guitar, travelled all
over the Southeast playing authentic Cajun music. We even sang in French.
Thanks to Mrs. Hobson, my high school French teacher, I actually understood
what we were singing. Cajun music can only be described as "Happy Music".
Whether you're listening to it, or playing it, you'll pass a good time.
(Bon ton roulet!) From time to time, I still play bass guitar and have drummed
for him, played guitar and keys on occasion. We played in Kosciusko, Mississippi's
25th Natchez Trace Festival. We played at CityFest, in Tuscaloosa about
4 years in a row. We were the very first band (ever) to play at Beam's Crawfish
Boil, in Birmingham. I really don't understand how they can call it a Crawfish
Boil without an authentic Cajun band. We played at The Alabama Crawfish
Festival in Faunsdale, Alabama. Hat's off to John Brussard who throws one
heck of a good time every year with about 30,000 of his closest friends.
Cajun is really a cool culture. |
| To give
you an idea of how our schedule was, one time, we opened a Cajun restaurant
on a Thursday night, played Friday night in a local bar, got up Saturday
morning, dedicated a newly built bandstand in a Bessemer Park. Left there
and was the warm up band that afternoon at The Briarfield Ironworks Festival
for this new found group of girls called The Dixie Chicks. We were back
in the local bar Saturday night. Then Sunday afternoon we played at a lakehouse
for a 40th wedding anniversary couple of which the wife was from Louisiana,
and the husband surprised her with catered Cajun cuisine, and an authentic
Cajun band... us. But the MOST fun I had playing bass for Rex, was in Rock
Island, Illinois in 2001. They had a Cajun Fest. (The cops there call it
Drunk Fest). Nine Cajun bands, two stages, all weekend. We were one of the
only 2 bands NOT from Louisana. The other band, The Porch Dogs, from Florida,
were good too. We'd played Jolie Blonde (the official Cajun National Anthem),
and everyone stood, took their hats off, and sang along with us. When we
finished that, Rex told everyone to remain standing, that back in Alabama,
we had our own Alabama National Anthem. We played "Sweet Home Alabama"
and we had thousands of people in Rock Island, Illinois singing with us
by the time we got to the Chorus. Us and several thousand people singing
"Sweet Home Alabama" in Rock Island, Illinois. It doesn't get
any better than that! iiiieeeeeeeyyyyyy!!!
|
| In 1996,
my family went on a cruise aboard the Carnival Cruise Lines "Fantasy"
ship. One evening they had amatuer night and auditioned acts to perform.
I decided to give it a shot. I had no idea what kind of group would show
up to audition. I got to sing Hank Williams' "Hey Good Looking"
with the band in the largest of the night club venues. The place was huge
and they had put on some really fine shows during the cruise. They wouldn't
let me play guitar and sing, so just standing there singing without a guitar
to hide behind, I felt naked. When we showed up to perform, they had a table
reserved. We looked at the list they made, and got in order before they
showed up to tell us what to do.
They video taped
us, going around the table, stating our name, where we were from, and what
we were going to do. I was the last one to be interviewed so I was saddled
with the task of saying "You're watching tape number such-and-such,
and we'll be right back with the Amatuer Talent Show on 'The Fantasy'!.
They asked me if I was a television host, cause I seemed a natural. I told
them "No, just a ham in front of the camera". I went first of
about seven acts. I'm glad I did. The last fellow to get up there, was from
Cropwell, Alabama. He was a youth director for a church group. He sang Lee
Greenwood's "God Bless The U.S.A." and brought the house down!
I would have hated to follow him. |
Gary sings on board
the Carnival Cruise ship "Fantasy" 1996 |
| I became
a member of The
Magic City Blues Society (MCBS) because I love the blues. When I was
young, I never knew Eric Clapton didn't write "Crossroads". Who
was Robert Johnson? I found out a lot great tunes are remakes of old blues
songs written by people never heard of. They probably never got paid for
a lot of them, either. I believe the line in the movie "Crossroads"
was: "The blues ain't nothing but a good man on the worst day of his
life". And as Kenny Wayne Shepherd says: "Everybody gets the blues".
The MCBS jam sessions are great for getting to play some old standards with
guys you never get to play with otherwise. 'Course, I'm into getting paid
for playing, too. I've been a Board Member of the MCBS and the Librarian
as well. The MCBS Library consists of over 1,000 CDs, videos, tapes, etc.
of various Blues material. I was in charge of the Library for a few years,
taking to all the events sponsored by the MCBS. If you're a member, you
can check stuff out, then bring it back at the next event, or take it to
someone at a drop-off point. It was great to get to listen to so much music
any time I wanted. I was named Library Gary. The MCBS puts on several music
events each year. For several years I was the stage manager at the Battle
of The Blues Band, and eventually given the title, "The Stage Nazi",
because I ran a tight ship. Each year there was a huge event known as The
Sloss Birthday Blast. Each Labor Day Sunday, from noon until 10:00 pm we'd
have about 10 bands play on the main stage, and during the changing of the
bands, we had a second stage set up with usually a duo or trio acoustic
act of some kind. Below you see the group known as "The Esteemed Librarians"
consisting of Bruce Andrews harpist extraordinaire, and great guitar player
George Dudely and myself playing on the second stage at one of the Birthday
Blasts. Bruce and George have a duet called 2BLU.
They've been all the way to Memphis, Tennessee to the International Blues
Contest (IBC) twice and made it to the finals in 2008. |
|
| When I'm
not playing music, I can be found hauling equipment, being stage manager
at some function, or running sound for some group somewhere. I'm just liable
to show up anywhere. Festivals are my favorite. I guess the non-bar atmosphere
is the best part of it. I can take the family and not have to fight a bunch
of cigarette smoke. Being the stage director at the MCBS Sloss Birthday
Blast, and Battle of the Blues Bands, my specialty was rotating bands on
and off stage in a hurry. This is how I became known as "The Stage
Nazi" (TSN). I had lots of help, but orchestrated everything pretty
smoothly. We've always been "on time" and no equipment has ever
been lost, stolen or broken, with the exception of one drummer's hardware
case wheel disintegrating but not due to any abuse that my guys did to it.
It was just old and worn out. The drummer just laughed at the guy whose
face was really comical when bearings and pieces of wheel went everywhere.
We gave "wheechair service". I literally had a wheelchair to help
some older artists get to the stage. We wouldn't let anyone carry anything
except keys and sunglasses. The drummers couldn't even tote their stick
bag. I love running sound for a good band. It doesn't always have to be
so loud. It's all about the "Knobs"... |
| I've had
the privilege to play guitar at a couple of Churches. I've been part of
the rhythm section backing up many vocalists, and play with a few orchestras
of about 20-25 (card-totin') music-reading folks. Some can't understand
how I play in Eb, Bb, etc. without being able to read music. The good Lord
just blessed me with being able to "hear it". I can read chord
charts, but I still can't tell "time" with the stuff. Around 2000
- 2001, I belonged to a group known as "Randall Hall's most dangerous
Praise Band". It was a nine-piece group of 5 horns and a 4 member rhythm
section. Most everyone read music except me. In 2007, I got a copy of an
email from one of the trombone players. It said, "Hey Jake, this is
Elwood. Let's put the band back together for a reunion." So we got
the guys back together and played two reunion concerts at Lakeside Baptist
Church in Hoover, and Crosspoint Baptist Church in Argo, Alabama. We practiced
a few times, and it was like we had never stopped playing together, even
after six years. |
