Some of my fondest memories were when I had a five-piece band back in Arkansas. We were the house band for a club where we played from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. All the other musicians would come there after their jobs, and it was a really wild place.
Back in the 70's there wasn't much that wasn't acceptable, including lots of casual sex and women who didn't wear underwear. (I only remember the good things).
I had a really knocked-out drummer who had played with Rare Earth for a while. He didn't like what he called "commercial" music, although he could play anything, but the money was good so...
At the time, "Wipe Out" was a must-play song at least once a night. All he asked was that I give him a 10-minute warning before we did it. At that time, he would pop a couple of pills-I suppose it was speed-and we would do the song. He would often play it for up to 10 minutes, taking rides on every part of his kit, including just the double kick drums. Then he'd get up with just the sticks and start playing on the top of my organ (no jokes, now), then follow the wall down to the dance floor and all the dancers would form a line behind him as he played Wipe Out on anything that would make noise.
He would finally make his way back to the bandstand and we'd finish the song, then take a break. He would then retreat to a van in the parking lot to "come down" with a left-handed cigarette.
One night he arrived about one minute before "show-time". He had been in the woods in his jeep, and he had on cutoffs and no shirt and was covered in mud.
I met him at the door, and told me he couldn't come in until he cleaned up and put on a shirt. He found a hose outside and sprayed the mud off, then found one of those big green garbage bags and cut arm holes in it. The crowd went crazy when he came in wearing that thing, still shoeless and wearing cutoffs and a big floppy hat.
I could tell endless stories about our adventures in that place. Many times when a big-name act was in town, they would find their way to this club after their show and end up jamming with us. In was really a red-neck place, but one time the Coasters came in. It was probably the one and only time a non-white person ever entered the building. This was not because there was any kind of policy, it just didn't ever happen. Anyway, they ended up on stage with us and did about a thirty-minute set with us backing them. They did have their own guitar player who led us along. They ended up learning to two-step to "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down". A great cultural exchange!
One last thought: this place was where I really started to sing. We had originally had an Elvis impersonater for a front-man. We would come out and play dance music for 45 minutes, then he would come on and do the Elvis Show, complete with all the wardrobe, lights, scarves, etc. He was only an adequate singer, but the show went over fine.
One night he got mad at the owner and told him "we" wouldn't be back. Well, this was the best gig in town, and the rest of us decided to stay. The owner said fine as long as the crowd keeps coming. "Elvis" told us we wouldn't last a week. Well, I was the only other guy in the band who didn't have better sense that to try to sing, and I certainly knew all the words after listening to them every night for months. The next night I strapped on my guitar and some dark glasses and I did the Elvis show, although without the costume, and the audience responded just as they always had. I had an Echo-plex that helped cover up the flaws, or at least I thought it did. We stayed at that place for nearly two more years, and I have been singing ever since! It all started because the real singer quit and we wanted to get paid.
Sorry for the rambling!
DonM
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DonM
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