Best Of Gazette 2006
Thursday, Jan 26
WILSON PICKETT
“When I see $#!T, I kick it. When I see sugar, I lick it. When I want some Soul I dig
some Wicked Pickett.” –Dan Agent
We hadn’t heard much of what you call Soul music on Top 40 radio long about 1965.
The Stones had turned some of white America on to Otis Redding, Don Covay, and Solomon
Burke by covering their songs. James Brown had gotten some exposure, but hadn’t made the
pop charts. There was the slick, almost white sound of Motown and Sam Cooke.
Then came “In The Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett. This was more like it! This guy
was a screamer like Brown, but the music had a more laid-back feel to it. It was recorded in
an old theater, Stax Records in Memphis. The musicians on it were Booker T & The MGs and
the Mar-Keys horn section. Out of this studio were soon to come Eddie Floyd, more Otis
Redding, Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes, Carla Thomas and more. Pickett kicked open the door.
Pickett had sung lead with The Falcons, which included Eddie Floyd, Bonnie Rice
(who wrote Mustang Sally), Joe Stubbs (brother of Levi of the Four Tops), and Willie
Schoffield. Pickett sang lead on “I Found A Love” and their second hit, “You‘re So Fine”.
Soul was initially defined as urbane gospel singers, like Cooke, singing secular
music. Ray Charles had taken some gospel songs and given them romantic lyrics. The Falcons
had been a gospel group, but they were more like what you’d hear at a tent revival. Even
their recordings, done in Cincinnati, were crude and distorted.
Atlantic signed Pickett and Jerry Wexler decided to put Pickett, Steve Cropper, and
Jack Daniel’s in a hotel room and told them to come up with a song. In The Midnight Hour was
the result. Pickett wrote most of his own songs, and collaborated with Cropper on many hits,
including 634-5789. Eddie Floyd, who wrote Knock On Wood, collaborated with the two on
Ninety Nine And A Half. The first couple of albums were recorded at Stax; the distinctive
sound of the hall is evident.
Stax and Atlantic had some difficulties, and Pickett then recorded in Muscle Shoals.
“Land Of 1,000 Dances, originally by Cannibal & The Headhunters, was sped up and became
one of Pickett’s most enduring hits.
Wilson Pickett played the Civic Center, in the old downstairs exhibit hall, in 1966 with
Buddy Miles on drums. It was set up with chairs, like a concert, for some silly reason. Pickett
charged into the audience with a long mike cord and got everyone on their feet. The first to
dance in the aisles were Junior Markham and Bill Davis.
Otis had the feel and the phrasing of classic soul, but Wilson had sheer exuberance to
boot. He was going to make you dance whether you thought you wanted to or not. His was
good time music.
Pickett called his grunts and interjections “Cornbread Singing”. He could issue a
raspy grunt or hit high notes as clear as a bell. He also had this rare and amazing capability of
hitting harmonics with his vocal chords; sometimes singing two notes at once – listen to the
end of 99 ½ - or reaching into the soprano register as on “She’s So Good To Me”. This
requires tremendous lung power and throat control. One guy who played with him was
amazed that he really didn’t sing very loudly.
John Henry played a Pickett song I’d never heard. It was based on “Abraham, Martin
& John”, but Pickett called it “Cole, Cooke & Redding” He was singing about his idols who
had passed on. It has some of the most powerful, goose bump-raising testifying ever captured
on record. I called John and asked him where he got that.
“It’s the flip side of the 45 “Sugar Sugar.” He explained.
And there’s another thing; Pickett could take nauseating bubble gum by the Archies
and transform it into a passionate, soulful song.
On “Cole, Cooke, & Redding” Pickett sings: “I aint afraid of dying, because I got
friends – I got friends waiting for me on the other side!”
Now Wilson is singing with the best Soul quartet ever.


And speaking of The Exhibit Hall, there were several shows that got booked there. It’s
a room that has all the acoustic properties of an oil tank. That same year as the Pickett show, a
few hundred local hipsters turned up to hear The Yardbirds.
To those of us who were young musicians then, The Yardbirds were by far the best
rock band at the time. The first album wasn’t originally issued in the states. It was a wild live
recording from a London club with young Eric “Slowhand” Clapton on guitar. Clapton quit the
band halfway through the recording of their first studio album, For Your Love, because he
thought they were going too commercial and he wanted to stick with the blues. So they
brought in another newcomer, Jeff Beck.
Beck was actually more creative than just about anybody playing rock guitar then. He
also had some of the first custom distortion devices, hand-built by Roger Mayer who founded
Electro-Harmonix. It was Beck who first harnessed feedback and made the guitar sustain like
an organ. He did this on The Nazz Are Blue, holding one note for eight bars. The Yardbirds
with Beck did straight blues, folk-rock, and long jams where they really played off each other.
Some of their music doesn’t fit into any category.
They hit Tulsa after their third album, Over Under Sideways Down came out.
Bassist Paul Samwell-Smith didn’t like to fly, so he bowed out on the first American
tour. Beck called up an old homie of his, a London session guitarist to play bass; Jimmy Paige.
The Yardbirds sounded almost too good on records. Some of us half expected that we
were going to be terribly disappointed by their show. Maybe it was all studio tricks, and
some jazz cats were playing the guitars.
Downing and McPeters were lurking around outside during the opening act, which
was The Rising Sons, Bill Snow’s band. Frank and Jim ran into Paige and drummer Jim
McCarty who were walking around smoking a joint.
Well, kids – it was astounding. Beck was playing through two Vox Super Beatle amps
and he had no effects boxes sitting out where you could see them. Maybe he had the
distortion booster built into the guitar. But this limey geek with the long fingers sure could
play. This was The Yardbirds near the peak of their innovation and creativity.
There are a couple of Yardbirds tracks where Page and Beck both play lead. They got
the rhythm guitarist, Chris Dreja, to switch over to bass. Beck left, the band worked as a
quartet for a year or so, and somehow Page ended up owning the name. The New Yardbirds
became Led Zeppelin.
So this band was not only extremely innovative in the hard rock of the day, but it also
introduced the three top rock guitars in England in the sixties. Even though some of their
material seems quaint now, most of it still sounds good and the recordings are of good
quality. Any true music lover should have some Yardbirds anthology.
And if you want to win a bar bet, the original guitarist was Anthony “Top” Topham.
MARCH 1
After we were through at Mooney’s this tall, stunningly gorgeous, and very fit Danish
woman walked up to Mad Dawg and said, “You are amazing. That set was some of the most
magnificent bass playing I have ever heard. You hypnotized my soul. I am insane with desire
for you. I have a motel room next door. I want you to come there with me now and I want to
take you on a fabulous sexual journey like you’ve never had!”
Mad Dawg’s eyes opened wide. He blinked and shook his head and asked, “Did you
hear the third set or the fourth set?”
B
BIIL
LL
L IIS
SB
BA
AC
CK
K!!
He’s been watching TV for months now and is just plain sick of it. As you may recall,
our esteemed (or is it steamed?) bassist, the honorable William Farnsworth Raffensperger,
beat himself up back in December. He was trying to extort money from himself and wrestled
himself to the ground, injuring his shoulder in the process. Yeah, that shoulder; the one you
hang the bass on.
When you get old, you find out about body parts you didn’t even know you had and
one of those mystery parts had to be customized. I think it was Dr. John that operated on him
with chicken wire and papier-mâché.
This past year, Bill has one of the most high-profile musicians in Tulsa, in spite of
playing with us. He’s on the new J. J. Cale CD, Jamie Oldaker’s Mad Dogs & Okies CD, and
the Eric Clapton Crossroads Concert DVD, and played on the Cale spring tour. Heck, he
almost made enough money to buy a cheeseburger.
Well, you can’t keep a good man down, and the same goes for us. Bill is going to strap
it back on and come on out to Blues City this Saturday and zoom your lotuses. Get your jazz
party hats on, bring your cream pies and welcome Bill back to the boards. He is a Geezer
among geezers!
TULSA ROCKS
Tulsatoday.com is featuring a series by your fairly humble Gazette editor about the
rock scene in Tulsa. Not many towns can boast of Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, David Gates,
Jamie Oldaker, Phil Driscoll, Teegarden & VanWinkle, Elvin Bishop, Carl Radle,
Chuck Blackwell, Jim Keltner, Dwight Twilley, Sam Kinison, and Hanson. In fact, no
town can boast about any of them because they’re all from here! What we mean is, only
Lubbock has perhaps produced a bigger crop of musicians than T-Town. And by Bob,
someone needs to tell the story. As soon as we find someone, we’ll let you know.
We want this to be an interactive project. These stories are not posted temporarily;
this thing will be viewable online until Tulsa goes Democrat. The first four installments are up
now, which track the Tulsa Rock and Roll scene from the late fifties up to 1970. One
installment, which is pretty good if we do say so ourselves, attempts to define The Tulsa
Sound.
We want input on this. Not even John Henry knew all about Tulsa Music. He knew
more than anyone - but he’s not talking. We beseech you to write in to editor@tulsatoday.com
with your stories of Tulsa rock and roll bands of any time period. It doesn’t even have to be a
story; just tell us who was in the band, where did they play, did they make a record? We are
collecting information for a historical document. Your literary contributions are tax deductible
from your debt to society.
Horace Mann said “Be ashamed to die until you have won at least one victory for
humanity.” So help us out here. Hop to it.
BERT BERNS
Quick, who wrote “Hang On Sloopy”? It was a one-hit group called Little Ceasar and
The Consuls who did the original and it was called “My Girl Sloopy”.
The songwriter was Bert Berns. Berns was a producer and writer at Atlantic records.
One of their subsidiaries was BANG Records. B.A.N.G. was an acronym of the principals at
Atlantic: Bert, brothers/owners Ahmet & Nesuhi (Ertegun), and Gerry (Wexler).
Bert wrote quite a few hit songs, including Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, Cry
To Me, A Little Bit Of Soap, Piece Of My Heart, I Want Candy, Cry Baby, Tell Him, Are You
Lonely For Me?, Here Comes The Night, Cry To Me, Twist & Shout (under the pen name of
Bert Russell), and Brown Eyed Girl. Twist & Shout, Brown Eyed Girl and Hang On Sloopy are
three of the simplest musical constructions ever to hit the charts; basic three-chord songs.
What is interesting is that Bert Berns was actually a graduate of the Julliard School Of
Music, the toughest and most prestigious music school in the U.S. yet he was fascinated with
simple songs. He studied classical music and made a pile of money from rewriting “La
Bamba” three times. Berns died on New Years Eve of 1967.
APRIL
THE KING REPORT
Sharon (Mrs. Ed) King reports from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2006 induction
ceremony, being broadcast on VH1 these days:
“The producers of the RRHOF show were so afraid of what might happen with LS and
as it turned out we were the only ones who got along! It was all hugs and kisses with the
Skynyrd folks. Blondie you heard about, Ozzie wouldn't perform with Black Sabbath, the
Sex Pistols didn't show and the Miles Davis family were fighting backstage to the point
security had to be called in.
Johnny (Van Zant) kept coming up to me at the show and saying "Who would have
ever thought we would be the ones with class?" Unfortunately, that also meant we got no
press.
It was a really good weekend. Ed even went down to the Nokia Theater and sat in
with LS the night before the event. That is the first time he had played with them in over 10
years.
We did have one bad incident. When Ed came off stage from the RRHOF show, he
was immediately surrounded by the VH1 engineers. They couldn't use any of his guitar
parts!! At first they were trying to blame Ed or his equipment but as it turned out Metallica
had blown out the diaphragm on his mic. We ended up staying in NY an extra day so Ed
could go into the studio and redo most of his parts. Ed wasn't too happy but an extra day at
the Waldorf-Astoria is not the worst thing in the world.
Later-Brock
Thanks for the inside scoop, Sharon.
She refers to the Blondie episode, which was widely reported, that they were ‘doing
their laundry in the street’, as we beatniks say. Debbie Harry wouldn’t let her old band-mates
play with her new group.
The Skynyrd break-up had had some acrimonious overtones. It’s an odd but common
phenomenon that a group of guys will struggle together to make some good music, then hit
the big time and eventually end up disliking each other in the extreme.
Oscar nominee Terrence Howard said “Fame and fortune don’t change a man; they
unmask him. When you don’t have to answer to anyone any more, the true self comes out.”
We can’t imagine Ed being one to pick a fight or slag anyone without good reason.
Some of the other guys were major screw-ups. Before Skynyrd, Ed was the one who had
already had some time in the national spotlight, opening for Hendrix with The Strawberry
Alarm Clock and all that. He’s probably the sanest one of the lot. After being screwed the first
time, he probably got everything in writing the second time. Plus, they had Al Kooper on
their side. (Like Leon, Kooper is also not in the Hall Of Fame. He only formed The Blues
Project and Blood Sweat And Tears, as well as playing on Like A Rolling Stone and producing
Lynyrd Skynyrd, among other things. It makes you wonder what you have to do to get
recognized.)
So when you watch their performance, bear in mind that Ed is finger-syncing the
guitar solos that he didn’t even play until the next day! The guy is paranormal!
Sharon also noted no fighting meant no press. That gave us an idea. So come out to
the Action Lounge Saturday and be prepared to watch us beat each other to a pulp. By the
way, there’s a picture of Zig and Ed in the latest edition of the Blues News. Or is it the Blue
Gnus?
LEON & FRIENDS
Phil Stone was ecstatic about the opening act. The spirit of John Henry was hovering
over the Old Lady On Brady. How we wished he could have seen this show. John’s sister Jill
was there and at intermission the Brady Theater presented her with a check for $1000 for The
John Henry Foundation. It was probably the pay for the opening act. They did it for love and
for John. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for anyone who gives even half a rat’s
sphincter about Tulsa Rock And Roll.
Here were Gene Crose, Junior Markham, Bill Raffensperger, Chuck Browning, Chuck
Blackwell, Clyde Stacy, Bobby Pair, Wes Reynolds, John D. LeVan, plus Larry Bell, Tommy
Tripplehorn, David Teegarden, and Gary Gilmore (We’ve waited many years to see the
original Sunday Servants and here they are backing up Bill Davis!) Tex Wagonner, Ron
McRorey and Mike Day were the non-geezers playing. Bill only played one song behind Jack
Dunham and Johnny Williams did not introduce him, or Browning, or Blackwell.
I told Bell that Leon is the only white guy who could take an old Scottish ballad like
“My Bonnie” and make it funky. He also did “Lucky Old Sun”. That was written by no one you
ever heard of and was a hit in 1949 for Frankie Lane. Leon segued from that into “A Song For
You” to great response. That song is timeless, because the lyric transcends time. He went
from Jumpin Jack Flash into the chorus of Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone.
Leon is a walking lexicon of American musical cliches, or a textbook on arranging.
Some of these musical ornaments may sound similar, but when you try dissecting them you
realize, “OK, this is Blues Turnaround: Variation Number 137, aha!”
John Wooley canvassed the hall, notebook in hand, and mentioned he’s writing a
book on Oklahoma music for the centennial. It’s great that this musical history is coming
together, and that’s kind of what this show was. The last “comprehensive” book on Oklahoma
music just happened to leave out Rock And Roll – sheesh. Wooley was saying that Benny
Ketchum is the missing link between Western Swing and Rock & Roll around here. He also
mentioned an interview that James J. Downing did in the fifties with all three Wills brothers
and O.W. Mayo. He found that one in the Tribune archives
Leon didn’t do any of his newer stuff; Back To The Island was about the newest one,
and that is 30 years old.
He seems to have lost some of his Okie accent when he’s speaks. He ended up saying,
“Here’s one from my old boss from whom I learned a lot, not necessarily about music but
about grace and style.” and tore into Great Balls Of Fire, with ten part harmony. Bell got
behind Leon and played high keys over his shoulder.
I asked Bill if he got to see Leon and he said worshippers surrounded him.
Saw Steve Ripley, Richard Coffey, Jeff Nix, Tim and Suzanne Kassen. The Bells and
George Nicely sat right in front of us.
It was a great show all around. Even at sixty-plus and with past serious health
problems, Leon shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, he seems to be better every time we
see him. Let’s hope he gets the recognition he richly deserves.
MAY
GUITARS
The greatest guitarist of all time was Andre Segovia; you can look it up. He was a
small town boy and took up the guitar when he was young. His dad bought him a guitar from a
gypsy. Before Segovia, the guitar had all the esteem of the Kazoo. Segovia transcribed most of
today’s classical guitar works from other pieces.
He moved to Barcelona because that’s where the action was in Spain. He booked a gig
at some high-roller’s pad. He knew the guitar he had was not going to be powerful enough to
fill the salon, so he went to see Ramirez, still maker of the world’s best guitars, but now
called Hernandez. Then and now they cost several times a peasant’s annual wage.
“I have an important concert and I would like to rent a guitar for the night.” He told
the owner. Ramirez told him to take his pick. He sat in the front of the shop and played for a
couple of hours. The local music critic happened by and sat transfixed, listening to guitar
playing such as he had never heard before.
Finally, Segovia said, “I would like to rent this one.”
Ramirez replied, “It is yours.”
“No, I can’t afford to buy one. I just want to rent it for the concert.” Segovia replied.
“I am giving it to you.” explained Ramirez, who believed he had just seen the future.
“You are going to do more for my business than you can ever imagine.”
It was this same guitar that Segovia played his entire long life.
Speaking of guitars, my father bought a Rhythm King in Ohio in the 1940s from its
original owner. It had a beautiful rosewood back, an ebony fretboard and had a very nice
tone. Oddly, it was a steel string guitar but had a slotted head like a classical guitar. It was
made by Gibson between 1920 and 1925.
A few years ago it developed some cracks so I took it to Bill Pryor, who was then
working for Music City West, to repair. He soon got divorced and then vanished. I never got
my dad’s guitar back. Do any of you Ziggaz happen to know where Bill Pryor is?
APACHE REVISITED
Where’s John Henry when you need him? He was always ready with the answers, and
now he isn’t, drat. No sooner does one make a pronouncement, than one plumbs the depths of
one’s ignorance.
We can blame Danny Donovan, he’s the one who told us that Jorgen Ingman is a
Swede. Well, he was close. Right across the North Sea is Denmark, and Ingman is a Dane. We
say is, because his web site doesn’t say that he’s dead. He has a boxed set out, in fact, even
though he retired twenty years ago. He was well known for decades in European Jazz circles.
But he did not write Apache. The composer was Jerry Lordan. The plot thickens. Who
is Jerry Lordan?
Many people have recorded Apache. The Ventures recorded it several times.
Ingmann’s hit was on the US charts in 1961. We found a listing for Davie Alan And The
Arrows, of which we have a vague recollection. Didn’t they do the Theme From The
Universal-International Cheap Biker Movies?
We found an article about Jerry Lordan and he was an English composer who wrote
several songs that were hits over there – none we recognize.
Apache was originally called Starfire and someone like Burt Weems recorded it first.
Lordan said it bore little resemblance to his tune. So he took it to The Shadows, who were the
British equivalent of The Ventures – an instrumental guitar group that didn’t write much. (later
they were Cliff Richards’ backing band.) Lordan played it for them on a ukelele!
So the original version of Apache was by The Shadows and it was a worldwide hit in
the summer of 1960. Since they were British, they didn’t have a snowball’s chance on the US
charts. Danes did, for some reason, so Ingmann scored the U.S. hit rendition, and now you
know the rest of the story.
Forty six years later, The Zigs recorded their hit version in Langley, Oklahoma.
JUNE

FLOTSAM
We mentioned the gig at Crow Creek Tavern after the fact. They have the
bodaciousest cooling system there. Bill wore two shirts and it was a hundred outside. Back by
the restrooms there are some great old pictures on the wall. There’s the old Seidenbach’s
building downtown, which looked almost like Notre Dame Cathedral with its Gothic windows.
Another building featured that you rarely see pictures of is the old Akdar Auditorium
that stood at Fourth and Denver. It was later called The Cimarron Ballroom. This was an
incredible building, which should never have been torn down. All the great old theaters are
gone, but this one was particularly special. You can see the fly of the stage sticking up in the
back of the photograph; it was five stories high. It was the biggest stage between Chicago
and San Francisco. It would accommodate a full-scale Broadway production.
It was charmingly gaudy too. It featured terra cotta, mosaic tiles and onion-domed
minarets. Someone who was probably getting a kickback told the city it would cost millions to
save it. Architect Allen Hill says it was structurally sound. “All it needed was electrical and
plumbing upgrades. They could’ve saved it for less than a million easily.” He said.
“Urban Renewal” was in some ways one of the worst things that has happened to
Tulsa. The noble Akdar Auditorium, like The Ritz Theater, was replaced with a parking lot.
They don’t make buildings like those any more, and they never will again.
The Electric Flag was a good band of Omaha Africans and Chicago Jews. Members
included Mike Bloomfield, Buddy Miles, Stemsie Hunter, Barry Goldberg, Harvey
Brooks, Nick Gravenites, and Herbie Rich. The first album, A Long Time Comin’, is a
classic. Fortune dissipated their creativity quickly, at least for some. We recently picked up
Electric Flag’s Greatest Hits at a yard sale and it is anything but. There are poor renditions of
two songs from the first album, but not “Wine”, or “Texas”. The rest of the songs sound like
demos recorded in a garage. The mixes aren’t even good. Skip this one if you stumble onto it.
Incidentally, there was a 70s band called KGB that was Ray Kennedy, Barry Goldberg
and Mike Bloomfield plus Rick Greich and Carmine Appice. They did not sound like Electric
Flag meets Blind Faith with Vanilla Fudge, but they were good. Another KGB came later; no
relation.
JULY
We heard a couple of Jerry Lee Lewis stories. Bill was playing with Leon when they opened
for The Killer in ought fifty and nine. At the sound check, someone asked Lewis if he knew
any classical piano.
“He started playing Beethoven’s fifth symphony. He didn’t just play the intro, he was
doing the whole thing!” Bill reports.
When he was just a teenager, guitarist Tom Buck played with Jerry Lee. Tom asked
Lewis what the chords were to “Georgia On My Mind”. Lewis said he’d show him how it went.
Tom stood there watching as Lewis played and sang the song beautifully. He looked up at the
window and the engineer was holding a finger to his lips and signing that the reels were
turning on the machine. Lewis didn’t know he was being recorded, and that turned out to be
the take that was released.
Ya gotta watch them engineer types, they can be real sneaky. Some of the best
renditions come about just that way. It makes sense, because when the tape is rolling, the
pressure is on. If you catch someone off guard, you often get the best performance.
Mark Lyon, or maybe Bob Greenshoes told us a Muddy Waters story.
Seems that before Muddy went to Chicago he went to see the Geech, or the Hoodoo
man or whatever it is they call witch doctors in Mississippi. He wanted a mojo.
The Geech asked for ten dollars, which was a hefty sum for a sharecropper in those
days. He went in the other room and came back with an envelope.
“This is your mojo. There’s just one thing; you can never open it. If you do, it won’t
work any more.”
As we all know, Muddy became quite successful. He was probably the best known
and best paid Blues performer of his time. One day, when he figured out his life was secure,
he opened up his mojo. Inside was just a note.
It said: “I had my good luck, and now you got yours.”
LITTLE RICHARD!
Great gosh a-mighty! Lawd, Lawd! Oooh, my soul! The Beauty is on duty, children!
So, imagine that you are eight years old and you’ve been taking piano lessons for a
couple of years, learning how to play Minuet in G and all that sort of poncey stuff, and out of
nowhere you hear this screaming Negro on the radio attacking a piano with a jackhammer.
You would think, “That’s it! I want to sound like that!”
Richard, we’ve loved you every minute since we first heard you.
There’s a great story, which is the foreword to Mystery Train by Greil Marcus.
Little Richard was on The Dick Cavett Show. He’d already done his interview and
he’s sitting there fidgeting, listening to Erich Segal, author of Love Story, and John Simon,
literary critic for the New York Times, boringly discussing the book. Simon says it’s sappy
and saccharine and predictable trash, and Segal is haughtily defending it. Simon starts to say
something about “Never in the history of art…” when Richard sees his opening and takes
over.
“Never in the history of AARRT?! I’m Little Richard, the architect of Rock And Roll! The
originator!”
He runs up to the camera and his face fills the screen. “I know that when Credence
Clearwater did ‘Travelin’ Band’ it wadn’t nothin’ but Long Tall Sally in a different dress, and
they knowed it too!”
Little Richard knows who he is. He knows he’s important and he knows he will be
fondly remembered long after everyone has forgotten about Erich Segal and John Simon.
He’s been known to actually break piano strings, he can play so hard.
When he presented Paul McCartney with a lifetime achievement award at The
Grammies, he was quick to point out “Hey, you all didn’t never give me nothin’!” They finally
did give him the same award, even if it was far too long in coming.
Incidentally, Richard was offered a percentage of The Beatles when they were his opening
act in England in 1963. He’s sorry he declined.
Letterman was asking him about his biography and Richard said, “I used to be a
cocaine addict and a homosexual.”
“Wait, I’ve never heard of a former homosexual.” Said Dave.
His response has since become a catch-phrase, but Richard coined it:
“Yes, I realized that God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
Bill Davis’ favorite Rock And Roll song is “Keep A-Knockin’ But You Can’t Come In.”
Leon Russell paid homage to him in “Crystal Closet Queenie.” The Gazette is on Little
Richard watch until he comes to town. Stay tuned for more stories. And shut up!
The Tulsa World story last Sunday on the J. J. Cale documentary To Tulsa And Back
said that our man Bill got “a lot of screen time.” All we have to say about that is; what a waste
of expensive film. The lens only broke once, though.
And speaking of lenses, what’s the deal with those gigantic glasses that Zig wears?
Most people wear thin invisible wire frames, so they think they’re fooling you into thinking
they’re not actually wearing glasses. But Zig’s glasses say “&%$@ you! I wear glasses! What’s
it to ya?” People of sufficient dimension can get away with such things.
Zig has worn contacts in the past. They have their inconveniences. He went to buy
some frames and didn’t like anything they had. In his pocket were some sturdy $3 Git-N-Go
red imitation Ray-Ban Wayfarers. “Can you put lenses in these?” They could and they did. His
current frames are from either Warehouse Market or Circle K, and he has back up too. It
saves him about $60 a pop.
Working the late shift, we see it all.
Last week Bill was turning north/right at 21st & Memorial. There was a northbound
pickup in his left turn lane. We heard the sound of crunching sheet metal and someone
coming from the west had turned right, probably from the center lane, overshot the turn, ran
over the median and smashed into the side of the truck. The poor truck driver was just
minding his own business. You never know when you're going to get hit, Ziggaz. 3 AM of a
weekend is the dangerousest time to be driving, so watch out for the morons.
Leaving The Action, some guy was backing up and his rear wheels went over a
dropoff. He started revving the engine, but we could hear his drive shaft rattling against the
concrete. Time for a tow truck, Bubba. We guess his reflexes were somewhat slowed
perhaps.
SEPTEMBER
Jeff Meyers
Here’s a testimonial for you.
To the family of Jeff Meyers,
With heavy heart and many fond memories of Jeff, I want to offer my condolences and
respect.
One never knows exactly what to say at times such as this, but I do want you – each
and every one of you – to know in a personal and direct way that I care, and that you are very
much in my thoughts and prayers.
Although none of us has ever met, because of Jeff I do feel that I know you. This is said
in the sense that I knew Jeff, knew what kind of man he was, and thus know the kind of people
from whom he came. Men of Jeff’s character and accomplishments are rarely formed and
developed without loving family members – young and old – as strong parts of his life.
True, Jeff tended to be a quiet man, at least he usually was when working, the only
context in which I really knew him. But in many faraway places with strange sounding names,
in hellholes and other datelines around the world, we sometimes spoke of home. I know from
these conversations how much he loved his family.
I also know these things about him:
Jeff was an exceptionally hard worker and one of the best professionals with whom I
have ever had the honor to work beside. He was talented and took great pride in always
striving for excellence.
Over the years, in sunshine and storms, I have been honored to work with many of the
world’s best at what they did. Jeff, simply put, was the best of the best at what he did.
And he was brave. He was at my back and side in the war zones of Bosnia, Afghanistan
and Iraq, where the real and present danger of possible death was constantly near. Through
every nightmarish situation – and there were many – this man never flinched or faltered.
When the pressure and fear were greatest, Jeff was oak and iron. He was steady, steely,
focused – relentlessly concentrating on what he had to do, and on looking out for the safety of
others, including me. With Jeff around, you never had to worry about your back. He had you
covered, and you knew it.
These things about him were in contrast to, and complimented, his gentle, caring
side. He was wonderful with refugees, especially children, and was always especially
respectful to women – whatever their race, creed, or religion. He was a gentleman and no
man, woman or child had to speak his language to know it.
My admiration for and appreciation of Jeff knows no bounds.
May God rest his soul. And to each of you, in these hours of grief and need, may He
bring you peace – and may you find solace in the sure knowledge that Jeff was a superb
professional, a credit to his country – and a man who brought honor to his family.
- Dan Rather
This is high praise indeed.
I always loved, admired and respected Jeff. I usually only got to see him once a year if
I was lucky. He always had some good stories to tell.
Jeff fronted Xebec through most of the life of that band; over 15 years. He was an
excellent singer, but more than that, an entertainer, an M.C, and a showman. He played a
mean harmonica and could do voices, any sound effect you ever heard a human do, and some
only he could do.
I don’t think he was ever married, and he had no children. With his occupation, it was
nigh impossible to have much of a continuing relationship, let alone raise a family. He had a
home, but wasn’t there often. He delayed his gratification and pursued a career of great
challenge and adventure, and did good work.
Surely he was looking forward to retirement, of putting his feet up and writing those
memoirs, and relieved that he didn’t have to visit those hellholes any more. He was wise in
youth, and he gained wisdom about the world, which he could’ve shared on a broad scale.
Jeff’s life was cut short, indeed. But we think of some of our former bandmates, who
were as talented as Jeff, and still living, who haven’t accomplished anything noteworthy in
their entire lives. We realize that Jeff lived a very full life, regardless of its brevity.
He knew that the greatest blessing is to be given the opportunity to help someone. He
loved his family, his friends, his work, and he loved this world and the people in it, despite
the disheartening things he had to cope with while bringing us the news.
He was beaten by some thugs about a month before he died, but treated and
released. Two days before his death he was found unconscious, rushed to the hospital and
had emergency surgery for a blood clot on the brain. We may never know the cause of his
death, whether it was a result of the head injury or not. It doesn’t matter now in the grand
scheme of things.
Jeff was taken home to Bartlesville and cremated. Plans are in the works for a large
musical tribute to him in Norman September 17th. Many of his former bandmates and
colleagues will participate, and it’s bound to be a great show. There will no doubt be many
great stories also.
Around the same time, we also lost another old friend, Estle Mooney; owner of
Mooney’s Sunset Bar & Grill in Disney, our favorite gig. Mooney didn’t manage the club, he
leased that job out, but he owned the building with it’s attached motel. He was a fun-loving
good-hearted guy and will be greatly missed. He was also the step-dad of our previous
drummer, Scott Mariner.
Observational Humor – Lame Rationalization Department: There’s a Jim Glover
Shivvie commercial where this tiny woman and her two grade school daughters are beaming
about their humongous vehicle. Mom says, “I wanted an Avalanche. We have the kids and
they take gymnastics, so there’s the equipment, too.”
Weight of woman: 90 lbs, wet.
Weight of daughters: 40 – 50 lbs each.
Gymnastics Equipment: two leotards, half ounce per each.
Yeah, we reckon 4oo horsepower oughta get the job done. If she drove an Izetta,
which is more than enough muscle for the job, each year she would save 800 gallons of
gasoline, eliminate 3000 pounds of C02 from the air the little athletes have to breathe, and
save $25,000 wasted on pointless status.
The Tulsa Rocks series at Tulsatoday.com has gotten quite a bit of feedback from far
flung places. There’s a record collector down in Moore named Rhett Lake and he inquired
about a rare record. It seems a friend of his in Manhattan (NY) has a shop called Times
Square Records and he has an acetate record of The Contraband, which he somehow knows
is a garage band from Tulsa. The shopkeeper wanted to know about The Contraband.
We checked with John Hoff, a founding member of that group. He has a copy of the
same record. It was probably recorded at Art Sweeney’s studio in 1966. The band at that time
was Hoff, singer Mike Dudding, guitarist Rob Little, organist Lloyd Smith and bassist David
Belford. Later versions of the group featured Britt Wasson on keys, Mark Thomas on guitar
and Downing on keys. 14 years later Downing, Hoff and Belford played together again with
Flying Horse.
But there were probably only a handful of those acetates cut! How did one end up in
Times Square? We may never know. Music takes on its own life and travels far and wide. “It’s
a wonderful thing.” As Zig often says.
Rhett Lake is also compiling a discography of Oklahoma record labels. It’s quite
extensive already and we want to get it posted somewhere, perhaps at TAMA. He asks about
some other Tulsa bands. Anyone out there know who was in The New Imperials? There will
be more questions arising from this. Help us out, Ziggaz.
“I’m so tired these days, I spend every waking minute sleeping.” – local shopkeeper.
That sounds like something Yogi would say.
Bill reports that John Cale is getting a lifetime achievement award from The Spot.
The Tulsa World summoned a whole hairy horde of former Cale band members together
down at the Brady Theater and Kelly Kerr took a picture of them. It probably looks like the
opening of Pharoah’s tomb.
It was the owner of The Whisky Au Go Go that named him J.J. because there’s a John
Cale that played with The Velvet Underground and The Whiskey had already had Johhny
Rivers and Johnny this and Johnny that. But J. is not his middle initial, it’s W.
One of our newest subscribers is The Oklahoma Music Hall Of Fame. We welcome
them with open arms. We do wish the hall was in T-Town, though. Perhaps the Rock wing
should be here, since all the Okie rockers of note are from Tulsa. The only exception we can
think of us Phil Upchurch, who recorded You Can’t Sit Down in OKC.
The Zig Gazette Abu Dabi Edition mentioned that perhaps Muslims are too easily
offended and prone to riot. Muslims worldwide commenced rioting, claiming offense.
Sign outside a restaurant: “Now hiring all positions”. We wonder if they have one
sitting, or even better, lying down?
Dave Barry says you can be rock singer if you only know one syllable. That syllable is
“Na”. To wit:
I said a-na, na na na na, na na na na, na na na, na na na, na na na na. This is of course
“Land Of 1,000 Nas”. How many Na songs are there? Help us out here.
There’s Na Na Na Na – by Steam, Hey Jude, Get A Job, No Sugar Tonight, that real long
Journey song, Rock & Roll Lullaby, Rock & Roll Woman, some Led Zeppelin song, and A Horse
With No Name.
OCTOBER
40 Reasons Tulsa Needs A Rock Hall Of Fame
Leon Russell, Dick Sims, Skip VanWinkle, Rocky Frisco, Steve Hardin, Walt
Richmond, J.J. Cale, Elvin Bishop, David Gates, Steve Pryor, Lowell Fulson, Flash
Terry, Mike Bruce, Steve Ripley, Tommy Tripplehorn, Dwight Twilley, Phil Seymour,
Chuck Blackwell, David Teegarden, Jim Keltner, Jimmy Karstein, Jamie Oldaker, Scott
Musick, Carl Radle, Bill Raffensperger, Gary Gilmore, Lucky Clark, Gene Crose, Gus
Hardin, Ann Bell, Wanda Watson, Debbie Campbell, Polly Ess, Jimmy Markham, Ernie
Fields, and Taco Ryan. Oh yeah, and you’ve got jazzers like Pat Kelly and Tuck Andress
who rocked around here before making a stand out west. There are the many world-class
talents that only we know about like Tommy Crook, Bill Davis, Frank Adams, Spencer
Sutton, Larry Bell, and Sonny Gray, etc.
You can’t make a list like this off the top of your head without leaving several people
out; there is so much talent from this town. It’s mind-boggling, really. Tulsa is renowned in the
earthly musical community as a hotbed of talent. Few towns are so gifted. Austin, Memphis
and New Orleans likewise have an inordinate ratio of good musicians.
The one town that takes the cake though, is probably Lubbock Texas – really. We’ll
have to dig up a list of the players from there, from Bob Wills to The Dixie Chicks, and in
between you have Waylon and Buddy and tons more.
NOVEMBER
GAZINTAS ~ (auxiliary input)
We recently were found by Joe Davis, an ace guitarist who played with The
Oscillators for a while. Joe is also a very good artist and has often earned his keep in graphic
design and related fields. He’s done a bunch of the Texas Guitar Show posters. He grew up
with Steve Gaines. He happened to mention Bob Withrow in an email. Bob played around
here in the eighties with a band called Sass, which included Rocky Frisco, Steve Bailey and
John Hoff. You may have seen Withrow at some of the Blues City Jams when Wanda was
hosting them. Joe gave us some interesting info on Bob:
“I guess I've known Bob Withrow since the mid to late 60's. Even then he was quite a
character; hair down to the middle of his back and a ring in his nose. You can imagine how
bizarre that was back then! He was in a band at the time called The Cellar Door along with
Sam Ketcher on bass, Jerry Sanders on drums and a young Steve Gaines on rhythm guitar.
He was not only a great guitarist even then; he was also quite an innovator.
The guy has done so many different things in his life, he makes Forest Gump look like
a shut-in. He'll take off and work in Alaska, then he's off performing with some national act,
then the next thing you know, he's down south somewhere teaching survivalist classes or
repairing antique guns, then he's off recording his original material.
He got his legs mangled in a conveyor belt on a job in Seattle not too long ago and
threatened to kill the doctor if he cut them off. I guess the doc sewed ‘em back together OK.
At least his feet were pointing in the right direction.
Shortly after I first met Bob, he took off for California and ended up playing bass for an
up and coming star, Jose Feliciano. To answer your question, what band did he play with
when opening for The Beatles....I believe it was the Del Vikings. I think they were famous
for the song "Come Go With Me". Bob wasn't an original member, he just played guitar for
them on tour. Next time I hear from Bob, I'll get him to verify the info. Some good Zig Gazette
trivia!”
Many thanks and a tip of the Zig Top Hat to ‘Joe Willy’ Davis! We’ll be hearing more
from him.

Oklahoma Music Hall Of Fame 2006 Concert
Your editor here was bribed to cover this event for Tulsatoday.com. There is a review
posted there by the time you read this. Gazette subscribers get The Rest Of The Story.
The actual induction ceremony began at 4:30, so that means that people with regular
jobs couldn’t make it in time, even if they lived in Muskogee. I guess the crowd was all
reporters. Laurie Fullbright was supposed to be the MC but on the 6:00 news she mentioned
Carl ‘Raddle’ (rhyming it with ‘paddle’). You would think the MC would know how to
pronounce the names of the inductees. You would think that being a longtime Tulsa
newsperson she would know who Carl Radle was. You would think that, but you would be
wrong. Tsk Tsk. (Glenda Silvey knows.) Laurie pronounced it right on the ten o’clock news.
Rick Wells probably set her straight.
The inductees were Mel McDaniel, Eldon Shamblin, Carl Radle, and Leon
Russell. Keith Anderson was given the Rising Star award, but wasn’t there to receive it
because he was off busy rising somewhere. Giving an award to a newcomer seems like shaky
ground. The hall could have egg on their collective face if the star fails to rise enough. Gus
Hardin won some national newcomer award before she flipped RCA the bird and came back
home to play in local clubs.
The program they handed out had good biographies of all the inductees. It also listed
who was already in the Hall Of Fame, and had another list headed Made In Oklahoma that
listed many famous Okie musicians. Some were so famous that we never heard of them, and
many important people were conspicuously absent from the list. As we have noted, lists are
always subjective. The ‘program’ said nothing about the sequence of the night’s
entertainment. It also misspelled the names of Teegarden and Richmond. Rule #1 of
journalism is get the names right. (Caution: Do not confuse the Zig Gazette with journalism.)
Each inductee was introduced with a short video on their careers. Mel McDaniel was
in good form, and his band was great.
Next, the late Eldon Shamblin was inducted. Eldon rewrote the book on rhythm guitar,
and he was a great loveable guy. Tommy Crook was tapped to pay tribute to him, as he was
when Barney Kessel was inducted. Though Crook isn’t world famous, except among
guitarists, he will probably end up in the hall just by sheer force of his great talent.
The highlight of the whole night, for me anyway, was the tribute to Carl Radle. Our
boy Bill sat in on the bass, handing off to Gary “Stick” Gilmore for one song. The whole 1970s
Clapton band was there: George Terry, Marcy Levy, Jamie Oldaker and Dick Sims. Marcy is
still slinky and cute and has that fantastic voice, plus she plays a pretty good harmonica. At
one point, George stopped and walked to the edge of the stage and pointed at Crook in the
front row and said “There’s the guitar player; Mr. Crook.” Amen.
Backing Jamie on percussion were David Teegarden and Chuck Blackwell. Good
lawd; there you have three of the greatest drummers Tulsa has ever spawned! Walt Richmond
was on the piano for the whole set. Tommy Tripplehorn played on a couple of songs too.
Bill Davis sang Tulsa Time for the finale of this set. “I just know I’m going to screw this
up; I’m learning this song. I can imagine someone saying ‘Saw you on that Muskogee show –
44 years in show business down the drain.” He did fine, but he was high on dancing with
Marcy so Jamie took control and conducted the group to the end of the song with some wellplaced accents.
We muse that it might be a good idea to begin The Zig Gazette Hall Of Unknowns.
This would be to recognize punters like us who have been in the trenches, playing in local
clubs all our lives. Most of us have never been on TV, played with a famous group, been on a
hit record, won a Grammy or even penned a hit song, even though we have friends who have.
Even Bill is probably not famous enough to get in the Hall Of Fame, yet he’s certainly
legendary to us, if not notorious. It’d be like a survivor award, even for some who didn’t
survive. Go ahead and start sending in your candidate’s names and credentials. Did anyone
save that huge list of Okie musicians we had at TulsaMusic.com?
I f you can possibly make one of these OMHOF concerts, it’s well worth the trip. This
one certainly was. Here’s a tip; buy a cheap seat and sit where you like. The hall wasn’t full by
a long shot.
DECEMBER
FLOTSAM 
We told Zig that we elected a Democrat guitar player.
Commercials:
“Side effects of this sleeping pill include drowsiness.” Duh.
If you watch the casino commercials on TV and look at the billboards,
you might think they would be good places to meet some hot babes. Bwa-haha-ha! Guess again, Sparky. You can walk for days through several casinos
and see mostly bag ladies and trailer trash.
Captain Morgan tropical malt beverage; tropical malted barley – isn’t
that akin to arctic bananas?
An awful lot of old pop songs from our younger days are showing up in
commercials now. Maybe these are songs that aren’t getting radio play any
more: “Do Ya?”, “Just What I Needed”, “I’m Free” (Off an early Stones
album), “Peace Of Mind”, “Back In Black”, “All Right Now”, “Gimme Some
Lovin”, and even Bo Diddley’s “Roadrunner”. Well, Bo can certainly use the
bread, but we’re not sure about the rest of them.
The Beatles’ “From Me To You” is in a Macy’s commercial, but the
only thing correct about it is the lyrics. It’s like they gave the sheet music to
someone who couldn’t read it. The melody and chords are completely wrong.
They have since dumped that for a version where the melody and chords
were correct. I’m sure Paul & Yoko hate this and they’ll probably sue.
Which brings to mind, don’t you think that Hillary is like the Yoko of
politics? Even people who adore John have great difficulty suffering Yoko. Of
course, if John Lennon loved her there must be something there. We are not
implying that this applies to Hillary, though.
NPR has the most interesting music on radio. You can hear more good
melodies on one Jimmy LaFave CD than on any commercial radio station all
day long. On Fresh Air the other day, they played parts of George Martin’s
remixes of some of The Beatles’ catalog. This is amazing stuff.
With digital technology you can slow songs down or change the key
without affecting the sound at all. Of course, Martin has access to all the
newest gear. The Beatles’ masters have now been digitally saved.
He takes “Drive My Car” and adds in the guitar solo from “Taxman”,
then segues into “What You’re Doing” but it’s still Ringo’s “Taxman” drum
track and Martin’s piano part!
You can often pick out Beatles songs that have similarities and ideas
that develop from one album to the next. Martin takes Harrison’s “Within You
Without You” vocal and pastes it over the instrumental track of “Tomorrow
Never Knows.” He does the same with “Octopus’ Garden”, slowing the vocal
to lay over “Goodnight” from The White Album. It’s fascinating.
CBS Sunday morning had a Clapton segment. Well, it’s partly about his
new collaboration with Cale. There’s a sign of the apocalypse: J.J. Cale on
network television. Cale said little: “They told me I was going to have to do
some TV interviews. I said I like to watch TV but I don’t want to be on it.”
When asked how Clapton’s covering his songs changed things for him he said
“Money. They sent me lots of money.” Well, yeah.
What’s surprising is this new album is a Cale/Clapton full collaboration
and Cale gets top billing! We can see the fleet of Brinks trucks trying to find
Cale’s house.
The other night the news showed a deer in a Target Store. Tonight
there’s a deer in a bank! The deer are invading!
Carrie Dickerson died in her sleep last month at 89. A little old
grandma in tennis shoes, founder of Citizen’s Action For Safe Energy, made a
big difference. She stomped on the terra, as Lord Buckley would say.
At the centennial kickoff we wondered aloud where Woody Guthrie
was and then they played This Land Is Your Land and projected Woody’s
picture 100 feet tall on a skyscraper. Would he ever have guessed that
Oklahoma would finally recognize this communist?
This Current newspaper had an article about Schwagg, a Grateful
Dead Tribute Band. They used every conceivable pot reference in the article
and twice called it a “Family show”. Yeah, tell the kids to bring their bongs!
Diana and Mikayla saw a guy begging at First & Utica with a sign that
said, “Why lie? I need a beer and a cheeseburger.”
Of course, when we found Bill he was standing on Garnett with a sign
that said “Will play rock and roll for beer.” It was only later that we learned he
actually wanted money. Bill was on PBS again this week, in the rerun of the
Clapton Crossroads concert from 2004, but he signed a release on that so
there are no residuals. If you liked it, you can just tip him at the gig.
Everybody knows Janis Joplin loved the hooch, right? Well, backstage
at Monterrey Pop, John Phillips asked for a drink from Janis’ ever-present
bottle of Southern Comfort, to take the edge off the Owsley.
“John, you don’t really want this.” Said Janis.
“No, really I do.” He answered, and he took a big swig. “It wasn’t
Southern Comfort. It was codeine cough syrup.”