Replacing TheJohnny Winter Band
Back in the day he was in a band in Denton Texas and auditioned for a house band gig in Dallas at a club called the Phantasmagoria. He sat and listened to the standing house band and they blew him away .The guitar player was so hot he was almost too humbled to audition. When he finished the set he headed straight out the door and into the street sure that he had no chance of getting the gig.
The band manager caught up with the guys as they were getting in the car and to everyones amazement the club owner replaced the house band and hired Bud and his band . The house band was Johnny Winter .
One more reason why club owners should not think they are music critics. Johnny was gracious and not long after that his career took off. Bud played that club for two years and some of Johnny's band including John Turner came by and jammed occasionally when they were in town.
The Platters
Needing to pay his rent Bud auditioned with a club band in Dallas one night after a show. When he finished the band went back stage to talk and a group of older gentlemen sitting in the dark at a table motioned him over. It was members of the legendary Platters. They invited him to sit down and bought him a beer and asked why he sat in with the house band . When he told them he was auditioning they told him that he was too good to play with that band and he would be wasting his talents . They were so supportive and complimentary that when he was offered the job he declined and could not pay his rent that month. He is still a Platters fan but thinks they owe him a months rent .
Big Brother
A group of Bud's friends were touring for a promotor who claimed to have the rights to the Big Brother and the Holding Company band following the death of Janis Joplin. He sat in at a concert in Oklahoma and the promoter offered him $300 a day plus expenses to join the tour and close the show . Bud agreed as long as his roommate and keyboard player could also go and they set out on a tour through the Midwest and Canada. They opened for national acts including a show in Boise Idaho headlined by a new act calledAlice Cooper.
Along the way they experienced a car that caught on fire and burned, an attack by drunk gravel pit workers with sheep shears and a night on an Indian reservation . They returned with guns , knives and profound appreciation for "The Road".
The Eagle Apartments
The Eagle Apartments in Denton Texas were a legendary place. Only the top musicians were allowed to live there. The gate keeper was the manager who was a graduate music composition major. When Bud and his roommate applied for an open apartment they were told that only musicians got to live there and asked the name of their band . A few days later they received a call that the residents had agreed to let them in . Over the next few years Bud became friends with residents Tom "Bones " Malone and Bobby Brennor of "Buddy Rich" band fame . He hosted jam sessions in his apartment attended by the likes of Blue Lou Marini and Eugene Carrier BB King's keyboard player . His upstairs neighbor was David Hungate legendary bass player for Toto and countless other acts. One day he mentioned to Tom And Bobby how much he appreciated them accepting them into their musical circle only to learn, "Well, we thought since you guys were in a rock band you would attract lots of chicks". We all play our part.
Sheep Shears
While on a tour of the western states the band forced to spend the night in a seedy motel on the outskirts of Bozeman Montana because “long haired hippie musicians” were not welcome in any of the respected establishments. Against all logic a couple of the crew and the bands keyboard player went into the Bar to have a few drinks and buy some greasy burgers from the grill. Bud got a phone call in the room saying that they were afraid to walk back to the rooms because some gravel pit workers had been threatening to cut their hair off with some sheep shears. Bud told them to stay put and that he would escort them back. When he arrived at the bar things seemed peaceful enough and thy all started back to the rooms. Suddenly out of the dark a pair of large drunk gravel pit grunts jumped on the key board player and commenced to cutting his hair opening a large gash on his forehead. Bud rushed back to help and ran into one of the largest humans on the planet. HE ran into the man but bounced off the mans chest. He noticed that his arms were as big around as most men’s legs. The keyboard player jumped up and ran for safety leaving Bud Alone in the night with this behemoth who then said in a western drawl” It aren’t your fight son”.
Bud slowly turned and did his best John Wayne walk back to his room accepting the mans wisdom as a fair course of action. The bar called the sheriff and everyone was brought out into the parking lot, musicians and gravel pit workers alike. One of the workers spoke first “ Sheriff, them boys started it. Every time a hard hat goes in a bar now days some long hair picks on them.” he then pointed at Bud, look at the size of that boy sheriff, I think he was the ring leader. The musicians were on their way to jail until a young deputy emerged from the bar with the true story and the sheep shears. The Sheriff decided that both groups should come to his office in the morning and file charges if the wanted but for now they should all go home and avoid any more trouble that night. The next day the band stopped in a town and bought guns knives and mace. The Keyboard player got 15 stitches in his forehead.
The Mansion
While working in the Dallas nigh club scene Buds friend and manager Bill Reynolds kept saying that top band needs a top address. To this end he found a deal on a Georgian styled mansion in the upscale Turtle Creek area of Dallas. The mansion was part of a trust and the trustee wanted it lived in while it was being processed. So for a year the three band members and the manager lived in a gigantic historic home on a large manicured estate. The lease was surprisingly reasonable but the catch was that all of the landscaping had to be maintained and that proved to be a demanding amount of work. So the band played rock stars by night and lawn boys by day.
Despite attempts to control their environment the place became a great stop for jamming and parties. Bugs Henderson and other Dallas guitar players show up and would play hour long jams long into the night.Living there was chaotic and one never really knew who was there or what they might be up to. Given the number of people who came and went and the size of the mansion there was always the possibility that a guest might bring illegal substances to the house even though the band vowed to keep the house clean due to their visibility in the community.
The appearance of four long haired musicians hanging out at a mansion in a posh area did not go unnoticed and the local police stopped more than few times when they were outside to question them thinking they were intruders and certainly not residents. One evening men in black riot gear appeared to be hiding in the bushes positioning themselves for a raid on the Mansion.
The band manager thinking quickly dialed the police department and began to complain about the police in his yard threatening to sue the city if they trampled the flowerbeds. A helicopter with searchlights appeared overhead shining it on the property. The manager emphatically complained that he had important business meetings in the morning needed his sleep and that if the chopper and the police did not leave immediacy there would be law suits filed in the morning, His anger and confidence must have struck a nerve because the chopper peeled off and the tactical teams slowly retreated.
Following that incident Bud returned to the road and missed many of the Mansion’s crazy events to follow that year. He still likes the Joe Walsh line,
“I have a mansion, forget the price
Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice”
Towers of Beer
Bud was in a band that closed a show in Austin that also featured Stevie Ray Vaughan and the band Cracker Jack. The show was a national meeting for one of the nation's largest fraternities. Before entering the stage Stevie stopped him and said "don't go out there". A beer company had donated thousands of mini cans of malt beer and the brothers were throwing the cans all over the arena. Stepping out from the wings a can landed by the bass player and exploded spewing beer everywhere . Bud quickly made an announcement that a substantial prize would be given to the chapter that stacked the highest beer can pyramid . The cans stopped flying and for the next 45 minutes huge towers of beer cans grew in the distance in the massive hall. When the band said good night and turned the show over to the headliner the towers were reaching dangerous proportions. Imagine the response when the beer towers did not lead to the expected reward?
While attending college Bud and his roommate Larry Black put together a Blood Sweat and Tears jazz-rock style horn band. The band was so impressive that a popular nightclub in Dallas hired them to open after the club went through a remodel sure to make it the top spot in Texas. The band was tight and had a great set of charts written by the sax player Robert Hawkins.
Two weeks before opening the band was raided by talent scouts. Two of the horn players were hired away by the Sonny and Cher band, the drummer signed with the Ray Charles Band and the bass player signed a deal with one of the country’s top big bands. They scrambled to find replacements and wound up with a makeshift horn section using a trumpet player who just got out of the service and a trombone player who drove a cab for a living. The rest of the players were ok but no one knew the arrangements and the charts were written at a level that many of them could not play.
The club owner was so mad the band had so many subs on opening night that he broke the contract and Bud was forced to take another job on the road. That led to openings for Alice Cooper and other acts and a stint as a sit in artist for an act called Papa Jelly Belly and the Rock and Roll Revival. That was his last attempt at playing in a jazz-rock horn band until he joined Dallas County as lead vocalist. Dallas County had a great run and was the top jazz-rock band in Texas during that time period.
Sears Silver Tone Guitar
Every guitar player had a “first” guitar. Buds first guitar was a mail order Sears Silverstone with a picture of a cowboy camping out with his horse in the background. He begged his parents for years and to his surprise it arrived one Christmas when he was barely 11 years old. Unfortunately his parents could not afford to pay for lessons and nobody they knew played or could offer assistance so he struggled and began to teach himself to play by ear trying to play songs he heard on television shows and the radio. Like many other self-taught musicians he began to develop his own crude but effective early style of playing.
It was during this same period when he severely injured his right hand playing baseball and the Doctors said he would be lucky to have any functioning of his hand.
He was encouraged to learn to write using his left hand so that he could continue with his schooling. His childhood desire to be a professional baseball player was over and worse the injury also ended his guitar playing and the guitar wound up in the closet. It was brought up time and again when he asked for new things. His Dad would tell him” we bought you a guitar and you gave up learning to play. Life is hard son and you have to figure things out for yourself”.
When he was in his late teens he met a guitar player at a party. After hearing Bud sing he offered him a gig with his band. Bud agreed if finally after all those years he could get some decent guitar lessons. That guitar player became one of his best friends and would help him develop his understanding of the guitar as long as he sang lead in the band.
Unfortunately Bud quickly became known as a lead singer and front man and rarely played guitar on his early gigs and recordings. When he left that band he continued to develop his skill and when his lead player failed to show for a gig Bud took over the spot and the band took off. Today he fronts his band as lead singer and accomplished lead guitarist.
Sadly, when he left home for the road his first guitar was still back home in the closet. When his parents house was sold that old guitar disappeared in the sale. Bud has developed into quite a guitar player over the years and owns a great collection of modern and vintage guitars but like most guitar players he still misses his first guitar, the Silver Tone.
Eugene and the Organ
Eugen Carrier was an amazing keyboard player, a member of BB King's Band. He came by Bud's apartment one weekend and jammed for hours. At the end of the session he left his Hammond organ and said he would return the next day to pick it up . A year later Bud was walking across campus when out of the haze Eugene appeared and said "Hey man , you seen my organ"? Bud wrote down the address and directions and they parted ways . Eugene showed up two months later to pick up his rig. The lesson is that brilliance is not always organized.
Shaping the future
Once, while performing at a Dallas concert hall as a teenage college student a young women asked to see Bud on a break. She wanted his advice on whether or not to give up her child to her ex husband, She chose him because he was the lead singer and that gave him guru status. His reluctant decision effected some person's life in a dramatic way. He still wonders how that turned out.
Keeley and the Flux Capacitor
The band was playing at the old Shamrock club in Oklahoma City when a young bearded blue jeaned friend of my bass player came to sit in. He had a strange item he played through that looked like little more than some circuit boards and a tangle of wires. He had that mad scientist look on his face and I stood back expecting the gadget to blow at any minute. To my surprise a sweet buttery tone flowed from what I dubbed the “Flux Capacitor”.
His name was Robert Keeley and he would return from time to time with new creations and none of them blew up and they all sounded great. He asked me to try a Wha once that had no pedal? You waved your foot through a force field to make variations in sound. I began to expect anti-gravity boots or pedals where you could punch up a pizza while you play. We discussed many things those during those session mainly family and kids and I began to think, “This young guy has a bright future” if he does not blow up first. Well, he blew up in a good way and is one of the top designers of guitar effects in the world. Check out his work. He is someone who applied hard work and ingenuity and achieved the American dream.
Mother Blues
Sitting on Buds Mantle in a velvet box is one of his most prized possessions. In it is a Musicians Card with the name Yank on it from the old Dallas Club Mother Blues. When Bud saw Ray Wiley Hubbard play the hit song “Mother Blues” on the Letterman Show it brought back fond memories.
If you were a respected musician and played at Mother Blues you might be lucky enough to have been issued a Mothers Blues Musicians Card. It got you free admission and best of all an invitation to the Sunday Cookout in the back yard of the old Mansion. Bud and other young starving artists could count on at least one good meal a week thanks to the owners of the club. Who does that today? Bud played there and jammed with different bands. He even played drums for the first and only time one night when a drummer had been arrested. Imagine possessing such a golden ticket and getting to jam with and see up close and personal so many great blues and rock legends.
The Cellar
While still an undergraduate student Bud, now known as Yank, and the band played at the legendary Cellar Clubs in Fort Worth and Dallas. The Cellar Clubs were dangerous and dark and became infamous back in the 60's when JFK's Secret Service bodyguards drank there till dawn the night before he was killed in Dallas. Jack Ruby was also rumored to have been a regular.
The Cellar's all-night policy honed the chops of performers like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, guitar ace Bugs Henderson, a truly original street drummer and rapper named Cannibal Jones (who changed his name to Bongo Joe when he moved to San Antonio), John Denver, and comedian George Carlin, who perfected his "seven dirty words" shtick at the Fort Worth Cellar. It also hosted low-grade hoodlums left over from the Jacksboro Highway Dixie Mafia, off-duty cops, ink-stained newspaper reporters, penny-ante hustlers and gamblers, and the occasional out-of-town celebrity, from tough-guy actor Lee Marvin to astronaut Alan Shepard. The University Of Texas Football team was said to have been promised a trip there if they beat their rivals in the Red River game.
Bands found it was an attractive place to play because they could jam and play original music or covers as long as they obeyed a set of Cellar rules that included sitting with stag girls on your breaks and asking the bouncers to handle any problems that arose. They were also instructed to leave the dancing girls alone.
The first night they worked at the Fort Worth Cellar the main band was the American Blues a precursor to ZZ Top. Being new, Bud's band worked the late shift and he dozed off at a table between sets. He was rudely awaked by a surely bouncer who said “When people fall asleep here we put shaving cream on their face and cut it off with dull razor." When Johnny Carol, the manger and rockabilly hall of famer, heard of this he made the entire staff of bouncers sit in front of Bud for an hour long set and memorize his face, name and other fun facts. The bouncer also apologized for the razor remark. Over the years he became a bouncer favorite and they even honored him on his 21st birthday with a de-panting in front of a packed house and a birthday cake, which they then shoved into his underwear to everyone’s delight (not quite EVERY ONE'S delight, Bud did not enjoy it at all).
There could not be a worse place to study than the Cellar Club in Dallas. Bud studied in a boiler room behind the stage while young musicians played loud and long. They were paid $17 per man per night and all the Everclear you could drink. The club had strippers and bouncers and all of the things your mother warned you about. But you could play original music there and meet some of society’s most interesting outlaws. This one place yielded many stories that may never be told and others that could never be believed.
After a few years of intermittently playing at the Cellar, also known as the joint, Johnny Carol asked for a meeting back stage one evening by the old boiler. He placed a large bag of money and a revolver on the table and said now that the band was taking off he was offering them a lifetime contract. He explained that they would become part of the Cellar family and always have a place to play. The band considered the offer and remembered how the bouncers broke the hand of a young musician who tried to steal one of their guitars, the free drinks and other benefits but respectfully declined the offer.
A Mommas Love
Buddy Holly was a childhood hero of many musicians. The fact that he and other great rock musicians including Stevie Ray Vaughan and Otis Redding all died in small air carrier crashes makes many musicians a little apprehensive about getting in small air borne vehicles. When Bud was the lead vocalist for the jazz-rock band Dallas County they often flew to out of town gigs. They once landed at night on a small airfield with out runway lights to get gas and another time they wandered for hours in a dense fog over Dallas because someone forgot their approach charts and were finally talked down by air traffic controllers. But the most infamous trip was to Norman Oklahoma to play a New Years Show.
The band flew on a 1948 plane that looked identical to the kinds that crash in the jungle to start every Tarzan Movie. When they touched down at ancient Westhiemer Field they slid in pretty hard so Bud said “Safe”, not yet replied Joe Lively the bass player we are not on the ground. The violent cross winds had lifted the plane too high to recover the landing so the pilot gunned it for another pass. On the second attempt to land the plane blew off the runway again and the pilot gunned the motor but to no avail. The plane went into a power stall. The pilot and co pilot were in a panic and repeatedly tried to start the plane, as the highway below loomed ever closer. Someone said we better pray and Bud for a very long time asked God for help but the lines were busy or closed.
He began to bargain as people in those situations do but no deal seemed to ne the response and a crash seemed certain. He reflected on his life and could not believe that it would soon be over and he had accomplished so little. Finally he thought of his mother and how his death would devastate her. As he said a prayer for her the engines suddenly engaged and the pilot was able to make a white knuckled lading at he small airport. Bud immediately called his mother on the east coast and when she answered the phone she was crying, She had been asleep and had a dream that her son was dying in a plane crash and she begged God to spare him.
The plane left for a larger airport in OKC for gas while the band went on a private coach to the gig. When the plane landed at the larger airport the struts collapsed and the plane went nose first into the runway spinning out of control and turned into a pile of ruble. Miraculously the pilots were able to jump clear and everyone travelled back to Dallas on a very quiet Chartered Bus. Bud still believes that a momma’s love can do incredible things.
A Yankee Ringer in Chinese Court
Bud has generally kept his work as a sociologist and his music career separated. Some university administrators would frown on the idea of him playing late night gigs and associating with those social deviants also called musicians. Because of this, most of his colleagues and students are unaware of his involvement with music.
His academic work allows him to travel internationally and he enjoys jamming with bands along the way provided that it is spontaneous. He has closed the show at an English Pub Singing “Hey Jude” with a British band he just met. He sang folk songs on a borrowed guitar at a sidewalk café in Berlin following the collapse of the Berlin wall when it might still get you arrested. He still sings along with street musicians if he likes their sound and refuses to take a cut when the tips go roll in. One international student from China Mr. Chen took things to a a new level.
On a university recruitment trip Bud found himself in the Republic of China and a guest of the National Police Administration. The country had dropped a declared state of marshal law recently and the NPR had assumed a very powerful role in the country. Bud was invited along with Mr. Chen as his interpreter and guide to a banquet the first night he arrived.
At the event following dinner a young police official climbed a stage in the hall and sang a song on an elaborate karaoke set up. When he finished the crowd applauded and Chen stood up and announced that Bud would also perform. Embarrassed and a little reluctant Bud sang a song and received a standing ovation. In the week that followed every agency they visited had some form of karaoke bar built into it and Mr. Chen volunteered a reluctant Bud to sing following an array of local singing officers.
A day or so before he returned to the US Chen picked him up at the palatial Grand Hotel. On their way to the last formal banquet of the trip he inquired about Buds voice and asked if he was feeling well. Bud said he was fine and asked why the concern? . Well, Chen said, tonight are the finals and you have won every other competition so far. “We knew no one could imagine that a professor could also be a professional singer so we have been laying side bets and collecting all week so please do not let your former students down. “The betting tonight is pretty heavy on the local guy.
The local vocalist that evening was very talented but he too was defeated by the American Ringer and the students won their bets. Mr. Chen and his colleagues were so grateful that they took Bud out for a goodbye meal and more singing “just for fun” the next night. The destination was the Hard Rock Café in Taiwan. Bud asked if they too had karaoke and that he would not mind having the night off. No Sir Chen replied you are performing with the band. We think you will like them they have the number one song in our country.
As they ate dinner the bandleader presented him with a set list, mostly American rock and soul. He chose Georgia and Mustang Sally and brought the house down. When he was leaving the stage the bandleader and trumpet player paid him the most endearing compliment “Hey man you need to quit your day job”. The NPA of Taiwan signed a long-term agreement with the university and the school made a substantial profit and developed many other lucrative programs with the Taiwanese in the years that followed. He became great friends with many of their leaders and would meet with them at his home when they came to visit the United States. Years later Bud returned to The Republic of China for a university alumni reunion and this time he was asked to review troops, shoot on the firing range and sing with a full band at an alumni banquet. He saluted like John Wayne, Shot a 96 on the gun range and got a standing ovation singing at the banquet. Not bad work for a Yankee ringer.
The Mob
Bud auditioned and was hired to work at a mob run club in Dallas and invited to meet the owner. The owner Tony told them they needed to have suits to work in his club. He sent them to his personal tailor and against their better judgment the band elected to have Edwardian Suits made instead of the normal club band tuxedos. Needless to say the boss was not happy and their gig did not last long.
THE BRITISH THRONE
On a rainy day in London Bud lead a large group of his college students on a tour of the cities historical places. They were taking part in a very popular university course he taught every January. When they entered Westminster Abbey it was empty and quit as the tomb it is. They paid their respects at Poets corner and then broke off into small groups to explore.
Bud came around a corner with two young men in tow and there before them was the Wooden Throne of England with the stone of Scone neatly tucked below the seat. All that separated them was a velvet rope. It was a schoolboy like lark but he and the two college lads slipped behind the rope and took turns seating on the throne. He ran his hand along the stone as well and slipped back behind the rope as a sleepy yawning guard came around the bend. A harmless act but it did not end there. Buds grandfather used to tell him that they were descended from Kings so who knows if he had a right to trespass in such a manner?
On the bus to Windsor Castle the following day their Blue Badge Guide, a very proper and attractive women asked about how the trip to the Abbey had gone and if they saw anything they had questions about. One of the young students said they heard that the Professor and two others sat on the British throne.
The guide came to the front of the bus and sat with Bud and asked him point blank did you sit on the British throne’? He smiled and said do you think I would do such a thing. His smile gave it all away and after much interrogation he confessed to the act. He tired to laugh it off but she was not having any of it and repeated over and over “I cannot believe you sat on the British Throne.
From here the plot thickened. The Guide was married to an artist who restored ancient paintings and artwork and they lived in Windsor. She mentioned at dinner that the American professor had sat on the British Throne as a lark. Her husband went to work the next day and mentioned the incident to his Boss. He boss did not find it amusing since his boss was Prince Charles. Very soon after this event the throne was moved to a high and inaccessible place in West Minster Abbey where it remains to this day. Not everyone can say they had a hand in moving the throne of England.
Media Consulting
Bud has over thirty years experience consulting with the media as an expert on social issues. He has been interviewed by the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal and all major Print and Television outlets in Oklahoma over a 100 times. He holds three degrees including a Phd in Sociology.
He is a graduate of the University of North Texas, the same school that gave us Dr. Phil. Bud taught for over thirty years at a private university and retired. When he saw his wife's honey-do-list he went back to work! He holds the rank of Associate Professor at Southwestern Oklahoma State University . His academic writing appears in books and scientific journals. He recently published a book on Utopian Sociology.
