about stu @
a
picture is worth a thousand words..
first
drum set - 1956 - age 3 - Uncle Gene is behind me..
[LOL] Existentialist
period 1960 - NYC
At the time, I was into Jack Costanzo's "play the bongos"
album; memorized the whole thing..
summer
in Houston 1964 . A paying gig..$5 apiece
Also summer
1964 - with Gene Krupa in NYC
1965-1966
Garage Band - (sitting on the bass cabinet is Randy May, who later
invented an internal miking system for drums, among other things.
He was, and probably still is, a fine drummer. i haven't seen him
in many years. Hi Randy.)
The Reasons
Why 1968
This was my first chance to do any real professional work, including
a series of fashion shows for Sakowitz and Casual gigs in texas and
Tennessee. 9th grade..
1971,
gigging around Houston..During this period, and just before, I worked
with a world music group named KUBA,
opening for Cheech and Chong, Big Mama Thornton, etc..We opened in
January 1970 for Little Feat on their very first tour, when I was
still 16, at a Houston club called Of
Our Own. We played at Armadillo World Headquarters
in Austin, too.. boy was that
a while back..
The
Buster Brown Band 1974-1976 - this band did a lot of work in Dallas,
opening for Dr. John, Tower of Power, Eddie Harris, Taj Mahal, the
Meters, Eric Johnson's 'Electromagnets', Jack DeJohnette, and a bunch
of other folks.
Listen
to what we sounded like in the summer
of 1974.
Like
the Way You Move (2:37) | In
the Right Mood (3:48)
These two songs are are taken from a worn out cassette copy, from
what was a one hour KZEW radio broadcast, the band live live from
the studio..this was before MIDI, before personal computers or sequencing
of any kind. Old School...no
crutches.. play and sing the music...
Fast
forward to 1980, on the road with Bottoms Up. Vaudeville Comedy, summers
at the cabarets in Reno and Tahoe, then winters at the dinner theaters
in Dallas and Houston. Three months in each venue before moving on.
Watched the greats at length in Nevada..Producer and star Breck Wall
was a kind and Generous boss. Thanks Breck..
On
the right:at
the Sahara in Reno Nevada with South African Drummers Dingaan and
Wali of Ipi Tombi, 1981
Onstage
with Vince Gill at Cowboys, 1993
(The Cowboys
house gig, Bobby Smith & the Country Blues, Dallas, January 1987
to September 1994. During this period, Cowboys was voted Country Music
association 'Nightclub of the Year' two or three times, and we got
to open for and meet just about everyone in the country music business.
A wonderful 7 year gig.
For
awhile there, every week it was SOMEONE coming through from Nashville;
we got to see the new stars as they first hit the scene, before they'd
made it. I am talking about acts like Garth Brooks, Travis Twitt,
Faith Hill, Tim McGraw; we'd see them right when their first record
was released, before anyone really knew who they were, and often again
later, after they'd become popular, just before they moved to ARENA
status..
We
also opened for classic old timers like George Jones, Buck Owens,
Ronnie Milsap, LeftyFrizell, David Allen Coe, The Bellamy Brothers,
on & on, practically everyone in the country music business at
that time. We opened for Keith Whitley the week before he died, and
for Conway Twitty shortly before HE passed away. we wondered about
that. Ah, the drummers that came through, like Martin Parker , Scotty
Hawkins, Billy Thomas, Brian owings with Delbert McClinton, just a
whole bunch of good drummers, every week, it seemed.
I
got to play with and learn from some very good players in that band,
some of whom have passed on, who deserve to be mentioned. I mean Curtis
Randall, Glen Fleming, Jerry Matheny, Jeff Williams, the late Donnie
McDuff and the late Gary Hogue specifically, each of whom taught me
a lot about Country music, an art form I love and respect.
Thanks
forever to my band leader Bobby Smith, and to Mike Murphy and Steve
Allbeck, the club owners, for some wonderful days. Murphy actually
bought me a beautiful set of Gretsch drums, an astounding act of generousity
for a club owner, and these were the only club owners I've ever heard
of who actually gave their band members two weeks paid vacation a
year, the last two years in a row.
With
Arthur Hull at his 3 day Playshop
, March 2002
Jan
'03: Playing the bushel basket drum at the
Dallas Museum of Art's 100th Anniversary
procession.
With Jorge Ginorio, Grapevine Library 2005
Solo Presentation, Longview TX 2005
At Gamestop in far North Dallas, Autumn 2005
We were doing promo work for Comment-US, on behalf of their client
Mad Croc Gum, during the unveiling of the X-Box 360.
Tending the tiny conga line, Northpark Mall Jan 5 2008..
RIP
MOMMIE AND STU!
