Small Town, Big Music

Jason Prufer

Description

Relying on oral histories, hundreds of rare photographs, and original music reviews, this book explores the countercultural fringes of Kent, Ohio, over four decades. Firsthand reminiscences from musicians, promoters, friends, and fans recount arena shows featuring acts like Pink Floyd, The Clash, and Paul Simon as well as the grungy corners of town where Joe Walsh, Patrick Carney, Chrissie Hynde, and DEVO refined their crafts. From back stages, hotel rooms, and the saloons of Kent, readers will travel back in time to the great rockin' nights hosted in this small town.More than just a retrospective on performances that occurred in one midwestern college town, Prufer's book illuminates a fascinating phenomenon: both up-and-coming and major artists knew Kent was a place to play-fertile ground for creativity, spontaneity, and innovation. From the formation of Joe Walsh's first band, The Measles, and the creation of DEVO in Kent State University's art department to original performances of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and serendipitous collaborations like Emmylou Harris and Good Company in the Water Street Saloon, the influence of Kent's music scene has been powerful. Previously overshadowed by our attention to Cleveland as a true music epicenter, Prufer's book is an excellent and corrective addition.Extensively researched for eight years and lavishly illustrated, Small Town, Big Music is the most comprehensive telling of any of these stories in one place. Rock historians and fans alike will want to own this book.

Sujets

• History of classical music traditions
• Ohio

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 29 janvier 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781631013652
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Small Town, Big Music    
Small Town, Big Music

The Outsized Influence of Kent, Ohio, on the History of Rock and Roll
Jason Prufer
Foreword by Joe Walsh
© 2019 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Number 2018029947
ISBN 978-1-60635-347-9
Manufactured in China
No part of this book may be used or reproduced, in any manner whatsoever, without written permission from the Publisher, except in the case of short quotations in critical reviews or articles.
Articles from the Daily Kent Stater are reproduced with permission. Some errors were silently corrected for the ease of reading.
Changes to and omissions from interviews were made silently to provide an uninterrrupted narrative, with the permission of the party.
Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders for the materials appearing in this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Prufer, Jason, 1975- author.
Title: Small town, big music : the outsized influence of Kent, Ohio, on the history of rock and roll / Jason Prufer ; foreword by Joe Walsh.
Description: Kent, Ohio : Kent State University Press, [2019] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018029947 | ISBN 9781606353479 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Rock music--Ohio--Kent--History and criticism. | Rock concerts--Ohio--Kent--History--20th century. | Kent State University--History--20th century.
Classification: LCC ML3534.3 .P78 2019 | DDC 781.6609771/37--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018029947
23 22 21 20 19       5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Foreword by Joe Walsh
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Joe Walsh ’s Measles on the Kent State Commons
October 1966
Interlude: The Lovin’ Spoonful
Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong , 1967 Homecoming Extravaganza
October 21, 1967
Interlude: The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Eric Burdon and the Animals, B. B. King, Sly and the Family Stone, the Reverend Gary Davis, Sha Na Na and Jefferson Airplane, and Parliament-Funkadelic
Chrissie Hynde
Fall 1971
Interlude: Sly and the Family Stone, Ravi Shankar, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Yes, and Santana
Pink Floyd ’s Dark Side of Kent
March 10, 1973
Interlude: James Taylor and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Paul Simon ’s 1973 Homecoming in Kent State’s Memorial Gym
October 20, 1973
Interlude: Earth, Wind & Fire
Bruce Springsteen ’s 1974 Party in Kent
January 19, 1974
Interlude: Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and the Kent State Jazz Lab Band, Herbie Hancock, local Kent bands, and Sun-Ra
DEVO ’s Seminal 1975 Night on Kent State’s Front Campus
April 4, 1975
Interlude: The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt
North Water Street High and Lows: Emmylou Harris and the December 1975 Fire
July 9, 1975, and December 3, 1975
Interlude: Roxy Music, J. Geils Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Patti Smith, Peter Gabriel, and Stephen Stills
Bo Diddley Backed by the Numbers Band (15-60-75)
September 12, 1980
Interlude: The Waitresses and Unit 5, Hall and Oates, Koko Taylor, Sonny Rollins and Pat Metheny, Son Seals, the Clash, Todd Rundgren, the Stray Cats, and Black Flag
The Red Hot Chili Peppers ’ 1984 Punk Funk Explosion at JB’s Down in Kent
November 17, 1984
Interlude: Joe Walsh; the Ramones; Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts; the Replacements; Great White, Tesla, and Badlands; and Iggy Pop
Legendary Vermont Jam Band Phish Descended upon the MAC Center
November 12, 1994
Interlude: Dink, Peter, Paul and Mary, John Densmore, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and local Kent bands
Black Keys Member Patrick Carney and His Early Days in Kent’s Music Scene
July 22, 1997, and August 31, 1997
Interlude: The Wallflowers, Fugazi, Arlo Guthrie, the Smashing Pumpkins, MTV Invasion Tour, Chuck D, Spitfire Tour, and Joe Walsh
Index
Foreword
Joe Walsh
In the late summer of 1965, I was 17 and left my parents’ home in Montclair, New Jersey, to take a train out to Kent, Ohio. I joined a bunch of other kids in my generation going to college. We were war babies, and we all sort of looked at the world the same way. None of us really knew what college was, or why we did it. That’s just what you did. I just looked at my options and said, “I’m going to Kent, Ohio.” I don’t really know why. It just felt like it was meant to be.
I lived in Manchester Hall and went to classes when the Measles, my first band, started. There were bands playing downtown already; one band, called the Counterpoints, were from Akron and played at the Fifth Quarter. I stayed in Kent the next summer, and the Measles played and rehearsed, so when school got back in session, the band was really hot, just really tight. Staying in town for the summer, I got to know people in the community. The policemen, the store owners, the club owners. They accepted me. That’s when I really felt like I became a Kent resident.
By 1969, I knew the Mothersbaugh guys and Gerry Casale was around; some of them were in art school, and they were on the perimeter. I didn’t hang out with them a lot, but that was another part of the young artistic community. The James Gang came out of that. DEVO came out of that. Without Kent, I don’t think that would have happened.
Chrissie Hynde was young and wasn’t really a musician yet. She wasn’t even old enough to get into the club. She would come in and say she was my cousin. And I’d say, “Yeah, that’s my cousin.” And she would sit and not even drink or anything, and watch the James Gang. It was like Hemingway’s Paris in the 1920s. It was an artistic community, there were a lot of musicians, and it was a hugely creative period when you look at everything that came out of it. Just like Hemingway described in A Moveable Feast . Then May 4 happened. The May 4 shootings had a lot to do with all of us in that scene becoming who we were and doing what we did, both in life and as artists.
We’re all grateful that we had Kent. Kent was very tolerant of us. I still see some of my old Kent friends sometimes, and there is a bond. We have that experience, and that time and place, in common. We knew each other in Kent before some of us were famous. And I love having friends like that, because those are real friends. We kind of grew up together, everyone living in Kent at the time.
What brought all those people—those artists, photographers, poets, filmmakers, and musicians—together? College. Kent State is what made Kent such a magical place at the time and what continued and continues to make it special. And I would never be able to be where I am now without that experience. It was just a magical time.
Acknowledgments
“Joe Walsh’s Measles on the Kent State Commons”: Richard Underwood, Larry Lewis, Bobby Sepulveda, Chas Madonio, Cory Walter, and Gerry Simon.
“Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong, 1967 Homecoming Extravaganza”: Images for this chapter are courtesy of the Chestnut Burr , Kent State Student Media (reprinted with permission), the Daily Kent Stater , and the Department of Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University Libraries, as well as Paul Tople and Scott White. Thanks to David Bieber and Rich Phoenix.
“Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of Kent”: Big thanks to Bruce Fulper, Michael Solomon, J. Ross Baughman, and the Department of Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University Libraries, for providing me with much of the great original content for this chapter.
“Paul Simon’s 1973 Homecoming in Kent State’s Memorial Gym”: Big thanks for all the help on this chapter, including J. Ross Baughman, Mark Greenberg, Donna Hess, Shane Hrenko, Michael Solomon, Keith Raymond, and the Department of Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University Libraries.
“DEVO’s Seminal 1975 Night on Kent State’s Front Campus”: Roger Thurman, Gary “General” Jackett, Richard Myers, Pat Myers, Adam Steele, and Michael Pilmer.
“North Water Street High and Lows: Emmylou Harris and the December 1975 Fire”: Big thanks to everyone who helped me out with this chapter, including the Daily Kent Stater , the Chestnut Burr , KSU Media, the Kent Historical Society, Stephen Downey, Mary DuShane, Gerry Simon, Bob Smith, Richard Underwood, and Dennis Rein.
“Bo Diddley Backed by the Numbers Band (15-60-75)”: Images for this chapter are courtesy of the Chestnut Burr , Kent State Student Media (reprinted with permission), the Daily Kent Stater , Mark Hughes Archive, Robert Kidney, Scott White, John Neitzel, and the Department of Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University Libraries. And a special thanks to Bent Tree Coffee Roasters, Byrun Reed, Jack Kidney, Michael Stacey, and Terry Hynde.
“The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 1984 Punk Funk Explosion at JB’s Down in Kent”: Big thanks to Ernie Smith, Mark and Mary Hughes, David Jerome Bragg, John Teagle, Michael Purkhiser, Steven McKee, and everyone else who helped me with this chapter. It is much appreciated.
“Legendary Vermont Jam Band Phish Descended upon the MAC Center”: Images for this chapter are courtesy of the Daily Kent Stater and the Department of Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University Libraries, as well as Dan Soulsby. Additional assistance from Shane Hrenko.
“Black Keys Member Patrick Carney and His Early Days in Kent’s Music Scene”: Gabe Schray, Philip Swift, Brice Forman, Ryan Brannon, Jon Ridinger, Julie Robbins, Patrick Carney, Robert Petrella, Shane Hrenko, and Jamie Stillman.
   My thanks to Olaf Prufer, Trina Prufer, Adam Prufer, Kevin Prufer, Diana Prufer, Keith Prufer, Daniel Medalie, Susan Perry, Ben Medalie, Clara Medalie, Ken Burhanna, Cassandra Saltsman, Kelly Shook, Kara Robinson, Elizabeth Gould, Melissa Spohn, Joe Salem, Amanda Faehnel, Julie Spohn, Cara Gilgenbach, Diane Sperko, Hilary Kennedy, Cindy Kristof, Mark Pike, Karen Ronga, Azeez Bankole, Angela Kelly, Alicia Kay Gelfond-Holtz, Avi Gelfond, Tova Gelfond, Jordan Kay, Mark Hughes, Mary Hugh