The
Barons
Slidell,
Louisiana
1962-1963
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The Barons, 1963:
Rick Oeder, Roy Galatas, Ron Usner, Carlie Hickman,
Matt Devett.
Out of frame: Glen Faciane, Phil
Aviles
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Drummer and bass player
(who started out playing trumpet) started first
attempt. Later merged with second band being formed
by the two guitar players. Trumpet player learned
to play bass and then horn section (personal
friends) was brought in. Played a couple of gigs
but didn't accept pay as we wanted to enter the
local compoetition for the Ted Mack Original
Amateur Hour. We won that and turned professional.
For the next two years, we played most every
weekend at the dances we would have attended had we
not been playing. Great way to spend teen years!
Some weekends we would work Friday and Saturday
nights and then again on Sunday afternoons. At one
point we cut a 45 RPM record of two of the singer's
originals. It went nowhere, but it's a nice
keepsake.
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Personnel:
Ron Usner - Drums
Rick Oeder - Bass
Glen Faciane - Vocal & Rhythm
Guitar
Roy Galatas - Lead Guitar
Matt Devett - Tenor Sax
Phil Aviles - Trumpet
Carlie Hickman - Trumpet
Bobby Boucher - Manager
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Influences:
Ray
Charles, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Various New
Orleans musicians: The Nevel Brothers (Art
& Arron), Frogman Henry, The Jokers
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Setlist
Sample:
Too long ago - can't remember.
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Equipment:
Drummer used Olympic drums and later
Slingerland with Zildjian cymbals. Lead
guitar played Fender Strat through Fender
2-12 Bandmaster. Bass player used
Silvertone (Danelectro) bass playing
through Silver 1-15" 25 Watt bass amp.
Rhythm guitar played Silvertone guitar
through 1-12" Silvertone amp and sang
through an Alamo 2-8" amp. Don't remember
horns.
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Rehearsal
Space:
Usually
drummer's family's den.
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Band
Vehicles:
Dads'
cars but the Manager could always get the
car.
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Fashion
Statement:
Electric
blue open neck, 3/4 length sleeve "beach
shirts" and red vests with "B" on the
front for use with suits and more formal
gigs.
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Best
Gig:
They were
almost all good.
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Gig
from
Hell!:
Bogalusa,
La - Drunk local picked a fight with
singer and duked it out on the dance floor
while band kept playing. Trumpet player
got blindsided outside. Local police had
to lead us out of town.
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Last
Gig:
No one
remembers.
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Comments:
Last
summer, Slidell came together to hold a
party for the 60s classes. They asked us
to play. We explained there were only
three of us still playing but that we
could form a passable group by using the
members of all three bands that played
back then - The Specks, The Barons and the
Rebels (later The Phyve). We rehearsed 2
1/2 times and played the "geezer gig" and
all seemed to enjoy it. You can visit the
party's website at http://www.geocities.com/slidellhigh6/SHSSummerParty.html?1062959128339.
We're the ones on stage playing the music.
Notice the T shirts with all three band
names on the front. It was such a success,
they have increased the venue size for
next summer to the municiple auditorium,
where we all played at one time or
another. Talk about a
flashback!
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Sandra
Fortenberry, the female singer with an
incredible voice is pictured here with The
Barons at an assembly in the school
auditorium in 1962. Sandra sang with
The Barons for a brief period but, sadly,
she was unable to attend either the '03 or
'04 Geezer Gig to join in the
festivities.
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Where
are they now?
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Winter,
2003
Drummer completed Masters
Degree and has worked in home mortgage industry
most of his adult life. He still plays music fairly
regularly but mostly during the Mardi Gras season.
Bass player left college to fly helicopters in Viet
Nam. Has stayed in the helicopter industry all his
adult life, playing music only occasionally. Lead
guitar player stayed with his music over the years
but mostly in private. With practice he has turned
into a really accomplished blues player and he's
about 10 times better than he was in high school.
Unfortunately, the singer died in an automobile
accident several years ago. He had an accounting
degree and became a CPA but never returned to
music. All three horn played dropped their interest
in music while taking on their "adult" careers. The
sax player is a computer expert for a major
corporation. One trumpet player has made a career
with "the phone company". The other trumpet player
has been a crime lab specialist with various police
departments and has recently opened his own private
crime lab. Basically, and in contrast to what many
of our parents may have said back then, we really
did turn out well adjusted and really did amount to
something.
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Members of The
Barons, The Specks and the Rebels, Summer
2003
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Below: the Barons reunite
with other former Slidell garage band members for
the 2004 Geezer Gig! Here are graphics from their
planned CD release of the
event.
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Information contributed by
Rick Oeder roeder9807@aol.com
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