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Three members of the
band, Cantrell, White, and Murphy, were members of
the Southern Illinois University Marching Band.
They provided a solid base of trained musicianship.
Fester and Haney met at Centralia Jr. College where
both were doing pre-transfer classes. The band won
a large "Battle of the Bands" at Mt. Vernon,
Illinois, hosted by St. Louis a.m. radio station
KXOK. Because of the musicianship of White and
Murphy, their tunes "Tequila", "Watermelon Man",
etc., were crowd favorites. They also provided a
driving horn sound on tunes like "Kind of a Drag"
and "I Go Crazy". Vocals were by Fester and/or
Haney. Haney, Cantrell, and Murphy were from Salem.
White was from Mt. Vernon, Birkbigler from
Altamont, and Fester from
Centralia.
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Personnel:
Bob Haney - Hammond organ
Steve Cantrell - Drums
Pat Murphy - Rhythm Guitar/Trumpet
Denny Birkbigler, Bass
Bob Fester, guitar (Gibson Firebird;
Harmony Rocket
Jerry White - Tenor Saxophone
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Influences:
Kingsmen,
Animals, Beatles, Rolling
Stones.
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Setlist
Sample:
Gloria, Louie Louie, Tequila, Little Latin
Lupe Lu, Kind of a Drag.
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Equipment:
Murphy used a non-reverse Firebird; Fester
had the reverse model, also a Harmony
Rocket. Haney's Hammond organ was the base
sound of the band. On most songs, Murphy
played trumpet and White sax (Selmer) to
provide a horn section. Cantrell played
Ludwig drums and Birkbigler a National
"violin" style bass. Amps varied. Fester
prefered a 2x12 SIlvertone w/ Jensen
speakers.
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Rehearsal
Space:
Most of
the time in Cantrell's basement or
garage.
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Band
Vehicles:
None
listed.
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Fashion
Statement:
Burgundy
shirts w/ gold polka dots.
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Best
Gig:
Salem
Teen Town--always a large, enthusiastic
crowd; Mike Clark doing the "gator"
dance.
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Gig
from
Hell!:
None
listed
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Last
Gig:
None
listed
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Comments:
All members are
still living. Fester is still playing. He is now
lead guitar for The
Epics. The
Epics were a popular Sixties band from nearby
Centralia, Illinois, who reunited a few years
back.
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