The Coffeehouse Blues Lansing, Michigan 1965-1967     It was '65 when the band was put together. It was a pretty good little dance band (Motown, R & B, Rock, etc.) for four white boys! Well, we hooked up with Bob Baldori from 'The Woolies' as our Producer. We booked a four hour block of time at an old abandon Motown recording studio out on Livernois Ave. in Detroit. I remember Mitch Ryder being there and wanting our time, he was in the middle of something and didn't want to stop (He didn't get it!) Anyway, we recorded our little 45: "Gettin' Over You" and "Good-bye Baby" written by Brad Hersey the keyboard player. It wasn't bad if you like 'The Young Rascals'. Now, all of a sudden we're doing TV shows (Swing Lively - Ch. 6 in Lansing), and opening up for the bigger bands, and head-lining ourselves around the state. We were actually making pretty good cash at the time; around a grand each per week in '66 was good money! We were gigin' heavy all over (5 to 8 times a week; yes two in a day at times!) But what a great time we had!       Personnel: Brad Hersey - Hammond Organ Tommy Lane -Bass Dennis Pinkston -Guitar Roy Cox -Drums Influences: Motown, The Beatles, Young Rascals, and more. Setlist Sample: "Gettin' Over You" & "Good-bye Baby" - The Coffeehouse Blues originals. Equipment: Hammond organ, Fender guitars, Vox Super Beatles, and Ludwig drums Rehearsal Space: We rehearsed at Roy Cox's folk's place, in the breezeway. Band Vehicles: The old Chevy II Van (You could always find it parked during the day at the Everett High School parking lot! A good place to get into trouble at school...whoops! Fashion Statement: Knits and Sanza-belts, thick and thins, etc. then we graduated into your more contemporary hippie duds! Best Gig: It's a toss up between opening for The Spencer Davis Group with Stevie Winwood (It was kind of cool hangin' out with those people for the day - I think I was 14 or 15) or maybe it was playin' the cafeteria at O'Rafferty Jr. High with Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes - When you're a kid those were great times! Gig from Hell!: I can remember one gig up in northern Michigan, it was Boyne Mt. or somewhere. It was a fairly rough crowd; everybody was drunk and looking for a fight! A few broke out during the show, but as I was leaving with my buddy Wayne Wetzel (The Liberators - Wetzel's Edsels) I remember lookin' back and seeing 3 fights goin' on in the street, and about 5 or 6 mental midgets jumping up on our Chevy van to get up on the roof, they were throwing bricks through the sky light. What a mess! Over all, we had a great time in that band, but I do remember that night! Last Gig: To tell you the truth, I can't remember the last gig, sorry! Comments: To anyone comtemplating the music business, or their child going into that business, it's a lot of hard work to be good at what you do, you gotta want it real bad, and work at it! Don't ever think you're the best around, 'cause someone will come around and lay the law down to ya! (But that's OK, too!) Keep your nose clean, finish school, don't let the drugs ruin your life... and have fun! That guitar opened a lot of doors for me that I would have never seen if I hadn't worked hard at it!.. Play on, brothers and sisters, play on!        Where are they now? Brad Hersey is out in Virginia somewhere, Tommy Lane passed away at a young age quite a few years back...God, bless him! I don't know where Roy Cox is anymore, and me, I'm Dennis Pinkston, I'm living out here in L.A. 8 blocks from the Pacific Ocean, with my beautiful French wife, Michele, and our 5 year old boy, Lloyd F. Pinkston; life is good!    Information contributed by Dennis Pinkston

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