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Lafayette, Indiana 1966-1970 |
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Well after the
Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show I knew
what I wanted to do as every other kid on the block
did too. I finally talked my mom into buying me an
electric guitar from Sears. A little Silvertone
that had the amp in the case. Doug lived across the
street and had been taking lessons. I don't
remember what kind of equipment he had. And Pat
Martin had a set of Pearl drums. We got together
one day in my basement, and played the two songs we
barely knew for hours, "Gloria" and "Day Tripper".
Not long after that I found out I had been replaced
by Tony Harris and Steve Knight and they picked up
Steve Mellady on bass. Luckily none of them could
sing so I regained my membership in the band. There
were some older guys in the neighborhood who had a
band called the Bidoleos. These guys could play and
sing like anybody , the Byrds , Beatles, Kinks,
Stones, you name it. They took us under their wing
and gave us our name... the Knaves. They taught us
how to harmonize and play together . Personnel: Influences: Setlist
Sample: Equipment:
Rehearsal
Space: Band
Vehicles: Fashion
Statement: Best
Gig: Gig from
Hell!: Last
Gig:
Comments:
Pat Martin - Drums (original drummer)
Denny Pfrommer - Drums (replaced Martin)
Craig Sherlock - Drums (replaced Pfrommer)
Doug Coolman - Guitar
Steve Knight - Guitar
Tony Harris - Guitar
Steve Mellady - Bass
Lead Vocals - Denny Heath
The Beatles,
Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Animals, Paul Revere and
The Raiders, and a local band
called the Bidoleos
Gloria, Get Off My Cloud, Shapes of Things, Inside
Lookin' Out, Twist and Shout
Craig had a set of Ludwig drums and still has them,
Doug had a Vox guitar and a Fender amp, Tony had a
Gibson Firebird and a big Silvertone amp, Steve
Knight had a big Gibson guitar with a Gibson Stereo
Amp, Steve Mellady had a Fender Bassman amp but I
don't remember what kind of bass.
Mellady's basement
was our headquarters. His mother was either a saint
or she was deaf.
Anything we could
beg borrow or steal.
We had several but
our coolest outfits were black turtle necks with
Black and white checked
bell bottoms and Beatle boots.
The Rathskellar -
it was in the basement of a teenage night club
called The Scene, that's where
the babes were.
We played at a
party given by the parents of Izzy Stradlin (real
name Jeff Isbell) who is from Lafayette, IN. Tony
Harris, one of our guitar players has a brother
named Vince who is Izzy's Godfather. We were
juniors in high school at the time, Izzy was
probably 6 or seven years old. Anyway to make a
long story short ,we got very drunk that night. We
had used Vince's Ford pick up to haul our stuff
that evening. Needless to say we rolled the truck
on the way home. Luckily no one was hurt and for
some reason we only had one small amp in the back.
I remember me, Doug and Tony sliding down the road
upside down in the truck. Boy were our parents
pissed, but also relieved that no one was
hurt.
Probably at our
high school after a game or something.
I'll never quit playing,
still have great memories from my band days and I don't feel
like I've aged that much since then. I still have a passion
for music and try to teach my kids to be open minded about
the music they listen to. My oldest son is a helicopter
mechanic on the President's Helicopter Crew (HMX1) and he
shares my love for music and plays guitar quite well. I only
regret that I didn't pursue my dream of being a "Rock Star"
but it wasn't meant to be. But I'll never quit playing or
listening. Music keeps me young.
Where
are they now?
Information contributed by Denny Heath dcheath8@hotmail.com
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