Tonto and the Renegades Lansing, Michigan 1963-1968    I became interested in music back in 1962 by listening to old 45's of different groups of the day! I was inspired by early rockabilly. Tonto and the Renegades was my first band. We were formerly the Henchmen. The chicks seemed to like bands so I figured, "wow...this is kind of cool!" We changed the name from the Henchmen simply because our bass player's, Gary Ritchey, nickname was Tonto. Toby Bates of the Beau Jens coined it! I Remember the Woolies, the Bossmen, Danny Hernandez and the Ones. We were all rivals back then. The Beau-Jens were our classmates at Grand Ledge High School in Grand Ledge, Michigan. Dick Wagner picked up the bass player, Gordie Garris, soon after their first record because of his tremendous voice. He went on to do several albums with the Frost. We practiced in Tonto's basement, and we all took [rehearsals] very serious. Remember--we were just 16-year-old kids! We played all sorts of venues, nightclubs, (even) a former underground bunker of Al Capone's in Western Michigan that I remember well. It was called Club Ponytail! We also played fairground gigs. We were really in demand. We were getting lots of airplay and the chicks thought we were idols! When we did the records we knew we had something special. We caught the attention of Dick Wagner. He came to us, as did Decca Records! The recording sessions were at Fenton Studios in Sparta, Michigan. Dave Kalembach did the mastering. He was quite impressed with us! At the time, he just landed the franchise for Sunn Amps. We bought three Sunn Amps from him at a steal--two 100s amps and a 200s bass amp! We were also the only group around at the time to have a Hammond B-3 with two Leslies! We won several Battles of the Bands in Saginaw, Michigan.       Personnel: Terry Slocum - Lead Guitar Tom Kirby - Drums Gary Richey - Bass Jeff Keast - Keyboards Bill Ford - Rythum Guitar Influences: Dick Wagner (The Bossmen, Frost) Setlist Sample: "Little Boy Blue", "I Knew This Thing Would Happen" , First single recordings 1966. Equipment: Sunn Amps. 100S-200-S Gibson guitars, Vox, Fender Twins Fender Bassman Rehearsal Space: Tonto's Basement Band Vehicles: 66 Chevy corvair bus Fashion Statement: Frilly shirts, paisley pants, pointy shoes Best Gig: Club Ponytail, Traverse City Michigan. Former Al Capone underground bunker and gambling Casino. Gig from Hell!: Old folks home Last Gig: Can't remember been a long time ago Comments: We have a re-issue out in June 2002 By Mistylane records Rome Italy of all our 60's stuff. Also, I have a site on Yahoo Groups called GuitarBlasters... check it out for all 60's guitarists especially from Michigan.      Newspaper clipping from our win at a battle of the bands in Saginaw Mi. 1966. The drum head was painted by a 14 year old Dennis Preston. Jamin' for friends at Terry's folks farm outside of Grand Ledge Mi 1967 Resting between sets @ Club Pomytail, underground bunker of gangster Al Capone. Traverse City, 1967 New re-issure from Mistylane July 2002 of our 60's stuff available here: Misty Lane Records Here's Terry in the band Surprise from 1970. That's Ronnie Hernandez (from "The Ones") on the drums.   Where are they now? Terry is in Brandon, FLA, Tom in Grand Ledge Michigan. Bill is in Wisconsin, an Attorney, Gary in Lansing, Michigan. Jeff????? Left, me in my biker days 1993. Right is me jammin with Bill Wysocki in Grand Rapids,1993. A former bandmate and close friend, we go way back to post renegade days.....    Information contributed by Terry Slocum res1dl7f@verizon.net

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