Billy Spears Band page 6

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* NEW * Here are a few tunes we recorded in a studio in Kalamazoo around that time (1977). It's evident that we didn't have as much studio time with these as we'd have liked, but it's good stuff nevertheless: Cattle in the Corn, a fiddle tune. Big River, the Johnny Cash hit. A Western Swing instrumental number. I really like this one and wish I knew the name of it. Pretty Please, a song I wrote but am not particularly proud of. Nice playing though. Walking the Floor Over You, nicely done by J.B. Even now you can tell that Junior learned a lot about singing and stage presence from Ernest Tubb. Every Fool Has a Rainbow. Billy always did a wonderful job with this Merle Haggard number, and it's obvious that he really likes the song. Ragtime Annie, a fiddle tune we did a lot.	Billy Spears Band, 1977. I believe this picture was taken in a bar on Central Avenue, Route 66, in Albuquerque, but I can't be sure. Tight quarters for sure. Patsy Miller made that shirt for me, and I still have it, but it hasn't fit me for a long time...

Our third vehicle: School Bus #2

I don't remember why we got rid of the Winnebago. Perhaps it was the expense of renting a U-Haul trailer for weeks on end? Actually, I think it was because we couldn't lie down and sleep in it while we were moving.

We went to the used school-bus lot in Kansas City and picked up a 1968 Chevrolet 60-passenger bus, painted it gray, pulled out all but four of the seats and turned two of them around so that they faced each other, fitted it with an equipment area at the rear, a shelf for my upright bass, a little closet, and four hard-but-functional bunks. We put in a cassette deck and a couple of little speakers, which you could hear pretty well as long as the bus wasn't moving.

Billy. It's what he did. A motel parking lot in Breckenridge.	How can I roll when the wheels won't go?
Gotta get to the gig!	Billy in his hole, ready for a long ride.

We spent long hours, often ten hours at a stretch, on the bus. Billy slept in "his hole" a lot. But what I remember most was the long poker games. Quarter limit, five-card stud, five-card draw, seven-card stud, Texas Hold 'em.
Most of the time, Bob and I shared driving duties. I don't think Billy or Buddy ever drove.

If one of us felt a need to recycle beer or coffee, we'd just open the door a little and hang it out in the breeze. Don't try this at home.

Jimmy and I put a new engine (courtesy of Norman Hamm) in it after the old one threw a rod on I-70, and the picture above of me pretending to tow the thing came, I believe, as we were preparing to put in a new clutch in a muddy parking lot in Colorado. Fun on the road, people!

*** NEW - LIVE RECORDINGS ***

One of the cassette tapes I borrowed from Carol this year (2008) contains the only live performance I can find with J.B. I don't know where it was recorded, or when, but it was the last set; I know that because there was an encore.

The crowd - and the band - obviously had a good time. You can hear our shouts and comments to each other, as well as the audience's.

It was during a time when I played only upright bass, and although you can't hear the bass very well, you can infer it; our rhythm section clearly had a tight, swinging, organic feel to it. I like it very much. Enjoy!

Fragment of a bluegrass banjo tune

Why Not Confess? - we got this one from The Maddox Brothers and Rose, and it was one of our bluegrass staples.

Your Name Still Lingers (on my Lips Tonight) - this phrase was uttered by Jimmy a few times after amorous adventures, and I liked the phrase so much that I wrote a song using it as a title. The better version was recorded in Mountain Ears Studio (below).

I Can't Stand Me

Bring It on Down to My House - A standard of several different genres, we treated it well.

Billy in the Lowground

Everyday I Have the Blues

Phantom 309 - this is a "talking tearjerker" song, a hit by Red Sovine. Junior really nailed it. Listen!

Truck Driving Man

Lonesome Fugitive

Big Joe (fiddle tune)

Whisky River - a la Johnny Bush

No Money Down

Sittin' and Thinkin' - originally by Charlie Rich, I think. We got a great Texas shuffle going on this.

Medley: San Antonio Rose and Deep in the Heart of Texas. Shoot low, sheriff, she's riding a Shetland! AA-HAA!

Orange Blossom Special - of course.

Encore: Roly Poly and a short fiddle tune

Garton's Saloon, Vail, Colorado.

We played here several times, as well as other Vail venues "The Nu Gnu" and the Hilton Inn.

One night while we were there, Susan Ford, the President's daughter, came in with friends and Secret Service agents.
She was nice, and good looking too. Billy bummed a cigarette - or tried - from her.

Our Conn Strobotuner is on top of Billy's amp. It's what we had back then!

Junior is playing a dobro here in one picture.
I honestly don't remember his having one or playing one, but I'm sure he did it justice.
When we did our bluegrass sets at the beginning of each full set, he generally played pedal steel.

The Billy Spears Band, 1975-1978 - page 6