Bill Rhoades band was born by a fluke
By EHIC LEE
Of the Emerald
One night about five months
ago, Bill Rhoades received a call
from his old friend, Curtis Sal
gado. The Nighthawks wanted to
take a vacation and they needed
someone to take over their
Saturday night gig at Murphy s.
By Wednesday Bill had a band
together and after only three
nights of practice they went on
stage to fill in for the best blues
band in the Northwest.
"We went at it with the idea that
it would be a one night thing,"
says Rhoades, "and then we
would go our separate ways
Fortunately this was not to be the
case. Several weeks later Bill got
another call asking him if he
would like to back up Mike Bloom
field at the W.O.W. Hall. "Youve
got to be down here in thirty mi
nutes, the caller said. This was
the opportunity that a musician
dreams of. Within half an hour Bill
had collected all but one of his
Saturday-mght-jam crew and
they were on stage with one of
America s favorite blues artists.
We didn t know how it would
go, says Rod Kesey, rhythm and
lead guitar player. We were
watching him like crazy for the
cues. After receiving an ovation
from the audience and compli
ments from Bloomfield, the band
decided to stay together and the
Bill Rhoades Blues Band was of
ficially launched.
Bill Rhoades, who does lead
vocals and harmonica for the
band, began his musical career
with such names as Curtis Sal
gado, Jim Cochran (Nighthawks)
and R'-'dy Reese (Shmola).
They went to the same high
school and three years ago they
were all m a band called the
Rhythm Kings. Rhoades interest
in the blues began when he
started checking out who had
written the songs that Elvis Pre
sley and the new English rock
groups were doing It was peo
ple like Muddy Waters, Howlin
Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and
Little Walter, says Rhoades. "I
got hold of some of their albums
and once I started listening to
them I was hooked Rhoades
passion for the blues leads him
down a hard road Both he and
Rod Kesey have to get up at 8
a m. to go to work after having
played at the tavern until 1 or 2
a m. the night before "t practice
New works shown
Paintings by Norman Gee and
sculptures by Harold Hoy will be
exhibited Jan. 10 through 28 at
the Art and Applied Design De
ANDREA’S
turtleneck 8.50
pants 12.50
345*1324
2441 Hit yard -cTjEJC//" C*
r
.jartment main gallery at Lane
Community College
A reception for the two artists
will be Monday, Jan 1C, from 8 to
1C p.m. in the gallery The event
is open to the public
Gee is an instructor at the Uni
versity of Kansas in Lawrence
He received both his bachelor s
and master s of fine arts from
California College of Arts and
Crafts. Other recent exhibits in
clude Two Man Show at the 7E7
Gallery in Lawrence and Selected
Painters Invitational at the Mul
Darvish Dancing
WESLEY
MONDAYS ■xsAmr-' CENTER
7 PM 1236
KINCAID
Spon«n»red h\
_ M»i/da\ asnan I>arx sj Orcl<*t
vane Art Center in Washburn
University in Topeka. Kansas
Hoy is an assistant professor of
art at Lane Community College
He received both his master s of
fine arts in painting and sculpture
from the University. Recent ex
hibits include Works in Wood by
Northwest Artists at the Portland
Art Museum. Northwest Projects I
at the And Or Gallery in Seattle.
28th Annual Spokane Art Exhibi
tion at the Cheney Cowles
Memorial Museum in Spokane,
Wash., and the Mayor s Invita
tional Art Exhibition in Salem
Gallery hours are 8am to 1C
p.m Monday through Thursday,
and 8 a m to 5 p m. Fridays The
gallery, located in the art and
mathematics bu;ldmg on the east
side of campus, is closed on
weekends
1
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• •
break
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my harmonica while driving my
car, says Rhoades. "Somet mes
it's the only chance I get
Other members of the group
include Vic Bearden, lead guitar
and backup vocals, Rich Kesey
on bass and Mike Martin, lead
vocals and drums Bearden plays
with a flatpicking style that brings
sharp, stinging highs out of his
Les Paul. His leads blend well
with Rod Kesey s fingerpicking on
the Telecaster Rich Kesey. who
also plays bass for the Night
hawks, makes himself invaluable
by laying down a solid, booming
rhythm that acts as a springboard
for Rhoades hard driving vocals
and harp playing
Mike Martin is the only member
of the group who isn t a native
Eugenean His interest m music
began, oddly enough, after he
was drafted into the army In
1971 he was sent to Europe as a
cartoonist After a slight disag
reement with a sergeant major,
who suggested he transfer or
consider going to jail, Mike tried
out for the 3rd Army Division
r
band and was accepted As a
S'delme be got into a born and
rbytbm band that totted through
out Europe
Although the band has only
been together five months they
have already had to face some of
the hard facts of the muse busi
ness Through the diligent efforts
of their former agent they lost a
chance to play as the warm-up
band for Taj Mahal when he
comes to town this month We
fired him because the only word
he knew was money, says Rod
Kesey Now hes domg things
like calling up clubs and telling
them the band has broken up
Whether the Bill Rhoades
Blues Band will be a commercial
success remains to be seen But
as a hard rocking, progressive
blues band they are on the right
track
The Bill Rhoades band will be
playmg on and off at the Black
Forest and on Monday and Tues
day nights until the end of the
month at Murphy s tavern
—- N
All my
children
Christmas brought weddings and proposals to Pme Valley, as well as
the revival of what must be the longest running crisis in All My Children s
seven-year history
In the second-time-around department, Phil and Tara did it again —
they got married But this time, it wasn t in a small out ol the way chapel
on a lonely night, but in the middle of Pine Valley with their friends
watching and a minister presiding. But. as can be expected, the day was
not completely happy
Just hours before the wedding was scheduled to begin, Tara realized
that little Phillip was not around The only sign of him was the skate
board Phillip had given him: it had been intentionally broken into pieces
Little Phil later turned up at Chuck's house, and while Tara had misgiv
ings, the wedding went off as planned
Little Phillip is having a hard time dealing with the fact that Phil and
Tara are married, and the situation is getting more complicated Erica
stopped by Chuck s house Tuesday and picked little Phil up and took
him to the amusement park Before leaving the house, though, she told
Brook the whole story about little Phil actually being Phil s child, not
Chuck’s At the same time, she learned that Phoebe doesn't know that
little Phil isn t really her great-grandson, and armed with any information
like that, Erica is trouble
Speaking of the Tylers, another wedding is in the making. Lincoln and
Kitty are talking about getting married again real soon, and Lincoln
plans to give Kitty the Boutique for a wedding present Kitty seems to
have recovered from the loss of her mother, but that isn t completely
behind her By a strange series of events, Kitty s picture of the woman
she thinks was her mother has found its way to Grandma Martin s
house. If Kate ever sees it, she II know the woman wasn't who she
claimed to be. And that story is starting to creep into the open too
The pressure finally got too great for Mona, and she told Charles the
whole ugly truth Far from being upset, Charles delighted in the irony of
the fact that Phoebe s plan to keep Kitty and Line apart ended up in her
being blackmailed into giving her husband a divorce With that barrier
out of the way, it looks like clear coasting for Charles and Mona
It wasn't a very good vacation for Paul and Ann. Ann finally agreed to
leave the house and go to Phil and Tara s wedding. However, sitting in
the pew watching the ceremony she suddenly heard her baby crying.
Rushing from the chapel, followed by husband Paul, she sped home to
comfort her child.
Paul went on to the wedding reception, and while he was gone Ann
revealed to Dr. Karas, who was baby-sitting Beth, her experience in the
chapel. Dr. Karas, who regularly sees the ghost of her father haunting
her for leaving surgery to become a pediatrician, acknowledged that
there is evidence to support the idea that a mother and child can
communicate feelings with each other across long distances.
Frank Grant had a rude experience over the break. Having finally
decided to give his marriage with Nancy one last chance, he got on a jet
and beat it out to Chicago At Nancy s apartment, Frank was met by a
tall, good-looking white man, and putting two and two together, Frank
split without waiting for Nancy's explanation.
Back in Pine Valley, having dismissed his marriage as over, Frank is
getting hot and heavy with Caroline Even the castigation of Jeff Martin,
recently returned from Wisconsin to resume his post at the hospital,
couldn't make Frank change his mind.
To end on a happy note, Donna Beck finally got a job. It shouldn't be
long now before she puts her move on Chuck — a situation that’s going
to cause everybody a lot of grief.