[Dixielandjazz] Biog - Bill Gunter

[Don Ingle]

Bill, being a shy and reclusive non-self-promotor, left  out the part about
his alien abducton, his time in the San Dimas drum and bugle corps , and of
course his meeting , occasional, with dead presidents, -- that is to say
money, but only after he spoke up to the leaders of various grups he'd been
working wiht. Speaking up only AFTER finding out the other guys had been
paid for their work -- unlike Bill who had, until then, been paying the
leaders instead.
He also left out the part about working in a bordello distract changing red
light bulbs on his day off. To this day, the sight of a red light bulb has
his wrists whirling from habit.
No, there's even more, but then it is best to leave sleeping English
teachers lay, less they awake and begin to have us diagraming sentences
again. (If you don't remember doing that you are younger than you look!)
His Scottish child bride, Bev, has so far restained him from taking up the
bagpipes, but the year ain't over yet!!
Fr. Don of the Church of Best Left Unsaid.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Gunter" <jazzboard at hotmail.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 2:13 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Biog - Bill Gunter


> Bill Gunter - Drums, washboard, piano, banjo, guitar & vocals
>
> Bill was born at a very early age and shortly thereafter was abandoned in
> the forest where he grew up as a feral child tended by a band of beavers.
>
> His earliest memories are of the rhythmic sounds produced when the beavers
> would slap their large flat tails on the surface of the water and it was
> this early percussion experience that destined him to become a washboard
> player.
>
> A wandering environmentalist rescued Bill and returned him to civilization
> although for many years his new neighbours were at a loss to explain the
> teeth marks on their flagpoles and shrubbery.
>
> Also, the local swimming pool had to post a permanent security guard to
> prevent the regular damming of their water slides...
>
> His attempts to emulate the beavers by thumping his nether regions on the
> surface of the nearest stretch of water (the City Square fountain became a
> real tourist attraction!) forced his adoptive parents to 'buy him a drum
to
> keep him quiet'.
>
> This was a turning point, and his rhythmic beating sounds attracted a band
> of itinerant dixieland gypsies who kidnapped the hapless Bill and forced
him
> to play washboard in the Quintet of the Hot Club of San Jose and also do
the
> band uniforms (light starch in the collars).
>
> Upon reaching puberty Bill gained phenomenal strength, which enabled him
to
> beat their arm wrestling champion in a sudden death face off. She,
impressed
> by his prowess, demanded his immediate release and return to outer
suburbia.
>
> Here, the proceeds from the sale of Bill's golden nose ring were
sufficient
> to put him through college and he became an avid folk song collector, also
> learning to play guitar.
>
> After graduating he started his life long career as an English teacher and
> in off duty hours he entertained in local clubs with his guitar and
vocals.
>
> He later moved into the pizza parlors and entertained as a member of a
> quartet playing all those old great sing-along songs that made pizza pubs
> such great fun back in the sixties.
>
> Around this time Bill took up the washboard seriously, playing with such
> diverse groups as The Boondockers (a pizza parlor novelty jazz band),
Black
> Diamond Jazz Band, San Francisco Starlight Orchestra and the Joyful Noise
> Jazz Band in addition to Cell Block 7.
>
> Bill is also a member of the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society (STJS)
and
> has served as president of that organization. The STJS also presents the
> Sacramento Jazz Jubilee over the Memorial Day weekend each year and Bill
is
> very active in helping organize and produce this annual affair.
>
> Though retired from teaching now, Bill continues his enthusiasm for jazz.
He
> and his wife, Beverly, love to travel and visit with friends they have met
> in jazz all around the world.
>
> The ingredients above have produced the suave, debonaire and strikingly
> handsome man who regularly mounts the stage with washboard in hand, asking
> the eternal question, 'How do you tune this damn thing!?'
>
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