[Dixielandjazz] Band set up

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/6/04 9:23:04 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
bowermastergroup at qwest.net writes:

> Another benefit is that the most important member of the band (we all know
> I'm talking about the drummer) is not buried in the back row.
> 

And to think!  I always thought they put us drummers in the back row to keep 
us from falling off the stage after imbibing a bit too much,  :)

I fooled em all one night however, playing in a a place that had beautiful 
purple velvet curtains behind the bandstand, I leaned back on my stool to rest 
my back against the wall, and whoomp! fell about five feet down to the ground 
outside the club.  This was an after hours joint out in the country a bit, and 
they had built the club in an old barn with a loading dock.  Apparently they 
had put the stage area on the dock and just hung up the curtains without 
installing a wall behind them.  I found out why it was so cold up there as well.

They called the joint Billy's Bayou, out in Crow Canyon in the East Bay 
countryside of San Francisco, California for you guys that don't know where the 
East Bay is.  A few of you may have even played there back int he late 60s before 
the cops shut it down.

In the winter time it got very interesting, because all the cars used to park 
in rows side by side horizontally on a hill, then it would rain like hell and 
the cars would slide into each other often trapping a couple inside that did 
not belong together, :)   made for some interesting times indeed.  Place was 
frequented by the Hell's Angels Motorcycle gang as well, so it tended to get a 
bit drunk and rowdy, especially if one of those guys found his lady friend in 
one of the sliding cars.

The best fun however was watching drunken Hells Angels trying to ride those 
big Harley hogs up the slippery muddy hillside to park the bikes in front of 
the club, A real circus on wheels many nights.

Ahh  the good old days.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins