|
In
the early years of Rock & Roll late 50's early 60's, 'roadies' hadn't
been 'invented' yet. We loaded our own equipment, drove our own
cars and often had to pack up and drive all night after a gig. Of
course we didn't have all the equipment that is a part of shows
today either. For a four or five piece group, we had a small set
of drums, two amps, one each for guitar and bass, and one guitar
and one bass, with us. The piano player played whatever piano was
available at the venues we worked. (Sometimes not a lot of fun for
him, like one night after Jerry Lee Lewis had been there the night
before and the piano was fairly thrashed and out of tune) We would
get all our equipment and our suitcases in one big Oldsmobile station
wagon with five of us crowded in, as well. Our sax player used one
of the two mics provided by the place we worked. I used the other
one for talking. We depended on the natural acoustics of the hall
to get our sound and if we had time for a sound check, we usually
found the best balance. Most of the time this worked out quite well.
We learned to adjust to all sorts of acoustical situations very
rapidly.
|
|
| When
we packed up to drive all night, we depended on finding a meal at
an all-night diner. Sometimes we'd find one fairly soon, sometimes
we'd have to drive for hours before we got lucky. And often, our 'luck'
wouldn't be so great, as we'd discover when we tasted the food. Once
we came within two miles of a great all-night diner, but had no clue
until weeks later that it was there, so we drove on for another three
and a half hours before we finally found a mediocre one.
In
those days, if we had equipment failure, or needed to replace something,
we were up the proverbial creek most of the time when we weren't
in New York City, Los Angeles, or some other big city where they
had more complete music stores. Although one day, we were in a small
town in the mid-west and found an amp repairman who did a very professional
job of fixing the bass player's amp which had been acting up the
night before. But you could chalk that up to unusual luck for us.
There were other times when we had to either send for a new amp
or wait until we were near a big city and make an extra drive in
for whatever we needed. We had no way of knowing where the good
music stores were or 'what was possible' while out on the road.
Fortunately,
things have changed for the better over the years... Now there are
private coaches, big trucks for equipment, roadies to load and unload
and set up all the sound, lights, and stage equipment (there's tons
of it now, as you know) and there are good music stores and good
restaurants and good deals on motels/hotels nearly everywhere. But
you still have to find them or know where they are!
Finding
those things is a lot easier now with Roadogz.com No more driving
in hopes of finding a decent place to eat or sleep, or a good place
to buy or fix equipment. Just hook up your handy lap-top in the
hotel/motel and click on his web-site and Roadogz.com will help
you find the information you need. It's a great idea whose time
has come... in fact, whose time is past due. Check it out and try
it and I think you'll be glad you did.
Keep
on Twangin' Duane Eddy
Add
Your thoughts on the Message Board.
|
