African American gospel 45s from downstate Illinois are few and far between but every once in a while a new one turns up. This obscure single was released in early 1976 by the Jordan Aires, a group from Springfield, Illinois.
The Jordan Aires were performing in the capital city as early as 1967. The members of the group are unknown except for the two vocalists listed on the record: Reverend Doffie Allison and Nathan Williams.
The single was recorded at the Smoke Signal Sound Studio in Carbondale (which was later moved to nearby Makanda) and released on the studio's label, Smokey Soul. The Jordan Aires performed in the Carbondale area in July 1976 along with the Family-Aires of Carbondale and the Jones Singers from Springfield.
"They That Wait (On The Lord)" b/w "I Found Joy (In A Christian Way)"
(Smokey Soul SS 01276)
Rev Dr. Doffie Lee Allison Sr. passed away in 2012. According to his obituary, he was born in Glendora, Mississippi. He moved to Illinois by the mid-1960's, attended Lincoln Land Community College and worked for the Springfield Mass Transit District as a bus driver for many years. There is no mention of the Jordan Aires however the memorial states, "In 1979, Rev. Allison organized the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church where he served as Pastor and worked diligently until the time of his death."
If anyone has any more information about the Jordan Aires, please get in touch and we will add it to this story. ( downstatesounds@gmail.com )
For more examples of African American gospel from downstate Illinois, including two other groups from Springfield, listen to our old radio show from 2020: SHOW #41
The Inner Sanctums were a teenage combo from Macoupin and Sangamon counties in downstate Illinois. The group released a lone single in 1968 and had a brief moment of national exposure due to their appearance on the television show Happening '68.
The leader of the Inner Sanctums was bass player Dave Hogan from Virden. Other members of the group included his younger brother, Joe Hogan, on drums; Gene Skeen of Gerard played lead guitar and sang; Mike Bates of Carlinville on rhythm guitar; and Linda Williamson from Auburn played the organ.
The band formed sometime in 1966 when most of the band members were still in high school or younger. Other than Dave Hogan, who had been taking bass lessons at the time, the boys in the group did not know how to play their instruments when they first started. Williamson, a former neighbor to the Hogans and the oldest member of the group, however had been playing the piano for six years when she decided to join the combo.
By November of that year, the Inner Sanctums participated in a “Battle of the Bands” in Divernon, Illinois. Other contestants included The Syndicates of Chatham and the Vibratones from Carlinville. No word on who won the contest.
The Inner Sanctums would continue to perform in the area at school dances and other events for more than five years. By the summer of 1968, the group had a standing gig at the VFW Hall in Gerard on Wednesday nights.
In an August 1967 article in the Jacksonville Journal Courier, the band was described as “having cut several records and have been extremely popular wherever they have performed.” Despite the claim, it seems unlikely that the band had made any records at this point.
In 1968 however, the band did record a single at the Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin, Illinois. Released simply as Inner Sanctum on the studio’s house label, Thunder Records, the record included two songs written by guitarist Gene Skeen.
"Can't Make It Without You" / "Times Are Getting Better"
The group's big break came that same year when a cousin of the Hogans attended a taping of American Bandstand in California and mentioned the Inner Sanctums to the show’s producers. Incredibly, the show reached out to the band and asked for a tape which the group happily supplied.
Out of hundreds of submissions, the band was chosen to appear on Happening ‘68, a musical variety show hosted by Mark Lindsay and Paul Revere that aired after American Bandstand on ABC. (For another Downstate band to appear on the show, see the Mod 4.)
In May of 1968, the band flew to Los Angeles for four days, to tape two episodes of the show. While in California, the group reportedly met Moby Grape, the Electric Flag, Stevie Wonder and Carol Burnett.
On Saturday afternoon June 1st, 1968 the band's episode aired nationally. Michael Christian (Peyton Place), Stephen Young (Judd) and Christopher George (Rat Patrol) were the judges for the amateur band contest. Unfortunately, footage from the episode does not appear to have survived.
It is unclear what song the Inner Sanctums performed on the show but apparently it went well because they advanced to the next round of the contest and appeared in another episode a few weeks later.
Despite the national exposure and a new single, not much seemed to change for the band. An article in the Illinois State Register around the time mentioned that a St. Louis firm was going to take over distribution of their record. If true, the distribution was fairly limited. Fifty-plus years later, copies of the record remain scarce.
The group eventually simplified their name to just Inner Sanctum for live appearances. They continued to perform in the Virden area at least until early 1972.
For more on the band including some details about other recordings the band made, see the Golden Voice Recording Co.'s post from 2014.
Three's A Crowd from Springfield, Illinois recorded two singles between 1966 and 1968. At the time of their first release, the trio had never performed in public together.
The group consisted of Roger Humphrey on bass and vocals, Bob Cellini on guitar and vocals and Mike Bertucci on drums.
Humphrey, who was 37 at the time of the first single, had been a trombone player in Bill Cellini's orchestra (Bob's brother). In the early 1960's, Bob Cellini led his own band, the HI FIs, before joining his brother's group.
Humphrey and Cellini began playing together for fun, working on original material. By 1966 they were joined by Bertucci.
They recorded their first single, "Making Do" b/w "I Don't Mind At All" for Ro-Do Records. Both songs were written by Humphrey.
The single was released in the spring of 1967. Despite being virtually unknown in the Springfield area, the single did well on the local charts.
An article in the Illinois State Journal from May 29, 1967 mentions that the group had another song ready to go called "Run, Sheep, Run" and were hoping to cut an album.
There is however no evidence that the group recorded an album or ever played live.
In 1968, they did record two of Cellini's originals at the Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin, Illinois. "Keep On Walking" b/w "No Where" was released on the Golden Voice label.
Note: Bob Cellini is the nephew of Al Cellini who was featured in our recent post about Space Records.
Dave Bell Trio's 1952 single "I Dreamed Of A Lifetime" b/w "I'm All Wrapped Up In You" was written, recorded and released in Springfield, Illinois. Initially, it was reported that it would also be the first record manufactured in Springfield at a brand new pressing plant. However, that doesn't appear to have happened.
The 78 rpm record was officially released locally on September 25, 1952 by the newly-formed Space Records, a Springfield label started by two of the songwriters: Fred Spagnoli & Al Cellini.
The label's name was a combination of the first few letters of their last names. Its motto: There's Always Space For A "Space" Record.
Both Cellini and Spagnoli were Springfield residents. At the time, Cellini, 2031 N. Nineteenth St., was in the poultry business (Cellini Bros Poultry) and Spagnoli, 2224 S. Thirteenth St., was a salesman for the Eastern Packing Company.
Cellini was also a part-time musician and bandleader. He played saxophone and clarinet and led various combos in the Springfield-area as far back as the mid-1940's (Venetian Serenaders, 4 Sharps and Al Cellini & His Rhythm Boys).
The music of "I'm All Wrapped Up In You" was written by Cellini with lyrics by Spagnoli. "I Dreamed Of A Lifetime" was written by the pair along with Cecil Hassinger. According to various newspaper advertisements, Hassinger had been a band leader in central Illinois in the late 1940's. Hassinger also played guitar in one of his Cellini's bands.
While this would be the first record on their label, it was not the first record that Cellini and Spagnoli had collaborated on as songwriters.
Two year prior, they wrote "I Spoke Too Soon," which was recorded by the Lee Kelton Orchestra and released on Dix Records out of Pittsburg, PA. It was also issued on the Rondo label.
To record their latest compositions, the two men worked with the Dave Bell Trio. Bell and his band were a popular Midwest combo that played the Springfield clubs frequently in the early 1950s.
In an advertisement from 1952, it mentions the group featured Art Williams on the drums and Charlie Straub on the piano. Dave Bell is referred to as "Frankie Lane's protégé."
Several months before its official release, it was announced that the Space record would also have the unique distinction of being the first record pressed in Springfield by a new business, Independent Artists Recording Company.
The business was founded by E.H. Overman and Bud Hashman, both from Springfield. According to the Illinois State Journal, "both men were formerly in show business, as vaudeville artists. Overman was 'hoofer' and Hashman a song and dance man."
By the time the two men joined forces, Hashman owned a jukebox business in Springfield while Overman was operating a makeshift recording studio out of his home.
According to the April 4, 1952 newspaper article, "Since about 1937 Overman has been engaged in cutting records. Hashman became associated with the enterprise last September. The two men make 'cuttings' in their studio at 903 N. Seventh St., for independent artist throughout the middle west."
In early 1952, Hashman and Overman decided to expand on their recording operation and go into the production of records. With little experience or instruction, the two men set out to build a pressing plant from scratch.
The newspaper gives a detailed account of the various steps involved with record manufacturing. It also laid out the struggles the two men had getting their operation off the ground.
"Handicapped by an almost total absence of printed technical instructions on the procedure they managed to secure a hard to find, several years old, manual on the production method and went to work. They worked out many 'bugs' an the procedure by their own ingenuity."
Despite the claim, there is no evidence that Overman and Hashman's pressing plant ever became operational. The Dave Bell Trio record was to be their first, however when the record was released in September an article in the Illinois State Journal mentions that the master discs were cut in Rock Island and the pressing was being done in Janesville, Wisconsin.
As for Independent Artists Recording Co., the only other reference found was a 1953 advertisement for the Bobby Lane "Special." There is no evidence that any commercially available records were ever recorded or pressed in Springfield by the company.
Sadly, Elmer Overman and his wife were seriously injured in a 1956 explosion at their home, which was the same address as the studio.
As for the Dave Bell Trio, they recorded at least one other single, "Moneyback Guarantee" b/w "Rock 'N' Roll Pins," which was released in 1958 on Window Records out of Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Al Cellini appears to have gotten out of the record business but he continued to perform and lead his combo / orchestra in the Springfield area for several more decades.
Fred Spagnoli became the Lake Springfield chief of police by 1958 but hadn't given up on writing a hit song. An article in the Illinois State Journal at the time mentions that five of his songs had been recorded.
It appears that Spagnoli and Cellini collaborated on at least one more song after the Space record. In August 1954, both men are credited for "Dora," in the Catalog of Copyright Entries. According to the listing it was likely released on Dix Records but the actual artist and record have not been identified.
A few months earlier, Spagnoli copyrighted, "Much To My Sorrow," with Ola Budde supplying the music. Budde appears to have been from Springfield as well. Again, the song was likely recorded and released on Dix Records but no more details are available at this time.
As for Space Records, the label's entire output consisted of just the one single:
Bearded Clam from Springfield, Illinois released just one single on Golden Voice in 1970. The group had been playing together for a couple years and were previously known as Dean and the Sinisters.
Band members included lead singer and drummer Dean Huston, his younger brother Dave Huston on bass, Wayne Castor on lead guitar, Rich Egizii on organ, Corwin Bentley on rhythm guitar and Gene Bennett on vocals.
At the time of the recording several of the band members were students at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield. Most of the group was from Springfield originally, except Egizii who was from neighboring Riverton and Bennett from nearby New Berlin.
The single was recorded at Golden Voice Recording Company in South Pekin, Illinois. Both songs were original compositions. According to an article in the Illinois State Journal, there were one thousand copies pressed.
"Please Don't Leave Me Blue" was written by Bennett who also sang lead on the track. Huston and Caster are also credited on the single.
The flip side "I Wish I Could Be Here" was written by Bob Lloyd with lead vocals by Dean Huston. Lloyd was a member of The Holidays, another Springfield group.
The group was still performing around the Springfield area as of March of 1972:
Between 1965 and 1969, Lee Rust released at least six singles on three different labels in three different states. All twelve songs were original compositions.
In an October 1965 article written in his college newspaper, Rust claimed to have already written 200 songs and made several television appearances in Illinois. At the time, he was considering a tour of Illinois and Indiana or possibly recording an album in Nashville. The article adds, "Lee is very serious about recording and writing songs and spends two hours each day on it." Rust's recordings were mostly made mostly during his college years. They range from moody frat / garage rock and haunting teenage ballads to a pair of folky duets with his newlywed wife.
Born and raised in Bloomington, Illinois, William Lee Rust first learned to play the guitar from local recording star Joe Dowell of "Wooden Heart" fame. During his high school years, Rust's family moved to Springfield where he also took a few lessons from the leader of a local "teenage band," Chandler David's Rhythm Raiders.
Even though he attended college in Florida, Rust's first batch of recordings were made in Roger Francisco's basement studio in Urbana, Illinois. In fact, Lee claimed to be the first person to make a record for RoFran. This would have likely been sometime in the summer of 1965 when Lee was home from college. In total, Rust released four singles on the label:
Did You Ever Kinda Wonder? / Scramble [P-1003]
Mystery House / Come on Back [P-1004]
Try, Try to Leave / I’m Spoken For [P-1005]
She’s Gone Tonight / World Made of Romance [P-1006]
Audio coming soon.
Sometime after the RoFran recordings, Rust recorded two songs for the In Hoc label which was based in Birmingham, Alabama. Exact dates unknown but possibly 1967 or '68.
These Are My Days / Nobody Will Know [NR 401]
In 1967 Rust married Cheryl Lynn Bradley of Petersburg, Illinois. After graduating college, the two remained in Florida for a time. There they recorded two sides for Charles Fuller Productions of Tampa as Lee & Cheryl. Despite the fake RCA matrix # on the label which suggests an earlier date, this single was most likely recorded and released in 1968.
Animated Cartoons / Jeniffer Lynn [FR-008]
By the summer of 1969, Lee, Cheryl and their daughter Jeniffer Lynn had moved back to the Springfield area where Rust took a job working for S.A. Barker Co., one of Springfield’s best-known women’s clothing stores.
As for his musical career, there is no evidence that Lee Rust ever recorded again.
by Bill Jones ( Illinois State Journal, April 20, 1971 )
The three stand in front of the microphone singing - maybe a little soul, maybe some popular music, a ballad or standards - they're very versatile. The two guys and one girl are wearing shiny black outfits that look like leather, but actually are a lightweight synthetic. Arlene's is a jumpsuit. Marvin and Roy wear belted shirts and pants. Both guys have red scarves at their necks.
They're the Ebonies, a Springfield group which has been together for nearly three years. They had a record, "Ebony Soul Step," a couple years ago which hit number 17 on the local charts. They currently have a record, "You've Got What I Want," which made it to number 12 on local charts. And they have another recording in the works, a two-part song entitled, "Who Do You Think," a soul song with a rock sound and a religious message.
The Ebonies are Roy Williams, lead singer (second tenor) and choreographer; Arlene Williams (Mrs. Roy Williams), contralto, co-choreographer and song writer; and Marvin Jackson, lead singer (first tenor), musical arranger and song writer.
The three were born and raised in Springfield and are "proud of it." All sang in such events as school talent shows while in school here. Marvin and Roy had been together a few years earlier in the Capitol Teens. Then Roy was in the Dupree's. Arlene, meanwhile, had been with the Four Sharps and a Natural. But three years ago the three broke the tradition of all-male or all-female groups and formed their own ensemble with two guys and a girl.
They perform regularly in Springfield as well as occasionally in St. Louis, Indiana and Chicago. The Ebonies have performed in various places, including night clubs, high school auditoriums and even at weddings. Their back up group at these gigs is either the Junior Jive Kings or Cold Sweat, a group out of Alton. Terry Payne, Cold Sweat guitarist, assists the Ebonies in arranging material. Both groups are also heard on the recordings.
In addition to the two singles already released, the group has about six "in the can" to be released as singles or put together on a "Best of..." album. The group runs its recording company, Midwest Records, and a music publishing company, Lincoln Land Publishing. Both are fully-licensed to be in operation. Midwest recorded the group on a 4-track system. The companies are financed by the trio, who put earnings from their gigs as well as from their daytime jobs into the recording firm. Presently the Ebonies are the exclusive talent on the label, but Roy hopes that someday the company could develop into another "Motown" and have several artists recording under the label.
Roy's and Arlene's day jobs are a far cry from their work with the Ebonies. Arlene works for the Illinois Department of Registration and Education. Roy works in the central accounting division of the Illinois Department of Finance. Marvin has been a state worker, too. He was employed by the Secretary of State's office prior to the shuffle of employees after the death of Paul Powell.
The Ebonies have found that it takes a lot of time, effort and money to put together a good performance - both in person and on record. But the price tag isn't too high for this talented group of musicians, who look to the future and see bigger and better things ahead.
______
The Ebonies and Midwest Records discography
The Ebonies (w/ Mellow Fellows.. Orchestra) - "Ebony Soul Step" / "He Didn't Want To Lose (His Good Thing)", both songs written by R. Williams, GV-45-503, 1968
The Ebonies - "You Got What I Want" (R. Williams) / "I'm Not Asking For Much" (M. Jackson), LL 102 - MW 001, 1971
The Ebony Revue - "I'm A Candidate" / "Voting Power", both songs written by Roy (Whish) Williams, LL10001 - MW 001, 1972
Whish & Payne Foundation - "Cost Of Living" / "Pt. 2", LL107 - MW 001
Marvin Jackson - "So Nice (Coming Home to You)" (B. Crutcher & M. Thomas) featuring John Crisp on Hammond organ / Jerry Cook - "Sing A Happy Song" (J. Cook), both songs with vocal background by US For the PEOPLE, LL 2001 1973/74
The first single was likely recorded at Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin, Illinois. The second single, as indicated in the article, was recorded using a "4-track sytem." The Ebony Revue single was produced by Whish Productions - no indication of where it was recorded. The Marvin Jackson / Jerry Cook single was recorded at the Country Politan Studios (Illini Records) in Springfield.
______
Marvin Jackson
from a 1995 article by Matthew Dietrich in The State Journal-Register
As a child, Marvin "Sarge" Jackson always knew he was meant for the the stage. It wasn't until 1956 when, at 13, he knew how he would get there. That was the year Jackson first heard and saw Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers perform "Why Do Fools Fall in Love."
Like most of his friends who grew up in the John Hays Homes in the 1950s, Jackson spent much of his spare time singing beneath streetlights in the complex's courtyards. "We'd go from one court to another, singing different songs," Jackson says. "People would raise their windows and listen and tell you what you needed to do. That taught us a lot about getting everything just perfect."
But when he saw Lymon and the Teenagers, he saw where doo-wop music was going, and he wanted to go along. "The other groups, like the Platters, sang really well, but Frankie Lymon had the moves to go with it," Jackson recalls. "He was the first rock doo-wop."
Jackson put together his own group, The Capital Teens, and tried to capture the energy and precision of the Teenagers. The Capital Teens refined their act at clubs in Springfield's black entertainment district, at sock hops and on locally produced television shows like "The Pegwill Pete Show" (a sort of local "Howdy Dowdy") and "Teenage Rage."
In segregated Springfield, however, an all-black group could not play in "the levee," the white entertainment district, so Jackson put together an all-white band to back him. The group, Sarge and the Thunderbirds, attracted attention from Nashville-based Decca Records and headed south to record a series of demos. The experience did not lead to a hit record, but it taught Jackson some bitter lessons about racial tension.
"In Nashville, I had to stay in a black hotel, and we could only rehearse at night because I couldn't be seen with the white guys," Jackson says. "But we could play at black and white nightclubs. I was accepted as an entertainer, but not as a human being."
Nashville's racial atmosphere led to the breakup of that band. Jackson headed west, eventually landing in the San Francisco area. There he met an up-and-coming singer named Sylvester Stewart, soon to be better known as Sly Stone.
"I had demos and posters from Nashville, and a drummer friend who knew Sly saw them and thought they looked good," Jackson says. Stone started booking Jackson's new band and, more importantly, taught him the rules of copyright and music publishing.
When Jackson returned to Springfield a few years later and formed the Ebonies, he also started his own record company, Midwest Records, and publishing unit, Lincoln Land Music.
After a serious car accident driving home from a gig in Quincy during an ice storm in the mid-'70s, Jackson quit traveling and pursued radio work. Still, music has remained in Jackson's blood, and he is planning a re-release of his songs "So Nice Coming Home To You" and "I've Been Here All the Time" on childhood friend Robert Adams' Brick City Records label.
Music may change, Jackson says, but his early days beneath the streetlights taught him about its purest elements. "We didn't need prerecorded music and technology," Jackson says, "Our voices were our electricity."
The Kinks (Mick Avory, Ray Davies, Dave Davies, Peter Quaife) at Kintner Gym, Decatur, Illinois June 22, 1965
The British Invasion was in full swing by June of 1965. Led by the Beatles, English acts were dominating the U.S. pop charts. The Rolling Stones had begun their first tour of the States earlier in the year and the Kinks were the next in line. This week, in fact, marks the 55th anniversary of the Kinks’ first American tour. Somewhat surprisingly, over a quarter of the concerts the group gave on that tour took place in Illinois, mostly downstate.
By the summer of 1965, the Kinks already had three top ten hits in the States and their tour should have been a smash success. Instead it was marred by a series of small disasters and cancelled dates, exacerbated by poor management and in-fighting among the group.
Thus, their first American tour consisted of just fifteen concerts and four television appearances. They missed major cities like Baltimore, Boston and Detroit and avoided the South completely. Yet the band spent four days and nights zig-zagging across Illinois for shows in Peoria, Chicago, Decatur and Springfield.
One of these nights (Decatur) is all but forgotten by chroniclers of the band. At the same time, a few of these dates would become legendary though not for anything that happened on the stage but instead for the characters the group encountered in downstate Illinois. This includes time spent with a notorious serial killer in Springfield as well as a brush with a “pistol-packing punk driver” in Peoria that Ray Davies would write and sing about for years afterwards.
By the end of the disastrous tour, the Kinks would be banned indefinitely from performing in the United States by the American Federation of Musicians union without explanation. Ultimately, they would not be allowed to return for another four years making their brief tour in 1965 the only opportunity for American kids to see the group at the height of their early career.
Much has been written about the ill-fated tour, their ban from America and the effect it had on the group’s music. Below we will take a closer look at the four days and nights spent in Illinois.
The Kinks headline the show that included several other acts: Paul Petersen (Jeff from the Donna Reed Show), the Hollywood Argyles (billed as Bobby and the Argyles) and the Rivieras. Also at least one local group, Dave & the Detomics from Morrisonville, performed. The show was promoted by WSIV radio out of Pekin.
Originally, much of the Midwest portion of the Kinks’ 1965 tour was to be co-headlined with the Moody Blues and included bigger cities such as Indianapolis and Louisville. At the last minute the Moody Blues were unable to secure the proper working papers and had to cancel, leaving the Kinks to scramble and find new dates and venues. As a result, the Kinks were a late addition on all of the downstate dates to an already touring package show.
In his book All Day and All Of The Night, Doug Hinman wrote this about the Peoria date, “After two relatively prestigious shows in sophisticated major east-coast cities, they now find themselves deep in the heart of America’s Midwest where attitudes toward long-haired British invaders are far less tolerant. No one is happy with this 700-capacity booking. It is not considered a suitable concert venue and the stage is makeshift at best.” An article in the Decatur Herald a few days after the show mentions that a young fan pulled one of the Kinks off of the stage in Peoria.
The most memorable event of their time spent in Peoria however, at least for Kinks’ front man Ray Davies, had nothing to do with the concert itself. Instead it was the group's chauffeur that left a lasting impression. In his 1995 book, X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography, Davies wrote about riding around in a big Ford Thunderbird with a driver that looked like he had stepped out of Jack Kerouac novel, a “punk from your typical b-movie.”
According to Davies, the driver boasted about having slept with Ann-Margaret as well as having Elvis Presley’s phone number before pulling a gun out of the glove compartment. Davies writes, “He waved the pistol around menacingly before putting it down on the seat beside him. Then his mood shifted, he smiled a film-star’s toothy smile and said, ‘Welcome to Illinois, the home of middle America.’”
Davies would continue to reference this brief encounter at various times throughout his career. He sang about it in his one-man touring show and it gets mentioned again in his 2003 book Americana.
Monday June 21, 1965 7:30pm - Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place, Chicago
Originally scheduled with the Moody Blues, the Kinks instead shared the stage with the Thunderbirds, the Blue Knights and the Ventrills. It was Ray Davies’ 21st birthday. Several attendees presented him with cakes before the show.
Early in the Kinks’ performance the venue’s power was mysteriously cut and the show stopped temporarily though they were eventually able to continue. An article in the Springfield newspaper a few days later mentions that the "British group barely escaped with their instruments when crowds charged the stage at their Chicago concert."
Later, while still in Chicago, a fan (presumably) broke one of the windows on the group’s tour bus in an attempt to get to the group. In Rob Jovanovic’s God Save The Kinks, Ray Davies is quoted as saying “When I turned 21, I spent it alone in a Sheraton hotel in Chicago. I was too scared to go out because we had screaming fans outside and there were all these security men with guns.”
Tuesday June 22, 1965 8 pm - Kintner Gymnasium, Decatur
“WDZ Summer Holiday USA” featured the Kinks, Paul Petersen, the Holloywood Argyles and the Rivieras. Local groups that performed include Randy & the Ramblers from Springfield and Dave & the Detomics from Morrisonville. The Holidays of Springfield were also mentioned as possibly performing.
On the 180 mile trip from Chicago to Decatur, the Kinks’ bus, presumably still with a broken window, met strong head winds and the driver was forced to travel at a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour.
Two young women, Norma Phegley and Mary Tempel, stayed up most of the night baking Ray Davies an elaborate birthday cake in the shape of a four-leaf clover which the girls then carried 25 blocks to the show with the hopes of presenting it to the band when they arrived.
Concertgoers were able to get advance tickets from the radio station WDZ but most lined up for hours at the door. Ticket prices ranged from $2.00 to $3.50.
The local newspapers reported over 2,000 fans enjoyed the show. The Decatur Herald mentions that the Kinks felt their reception had been "fantastic." The paper's review of the night's music was simply, "The Kinks' music was fast-paced with lyrics lost in the background of electric guitars while others on the bill sang more sedate selections."
Despite being one of the better documented shows on the tour by the local press, several biographies and chronologies of the band somehow missed this concert all together. In fact, both Hinman and Jovanovic’s books make the false claim that the band had the day off in Chicago before heading to Springfield.
Wednesday, June 23, 1965 8pm - Illinois State Armory, Springfield
The Kinks once again share the stage with Paul Petersen, the Hollywood Argyles and the Rivieras. Local groups such as Dave & The Detomics, Randy & the Ramblers and the Holidays performed as well.
Dick and Dee Dee were also on the bill but they did not play. The concert was sponsored by the Springfield Jaycees with the proceeds going to their scholarship fund.
Contrary to some reports, the concert was not a last-minute booking. Advertisements and other promotional articles appear a full week before the show in local newspapers and as a result the concert was well attended by more than 1,200 people.
The State Journal-Register logged this review
Galen Johnson, a guitar player with the Detomics, while reminiscing about the concerts on the website Garage Hangover reports that Ray Davies carved his name into the marble bathroom wall in the basement of the Armory which the Kinks used as a dressing room. He adds that it remains there today.
As mentioned earlier, the Springfield concert was sponsored by the local Jaycees which is where the story takes a bizarre turn. The vice-president of the Jaycees at that time and the man that organized the concert was none other than John Wayne Gacy. Gacy, who would later be known as the Killer Clown, was convicted and executed in 1994 for the murder of at least 33 boys and young men in the Chicago area in the 1970s.
In 1965 however Gacy was an upstanding citizen, married and living in Springfield where he worked as a shoe salesman. In fact earlier that year the Jaycees named him "Man of the Year" for his work as a community organizer. When Springfield's mayor requested the Jaycees come up with some summer entertainment for young people, Gacy organized the concert at the Armory.
It had been assumed that Gacy had little or no contact with the Kinks but all of that changed with a bombshell interview that Kinks' bassist Peter Quaife gave to Johnny Black and Mojo magazine in Septermber 2000.
In the interview Quaife says, "the local promoter that was looking after us turned out to be a real greaseball. He was polite enough, but a greaseball nonetheless. After the gig, he invites us back to his house. Says he's got some people coming round and he's got some booze, so we say, ok."
"We get there, and the place has an awful, sickly smell about it. But he's our promoter, so we stay there, drinking, 'til about 3 am. When we decide to go he gets upset, says can't a couple of us stay? By now we were beginning to get a bit antsy about this guy, so we took off to the hotel and that was the last we saw of him." Later in the interview Quaife adds, "We could have ended up as mementoes bricked up in his walls."
Despite the level of detail that Quiafe provides there is good reason to question his recollection of events. First and foremost, it is likely that the Kinks left Springfield by bus fairly quickly after the show because they had a concert in Denver the next night. The 900 mile trip would have left the band little time to hang out at Gacy's house.
Giving Quaife the benefit of the doubt, it is possible that the Kinks arrived in Springfield the night before, after the Decatur show, and met up with Gacy then. Still, there is no evidence that was the case and it seems unlikely. Also, it is important to remember that Gacy was married and living a fairly normal life at the time so some of Quaife's details simply don't add up.
Unfortunately, Quaife died on June 23, 2010 (the anniversary of the Springfield show and Gacy encounter) so we may never know. Ray Davies, in his book Americana, neither confirms nor denies the incident saying, "at Peter Quaife's instigation, we almost went to the house of infamous clown-serial killer Wayne Gacy."
Though the Kinks left Illinois after just four days, trouble seemed to follow them for the rest of the tour. Elsewhere in his book, Davies writes, "The 1965 tour was filled with bad energy." Later adding, "America just didn't understand the Kinks the first time around. We got the impression that we unknowingly offended and upset a lot of people. I'm not sure with whom or with what but there was something strange going down on that tour."
The Kinks would not return to Illinois until Halloween night 1969 when they played a show with The Who at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. After the show, Kinks' guitarist Dave Davies seriously injured his hand when he and Keith Moon, the drummer for The Who, attempted to throw a television out of the penthouse window at the Holiday Inn.
By early 1970, the Kinks were set to return to downstate Illinois as they were one of the first headlining acts to be named on the bill of the Kickapoo Creek outdoor rock concert set to happen on Memorial Day weekend near Heyworth, Illinois. Perhaps memories of their 1965 encounters convinced them against it because they were soon removed from the lineup. Instead the group played two nights in Chicago that weekend.
Were you there? Did you see the Kinks in Illinois in 1965? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Leave a comment below or contact me directly at: downstatesounds@gmail.com
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