The Initial Shock were one of many bands who moved to San Francisco in 1967, but were more or less alone insofar as having been the only band who moved from Montana. Apparently the group was from Missoula, MT and featured members of local groups The Chosen Few and Mojos Mark IV, and at least one member was assigned to an Air Force base in the area. When the Air Force commitment was over, the band decided to move to San Francisco to be where the action was.
The Initial Shock released two singles, but no albums. The first, "Mind Disaster"/"Its Not Easy" (BFD 036), was recorded in Montana and released in 1966. The second, rarer single "You Been A Long Time Comin'"/I Once Asked" (BFD 2022) was released in 1967. I know nothing about the record label nor details of the recordings.
The Initial Shock was well regarded by those who were there at the time, although unfortunately the only live recorded evidence that circulates (to my knowledge) is an excellent 4-song piece of an Avalon Ballroom concert from 1968. It reveals a driving, bluesy sound, but its hard to know how representative of their material it might be. Members of the group were
George Wallace-lead guitar
William "Mojo" Collins-guitar, vocals
Steve Garr-bass
Brian Knaff-drums, vocals
While relatively little is known about the Initial Shock, they played a number of interesting shows in the Bay Area from 1967-69. I gather from various signs and portents that a journal of great importance (in my tiny Universe) will be doing an extensive article on the Initial Shock, so it seemed like a good time to begin trying to determine a list of Bay Area performance for The Initial Shock. As with most groups, it is easiest to find the most high profile shows, where posters or other evidence survives, and that may be only a small portion of a band's performances. Nonetheless, here is the information I have so far. Anyone who has additions, corrections, insights or recovered memories (real or imagined) about Initial Shock performances in the Bay Area is encouraged to Comment or email me.
Initial Shock Performance List 1967-69
September 24, 1967 Provo Park, Berkeley: Initial Shock
Free Sunday concerts in Provo Park (on Grove and Allston downtown) were a regular occurrence in Berkeley, and provided a good opportunity for new or newly-arrived bands to get heard.
October 4, 1967 Straight Theater, San Francisco: Mad River/Mount Rushmore/Anonymous Artists of America/Initial Shock
October 5, 1967 Straight Theater, San Francisco: Sopwith Camel/Black Swan/Hair/Frumious Bandersnatch/Don Garrett/Initial Shock
This was a benefit for the Haight Ashbury Medical Center. Various poets, dancers and other performers were also part of the show.
October 7, 1967 Western Front, San Francisco: Sons of Champlin/Frumious Bandersnatch/Initial Shock
The Western Front was one of many attempts to open a psychedelic ballroom in San Francisco. The venue, at 895 O'Farrell (at Polk), never managed to find its footing.
Although I can find no Initial Shock shows until December, I assume they were playing around various places--I just haven't figured out where.
December 1-3, 1967 Western Front, San Francisco: Youngbloods/Wildflower/Initial Shock
The Initial Shock returned to The Western Front, although its my belief that there were different promoters at this point.
Ross Hannan found a remarkable ad in the Berkeley Barb of December 22, 1967, announcing that the Initial Shock would be returning to San Francisco on January 16, "After 28 Consecutive One Night Stands."
I don't know where or how the band played 28 straight nights, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. If this is true and not hyperbole, I have to assume they played ski resorts in places like Idaho. Given the band's Montana background, they may have gone as far afield as Montana as well.
I assume that Initial Shock had shows booked when they returned to San Francisco, but we have yet to uncover them.
March 16, 1968 Straight Theater, San Francisco: Flamin Groovies/Initial Shock
May 12, 1968 Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco: Kaleidoscope/Initial Shock/Country Weather/AB Skhy Blues Band
This was a daytime show. It was a benefit for Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic.
May 28, 1968 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco: Crystal Syphon/Phoenix/Indian Head Band/Mint Tattoo/Initial Shock/Loading Zone
“Spring Medicine Show” Benefit for The Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic
June 28-30, 1968 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco: Steve Miller Band/Buddy Guy/Initial Shock
This show was advertised (a poster exists) but did not take place.
July 3, 1968 Straight Theater, San Francisco: Initial Shock/Allmen Joy/Indian Head Band/Phoenix
July 12, 1968 Cow Palace, Daly City: Iron Butterfly/Creedence Clearwater Revival/Vanilla Fudge/Kai Moore/Canned Heat/Sweet Rush/West/Sandy Bull
Harmony Benefit
A variant poster has Sandy Bull, Canned Heat, Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, West, Initial Shock, Wedge and Phoenix. Of course, Initial Shock was booked in Sacramento (below), but given that its less than two hours from San Francisco to Sacramento, they could easily have played both shows. However, since absolutely nothing is known about this Benefit, I have no idea who actually played.
July 12-13, 1968 Sound Factory, Sacramento: Steppenwolf/Ace of Cups/Initial Shock
The Sound Factory, at 1817 Alhambra, was a newly-opened venue run by Whitey Davis, the former proprietor of Portland's Crystal Ballroom as well as a critical figure at the Avalon Ballroom. This was one of the earliest shows at the Sound Factory (it appears to have opened on June 28--the July 12-13 poster is up top).
July 14, 1968 Balconades Ballroom, San Jose: Initial Shock/Womb/Phoenix/Freedom Highway/Rejoice/Day Blindness/Fritz Rabyne/Marble Gardens/Pure Funk/Uncut Balloon
The Balconades was on an upper floor of The Lyndon Building (built 1882), at 181 W. Santa Clara St. After time as a printing press for a newspapers, it had been turned into a ballroom (probably in the 1920s). It had been part of a Country and Western circuit for performers like Hank Williams and Bob Wills, back when San Jose was an agricultural center and the biggest radio station (KEEN 1370 AM) played country music. There were a few rock shows at Balconades in 1968, although this appears to be one of the last ones.
Most of the groups at this Sunday event were club bands that played around, but weren't yet at the Avalon level. "Fritz Rabyne" was probably the Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band, a Menlo Park band that featured former Menlo-Atherton High School students Lindsay Buckingham and Stephanie (Stevie) Nicks.
July 26-27, 1968 New Orleans House, Berkeley: Initial Shock/Shiva’s Head Band
The New Orleans House, at 1505 San Pablo Avenue, was Berkeley's premier club for rock bands that played original music.
August 16-17, 1968 Sound Factory, Sacramento: Pink Floyd/Initial Shock/AB Skhy Blues Band
Road manager George Crowe (see his Comment) recalls opening for Pink Floyd in Sacramento.
August 2-4, 1968 Fillmore West, San Francisco: Iron Butterfly/Canned Heat/Initial Shock
August 29-31, 1968 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco: Youngbloods/It’s A Beautiful Day/Initial Shock
October 18-20, 1968 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco: Velvet Underground/Charley Musselwhite/Initial Shock
October 31-November 2, 1968 The Ark, Sausalito Initial Shock/Devil's Kitchen/White Lightning
A flyer recently turned up on eBay. The flyer says "Boogie--Ball." Perhaps the Marin band Boogie was on the bill, or perhaps it was just an invocation. Devil's Kitchen were recently arrived from Carbondale, IL.
The Ark was a grounded steamer docked on Gate 6 in Sausalito. It was a hippie rock club and hangout, mostly open on weekends (Halloween was a Thursday this year).
November 8-9, 1968 New Orleans House, Berkeley: Initial Shock/Orion
November 28-30, 1968 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco: Quicksilver Messenger Service/Sons of Champlin/Initial Shock
The Avalon Ballroom had one more show after these that was still under Chet Helm's aegis, when Big Brother headlined (December 1, 1968), but Helms had to give up the lease on the Avalon due to financial difficulties and a struggle to get a Dance Permit.
The Avalon would reopen in March 1969, and members of Initial Shock were apparently part of the Avalon management team. This is just one of many tantalizing bits of history that makes their definitive story so worth looking forward to.
December 5, 1968 New Committee Theatre, San Francisco: Initial Shock/Aum/Notes From The Underground
December 6, 1968 New Committee Theatre, San Francisco: Initial Shock/Devils Kitchen/Sanpaku
December 7, 1968 New Committee Theatre, San Francisco: Initial Shock/Notes From The Underground/Sanpaku
The New Committee Theatre was at 836 Montgomery. The Committee (an improvisational comedy troupe) was the main performer there, but various rock shows were held as well.
December 20-21, 1968 Sound Factory, Sacramento: Initial Shock/Salloom Sinclair & Mama Bear
Although I recognize that I have only been capturing highlights of the Initial Shock's bookings in 1967 and '68, the trail runs pretty dry in 1969. Given that some members of the group--perhaps all--were involved in the management of the Avalon Ballroom when it re-opened on March 21, 1969, perhaps that had an effect, but the revised Avalon only lasted until April 6, so the final year of the Initial Shock remains vague. I have to assume there were many more shows than are listed here.
January 17-18, 1969 The Matrix, San Francisco: Initial Shock
February 28-March 1, 1969 New Orleans House, Berkeley: Initial Shock/Welliver Fields
March 26-30, 1969 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco
Jef Jaisun and the Slow Truck, Santana, AAA, It's A Beautiful Day, All Men Joy, Youngbloods, Country Weather, Welliver Fields, Initial Shock, AB Skhy, Linn County, Conqueroo, Frumious Bandersnatch, Fourth Way, Melting Pot, Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band, Clover, Shades of Joy, Alice Cooper, Pure Funk
The poster lists all the bands who will play over four nights, so I assume Initial Shock played some but not all of the shows, but I do not know for certain.
May 15-17, 1969 New Orleans House, Berkeley: Ace Of Cups/Initial Shock
The trail runs cold after this point, and future published revelations will be welcome.
Lead guitarist George Wallace apparently went on to work with Janis Joplin. Lead singer and guitarist Bill "Mojo" Collins went on to play in the group Sawbuck with Ronnie Montrose (they helped close the Fillmore West on June 29, 1971), but he relocated to Coastal North Carolina in late 1971. He remains an active and successful performer in the greater Wilmington area today.
This is a work in progress. Anyone with additional information about Initial Shock performances is encouraged to Comment or email me.
Posts
Hey Corry: My name is George A, Crowe and I was friends with the band and prior bands that the members were in. I was like the fifth Beatle and was the road managerfor IS. I was a very close friend with George Wallace for over 50 years right up until his death in 2004. You should know that Steve Garr passed last year. George Wallace , Myself and Brian Knaff went on to form the band Yellowstone after the break up of Initial Shock. And after that George and I formed The Invaders which led to a rockin album with Jerry roslie from the Sonics and we released Sonics 80's which has become a classic record. I am in contact with Brian and Mojo on a regular basis and we are doing an interview with Ugly Things Magazine currently. Only Mojo and I are actively playing music and Brian is a multi millionaire Talent Booking Agent who owns his own company in Las Vegas and Minneapolis.
ReplyDeleteOne concert you forgot was playing at the Sound Factory in Sacremento with Pink Floyd and we played the Matrix many times too. We played in golden Gate Park lots of times with the Airplane and Janis. I think that the one band we played with more than anybody was the Youngbloods and Janis. My email address is montanaredneck2002@yahoo.com if you want to email me and I will give you Brian's contacts and Mojo's too.
Best,
George A. Crowe
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ReplyDelete1) AB Skhy Blues Band was also billed with IA and Pink Floyd at the Sound Factory on August 16-17, 1968
ReplyDelete2) Initial Shock was from Missoula not from
Butte (the latter is only the city were they recorded their first single in 1966).
3) Steve Garr (real name: George Garr) was member of The Chosen Few (with George A. Crowe) while Wallace, Collins and Knaff was members of the Mojo's Mark IV.
4) George A. Crowe join them in San Francisco in 1968.
I can confirm January 16 and 17, 1969 as suggested by George and I would be really interested in any more Matrix dates. Somewhere I have a publicity poster which I recall has the band on one side and simply a giant IS on the other. I should be able to find some more shows when time allows. Ross
ReplyDeleteBruno, thanks for the heads up about Missoula vs Butte. Missoula is more of a college town, so it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of big IS newsprint posters with blank backs, maybe they were made to be used that way?
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm the guy writing the piece for UT.
Erik, I'm looking forward to the Initial Shock article in Ugly Things. What little I know about IS always seemed intriguing, and UT is the best possible forum.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like a good time to make a show list. Thanks for checking in.
And I can account for 28 additional, and consecutive, "one night stands" in December 1967 and January 1968. A nifty little ad appears in the Barb saying that the band will be returning to San Francisco from their "Northwest Holiday Tour" on January 16. A copy is in the post. Erik - as ever I am looking forward to your article. Ross
ReplyDeleteThis just in from Gene Sculatti...
ReplyDelete"Believe I saw Initial Shock at a one-off Palace of Fine Arts show in SF... Used to have this metallic-mirrored poster for that event, which was an unusual show for that venue; they had some arts exhibit and a couple of rock bands. Wish I could remember who else was on the bill. My guess is it was 1969 or '70. Maybe as early as '68."
Another show? George?
This show was the first live psychedelic arts show produced by or for Oscar de la Renta and the President of Saks 5th Ave. at the time.
DeleteMust be this. Brian Knaff told me they played any chance they could so lots of benefits...
ReplyDelete"Palace of Fine Arts Festival, 8/30-9/2/68, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco (benefit for Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic and The Athaneum Arts Foundation. This was one of those big S.F. events where everybody who was anybody played. The poster is 13.5" x 24" and is printed on silver foil paper with a collage of various images of the classical columns at the Palace of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, the bands and other performers are not listed on the poster, but they printed separate handbills for each day of the show and these handbills do list the performers who include Grateful Dead, Big Brother, Quicksilver, Santana, Steve Miller, Kaleidoscope, and the Sons of Champlin, to name only a few. Three of the 4 individual handbills are illustrated in The Art of Rock, pl. 2.237, 2.238, and 2.239. "
That would make sense. Initial Shock wasn't listed on the poster, but the actual bands who played were quite different than what was on the poster anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe last day was canceled, as many of the scheduled participants were heading up to Seattle for the first Sky River Rock Festival.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 24, 1967: Frumious Bandersnatch also played using Initial Shock's PA System.
ReplyDeleteOctober 31-November 2, 1968: Boogie was the band. There is a list of performers on the newspaper 'San Francisco Examiner'(Oct. 31, 1968).
ReplyDeleteNew show:
ReplyDeleteFall 1969: Adams Field House, University of Montana, Missoula, MT with Canned Heat
Hi, I have a concert poster by Rick Griffin (a version of the Aoxomoxoa cover for the Avalon Ballroom, Janaury (sic)24/25/26 1969 featuring the Grateful Dead, Sons of Champlin and Initial Shock. It was published in London in 1976 to accompany an exhibition of Griffin's artwork at The Roundhouse (where the Doors and Airplane played in '68).
ReplyDeleteIf the Avalon was closed in January 1969 maybe the concert was booked but never took place.
If you'd like a jpeg of the poster email me on gren.nation@gmail.com.
All the best
Gren Nation, Brighton UK.
The weekend shows were super successful.
DeleteBrian- It's Linde..... I see you are still amongst the living????? Remember me?
DeleteGren - The shows did indeed take place at the Avalon Ballroom (although they are not Family Dog shows) and they are missing off the list. I also see that the March 21-23 Avalon shows featuring Santana, Sons of Champlin and Dancing Food & Entertainment also seem to have slipped under the rada. At that time, the new managers of tha Avalon were Brian Knapp (of the Initial Shock) and Bob Simmons & Gary Scanalin (of the old Family Dog). I remember the Roundhouse Exhibition well with Rick Griffin signing the set of four posters for me. Ross
ReplyDeleteKnaff told me he was more of a silent partner. He procured funds to reopen the Avalon but didn't have any say in managing or booking per se.
ReplyDeleteI found some information about Initial Shock's activity during the March-April '68 period. In his Chronicle column of April 12, 1968, Ralph Gleason writes "The Initial Shock has just come back from a series of engagements in the East and returns there April 25 for appearances at The Cheetah in New York."
ReplyDeleteOther information in Gleason's columns around that time suggests that Initial Shock was booked at a benefit concert at the Palace Of Fine Arts in San Francisco on Sunday, April 14, 1968, headlined by Big Brother and Quicksilver. I think the concert was never actually played.
Initial Shock was also booked at the Lion's Share in Sausalito (not San Anselmo) from Sunday Apr 14 through Saturday April 20. Thus for this period it appears the list is
late March-early April 68: Easter tour
April 14, 1968: Palace of Fine Arts (canceled)
April 14-20: Lion's Share, San Anselmo
April 25>: The Cheetah, NYC
Corry,
ReplyDeleteIn April 14, 1968 Initial Shock played at the Carousel Ballroom with Big Brother and The Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Gospal Singers also on the bill. This was a "Haight-Ashbury Clinic Benefit".
The Initial Shock is indeed a Missoula, Montana band, since all of the members lived there. In my late teens and early 20's, many a mystical night was spent listening to the band live at the University of Montana, usually at the student union. The band backed The Raiders and many other well known bands that played at the U, and for the period that I was going with lead guitar George Wallace's little sister, Susan, it was my fortune to meet many of them at after parties (I've kept to myself and close friends some funny stories about many!). The band returned to play at the U after having spent some time in SF backing varies bands, including the Spoonful whose influence on George was obvious when he appeared wearing round glasses and playing the autoharp so well that we wondered if it was actually Sebastian.
ReplyDeleteAn additional IS show:
ReplyDeleteDecember 17, 1967: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA Country Joe and The Fish, Phoenix, Mt Rushmore, Mad River, Initial Shock (Agit-Pop)
Bruno refers to a Fall 1969 show with Canned Heat at University of Montana. I think by the they had broken up. I have a listing for a Yellowstone (George Wallace, George Crowe & Brian Knaff) show at the New Decorating Experience in Billings on Saturday October 11, 1969.
ReplyDeleteI do have a listing for Initial Shock with Canned Heat on Friday May 23, 1969 and with Brown Sugar on Saturday May 24, 1969 in Missoula at the University of Montana Adams Field House
You're right Greg (aka TourArchive) about the exact date of Initial Shock and Canned Heat show at the University of Montana. Thanks for this new info, I correct my "Canned Heat Shows List" accordingly.
ReplyDeleteRe the October 31-November 2, 1968 show. George Crowe mentioned his brother was in a band called White Lightning. Not sure if this was the group. Or if George's brother was in the Colorado White Lightnin'. Or...
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't George's bro at these shows.
DeleteRe the Palace of Fine Arts show. I've seen a photo of IS posing at the Palace, but not on stage. The band remembers playing the gig though and Gene Sculatti told me he remembers seeing them there for the first time, describing them as "punky" and "Yardbirds-ish."
ReplyDeleteIn the 11-11-12 issue of The Missoulian, the Initial Shock is pictured in one of their promotional photos from back in the day....There is a two full page feature in the Territory section regarding Montana bands from the 50's to the 70's...Nice to see the Initial Shock front and center and being given the credit they deserve as pioneers of a new direction in music....An aside ...There was another Montana band that made the journey to San Francisco..Barry and the Jaywalkers ...Their story was cut short when Barry was nearly killed in a horrific car crash...By the time he had healed,the scene was over (Altamont) and he returned to Montana,and lives in Missoula...He still has some of his music and hearing it brings one back to a place and time we can only dream about...I also have a Montana friend who went to S.F.and played in the pH Factor Jug Band,but he went down there by himself...
ReplyDeleteI have a poster advertising performances by Initial Shock and Brown Sugar on May 29, 30 & 31, 1969...the poster has a background of marijuana and joints spelling out 'Montana Tea Party'...the venues were 29-Grand Avenue Billings, 30-Montana State Univ., Bozeman and 31-Butte Civic Center...it is a San Andreas Fault poster printed by San Francisco's famous Bindweed Press
ReplyDeleteThough you can barely read the word "Initial" spelled out in bombs, "Shock" is obvious in a poster for the Sound Factory also advertising the Hourglass and Curley Cook on the weekend of 9/13-14 and 1968. The non-profit Sacramento Rock and Radio Museum is looking for a copy of this poster, as all we have now is a small jpeg of the original art. www.sacrockmuseum.org
ReplyDeleteFunny, I don't see reference to a concert, I think at Fillmore West, with Chuck Berry, Initial Shock, etc. Initial Shock backed up Chuck and before the end of the first tune, Chuck stopped the band playing, to everyone's surprise, and said, pointing to Brian Knaff, "This guy is not a drummer. Is there anyone in the audience who is a drummer?"
ReplyDeleteAs Brian slinked off-stage, a fellow came up from the audience, took the sticks, pounded out a riff to which Chuck exclaimed, "Now, this guy is a drummer". I'' never forget it.
Had to have been 1969.
Your memory is clouded on this one. Chuck Berry tossed the bass player off the stage not the drummer. The drummer went on to play with Chuck Berry as a back up over 10 times including a KROQ Rock Festival in Los Angeles and at the Long Beach Arena and at the the University Ballroom in Missoula, Mt to name a few. I know, I'm Brian Knaff the drummer.
DeleteOn this date in 1969 “The Jam” took place with Chuck Berry, Mike Bloomfield and Friends and Initial Shock. The Fillmore West was the venue for a four day run of shows. The artist of this 158th image in the Bill Graham Presents series was Randy Tuten, who created more posters for Bill Graham between the 60s and 80s than any other artist. Randy did a poster for Led Zeppelin that featured an avocado, so this was right up his alley with a cheeseburger. This is a popular poster to be hung in the dining room. This is BG-158-OPC, signed by Randy.
DeleteFunny, I don't see reference to a concert, I think at Fillmore West, with Chuck Berry, Initial Shock, etc. Initial Shock backed up Chuck and before the end of the first tune, Chuck stopped the band playing, to everyone's surprise, and said, pointing to Brian Knaff, "This guy is not a drummer. Is there anyone in the audience who is a drummer?"
ReplyDeleteAs Brian slinked off-stage, a fellow came up from the audience, took the sticks, pounded out a riff to which Chuck exclaimed, "Now, this guy is a drummer". I'' never forget it.
Had to have been 1969.
feb 2 1969 somehow my comment is up 1
DeleteRichard Regan also from Missoula MT. joined Initial Shock in April 1968 as Hammond organ player. After he was added, the band started receiving standing ovations at live shows.
ReplyDeleteRegan auditioned for Blue Cheer and Steve Miller Band. Richard Regan also auditioned for L.A.'s Odin.Regan plays 4 synthesizers and sings on originals. He is touring and will record his own material.
ReplyDeleteTo set the record straight,Mojo Collins'Airforce career abruptly ended when he threw a fellow Airforce serviceman out of a second story window in a fight. It ended in the death the guy who was thrown out of the window and Mojo did 6 months in the brig and was booted out of the Airforce with a Dishonorable Discharge. Mojo's Mark Four were all white guys. Mojo Collins has a rap sheet with 11 arrests.He never made it past the 5th grade with his family constantly on the move. He even admits in his bio that they often ate grubworms cooked with bacon fat because they were dirt poor during his childhood. So it is easy to understand that it was Mojo that held Initial Shock back from attaining stardom.His subsequent band Sawbuck made little to no money as a slave band for Bill Graham. Their album went nowhere because of poor distribution,weak sales and a pretentious label. Sawbuck quickly imploded after Monte Montrose and drummer Chuck Ruff were drated by Edgar Winter. After that as Mojo reveals in his biography, he was forced to bum living quarters,panhandle,and was forced out of the limelight of showbusiness. That was until he devised a subterfuge to steal his brother David's band in Wilson N.C. and call them aka Sawbuck. He kicked his brother out to gain full control. This pseudo-Sawbuck fizzled out in awhile. Mojo is an old geezer now at age 74. His CD's are pathetic, poor sellers,and reveal his egocentric attitude. He dresses like a fag onstage and usually looks like an acid overdose while singing. He wears a hippie mustache so big that you'd swear that you were looking at a walrus.He belonged in prison and is barely good enough for a good laugh.
ReplyDelete,
hello
ReplyDeleteOmitted in the Mojo Collins autobiography is his arrest for burglary while on tour. The Chosen Few precursor to Initial Shock were playing at Yellowstone National Park when Collins broke into a store at night to steal food. He was busted and incarcerated in the Yellowstone County Jail for 6 months. The band left without him as embarrassed as any band could be!
ReplyDeleteOn another occasion Collins tackled a band member onstage at a concert in Salt Lake City whereby the cops promptly shut the concert down and the band was never invited back to play at The Salt Palace again!
ReplyDeleteBilly Bob Collins his real name fired the original drummer Brian Knaff after Knaff gave Collins free residence at the Sigma Chi house in Missoula MT.and sneaked food out to him!
ReplyDeleteKnaff was replaced by a better drummer Kenny a heroin addict and friend of Collins. Collins then brow beat the Hammond organ player Richard Regan to the point of quitting Initial Shock. A black conga player was added. Collins singlehandedly mangled the band lineup to the point of fighting onstage at their last and final concert at ASUM Fieldhouse in Missoula MT..
ReplyDeleteInitial Shock manager bounced Mojo Collins out of the band and assumed ownership of all equipment.
ReplyDeleteCollins took off with Kenny never to play another concert in MT..
ReplyDeleteCollins and heroine addict Kenny soon parted ways.
ReplyDeleteAfter Initial Shock's final concert in Missoula,MT.. Doyle Wynn was supposed to return a massive rental P.A.System back to Harry McCuen Sound Ren.tals in San Francisco,CA.. It never came back because roadie Doyle Wynn stole it and probably ended up dead trying to sell all of it to the Angels at The Ark in Sausalito CA..
ReplyDeleteThe Shock's lead guitarist George Wallace lived with his parents in Wash.after the Yellowstone band dissolved. Sadly he became an alcoholic and died as a ward of the state in a mental institution. Bassist Steve Garr of Initial Shock also succumbed to acute alcohol poisoning after running the Top Hat for years in Missoula MT.. He should be credited for heading up The "M" Band which belted out blues frequently at the Top Hat. His ashes are spread over Virginia City,MT..
ReplyDeletehello fellow groupies!
ReplyDeleteOne more Montana rock band should be mentioned. Richard Regan helped start a band that was in competition with Yellowstone band. Called Zelda Quagmire and her Savage Delights Band they were Ross Gander lead gtr./vocals, Eddie Garr rhythm gtr./ vocals, Dan Rogers bass,and Richard Regan on Vox organ/vocals. The band's cameo debut was at the prestigious UC Ballroom on the University of Montana campus. The band wrote all of their songs and often toured Montana. Eddie Garr,cousin to Steve Garr, and Dan Rogers have passed away...may they rest in peace. The band resided at a huge house on Connell St. and was "the party place of Missoula!"
ReplyDeleteRichard Regan moved to Las Vegas,NV.where he played all over that city.He toured Montana and headlined the Smokejumpers Annual Gathering in Hamilton, MT..He appeared at The Oval in Missoula as well as two concerts at Carras Park. He performs all original material on four synthesizers/vocals powered through a massive sound system.
ReplyDelete.
Before joining Initial Shock, Richard Regan played Hammond Organ and sang with a successful rock band called The Sound System.They were based in Missoula MT.and produced a 45single that was played by radio stations throughout Montana. That band was comprised of Larry Underwood,a one of a kind star quality drummer' Steve Noblitt ld.guitar/vocals and on Hammond Organ/vocals Richard Regan. Even though still in high school their band called The Sound System packed the house at the Butte and Helena Civic centers with capacity crowds. Larry and Steve have passed on with Regan still carrying the torch for them as he still rocks hard throughout the nation.
ReplyDeleteRichard Regan rocks!
ReplyDeleteRichard Regan has jammed onstage with Elvin Bishop at The Matrix in San Francisco,CA..He also jammed with Carlos Santana onstage during a soundcheck at The Avalon Ballroom. He played with Steve Miller at Miller's house in Stinson Beach and jammed with the late Jerry Garcia at an afterhours jam session onstage at The Fillmore West.
DeleteRichard Regan was also a member of Initial Shock when they backed Chuck Berry for four nights at the Filmore West in San Francisco.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to all of the Initial Shock fans.
ReplyDeleteAfter interviewing a couple of people who lived and worked for Initial Shock they described the living situation at the band's Casa Madronna Apt.in SanFrancisco. Their apt. was packed with 10 people or more. There was always a shortage of food if any at all. They were frequently out of toilet paper. Band members never received any wages with communal style living. Crashers were ever present and inserted awkward vibes that came into play with the band's downfall. Mojo's hygiene was disgusting. He usually always had body odor. He would help himself to the other members clothes and never learned to flush the toilet. He was described as a hack and a hayseed who never made it out of Glascow,MT..
ReplyDeletehappy new year
ReplyDeleteInitial Shock did record several live tapes that were aired on San Francisco's KMPX FM STATION. Some were recorded at The Fillmore and some at The Avalon Ballroom in 1968. A lot of people are still searching for those recordings. Without a record contract Initial Shock had substantial drawing power. However, the absence of a record deal weakened the band's competitive edge and played a major role in stalemating the group as an opener for headliners. With no album out Initial Shock could not reach the momentum needed to sustain steady income. They went hungry. Bill Graham once awkwardly halted an Initial Shock performance before Regan was added on Hammond organ. They were performing a perfect rendition of a Byrds' hit complete with 12 string when Graham stopped their song midstream to quip "You aren't The Byrds.We don't play copy music here at The Fillmore!"So the band complied and dived into Boil Your Kettle Motha" which is one of their originals.They pulled out all their original material to finish their set. I often wondered if Bill Graham was shocked by those huge powerlines before he and his helicopter went down. Graham was also the person who suggested to Initial Shock that they replace Brian Knaff on drums. Before I forget, it should be noted that Greg Rollie auditioned for Initial Shock who had been together for 10 years. Greg opted for a newly formed garage band who came to be known as Santana.
ReplyDeleteThe best color poster ever was a Rick Griffin for The Avalon Ballroom. It had The Grateful Dead,Initial Shock,Sons of Chaplin done as a giant orgasm on oversized tagboard. At that concert The Dead showed up with a 100+ entourage. It was the grand re-opening of The Avalon and a packed house.Initial Shock received a standing ovation and The Dead did not.Initial Shock had a powerhouse signature sound. Mojo sang until dripping with sweat. Steve and George struggled to be heard over a deafening wailing Hammond with Brian beating his drumset so hard sometimes it was thunder. No other band had their sound. Regan sailed his Hammond through four Leslies.. T Steve,George, and Mojo were amped by 5-6 Fender Showmans. Knaff's Ludwig set was always miked through a huge California style P.A. system. Initial Shock was set apart from the rest of the bands with their raw power rock.They will be missed.
ReplyDeleteI would like to correct the previous article. Steve,George and Mojo were fitted with FENDER DUAL SHOWMANS 5-6 lined up in a wall. At The Sound Factory in Sacramento our headliner Pink Floyd showed up with no equipment. It seems their roadies hadn't been paid so they took off with Pink Floyd's truck and all of their equipment. They did their horrible sounds on all of Initial Shock's equipment.The Floyd was never invited to play The Sound Factory again.
ReplyDeleteTo this day I continue to break sheetrock with a wall of sound cabinets. I currently nuke out with 6 KUSTOM SPEAKER CABINETS all powered by an 800 watt powered mixer by HARBINGER.I use a touch of delay on the P.A..Most of my shows are outside where blasting isn't so restricted. Once I saw Ozzy I wasn't afraid to nuke.
ReplyDeleteAfter being ripped off for all of my music equipment three times, I have everything insured by State Farm this time. Rehearsed 3-4 hours per day for two years in a big new housed in Las Vegas. I use a Roland MK II 550 drum machine which can rock you like a train. This is the third one I've had with the first two being stolen from me. I've tried MIDI and sequencing but I like to play live.
ReplyDeleteWhen Initial Shock disbanded members had their equipment sold and clothes taken. Loans were not paid and Harry McCuen did not get his $10,000 rental P.A. system back. Knaff used all the money from the sale of the Hammond and Leslie to buy a new Ludwig drum set for Kenny. Knaff ended up taking that set for himself and started a crappy little top 40 band. He went from performing all original songs to all copy music again...about 10 steps backward.
ReplyDeleteSteve Garr having had enough of things managed to take two FENDER DUAL SHOWMANS out of Dr. Wallace's basement while nobody was home. Knaff assumed ownership of four FENDER DUAL SHOWMANS which George Wallace and George Crowe used to start Yellowstone. Knaff handled lead vocals and drums as well as booked all of the gigs for Yellowstone. Missoula may remember all three Ystoners riding around town on big Harleys. After band life Knaff became a successful booking agent starting Good Music Agency with Missoula resident Doug Brown. They booked rock bands throughout the Northwest. Good Music Agency morphed and grew into the colossal TALENT BUYERS NETWORK booking all the major headliners on the scene.They packed GRIZZLY STADIUM in MISSOULA,MT.by hiring THE ROLLING STONES. Knaff has rubbed elbows with none other than RINGO STARR. Both of Knaff's sons play in a rock group based in LA.On the other hand,both of Mojo's sons never learned or entered the music field.
ReplyDeletenot much is known about a son that Carol Field and George Wallace had. Knaff said that their son was raised by Dr.Wallace and his wife. Steve Garr raised a few daughters and left a wife when he passed a few years back. Ross Gander who has played in many Missoula area bands raised a son and a daughter with his wife Marianne.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed playing concerts in MISSOULA,MT.. Caras Park stands out in my mind at the moment. I slipped in under the huge white canopy and laid big rugs for my stage. It was April there by the Clark's Fork River and gusty but I had electricity from an outlet. It took nearly 3 hours to set up 9 cabinets and 4 synthesizer, P.A., and powered mixer. I played to a small band of hippie travelers who were appreciative of getting a free concert.I played two sets and even got a few barbecue hot dogs from some real nice people. I nuked out so loud they heard me at the University of Montana Girls Dorm. That was about a mile away. A Bumble Bee bicycle cop shut me down after the last song for having no permit at a cost of $150.00. He threatened me with jail when he caught me playing there again without a permit. You rock and roll.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY VALENTINES DAY DIE HARD INITIAL SHOCK FANS!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Richard, thanks for telling the ongoing story of what happened to the members of Initial Shock. It adds a lot to the Blog post.
DeleteI'll never forget when we played at The Whiskey on Sunset Blvd. and JIMI HENDRIX was seated at a big round booth with a girl on each side of him. I actually asked him to jam but he said that he didn't bring his axe. He plays a left-handed guitar strung backwards.The Whiskey always fed the band members a good hot meal from the kitchen. The girls were so beautiful they were like sirens to sailors as band members fought over the same one. We later saw Hendrix after our show cruising The Strip in a blue Corvette with the same two girls stuffed inside!Bands that were breaking big had color billboards on Sunset advertising their latest album.The smell of success was in the air as LA rewarded a bunch of bands with lucrative record money. As always there were more bands than jobs for all of them. The attrition rate for bands is high due to the unpaid struggle, to eat,to travel,to keep all sound equipment in good working order, to meet rent and so on.The band is the ultimate sacrifice. Members give up all else to put their band first. It's even tribal.We are a nomadic band of gypsies willing to risk it all for a shot at The Big Time.
ReplyDeleteInitial Shocks performance ie from the previous article was a gig at The Whiskey featuring Illinois Speedpress who managed to cut a record deal on Columbia. It was a big deal to play on the same stage where The Doors started to get famous. The Whiskey still separates the men from the boys and is going strong to this day... some 50 years later.
ReplyDeleteBrian Knaff,drmmer for Initial Shock was proficient at booking us in LA and San Francisco.We played at The Cheetah on Long Beach with SLY AND THE FAMILY, and LINDA RHONDSTADT!! Sly's horn section stole the show. The whole band wailed on their big hit songs! Linda had her first hit going for her at the time and performed with her band THE STONE PONEYS. The Cheetah has since been torn down.
DeleteI took a little press kit of myself to Brian Knaff's first office in Las Vegas. He had just relocated his booking business to Vegas from Minneapolis. In fact they were still called Good Music Agency. It was a very upscale office building and Knaff had a few employees. A few years later the GMA name changed to TALENT BUYERS NETWORK and Knaff's business rose to a national level competing with William Morris Agency and International Famous as well many more. Brian Knaff booked headliner entertainment on the Las Vegas Strip for years. He booked stadiums with big name bands throughout the USA.
ReplyDeleteBRIAN KNAFF and his family,wife and two boys enjoyed the luxury of living in a huge home built of castle looking stones on the prestigious Upper West side of VEGAS.It was close in proximity to Red Rocks and had a semi-circular"ELVIS"style driveway. BRIAN KNAFF'S house took your breath away. No other members of INITIAL SHOCK came even close to achieving BRIAN's high profile financial success.Through a lot of hard office work,jet rides,and tenacity BRIAN built TALENT BUYERS NETWORK to the same level as William Morris Agency, InternationalFamous, and Creative Artists Inc.They all book the big headliners.Nobody could drum and sing"IT'S A MAN'S WORLD"like BRIAN could when his paradigm band THE CHOSEN FEW came back to perform in MISSOULA at THE MAD HATTER complete with horn section. They had just come back from testing the waters in New York City and an extensive tour of THE DEEP SOUTH. THE CHOSEN FEW had a big TOP 40 hit or two and could generate capacity crowds at THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA.They got to live in GEORGE WALLACE's father's house. You may remember DR.WALLACE who was a Professor of Economics at UM. They lived in his basement off of Pattee Canyon Hill in MISSOULA,MT.I remember the cops blaring a siren as they raced up to that house to stop fights on more than one occasion! It usually happened during rehearsals in that daylight basement at the base of MOUNT SENTINEL with a view of MISSOULA.
ReplyDeleteBRIAN KNAFF used to book 10 city tours of Montana often hiring more than one second or third bill rock band. Those tours were absolutely a blast! Each band member was paid $50.00 at the end of the tour. We shared a billing with THE MOONRAKERS who BRIAN imported from Denver Colorado. It happened at The Helena Civic Center. THE CHOSEN FEW opened for MITCH RYDER and THE DETROIT WHEELS in Great Falls. I actually got to talk to MITCH after his sets at THE FREEMONT EXPERIENCE in Las Vegas. He asked me "What ever happened to those guys?"
ReplyDeleteBecause another semi-famous rock band already owned the name THE CHOSEN FEW,the second group by the same name decided to copywrite a new name. MONTANA'S CHOSEN FEW were christened INITIAL SHOCK and they did rock the house. Most other rock bands could not touch the powerful synchronized sounds that INITIAL SHOCK produced. We were not afraid to beat most other bands in songwriting prowess, in in stage presence,and the best live sound in THE HOUSE.Had MOJO COLLINS not choked we could have kept all the grinches away.MOJO COLLINS really blew it for us. It's embarrassing and something that he can never live down. HE managed to take the whole band down and to a subterranean level where INITIAL SHOCK could never regroup the TROOPS. As President Trump would say,"Sad".
ReplyDeleteMOJO COLLINS has become a cheap looking and sounding vaudeville act. He trys to pull off a one man show now and fails miserably. He abandoned traditional 1-4-5- blues chord changes and makes up lyrics as he goes along. He awkwardly stomps a tambourine on top of his tweed suitcase with his foot as if we are to accept this farce as a percussion section. MOJO COLLINS has never held a straight job or paid taxes. He has lived off people his whole life. Some of his CD's were paid for by welfare money,also the same source from which he supported his wife and two sons. He'll look you in the eye like a snake and brag that he's made it when he has never had a mortgsge or bought a new car.HE bums of of anyone he can including family. He has no class as a person or as a performer and can be seen in women's sparkle blouses which he parades on stage. He was so crude that he would try to steal other band members girlfriends because all of his couldn't stand him after awhile.I was always suspicious that he played a major role in putting his oldest brother in a mental institution for life. MOJO COLLINS is truly one of the biggest uneducated low-life's on the planet.He and fellow band members short-circuited themselves by not being a part of character building that Church,Little League,Cub Scouts, and a good family upbringing instill.The rest of us were stuck with this loser MOJO COLLINS was usually belligerent and volatile like a pin on a grenade waiting to blow up in our faces.He failed to bring a coat to a winter concert in MISSOULA,MT. and whined and cried out loud in the Greyhound all the way to MISSOULA from GREAT FALLS. I finally loaned my coat to the louse which he didn't want to return to me.Ive never had to work with a more over-rated musician with a despicable personmality that turned everybody off. This prick MOJO COLLINS needs a tune-up where some body slamming would be needed to teach him a lesson and make him see how crude he is around other people.COLLINS has a maligned personality disorder which is nurtured by narcissism and all of his grandiose lies about his life.
ReplyDeleteMy girlfriend Carol Frang and I left Missoula right after my departure from ZELDA QUAGMIRE AND HER SAVAGE DELIGHTS BAND. Internal struggles over not sharing Carol with other band members and former band members reached a boiling point. I wanted to try Colorado and fresh pastures. It created nothing but problems having every swingin' dick around making my ol' lady their hot property. Once safely tucked away at Carol's parents home in Golden CO.,we planned marriage.I worked in the Produce Dept. of the Safeway in Golden. Carol helped me save for another big Hammond Organ. I had air-freighted a new Leslie 900 from Missoula which made my equipment have a crisp look and sound. I jammed on stage at SKUNK CREEK INN in Boulder,CO.with a big Top 40 band of the day. I auditioned for WAKEFIELD from Denver,another cover band.I went to work for COORS at their aluminum can plant. Carol and I got to see Leslie West and Mountain perform a UC Boulder,CO.. I was in a band that auditioned to play MR. LUCKY'S in DENVER. I tried to join ZEPHYR based in BOULDER. I struck out for greener pastures and moved to LA. I gained employment at Mark's Shoes in Westwood Village. I had a Persian drummer,Mozzafar Neshat, and we performed at the INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CENTER on UCLA Campus. We also performed at a very upscale Persian nightclub called PERSEPOLIS located in CENTURY CITY. I was happy to have acquired a key to the PLAYBOY CLUB also located in CENTURY CITY.I was acquainted with VAN HALEN when they were one of the many bar bands that played SUNSET BLVD..I lived with the brothers at SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON on UCLA Campus in WESTWOOD VILLAGE.
ReplyDeleteI decided to try Salt Lake City after I discovered a rehearsal studio there. It still houses practice space for 30 bands. I played a park festival there and booked three bands at The Black Bear at city center. After residence at the studio called POSITIVELY FOURTH STREET for 2 years I started missing Vegas. So that's where I went. I remember it cost me $600.00 to get all of my music equipment shipped to Vegas. Salt Lake is one city that has no shortage of bands. Another studio there housed close to 40 bands. I had multiple offers to join a number of Salt Lake bands. I had a superior sound and better original material than any of them.
ReplyDeleteIt's somewhat unusual for a professional musician to be proud of the straight jobs held to replace equipment. A few that stand out for me are for four different construction companies in four separate states.I was also selected out of a lot of candidates to market products for HONEYWELL Corporation at UNIBASE TECHNOLOGIES in SANDY,UT..Straight jobs let musicians get accustomed to the real world. They also make one long to get back to the music business.
ReplyDeleteIt's somewhat unusual for a professional musician to be proud of some of the straight jobs that he or she has worked. A few that stand out are four separate construction companies in four different states. I was also employed by UNIBASE TECHNOLOGIOES in SANDY,UT.where I marketed controllers for HONEYWELL.
ReplyDeleteStraight jobs wake you up to reality as well as round musicians out. They separate real musicians from drugged out idiots covered in sloppy tattoos from head to toe.
ReplyDeleteMy first gig with INITIAL SHOCK was on a raised stage covered with red,white, and blue bunting at UNION SQUARE in San Francisco. It was election time in 1968 and we played a benefit for Bobby Kennedy there. He was staying at the Saint Francis Hotel right across the street. He never did come to the stage to speak or thank us. What is really a shocker is after we played and packed all of our equipment and finally got back to The Casa Madronna. We turned on the TV to learn that in the time we played,packed,and drove home,Bobby Kennedy had flown to LA and gotten himself assasinated!!! True story! I wanted to give credit to Harry McCune for providing the super state of the art public address system that we used that unforgettable day.
ReplyDeleteAs time went on INITIAL SHOCK started to get more popular throughout The Bay Area. We got stronger as a band as time progressed writing better material and drawing a bigger following as our popularity surged. We had a silent partner manager by the name of JERRY REED who deserves credit for booking us at the phenomenal PALACE OF FINE ARTS FESTIVAL featuring a myriad of headliner rock bands and lasted three days!!
ReplyDeleteWe added roadies and their girlfriends,changed drummers, added a conga player, and I QUIT!! As we got famous MOJO COLLLINS" head got so big that it finally blew up! When MOJO COLLIN'skull exploded, his Shit for Brains splattered all of us including our equipment,our stage clothes, girlfriend,our families,and our future. I will never forget his big mouth getting in everybodys' face. He was booed at their final concert at ADAMS FIELD HOUSE in MISSOULA MONTANA!! MOJO BUTTFUCK COLLINS deserves the Skull and Bones Award for ruining a prominent band that would have otherwise reached glory. Thanks a lot you ASSHOLE!!
ReplyDeleteSomehow my last entry made me laugh my as off! Our roadie George Crowe showed up with his wife and all of his belongings on our doorstep at The Casa Madronna. He owned a big beautiful brand new red Ford Fairlaine which helped us somewhat. His new Fairlaine was a convertible. George deserves praise for a well done job moving and setting up our mammoth load of equipment. He and his wife Bobbin Thompson were also former Missoula residents as most of the rest of us were. He was involved in a bad car accident with George Wallace where Wallace almost lost the use of his guitar playing hand.This was before I joined IS. Walllace was riding his Harley too fast on a gravel road and went down with his girlfriend Carol Fields on another occasion. Knaff said that he almost didn't make it. Carol was hurt badly also. GEORGE WALLACE had a wild devil may care attitude that played into his death years later.As much George Crowe wanted everybody to believe WALLACE backed JANIS, that's an absolute lie! WALLACE had zero songwriting ability in Yellowstone. They played only cover material ie copy music.Wallace had a big ego to match a big mouth. He had a bad habit of making fun of people even Carlos Santana. BRIAN KNAFF told me that his BIG MOUTH finally got the best of him when Wallace died as a ward of the state of Washington in a mental hospital there. The last time that I talked to GEORGE WALLACE's mother she told me that he didn't play guitar anymore. She also said that he was on an island that turned out to be McNiel Island where the Washington State Prison is located. He was sent there first for evaluation and then transferred to the mental hospital where he eventually died. KNAFF said that when he went to visit him at the mental hospital WALLACE looked bald from thinning hair and most of his fingertips were stained brown from smoking hand rolled cigarettes.KNAFF tried to sign for his release until he learned that WALLCE wasn't going anywhere because he was a ward of the state or locked up. It was hilarious when KNAFF told me that WALLACE had his suitcase packed and tried to leave that facility with him.I was shocked when KNAFF told me it was WALLACE who took all of my stage clothes.Before WALLACE was locked up a cowboy from MONTANA beat the hell out of WALLACE knocking out one of his front teeth and taking his guitar and girlfriend Carol Fields. That was the beginning of WALLACE'S downward spiral where WALLACE turned to alcohol which eventually finished him off. I would like to know if GEORGE CROWE was texting his boyfriend GEORGE WALLACE when CROWE slammed into a truck on his Harley. That a final accident left GEORGE CROWE a quadriplegic. He must have removed his picture from his website. That was the one where he is bedridden with two oxygen tubes protruding from his nose.It sounds to me like his own Karma did him in somehow.I sympathize his suffering. I wanted to thank GEORGE CROWE for tearing MOJO off me when he tackled me from behind onstage at THE SALT PALACE.Not seeing it coming my head hit the drumset hard.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to also thank GEORGE CROWE for taking me on vacation to his Grandparents' cabin on Seely Lake in Montana. GEORGE CROWE paid all of the expenses.We had a blast dancing with the girls at the bar at Seely Lake. While there GEORGE CROWE saved a man's life by rescuing him from the middle of the lake after the guy's sailboat had overturned. Good job GEORGE!! I was also impressed with the CD's that you recorded. You definitely stayed busy in the music business.Without you GEORGE WALLACE would have gone down a lot sooner than he did.Bless you Brother! I also enjoyed reading all of your blogs.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens to displaced rock musicians is that they eventually are forced to choose another career. When INITIAL SHOCK ended my mom and dad helped me with residence at my grandfather's house in ANACONDA, MONTANA,the town where I was born.I gained employment at ANACONDA COPPER SMELTER where I was on the labor crew. I immediately started saving for a new Hammond B-3 and Leslie speaker cabinet. It was at that time period 1969 that I actually set up two big band auditions and from Anaconda. The first one was with DICKIE PETERSON of BLUE CHEER.They had practically no equipment and were doing heroin so I flew back to the Butte airport.Once back in Anaconda, I resumed shoveling very dusty piles of ore tailings at my job in The Ore Crusher Dept.. I set up another miraculous audition with none othe than STEVE MILLER. Tim Davis was his drummer who also lived at THE CASA MADRONNA during that same time period as INITIAL SHOCK.I met STEVE MILLER coming from TIM's apartment. TIM DAVIS even picked me up when I arrived from Montana at San Francisco Intl. Airport. It was a huge thrill to drive out to MILLER'S two very modern pre-fabs located across Golden Gate Bridge on the Mill Valley side.One house was a rehearsal house and next door was STEVE's very plush home with a sunken living room. I tried to keep up on "I'M NOT YOUR STEPPIN'STONE". We also jammed a 1-4-5 chord blues jam which was fun. During my audition STEVE got a call from a University in Kansas to play for $10,000. They had to start packing to fly out there. BOBBY WINKLEMAN was his handsome bass player at the time. THE STEVE MILLER BAND has had at least ten different members. STEVE has a jaw dropping $14,000,000 estate for sale right now near Ketchum, Idaho.That home is on Big Bear River and has three guest houses. Paul McCartney stayed at one of those guest houses.
ReplyDeleteI would like to address KEN TAYLOR who was BRIAN KNAFF'S replacement on drums. I would like to give him credit for at least having acknowledged that RICHARD REGAN was a former member of INITIAL SHOCK. That is more than MOJO COLLINS or GEORGE CROWE did. For your information there is no album by INITIAL SHOCK other than a three song compialation a radio station bootlegged. See the website. There were a few 45's that went nowhere not even making the TOP 100 on the radio surveys. Very little money was made off of those 45's. If GEORGE CROWE hasn't passed away he should have copies of those. If KEN TAYLOR is playing guitar 5 nights a week in Scottsdale then why didn't he give us the name of the club/bar where he plays? Could this be a lie? Also KEN you stated that SAWBUCK bought you out of your contract. Not true. The truth is that you had nothing to do with SAWBUCK. MOJO told me that you went back to heroin and playing on garbage can lids after he dumped you. That's where he found you in the first place. Are you still living off your ol' lady?Also what kind of a man lets a slug like COLLINS ball his ol' lady on a frequent basis? That's probably the reason you left. I can't say that I blame you. No one wants COLLINS' filthy dick screwing their wife.It was a surprise that you contributed to the IS website. Even though you were a member of IS for a few short months we still gave you the ride of a lifetime.It's obvious that you never recovered to that level again. How can you give PUNK-ASS Collins any respect when he completely omitted both of us from the IS line-up? I have been busy spreading the word about the COLLINS murder conviction and long rap sheet in an effort to get him fired from every venue he plays.I guarantee that he won't win the North Carolina Songwriters Award a second time after I talked to the CEO heading the Arts Council there. It's time that you and George Crowe stop stop living in a fantasy world and step up to the plate like a man.It's also time for everybody to stop kisseing RETARDED MOJO COLLINS lily whit ass. Maybe his ass isn't so white after all since he never used toilet paper or flushed his turds at our apartment in The Casa Madronna!
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest shows that IS ever performed at was ay THE FILLMORE WEST starring CANNED HEAT,IRON BUTTERRFLY and INITIAL SHOCK. At the time CANNED HEAT had the number one single,"ON THE ROAD AGAIN" topping the charts along with their album. A lot of the audience had never seen IRON BUTTERFY perform and we all will never forget the fabulous artwork on their first album cover. INITIAL SHOCK earned a standing ovation at that show. Our original drummer BRIAN KNAFF filled our percussion position at that performance. There was an exceptional poster advertising that concert that is still selling today. The FILLMORE WEST was so packed to the gills at that one that it was practically standing room only. INITIAL SHOCK rocked the house with our standing ovation getters "MONA" and "LOVIN'MAN".BILL GRAHAM definitely made money on that heavy billing. PAUL BARATTA introduced all of the bands to the packed house.He would say,"...and now from our own backyard please welcome INITIAL SHOCK"!
ReplyDeleteI will never forget a gig at THE AVALON BALLROOM where we IS were billed with THE STEVE MILLER BAND and QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE. Everyone could smell the aroma of cheeseburgers being cooked upstairs and STEVE MILLER asked me to ask the kitchen for a complimentary cheeseburger for himself to which they complied. The female cook handed me a cheeseburger for MILLER to chomp on.However, half way to the stage the aroma of the cheeseburger was overpowering to me also a starving musician and I devoured the thing. That's when STEVE recorded "LIVIN'IN THE USA" that night live at THE AVALON. Because he didn't get his cheeseburger eaten by me, his memorable plea at the end of the song even made it onto the SAILOR album. At the end of that song STEVE yelled "Somebody get me a cheeseburger"! True story, but I lived to regret eating his cheeseburger later on when I auditioned for him. That gig was also the night that STEVE and BOZZ SKAGGS were arguing onstage.STEVE unplugged BOZZ SKAGGS amp and ordered him off the stage. It was an awkward event...that whole night.
ReplyDeleteINITIAL SHOCK flew to SALT LAKE to join headliner STEVE MILLER BAND at the TERRACE BALLROOM on State Street.We still had our original drummer BRIAN KNAFF for that concert. MILLER had a newly formed band who were green and they had a cheesy live sound. I talked MILLER'S roadie into augmenting my four Leslies with plugging into 4 of their SUNN 2000 amps with a microphone. I was deafening and and blew all fuses in their amps about 3 songs into our set.I sent their poor roadie scrambling to replace fuses so the MILLER BAND could go on after our set. I did the same thing by borrowing a couple of stacks of CANNED HEAT's amps to nuke out when we were billed at THE FILLMORE WEST. OZZY OSBOURNE would have been proud. I had the priviledge of meeting SHARON OSBOURNE before OZZY'S concert at the THOMAS&MACK CENTER in LAS VEGAS.What a nice lady she is. Before their sound check I sneaked on their stage and played their keyboard (used on only one of their songs)through their massive PA system. I heard that OZZY was up in the glass booth and heard me.Of all the rock bands that I ever saw and heard, OZZY OZBOURNE was by far the best. LED ZEPPLIN comes in second to OZZY.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of LED ZEPPLIN, I was fortunate to have been at THE FILLMORE WEST for their first appearance in America. They were stunning in sound,show,and comraderie. I got to meet all of them in the back band room and begged them to let me jam a last song on BRIAN AUGER and TRINITY'S Hammond B-3 at the end of their second set.ROBERT PLANT did not want to do a blues jam. My middle name is Page so JIMMY PAGE and I hit it off well when I told him. When nobody was looking I swiped Plant's stage shirt. I was a star struck 18 year old kid.
ReplyDeleteI would like to address BRIAN KNAFF'S pathetic and contrite blog response to ARBEITER who was at the CHUCK BERRY concert where a change over in drummers occurred for INITIAL SHOCK live onstage at THE FILLMORE WEST.CHUCK BERRY did not throw the bass player off the stage as KNAFF claims. That is a lie as fat as Knaff is. Because our bass player STEVE GARR was dead KNAFF used him as a scapegoat.KNAFF simply handed his drumsticks over to KEN TAYLOR who we had chosen as a preplanned replacement and we all noticed the improved sound immediately. CHUCK did say about KENNY,"Now that's a drummer!" as we performed CHUCK BERRY'S hit songs one after the other. CHUCK also looked at me and said that STEVE and GEORGE were a valuable asset and that we should chuck MOJO. It was obvious that COLLINS was a racist even onstage backing CHUCK BERRY.KNAFF'S blog to ARBEITER was pitiful in content length and in revealing the truth. Does anyone have any recollection of KNAFF backing CHUCK BERRY at THE UC BALLROOM at the University of Montana?KNAFF backing CHUCK at the Long Beach Arena is a lie as are his delusional claims to have backed him 10 more times.Is there any proof? KNAFF didn't even start learning to play drums until he was a freshman at University of Montana. He would too often drop a drum stick at live shows and would have to get off his drumset to retrieve them. KNAFF put on a huge display of unprofessionalism during another live show by INITIAL SHOCK at the prestigious FILLMORE WEST. We were playing an original called "MONA" where in the middle of the song we got creative and went into improvisation for awhile before getting back to the structured format. THE GRATEFUL DEAD used this technique a lot. KNAFF got completely lost during the improv part of "MONA" and completely panicked. He stood up in front of a packed house and threw his sticks,turned and cursed me out loud. We resumed heading into the structured format of "MONA" with credit due to GEORGE WALLACE to pull us back together without the drums. KNAFF had to gather his sticks from the bottom level of the stage and then climb on his drum stool again to continue thrashing away which was his style. This clown act by KNAFF is something that he can never live down. It definitely had an influence on our decision to try for a more professional drummer to replace this HACK.
ReplyDeleteWhen I joined INITIAL SHOCK I was still only 17 years old.MOJO was 7 years older and the rest were 5 years older. They seemed to enjoy picking on me and badgering me a lot. Before my mother died I remember her saying,"When you left our home to join INITIAL SHOCK you left with all of your clothes and a lot of equipment.When you left INITIAL SHOCK and San Francisco you came back to Missoula with only the shirt on your back." When IS broke up it was every man for himself and they took what they could.KNAFF and CROWE being the two biggest bullies got the lion's share of our equipment. I heard they all wore my stage clothes at their final show in Missoula,MT..Knaf borrowed $300.00 from me as a personal loan and has only paid $65.00 on it to this day. He also sold one of my Leslie organ speakers which now price out at $1100.00 now without tax. He used that on a trade for a new drum set. It was nothing but bullying when he stole from me.MOJO took delight in bullying me and even took his dick out and tried to put it in my face. He used to sleep with another queer named "Rick the Prick Richter" when they toured together.
ReplyDeleteI'm not through with you yet KNAFF. Before I butcher KNAFF, send him to the slaughter house and through the meat grinder I have a few nice things to say about him. BRIAN KNAFF booked our band, showed leadership skills, and was our press agent. He was adept at quelling arguments that were usually started by MOJO who was always on the rag and never changed his rag when he was on his period. In other words he stunk most of the time.BRIAN usually paid the bills and made the band practice until we were blue in the face. He swindled the landlady Miss Prissant out of 10,000 and gave it to that prick CHIP MONK so THE AVALON could get a two week run and then go down again. My Hammond B-3 was shot not connecting properly and went out at THE NEW ORLEANS HOUSE so badly that I had no instrument to play. His Ludwig drum set had so many miles on it that it hardly held together anymore. What does the BOZO BRIAN KNAFF do with the ten grand? He handed it over to a complete stranger and failed to purchase new equipment for our band. KNAFF is the bastard son of a white mother who fucked some Indian male when she was drunk according to KNAFF himself. He grew up in Glascow,MT., a backward little cowtown on the eastern side of Montana. KNAFF thought it was cute to moon people in public with his fat ugly ass. Since he was in complete control of our money he never starved and had his mother actually live with the band at their apartment in The Casa Madronna. He was against pot and would threaten to quit if the members smoked it. Incidentally, STEVE GARR used to hand out acid doses like it was candy.KNAFF had a shaved head when long hair was in and he looked out of place when they appeared with PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS at the ADAMS FIELD HOUSE in Missoula. I was 14 years old when I saw THE RAIDERS which was my very first rock star concert. Every one was blown away by the RAIDERS who really upstaged the supporting cover band that opened for them. The Chosen Few could not hold a candle to PAUL REVERE'S RAIDERS. The entire audience was spellbound by the show THE RAIDERS gave us. They had a huge spotlight on them and did precision dance steps in unison. They were unforgettable and ahead of their time. I will never forget their blue velvet military uniforms and the terrific show that they were able to pull off for a packed house. I actually saw PAUL REVERE and THE NEW RAIDERS again at THE LOUNGE in the former FRONTIER HOTEL/CASINO on THE STRIP in Las Vegas. PAUL didn't miss a beat then either.They appeared frequently at THE SOUTHBEND HOTEL/CASINO in Las Vegas.
ReplyDeleteI took a tape and little press kit to KNAFF at his office which was GMA in Las Vegas.Of course the prick wouldn't book me. He said he only booked bands as I tried to explain to the idiot that I had a full band sound. It was obvious on the tape that I gave him that I had a full sound with bass,drums,vocals and synthesizers. Still the fat prick wouldn't do anything for me and he still owes me money.He doesn't hesitate to book his sons of course. BRANDON looks like a drugged out meth head. He has amateur tattoos from neck to belly button and resembles a Red Hot Chili Peppers wannabe. He and brother ADAM KNAFF have a website that does not really show their music but rather exploits their look.See for yourself.The apple doesn't fall far from the tree especially when their Daddy pays for everything.KNAFF once called a loan/mortgage company that I worked for in Vegas and told my boss that I would ruin the company. I have worked for 84 loan/mortgage companies at last count and that was over a period of 15 years
ReplyDeleteA little over 40 years ago my ROLAND Dr. Rhythm MK II-550 drum machine was stolen out of my van. That loss caused me to take a Labor Crew roofer job with Universal Roofing. We were the largest roofing company in the world after just merging with a big one from Phoenix AZ. called Bryant Roofing. The merge brought our number of towering cranes to a total of three. It was 300 feet up on the roof of the nearly constructed MGM HOTEL/CASINO and 130 degrees in July. A little over a 100 man crew worked around the clock as we pressed to finish the roof as big as three football fields. It was 130 degrees and I remember covering my exposed skin with the wet cool light cement. We had the iron workers weld and lay the steel as we had our sheet metal crew lay oversized sheets of galvanized steel with 8" X 4" troughs filled with a 10" pour of lightweight fine grade concrete. Huge bales of chicken wire are layed down to strenghthen the concrete. The hundreds of 3' x 3' Styrofoam blocks are fitted ontop of the sticky wet cement. Last is the rollout which are forklifted into place and this weatherproof rubber coated canvas is rolled out over the Styrofoam blocks and nailed down with oversize washers to hold it down during storms. Back then $8.50 an hour almost made it seem worth it. Constuction workers slept in their vans to save money faster. I did get a new drum machine earned the hard way and it cost $465.00 to replace with a new one. That was one job that I will never forget.
ReplyDeleteI had a Drummer in Las Vegas named Scott Jahnel. He helped me get construction jobs and a house . I loaned him $300.00 to nail a 16 piece clear acrylic set of Ludwigs ..the drumset of a lifetime. He did pay me back the three Benjamins but he lost the mortgage on his house as did many more of my friends. He thought that I sounded just fine with my Drum-Machine and I took it as a compliment. Scott bailed back to Wisconsin to be with his mother. Around that period I auditioned for ANGELSTAR one of the hottest cover bands on THE STRIP at the time. They had a gorgeous bass player by the name of JERALYN LEE. and an Italian man Mr. Angelestari ran the band and played lead guitar and keyboard. They also had a female lead singer and were booked nonstop for years on THE STRIP. I appeared in LAUGHLIN,NV.ie on The River one night with THE SHAUNTEE BROTHERS BAND.I got to try out their keyboard player's Yamaha DX-7 "the workhorse keyboard of the day." The had two foxy Vietnamese girl singers up front. That band really put on a show!
ReplyDeleteSIDRO'S ARMADA was another STRIP band that I really wanted to join. SANTA FE are still blowin'at THE NEW PALMS now owned by STATION CASINOS.DJs rule THE STRIP now and get paid big money to rock the house.
ReplyDeleteI had more success with all of my MONTANA bands than any others from outside its borders. Montana bands usually had better equipment and tried harder than any others. I apologize for accidentally forgetting JOHN REGAN was in the lineup on DRUMS for Missoula's ZELDA QUAGMIRE and her SAVAGE DELIGHTS all living at 533 Connell across the street from The University of Montana. It was a great time living at that huge 5 bdrm. house. We could rehearse and blast out in the basement heated by a big pot-bellied wood burning stove. My VOX Continental organ had black keys where the white ones should be and vice-versa for the black ones. My LESLIE 900 made the VOX Continental sound like a veritable chainsaw in the house! ZELDA QUAGMIRE band had all customized black vinyl cabinets equipped with very state of the art JBL 15 and 12 inch speakers that no other band had. Our cabinets with the JBL'S were hand crafted by JACK BOYCE who helped start The BUTTERFIELD line of sound cabinets.ROSS GANDER also worked with The BUTTERERFILD builders. We had a very efficient PA pushing all 8 of the 15 inch JBL'S at our opener for The Girls Dorm at UC BALLROOM. Our bid rustic house had an oversized fireplace that warmed the house as it crackled and spat hot burning faggots like missiles of sparks. Our live-in girlfriends Carol Frang and Charr Gonyett were very fine girls.I heard that Charr may live in France now. The dishes really piled up in that house and food vanished like mice on a block of sharp chedder! The $400.00 that I collected for that band still seems like a lot of money for a performance.
ReplyDeleteWe are waiting for Spring to set in here. After it warms up I will book a bandshell for a $25.00 permit. For your money you get a 4'concrete and brick stage with outlets,two restroom keys and no cop.You have to"pay to play" these days when the money used to go the other way. I am fortunate to have a large audience fron The Farmers' Market just a stone's throw away from ground zero ... detonation of mega-decibels from my wall of speakers.
ReplyDeleteTV is so bad that it drives me to bed to read at 7pm. Thanks to my music hobby,I feel fulfilled as a person with it and incomplete without being able to be creative in the music field. The workhorse synthesizers that are made in JAPAN are my favorites. My current arsenal of the big gun synths number four. I have the only two silver Ultimate Support Systems keyboard stands around. I have the latest boom arms{two} that mount to stand eliminating a traditional microphone stand. Soon to be added are the latest in LED T-PAR colored stage lights which will upgrade my stage presence. Buying new gear is a never ending process just to keep up with the pack and part of throwing your hat in the ring. There's no time like show time.
ReplyDeleteIt's a cold and blustery day that was preceeded be a veritable gale then a snowstorm throughtout the night. My Special Event Permit Application was tagged with an add-on $15.00 Special Use Permit so the wholw enchilada is now $40.00. With this business/ hobby you can't afford the time to anylyze"Is this going to pay off?" By reflex it only seems fitting to pour more money into paying more dues to stay in the club. It definitely beats gambling at the 21 tables all over Vegas.
ReplyDeleteSpring is making its grand entrance with a wet and rainy one. When I was still new as a member of the band we played a benefit at The Strait Theater with a couple of other "up and comer" bands. It was terrific to see INITIAL SHOCK in big black letters on the marquee especially when that was when The Haight-Ashbury Scene was still peaking! We also played at a wounded veterans' hospital in The Presidio for those soldiers who made it back. We were aired on closed circuit TV there so the wounded could see our performance from their rooms.
ReplyDeleteThe rain morphed to quarter-sized snowflakes and its nice to have a warm apartment with me and my three little Beta fish. Old Man Winter is winning the last few rounds as snowstorm weather keeps us shut-ins. I keep my four synthesizers set up in the living room and management allows only headphones. So there is never a beef about volume.Our biggest Concert at The Meadow in Golden Gate Park drew an estimated crowd of over 10,000 people all wanting a free concert. I remember I was loaded to the gills on some pretty stout LSD and managed to find the stage somehow. We kept blowing the little generator that Whitey Davis had for power and the stage was 6' high scaffolding. I was dressed in a velvet shirt and crushed velvet pants.
ReplyDeleteI played the Hammond for INITIAL SHOCK at what was to be my introduction to the debutante' families of San Francisco's most elite. One gig was at in the Ballroom of a very fancy hotel. It was a "coming out party" for the young debutantes and their families. It was the first time many of the high society of Pacific Heights had ever heard live hard rock! The young dedutantes were all in very expensive floor length gowns but got down on the dance floor. It was my first look at the aristocratic society and they put out a food spread fit for royalty and it truly was a very fine Ball to play at for money. The second Deutante' Party was another paid gig at a Club House and had a layout of every sort of seafood imaginable. The theme of that one was "Hawaii" and they all wore Hawaiian gowns and tropical flowers were placed around the room for ambiance. Again we surprised everyone with a hard rock sound they loved. Those were some of the good times we had in San Francisco.
ReplyDeleteINITIAL SHOCK played City Hall of San Francisco. We played not on the steps or on a stage but inside City Hall itself.The help had a wet bar set up and me being a minor and being able to get booze saw to it that some good whiskey went down. While I was getiing in trouble for getting into the alcohol Steve Garr smuggled a couple of full bottles out to our van! Steve and George did their cowboy routine which I thought odd. We seemed to appear everywhere and newspaper columnist Herb Caen gave us favorable press in The San Francisco Chronicle. In 1968 The S.F. Giants won the World Series and San Francisco had a psychedelic scene and music concerts like nowhere else. The Fillmore West was the place to be seen and to be heard.
ReplyDeleteINITIAL SHOCK played an outdoor concert on a raised stage for the biggest Drug-Rehab.Operation in the state of Ca.who were SYNONON. Several bands came and went but I remember a beautiful sunny day with over several hundred people in attendance. We got a $100.00 for that one but back then it bought a lot more groceries than today.
ReplyDeleteWe played up in the hills of Mill Valley outdoors on a raised stage for a Catholic Org. with nuns as part of the audience. A few of them said that it was the first time that they had ever heard live hard rock! That too was a typical sunny California afternoon.
ReplyDeleteBack in Vegas I rented a good sized room at MIKE ROBERTS' ADVANCED AUDIO. The facility housed 5 bands in rehearsal studios and had a recording studio with ADAT and a big stage. It was over on Procyon off Tropicana. We usually sent me as the gopher for big Mexican burritos at the little Mexican joint down the street.
ReplyDeleteIt felt like INITIAL SHOCK moved up some levels when Steve Garr rented a brand new 3/4 ton truck for us to transport our equipment. It was a blue truck but I don't remember the make/model and it had a super-fine radio and heater etc.. We had George A.Crowe as our big roadie along with Doyle Wynn. Both roadies were smart on sound gear both set-up and teardown. We rented a massive California style PA from Harry McCune of San Francisco whenever we toured. Upwards another level was getting separate motel rooms at some pretty fancy places. George A. Crowe was always the life of the party and always had us all laughing. Doyle used to hand out LSD and even devised a subterfuge to steal our Fender bass guitar and Gibson SG lead guitar during a load-up at Mill Valley College in Mill Valley,CA.. He was also complicit in stealing the new blue truck with a Harry McCune rented PA system which never came back according to Mr. McCune himself. A rumor flew around "that something happened to Doyle" and he hasn't surfaced anywhere since he drove back from Missoula MT.to San Francisco CA..That heist helped bury INITIAL SHOCK in even a deeper grave.The despot Mojo Buttface Collins got his due and don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out you hayseed! You were the catalyst that caused the huge meltdown of INITIAL SHOCK.
ReplyDeleteWhen we opened the new UC Ballroom at U.of M. in the winter of 1968 it had snowed two feet in Missoula. Our plane from San Francisco was a four engined clunker whose radar could not line up the landing strip during whiteout at Missoula's Airport. We kept circling not being able to even see a lit-up landing tower. The pilot aborted attempting a blind landing and we ditched for Great Falls.We got to Great Falls and landed about midnight. We were put on a Greyhound bus and about 50 miles out the heater in the bus completely stopped. It turned into the bus ride from Hell all the way to Missoula which was about four hours away. Trying to land back in Missoula was terrifying to me to this day. We arrived for our Christmas concert at UC Ballroom to find the place absolutely packed with a few thousand people it seemed! We got a standing ovation after "MONA" and we knew we had Missoula backing us forever.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY ST.PATRICK'S DAY to anyone who saw,knew or worked for INITIAL SHOCK!!!
ReplyDeleteINITIAL SHOCK played at Saint James Catholic Hall on a raised stage a few days after opening UC Ballroom at UM. It was poorly advertised and the weather was Arctic winter cold in Butte MT. when we played at St. James in 1968. When I drove through Butte a decade later Butte had a big and modern club featuring the best rock bands. I am still flabbergasted by how professional and talented VALEETA and RADIO were. They performed the top cover material and I looked to see them make it really big one day. The first time that I saw them was at The Rocking Horse in the mall in Missoula.Valeeta hails from Missoula and this hometown girl really set the bar. When I talked to her in Butte she did seem to have a touch of burnout. VALEETA and her band RADIO lived in Denver,CO. and definitely were booked solid at clubs throughout several states. The grind of performing top 40 every night and internal conflict are only two factors that can cause band disintegration. Copy music bands seemed to be unsettled by the encroachment of DJ'S. There is nothing compared to the feeling of reward from writing your own music.
ReplyDeleteINITIAL SHOCK eventually added a third roadie from Missoula named Terry who had a live-in work situation whereby he also moved his Montana girlfriend into a bedroom at Casa Madronna. So it's not hard to believe we had ten or more stuffed into our apartment. I remember when two real Hell's Angels slept on our living room couch for a week or so. After our concert in Butte,MT I ran into a former band member from my early on high school band The Kegmen...Mark Larsen. After Mojo had yelled at my Mother on the phone a few times he became a real pain-in-the-ass to be around. Mojo made it apparent that he was going to steal my high school sweetheart by grabbing her and fucking her. He would lash out at me whenever he could and I started to hate working with him. I was just about at the end of my rope with INITAL SHOCK and didn't even know it. Mojo was intent on removing me from my membership in the band and his seething with jealousy over losing a little bit of spotlight was the culprit that eventually put the whole band out of business. It wasn't long into their Montana Tea Party Tour that Mojo's venomous personality lit into Steve and George live onstage at The Adams Fieldhouse in our hometown of Missoula. Mojo was probably loaded on acid for that final catastrophic volatile eruption of behavior towards Steve and George at the biggest concert of the whole Montana Tour. Collins'love for himself over and above all else also ended his own future chances at reaching stardom with INITIAL SHOCK. He pulled a sort of suicide in order to kill the whole band first. His hatred and jealousy surge as he omitted two members from the line-up. He prefers to lie in order to glorify himself as not being a real loser. There were some real nice big color pictures of INITIAL SHOCK that Mojo would not allow the web-site designer to use featuring all of the members. Thanks to your poor work Collins,our web-site remains inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteI was hopeful that BRIAN KNAFF still liked his band INITIAL SHOCK enough to send his pictures of us at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts to JERRY REED c/o our web-site for publishing. JERRY REED has a 10"X 10" color shot of IS live onstage at The Fillmore and that is of a five piece band. REGAN can be seen out front on the Hammond. There are also photos of IS with KENNY TAYLOR as drummer that I've seen in Missoula on a music store wall next to Hellgate High School. There are also some pictures of Spokane's rock band LION in that same music store. LION was a regular at DR. JECKLE and MR. HYDES, a rock club on Main St.in Missoula. BRIAN KNAFF booked LION for GMA.and they were on the rise as a solid workhorse band. When they broke up their talented Bass player/Vocalist JOHN could not adjust and committed suicide.
ReplyDeleteThere were some unforgettable happy times with genuine California friends JULIE and DAWN. Dr.Wallace drove up from Missoula with his daughter Susan and my high school girlfriend Barbi to see us perform at The Fillmore. After getting a standing ovation one night Dr.Wallace treated the whole band and all of our girlfriends to dinner at Peter Alioto's. I can remember how grand that hot buttered lobster tasted to this day! Haight Street was bustling with shops of all kinds and the scent of rhododendrons filled the gentle sea breeze. That Summer of '68 in San Francisco was one of the best of all time for INITIAL SHOCK.
ReplyDeleteThere was a very nice Berkley couple MORT and his wife who had our whole tribe over for steak dinner! They were both high school teachers. Their house was high up in the Berkley Hills with a view. MORT would drag out his mammoth hookah and we all puffed the magic that he put in his pipe. That couple really had a big heart for us.I did get MORT'S letter when they were on vacation in Montana.JULIE and DAWN had the whole IS family over for a Thanksgiving Dinner at a two story house deep in the hills of Larkspur,an exclusive spot on green hill. The dressing was jammed with little baby marbles of hashish...the gummy kind! KNAFF and I laughed until our sides hurt and we were out of air! The Beatles double White Album was on the stereo and was cresting at #1!!We smoked huge joints rolled in flavored papers on their balcony.From their balcony we could appreciate the forest which was glimmering from a recent and fresh light rain. JULIE and DAWN really treated us like royalty and we will never forget both of you.
ReplyDeleteI did play with the band after The Montana Christmas Tour of 1968. I had the luck to be able to play three nights at The Avalon for The Aoxomoxoa Concert with Rick Griffin's best work on a band poster. The Grateful Dead headlined with Sons of Chaplin second bill and INITIAL SHOCK the opener captured the standing ovations for three nights!! That Aoxomoxoa poster has to be seen to be believed as Rick Griffin set the bar in the new avant- garde art. Rick Griffins' art was multi-dimensional and was the "Crown Prince" of the Psychedelic Era or the absolute best in concert advertising.If you have seen this poster you would know what I'm talking about is true.
ReplyDeleteThe dates for The Aoxomoxoa Concert were Jan.24,25,26 1969. This concert event was The Grand Opening of The Avalon by the new management team which included BRIAN KNAFF who was also drummer for INITIAL SHOCK at the time.
ReplyDeleteEvery band that ever appeared with The Dead could rest assured that The Dead would pack the house. Later on The Dead's popularity reached a frenzy when they packed The Silver Bowl Stadium in Las Vegas. Traffic was also on that bill.When The Dead came to Vegas every marquee of every hotel/motel had "WELCOME DEADHEADS"! The Dead crowd overflowed into the parking lot where rows of vendors sold hot food, beaded necklaces,and lots of Dead souveniers.The DEAD gave one more concert in Vegas before their ride ended. The Dead morphed into splinter groups after that.
ReplyDeleteMy last gig with INITIAL SHOCK was at a state of the art recording studio near The Fillmore West. I believe that it was called Pacific High Sound or a similar name. That studio was equipped with a new Hammond B-3 and Leslie for me to play. Instead of recording our show songs Mojo wanted to teach us a new song. That held everything up to a crawl and it wasn't long before Mojo turned into a little bitch and wanted to argue. He left in a huff with his guitar and Steve, Kenny and George following in close pursuit at his coat tails. We never got one song recorded. Thanks to Mojo's bad attitude he blew our chance to record in a professional recording facility.It wouldn't be long before Mojo became the nemesis for the rest of the band members. This is a voodoo he has become good at throughout the years by hexing and hazing more than several bands. What happened to his last band Triple Vision the last band that he wrecked somehow? Mojo is a train wreck waiting to happen to anyone unfortunate to have been on the same train. He's into self-destruct regardless of collateral damage to the rest of the band.
ReplyDeleteIt's a chilly wet and blustery day that keeps me indoors to write.I would like to include a concert that IS did with The Sacramento Civic Symphony in Sacramento.
ReplyDeleteWe played on a raised stage at The Sacramento Sound Factory collaborating on one classical song at the end of a concert by The Sacramento Civic Symphony. The chords to that song were similar to the chord changes on George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". The chords we played on the classical piece were B flat major, A flat major, G flat major,and F major. IS even received a standing ovation from the entire orchestra after we finished the piece on our own! A lot of pretty chics came to see IS at our concerts at that city. Sacramento loved us like our hometown of Missoula did.
ReplyDeleteI could stand corrected that the Symphony Concert was actually at The Sacramento Civic Center.That concert was a challenge for us and everyone was thrilled by the performances of both the orchestra and IS.
ReplyDeleteThe poster at the beginning of Rock Archeology 101 was a concert where we opened for Steppenwolf who were at the top of their game. It was held at The Sound Factory in Sacramento. It was a thrill to share the same stage. Everyone seemed to be familiar with all of their radio hits and John Kay set the bar as a writer and singer. The place was packed for that one and it was obvious that IS needed a record contract to compete. Time just seemed to drag on without a record out. We needed to share the airwaves and the spotlight with the rest of the "heavies". Being an opener made us seem smaller than the huge sound that we produced. We had the sound but lacked the promotion that a record gave to the rest of the heavy weight bands. It felt like we were handicapped before we entered the ring. The real champions had already won the belt before the first round began. We were treated as inferior by not having achieved real fame when facing off with the bands that were cloaked with starpower. We were already outgunned at the weigh-in.
ReplyDeleteTo Billy Bob Collins aka The Big Idiot aka The Big Phony aka Mr. Moron: Your former band Triple Vision must have made you take all of their live video concerts off your already weak web-site. They probably had enough of your lies and bragging about yourself. You never bothered to tell us anything about the two brothers. It was all about your stinking ass. We wanted to know about them. Everybody is sick of hearing about you moron.Get a life fag! No band stays with you snowflake. Did you spend your award money on crack?
ReplyDeleteTo you once again Slime Ball Collins: I thought it was hilarious when Brian Knaff told me that he threw your shoddy CD into the garbage can!!You belong there also. Knaff also told you that you have zero drawing power in Las Vegas. You can't even afford to get there let alone get booked there. I would hate to have to live on your small income. You must have to bum off a lot of people like always. Brian said that you were so stoned out on LSD at what was to be your last solo performance at a California festival that the crowd booed you off the stage!! That sounds like you the No-Class Bastard that you are!! Knaff also told me that you lied to Barbi Larsen about traveling in a rock star bus. You blew it when you said that the bus was parked at the Greyhound Station in Missoula!! How do you travel now on a mule?
ReplyDeleteCollins the only thing legendary about you is your chronic halitosis, body odor and the brown streaks that you leave on your underware. You tried to be a smart-ass and charge the Airforce for your knee replacement. All the while knowing that it was highly illegal to lie about your Dishonorable Discharge for murder of another Airforce serviceman, it was paid for with our taxes. This is my trump card for taking you down bigtime bitch. You drag that leg around like the Big Gimp you were meant to be. I always told myself if I ever had the chance to get even that I would give it my best. Your braindead mind won't let you recall all the members of Initial Shock because you were sick with jealousy over Barbi Larsen and Carol Frang. They were my girls you crude bully punk. Now it's my turn you earing wearing queer. You wasted a lot of my hard earned money conning me into quitting Safeway in Golden,CO to join your farmhouse band in Wilson,NC. Now it's my turn you prick-licker. Incidentally,Crowe,Garr,and Wallace mentioned that they would like you to clean the come off your mustache!!
ReplyDeleteLet me digress on the subject of musicians with pissy personalities and worse ethics. Check out what Jim Peterman had to say about Steve Miller. Peterman was the first Hammond B-3 player on Children O,f The Future and Sailor ie their first two albums on Capitol. He placed the band when they were recording their first album at Olympic Studios in London. He described a short vacation that the band took near the French Rivieria. He said that Miller started acting up and seemed unconcerned about about ruining the outing for the rest of the band. I personally witnessed Miller's narcissism at my audition.I needed to learn his songs and probably stared at his gorgeous girlfriend Kim Fawcett a little too long. Kim was an airline stewardess who lived with him for a short while at his former Stinson Beach home. He laments for her in his pathetic calling for her on his Recall The Beginning...A Journey From Eden album. She dumped him. When I read in Rolling Stone that Miller had broken his back in a car accident on Golden Gate Bridge I was somewhat shocked. It happened shortly after my audition. His web-site says that he broke his neck but at the time I felt vindicated. Payback happens sometimes.IS had a superior sound to the Miller Band at The Terrace Ballroom in Salt Lake. However, The Steve Miller Band deserves credit for pulling in the crowd at that gig because hardly anybody had ever heard of IS. Our gig at The Salt Palace drew a handful of people when we didn't have a headliner band to draw a crowd. Steve Miller has had a few bad marriages but seems settled down with his last one. I was shocked when Bobby Winkleman{his bass player after the late Lonnie Turner} told me that Miller "is an asshole!" People should know that Miller has had to replace his band members 38 times at last count! A few members died while still in the band. Miller is so rich now that it doesn't matter what he does because he can always hide behind his fame. His current keyboard player Joseph Wooten knew a few Miller tunes before his audition and has been with The Steve Miller Band for 19 years. I would have liked to have been on that payroll! IS never seemed to elevate itself from the hippie band level. The IS struggle often left themselves floundering and barely able to tread water. IS was just one more band in an already overcrowded field. No album... no cigar.
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ReplyDeleteWhen it was time for rock bands to play Woodstock, IS had already tapped out in the ring. Farmer Yasgur gave permission for a rock concert to be held on his land which was a cow pasture. Nobody expected 500,000 people to show up for the three day event! According to the Woodstock movie Bill Graham played a major role in organizing the event. Somehow he got away with not providing even one portable toilet for all of those people. So the crowd had no choice but to defecate all over Farmer Yasgur's property. Since there was no toilet paper a lot of the crowd cleaned themselves in a small lake. This large pond was the source of drinking water for his herd of milk cows. After the three day concert was over Yasgur said that the pandemonium terrified his cows so badly that half of his cows wouldn't come home and the half that did make it back wouldn't milk. Yasgur said that there were thousands of human shitpiles everywhere. He added that he and his crew were still picking up garbage years after the concert. The poor man was left holding the bag on that one. In the Woodstock movie it was almost comical to see a frightened Grace Slick hiding under the stage. Could she, the Pacific Heights socialite, be wondering where she could take a dump? Years later was Bill Graham in that helicopter on that foggy day looking over property for another Woodstock? That fateful day was when his pilot couldn't see those thick California powerlines and flew directly in their path. Bill and his pilot met an early death that day. Did Yasgur see some payback for the destruction of his land? The Fillmore West was never again as strong as it was without Bill Graham at the helm. We were all shocked by Bill's untimely death and he seemed to be taken from us way too early. Did the karma he laid for himself at Woodstock take him? Perhaps we will never know.
DeleteAt my first concert at Carras Park under the big white canopy in Missoula Montana it was slightly gusty. It was April but still sunny Spring for Missoula. The wind carried my amplified sounds a very long distance. Fortunately, for me it happened in between songs. All of a sudden everyone was mesmerized as my 1600 watt Peavey powered mixer accidently picked up the radio transmission of a commercial jetliner in a landing circle for Missoula. I was transfixed when my wall of 9 cabinets started broadcasting the two pilots' conversation! One clearly said," I don't know what it is but he sure has some power down there." The other pilot said "I hear it loud and clear!" My band of hippie travelers and I were transported for a few seconds by their in-flight transmission!"...figuratively speaking of course.
DeleteThanks, for sharing the information Boom Lift Rental, it’s very informative post!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome and thanks to Corry for the help with the web-site.
ReplyDeleteOn his way to or from the California concert where he was unable to perform because of an acid overdose Mojo continued to flop in Missoula, MT.. Brian Knaff told me that Mojo hiked the 3 miles down Higgins Ave. with his guitar in a case to the former Wallace residence. He got there and found out that the Wallace family sold that house. He got in trouble trying to cut through somebody's yard on the way there. Knaff asked him if he thought his bed would still be there after all theses years later. He used to get free room and board there. The whole band received a free handout there prior to Mojo causing the breakup of IS.Did he ever get a surprise when a stranger answered the door and told him that the Wallace family hadn't lived there for years! The bum then probably hitchhiked back to the Greyhound Station downtown. That's when he tried to convince Barbi Larsen that he had a rock star bus. He now lives a lie. What a puke.
ReplyDeleteAfter Brian Knaff was fired and agreed to become our manager the band gave him money to fly to LA and try to secure a record contract. He borrowed my winter coat and took one poster with him. He said that he thought that he smoked some Sherm when he got to LA. He got to Capitol Records just as they were cosing for the day. He handed the poster to a security guard. Thet was the feeble effort he made to get us a contract. It was another clown act from a graduate in Business at the University of Montana! Incidentally, the idiot lost my winter coat while there and never did replace it. That band really liked to help themselves to my stuff. They had no class.
ReplyDeleteSteve Garr and George Crowe both received monthly allowances from their grandparents'lumber businesses. so they usually had moey. George Wallace bummed money off his old man. Brian Knaff had complete control of any profit the band made off playing gigs.I didn't ask my parents for money because of four other kids in our family. I also expected to earn a wage from the almighty IS. Not so. It was every man for themselves and that became very apparent when IS disbanded. Kenny was taken care of by his ol'lady who mooched dough off of her dad. I remember when Christmas morning arrived,my first ever without a tree or gifts. I started bawling and made the whole band feel awkward. Too fuckin' bad IS. You were a total bunch of losers at Christmas. Mojo used to steal money out of Knaff's pockets for cigarettes,RC Cola,and Moonpies.Money or wages wasn't part of the IS vocabulary or lifestyle.They were nothing more than hippies.Crooked as they were they still made a little dent in the music scene in San Francisco. It was a relief to be out of their bondage even if I lost everything. Pricklicker Mojo used to help himself to my clothes. He had no underware or socks. He usually had no shoes other than than those he could steal or get from a dumpster.They lived like a bunch of rats. Mojo and George Crowe broke all of the furniture in the Casa Madronna apt.just before the final departure to Montana. They lived and acted like animals.IS left their mark on San Francisco never to be seen or heard from again.
ReplyDeleteI am having some major breakthroughs on the controllers for my Korg Karma Workstation. I was able to format a rhythm guitar part as well as pull drums out of the board internally. The new drums were far superior to what my Roland Dr. Rhythm MK II 550 drum machine offered. The song sounds remade and crafted this time around. I pretend that I am writing for the super-stars.When you do all the math and exploration on the board it opens up new dimensions in song writing prowess. You did the impossible. You gave your song the makeover it needed!
ReplyDeleteA dreadful hot late afternoon but the rain came on time yesterday.A note about the late Monte Montrose. He passed away some years back. He was a grandfather. He succumbed to prostate cancer. He had a solo album that went gold on Warner Brothers. He achieved a cameo position in Sammy Haggar's Band and is on their album. Chuck Ruff drummer for Edagar Winter's White Trash kicked the bucket on heroin some time ago. They were both minor leaguers in a one shot Lp band called Sawbuck based in San Francisco. They lived in a very funky older small house. It even had graffiti...bad hood...yikes!!
ReplyDeleteThe Casa Madronna was shaped like a rectangle with one open end that was a pretty courtyard. You could smell the sweet scent of the tall white orchids even at night. We were just around the block from The Dead's house. We rehearsed in a storage cellar that did sort of smell and had bad lighting. Once a hood cut through the ceiling and took our guitars. It had a fancy ass loud burglar alarm but no bathroom. It was probably the worst practice area that I have ever endured. It was perfect for a band who had no class. Steve used to steal my Jensen 15 inch speakers and Mojo broke a Leslie trying to twist a horn cap off. That Leslie stayed broken. It was a part of a shipment of three Leslies that I had shipped from Missoula to San Francisco. My equipment really beefed up the IS sound engine. The punks acted like they owned all of my stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe 15 inch speakers that Crowe and Garr used to help themselves to were four Life-Time Guarantee Altec Lansings.
ReplyDeleteThey came as a part of a shipment of three Leslies from Missoula when Richard joined IS.
ReplyDeleteIt was a rude awakening when I learned that there were no regular meals served at the IS residence. Knaff said that we were supposed supposed to have ol' ladies that took care of us. Doyle Wynn the bastard that Mojo cowed to would drink a gallon of our milk at a time. Steve Garr distanced himself from what I thought would be a tight IS Family. The Beautiful Eric Clapton clone George Wallace used to make his entrance into the living room of our Casa Madronna Apt..He was adept at berating anyone who crossed his mind. He was The Grand Master of put-down. As a spoiled professor's son he breathed fire when the Great Firestone spoke. Quite a few people thought that he had what it takes. He ended up playing Credence Clearwater covers in a little known rock band called Yellowstone. They made more money than competing bands and that enabled them to drive Harley's. It was impressive even if you fucked a few people hard along the way.
ReplyDeleteNow it's all down to who can write the best songs. I understand why it is every parent's nightmare when their son or daughter wishes to embark on a career in show business.There is absolutely no return on it unless you sell your gear.
DeleteEven then the return is a dime on the dollar. I would not recommend the music business to any young person. It just doesn't pay anymore.Listen to your parents and finish Real Estate School or learn a trade. IS imploded like a bad dream. With the despot Mojo at the helm we were all doomed from the beginning. Knaff didn't galvanize the band like I thought he could. Wallace spent most of his time tearing us apart with his mouth. Garr seemed to take naps while playing live on stage. Mojo tucked his green jeans into his dumpstered cowboy boots and we were off to do one more unpaid benefit. Our equipment started to go down before we did.
About 1977 I walked into GMA in Missoula and there was Brian Knaff with a huge green chalkboard of Northwest rock band bookings. I was impressed and asked for a job. Doug Brown told Brian to get back to work and I could tell he didn't like my lavender chiffon shirt with French cuffs $40.00 in 1968 at Mother's Apple Grave of San Francisco.The Brown Town was also irked because I used his office phone.I read in The Missoulian that GMA grossed a million dollars that year. I sort of felt like a rock star while I was tooling around Missoula in a crisp !975 Camaro LT from Taylor Chevrolet in Misoula. I traded that car for a 1977 Trans Am with an oversized manifold and Fire-Eagle on the hood.On my birthday Dad co-signed for a cream-puff newer Trans Am 4 speed only one year old from Pat Clark Pontiac in Portland, Oregon At the time I had a job at The Portland Hilton. That car had a chestnut brown finish with gold metalflake. That was the car that let me drive to Vegas and escape the torment from a construction boss in Walport, Oregon. It was fun living with Mom, Dad, Gary and Jane at The Waldport Job Corps site where Dad was a Carpenter Instructor. The Pacific Ocean storms there were unforgettable snapping huge pine trees like twigs and throwing them in the ocean. I wanted to see what Las Vegas of 1979 had to offer. After just four hours there I was hired by The MGM as a change-boy for pretty good money.
ReplyDeleteI worked all up and down The Strip in slots or food and beverage. I at some of the casinos twice. Caesar's,MGM, Flamingo, Alladin,Dunes,Hilton are all on my resume. Eventually keyboard player/salesmen in the music stores of Las Vegas taught me how to program synthesizers. I bought a Juno then came the Roland D-50.I powerd out with an Ampeq bass amp and it's cabinet armed with two 18 inch speakers at Golden State Studios in Burbank for my audition with metal band Odin.
ReplyDeleteFor some stupid reason I tossed and turned all night about all of my Leslies missing and all clothes gone after my experience with Initial Shock. I re-entered Missoula as one of the walking dead after they took not only my position in IS but all of my stuff. I woke up changed my Beta fish Fireballs aquarium, slugged down a buttload of coffee and went to the computer. First I logged Knaff who is now cloaked in a fascade. First he says he sold his company then he gives us some stupid pictures of a wrong office location in Las Vegas. I got bored with his bullshit and went to Mojo Collins. Praise the Lord! His web stated that he had a heart-attack and was rushed to the hospital around July 10,2018. Motherfucker MOJO I hope that you and your family feel the same PAIN that you inficted on us after you and the half-breed ruined INITIAL SHOCK. I pray that YOU WILL BE JUDGED when you get to see HIM. With any luck you had a stroke and can't play the role anymore. You are definitely one of the worst men I've ever met. May you suffer MOTHERFUCKER on this earth and in Hell. I would enjoy gouging your eyes out fucker.May the GOOD LORD put an end to you bitch. And by the way, your music sucks.
ReplyDeleteA&E tested me last night to see if I could make it through 4 hours of Biography. It was one hour per band. Metallica, Guns and Roses, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. It showed how bands stayed together until it started to pay off in a major way. Initial Shock were backstabbers. It was every man for himself at break-up time. Garr ripped me off for alot of equipment and earned an early death. Wallace died a horrible death in a sanitarium. Knaff is on the run and his side-kick from Glascow is on the brink of death...Oh Happy Day!
ReplyDeleteSaw Arianna Grande on The Jimmy Fallon Show. She has charisma and the audience was wild about her. The disco divas are coming on to fill the gap that rock bands left. One of Metallica said "It's a forced family." Band members have no qualms about trying to steal your girlfriend and upset your life. It's a biker club in disguise. Nothing but punks everywhere you look.
ReplyDeleteThe Retard Mojo Collins likes to be referred to as "iconic". Nothing is further from the truth. When he sings live he likes to sleep while sticking his neck out as far as he can resembling a turtle. It's a pathetic look. He dresses in baggy out of style office pants on stage. I've seen him in two different women's blouses. This attire is complimented by a ridiculous looking pair of black and white Poindexter wingtips(shoes)that complete his effort to look like a Clown. He copies Jimmy Buffet by wearing a straw hat. The reason for the hat is to cover up his chrome-dome balder that a billiard head. When he takes his hat off he looks like a circus clown. It's a hilarious and hideous look. His lies about being in Janis Joplin's Rolls Royce to drink with her are obvious. Janis only drove an older Porsche with a psychedelic paint job. That's one more lie on his resume. Comparing himself to Hendrix makes people livid. His big ego likes to blow itself out his ass. He has his hand out once more for charity after his bad heart attacked him. The low-life never forgot how to bum and that's what he does best...beating people out of their money.
ReplyDeleteHappy Labor Day Weekend to all IS fans. 90 degrees outside with high humidity. Trump is kicking ass on his Rally Tour. He's simply the best President of modern times.
ReplyDeleteHoping to record in a month. All of the 30 yr. old or better gems need to be recorded. I will hire a studio engineer to navigate the new Presonus Interface Unit to the laptop and eventually to a ThumbDrive. One of the local music stores is giving me an assist. I have to cover all of my synthesizers with newspaper as my little finch Bonnie thinks that they make ideal pooping grounds. I had to replace the original Blue Boy and Mr. Goldmund Sachs. Fake honeysuckle poisoned Blue Boy and The gold Beta hopped out over the edge of the smallest glass container ... the one that I don't use anymore.
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ReplyDeleteHey blog administrator how about layin' off.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't have to put up with these terrible people. I did! I lived with them and was used by them as a teen-age boy!
ReplyDeleteFuck you Knaff and Mojo likes to suck dick Collins!
ReplyDeleteSo you wanted to be a rock star. Think again. It's just an illusion. There are lots of people trying to make you fail. Your dream has been shattered by the riff-raff shiterees from Glascow.
ReplyDeleteThe cocksuckers think they know it all. They can ruin a band faster than you can say Jimminy Cricket.Bad people need to be eliminated from the earth.
ReplyDeleteI had the experience of meeting the Big Kahuna Marty Balin at The Matrix in San Francisco. His band The Jefferson Airplane sucked so bad in Spokane,Wa. that I asked for my $10.00 back. He is one of the biggest assholes that I have ever met. Along with him I would group Steve Stills, Elvin Bishop, and Steve Miller as three of the most worthless assholes that I have ever met. Some of these rock stars can't even wipe their own ass. I get off when one of the fuckers croak.
ReplyDeleteMost recently the lead guitarist of Lynard Skynard passed away. His house appraised at 14 million dollars. He was quite a man.
ReplyDeleteI remember being on a bill with The Velvet Underground at The Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. They were minus the gorgeous blond singer Nico and didn't sound like their album even though it was probably Lou Reed singing and playing guitar. They did pack the house and they basked in their fame. They were on tour all the way from The Big Apple.
ReplyDeleteI would like to offer Guitarist,Singer,Songwrirer,and General Manager Ross Gander any comfort that I can. With deep respect to his wife Marianne who passed away this year and will be dearly missed by her friends and family.Ross and I go all the way back to Cub Scouts and forming our very first band at ages 11-12.We were a five piece band that made money playing surf and hot rod music and we called ourselves The Classics. We grew to eventually call ourselves King Louie and His Court and played all school parties throughout Missoula. That band was nothing but fun and Lou Underwood always had us busting a gut with laughter. Lou was discovered by Ross Gander and Jim Walker{Guitar/Vocals}. Lou Underwood was simply a sensational personality and SuperTalented{Drummer/Lead Singer! It was an honor and privilege to have been a member of those early on Missoula bands.
ReplyDeleteI was best friends with Scott and Curty Peterson our neighbors across the street at 133 Sentinel. Scott had a very cherry 1957 Chevy and would take it so fast at deadman's curve out by Barbi Larsen that I would jump in the back seat scared to death that we would crash. Scotty was ina a surf/hot rod band that was aired on local Missoula MT.television playing LIVE at The DRAGIN'on the drag which still is Higgins Ave.Scott's band were called The Pyros and were a very cool surf and hot rod band.
ReplyDeleteThis article is for the arrogant people who plotted my ruination and demise...sometimes like even forgetting who I am or that I exist. You people spend more time hurting people than it's worth to you. You claim to be educated but are unable to give people proper credit and respect. How does it feel to get some of it back and right in your face. Bully Fucks like you eventually learn what goes around comes around. Payback is a motherfucker.
ReplyDeleteThe members of my Sentinel High School band in Missoula were named The Sound System. We won a nice white marble and gold trophy for placing second in The Montana Battle of the Bands. We presented that trophy to the Sentinel student body at an assembly in the gym. Larry Underwood, Steve Noblitt and I then threw our new 45 record out to our fans. Our 45 was continually aired on Missoula rock AM radio. We each earned $600.00 per man after expenses. Not bad pay for high school kids playing a weekend in Helena and Butte and charging just $1.00 per ticket.
ReplyDeleteOur band made so much cash after our big Civic Center concerts in Butte and Helena that we completely filled all of Larry Underwood's drum cases with bills. I demanded that our ticket taker/doorman strip and he had stuffed a few tens and twenties inside his clothing! We still had to eat and fill-up for the trip home. Half of our teardown was complete with our station wagon and U-Haul four wheel trailer inside the Butte Civic Center. Suddenly we got an offer to play for $300 from the Butte Car Show to play on a school night ie Sunday and didn't want to miss school. It was a decision that I'm sure we all regret to this day. Butte AM Radio pumped our record hard on the local and Anaconda,Montana stations. It was a thrill to hear our songs filling the airwaves which traveled all the way to Deer Lodge,Montana. We were one of the few successful rock bands around who could pack the house. We felt like we owned Montana even though the Viet Nam Draft was right on our tail and it was truly The Glory Days and with pay! Viva La SOUND SYSTEM forever!
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ReplyDeleteI hope that this piece will pass inspection from the blog administrator. Apparently freedom of speech or freedom of the press is not all inclusive with these entries. Don't get me wrong because I do appreciate the opportunity to tell my story at the expense of someone else paying for this website. We have all heard that first impression is a lasting impression. That reinforces how the members of IS all got off on the wrong foot from the git go. The first time that I ever encountered the presence of Brian Knaff was at The Monks Cave in Missoula. Lou Underwood and I both had double dates who we treated to The TNT's live at the the underground bar. Their drummer was Larry's big brother Donny who taught Larry how to drum. Out of nowhere this schlepp putz goes up to the TNTs and asked to sit in on drums. It was Brian Knaff. Unbeknown to everybody he had never sat behind a set before. He absolutely destroyed their songs. The TNTs were laughing so hard they could hardly contain themselves. We started to yell at the spastic to get off the stage. He came up behind me to start shit but I told him to leave us alone! He left. That was my first and last impression of that idiot. My first encounter with George Wallace was when he threw boulders at us kids when we were sled riding down the hill near his ol' mans property. The first time that I ever saw Steve Garr was at the north end of Hellgate High School pushing a poor farm kid around. Garr had his greaser hairdo on. Jack Boyce came up to me the green freshman and asked if anybody needed a tune-up to which I complied that Steve Garr was bullying some poor farm kid. I just happened to be there when Jack punched Garr squarely in the face. Garr started to bawl and begged Jack to stop. I loved it. The first time that I ever saw Mojo Bill Collins was at the University of Montana Golf Course. He was sporting his Dutch girl haircut. The son of a bitch would play through everybody on the course almost hitting people. He was eventually kicked off the golf course for good. That was my first and lasting impression of these fourest punks. Now you know why they all got off on the wrong foot when starting Initial Shock. I really hope that this piece passes inspection with the blog administrator.
ReplyDelete"Apparently freedom of speech or freedom of the press is not all inclusive with these entries." Not apparently - absolutely. The Bill of Rights guarantees these things against *government* limitation. They don't confer anyone a right to post anything they want in the venue of their choice.
ReplyDeleteBack to our normally scheduled comment thread ...
I understand and thank you.
ReplyDeleteI had a change of heart at not bringing my contributions for this blog to a final end at this point. All of my excerpts are not in chronological order so the reader must bounce back and forth through time as I run it all down. Having had more than a bellyful of working the produce dept.at Safeway in Golden,Colorado I needed a change. Carol happened to notice the fine print in Rolling Stone(and I do mean the article was a very small piece with print so small you practically needed a magnifying glass to read it) about the original line-up of Sawbuck cutting an album in the Fillmore label. It was still exciting to read even though the article was crammed into a very small corner. I actually got Mojo's phone number from his last girlfriend in San Francisco. Apparently they had lived together there. In was flabbergasted when she said,"He's an asshole" during our phone conversation. It sounded like a messy breakup. I tried to overlook her remark but never forgot it. I had been accustomed to the crude manner that Mojo did things. Carol and I were excited when Mojo told me that they could use me on Hammond organ. However, we were both perplexed why he had relocated to Wilson,North Carolina.After getting a few phone calls from "the iconic one" prodding me to come out there to join the new Sawbuck band I started saving up to fly Carol and myself to join the band. North American Van Lines shipped my full sized Hammond organ A-100 and my still new beautiful Leslie 900 at a hefty price all the way to Sawbuck's little country farmhouse in Wilson,N.C. While still in flight the stewardess arranged for me to use the jet's phone to locate the band at The Raleigh International Airport.Cell phones had not been invented yet. That was a thrill reaching the band with the airliner phone! Most of the band was there to greet us as we entered the airport. None of them had a girlfriend and immediately Mojo started eyeing my ol'lady practically with his tongue and dick hanging out. Carol and I had been living in her parents' beautiful brick home high on a hill overlooking Golden,Colorado. We did get the shock of our lives when we had to adjust to a very old tenant farmhouse with no insulation or central heat. That house had sagging wood floors and a weak drizzle for a shower in one bathroom for six of us. I nailed plastic to our bedroom windows to keep some of the heat from escaping. That house was colder than hell and I definitely didn't feel like a rock star living in that shack. I knew it was too late to turn back so stuck it out for awhile. Mojo's abuse finally reached a point where Carol and I got our own apartment in Wilson. Carol landed a hostess job which rescued us. I hated Mojo Buttface Collins so much at one point that I actually pissed on his bed! We rehearsed in a very dusty barn and their songs were some of the worst shit I've ever heard. Mojo's amp was slightly larger that a Cracker Jack box and he was even harder to work with than ever. He was only after my ol'lady Carol and I never became a member of the fake Sawbuck. I witnessed "the iconic one" throw his brother David and myself out of the band while the prick plotted to steal Carol from me. The whole experience was a nightmare and the cocksucker made it the second band disaster thrown in my face. Carol and I almost did not make back to her parents' home. I had to borrow hundreds of dollars from her parents and work my ass off at Coors aluminum can plant to pay it all back so Carol and I could get back home to Colorado.
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ReplyDeleteSo I went from my Sentinel High School band that made plenty of cash...enough to buy new equipment, new clothes and rent huge arenas to bands that were literally destitute. Al of the members of Zelda Quagmire and her Savage Delights band were not even cut a small allowance for deodorant, toothpaste,or razors. So we went around smelling. The same went for Initial Shock with Bully Brian Knaff hogging every penny we made. Mojo's fake Sawbuck lived like white trash with no pay for members. Bug-eater Mojo didn't even have $5.00 to help Carol and I get back home to Colorado. Instead he literally waved goodbye with his middle finger! In the Zelda Quagmire band Eddie Garr was handed over the $400.00 from our first gig that I booked. Ross"The Ween" Gander allowed Eddie to purchase bottles of Andre Cold Duck and cocaine with the money. Eddie didn't pay our rent with the money and fell far behind on a loan for new equipment. That loan for approximately $10,000 was procured from Eddie's mother. Ross and Eddie ended up piling all of that equipment at the doorstep of Eddie's mother. This is after they changed the band's name and added a singer.Bands are usually run in the truest form of communism. That is everything for the state and nothing for the members. These dudes were one broke mutha's. Zelda band got food stamps and the other two did not. Fat-Ass Knaff used to borrow money never intending to repay it and IS went two full moths without a paying show. IS fell behind on rent at the Casa Madronna and couldn't afford to fix the transmission on our van so Knaff sold it. Piss-ant Mojo started turning into a tyrant and not getting along with IS members. These band were eventually screw jobs for everyone involved with them. In other words, the inmates were running the asylum! The inept leaders eventually drove our bands into a spiral nosedive straight into the dirt.Thanks guys for the memories. It was like flying with Goonie-birds not eagles!
DeleteHAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL!!
DeleteBoo!This piece is dedicated to George A. Crowe the biggest bullshitter in the music business. How are you the homeless bedridden and balding fuck? The truth is George that your piss-ant cover band Yellowstreak never cut any albums for Kama Sutra. You are a liar! There was nothing but fighting going on among your group members. This prevented you and yours from recording anything.You totally lived off your grandparents' money most of your adult life. Your Sentinel High Scool classmates considered you a creep and a clown. You sucked off of all of us ... and mainly off of your faggot boyfriend George Wallace.You try to peddle Initial Shocks' lousy 45 single like everybody still has a turntable you moron! Your pathetic Sonic's Revolution CD went absolutely nowhere and was totally financed by your grandparents' money. You never had to work a real job because of the trust fund they gave you.You haven't hardly paid a dime in taxes so aren't eligible for a Social Security check. How does it feel to be a homeless bedridden fuck who nobody likes or even cares to remember? What's the matter did the money in your trust fund run dry? You are good for one thing now...a good laugh! May the ghouls of Halloween fly up your fat ass you damn liar.
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ReplyDeleteIn addition to denigrating with the lies about cutting albums for Kama Sutra Crowe made up another huge lie. Crowe you disparage our web-site with your lie that George Wallace the former lead guitarist for Initial Shock went on to back Janis Joplin. Not true. Crowe you weren't even a band member of IS. You were our roadie. So what makes you think you have the right to fill our band's web-site with your convoluted lies? I remember when you the Bully prevented me from taking my fair share of the spoils(equipment) at the Wallace house. You assumed ownership of two of our Fender Showmans without paying for them so you could pound bass for the trio Yellowstreak. Care to comment you buffoon? Maybe that is some old bad karma that you are paying for now. Think about it you jackass. IS left me high and dry with you taking part in causing my losses. No George I didn't want to join a cover band, not after being an integral part of IS who performed original material and even appeared at San Francisco's Cow Palace. Stop filling our web-site with phony bullshit like your sidekicks Brian Knaff and Buttface Collins do. What's wrong with the truth? People recognize your lies right away. Flying with you goonie birds made it impossible for eagles to lead the way. Look at the devastating mess you are in now and you will take it all to the grave. You made your bed and now you must sleep in it. Cease from putting your lies and dirt on our once famous band IS.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving came and went. The turkey and dressing were exceptional this year. Fall is tapping out to winter and Christmas is right around the corner. I finally wised up and put half down on the $450.00 Dotz T-Par professional stage lights. I have bought so much equipment that I need to hire a roadie now. My equipment load is at overkill level, restricting me from performing shows at piss-ant little venues. The new professional stage lights will give my stage presence an edge that I didn't have before. I am looking forward to showing the audience that I can set the bar in songwriting and delivery. Initial Shock was a training ground for me and a weigh station. You weigh your equipment when you come in and you weigh it again when you leave.
ReplyDeleteIt is cold outside and Winter wins the day. A thin skiff if light fresh snow insures frozen ground. It is a refreshing blast of cold icy air that stem cleans the lungs. Winter isn't so bad after all! MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of the people who attended our concerts and the entire INITIAL SHOCK TRIBE
ReplyDeleteThat's spelled steam-cleaned Richard.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for letting me sort most of the bullshit out of our biography.
ReplyDeleteI have completed three recording sessions through out June 2020 with one session to go. My CD will have about 12 original songs. I am looking forward to seeing everyone hear my original Christmas song and my poem about wild mustangs. I have a variety of material or something for everyone. The covid pandemic has shut down live concerts for most performers. That's hit Knaff especially hard and Mojo is also dead in the water now.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to recording, Regan will be opening for a few different bands once it's safe from the covid pandemic. My stage setup is one of the best around now and I will have to hire help to move all it.
ReplyDeleteUpon recently checking out Brian Knaff's background check I was sort of shocked to see he has lawsuits and leins against him. That's what you reap when you try to screw everybody...sow bad karma. The background information revealed Knaff makes between $72,000-$79,000 per year and that he has a net worth of $440,000. Brian Knaff does not have a personal phone number at UM Entertainment Management as he once did. That's due to the work that the UM Campus Police Department did to prevent him from preying on the school. He doesn't pay his debts but instead donated $125,000 to run booking at UM Entertainment Management.This was private enterprise taking control of the school. Knaff has lost his second wife Susan through divorce. Maybe the mafia part of the Montana Mafia organization is real!
ReplyDeleteMy sound engineer/studio owner call me and I booked a recording session at 12 noon tomorrow. Hope to wrap up or another session costs more money. Thanks to the readers and for your comments and input. I promise to keep streaming!
ReplyDeleteGood morning!Thi
ReplyDeleteThis is Richard Regan and I would like to thank all of you for being such great readers to get through this book. My sound at my recording session yesterday was up to snuff and I was able to record the last three songs on first take. My sound engineer will need to do a final mixdown and then I can start distribution. I am thrilled to be able to get my songwriting out on this CD. I am currently working on new original material for my next CD.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to get other working bands to let me open for them. Not a helluva'lot of interest generated so will focus on getting my CD to club managers. My dream venue would be a debut at The Lake.
ReplyDeleteI will love dropping my bomb Christmas Eve song on everyone as well as the thirsy mustangs poem w musical accompaniment. I do blues and disco. I have two ballads...one is even a waltz!
ReplyDeleteI have been working on my heavy blues number. Rehearsal was at 9:25am. I performed the song flawless ly and earned an early out.
DeleteMeeshi bought a 2010 HHR PT Cruiser that runs like a clock. After paying all taxes and insurance it's fun to drive to Walmart. I bought a 58" Roku Hisense which we are enjoying right now. It was purchased by the remaining balance left on the stimulus check . I worked on my heavy blues number at 9:26am and it was flawless. It deserved an early out on rehearsal!
ReplyDeleteMeeshi bought a new car and I bought a 58" Roku Hisense color tv. I did my heavy blues number at 9:35am and it was flawless. It deserved an early out on rehearsal with that being the only song performed. We are still wearing surgical masks here...alot of us!
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ReplyDeleteMeeshi bought a 2010 HHR that runs like a clock. I bought a 58" Roku Hisense color tv!
I had a block that would not let me publish yesterday. The pen is mightier than the sword.
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