Yakima

I really didn’t have a lot to say about Boise I guess because I wasn’t really involved.  One thing I do remember is once again Gary had an uncle that lived there.  After our first night bunking at Leon and Jimmys place his uncle Lloyd insisted we stay with him and his wife.   They lived in an older style two story home.  They put us in a bedroom that had no heat.  Dang we like to froze to death.   They gave us plenty of blankets and quilts but until you got into bed and got warmed up your teeth were chattering.  Then crawling out f bed in the morning was a challenge.  They couldn’t have been nicer to us.  They fed us very well and I really liked them.

By the way I’ve never even told you the bands name.   The Ultimates

After about two weeks The Ultimates moved on to Yakima Washington.   Yakima is known for apples.  Lots of apple orchards.  It was exciting to me to make the drive from Boise to Yakima.  I’d never been to that part of the country and I really liked it.  I rode with Leon  Jim rode with Gary and Nieland traveled on his own because he had his family with him.   It seemed odd that here we were ,we almost had the old group back together but we were in a whole different world. The job in Yakima was at a club on the bottom floor of The Chieftain hotel.   It was an old style hotel but was clean and nice and the club was a nice size.  We arrived on a Sunday and was scheduled to start Monday night.   Part of the deal was that the Hotel provided rooms for the band.  I guess they thought I was part of the band because I’m pretty sure I had a room.   They got all set up and Monday was opening night.   They were well received and the crowds were good almost every night.  I was very close to running out of money and had to make a decision as to what I was gonna do.  Being a hanger on doesn’t pay very well.  I had about decided to take a bus back home and just try and find a job in OKC.  Little did I know Leon had a surprise for us all.  I can’t remember how long we had been there but we got up one morning, actually about noon, and Leon was gone.  Lock stock and barrel as the old saying goes.  This was not unusual for Leon.   He had a history of this.  It was about noon and someone had to be onstage at nine.  It was quickly decided I would play bass and Jimmy Jones would play lead guitar.  I didn’t have  a bass or an amplifier and Jimmy didn’t have a lead guitar.   I made a deal to buy his equipment and we went across the street to a music store and he bought all new equipment.   Now keep in mind neither of us had any money.  Enter Gary Nieland, the drummer.  He always had money because he was the tightest sob that ever lived.  He became our banker and as you will see later on he was in that role for many years.  Now comes the interesting part.   I hadn’t played in a while and we had a very short time to practice.  I was never comfortable just diving in.  Maybe because I just wasn’t that good.   Nine o’clock came and I was petrified.  I’m really not sure why,maybe because of Gary Nieland.  He wasn’t a patient man.  He had been a pro for many years withThe Champs and I guess he intimidated me.     I was terrible.   No what’s worse than terrible?   That was the longest five hours I can remember. When Two am finally came I almost collapsed. Nieland came over to me and said boy you’ve got a long way to go.   I really didn’t think at that time I could do it but with the help of Gary and Jimmy some how I hung on and improved enough to stay but it was definitely touch and go for a while.   After settling down and relaxing a little it became fun again.  I did improve but then I had to.    We had a lot of fun in Yakima and I’ve got a lot of stories to tell.   Good crowds, good friendly people and good times.

Next time     Beatle wigs and female impersonators