Back in Salem after a month in Alaska nothing much had changed. Gary and I were still all fired up about boating and the boat we bought previously was not doing the job. We go back to the dealer we need more power and more speed. We traded for a Glaspar G3. I’m not sure of the year but it was a small speedy boat we both fell in love with. It had a old Mercury 75 hp engine that gave us lots of trouble but we loved it anyway. We used that thing almost every day after practice and every weekend. Gary had his A model pick up. One day he and Ricki took their old movie camera and filmed a movie. It was funny. They dressed up as Bonnie and Clyde filmed these crazy scenes. It was really funny. Those two knew no limits when it came to having fun. Still don’t. This period of time was one of the most fun times we ever had while on the road.
The Prince Charles and The Crusaders thing was wearing thin so we started thinking of making some changes. We had tried pretty hard to get a hit record and that hadn’t happened. We tried the teen scene and that wasn’t a great success. One thing was certain we wanted to change the name of the group. I don’t know if we ever considered going back to The Ultimates and I don’t know why we didn’t. I don’t even know how it all started but someone had an Ouija board. One night we were playing with it. We asked it what we should do. It spelled out DART. with each of us trying and each time it came back DART. From that we decided to be The Dart. Not the darts but The Dart. It actually caught on. It was easy to remember and I thought pretty cool.
Our drummer Gary Nieland somewhere along the way had taken over the job of booking the group. He was also booking some other groups. His wife and he had another child giving him three. It was more and more difficult for him to travel. So he came to us with the idea we should find another drummer and he would do the managing and the booking. We didn’t like the idea much but after a while and being convinced he really did want to stay home we started looking. We first thought about calling Dewayne Grissom from back home. For some reason we were unable to get him. So we looked around the Salem, Portland area. We found a guy named Ron Allen. He was a very good drummer but not the easiest guy in the world to get along with. One of his shortcomings was being punctual. He did fine for work but found it difficult to make it to rehearsal on time. We had decided Gary Sullivan should be the leader. With the new drummer came a new sense of excitement and in a short time everything came together. Now we decided we should stop with the sit down long contracts and do shorter engagements and get our name out there. Without Hoot we were without his van so we refurbished our old Shadows Five equipment trailer and I took over the transporting of equipment. Now everyone had wives or girlfriends so everyone would travel in their own vehicle.
We were working in Salem and preparing for a trip back to Alaska. This time wives were going. We had worked to get ” road Ready” when suddenly Ricki threw a monkey wrench into everything. She informed Gary this living together had gone on long enough. She was drawing the line. They were either going to get married or she wasn’t going anywhere else with him. It was decided we were going to Reno for a wedding. We played Saturday night til 2am. We loaded up in our cars and headed for Reno. Keep in mind it’s 535 miles. Ricki had contacted her aunt to find a chapel and get the arrangements made. We arrived in Reno had a really nice wedding. Slept one night headed back to Salem finished getting ready and Left for Seattle to board the ship to Alaska. Somehow we got it all done and off to Alaska we went. This time the two apartments above the club were to go to Leon and his girlfriend and the drummer Ron. Gary and I were told they had arranged for us to be in two upstairs apartments around the corner. We got there and nothing had been done. These apartments were just some space that had been planned to be renovated. We were shown to a storage area that had some odds and end furniture. From that we scavenged enough to at least have beds and a way to fix meals. I must say Susan and Ricki were very understanding. Somehow they made it a place we could live. Shannon didn’t care she was too small. This time we were to be there two months. My friend Sheldon, who I’ve already told you about, had a young pretty blonde wife. Now during this time Continental airlines planes were red and white with a golden tail. Their tv ads were all about the ” proud birds with the golden tail”. Sheldons wife was a big flirt. For some reason I was the object of her attention. Some times it was most awkward and poor Sheldon, he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, was oblivious to it all. This went on for a good while til Susan was getting pretty tired of it. One night she told Gary, Ricki and me ” I’ve had about enough of that little proud bird with the golden tail the next time she’s all over you I’m gonna pull her hair out” That was funny. Thankfully she finally took a hint.
With our obsession for water skiing we kept asking friends why they never water skied up there. I mean there were miles and miles of smooth water. They would look at us like you can’t water ski in Alaska. One Weekend we found some water skis and planned a cook out and a water skiing trip. We had a large group of people and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Several people skied. Me more than anyone cause I loved it. It was a really nice warm day but dang that water was cold.
We had lots of fun this trip. We found lots of things to do and everyone had a good time. Well everyone but Leon. He and his girlfriend had problems and so she left and flew back to Oregon. True to his form he had been with us several years and started wanting to wander away. We got word he was going to skip out on us so we actually locked up his equipment one time until we could get him to promise he would stay til the end. We decided not to try to talk him into staying after that. We were sick of his crap. When time to leave came Gary and Ricki were to fly out and get to Oregon and search for a guitar player. I had my car and trailer with the equipment. For some reason we decided to take the ferry to Prince Rupert BC and then drive back to Salem. We thought it would be a pretty drive. Bad mistake. It was a pretty drive but the roads were terrible. I went thru a complete set of tires on my car on that trip. When we finally reached the US border we were exhausted. I can’t remember how long it took but it seemed forever. When we stopped at the border crossing the guys working there made me completely unload the band equipment for inspection. Not an easy job for just me and Susan. When we arrived in Salem to meet Up with Gary and Ricki they had good news. Gary had found and hired a guitar player. Guess what? Another Gary. Seems we can’t get away from Gary’s. Enter Gary Stotler. Another Gary another nickname. Gary decided Gary Stotler should be Beau. From then on we called him Beau.
We had planned a two week vacation back in Oklahoma after Alaska so off to Oklahoma we went. After vacation we would stay in Salem for a while to break in the new guitar man.
Next time New places and new faces
Allen Crawford's story blog 