Wednesday May 25th, 2022
The Atlin Whisper “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world.” Margaret Mead
BANDS - (Part 2) The Jerome Bishop Band - Our First Kick at the Cat Vancouver,1965. In the early days, we mix and mingle with potential playing partners, and it’s all very exciting, but when that first real band comes together, it’s a revelation. And that first R + B band of ours was no exception. That little band was good. And dedicated. All of us, Jake (Jim Jacox - drums), Dawes (Bruce Dawes - organ), Woody (Ron Woodson - bass), Willy (Bob Willy - vocals) and myself (guitar), loved Rhythm and Blues - James Brown in particular. And that’s what we played. Over several months, we had put together a show of sorts - one we were always trying to improve. Thing is, much of what we needed was equipment - good enough instruments, quality amplifiers, a proper sound system and the like. Our most recent concern seemed to be the lack of proper illumination. Most of the places we played had poor stage lighting and, damn it, we were an R+B show band. We needed to be seen. We needed lights! As I tended to be the Gyro Gearloose of the bunch, I got elected to work on the project. We were working on a shoestring. In fact, the entire budget went to buying eight sockets for the bulbs and a roll of lamp cord. The rest, the lights themselves, the bases and the plug had to be scavenged from somewhere. One of those somewheres ended up being my long-suffering father’s workshop. That man had to endure my mucking around in that little shed for my entire youth. Many times I would hear him crashing around in there looking for something or other, then stopping and breathing a long sigh as he realized its likely fate. “Hey, I am missing a two by four. You wouldn’t know anything about that would ya?” “Ummm … well … I was looking for something to make a pair of stilts with, and I couldn’t find any two by twos, so I thought I would borrow that two by four and saw it down the middle.” Then the look. “Borrow it?” And the dance.