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Joe Boesen: Lead guitar, vocals Howard Bothner: Drums Kirby Chance: Rhythm guitar, vocals Steve Fellingham: Organ, vocals Steve Pearson: Bass guitar, vocals

Date formed: Summer 1967 Date disbanded: Spring 1969

The Colour of Tyme was started by Kirby and Joe. They were classmates and grew up in the same neighborhood in Boone. Both were taking guitar lessons from the same local teacher. Kirby was the first one of the two to buy an electric guitar. In the summer of ’67 Kirby introduced Joe to his friend Howard Bothner. Howard had his drums set up in his folks’ garage at the time. Kirby suggested to Joe that maybe the three of them could get together and play a few songs both of them knew and have Howard play drums with them. The first song they attempted was “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf which was a popular cover at the time.    Later that summer, Steve Fellingham joined the group. He had taken piano lessons when he was younger and the other guys asked him if he could somehow acquire an organ. Steve’s mom helped him buy one from a local store in Boone. Now the band had four members.    At this point the band was 2 guitars, organ and drums. One of the first tunes they learned was “Incense and Peppermints” by the Strawberry Alarm Clock. Being inspired by a line from the song, Steve suggested they call the band the Colour of Tyme. They altered the spelling because, well, everyone did that didn't they? Seriously, with bands like the Beatles, the Byrds, the Cyrkle, the Cryan Shames and others it seemed that it was appropriate and cool to do that sort of thing.    As things progressed the need for a bass became apparent. Steve Pearson, whose dad owned Boone Freight Lines, had a bass and a big amp which impressed the band. They asked him to join, he did, and now the band was complete.

For the duration of the band Joe, who played lead, had a Teisco guitar and a small amp that he had bought from Pat Lonergan. Pat had purchased the guitar and amp from Sounds Inc. in Boone and had taught himself to play—taking lessons from Mark Maynard for a time also. For some reason he had decided to sell it. Joe’s mom saw the ad in the paper for the instrument in the spring of 1967 and Joe ended up with the guitar and amp for around $55.    Kirby, who played rhythm guitar, also had a Teisco guitar and amp most likely also purchased from the Sounds in Boone.    Steve had a Farfisa Mini Compact organ that he purchased from Alber’s which was two buildings west of where Boone Bank & Trust is now on 8th Street - (the location is a parking lot today). It is not known what kind of amp he had at the time.    Steve Pearson was playing a Teisco bass along with a Kustom amp. The color of the amp is not remembered, but it was one of the tuck and roll naugahyde amps. At the time Kustom offered three different speaker cabinets for their bass amps. The choices were a single 15 inch JBL D140F, 2 matched 12 inch CTS speakers with 56 oz. magnets and 2 inch voice coil or a single 15 inch CTS speaker with 56 oz. magnet and 2 inch voice coil. The Kustom amps were all solid state at this time.    It is not known what brand of drums Howard had or how his kit was configured. Most likely he had a set that consisted of kick, snare, single rack tom and floor tom along with hi hat and cymbals.    The band also had a dedicated PA at the time they started playing for larger crowds. Two local guys, Mark Majors and Brian Wolf, built a system for the band. These two fellas built the main amp and put it into a wooden box—also hand built—and configured the speakers for the group. Joe did all the lead vocals for the band with the others helping out on background vocals.

The group practiced two or three times a week and moved from house to house. A friend by the name of John Larson, who was their roadie, also let them practice at his house. John lived on Division Street close to where the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad depot is now. His dad worked for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and was working quite a bit during the day so it worked out well for the boys to practice up in John’s big bedroom as there was no one to disturb. During basketball season practices got down to once a week. Kirby, Joe, Steve and Steve Pearson all went to Sacred Heart, one of two parochial schools in Boone. Basketball was the only sport the school had at that time and they were all out for basketball. Since it was obvious they were better at music than sports it was easy for them to stay committed to the band.    The Colour of Tyme did popular songs of the day as mentioned earlier. Tunes like “Born to be Wild”/Steppenwolf, “I’m a Believer”/Monkees, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”/Rolling Stones were among those the band performed.

The first public performance was in September of 1967 before Steve Pearson had joined the band. One of their classmates was having a get together/party and the boys, who were invited, asked if they could bring their instruments along with them. Of course it was okay and thus their first gig happened. They set up in the living room and played all the songs that they knew.    The first job they played with Steve P. on bass was in the summer of 1968 at the Stratford swimming pool. Stratford had pool parties with a live band quite often at this time. The bands would set up poolside and people could dance or just swim while listening to the groups. The Colour of Tyme got 20 or 30 dollars for playing.    Probably one of the most interesting—and scary—gigs was for the recreation department in Webster City. It was another pool party, this time for the 4H groups in the area. As they headed north on Highway 17 from Boone to Webster City, at about 5 or 6 p.m., they got about 3 or 4 miles north of Boone and the car overheated and blew a hose. Joe’s dad drove the car back to the greenhouse he owned and got one of the 18 foot delivery trucks out to take all the bands stuff to the job. On the way the sky was getting dark, threatening rain or worse. As they were setting up a severe thunderstorm rolled into the city. Everyone had to get out of the pool for safety reasons. It was decided to move the dance to the Hamilton County fairgrounds. As they played, it rained cats and dogs outside the hall. The concrete floor inside started to sweat from the humidity. The guys had to be very careful not to touch their guitars and a microphone at the same time or suffer a severe shock as a consequence.    Aside from these jobs the band played for parties, school things, and at the Y in Boone. The most the band ever made for playing a job was $125 for the Webster City gig.

The way the breakup of the band came about was somewhat unexpected. The group was playing for a dance in Ogden at the time. Joe and Steve Fellingham were approached by Gary Buckley and Brian Oeffner about putting together a band. Joe and Steve’s immediate thoughts were, “We already have a band.” After talking about it between the two of them afterwards they decided to get together with Gary and Brian to see what would happen. At the “audition” both Joe and Steve knew right away that this was the direction they should go. Everything seemed right; the sound was right, Brian and Gary could sing well, everything meshed. Obviously when they told Kirby, Howard and Steve P. they were quitting to form a band with some guys from Ogden, the other members were hurt and angry.    Joe Boesen went to on to play with several other groups. He plays every once and awhile for church things and for his own enjoyment. Joe currently lives in Adel and works for the Stine Seed Company.    Howard Bothner went on to play in several area bands also, many of them with Joe and Steve Fellingham. He is currently living in Colorado. It’s not known if he is still involved in music.    It is uncertain if Kirby Chance played in any other bands in Boone. Sadly, Kirby passed away 12/3/2017 in his sleep. He had no known health issues at the time.    Steve Fellingham went on to play with Joe in other groups in the Boone area. He started a tree service/nursery in the Boone area which he and his wife, Peg, ran. Steve passed away in late 1997 from a heart attack.    Not much is known about Steve Pearson's involvement with music after this group fell apart. He was a page for the Iowa Senate his last two years of high school. He currently lives in Hampton, Iowa with his family.

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