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| Start date for lineup: late Spring 1977 |
| Last date for lineup: Fall 1977 |
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This version of Willow, based in Boone, was the farthest away from what the original band had been. Steve was the ‘leader’ of the group and the motivating force behind its continuation as Willow. After Cathy Larson left the group, Steve decided to take the band in a new direction by adding horns. Having played sax in high school, Steve wanted to add that along with some brass. Pat knew Mike as they were both attending Boone High at the time. Steve’s girlfriend Jane knew how to play trumpet and piano and was also asked to join to round out the sound.
Equipment information is a bit sketchy. Steve was playing a blonde finished Les Paul Recording model guitar along with either an Aims or Yamaha amp. Steve’s saxophone was a Selmer Tenor Mark VI. David was going through several gear changes around this time. He probably was playing a ’59 Gibson ES 335 with a blonde finish or a Les Paul with single coil pickups along with a Gibson Firebird III. His amp was either a black face Fender Twin or Super Reverb. Jane played a Fender Rhodes electric piano that belonged to Steve. The Rhodes may have been patched directly into the bands PA. Her trumpet make is not known. |
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Brian was playing a homemade bass guitar through an Ampeg B 15 Convertable amp. The Ampeg was a pretty slick and compact design. It was basically a cube shaped amp with the amplifier mounted to a lid that formed part of the top of the amp enclosure. When in use the amp lid was turned so the amp was on top of the enclosure. For transport the lid was turned over with the amp safely inside the enclosure with the lid secured by luggage style clips. The amp itself was covered with a dark blue tolex type material.
It is thought that Pat had a Pearl drum set finished in aqua sparkle. The kit was fairly basic for the time with kick, snare, two rack toms, floor tom along with hi-hat and ridw and crash cynmbals. Mike was playing a Schilke B5 trumpet.
For PA Willow was using a Yamaha EM150 board which was a self–powered mixer. The EM150 drove a pair of Yamaha speakers. The band had a mixture of microphones. A ubiquitous Shure SM 58 along with Turner and Electro–Voice mics were used. |
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Willow started out practicing in Steve’s bedroom and may have continued at that location for this lineup. A schedule of two nights a week was fairly consistent at this time. The song list stayed somewhat the same as it was in the previous lineup of the group, but with the addition of horn oriented tunes. Stuff like ‘Valdez in the Country’ & ‘Down to the Bone’/Cold Blood, ‘Vehicle’/Ides of March and ‘Color My World’/Chicago were added to a list that included ‘Long Train Running’/Doobie Bros, ‘Let It Rain’/Eric Clapton and ‘Wine’/the Electric Flag.
Willow played out quite often. In a sense there was no real startup involved since this lineup came about in a relatively gradual way. All of the individuals were good players and able to work songs up quickly. Plus the name was well known enough that gigs were nearly waiting for the band. Willow played a combination of school dances and club gigs. The band averaged around 30 to 40 dollars a member playing out at this time. |
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| There was no real breakup just a mutation in the bands lineup. Brian had gotten a job offer in the Cedar Rapids area. His wife had passed away and he was looking for a change of sorts. Brian is currently living in Washington state with his family. He is a Certified Picture Framer and a Guild Commended Framer. Brian teaches and takes part in seminars all around the world on framing and the related subjects in this area. Use the next band pick below to follow Willow’s progression after Brian’s departure. |
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| HOME WORDS BANDS SONGS POSTERS STORE MUSIC HELP LEAVE/LINKS |
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