About Me
I APOLOGIZE TO EVERYBODY WHO HAS WRITTEN OR SENT FRIEND REQUESTS TO NO AVAIL - SINCE THIS IS NOT A 'MUSIC' SITE (By Accident & Stupidity) I HAVEN'T PAID ANY ATTENTION TO IT. I WILL TRY TO DO BETTER! YOU CAN ALSO VISIT www.myspace.com/GONN66 )OK, attempt #1 at a MYSPACE page... I'm amazed at how many entries come up when you enter my name in the search engine - damn, here I thought I was unique! Must be lots of Irish myspace pages out there! I'm sure every one of them are great people, must be so!
First off, hello to my lovely wife Marina, whom I met while visiting the historical city of Volgograd, Russia, better known as STALINGRAD in WWII - and to my son & daughter ERIK and KIMBERLY, & grandchildren Kara, Roger, Erika, and Brittney (who is now a member of the Illinois National Guard!!!)... I was and still am the original bass player, singer, songwriter from 60's American garage band GONN, formerly of Keokuk, Iowa, and very proud to say so. Got an hour? Here's a cliffnotes band history, wait for the book for further mudslinging: As a baby-boomer, KHS Class of '65 curly headed nerd, I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and suddenly knew what I wanted to do. After an apprenticeship of sorts, hanging out with THE GALLOWS and THE OUTCASTS, myself and a classmate's younger brother GERRY GABEL put together a band called THE PAGANS with LARRY LAMASTER on guitar and a school friend on drums. When that band sort of disintegrated Gerry and I put ads in the papers and GARY STEPP joined on rhythm guitar. He got the job because he could play "Gloria".... Then BRENT COLVIN called us from Fort Madison, and the 3 of us went to see Brent's band THE ROGUES at a practice session. We stole REX GARRETT and Brent right then and there, we all went outside for a chat and never went back in!!! Before the end of that year, 1966, we had written and recorded our first single "BLACKOUT OF GRETELY" b/w "PAIN IN MY HEART", using 2 microphones straight into a tape deck in the back room of an Electronics shop in Burlington, Iowa. To do the cliff notes thing, that record went on to make the band a known commodity around the world, although decades later! In early 1967 we recorded "Doin' Me In" but didn't release it because our friends all thought it was nuts with all that screaming. We needed to sell records so we opted not to press it. Later that year Larry the Pagan rejoined, replacing Gary, and DAVE JOHNSON came in to replace Brent. That September we released our 2nd single, "Come With Me" b/w "You're Looking Fine". By 1968 the only original members left were Gerry and myself, and in general you need a scorecard to keep track of the changes in GONN and other bands from then on. Over the years "Blackout" was on numerous bootlegs, covered on the live EP by the FUZZTONES & etc, all without our knowledge.
In the 80's strange people started knocking on my door looking for GONN records, even Tim Warren from 'Back To The Grave' tracked me down, and remains a friend today. Eventually all this lead to a phone call from Greg Shaw and a full LP of our 60's recordings coming out on VOXX in 1984. Reunions of 6 of the 7 recording members began in 1990. Since then, with the invaluable support of Mike Stax, Bob Irwin, and others, "Blackout" has really made it's way around, appearing on the Rhino "NUGGETS" box set, the SUNDAZED LP on their Beat Rocket series called "The Loudest Band In Town," and various CD & 7" re-releases. GONN released a reunion album in 1996 called "Gonn With The Wind", and has since done 2 short European tours, 1997 and 2001. All of the European shows were arranged by FANS, not promoters, and none of this joyous reunion stuff would have happened without people like Stevie Gomez, Laurent Bigot, '99th Floor' fanzine (Ron Rimsite) and many others, Greg Shaw, Head And The Hares, The Others & Massimo Del Pozzo, Jeff Jacks & Bugpop, and a list of great people from around the globe as long as all of our arms put together and then some. Forgive me for not mentioning everyone. (One of my personal favorite and now bittersweet moments came when the late great Paula Pierce and The Pandoras dedicated a rip-roaring version of "Doin' Me In" to me at Madame Wong's in LA.) In 2004 GONN was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame, alongside Buddy Holly, The Trashmen, DJ & The Runaways, Bobby Vee, Ritchie Valens, and many others. The PSPOT website and BRIAN JENKINS really picked up the GONN ball on the internet at that point. Also that year we were invited to play in Cleveland at the national Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, and to do a special event in Brown's Stadium. The primary photo on this page is from that day in Cleveland. As I write this, Rex & I are writing material together for a NEW GONN album, to celebrate our 40th Anniversary (which has already passed - this is 41!) SO - GONN CONTINUES.Following the 1968 demise of the youthful GONN, first myself & then Gerry Gabel joined FREDDIE TIEKEN & THE ROCKERS, which quickly morphed into ILMO SMOKEHOUSE, a very progressive band, a 120 decibel mix of old school, psychedelia, blues, Cream, and madness. We released one LP on our own, which was picked up by Roulette Records and issued in Europe as well as the US, and has also become something of a collectible. There are a million stories from this time period as well.After ILMO folded the changes came fast and furious, lots of bands, lots of this, lots of that, eventually resulting in an ILMO reunion of sorts and then 3 of the original members - myself, SLINK RAND, and DENNIS TIEKEN, becoming a heavy rock trio simply called SMOKEHOUSE. The trio format later included MICKI FREE on guitar and by that time we were a glitter/glam screaming hard rock band. We recorded some but nothing was issued.Then in 1976 came a 4-piece band called EYES out of Peoria, Illinois, still all flash and power, that was very successful as a bar band. In 1982 I put together READY STEADY GO, revisiting the 60's & early 70's, a band that is still going today with all different members of course. Another MySpace character, MIKE ISENBERG, was also in the original RSG before he moved to LA. From 1978 through 1987 I also operated a talent booking/management agency, and produced albums for LUTHER ALLISON, THE DAVE CHASTAIN BAND, my own, and others.I released my first solo project, a 3-track EP in 1981, a double album called "AGONNAGAIN" in 1989, a 7" EP recorded at SUN STUDIO in Memphis with YARDBIRDS drummer JIM McCARTY in 1994, and over the next few years with the help of Jim, CHRIS DREJA & EDDIE PHILLIPS in London, THE OTHERS in Rome, and GREG WILLIAMS and MATT WARREN from Ready Steady Go, I put together an all-original CD finally released in 2004 called "STILL TOMORROW YESTERDAY".By virtue of a network of great friends and talented people, including Ilya Soloviev, Dimitri Denisov, and Dima Askenov, I have a group in RUSSIA called CRAIG MOORE'S RUSSIAN SPIES, and I hope to do dates with them this year. We have played all the major clubs & casinos in Moscow, as well as numerous clubs in the Russian provinces. Among others we played the Moscow HARD ROCK CAFE, BB KING'S, and the biggest rock club in Moscow, The B-2 Club.
Here in Peoria I am part of an all-instrumental 50's/60's band called SPEECHLESS - www.meetspeechless.com - and a part-time power trio doing CREAM and HENDRIX, etc, called SUNSHINEXPERIENCE. Of course as I said earlier, GONN CONTINUES. So I am blessed to still be involved in live music, as much as possible.Since 1984 I have owned and operated a collectible records/pop cultiure shop called "Younger Than Yesterday", and I have no intention of laying down just yet. This story is getting much too long, even with grossly abbreviated info, but that's what happens when you're involved with every aspect of the rock 'n roll business for 42 years and live to tell about it.I hope to make this page more interesting as it goes, but I really am computer stupid. I'll do my best to respond to any questions, and will be happy to hear from the world. Pardon me if I'm slow to respond, as always there are countless irons in the fire - I'll get around to it!
