Billie Joe Becoat (Centralia / Alton)

Like many young men, Billie Joe Becoat wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life.  He studied a variety of subjects in college and worked a number of different jobs before he was 30 but his real passion was songwriting and playing music.  His talent eventually led him to San Francisco in the late 1960's where he recorded two albums for Fantasy Records.  Later in life, after returning to Illinois, he became better known as the inventor of the two-wheel drive bicycle.  His passion for music however never waned.

The son of a minister, Becoat grew up in Centralia, Illinois.  He attended Centralia Township High School and the nearby junior college (now Kaskaskia College).  He later moved to Alton, Illinois where he got married and started a family.  For a time, he worked at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis as a precision assembler.  There he helped build the Gemini spacecraft as well as fighter planes.  In the early 1960's, he went back to school at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, majoring in zoology and chemistry.  Later, he worked as a biochemist at Ralston-Purina.  Somehow, Becoat still found time to write songs.

While at junior college, Becoat was known as the "madcap poet" on campus.  He wrote lengthy poems "dealing with the supernatural or having a moral lesson," which were printed in the student newspaper.  A few years later, Becoat's mother told the Centralia Sentinel, "Billy Joe was never really interested in anything but writing and singing his songs."  

In 1964, Becoat won a talent competition at the SIU Alton Center singing and playing folk songs.  He performed "All The Pretty Little Horses" and "Ox Driver's Song."  His prize was an expense paid ski trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  (He sold the ticket for some much needed cash.)

After SIUE, Becoat studied at the Barnes Hospital School of Cytology.  He graduated in 1967 and was  working in St. Louis as a certified cytologist the next year.  At night and on the weekends, he was performing his songs in the local folk clubs.  According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Becoat "appeared frequently at the old Circle Coffee House in LeClede Town and sang at the Crystal Palace in the Gaslight Square."  Becoat soon moved to California in hopes of finding a bigger audience for his music.

While living in San Francisco, struggling to get noticed, Becoat recorded a demo at Wayne Farlow's studio.  Farlow, who had recorded a young Tom Fogerty many years before, suggested Becoat take the demo tape across the bridge to Fantasy Records.  Before Christmas 1968, Becoat had a recording contract with the label.  

His debut album, Reflections From a Cracked Mirror, was released in May 1969 on Fantasy.  (In the UK, the album was released on Liberty Records).  Becoat sang and played 12-string guitar and harmonica on the album.  It contained ten original songs.  

You can listen to the entire album below:

 

The album received several glowing reviews.  In Billboard, Ed Ochs wrote that Becoat is "a black Dylan, taking over where Dylan leaves off, with his sweet, swaggering blues.  Lyrically and musically, Becoat is the smartest, hippest and most original folk artist specializing in urban and country lore since Lightnin' Hopkins."

The review in the September 1969 issue of Playboy read, "Of the young black singer-writers whose material is based on collective racial experience, Billie Joe Becoat is among the most potent we've heard.  Reflections in a Cracked Mirror (Fantasy) contains ten compositions in a folksy blues-Gospel bag; they are as complex as any songs in the folk-rock library, yet remarkably lucid and pertinent.  Becoat's emotional but controlled voice would be a gas in any context."

The lead track on the album, "Caldonia the Second," was also released as a single.  The b-side was a non-album track, "The Harp Player (From A Goethe Poem)," which Becoat sung partly in German.

In October 1969, Becoat performed at the Berkeley Folk Festival.  Other performers included Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, John Fahey and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.  A month later Becoat opened for Creedence Clearwater Revival at a benefit concert held at the Fillmore West.  He had already written the material that would make up his second album.

Let's Talk For Awhile was released in July of 1970 on Fantasy Records (Liberty Records overseas).  Ten songs, all original.  Listen below: 

"Firefly" was released as a single with "You Can Slip, You Can Slide (You Can't Hide)" on the flip side.  The reviews for the second LP were positive though less enthusiastic than before.  On review wrote, "Pleasing, that's about it."  Becoat continued to perform around Berkeley for the next year or more.   His record deal with Fantasy was not extended.  

Becoat returned to Alton by 1972 and soon started working in construction and carpentry.   He continued to write songs however.  In October, he copyrighted two songs, "Don't Spoil A Woman" and "Shang-A-Lang."

By the late 1970's, Becoat was working on new music with his friend Howard Neal, also from Alton.  With Becoat's help, Neal built a small recording studio in the basement of his house in 1978.  Neal also started his own label, Shoestring Records.  One of the first singles on the label was "Disco Fever" with words and melody by Becoat and music by Neal.  The single, along with most of the Shoestring catalog, was compiled by Numero Group in 2024 as part of their Eccentric Soul series.

Becoat and Neal wrote several additional songs together around that same time.  Some of the titles included, "Hobo Girl," "Don't Give Up On Love," "Don't Turn Your Bed To Stone," "(Maybe) Someday We'll Get Together," and "The Show Must Go On."  On some of these songs, Becoat used a pseudonym, Dwayne Z. Norris.  Demos were recorded for several of them but none were released.  Another song written by the pair, "Tell Me Everything You Know," was recorded by Carletta Sue and released on Shoestring.

During the 1980's, Becoat performed music around the Alton area on occasion, often playing bass.  At the time he owned his own business installing windows and doing home repairs.  His life changed completely in 1986 however.  While fixing a broken chain on his son's bike, he got the idea for a new kind of bicycle, one that delivered pedal power to both the front and rear wheels.  The concept turned into an obsession.  Four years and more than $200,000 later, he turned his vision into a reality. 

In 1990, Beacoat received a patent on the two-wheel drive bicycle.  His innovation quickly received national press, including a profile of Becoat in Ebony in 1993.  The cycling world took notice as well.  Some people believed the idea would revolutionize the industry while others saw it as a passing fad at best.  With the help of investors, the majority of which were African American, 2-wheel drive bikes were soon being manufactured.  In fact, over the next few years a handful of different models were produced under various brand names such as BWA (Bikes With Attitude), Legacy, Discovery and McGregor.

Despite having produced more than 5,000 bicycles by 1993, the main company, 2 Bi 2 Inc., lost more than a million dollars in that same period of time.  Becoat was undeterred.  He continued to sell 2-wheel drive conversion kits as well as adapt his idea in new ways.  He designed a front wheel drive scooter and was looking at ways to expand his design to motorbikes.  Becoat self-published a memoir about the whole experience in 1995 called Dream Peddler: The Story Of An Entrepreneur.

Even during this busy period of his life, music was never far from Becoat's mind. In 1993, he told Ebony that he was working on a blues album.  A year later he told the St. Louis American that his Revol Records was promoting talented musicians in the Alton area.

In 2011, Becoat suffered a stroke.  As part of the recovery process, he started playing guitar and bass again.  Around that time, Becoat's nephew recorded a short "day in the life" documentary of him playing music and talking about his life.

 

In 2015-2016, Becoat uploaded several videos of himself to YouTube, playing the blues and telling stories.

 

 

 

Billie Joe Becoat passed away on November 20, 2025.

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Billie Joe Becoat's brother, George Becoat, was a member of the Semi-Tones featured in our previous post.  Two of their sisters, Mary L. Hayden and Pauline Brooks, were well known gospel musicians in the St. Louis area.

This video of a Becoat family gathering includes audio of Billie Joe singing and playing " I Guess I'll Have To Learn To Fly," a song he first recorded in 1969.  The audio was recorded in 1995.

Ron Ricky, The Semi-Tones & Wax Museum (Centralia)

Over a period of just a few years, Ron Ricky released two obscure 45s with two different groups in two different styles.  Until now, there has been very little information online about either of these records.

Ricky was the stage name of Ron Reichenbacher of Centralia, Illinois.  In August 1965, Reichenbacher had just returned to Southern Illinois from California where he had been serving in the Navy.  He was soon named vice-president of Bill-Rick Ford, a local car dealership owned by his father.  

At night he was performing around Centralia with the Semi-Tones.  Ricky was the group's drummer and bandleader.   The other members of the combo included Chuck Smith and Dave Wheeler, both formerly of California, along with George Becoat, a highly-regarded musician and singer from Centralia.

Centralia Sentinel, September 8, 1965

The quartet was advertised as having "just arrived from California."  According to various newspaper listings, a group called the Semi-Tones had in fact been performing in Torrance, CA a few months prior.

Kinmundy-Alma High School, 1966

By December of 1965, the group had recorded their first and only single: "There's A Girl in My Heart" with words by Ricky and music by Becoat.  The flipside was a cover of the Righteous Brothers' 1963 single, "My Babe."  The record was released on the Semi-Tone label and pressed by Decca.  The address printed on the label, 1409 S. Pine, was Reichenbacher's home address at the time.

 

Ricky and the Semi-Tones performed regularly around Southern Illinois at various night clubs and area dances for the next two years before calling it quits.  During this time, Ron Rick continued to sell cars and even opened his own motorcycle dealership in Centralia, Rick's Cycle Center.  He hadn't yet given up on his rock n' roll dreams however.

Kinmundy-Alma High School, 1969

By the summer of 1968, there was a new rock group performing in Southern Illinois - Wax Museum.  The group consisted of Ron Ricky, Merle and Ted Arnold of Alma and Don Brink of Hoffman.  The Wax Museum took 4th place at the Marion County Fair "battle of the bands" in August.  The competition was won by The Unified Sound, who were also from Centralia.

By March 1969, Wax Museum was in contractual talks with Capitol Records according to the Centralia Sentinel.  The group had two new original songs they were hoping to sell to the major label:  "Blow Your Mind," written by Ricky and Merle Arnold and "If I Should Call You," credited only to Arnold.  Both songs were recorded at the K-B Bandstand music store in Centralia and released on their label, K-B Records.    

There is no audio currently available online for either song.  Teenbeat Mayhem! describes "Blow Your Mind" as "crude, moody guitar & organ with pounding fuzz break."  The record was sold locally but never got picked up by Capitol Records or any other label.  The Wax Museum continued to perform in and around Centralia for the next year and a half, sometimes billed as Merle Arnold and Wax Museums.

Ron Rick(y) continued to sell cars and motorcycles throughout the rest of his life but it is unclear if he played music professionally after 1970.  Reichenbacher passed away in 1985 at the age of 42.  His obituary made no mention of his time as a musician and bandleader.

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Centralia Sentinel, Dec. 20, 1965

Centralia Sentinel, Mar 13, 1969

Motherfox (Charleston)

Motherfox (sometimes written as Mother Fox) was an early 1970's rock band based in Charleston, Illinois.  Most of the band members were students at Eastern Illinois University at the time:

• Steve Huston - Vocals
• Clyde Sims, Jr. - Guitar
• Bruce Berry - Bass
• Dennis Ostermann - B3 Hammond Organ
• Ron Walker - Drums
• David Mitchell - Trumpet
• Steve Derry - Trumpet
• Tom Snader - Trombone

Prior to Motherfox, Steve Huston had been a founding member of Head East but left the group temporarily while attending college.  Clyde Sims and Bruce Berry had previously been members of the Fugitives in Decatur, Illinois, where they had recorded two singles as teenagers in the mid-1960's.  Sims wrote two of the group's originals:

"I Asked Her" & "(I Aint Gonna Give Up) My Way of Life"

 

Motherfox first started performing in the summer of 1971.  They were one of the first bands to play at Ted's Warehouse, Charleston's legendary rock venue / drinking establishment.

The group was soon being booked by the Champaign talent agency Blytham Ltd.  Like most bands on their roster, Motherfox played the college and bar circuit throughout Illinois and neighboring states.  They were sometimes billed as "featuring the sound of Chicago."

In May 1972, the band recorded several original tracks at Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin, Illinois:

• The Change Is Comin'
• Morning
• You Gotta Live

These recordings circulated among fans of the band but never saw an official release.  Years later, Dennis Ostermann made them available on his SoundCloud page.  In addition, he shared multiple live recordings of the band, including more originals as well as an entire set from Ted's Warehouse.  

Dennis Ostermann · Motherfox 1972

Here is "Suite To The Sun," written by Clyde Sims and recorded live at Ted's Warehouse on August 25, 1972.

Motherfox were only together for a few more months before calling it quits.  Steve Huston would go back to drumming and singing with Head East by 1973.  He went on to write over half the songs on their 1975 debut album, Flat As A Pancake, and remained with the group for the next decade.  Huston passed away in 2023.

Motherfox actually re-formed in early 1975.  They ran ads in the Daily Illini and Eastern News, looking for a saxophone player and a guitarist.

By the spring they were played gigs throughout central Illinois again, including shows at the Red Lion in Champaign and Bloomington.  Their return, however, only seems to have lasted a few months.

Guitarist Clyde Sims eventually joined Jim Easter and the Artistics, a Charleston / Matoon group that first got its start in the early 1960's.  Sims recorded one album with the group in 1977.  He passed away in 2019.  

Dennis Ostermann would form the Ashby Ostermann Alliance in 1977 in Charleston.  The group relocated to the Chicagoland area where they self-released their first album in 1981.  They reunited in 2016 and released a second album a few years later.

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For more on Ted's Warehouse and the Charleston rock scene:

Missing Links (Rockford)

The Missing Links formed in the mid-1960's in Rockford, Illinois.  The band members included Russ Caltagerone (drums), Jim Smith (guitar), Allen Bell (vocals), Dick Campbell (bass) and Steve Distefano (organ).  Their music was advertised as rhythm & blues, rock and soul.  By the end of 1967, they were one of the more popular teenage groups in northern Illinois.  They performed regularly at the YMCA 220 Club in Rockford as well as many area dances and events.

By early 1968, the band went through a lineup change with Jim Smith leaving the group.  They added Pat Piper on lead guitar and Nick Pumilia on saxophone.  Both were still in high school at the time.  Most of the other members of the band had already graduated and a few were attending area colleges.

By February of 1968, the band released their first single which included covers of the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb" and the Temptations' "Get Ready."  The 45's noticeably "thin" sound was due to the complete lack of bass.  According to Jeff Lind's History of Chicago Rock series in the Illinois Entertainer, bassist Dick Campbell was sick on the day of the session.  Rather than cancel or replace him, the band went ahead and recorded without him.  The single was released on Marek Records.

 

Despite it's uneven sound, the record was a hit in Rockford.  Both songs topped local radio station WROK's "mini hits" chart in early February, beating out the Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye."  

Unfortunately for the Missing Links, another Rockford group, The Iron Gate, also recorded a version of "Get Ready" at the same time.  Their take on the tune would soon knock the Missing Links' version out of the top spot.

A friendly rivalry between the two bands would continue to play out in the regular "battles" held at local venues such as the Sherwood Lodge.

The Iron Gate's version of "Get Ready" :

In 1970, the Missing Links released their second single.  This time it included two originals:  "Should Have Done Better" and "Can't Take It No More."  The record was released on the Mare (Brand) label, which listed a Chicago address.  On the record, the band name was written only as T.M.L.  It is unclear who exactly was in the band during this period.

 

A pared down version of the Missing Links continued to perform in Rockford into the early 1970's before calling it quits.  In the early 1990's however, the band was resurrected, at least in name.  With Dick Campbell as the only original member, the Missing Links were reborn as an oldies / classic rock cover band.  By 1992, the band was awarded "the best of Rockford."  They would continue to win the honor multiple times and would eventually go on to be inducted in the Rockford Area Music Industry (RAMI) Hall of Fame in 2000.  Despite a number of lineup changes, the Missing Links are still performing in 2026.

North Bridge Company (Peoria)

Peoria Journal Star, November 22, 1968

The basic facts of the North Bridge Company from Peoria, Illinois were first covered by Garage Hangover way back in 2008.   According to the website, the band members included:

• Greg Schuller (lead vocals)
• Mike Somerville (lead guitar); replaced by Gary Shawgo (lead guitar, backing vocals)
• Ed Mooberry (rhythm guitar)
• Dennis Stewart (keyboards)
• Mike Creek (bass)
• Frank Ballard (drums)

For a time, the group was sponsored and promoted by a Peoria music store, S & G Music.

When the group recorded their only single in 1968 at the Golden Voice Recording Co. in nearby South Pekin, the original label was meant to read S & G but was misprinted as Sand "G":

 

Crying All Alone (Schuller) / Strange Land Strange People (Stewart)

The single was also released on the Golden Voice label. 

In November of 1968 the North Bridge Company hosted a Battle of the Bands at the Exposition Gardens in Peoria.  The event was co-sponsored by the local Bergner's and the Peoria Jaycees.  The "battling" groups included:  The Driving Reign, The Match Bachs, The 9th Century Serfs, The Winter Harvest, The Unknown Source, The Attire, Page IV, 89th Congress, The Bus Stop, The Delegation, The Organization and The Suburban 9 To 5.

A few months later the group competed in a "battle" against some of the same groups.

The North Bridge Company continued to perform at dances and teen centers around central Illinois for at least another year.  Here they are performing at the 1970 Valentine Dance at Limestone High School in Bartonville, Illinois:

The State Of Confusion (Quincy)

March 1967:  Marc Hollembeak, Bruce Murray, Tom Stowell, Bob McIntosh, Ray Steward, Mike Kamphaus

The State Of Confusion were a group of teenagers from Quincy, Illinois that formed in January 1967.  The earliest lineup consisted of Marc Hollembeak on bass, Bruce Murray on vocals, Tom Stowell on lead guitar, Bob McIntosh on rhythm guitar, Ray Steward on drums and Mike Kamphaus on organ.  The band was managed by Mike's father, Carl Kamphaus.

The group won a Battle of the Bands competition at the Quincy YMCA "Pub" in March 1967.  For the contest, Brian Smelsor filled in for Murray on vocals.  The prize was reportedly a recording session at the Golden Voice Recording Company in South Pekin to "cut a master tape."  It is unclear if they ever claimed their prize.

By August of 1967, Bruce Murray had been replaced by Stan Bright on vocals and guitar.  Bright was from the Missouri side of the Mississippi River and attended nearby Palmyra High School.  

That summer the State of Confusion came in second at the big Battle of the Bands held in downtown Quincy, beating out The Explorers but losing to The Times.  Several thousand teenagers were in attendance for the contest which came with a $100 prize for second place.  For the next year or so, the band played a variety of school dances and teen centers around Quincy as well as parts of eastern Missouri.

By June of 1968 the band had gone through another lineup change.  Marc Hollembeak was replaced by Mark Buckwalter from Palmyra, MO.  Buckwalter had previously been a founding member of the popular area group, The Gazorks.   On drums, a young Steve Tieken from Quincy had taken over for Ray Steward.  Tieken's dad, Freddie Tieken, was a popular area musician / bandleader and part owner of the local recording studio, IT Studios.

The State of Confusion made their only commercially available recording at IT Studios.  Sometime in the summer of 1968, the group recorded two original tunes:  "My Fellow Americans" written by Bright, Buckwalter and McIntosh and "Buckwalter's Blues," an instrumental credited only to Mark Buckwalter.  The single was released on Tieken's IT Records.

 

In early August 1968, the State of Confusion performed at a Carson, Pirie, Scott fashion show in downtown Quincy.  Mike Kamphaus also served as the show's organist.  The band however appears to have broken up before the winter.  Guitarist Bob McIntosh was headed off to college in Carbondale and 12-year old Steve Tieken would soon be drumming with the newest group in town, Electric Creation.

Steve Tieken on stage with the State of Confusion at the Palmyra Homecoming Dance 1968 

Brillo & The Firebirds (Macomb)

Dennis Albee of Macomb, Illinois started performing at a very young age.  His parents had a square and round dance band and young Dennis was on stage playing music with them before he was ten.  Along with his older sister Dina, Albee was also part of a twirling act where he would perform with flaming batons, spinning them high into the air.  By age 12, Albee had started his own rock band, the Fire Birds.  

The earliest group included Dennis on guitar, Dina on bass and a drummer from Iowa.  At a talent show in Cuba, Illinois in the summer of 1965 the Albees performed both their baton act and played "Henry The Eighth" and "What'd I Say" as the Fire Birds.  Later that summer the band was performing all over western Illinois. 

By 1966, the group was a quartet: Dennis on guitar, Dina now on rhythm guitar and organ, Rob Nelson on bass and Mike Golliher on drums.  Nelson was from Bowen, Illinois and Golliher was from Warsaw, Illinois.   Most of them were still in high school at the time.  It was actually a high school teacher that would tease Dennis about his curly hair, giving him the nickname Brillo.  The band soon became known as Brillo & The Firebirds.

At the 1966 Young America Fair (a division of the Illinois State Fair) the Firebirds were finalists in the statewide Combo Clash.  The Knight Beats of Centralia took the top honor that year.  Earlier in the summer, the Firebirds had participated in the World Teenage Show held at Navy Pier in Chicago.  In September 1966, they opened for Beau Brummels at the Fort Madison, Iowa Rodeo Arena.

  

One of their biggest performances came the next summer when Brillo & The Firebirds won the International Battle of the Bands at the 1967 World Teenage Show in Chicago.  The competition was sponsored by WLS and the Ludwig Drum Company.  According to an article in the Burlington, Iowa newspaper, "The group was awarded recording contracts, booking contracts, an engraved trophy for each member, $25,000 in equipment and a 3-week tour of Europe."

Unfortunately, none of this came to pass.  Instead, Brillo & The Firebirds would continue to perform at county fairs, high school dances and teen centers across western Illinois and eastern Iowa for the next several years.  It would be almost two years before the band would produce their only commercial recording; a self-released single recorded at Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin, Illinois.  The 45 was released in 1969 and contained two original tunes: 

"Some Place To Hide"  /  "Calling Red Rover"

 

Brillo and the Firebirds increasingly performed on the Iowa side of the river and were regulars at the Sunday night dances at the American Legion in West Point.  In April 1969, they opened for the New Colony Six at the Keokuk College fieldhouse.  On several occasions they shared a bill with Gonn from Keokuk.  Before the end of the year however the Firebirds had called it quits.

By May of 1970 a band called Tom, Dick and Harry was performing in Iowa.  They were billed as "formerly Brillo & The Firebirds."  Dennis Albee eventually moved to Iowa where he played in a number of bands and continues to play to this day.  In 2010, Albee was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Questioning his own credentials as an Iowan despite having lived there for quite some time, he told the Burlington, Iowa newspaper, "I'm an Illinois guy."

In October 2023, Brillo participated in a celebration of the Golden Voice Recording Co at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.  Albee performed both songs from his 1969 single along with Craig Moore (of Gonn) on bass, Chris Delbridge on keyboards and Matthew Warren on drums.

 

Jam Factory (Peoria)

Jam Factory at Limestone Community High School, 1969

Advertisements from the summer of 1968 described Peoria's own Jam Factory as "the Newest, Hottest 6-Piece Band in Central Illinois." The group at that time consisted of:

• Dick Bush, vocals
• John Miller, guitar
• John McFarlane, bass
• George McCullough, drums
• Rodger Himmel, saxophone
• John Middleton, trumpet

Years before, Dick Bush had performed locally with Jerry Milam and the Stan'Dels.  Together they had recorded a single for Hit Records back in 1963.  John "Pops" McFarlane and Rodger Himmel had previously been in the Peoria group, the Soulmates.  McFarlane, whose sister is Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane of Spanky and Our Gang, had also previously played with local legend Wild Child Gipson.  Trumpeter John Middleton was a student at Bradley University at the time.  Middleton and Himmel were both from nearby Manito, Illinois.

Jam Factory recorded a single at Jerry Milam's Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin in 1968.  Both sides were written and produced by Eddie Howard.  The record was released by October of that year.

"Give Me The Right (To Love You Baby)" b/w "Good Lovin' Woman"

 

The single was also released on Stereo Village Records, a label owned by Bill Curtis that promoted his chain of electronics stores found throughout central Illinois.

Jam Factory performed at night clubs and dances around the Peoria area for about two years.  They had regular gigs at Club Peorian, Mike's Lounge, The Elbow Room, the Flame Steak House in Pekin and the Town House in Havana.

On May 29, 1969 the Jam Factory, along with Stoned Soul, opened for the Bob Seger System at the Expo Gardens Opera House in Peoria.  Stoned Soul featured Peoria-native Danny Beard, who later joined the Fifth Dimension.

By 1970, a Syracuse, NY band also called Jam Factory released an album on Epic Records.  The group was briefly promoted across the country by Youth Beat, a syndicated newspaper column, that gave away posters of the band to anyone that wrote in.  The Peoria-based Jam Factory however seems to have called it quits by this point.   

A new group, Dick Bush & The Sack, was performing regularly at King Henry VIII in Peoria by April 1970.

The Changing Times (Bartonville)

The Changing Times at Bradley University fraternity dance, 1968

The Changing Times were a teenage group from Bartonville, Illinois that performed around the Peoria area for much of 1967 and 1968.  Members of the quintet included Danny Newby on bass, Martin Hagerdorn on keyboards and Curtis Brown on drums.  (The other members have not yet been identified).  During their brief time together, the group released one single on the Thunder label.

The Changing Times recorded their lone 45 at the Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin in 1967.  It consisted of two covers:  Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man" and Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (written by Holland-Dozier-Holland and first recorded by the Supremes).  An advertisement for the Changing Times' performance at the Canton Teen Center from November 1967 stated "Will Have A New Record Out Soon."

 

In the summer of 1967 the Changing Times were runners-up in the statewide Combo Clash at the Young America Fair (part of the Illinois State Fair).  They lost to the Holidays from Springfield.  Their biggest performance however came the next year when they were one of three Peoria groups to open for the Turtles at the Expo Gardens Youth Building on April 15, 1968.  The other two local groups were the Suburban 9 to 5 and the Coachmen.

For the next six months or so, the Changing Times continued to perform at area dances including several at Bradley University.  The group appears to have broken up by 1969.

Marty Hagerdorn eventually joined the band Souled Out, another Peoria-area group that had recorded a single at Golden Voice.  They later changed their name to the Kule-Aid Kids.  Over the years, Danny Newby played in several area bands as well including the Flying D'Rito Brothers.  Newby passed away in 1994 at the age of 44.  Hagerdorn passed in 2002.

The Jordan Aires (Springfield)

African American gospel 45s from downstate Illinois are few and far between but every once in a while a new one turns up.  This obscure single was released in early 1976 by the Jordan Aires, a group from Springfield, Illinois.

The Jordan Aires were performing in the capital city as early as 1967.  The members of the group are unknown except for the two vocalists listed on the record: Reverend Doffie Allison and Nathan Williams.  

The single was recorded at the Smoke Signal Sound Studio in Carbondale (which was later moved to nearby Makanda) and released on the studio's label, Smokey Soul.  The Jordan Aires performed in the Carbondale area in July 1976 along with the Family-Aires of Carbondale and the Jones Singers from Springfield.

"They That Wait (On The Lord)" b/w "I Found Joy (In A Christian Way)"

(Smokey Soul SS 01276)

 

Rev Dr. Doffie Lee Allison Sr. passed away in 2012.  According to his obituary, he was born in Glendora, Mississippi.  He moved to Illinois by the mid-1960's, attended Lincoln Land Community College and worked for the Springfield Mass Transit District as a bus driver for many years.  There is no mention of the Jordan Aires however the memorial states, "In 1979, Rev. Allison organized the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church where he served as Pastor and worked diligently until the time of his death."

If anyone has any more information about the Jordan Aires, please get in touch and we will add it to this story.   ( downstatesounds@gmail.com  )

For more examples of African American gospel from downstate Illinois, including two other groups from Springfield, listen to our old radio show from 2020:  SHOW #41 

Ashes Of Dawn (Carbondale)

The Ashes of Dawn formed in late 1967 on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.  The six students that made up the pop group were mostly from the Chicagoland area but included a few members from downstate.

• Fred Walker, vocals (Harrisburg)
• Rob Little, lead guitar (Rantoul)
• Douglas Haas, 12-string guitar (Wheaton)
• Howard Williams, bass (Kankakee)
• Tom Parnell, electric organ (Chicago)
• Richard Wittosch, drums (Chicago)

By March of 1968 the "psychedelic orchestra" was performing around Carbondale and the surrounding areas.  In August the group signed a recording contract with Brave Records of Harvey, Illinois.  The Ashes of Dawn were the first "contemporary rock" group to be signed by the label which typically featured country and western music.  They reportedly had a contract to record six singles and possibly an album.

The group's first single was released on September 7, 1968.  It included two originals, "Yesterday's Dream" and "See The Light."  The music for both songs were written by Douglas Haas.  Haas also wrote the words for "See The Light."  The lyrics for "Yesterday's Dream" were written by Fred Walker.

 

A few weeks after the single was out, the Ashes of Dawn opened for the Box Tops at the SIU Arena.  The group continued to perform around southern Illinois and parts of Missouri for the next year.

An article from December 1968 mentions the band was recording in Nashville.  If true, nothing came of the sessions.  The band never released another single.  In June 1969, the group performed on Kaleidoscope, a weekly variety television show produced in Carbondale by WSIU-TV.  The show was carried by 20 different stations throughout the Midwest.  The band doesn't appear to have stayed together much longer however.  Several of the members graduated from SIU in the spring of 1970.

 

Additional notes:

Prior to the Ashes of Dawn, Fred Walker had been the singer in the Scarabs, a popular teen group from Harrisburg.  Other members of the group included Ed Thurmond, Joe Potts, Gary Brantley, Dennis Wilson and Curt Williams.

 

Before attending SIU, organ player Tom Parnell had been a member of the Exterminators and the Dimensions back in Chicago.