Keith Knudsen - Phone Interview March 1, 1976

Earlier this year, drummer, singer and songwriter Keith Knudsen was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers.   

Born in Le Mars, Iowa, Knudsen's family moved to Princeton, Illinois when Keith was in his early teens.  While a student at Princeton High School, Knudsen began his musical career playing in area bands such as the Sir-Vays and the Coachmen.

 

After high school Knudsen moved to California, performing with several different groups before joining the Doobie Brothers in 1974.

In early 1976, just prior to the release of the Doobie Brothers' album Takin' It To The Streets, Knudsen was back in Princeton visiting his parents and "the old home town."  The local newspaper, the News Tribune, ran the following article:

This led to the following phone interview with local radio personality Don Zukowski on March 1, 1976:

Knudsen remained with the Doobie Brothers until they disbanded in 1982.  Afterwards he formed the country rock band Southern Pacific with fellow Doobie John McFee.     

Knudsen is credited with organizing a one-off Doobies' reunion in 1987 to raise money for the National Veterans Foundation which ultimately led to the group reforming.  Knudsen rejoined the group on a full time basis in 1993.

Knudsen died from pneumonia in 2005 at the age of 56.  He is buried in Princeton, Illinois.

Show #48: Holiday Edition 2020

ARTIST	TRACK	LABEL	YEAR	TOWN / CITY
Jim Easter & The Artistics	Where Is Santa Claus	Cap	1962	Mattoon / Charleston
Bonnie Lou	It's Christmas-Time Again	Candee	1958	Towanda / Carlock
Tex Williams	The Winter Song	Capitol	1949	Ramsey
Lyle Mayfield	Winter Wonderland	- no label -	2008	Greenville
June Christy	The Christmas Song	?	1949	Decatur
Red Norvo & His Orchestra	I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm	Brunswick	1937	Beardstown
Smiley Burnette	Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer	Capitol	1952	Summum
Miles Davis	Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)	Columbia	1962	Alton / East St. Louis
Jim Easter & The Artistics	White Christmas	Cap	1962	Mattoon / Charleston
Carl Trent	Jingle Bell Trucker	Golden Voice	?	Peoria
Burl Ives	What A Lucky Boy Am I	Columbia	1968	Hunt City
Marty Roberts	Let's Give Santa Claus A Christmas	Dome	1951	Chenoa
Joe Dowell	Christmas In Ann Arbor	Journey	1973	Bloomington
Emil "Farmer" Bill	Christmas In A Barn	Golden Voice	1969	Peoria
Peetie Wheatstraw	Santa Claus Blues	Decca	1935	East St. Louis

The Best of Downstate Illinois Garage Rock 1965-1968

Culled from various past shows, we present downstate Illinois' best garage rock from 1965-1968 all in one program. 50 bands. Two hours of mind blowing, fuzzed-out teenage angst from the second half of the sixties.

ARTIST	TRACK	LABEL	YEAR	TOWN / CITY
Meat Dept	This Weeks Children	Polar Bear	1967	Decatur
The War Lords	Real Fine Lady	Thor	1966	Bloomington
One-Eyed Jacks	Die Today	Lakeside	1966	Champaign
The Vectors	What In The World	Analysis	1965	Macomb
The Raindear Army	Subterranean Sunset	Ledger	1967	Springfield
The Intruders	She's Mine	IT	1966	Pittsfield
The Mod 4	Open Up Your Mind	[Fredlo]	1968	Aledo
The Furniture	I Love It Baby	Stature	1967	Peoria
The Cobblestones	I'll Hide My Head In The Sand	Mobie	1967	Bloomington
Fugitive Five	(I Ain't Gonna Give Up) My Way Of Life	Cell	1966	Decatur
Barry Ebling & The Invaders	I Can Make It Without You	Norman	1967	Granite City
The Bacardis	Don't Sell Yourself	Midgard	1966	Rantoul
Kookie Cook	Working Man	Big Beat	1966	Danville
Inner Sanctum	Can't Make It Without You	Thunder	1968	Virden
Third Booth	Sound Inc. (I Need Love)	Thunder	1968	Canton
The Four A While	Low Class Man	Big Beat	1966	Charleston
The Jades	You Have To Walk	Clark	1967	Herrin
The Warner Brothers	Lonely I	Dunwich	1966	Peoria
Nickel Bag	The Woods	Rembrandt	1966	Carbondale
Dean Carter	Rebel Woman	Milky Way	1967	Danville
Beggars Opera Co	Gone From Me	Golden Voice	1968	Farmington
The Cliques	So Hard	Custom	1967	Champaign
The Vanguards	What's Wrong With You	- no label -	1966	Mendota
The Camaros	I Need You No More	Custom	1968	Petersburg
Dave & The Squires	The Girl Of My Dreams	Radex	1965	Lena
Lee Rust	Try, Try To Leave Me	Rofran	1966	Bloomington / Springfield
The Intruders	Bringin' Me Down	Claremont	1966	Rockford
The Explorers	Blue Flavored Lollipop	Sandy's	1968	Quincy
The Wylde Heard	Stop It Girl	Phillips	1967	Peoria
Five Of A Kinde	Goodbye Girl	Garric	1967	Quad Cities
The Night People	Ain't Gonna Happen	Tuggie	1967	Olney
Suburban 9 To 5	Walk Away	Ledger	1967	Peoria
The Ravins	Andy	Syndicate	1967	Gibson City
Livin' End	But I'll Live	KB	1968	Breese
Kracker-Barrel Komplex	Different Than Me	Page	1968	LaSalle-Peru
The Paegans	I Can Only Give You Everything	Rampro	1967	Rockford
The Marauders	Warning	Heads	1966	Granite City
The Komons	Caught In The Trap	Feature	1966	Rockford
The Coachmen	Don't Want To Lose Her	Ledger	1967	Peoria
The Seeds of Reason	I'm Your True Love	Lakeside	1966	Rockford
Rod & The Satalites	She Cares	Irish	1965	Quincy
The Regiment	My Soap Won't Float	G & G	1967	Champaign
The Del-Rays	Lollipop Lady	Arch	1968	Mascoutah
North Bridge Company	Crying All Alone	Sand "G"	1968	Peoria
The Starlites	Wait For Me	Zap	1965	Danville
The Inspirations	Baby Please Come Home	Feature	1966	Rock Falls / Sterling
The Coming Generation	Down To The City	Summit	1968	Dwight
Mystery Meat	Give Me Your Love	Director	1968	Carlinville
The Unknowns	Modern Era	Marlo	1966	Belleville
The Nomadds	Don't Cheat On Me	Radex	1965	Freeport

Show #47: Blytham Ltd & Beyond! The Champaign-Urbana Music Scene 1966-1971

ARTIST	TRACK	LABEL	YEAR	NOTES
The One-Eyed Jacks	Love	White Cliffs	1967
The Bacardis	Don't Sell Yourself	Midgard	1966	later known as The Light Brigade
Al Ierardi	Dureen	RoFran	1967
Lothar & The Hand People	Can't Get Enough Of Your Love	-	1967	*see below for more info
Shades Of Blue	Not The Way Love Should Be	Shades	1967	from Danville, IL
The Prodigies	I Want To Do It	RoFran	1966
$1,000,000 War Babies	Artificial Reality	-	1967
The Cliques	So Hard	Custom	1967
The Esquires	Pretty Little Blue Girl	Feature	1966	from Belvidere, IL
Steve Melshenker	(I've Got) Time On My Hands	Orlyn	1966
The Regiment	My Soap Won't Float	G & G	1967
The One-Eyed Jacks	Getting In A Groove	Roulette	1969
The Guild	The Sun Shines For You	Twinight	1969	from Mascoutah, IL
The Spoils of War	Rit Yellow Of The Sun	Shadoks	1969	released on S/T compilation
The Finchley Boys	Hellfire and Brimestone	Anazitisi	1971	recorded at "In Stitches" , released on Lost Tributes compilation
REO Speedwagon	Be A Big Man Someday	-	1971	recorded at WSIU in Carbondale
Somebody Groovy	We'll Meet Again	-	1966

*  This song was used with special permission by the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  More info at:  Sousa Archives

(See the previous post for more info on Lothar & The Hand People)

 

Bob Nutt and Irving Azoff (photo by Jim Cole)

Blytham Ltd : "Exclusively Handling Every Major Downstate Band"

1967

  

1968

Extras