Northeast Michigan Oral History and Historic Photograph Archive

Bates Interview

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Interview Part 2: Interview Part 2
Transcription: There was a lot of bars you could go in and play, like the Old Home Tavern and The Corner Bar. Uh, Bolton Bar, Spratt Bar . . . GB. Weddings even hired back then, though. CC. Mm hm. Do you remember what they paid ya? Do you remember what you made- WB. When I first started out at Home Tavern, it was $10 a night. CC. $10 a night. Ok. And that was a three or four piece band? WB. Three piece, I think we had. CC. Well, we haven't done very much better today, have we, when you think about it. Considering the costs were back then, and now today - and, uh, kinda limited, uh, do you think we're kinda limited where we can, where we can go play music now, uh, Wayne? WB. Pretty much. Pretty much. CC. Ok. WB. Maplewood is probably the only one where everybody gets together- CC. Yeah. WB. -does a good job. CC. Yep. WB. And what we play, that Spratt bar GB. Hoppe's Hut? WB. Hoppe's Hut, for about seven - oh, more than that. GB. Ten- WB. Ten years. CC. Ok. WB. And then the new owner took over, and he didn't want a band, so we moved out to Little Town Lounge. CC. Mm hm. And you're there what - every other Sunday? WB. Every other Sunday, yes. CC. Ok. And then special occasions that they hire you for. WB. Yeah. CC. Ok. WB. And we're supposed to be out there New Years, I guess, this year. Again. A lot of bars don't have bands on New Year's Eve anymore, CC. No. WB. But I think they're startin' up again. CK. What is the name of the band? The current band? GB. Over the Hill WB. Over the Hill Band. CK. Did we talk about who was in that? GB. No. WB. No. CK. Who was in that? WB. Uh, Gayle, Al Zdan, John Marzean, Dick Laney, myself. CK. And who's your audience? Who shows up? GB. Over the hill people. (laughter) CC. Fifty and over. GB. Yeah. CC. Fifty and over. That's my guesstimate. GB. Mm hm, definitely. CC. Well, we also have at the table - and we can come back to you, Wayne, if there's anything at special stories you'd like to share with us, um, we can certainly do that. But we have an unusual circumstance here because we have a - we have a musician, and a musician that are married folk, Wayne and Gayle, and Gayle comes from a musical background, and she has her own history to talk about, I know she does. So let's talk with Gayle and we'll give Wayne a little time to think about if there's anything he'd like to add, and uh, Gayle. GB. Yeas. CC. You and I are fairly new friends. GB. Mm hm CC. Fairly new. But you've been in this music scene a long time also. When did you start, how did you start, and with who? GB. Well, I was probably five when I remember the first time singing, playing, um, my whole family was musical, minus one brother - he never took interest. And my dad, Alfred Kirchoff, taught himself to play guitar and then was determined that we were going to play. So, the three older, my three older siblings all took lessons, and then when it got to me, it was like, 'well, you can learn from your siblings', so I've - I stumble through playing music, I'm not the greatest guitarist or piano player, by no means, um, however I do enjoy it. I - I really have a good time. Um, we always had all the equipment set up in the house in one room, so it was, whenever you wanted to play something, you'd go in there and play it. And my Dad had a lap steel, so I played with that all the time and um, as a family, that's what we did. Then my older brothers um, started their own band. Um, and to be honest with you, I can't remember the name of it. It was a three piece band. They ventured out and did it. And us girls, you know, my oldest sister never did get into a band until later in life, and I never did until I met Wayne, but I always sang and played a little bit here and there. And when I turned sixteen, Bob Edwards had heard me sing, contacted me and said, 'If I can get you a recording contract, what do you think?' And, being sixteen, of course that was right up my alley, I'm like, 'how wonderful', 'cause that was my dream - Loretta Lynn was my idol. And I'm like 'Yes, I want to do this', but still scared to death at sixteen. CK. And Bob Edwards was the . . . GB. Radio announcer at WATZ at the time. So, he contacted Porter Wagner, and we did a taping of two songs that I had written, and got local musicians, um . . . I'm trying to think of who they were - do you remember, Wayne? WB. Uh- GB. Carol Hopp was still WB. Chuck Bruning GB. Chuck Bruning WB. Carol Hopp . . . uh, Bonnie GB. Chuck's wife at the time, Bonnie WB. Bonnie. GB. And who was the guy that played bass, stand-up bass? WB. Uh, Bruce . . . GB. Bruce - you don't know? WB. I can't think of his name GB. I can't remember his name either. Anyways, we did a reel-to-reel tape, recorded the two songs and sent it to Nashville to Porter Wagner. And he immediately called back and said 'I want her!' Stupid me - and um, he said, 'If you want to do the record the way it is, with your band, it's $5,000, however, if you choose to come to Nashville, I will produce the record with my band, I will take you on tour and we will make you a star. Well, I was going, 'til I realized I was going by myself at sixteen and I would have no daddy to go with me, and I got cold feet and I got scared. So we just did the record for the $5,000 and it was sold around the area here, which I have 500 copies left and there was only a thousand made! (laughter) And they sold for a dollar apiece. So, I kinda put that on the back burner, and then, probably six months later, Lonzo and Oscar came to Lincoln, and Bob Edwards hauled me up to Lincoln, put me onstage with them and I did one song, and when I got done, they wanted to take me back to my house and get permission from my parents to take me on their tour bus, and again, there was six men on this bus, and I'm seventeen at the time, and I'm looking at the odds, thinking, you know, how do women make it in this business and do I want to go down that road. So, I declined again, and just kind of left it go, but still kicking myself because I felt I could've made it. And then, approximately a year after I was married, um, Porter Wagner's producer called my mother and begged her again, and my mother said, 'well, that's up to her', and I just - by that time I had a baby and I just said I can't. I just - just couldn't do it. So that was the end of my singing career 'til I met Wayne. CC. And how long a gap in between was that, Gayle? GB. Um, that was probably 37 years? CC. 37 years that you never - you never sang, went out, sang at a bar, none of that, never played music. GB. No. CC. Ok. GB. Maybe not quite 37, maybe it was 'bout 27. CC. Ok. GB. 27, yeah. CK. Did you still play with family, though? Or . . . GB. Mmm . . . Yes. Yes, I did quite a bit. Um, and then once my dad passed away it seemed like the family get-togethers stopped and we just didn't play. I never played in a band or . . . was not the type of person to go out, 'cause I was a homebody mother that was going to stay home, take care of her kids and raise 'em. At one point, Wayne had called me um, and he was lookin' for a rhythm guitar player, and I just said I you know, just can't do it. I just, with kids, I had teenagers and stuff, and I just didn't feel comfortable at that time, so I just stayed home. Then we met, and um, they were playing at Hoppe's Hut at the time, Bob Wodkowski and Wayne, Jim Eller, Al Zdan, Dick Laney, and who was the steel - or the violi - fiddle player? WB. Um- GB. Pokrczynski? CK. This was the Over the Hill Band? GB. Yes. That was the starting of it. So, they asked me, 'do you want to sing a song?' And I'm like, 'yeah, I'd love to.' So I got up, did two songs, and sat down, and the next week Jim Eller's called me and said, 'hey, we have band practice out at Al Zdan's, this is how you get there - we expect you to be there'. And I'm like, at that time I was single and I'm a little nervous, you know, with all these men, so I said, ok, I'll see, maybe if I can get one of my sons to come with me, I'll be there. So that's where it began with the Over the Hill Band - I played with them on Wednesday nights for maybe a month or two, and then Bob Wodkowski said 'would you like to join us?' And I'm like, 'heck, yeah'. (laughs) So that's where my singing started then. CC. And that was how long ago do you think, Gayle? GB. Um, twelve years ago. CC. Twelve years ago. Ok. And of course, we know - we know by joining that band, that also, uh, gave you a - a whole lot more closeness to the gentleman setting here that you married. GB. Yes, indeed. CC. I don't know how long it was that you dated before you were married, but you've been married for a while. GB. Mm hm CC. And you're still playing and singing in the Over the Hill Band, that personnel has changed a little bit GB. Yes CC. I do know that, but you're still doing that and - and uh, yeah. GB. Yep, great group of guys. CC. Yep. So. CK. That - that's a wonderful story. I'm glad you're - I can't wait to hear you. CC. You must, uh - was this with Porter before Dolly or after Dolly? GB. Um, after Dolly. CC. After Dolly - because I know he was really lookin' - see, you would've been her replacement. GB. Yes, after Dolly. CC. Ok. GB. Um, I can't really say I regret it, even though a little bit of me does, but I think had I had a support system to go, I would've went. But I was just too scared at sixteen, and . . . all the drugs and horror stories of sex and stuff, I just - was not something I wanted to get into. CC. Yeah. Women were treated pretty shabbily back then. GB. Exactly. CC. If you read any of the stories, uh, and talk about their backgrounds - Loretta Lynn could tell ya, Patsy Cline could tell you, they were treated pretty shabbily. GB. Yup. CK. Were you, was there anyone giving you advice? Or were you kind of sortin' through this on your own . . . GB. Um, well, my parents were, but you know, they - it was more or less like they said, 'Dad can't quit his job to take you to Nashville,' and um, you know, who do you go with at that point? There was no one else, and Dad was my leaning post, and when he said he couldn't go, then I was like scared to death, 'cause I'm like, I'm not flying out to Nashville by myself and, you know. CC. Sure. Well, can either one of you talk about anything, special stories you have, or memories you have, about your career - you definitely both have had a career and still do. Um, special maybe - I can remember you do some playing outside in very cold weather. I wonder how you, I often wonder how you do that - like the Elk Festival, when you go there, it's got to be something else trying to stay warm and play outside. GB. Yeah. CC. What do you do? GB. Wear cut off gloves. CC. Wear cut off gloves. GB. So your finger tips are - Al Zdan actually plays with brown jersey gloves on with the fingers in. CC. Yeah, yeah. GB. Whole lot of working to keep the instruments in tune. CK. Yeah, that, that is a very special circumstance, isn't it- CC. For sure CK. To northern Michigan? CC. For sure. Yup. Cindy, have you got anything more? Um CK. No, it was a pleasure, though. I really enjoyed hearing your stories, you backgrounds, and look forward to hearing you play. GB. Thank you. WB. Thank you. CC. We want to thank you very much for being here, both Wayne and Gayle Bates, and for their, for allowing us to look back with them in their very, very rich history in the country music field. Thank you very much. GB. Thank you. WB. Thank you. And we both have CDs. CC. We're gonna have to have them. We'll copy 'em. GB. Ok.
Creators: Carole Cadarette and Cindy Kus, Interviewer; Gayle Bates and Wayne Bates
, Interviewee
Media Type: Audio; Image; Text
Item Type: Interviews
Description: The first time Wayne Bates played guitar in a bar he was around 12 years old, and the bar was The Bolton Bar. Wayne learned to play fiddle at the age of 10, then Hawaiian and Spanish guitar. He likes playing old time country and continues to play in the Alpena with his wife Gayle in The Over the Hill Band.
Though Gayle chose to stay in the area and raise a family, Porter Wagoner offered her a start in Nashville at the age of sixteen. In this interview the couple discuss their musical roots and how music brought them together.
Place of Publication: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Library
Date of Original: 11 December, 2015
Playing Time: 30:12
Subject(s): Country Musicians
Personal Name(s): Bates, Gayle ; Bates Wayne ; Wyman, Cliff ; Bussey String Band ; Anderson, Glenn ; The Drifters ; Wildfong, Willy ; Kirchoff, Al ; Kirchoff, Ed ; The Westernaires ; A. K. and the Outlaws ; Wild Country ; Szymanski, Maria ; Johnson, Tammy ; Johnson, Freddy ; Tollen, Jimmy ; LaFleur, Hank ; Conger, Paul ; Nolan, Paul ; Dickens, Jimmy ; Morey, Barney, May, Mel ; May, Charley ; Hepburn, Jack ; Bundy Mountain Jamboree ; Lyon, Butch ; Zdan, Al ; Marzean, John ; Laney, Dick ; Eller, Jim ; Lynn, Loretta ; Hopp, Carol ; Bruning, Chuck ; Wagoner, Porter ; Lonzo and Oscar ; Wodkowski, Bob ; Over the Hill Band
Collection: Musicians of Northeast Michigan
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Date: 2015
Copyright Holder: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Library
Recommended Citation: In text- Bates, Wayne (2015) Bates, Gayle (2015)
Reference- Bates, Wayne (2015, December 11) or Bates, Gayle (2015, December 11). Retrieved at http://www.nemoha.org/3321163/data?dis=dm
Contact: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library
Email:specialcollections@alpenalibrary.org
Website:
https://www.alpenalibrary.org

Agency street/mail address:
211 N. First Ave.
Alpena, Michigan 49707
USA
(989)356-6188
Transcription: Meg Converse

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Interview Part 1

Interview Part 2

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Musicians of Northeast Michigan