Northeast Michigan Oral History and Historic Photograph Archive

Doug and Eve Allyn Interview

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Transcription: and you knew each other well enough to know that if I asked Jimmy LaCross to play with me we would be playing two-part harmony on saxes in any key you wanted, any song you wanted to play. That was our strength. Uh, so we were like a miniature horn section and we did a lot of gigs together, uh, that way that would be literally one nighters. We'd show up at 9:25 and the show started at 9:30 folks. And that's the way the business was in those days so a lot of different bands. None of them consistent for any great length of time. I worked with Calvin Barton, uh, and Teddy Haight in a trio. We did mostly country, uh, Calvin was, uh, Calvin played guitar and sang. Uh, wonderful singer. Um, Teddy played drums and we were playing country halls, uh, $5 a night, $10 a night, whatever, you know, the traffic would bear, um, and we played, God, I swear, every - I don't know if there's a hall within a hundred miles of this town that I haven't played at some point. EA: Who were you playing with when you played at the Swing Bowl? DA: Uh, that was with Johnny Rzad and Jimmy LaCross. Did you know Johnny? CC: That's a new name. DA: OK, uh, let's back up just a tad. There were, there's an Rzad family - that's R-Z-A-D. Uh, I think they were Czech. Uh, but his - Johnny's dad, Andy, was a clarinet player. I met him in polka bands. Uh, I played in a lot of polka bands. I was a hired gun for that. You need a sax player, I'm your guy. I know them all by heart. Um, I once played a Polish wedding in Posen where the whole band was Polish. I don't know where they got these guys. But they didn't speak English, uh, but they had charts. So, I could sight read the charts. Um, but we were playing stuff that was really cool - really European - and it was all like 32nd notes, I mean, this was, you know, this was scary. Um, but those are the jobs. You'd show up and you were ready to go and it was a three day wedding. I had to play with these guys three days in a row - we played Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon - and by Sunday afternoon it was a really wild scene. KF: Oh, I bet. (laughter) DA: Because people had been partying for three days at this point- KF: Right. DA: You know. Um, it was so much fun. I cannot emphasize that enough. It was business. It was a job. We were all getting paid. We all brought skills to the table. We had to do this stuff cold. You'd show up and you'd do it cold. No rehearsal. Literally with guys you can't even talk to because they don't speak freakin' English. Um, Teddy Kapala, who was Polish and an accordion player. He helped us through, uh, part of those sets as an interpreter for cryin' out loud just to tell me what I was supposed to be doing. Um, but it was, um, and I played with Teddy in other bands, you know, with other shows. Um, I met Andy Rzad during this period. Clarinet player. Really good. Uh, and his son Johnny who was a guitarist. Um, and we played the Swing Bowl. It was Jim LaCross, Johnny and Al. Donny Gappa on drums. KF: Now, what is a Swing Bowl? CC: Donny who? DA & EA: Donny Gappa. DA: G-A-P-P-A. KF: Is that new to you, too, Carole? CC: That's brand new. DA: Catholic Central. EA: Drummer. Good drummer. DA: Good drummer. CC: Last name again? DA: Gappa. His folks had Gappa's Market. KF: G-A-P-P-A? DA: Yup. KF: OK. Gappa's Market. I haven't heard of that either. DA: Donny wound up working at Neiman's. EA: Neiman's. DA: For many years. EA: Yes. Yes. He was there a long time. DA: Uh, and nobody knew he was a player because he was very quiet. He was the quietest guy on the planet. And he's a drummer, you know, and we played together in four or five different incarnations. I played country with him. I played polkas with him. And we played rock and roll. Uh, again, different line-ups, uh, to do the various jobs. Donny and I played with, um, a guitarist named Billy Foster. Uh, and, um, rhythm guitarist…wow, Sylvester - Bob Sylvester. EA: Bob Sylvester. DA: You know Bob, right? Yeah. CC: Very well. DA: Um, a really good rhythm guitarist. And we played at Jack's Bar. It was called. Became Club 32 later. Um, we were at Jack's Bar for - wow - a year. Something like that. Playing country three nights a week. And I was playing sax in that band. Uh, and some guitar. KF: This was all during high school? DA: Pardon? KF: This was all during high school? DA: Yeah. KF: That you were doing this? DA: Yeah. All of it. Yeah. KF: How were you getting up in the morning? Playing - I mean, how many days a week did you play? DA: Three or four. KF: Oh, wow! DA: And-and actually, in retrospect, I was playing in the clubs. Um, when I got to college I was running cross country and I had a job all through high school as a stock boy at McClellan's, uh, downtown and later at Monkey Ward's, um, ah, you know, when they still had a Montgomery Ward's store here. I was a stock boy then so I didn't get a whole lot of sleep during that era. I'm not sure how I got through school in one piece but I did. EA: You used to say you ate your way through. A norm- a normal dinner for him would be a cheeseburger with the works, a massive mountain of French fries with gravy, and a hot beef sandwich. That's the whole thing. CC: But that was probably only once a day he ate. KF: Right. CC: The rest of the time he was running. KF: Right. Because that's all he had time for. (laughter) DA: Pretty much, yeah, yeah, that was between- dinner at my job. EA: Yeah. KF: Mm-hmm. Wow. So, did you go to, um, A.C.C.? DA: Yeah. KF: OK. DA: Yeah. KF: So, you were here for two years as well? DA: Two years, yeah. KF: OK. DA: Graduated from AHS in 1960. Went on to ACC until '62 at which point I had already enlisted and was waiting to be called up. And just before I left I married my girlfriend. EA: (laughter) KF: Were you going to ACC as well? EA: No. KF: OK. DA: She was still in high school. She was only 17. KF: Oh, OK. DA: I think I'd be arrested now for that. KF: (laughter) DA: Uh, but in those days that was not that uncommon. I mean, in those days- EA: If you weren't engaged by the time you were a junior or senior you were going to be an old maid. You know. CC: That's right. DA: That was true. What do you think about half of our class was engaged senior year? CC: Absolutely. DA: You were engaged senior year, I'm guessing, right? CC: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. DA: Yeah, OK. Were you married yet? CC: Mm-mm. EA: What was that about? DA: OK. We're getting sidetracked. (laughter) KF: Yeah, OK. Did you have some-some questions about this-this time period? CC: You're doing very well. KF: Thanks. CC: Very well. I- I had. I would've had questions had I known all this about these guys. I'm fascinated by what you're telling us. You're giving us names we've not heard yet. DA: Oh, OK. CC: You know, we're into thirty people that we've interviewed and there's names here that I've never- I have not heard here before. EA: Oh, my. DA: Oh, cool. CC: Yeah, so. DA: OK. Well, we can go down memory lane that way. Part of this is because, when I started playing, my background was actually swing and jazz. That was what I had grown up listening to. Uh, and that was the first stuff that I played in the clubs. And I started playing in clubs when I was 14. Uh, my first professional job was at the Hideaway, um, which was still called the Hideaway in those days. Uh, with Bob LaMarre, Johnny Woytaszek played drums, Don Davis played trumpet. I mean, we're talking about basically a swing small combo. Um, played with those guys at 14. Uh, came back later and played the same club with a polka band with Johnny Woytaszek and the Thunder Bay Polka Jacks. First, with Elwood Smith and Norm Seiss. Later, with Teddy Kapala and Norm Zeiss. And Norm's a wonderful accordionist who still plays. Uh, just recently voted in to the Polka Hall of Fame for the state of Michigan. Uh, great guy and, uh, God, we had more fun. I can't believe we survived all that. Uh… KF: What instrument did you play when you were playing with the polka bands? I was just curious… DA: I was playing saxophone most of the time and, uh, then keyboards later. Uh, but with polka band mostly saxophone and some guitar. KF: Mm-hmm. I was thinking about what you were saying about, uh, following those fast, uh, polka charts- DA: Sure- KF: -that's-that's where that high school training came in - DA: Absolutely. KF: Yeah. DA: Oh, yeah. KF: Oh… DA: We were talking about the Swing Bowl. Arnie Stump showed up about that time. Arnie was from Tawas City. Wonderful guitarist. Played banjo. And the thing that we had in common was we were both hooked on blues from listening to WLAC. Same show all night long because that's all they played on those stations. Um, and this was totally black music. That was the only place you could hear it in those days. Uh, because it didn't get- black music didn't get much airplay on mainstream stations and blues didn't get any airplay at all. And Arnie and I learned all this stuff by heart, by rote, and wound up working together in a lot of different bands, uh, during that era. He also played, you know, with other people but, uh, really strong influence in this area for a long time. Uh, moved out to Arizona, I think, in the '60s. No, '70s. EA: '70s - '80s, maybe. KF: Mm-hmm. DA: Great guy. Great player. KF: Right. OK. So, you went to ACC and then, um, you enlisted. DA: Yes. KF: But I heard a university somewhere in there. DA: Oh, well, I… KF: So, where did that come in? DA: Sure. I joined the Air Force. They assigned me to Intelligence. Um, they give you a battery of tests and I wound up as a Chinese linguist. Um, and to do that, they sent me to Indiana University for a year. About eight months I think it was actually. Uh, for that course in Chinese Language and Eastern Asian Studies. Uh, and from there to Tech School in Texas and I was playing the whole time that I was doing this in college, I mean, I was just a college kid. Uh, we weren't in uniform. We just attended classes like everybody else. Uh, I enlisted because they said the war was going to be over in a hurry and I didn't want to miss my part. Um, because in my family everybody goes. Just - we've talked about that since. It's- just a minor aside- my brother and I- it occurred to us- we never had a discussion about not going. It was just assumed. Everybody went in this town. It wasn't that uncommon. Small town boys. CC: The draft- the draft was still in, was it not? DA: The draft was still in but whether you were drafted or not you knew you were going. You know, just staying home wasn't done much. Small town. KF: So, they were paying for your education - DA: Sure. KF: -at that time and you both were married- EA: Mm-hmm. DA: Sure. KF: and that's when you discovered that Eve could sing- DA: Yup. EA: Yes. KF: And started that band. What was the name of that band again? The- DA: Rick and the Rivieras. KF: Rick and the Rivieras. OK. So, that was in the Indiana University time. DA: Yup, the whole time we were there. KF: And then when you moved to Texas. That's when you joined the- DA: Joined The Counts. EA: The Counts. KF: Joined The Counts, OK, and- EA: And - KF: -and did you join The Counts as well. EA: Yes. I played rhythm guitar in that band. And, um, directly after that training Doug went to Taiwan which was an unaccompanied tour for eighteen months. And, um, Arnie Stump and I actually rehearsed several times, uh, he had problems not being able to find a bass player so I decided, "I should become a bass player." And I wrote Doug a letter saying I think I'm going to learn to play bass and got a letter, they kind of crossed, saying I think you should learn to play bass. So… KF: You had the same idea. (laughter) DA: Yeah. Well, you know, it's hard to find good bass players. Ad Zdan was one of the best I know. But if I had to pick another one. There was Al, there was Dick Gamble, there was Tory Osgerby - and those were the only three bass players in this town. That I recall from that era. CC: Coming up with more names… KF: I think you mentioned another name that- DA: Names that you didn't have yet. OK. KF: Yeah. CC: Gamble? DA: Dick Gamble. EA: Good bass player. DA: Dick Gamble was the first guy who played a Fender bass that I ever heard. He had a left handed Fender bass. CC: Of course, Tory played- DA: He played upright bass. CC: Upright bass. DA: Sure. Tory played with, uh, Bill Foster and myself with Bob Sylvester at Jack's. Tory was a bass player in that group. EA: There was another bass player in the wings here because when, uh, when we came back from Taiwan our stuff was delayed, our instrument - you had yours, I didn't have mine and I rented a bass from - DA: No, that was Tory. EA: Was that Tory? DA: Yeah, that was Tory. EA: OK. Alright. DA: He was playing bass guitar by then. Yeah. EA: OK. KF: So, did you go along to Taiwan then as well? EA: I did. KF: OK. EA: I did. Um, this was an unaccompanied tour. He should've been there for fifteen months by himself. KF: OK. That's what I thought I heard you say, so… EA: And I thought about all these lovely Oriental women over there with my gorgeous twenty year old husband and I decided this wasn't going to work. So, I put myself on a plane to Taiwan and showed up unannounced and the Air Force said you can't be here and I said, "Well, I have a one way ticket, so you can send me home. Otherwise, I'm here." And I was there. KF: Good for you. EA: And, um, the interesting part was I kept getting called in to the Commander's office because these wives kept showing up when they weren't supposed to be there, so, uh, we had a good little community going… DA: It was complicated. EA: It was complicated. DA: It was. Because it was an unaccompanied tour and she basically showed up and wouldn't go home. KF: Mm, hmm. DA: But, uh, I was - I was stationed at a base outside of Taibei and, uh, we- EA: Played music. DA: -got a place in town and very quickly wound up in bands working in the clubs in China. KF: I just love- DA: I can sing in Chinese. KF: I love that you- you're here in Taiwan just for this short amount of time but you can't stop playing. You just have to- DA: Oh, no! EA: No! KF: Yeah. You have to go out and figure out how you're going to keep playing. EA: No, when we decided I was going to go, I packed up his whole entire B3 and horns and everything and who was the trucking company at that time? Here- . DA: Uh, EA: Big, yellow- I can see- DA: Right downtown. CC: Mayflower? EA: That's it. DA: Yeah, it was Mayflower but it was a family name - Mulvaney's? EA: Yes, yes, yes. (overlapping) CC: Yeah, they were both - I believe, both - DA: I think they became Mayflower later, but, yeah. And they packed it all up for us. EA: They packed it up and shipped it- DA: To China- EA: -sunny, south-east Asia. CC: And you didn't know it was coming. DA: Ah, no, by that time I did. EA: He-he knew it, yeah. DA: Um. EA: And it showed up and we unfurled it and unpacked it and went to work. DA: In China, I joined two other bands where I was the only white guy in the band, uh, and, uh, one was called The Ebony's. KF: That's an interesting name. (laughter) DA: It's funny. It's funny. You know, and it was a great group. I had more fun playing with those guys. Uh, what was the other group. EA: The Counts? DA: No, no, The Counts was in Texas. EA: The Counts was Texas. DA: Uh, yeah, it will come to me in a sec, yeah, um. That was the - The Idols. EA: The Idols - very good, very good. DA: Um, and we played mostly - we played military clubs. We played Chinese hotels. Um, I learned to sing in Chinese. Um, not a lot of demand for that once you're back. Um, but, um, yeah, we kept playing the whole time we were there. And I had to work this around - I'm stationed on a mountain base - commuting. If you think I wasn't sleeping in high school, I would go sometimes three days without actually getting to bed at all. You know, because just to get to where I was going was hard and there was a war on. It was complicated. KF: Mm, hmm. DA: So, um, yeah we did that for three years. EA: But the music never stopped. DA: The music never stopped. That went on the whole time. KF: What kind of music? Were you playing over there? DA: Soul music. KF: OK. DA: Soul music and blues. KF: OK. DA: A lot of demand for that in the clubs. The Chinese had never heard it before. Uh, the, the groups I was with - the show groups- uh, you would have two or three singers, uh, who would be doing dance moves, etc., etc., and I would be the, uh, the center that the house band would be built around. If you played Chinese hotels they already had their own bands. Mostly Filipinos. Uh, who played extremely well. These guys were all schooled musicians who could read charts. I could write charts. Uh, that was how we set up a show. You might have a rehearsal, you might not. You might have to do it cold. Uh, but they were all very talented and were on the other side of the world playing rock and roll and soul for people that have never heard it before. We did a concert for Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek at the time was the dictator of, uh, I think he was called a president but he was a dictator. It was a police state. And we played a personal show for his wife. EA: At the Grand Hotel. DA: At the Grand Hotel. Her hotel. She owned it. EA: Up on a mountain top. DA: It was on a mountain top, um - you can't make this stuff up… KF: (to Eve) Were you in that band, too? EA: I was. KF: OK. DA: Played in that show, yeah. KF: OK. DA: Again, it was because most of the musicians I worked with were in the military and it was a floating thing because not everybody could be there. Or you might - if you got duty you couldn't go so you would know somebody else you could call who could go. Um, not dissimilar from growing up in Alpena in a small circle of musicians where everybody knew each other. Everybody got along and, uh, if you needed somebody who did a specific thing, you knew somebody to call or you knew somebody to ask, uh, but it was all very collegial, um- CC: I guess- I guess my question would be - DA: Sure! CC: - to Eve. Were you accepted in, within that time frame, by those other musicians? EA: Oh, absolutely. CC: You were accepted. EA: Yes, yes. Yup. CC: Because women weren't necessarily accepted well. EA: No, it was actually turned out to be a novelty kind of. CC: OK. EA: Um, there were floor shows that came over - overseas, um, who would be all-girl floor shows or all guys or the Everly Brothers or Joe Mathis and his wife but vocal groups there were no women singers but I had no trouble with that. DA: That's one of the high points of my life. That I once stood at a urinal next to Joe Mathis. (Laughter) DA: I mean, how many people can say that? EA: Your brush with greatness. (laughter) DA: No, we didn't actually brush because, you know- KF: Yeah. DA: At those moments, guys tend to avoid each other's eyes, but even so, it was Joe Mathis. I knew who he was. KF: (laughter) That's great. CC: Interesting. DA: But unless you're a guitar player you probably have no idea who Joe Mathis was. KF: I have no idea, but I know it must be somebody important. EA: Carole knows. DA: He was a great guitar player. He played with Ricky Nelson on the early records- KF: OK. DA: - and he was a big country guitar player. Played a double-neck. He was the first guy that anybody knew that actually played one of those. CC: But he finger-picked, did he not? DA: Yeah, oh, he was a great player. EA: He did. Yes. CC: Yeah. KF: Great. EA: Other than Al Zdan who played a double-neck. DA: Al, that's right. Al played a double-neck. He had a guitar and a bass. Um, OK, next question. KF: OK. So, so you were in Taiwan. EA: Mm-hmm. KF: And then when you left - when you came back, what happened next. Where did you go? EA: Well, we didn't wind up there for fifteen months. We actually wound up there - we were there two and half years almost three years because the war was going on. They were short of people that did Doug's job and we really, really liked it there. So, he kept extending. KF: Oh… EA: And we stayed there for a great long while and, um… DA: Without going into detail about my job. It was in intelligence and I was a history buff. I still am. And it was like being in the middle of a history book. We're right in the middle of a war and it's all right there. So, no, I didn't want to leave. I was having a- between the clubs at night and working twelve hour days. I literally would not go to bed sometimes for two or three days at a time. Um, but the work was fascinating and I really thought hard about staying on as a civilian. EA: Well, actually, we tried - we tried to stay there but by the time we decided we should stay there, there wasn't enough time to get paperwork done- red tape. DA: Well, and my dad had a heart attack. It was time to come home. EA: Doug's father had a heart attack. We decided to come home. DA: But it was a near thing. We had a really good time there. And, musically, Taibei's a huge city, you know, at that time several million people. And very international. You know, it was, uh- EA: And each branch of the military had a huge, huge nightclub complete with gambling. Great clubs. DA: Yeah. EA: Linco Club was Air Force. There was a Navy Club. Army, huge Army Club. Thirteen, Club Thirteen. We worked all of those. DA: All of those. Plus, the Chinese hotels. There was a lot of action there. EA: Mm-hmm. KF: Did you find, um, so you found that there wasn't much of a difference musically between playing in the states and playing there because they were bringing a lot of the same music. DA: American music dominates the world. We really do. KF: Mm-hmm. DA: Uh, at the time, um, The Beatles were big internationally. They had the Chinese Beatles, EA: Oh, yes. DA: We met those guys in passing. Um, we played the same clubs. But American music - you could always find work. We were in demand pretty much, all the groups that I worked with, um, and again, these are groups that I was the only white guy in. You know, but, uh, there was always plenty of work. KF: Did you find that worked to your advantage that you could bring some of that American sensibility. DA: Oh, absolutely, yeah, yeah. KF: Yeah, yeah. DA: It's, um, oddly enough I did study Chinese music. I can sing in Chinese. We did a couple songs in any given show where we would sing it in Chinese because we were in freakin' China. KF: Mm, hmm. DA: Uh, and you at some point have to connect with an audience that might be in mostly Chinese. Um, this is surreal but, I mean, this was the life we had. Uh, but the fact that we were Americans playing American music, yeah, that was in huge demand. It was all fresh to those folks. KF: Mm-hmm. That's great. So, when you did end up coming back here, um, where did you land? DA: Alpena. And I immediately hooked up with guys I had played with in high school. EA: No, you immediately enrolled in college. DA: Well, yeah, I came back to go back to school. Uh, I'd enrolled at U of M. Um, but I got here in May and I was enrolled for the fall term at U of M and, uh, ran into Jim Hardy and his brother Dave, uh, and Alan Sabourin whom I'd known from, you know, before high school. Al was a drummer and sax player and we put together a band just to play the summer. That's all we were going to do. Uh, we had a gig at Jack's Bar and we were just gonna play the summer away. Um, and we were having so much fun and we kept getting more work and you could actually make a living in those days which was a revelation to me. Before it had always been kind of catch as catch can but now it was six nights a week if you wanted to work that much. Uh, and we put that group together and we got an offer to go to Houghton Lake to play the summer in a club over there. Uh, and we did that had a great time and fall came and went and we just kept on playing. CC: Can you remember the name of the band? DA: With Dave and Jim? Wow. I think it was called D.A. and the Witnesses, wasn't it? CC: OK. EA: It was. It was. Yeah. KF: I remember reading that. EA: Yup. DA: And Dave- KF: Um, what kind of music were you playing? DA: Rock and roll. KF: Rock and roll. DA: Yeah, pop music of the day. KF: Mm-hmm. Now, did you play - did you ever get into writing any of your own music? DA: Oh, sure. Sure. KF: Oh, OK. Alright. With that group were you playing…? DA: Actually, we didn't do much original material in that group. EA: Not that one. DA: Uh, that came. Well, no, that came later. KF: OK. DA: But we were still called D.A. and the Witnesses but the Hardy brothers both left. Uh, Al stayed on. We played as a trio, uh, with Al Sabourin, um… EA: At Twin Acres for a while. DA: Twin Acres. We were there two years. Something like that. Six nights a week. KF: And Eve, you were in this band, too? EA: Mm, hmm. Yes. DA: Yeah, she joined. She was- she was the draw in that band. KF: OK. DA: Um, she was our front singer. Girl singers in those days, not so many of them. You know. Who could actually do this. Um, the level of talent, to go on stage cold turkey and play with people you don't know. This does not fall off trees. You know, this is a fairly limited circle- EA: But the thing is - DA: -but in this town there was always a lot of players, a lot of good people here. EA: It always seemed so natural because we knew so many people who could do it. And I know Carole would, too, you because it, and it- DA: You kind of accept it as normal because everybody you know- CC: I'm still doing that. DA: Yeah, sure, I mean - EA: But when you get out in the big world and meet people who want to do it but can't, I mean, and it's, it's - I have a lady who I work with who desperately wanted to learn to play guitar. Her husband bought her a guitar for Christmas. And she's been having lessons, taking lessons for two years and she said to me, "How do you know when it's time to change chords?" And I couldn't even explain that. Um, so, and after- DA: How do you not know? EA: How do you not know? DA: But, yeah- EA: But, so it's not a- DA: -because everyone you know can do this. I grew up in a family who could all do it. EA: And everybody you knew could do it. DA: And I accepted it. Everyone I knew could do it. So you accept this as normal until you get out in the world and realize actually it's a fairly tight circle of people that can actually do this thing. EA: We worked with a very good guitarist in Taiwan who, um, Davey Dodds- DA: Oh, yeah. EA: He-he couldn't retain anything. We hired him. He came. Doug worked days. He and I, this gentleman, he played guitar and I would rehearse songs. The next day it was all totally gone. CC: Wow. EA: And it just, we tried, we really tried but it- DA: He was a brilliant player. EA: He was. DA: He couldn't retain arrangements. Never run into that particular problem before. But, yeah, it's, uh, getting sidetracked. KF: That's OK. Sometimes the meanderings have great gold within them. (laughter) CC: I might like to add here to about, uh, Doug and Eve, uh, I didn't get to see them a lot but when I did, and I suspect that was the draw with Eve. DA: Oh, absolutely. CC: She always looked the part. She always - her makeup, her hair, her clothing. EA: Oh, yeah. It was all flash. CC: Doug, also. But it -she was, she was- DA: My makeup was always impeccable. I think it - CC: Yeah, and she was, she was quintessential musician and she did - looked the part. Unlike some of the ladies today. This one was, uh, definitely. The guys liked to look at her, that's for sure. (Laughter) EA: Thank you. CC: And I'm sure Doug knew that. DA: I can tell you a story. Here's a story. My granddaughter, uh, came into my office, uh, a couple years ago, and I have a picture of Eve that was taken at Twin Acres on my desk. And there was this long pause and she said, "Who's that lady?" And I said, "You know who that lady is." And she said, "Well, is she a friend?" KF: (laughter) That's great! DA: Little troublemaker. And I said, "No, that's your grandmother." And then she got it but, um, dressed for stage. Yeah… EA: Short skirt, tall boots. DA: Yeah. EA: Long, blonde hair. Face, you know. DA: This was like '68, or something like that. EA: I was 24 years old. DA: Yeah. KF: Right. DA: But, um, yeah, so, yeah. CC: She was in command of what she did. DA: Oh, absolutely. CC: Her dress. Her guitar playing. Her singing. EA: You know, we were talking about that on the way here. Doug did a speaking thing for his writing part, um, at Saginaw Club in Saginaw and some guy asked him how he came out of the music business unscathed- no drugs, no booze, problems, he and we did that. And he had no good answer because we couldn't explain that because for everybody else or most people we knew it was a big party time and it was the way we made our living and the only way we made our living and we treated it as a really serious business and took care of business.
Creators: Furtaw, Kirstine and Cadarette, Carole, Interviewer; Allyn, Doug
, Interviewee; Allyn, Eve
, Interviewee
Media Type: Audio
Item Type: Interviews
Description: Husband and wife, Doug and Eve Allyn, worked professionally in rock and roll bands for over 35 years. Both natives of Northeast Michigan, the Allyns talk about their formative years in the Alpena area and their experiences working as musicians in Taiwan while Doug was stationed during the Vietnam War. Eventually, the Allyns settled in the Saginaw/Flint area and performed in that local music scene for the rest of their music career. Doug and Eve played in The Counts, D.A. and the Witnesses and Devil's Triangle which later became The Triangle. In retirement from his music career, Doug Allyn has become a prominent mystery writer winning many national awards for his short stories including two Edgar Awards.
Place of Publication: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library
Date of Original: Spring 2016
Playing Time: 1:55:12
Subject(s): Interviews
Oral histories
Personal Name(s): Allyn, Doug ; Allyn, Eve ; Stefan, Edgar ; Perkins, Ed ; McClay, Drew ; Deadman, Austin ; Deno, Skeets ; Dunstan, Bob ; Schmidt, Gil ; Ferguson, Tom ; Newman, Harvey ; Fast, Willard ; Niemi, Dick ; Woytaszek, Johnny ; Zdan, Al ; Smith, Elwood ; Rucinski, Jerry ; LaCross, Jim ; Barton, Calvin ; Haight, Teddy ; Rzad, Johnny ; Kapala, Teddy ; Gappa, Donny ; Foster, Billy ; Sylvester, Bob ; Kai-Shek, Chiang ; Hardy, Jim ; Hardy, Dave: Sabourin, Alan ; Dodds, Davey ; LaMarre, Bob ; Davis, Don ; Seiss, Norm ; Stump, Arnie ; Gamble, Dick ; Osgerby, Tory ; Foster, Bill ; Rigg, Bobby, Stephenson, Sam ; Stephenson, John ; Garahy, Mike ; Baldwin, Rick ; Orr, Dr. Myron David ; Kime, Bud ; McCray, Larry ; Deadman, Don ; Deadman, Carey ; Kirchoff brothers ; Schindler, Pete ; Saretsky, Saul, Ferguson, Tommy ; Newman, Harvey ; Hizelman, Al ; Zuck, Bobby
Corporate Name(s): The Playboys ; Rick and the Rivieras ; The Counts ; Twin Acres ; Club 32 ; Jack's Bar ; Hideaway ; Thunder Bay Polka Jacks ; Rick and the Rivieras ; Taiwan ; The Ebonys, The Counts, The Idols, D.A. and the Witnesses ; Vietnam ; Maplewood Tavern ; Phelps Collins Air Force Base ; The Keg ; Daniel's Den ; The John Brown Trio ; Fordney Hotel ; Saginaw, Flint ; Devil's Triangle, The Triangle ; The Buick City Blues Band ; Alvin Ash Music Studio ; Skeets Aubrey Quintet ; Trianon Hall ; Air Force ; McClellan's Department Store
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: 2016
Copyright Holder: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library
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

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Musicians of Northeast Michigan