The Valley's own The Tubes will reunite September 23rd at the Dodge Theatre for their induction into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Although oftentimes referred to as a band with it's origins in San Francisco, Phoenix fans know the Tubes originated from the Valley based band, The Beans.
The Tubes will not only be reuniting on the evening of September 23, but AMEHOF President, Terri Sussman hints at a rare grand finale which will hearken back to the band's most glam and theatrical.
A three minute video presentation, concentrating on the band's start here in the Phoenix area will be shown at the event.
We ask all of you who were there to please take a moment share your local memories, history, etc, for possible inclusion into the video script.
(Pictures of Beans 1970 flyer and Vince Welnick's 1967 Bourgade High School photo)
15 comments:
Hi Liz.... Ken & I were there!!!! I have some fun old Beans and Early Tubes stuff I could share. I'll be in touch.
"Whoosh"
Sharon Porter
Hey, folks! Liz needs fast help here - the script's due TOMORROW! If you've got any memories of Beans/Tubes or a brush with the band you're willing to share, leave a comment, or send her an e-mail - quick!
Whew! Good news! The deadline has been extended so it's not too late to share your memories here or email them to me at Liz@LizBoyle.com.
Even if you just caught one or two shows by The Beans or The Red White and Blues Band (maybe you saw them under the the ramadas at Squaw Peak-thanks Lee Powell!) or caught 'em at JD's, any memories or impressions will add to the color, history and legitimacy of this project. Thanks!!!
Between Fran Bennett and Sharon Porter, we are already amassing a treasure trove of Beans/Tubes memorabelia!
Wikipedia.org lists the Tubes as a band having it's origins in San Francisco. We are here to differ!
Sharon , I hope you don't mind if I share this slice of your memory from the Vince Welnick site.
This is so very cool...( I wished I coulda' been there, but I was being held captive by a tribe of nuns in Scottsdale. )
From the Vince Welnick site by Sharon Porter:
. . .The original Beans were the coolest group of guys this 14
year old had EVER seen!.. We went to see a friend play
in the recreation room of a Methodist church in August of '69. They called the rec-room the"Eccelesia." (The church had bands play there on weekends to raise money.)
"Beans" were the other band. (They went by another name that night... they
hadn't decided on the name Beans yet... that came shortly after... inspired
by "Beans were here" written on the wall of a rest stop bathroom).. Bill
Spooner,lead guitar/ vocals, was obviously the man in charge. He had a
beyond shoulder length brown ponytail, beard & mustache... Vince Welnick,
Keyboards, very thin build with (lots of) shoulder lenghth red curly hair,
beard & moustache. He struck me as refreshingly brave, wearing pink pants
and walking with a white cane, which he didn't appear to need... Rick
Anderson, bass, long brown hair past the middle of his back, beard &
moustache... and last, but by no means least, Bob MacIntosh (Golder Boy), drums, blonde,
past shoulder length hair, beard & moustache.
Our freind Bob's band opened. Beans came on second. It was love at first
sight! Beans jammed & played (kick-ass) rock like no band I had ever heard!
We never looked back!! They quickly became the "Grateful Dead" of Phoenix,
with many loyal followers. We were there for every show for one year. They
did their regular music for most shows... and then they started doing little
"specialty .. theme shows." Their "farewell to Phoenix" was a 50's
spectacular extraveganza, featuring (themselves in character as) "Philly Dog
& The Pontiacs." Then they packed the "truck" they mention in "I Was a
Punk Before You" and moved off to the Coast, where they met up with, and
merged with Prairie and Roger (who were from another former Phoenix band...
Red White & Blues). They started writing songs together ... like "Wonder
Bread" and went for a tour of Mexico (where they developed their version of
Maleguena Saleosa as heard on the first Tubes LP.) They returned to
Phoenix as "Complete Beans" for a week in 1971. Fee was one of their roadies
at the time. (We were there every night.) Then New Years 1972, they
returned as "The Radar Men from Uranus" and did a really off the wall space
rock opera called "Hot Dog" in which their "God" was an Oscar Meyer wiener.
... From there we need a San Francisco historian to pick up the ball. They
didn't come back to Phoenix until 1976. (We had to go to Tucson to see the
show that went with the first album.) Then, the "Young & Rich" tour was
their "official" return to Phoenix......It was the biggest extravaganza I
have ever witnessed on any stage anywhere (even to this day)!
Wow...thanks, Sharon!
Ever the archivist, I've kept a list of every concert I've ever attended since 1971. This list includes the following note:
Goose Creek Symphony/A Slower Buffalo/Tubes (Beans), Travelodge Theater, December 31, 1972.
I must have had a really good time because I don't remember a thing about it. Enough said?
Tom
Hi Liz... Yes, it's fine that you submitted the excerpt to the Blog, even though the print Gods weren't too kind with it. (It amazes me that these printed mediums manage to blend as well as they do most of the time.)
I'm honored to be a part of this wonderful AMEHOF project.
And Yes... Thank God for Aunt Fran's Beans recordings!!!! I had one very poor quality cassette that erased itself, and I was pretty bummed about losing the music. ... Thanks Fran!
Ahhh yes... I remember the Squaw Peak shows... and, who remembers Alice Cooper and Beans out at Thunderbird Park? Or how about Mike McFadden jamming with Beans at Legend City??
Bill Compton Loved the Beans... Does anyone have his interviews with them?
My Phoenix memories are of Bill Spooner, Rick Anderson, Vince Welick and Bob McIntosh (Golden Boy)... The original Beans.
I would love to see someone come forward with Red White and & Blues memories, too. ... I saw RW&B open for Vanilla Fudge in 1968. I know there has to be some RW&B stuff out there... early Prairie Prince and Roger Steen...
"Whoosh"
Sharon Porter
Hey... Does anyone know how to get ahold of Dave Mellott or Mike Carpenter??? These guys were with Beans and the early Tubes through the whole "Wild and crazy ride." In fact, they drove the truck!!! I would consider their inclusion in the video a "MUST HAVE!"
Boy, I've been wrackin' my brain to try to remember some stuff about the boys. Ric Anderson is actually a fraternity brother of mine. We pledged TAU OMEGA together in 1965. Ric was a funny guy with a really dry wit. He was the first guy to mention Simon & Garfunkel, and of course I thought he made that up. I was riding in the backseat of his old 1950s Mercury coupe and found a Gaulloises (Fr) ciagarette butt that belonged to the bass player of the yardbirds. Rick had given them a ride when they played at, I think, Stage 7 on 7th St just north of Indian School. I should have known then he'd be famous. And I should have kept that ciggie .. coulda sold it on eBay. I think that Bill Spooner may have played in a band called the Caravelles with another of our frat brothers, Doug Steinert, on the drums. Not sure about that. Bill of course also recorded a solo album as Warren S. Richardson, Jr (Mickey McGee shows it on his website on Cotillion records .. Mickey on drums, later with Goose Creek). Another memory is that Beans & the Red, White, and Blues guys had the same manager and they all went to S.F. together. I've been trying to remember his name, because he is the guy who started the Captain America Repertory Company that Ron Harris and Toad & I ran into the ground at the Janis concert in 1970. Oh well, the photos are great (elsewhere on KCAC Lives)
Glad to hear the boys are headed to the AMEHOF Hall of Fame.
Marty Manning
Speaking of The Beans...
We "think" we may have photos of The Beans performing with Poco and Lee Michaels on 12/6/69 at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. But... we can't find any photos to compare!
We have 4 photos on our blog:
http://photoflashbacks.blogspot.com/2007/07/do-you-know-these-faces.html
Maybe one or more of you would be kind enough to take a look and let us know if these photos really are of The Beans?
All the best,
Noel & Connie
PhotoFlashbacks
Yes!!! The first photo is Vince Welnick, the next 2 photos are Bill Spooner, and the 4th photo is Bob McIntosh. The only one you're missing is Rick Anderson. These are most definitely Beans photos! Thanks for sharing.
"Whoosh"
Sharon Porter
Great stuff on Noel and Connie's blog, by the way. I recommend everyone check it out, especially the concert photos pages:
http://www.photoflashbacks.com/pages/photos.shtml
The blog is a tribute to Connie's brother, Doug Hartley, a rock photographer who documented every big concert in Phoenix during the late 60's. Doug apparently also saved the ticket stubs, posters and flyers from the shows, which are nicely preserved on the blog. We'll do a bigger post on this amazing collection soon. Check it out!!!
I was at the concert with Poco & Lee Michaels, but i don't remember the Beans. I hate the fact that I must have gotten there too late to see them (see Dr Hook, I got stoned and I missed it). I do remember that the show was in the exhibit building south of the grandstand and it was great. Poco was good, and then it was just Lee Michaels & Frosty his 300 pound drummer, back when 300 pounds meant something!
Definitely check out their site. Lots of great stuff, although i couldn't get the e cards to work.
Yep, I remember that show too. Michaels headlined and Frosty had a little gimmick working where he played not with sticks or brushes but just with his hands. As Marty mentioned, it was in the exhibition center and I recall Lee Michaels was sporting his extra long fringe jacket which was de reguer (sp?) at the time (after Roger Daltrey's appearance at Woodstock).
The pix are definitely Beans alright.
By the way, if there's talk of a KCAC Lives reunion, might it not be a good idea to tie it in with the AMEHOF inductions? Some of us will be in town for that anyway...just a thought.
PS: I can't get out of my head that Hank's pause after his setup on KCAC's closing day might have been intentional. Marty would surely know better, and I freely admit I could be mistaken, but there's a part of me that seems to recall that Hank ended the setup with, "I'd like to take this opportunity to say..." and then followed it with nothing. Hank's sense of humor would not have precluded this and while he may have sounded a bit nervous he didn't sound like he was choking up. (caused no little consternation among some as I recall) Now I could be completely wrong and I certainly defer to Marty but like I said, this little slice of memory has been lingering since the audio was posted.
Hey Marty, izzat what happened or am I having a 36 years ago brain fade?
Hey Fran,
My thoughts exactly on trying to do the reunion in the same time frame, however Kim sent me back the dates available for him and October was best.
Besides I will be in way over my head with getting the show together at the Dodge. perhaps AFTER that...how long would you be able to stay in town?
I'm open to all ideas and can get back to Kim on alternatives...
Great posts from everyone...and Doug Hartley's photos are incredible...Ray discovered him a couple of years ago and called his family...been tryng to turn people on to him ever since...glad he's got some well deserved blog attention!
Yeah, I remember the aforementioned concerts too...wish I could remember what happened last week as well as I remember what happened in the late 60's and 70's.
Ah Yes, Warren S Richardson & The Beans. I don't see any mention of the Carefree Fruit Festival, and as a Rebirth Tribe member that was one of my Best Times. Add to that the house near 36th st. and the one across from the Shriners temple. Seeing and hearing these guys that close at seventeen was ever so formative to my mind and psyche. And I do remember the concert at the Church on Roosevelt and First Ave. Can't wait, Partly Dave, AKA davidjeffries@cox.net
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