Red,
Harry, Buck, Helge
Billy,
Roger, Alex
Roger
Crandall
and
the
Barn
Dance Boys
Kelso,
Washington
1948
- 1970
Members
Don
Bean ~ Accordian
Carol
Bloyd ~ Guitar, Vocals
Roger
Crandall ~ Steel Guitar
Harry
DePriest ~ Rhythm Guitar
Hector
"Heck Harper" Flateau ~ Guitar, Vocals
Buck
Foster ~ Drums
Helge
Johnson ~ Bass
Alvin
Jones ~ Vocals
Helen
Jones ~ Vocals
Willie
Nelson ~ Guitar
Wes
Parks ~ Piano
Jerry
Philbrook ~ Vibraharp
Billy
Richey ~ Lead Guitar
Leon
Richey ~ Guitar
Tiny
Sparks ~ Drums
Lesley
"Red" Suttles ~ Fiddle
Alex
Webber ~ Accordian
Jack
Wohl ~ Fiddle
"Curley"
~ ?
Click Below for Color
Film
of Roger Crandel on YouTube
.Roger
Crandall & The Barn Dance Boys 1951- Rose of Old Pawnee
- Rose of Old Pawnee
Roger
Crandall & The Barn Dance Boys 1951 - Bonaparte's Retreat
In
Memory of
Roger
Crandall
Harry
DePriest
Red
Suttles
Buck
Foster
Helge
Johnson
Don
Bean
Alec
Webber
Roger
Crandall and the Barn Dance Boys at Glide Hall, 1953
The
little feller, third from the left is Alvin
Jones. Willie Nelson performed with this band in 1955.
My
father,
Roger Crandall, played music with his band in the Longview-Kelso area
for
more than 50 years. In 1939 he and my mom moved to Kelso from
Seattle
where he had been playing music with several bands for about 10
years.
The band had toured the Western states in 1934-35 for the Oahu School
of
Music, promoting music lessons by appearing on radio programs in
various
cities as far east as Oklahoma and Kansas.
They spent one
summer
playing at a dance hall at Lake Chelan in Washington. On his
arrival
in Kelso, Roger played for a band led by Hank McCutcheon. Several
years later he joined Billy Oudean's band in Kelso, playing with
several
guys who later joined his band "The Barn Dance Boys", Harry DePriest
and
Leslie "Red" Suttles. For several years they played every
Saturday
night at the Terminal Hall above the bus station in Kelso.
In 1948 Roger
purchased
the Glide Hall in South Kelso. The Glide Hall was a roller
skating
rink with one session on Saturday afternoon and an afternoon and an
evening
session on Sundays. As soon as the Saturday afternoon
roller-skating
session was over, Roger took a large push mop around the floor to clean
it and then spread dance wax on the beautiful hardwood floor to prepare
it for dancing.
Opening at 8:30
p.m.,
the music started at 9:00 and the band played with one or two
intermissions
until 1:00 a.m.
The "Barn Dance
Boys"
included Roger as on steel guitar, Harry DePriest on rhythm guitar,
"Red"
Suttles on fiddle, Billy Richey on lead guitar, Buck Foster on drums,
Helge
Johnson on bass, & Alex Webber on accordion. The band also
included
at various times, Jack Wohl on fiddle, Don Bean on accordion, Leon
Richey
on lead & rhythm guitar, a guy named Curly, whose last name I can't
remember, Wes Parks on piano, a guy named Tiny on the drums, and
probably
several others whose names are lost to me now. At one time in the
late '40's, a singer/guitar player named Hector Flateau played with the
band for several months. He later resurfaced in Portland playing
under the name of Heck Harper.
Every Saturday
night
for 6 or 7 years the band played to large crowds who came to dance
their
socks off! Many nights there were close to 600 people in the
building.
There was a many-faceted glass ball hanging from the ceiling above the
center of the dance floor. Several times during the evening all
of
the other lights were turned off and a spotlight shone on the ball for
"moonlight waltzing".
In 1951, a lady
living
in South Kelso asked Roger to listen to her son sing to see if he would
be interested in having him play with the band. Roger was a
little
skeptical as the boy was only 9 years old, but he agreed to
listen.
The boy, Alvin Jones, was so good that Roger immediately began to plan
on how he could use Alvin with the band. A radio station in Kelso
had just asked Roger about doing remote broadcasts from the dancehall
before
the regular dancing began. He knew that Alvin would be perfect
for
the radio show and after hearing Alvin and his sister Helen sing as
well,
he hired them both.
Alvin and Roger
became
very close friends and spent time together over the years, playing
music
whenever they got together. In 1998, Alvin sang at Roger's
funeral
in Kelso.
Another young
lady
who sang with the band for several years was Carol Bloyd. She
played
the guitar, sang and yodeled and was a great hit with the customers.
In 1958 the
band
played at Tiny Dumont's Dance Hall in Portland, Oregon. At that
time,
Willie Nelson was a disk-jockey on a Vancouver radio station. He
and another radio personality, Ken DeBord, played in the band for about
six months. It was shortly after that when Willie first went to
Nashville
Over the years
the
band played for many Elks Club functions all over Oregon and
Washington.
They played their last time together for Roger's 80th birthday party in
1990, at the Longview Elks Club. The band's style of music was
Western
Swing, made popular by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. At their
best in the 1950's, "Roger Crandall and the Barn Dance Boys" could play
with the best of them. They had a loyal following who always
managed
to find out where and when they were playing and showed up to dance and
listen to old favorites.
Judy Budge,
April
2003
Roger
Crandall and the Barn Dance Boys at Glide Hall - 1948
Roger
Crandall and the Barn Dance Boys at Home - 1948
Barn
Dance Boys - 1951 - Photo Courtesy of Judy Budge
This is from
1952-3.
The members of the band from left to right are: Alec Webber,
accordion;
Helge Johnson, stand-up bass; Harry DePriest, rhythm guitar &
vocals,
Vernon "Buck" Foster, drums; Leslie "Red" Suttles, violin & vocals;
Bill Richey, lead guitar & vocals; and seated is Roger Crandall,
steel
guitar and leader of the band.
