Burgundy
Express
Seattle,
Washington
1968
~ 1976
Members
Cherie Ann Altier Balmer ~ Vocals
Scott
Batchelder ~ Drums
John
Friend ~ Drums
John
Hanford ~ Guitar
Ron
Herring ~ Guitar
Ricky
Lynn Johnson ~ Drums
Gerard
Jones ~ Bass
Terry
Lack ~ Trumpet, Saxophone, Keyboards
Dean
Quackenbush ~ Trumpet
Dennis
Sacco ~ Keyboards, Drums, Vocals
Larry
"Blue Fox" Sieber ~ Keyboards
Terry
Smith ~ Trombone
Rick
Soto ~ Valve Trombone, Percussion
Antoon
Van Rooy ~ Saxophone, Percussion
Hank
Wadkins ~ Trumpet, Saxophone, Vocals
Rick
Waldron ~ Keyboards
Ken
Wilson ~ Saxophone
In
Memory of
John
Friend
Gerard
Jones (d: 5 December 2015)
Larry
"Blue Fox" Sieber
"Burgundy
Express started in Sacramento, California, around 1965 and played
locally
for five years. In January of 1970 the band went to Chicago and
St.
Paul then returned to Sacramento revamped in personnel and became
musically
stronger.
By May of 1970
we
headed to Hawaii and became a local hit there playing at "Duke
Kahanamoku's"
with Don Ho for a while. That same year we opened up "The Hawaiian Hut"
with Tavana and had a great local following. Most people thought that
all
the CTA tunes we were playing was our material because the radios were
slow to bring over the top 40 of that day.
In 1972 the
Mitchell
brothers (owners of Pier 70 and Golden Tides) saw us playing at a
packed
house at the "Hawaiian Hut" and imported us to Seattle which became our
home that same year. In 74 we went back to Hawaii and opened "The
Infinity" club at the Sheraton Waikiki and bounced back from Seattle to
Hawaii for the next two years.
Many of the
members
such as Ron Herring, Gerard Jones, & Terry Lack (who were some of
the
original members of Burgundy Express) made Washington their home and
are
living there as of this day. Terry Smith resides in Bellflower and
doing
a lot of original song writings. I recently received an e-mail
from
Dean Quackenbush, and it sounds like he's doing well in Calabas, CA.
Burgundy
Express
also had an alter ego group called the "Rock 'N' Roll Allstars", a 50's
show we did once a week and people lined up for blocks just to get in
to
see our interactive 50's show, by involving a lot of our
audience.
We turned the show into a comic book event as well and cut an album.
I left in 76'
went
to Utah a while, joined a band called Copperfield as lead vocalist. We
were produced on a record by Donny Osmond. I hit the road with a
band called "Atlantis" for 7 1/2 years. I ended up in Anaheim,
California.
I had my own bands in LA then ended up with "The Righteous
Brothers"
for the next three years. Now I'm in Mesa, AZ and still doing it
with my 9 - 12 piece band, playing corporate, wedding, private and
concert
events. We get to back up a lot of the big name groups from yesteryear
which is a lot of fun."
Antoon R Van
Rooy,
June 2001
Burgundy Express
performing
at the Outrigger Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii
In the photo is Terry
Lack
on hammond organ, but also lead trumpet. On drums is John Friend (RIP.)
He was a very solid drummer.
Courtesy of Dennis Sacco
I was the Burgundy Express leader and
lead
singer for 3-4 years until 1970. I booked the band and was
responsible for keeping the band working. I also played drums and
keyboards.
The band was known during the time I
was
with them for each musician doubling on at least two instruments.
I am now an author and have my 3rd
book
coming out this year called Shana. It's fictional but loosely
based
around Burgundy Express starting at the Pussy Cat Ago Go in Las Vegas
1969-1970.
Denny Sacco, July 2013
