Pat Hewitt, Steve Stecker, Rick Ellis and Ron Ellis
The Disciples
Seattle, Washington
1964 - 1968
Members
Ron
Ellis ~ Guitar
Rick
Ellis ~ Drums
Pat
Hewitt ~ Bass
Steve
Stecker ~ Lead Guitar
Ron
Ellis ~ Guitar
Rick
Ellis ~ Drums
Pat
Hewitt ~ Bass
Steve
Stecker ~ Lead Guitar
This Seattle north end band started in the fall of 1964 with two brothers Rick and Ron Ellis. The Disciples played community teen dances, school gigs beginning in 1965 with the foursome and gradually went from a local garage band to a club band. In the Winter of 1966-67, the Disciples played a club in the Roosevelt area called "St. Michael's Alley" - a teen club that served up local bands, soft drinks, chips and pretzels! Here the disciples played for about 3-4 months and developed into a tight group with close harmonies and lyrical ballads.In October of 1967 the Disciples played The Happening downtown Seattle and was opening act for the Surprise Package. They continued to play The Happening later as the Kansas Standard. In early 1968 the name changed to Kansas Standard and the bassist Pat Hewitt moved on to San Francisco to play in one of Matthew Katz's house bands at Filmore West. Pat later played with Doug (Ragin Cajun) Kershaw and when he moved back to Seattle he played in the Rangehoods and other bands.
One of the reasons for the name change was the release of a 45 on Nolta Records, a division of Seafair Bolo records owner Tom Ogilvy. Tom was close friends with Chet Noland a fine pioneer in the recording business whose son Dennis was close friends and band manager for the Disciples and later Kansas Standard. The first release was "I Can Come to You" a ballad by Rick Ellis and a group number on the B side called "Oriental Box". There was a little air play for the A side in the Seattle area.
Ron Ellis, 29 January 2003
Performing as the Disciples for a while, Hewitt and I began to agitate for a name change. We became Kansas Standard. The name Kansas Standard was slang for Midwest weed.
As far as the records go, I wrote Oriental Box. It never did much, but Dejay Robert O was a big fan on the instrument Box. It didn't help.
I am currently working on a CD with my brother Shawn and hope to get into the studio this year. Thanks for the web page. It's really cool to find oneself on the internet pages.
Steven Stecker, September 2003
