The 1966
beginnings
of the band were Harold Wright and Bill Tootell (who played as much
flute
as guitar, by the way) as a folk duo. In early 1967, they asked me
(Bruce
Kirkman) to play bass behind them, as they were doing a song of mine.
By
this time a manager (Joe Koester) was involved. We then asked Jack
Hansen
to join (initially as a banjo and mandolin player! The electric guitar
came a short time later). Jerry Dawson was a jazz drummer we knew, and
we had a few rehearsals with him, but agreed mutually that it wasn't a
good mesh of styles. Enter Rich Condon, who had never played
drums
before, but within six months was told by Bill Kreutzmann and Phil
Wilson
(drummer for Paul Butterfield at the time) that he was the best natural
tom-toms player they'd ever seen, and could be making a fortune in LA
studio
work.
The best band
in
Bellingham at the time was Kathi McDonald & The Unusuals (or just
the
Unusuals depending on time frame). Kathi was really anxious to do
original
material, which is what we were all about, and the Unusuals were almost
completely a cover band, so she gravitated over to us in time for our
first
job as electric folk-rock band: opening for the Jefferson Airplane at
Carver
Gymnasium at Western Washington State College in Bellingham on May 27,
1967. Our manager was the promoter for this event, and our band
name
was “The Safety Patrol”. Allen Ginsburg was in town for a poetry
reading
the night before, and Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters showed up for
who knows why the night before as well. What a night! Ken Kesey
and
Allen Ginsburg ended up introducing the Jefferson Airplane, who were in
absolute peak form. I saw them five more times after this, and
they
were never better than this performance. Our drummer was still
too
new to playing to do this gig with us, so the Unusuals’ drummer sat in
for us.
Shortly after
this
we fired Kathi because she wouldn't rehearse!!!! We were too dumb to
realize
that some people don't need to rehearse…they are born ready. It
was
the best thing we could have done for her, because she immediately went
to San Francisco and got discovered by Ike Turner. She was
replaced
by Ken Cantrell. We had “conquered” Bellingham, so we drifted
into
Seattle. Our manager was in the right place at the right time
when
the band that was to open for The Grateful Dead at Eagles Auditorium
couldn't
go on after their drummer broke his leg in a wreck. So within one week
of blowing into town we're on the stage with the Grateful Dead (fall of
1967). A lot of Eagles jobs followed, opening for Country Joe
&
The Fish, Charles Lloyd, John Fahey, Blue Cheer, etc.
It didn't last
long.
I and two others left in early 1968. The others carried on for a while
with a replacement or two, but it came to an end. While the band was
together,
we owned the 13th House club in Seattle, where bands like San
Francisco's
Notes From The Underground played. It was an amazing time, and I
wouldn't
trade it for anything.
Bruce
Kirkman,
April 2003
Jack Hansen of
Fat
Jack is currently playing Hawaiian steel guitar with the
Stowaways
in Paradise (second from left, top photo), ...and teaching swing
guitar
at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.
Joe Weihe,
April
2007
Robert Force
was
deeply involved with developing the band Fat Jack from the
beginning.
He was involved with the creation of Fat Jack and lived with, worked
with
and did publicity for the band until its break up. He is still in
touch with one of the members.
Kevin Mason,
May
2009
Robert Force,
November 2010
Hal Wright became
a
chess master before he left the planet. He died very early on in
late or mid 1970's. He lost his legs in a motorcycle accident and
died in the hospital.
Robert
Force,
November 2010
I was the front
man
for the band. Now I am an electromagnetics engineer working for a
high performance computing company in Colorado.
Memories of Fat
Jack:
The quintessential Fat Jack moment for myself and I think a large part
of the audience was Jack and Rich during their duo jam. Truly
hippie
electric.
My guess at
songs
that would have made it if the band had stuck together:
1st hit: Buckskin Cowboy
2nd hit: Summer Sandals
There were lots
of
other good tunes, but I think those two had the most commercial appeal
for that time frame.
Bob and I are
often
amused by the fact that the "assistant manager" was the only one who
managed
to make something of himself in the music biz. His rise to
prominence
in his musical genre several years later was as unexpected as...well...
my turning into a math geek. What a long strange trip it's been.
Ken
Cantrell,
November 2010
