Larry
Andrews ~ Vocals
Marc
Brittan ~ Guitar
Jim
Henderson ~ Vocals
Tom
Johnson ~ Drums, Vocals
Dan
Mallory ~ Bass
Steve
"Bumper" Morgan ~ Bass
Tim
O'Cain ~ Hammond Organ
Eric
Peterson ~ Organ, Vocals
John
Schneider ~ Guitar, Vocals
Steve "Bumper" Morgan
I was armed with a Bogen amplifier, and a set of Atlas bell style p.a. horns. I used to set them up outside of the garage of my folks house in Woodway Park, which was located on 4 acres, and just scream through them to see if I could get the local constable to respond. He did ! Screamin’ Tommy was born.I really don't remember how we really all met. It probably was through a phone conversation, or a mutual friend. John Schneider and Marc Brittan were from Shoreline High School, I was from Edmonds, and Steve "Bumper" Morgan was from Meadowdale. Tim O’Caine was added on Hammond organ later. He was an acquaintance of John's from Nathan Hale. Eric "The Qua" Peterson, from Edmonds, played Hammond in the final stages, until the transition to Uncle Remus.
At the start we had a lead singer named Larry Andrews, who was also from Shoreline. He was a good looking ivy league guy, who soon after leaving the band, ended up marrying the daughter of the Prime Minister of France. He missed out on some crazy gigs, Larry … good trade off though - at this point I became a lead singer.
John and I took vocal lessons from George Peckham.
Bumper, for some reason, left the band for a while. Dan Mallory, from Shoreline, then played with us at numerous frat gigs, and dances during his shy period. He used to hide behind the amps when he played ! Funny guy... and later to be an amazing player and showman who was inspired and recognized by the Hendrix family. One of the things that he did that always blew me away - was to be playing a fast and complex riff, and he would flip his hand so that he was playing the neck from the top side. He never missed a note.
We picked a list of songs that were hard hitting, with a blues edge. We joined Local Union 76.
Soon the band was in full swing, and we got good and tight. It was because we practiced almost every day. Bless John's and my folks for letting this happen. They never complained.
Soon we were playing constant gigs – high school dances, private parties, VFW halls, fraternities and sororities (with sororities being a favorite), the Lynnwood Roller Rink, where there were battles of the bands. One of the best bands was a band called The Army – later to be White Heart, then Heart. Army had Roger Fisher, Steve Fossen, Don Wilhelm, and Ray Shaefer. Too bad there wasn't video tape back then. These guys were too good... so good that they used to almost piss us off on the way back to the rehearsal room.
Kryptic Light got invited out on a cold spring weekend to play at Betty's Farm – which would be the start of the northwest rock festivals. It was too cold to set up on the stage, which was a couple of sheets of plywood on the ground.
We then became a regular at the Lake Hills Roller Rink, where we joined forces with Larry Gearon who supplied any sound reinforcement requested from Garry Gonter’s Bandstand Music, his uncle's store. Larry "Rube Tubin" Richstein used to introduce the band. Those were great memories.
One of the last gigs was at the Trolley Club, and above is one of the few photos that have turned up of all those years ago.
Old fans have been requesting any kind of recordings of us, which I'm sorry to say, none exist. At that time we were too busy worrying if we were going to blow gear up, and having to send a friend home to let us borrow his. It was great to be a drummer.
The memories continue to flow …
Tom Johnson, December 2005
Song
List
BLUEBIRD
– BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD
MY
EYES HAVE SEEN YOU - DOORS
WHY
- BYRDS
LOVE
IS A BEAUTIFUL THING – YOUNG RASCALS
SUPERBIRD
– COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH
FLYIN’
HIGH – COUNTRY JOE
ROCK
AND SOUL MUSIC – COUNTRY JOE
COLD
RAIN AND SNOW – GRATEFUL DEAD
BORN
IN CHICAGO – PAUL BUTERFIELD BLUES BAND
WALKIN
SHOES - BUTTERFIELD
YOU’D
BETTER RUN - RASCALS
FEEL
A WHOLE LOT BETTER - BYRDS
JUMPIN
JACK FLASH - STONES
ALL
ALONG THE WATCHTOWER - HENDRIX
PURPLE
HAZE – MR. JIMI
I
GOTTA LINE ON YOU - SPIRIT
FRESH
GARBAGE - SPIRIT
BACK
IN THE USSR – BEATLES
MORE
THAN YOU’LL EVER KNOW – BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS
BALLAD
OF A THIN MAN ( MR. JONES ) - BOB DYLAN
If
you have corrections, a neat photo or more information, please send it
to:
Last
Update: 4 September 2010
Credits:
Tommy
Johnson, John Schneider