| There
was an outdoor music-sex-booze-and-drugs festival, called the Odee Festival,
in the September of 1975, and we were contracted to play there three nights,
for, I think, $1200. So we did, even while there was frost forming on the stage. The conditions were miserable; we had to sleep on the bus, or make friends with someone who had a tent, and there were no showers. 
Now Doug Kershaw was the "headliner" act for this festival, and he was to be paid $3500 for ONE set. He came rolling in in his REAL bus, one of those big-time Nashville-recording-artist rigs. Kershaw visited our poor little bus and jammed a little with Billy, who "cut" him pretty good. Then came Saturday night, time for Kershaw's show. He got up on stage with his band, played a couple of numbers, broke some strings and ruined a bow or two, and quit after about a half hour. Afterwards, a booze-fueled angry mob tried to tip his bus over. They didn't succeed, but it sure was rockin'! Anyway, Kershaw got paid and we didn't. Note: Noah Smith of the Twang Brothers says this was in September 1974... I don't recall that I played anything that early with the Spears Band. But I could be wrong. |
