Bishops
Bishops
Soul & Show
The Bishops (1968), L to R: Chris Church (trumpet), Brad Barrett (drums), Steve House (sax), Rick Lamb (bass), John Kenning (organ), George "Chaz" Naylor (trumpet) , Jim Rogers (vocals), Earl Long (guitar) Jim Rogers forgot his shoes, took the photo in his moccasins!
Our beloved 48-passenger bus, tricked out with sleeper sofas and a rear deck!
The small print proudly proclaims "Wichita's Finest Show Band." We were all too young to drive it, so our dads took turns driving us to all the gigs. Actually, I seem to recall John Kenning's, Jim Rogers', and Steve House's dads doing most of the trading.
John Kenning (organ), Earl Long (guitar), and Jim Rogers (vocals)
Back Row: Earl Long, Jim Rogers, Brad Barrett, John Kenning, Rick Lamb
Front row: George Naylor, Steve House, Chris Church
(1968)
Showing off our new blue brocade tuxes!
July, 2016
Terry Hacker:
"I remember joining the Bishops when I was still in high school. Geo Naylor left the band. He lived Behind me growing up on north Salina st. He lived on Payne st. Our houses backed each other we went to grade school Jr high and high school together. Our fathers worked together at a meat packing plant. Geo leaving the band made room for more brass, and Richard Lamb switched from bass to Bone, opening up the bass position, which I filled. I remember having to learn a whole lot tunes of which none I had played before. The whole band was very patient with me. Richard taught me all of the songs as he was had been playing them on bass.
Some my best memories of the Bishops were Robin showing me how after the gig over, to hang back and wrap cords while others changed then go change when they got back to avoid having to load the equipment in the bus. Another when Richard had a cigarette placed between his toes while he was asleep on one of the bus couches, and did not wake till it burned down and he woke up screaming. We thought it would be funny until it was over. But then it wasn't so funny. I don't remember who did it but sorry, Richard. "
Rick Lamb:
"George Naylor was a big star in the Scarlet Lancers drum and bugle corps so he was always torn between the two groups. When he left, Roger Crandon took his place for a brief period. About this time, we were all getting excited about Chicago so that's why I switched to trombone and Terry Hacker came in on bass, as he said. Here's one on Terry. Towards the end of The Bishops - probably late 1969 - we added Ann (?) on vocals. So now we're up to 9-piece with two lead singers, Jim Rogers and Ann. It was a little weird having a chick in the band and it came to a head (no pun intended) one night when were coming home from a road trip. We're in the bus and everybody is just about asleep. It's perfectly quiet. Ann is by herself on one of the foldout couches and Terry is nearby. They've been getting a little chummy lately so he slips up on the couch with her. She's not so receptive after all. In fact, she screams, "Whacker, what are you doing?" I'm sure Terry was terribly embarrassed but the rest of us thought it was pretty funny. After that, "Whacker, what are you doing?" became something of a catch phrase.
Even after we got the school bus, a primo place to sleep was on top of the Leslie in the equipment area. It was dark and private and surprisingly comfortable (the ONLY comfortable place when we had the Bond bread truck!). We were coming home from some bar gig out of town and Robin had been sneaking some beers during the evening. We knew he was a little tipsy and had been giving him shit about it. Keep in mind we were all 16 or 17 on these road trips so we weren't supposed to even be in those bars, let alone drinking. So, just like the earlier story, we're all settling down to sleep and, "PFFFFFT," we hear a beer tab pop in the equipment area. Robin had snuck one last beer in. I think we pulled him out of there and piled on him.
There were a few practical jokes. In the early days (1968) we wore matching blue-brochade tuxedos. We had a lot of lights so it was always hot on stage. Brad sweat a lot playing drums and someone put itching powder in his tux pants. About halfway through the first set, he got a very funny look on his face and started squirming like crazy on his drum stool. I don't think we got all the way through the set. Another time someone put shaving cream in Roger Crandon's shoes. Of course, the classic was the cigarette between my toes. It hurt like hell but even then I thought it was pretty damn funny.
John Kenning (RIP) was the main instigator of most of the practical jokes but Brad and Jim egged him on. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
Oh, I almost forgot the time we all got together to launch Robin's home-made rocket. It was night time and we were in an open field out west of town, after seeing The Fabulous Flippers at the Cotillion. The rocket went sideways instead of up and caught the wheat stubble field on fire. Robin, Steve House and George stayed and finally got the fire out. I'm sorry to admit, Brad and I split."