tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27656403.post8634923345820752603..comments2024-03-05T07:03:57.707-05:00Comments on Rock n Roll Graffiti: Protest songs had local impactSteve Seymourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14944900666172771578noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27656403.post-54414507014314334132007-09-24T23:01:00.000-04:002007-09-24T23:01:00.000-04:00Dear Steve, A friend of mine sent me several arti...Dear Steve, <BR/> <BR/>A friend of mine sent me several articles you have written about local bands from the 60's. I have enjoyed reading "Nomads, Beat Inc. Rocked First", "Vintage U.P. Rock 45's Described", and "Local Peninsula Records Label Issued Singles". <BR/> <BR/>I'm happily amazed that there is still interest in a band I started with Mike Steede in my small bedroom in Pine Ridge so many years ago. I have played in many bands since but I have never run across such a wonderful group of true friends as the guys in The Prophets. <BR/> <BR/>Several years ago someone called me to tell me Dave Watchorn had been looking for me for several years. I immediately looked up his number and gave him a call. He actually had been looking for me for that long and was quite surprised to have me at the other end of the phone. We started to correspond, and he mentioned he was also looking for Jim Smith, our keyboard player. I gave him the few facts I knew about Jim but with a name as common as "Jim Smith" he had a difficult time finding him. To Dave's credit, he never gave up, and sure enough, he found Jim living in Arizona. <BR/> <BR/>For the last 2 years, the Prophets have had a reunion of sorts. Mike Steede, Dave Watchorn, Calvin Rose (our very first bass player and singer), and myself have met at Mike's house and swapped stories and jammed for several magical hours. That first reunion was completely indescribable. To be playing drums with most of the original Prophets after so many years was like a dream come true....and the emotion in the room was like we had never left. Maybe someday we will be fortunate enough to have Larry Olivaries and Jim Smith join the fun. <BR/> <BR/>As you can imagine, the stories were flying! One of my favorites was the very snowy and slippery day we were driving to a catholic school youth club dance in Marquette. As we entered the city, we slid right through a snowy intersection cutting off a car coming from the other side. The car followed us all the way to the Catholic church complex. We were sure the driver was ready to read us the riot act (did I say Riot Act!) and probably beat us up! As we pulled up to the church complex he drove up next to us and rolled down his window ready to read us off. He glanced into the car and saw 5 young men all dressed in black...he blinked a few times, said "I'm sorry, fathers" and sped away! We said a little prayer of thanks, had a good laugh, set up our equipment and played our hearts out for the next 3 hours. <BR/> <BR/>Keep the great memories coming!<BR/> <BR/>Jim Nelson<BR/>jrnfl@hotmail.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com