Inquisitive Quest

The Hi-Lo Club and Patio Restaurant on the Classen Circle

 Sparky Anderson, a district manager representing a faction of the Zenith Corporation  would invariably find the Untouchables when the band was on the road especially  during their peregrinations in southwest Oklahoma and Texas.    Gary and Glenn resigning themselves that Sparky was just another salesman purporting ostentatious conversation when indulging in liquid beverages dispensed by a bartender.   Most of Sparky’s dissertations were taken lightly but when he conveyed he was the proprietor of the Hi-Lo Club in Oklahoma City,  the two musicians interest abruptly  peaked.   A further inquiry discovering that  Sparky indeed did own the prestigious Hi-Lo Club established on the Classen Circle in Oklahoma City,  but also  enlighten that  the club’s management and operational perspective was the responsibility of his daughter Wanda and son-in-law Herb Carpenter.

The Hi Lo Club was a very efficacious nightclub,  augmented to a professional and upper middle class business clientele.  The clubs current entertainment was afforded by  The Preacher Smith Trio,  a well-established negro group  assembled behind a piano bar.   Gary and Glenn introducing themselves to Herb,  discovering Preacher Smith firmly embedded with a Monday thru Saturday booking.  The two soliciting an opportunity to play on a Sunday night, Herb showing no interest on adding another night of entertainment.  Gary placing a call to Sparky asking if he might say something to his son-in-law about the Untouchables playing a Sunday night,  a reluctant Herbie conceding. The Untouchable debut with Sparky present was well received,  their four musician nine instrument accord giving a new sound to the Hi-Low Club.  Gary could see a dispersion between Sparky and Herb surfacing about their Sunday night appearance, the band seemingly caught in the middle.

Gary sensing from the first their introduction, Herbie and Glenn were not congenial and it was obvious it was going to have an effect on any further employment negotiations. The second Sunday night found the band playing to capacity Sparky’s admonition having  prevailed,  advocating they be hired six night per week.   Herbie reluctantly agreeing but making one point clear,  he was the boss not Sparky and there was would be no recourse.  The forty-year old Thomas (Preacher) Smith having attended Paul Quinn College in Waco studying divinity and music,  thus the name Preacher,  was given a week’s notice, the Untouchable starting full-time.

The Hi Lo’s piano bar availing Gary an innovating idea,  instead of moving the piano from behind the bar, he would place the Wurlitzer #120 on the low topped console,   having two keyboards, enabling him to continue providing keyboard bass,and paint a canvas of authority on the regular piano with his right hand.   He took the setup a step further,  utilizing a wah-wah pedal to the upper keyboard octaves of the Wurlitzer,  endowing  special effects.   He was now at the controls of the keyboard bass,  special effect from the Wurlitzer,  and the normalcy of the piano, plus able to step aside and play vibes with either Jerry or Larry adding  electric bass.  The pianist having found a new satisfying means of expression, with it came an inner feeling that this new musical endeavor could flourish.

Bill Hurst is inimitable in every respect,  his employment and environment were scripted out of a movie.   Bills physical appearance reminiscent of Oliver Hardy,  from the Laurel and Hardy movie fame, with a black suit,  sporting the characteristic mustache and emulating mannerisms he could pass for Ollie.   His employment domain was the Ace Pawn shop located  downtown Oklahoma City, between Sheridan and Main St. on North Broadway,  a prime location,  just north of the city area  referenced to as Skid Row.   Gary and Glenn having made his acquaintance when frequenting the downtown pawn shops in search of microphones and other audio paraphernalia.  Bill’s  knowledge of the brokerage business was adherent,  his awareness of the coding system employed by the several downtown pawnbroker’s enabling Gary and Glen to discern a store marketers margin and to barter.   Bill acknowledge another talent,  an ability to project the musical talents of Ray Stevens,  Nervous Norvus,  giving life to a vocal rendition of Ahab the Arab, Monster Mash, Transfusion,  his Character  carriage and vocals  making him an immediate celebrate.

The new-found asylum of the Hi-Low Club enabled the group to flourish,  emulating a variety of sounds,  from Jazz to country,  but  as the time passed a professional quietude began to prevail.    Gary finding the ensuing months of performing six nights per week  deserving a recess, the Untouchables all in agreement as well as club management.  Gary’s wife Kaye scheduling some vacation time from her FAA employment, the family deciding on a brief road trip to California.

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The Untouchables deciding to take  some time off from their established sit-down engagement at the Hi Lo Club.  Gary, Kaye and little Scott planning an abbreviated  journey to California that would include a first stop in Long Beach,  to reconcile a bizarre situation.   Helen,  Gary’s mother-in- law let it be known that Kaye’s  estranged father,  Kermit Van Leuven, resided in Long Beach.  Helen and Kermit having gone their separate ways prior to the start of world war II  in 1939.  and thru the years making a decision to let their relationship lay dormant.  This would soon change, Helen having arranged for Kaye to place a call,  and Kermit would meet and introduce himself to the arrivals.

The journey in the 63 Comet beginning,  Gary making a decision to drive straight through from Oklahoma City to Long Beach and after the stop,  north to Oakland.  .   The 1400 mile stretch of highway from Oklahoma City to Long Beach,  a  long 24 hour arduous journey,  Gary thankful when reaching their destination.  The late morning  arrival presenting an unusual circumstance, Kaye needing to place a call and  freshen up before meeting her father,  but because of their limited budget, Gary hesitant about the expense of a motel room for just an hour,  deciding to make an unusual request.  The person behind the motel counter having an inquisitive look when Gary approached her about the cost of a room for an hour, taking notice of the couple and  Scott, but once being informed of the circumstance,  the clerk agreeing to let the room at half the price of a night’s stay.

Kaye’s father,  Kermit Van Leuven,  an attorney,  appointed as the Head  Court Clerk that schedules the dockets for the judges presiding in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Gary’s newly discovered father-in-law receiving his daughter call,  arranging their meeting,  giving them  directions to a restaurant on west Ocean Boulevard.   Gary finding the atmosphere somewhat estranged,  especially to be present when your wife acknowledges her father for the first time.  The brief reunion coming to a conclusion, this initial introduction a first step in a new relationship and the promise of a future.  A tired Gary beginning to feel the effects of his 30 hour day since leaving Oklahoma City, especially with another 8 hours of highway remaining to Oakland.

Highway 101,  a route  familiar to the Musician,  having traversed the black top course on the back of Dale Spady’s 5 horsepower cushman motor scooter upon high school graduation, but unlike before, this time encountering a blinding rainstorm.  Gary was having difficulty seeing, the windshield wipers unable to clear the cascading water, especially the spray when coming up behind a ten wheeler semi.   The road excursion progressing,    the 450 mile trip from  Long Beach to Oakland about to conclude.   the Comet on the Nimitz Freeway north of San Jose,  Gary having gone without sleep for 38 hours.  Even with the cool bay area dampness, and the wind confronting him thru the open driver side window,  it was still difficult to keep his eyes open,  Kaye doing her best providing a damp wash cloth to wipe his face.  With their arrival,  the elder Willson family welcoming the weary traveling family, Gary ready to cash in his remaining wakeful chips,  calling it a night.

The visit enabling Gary the opportunity to introduce his wife to the City by the Bay,  San Francisco,  the couple having garnished baby Scott with Grandma Betty.  Gary having spent many youthful days traversing the bay bridge to partake of golden gate park , with its academy of science,  aquarium,  De Young Museum, and never forget visiting fisherman’s wharf as a youth,  but could not have imagined, sitting in Joe DiMaggio’s at Fisherman’s Wharf on Jefferson Street,  sipping a daiquiri with a wife,  waiting for the rush hour traffic to clear the bay bridge.  It seemed like this abbreviated California journey had come to a conclusion before it got started.  A more reasonable return journey,  finding a first night’s stay in Kingman and Albuquerque their last night on the road  before acknowledging Oklahoma City.

Their mission accomplished,  an inquisitive Helen questioning each about their visit with Kermit.  Gary was not privileged to his wife’s conversation with her mother, but his private view,  concerning the years of sequestered relationship between Kermit and his daughter was simple,  justification sometimes defies logic.

Gary, with no  blue prints but his idea firmly embedded in his head,  approaching the Contractors Desk at Cullen Lumber on Classen Blvd,  explaining a project he and Glenn were about to embark on,  a 16 by 28 foot two bedroom addition to his house,  and a complete living room remodeling.  The new addition would provide for  a 16 by 16 foot patio,  sliding door adorned master bedroom,  and a  16 by 12 smaller bedroom, increasing the residences square footage by 448 square feet.   The living room remodel would encase the removal of the wall between the living room and the front master bedroom,  and adding a counter high partitioned front door entryway to the living room,  encompassing the total front of the residence.   The living room to have a fireplace,  with an extended hearth,  the dining room adjacent to the kitchen having it backyard window removed,  and replaced with a glass sliding door opening to a new backyard patio.

The Cullen dispatcher taking it all in, but wasn’t prepared when Gary posed a question, if they called in with exact measurements could he figure the material needed for framing, roofing, doors, windows, and all sundry items they would need as the project progressed.  The dispatcher was somewhat skeptical, but Gary could see he was receptive to the concept, agreeing it could be done.  The final obstacle being one of finance, securing cost estimates,  at least a ball park figure.    Gary visiting with a loan officer at Beneficial Savings and Loan, explaining the project and that Cullen Lumber would be the primary material contractor, but their might be others, the finance company agreeing to an open-ended note to finance this avant-garde progression.

The removal of the brick veneer from the rear of  2644 S. W. 46th Terrace  having commenced,  Gary and Glenn the perpetrators of structural disintegration.  With the brick removal completed, Gary realizing that neither he or Glenn had the skill or the equipment needed for forming or crowning a cement slab floor for a room addition.  The classified section of the Daily Oklahoman provided a solution, a cement finisher looking for work.  The worker estimating the project would take him three days, the leveling, re-barb and forming the first couple of days, the pouring and finishing the third.  The day of atonement having descended,  a call was placed to Dolese Ready Mix,   discovering the cement  would have to be wheel-barreled to the back of the house and with the arrival of the ready-mix truck,   Gary and Glenn the prospective wheel barrel crew, the hired cement worker fulfilling his three-day performance.   The concrete in position, 16 penny nails, bottom and top plates, a studded structure slowly began to take form,  the Cullen operative accepting the vocal progression assessments and providing the precise material.

The construction day  beginning in late morning or early afternoon,  their working daytime schedule dependent on the bands nighttime activity,  the priority being the completion of the addition, the remodeling of the front was secondary.   When it was time to migrate the O G and E meter from its original  position on the back of the house to the new addition  position,  Gary called his acquaintance from the Horseshoe Club,  electrical contractor Eldon Dumus.   Gary questioning Eldon about calling O G and E to move the electric line from the pole to its new position on the addition,  explaining he was somewhat concerned,  because he never got a building permit,  Eldon telling him not to worry,  he would move the line himself.

With the passing weeks, the two discovering a host of new talents that they never knew they had, the project taking shape with its redwood siding,  installing sliding glass doors , the addition’s windows, and  the flat roof.   Gary doing all the electric wiring,  stapling the insulation on the ceiling and outside walls, then experiencing the hanging of sheet rock and its taping.  The learning experience continued with the texturing,  painting,  hanging doors,  installing the floor tile.  the construction of the new addition coming to a conclusion.  The remodeling stage of the  front of the house and dining room about to commence.  and with the dining room and  new master bedroom both having sliding patio doors opening to a patio,  it was time to call Dolesee Ready Mix again,  only this time Gary and Glenn ,  taking it upon themselves, to form, pour,  and finish the remaining 18 by 16 foot cement patio.

With the removal of the front master bedroom wall, opening the total front as an entryway and living room , another project, another new experience,  neither of the two having installed a fireplace.  The instillation directions demonstrated several ways of installing,  but instead the two deciding to set the firebox outside on a concrete slab beneath where a removed window was, the front parallel with the inside wall,  thus allowing the triple wall chimney piping to raise thru the outside eves, rather than penetrate thru the interior ceiling and attic.  The fireplace embossed by a partial brick wall and mantel,  with a  room width white Portland cement hearth,  inlaid  with different color marble specimens,  endowed  by visiting several Oklahoma City headstone and monument providers for remnants.  The final touch to the living room,  besides the built-in stereo-speaker audio complex in the entryway divider,  was the  walnut paneling and new DuPont five oh one Blue Carpet.

A showcase presentation was determined,  the two bedroom homestead now three, no longer a clone of the other fixture neighborhood residencies.  With the new backyard patio, master bedroom and dining room patio doors,  the expanded living room with a spacious  fireplace,  a once bland spectrum of a house just became the lustrous aurora of a home,  Gary concluding,  a house is a residence,  but a home is its acknowledgement.

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  Willie Nelson and Friends

Larry Burns was a loner,  Gary,  Jerry and Glenn  could be addressed as a group when on the road,  but the Untouchables reed player was solitary.   Wichita Falls Texas playing host to the four nocturnal covenant musicians,  at J. M.  Carson’s Golden Corral Club  on the Seymour Highway west of town.

J. M.  the Club’s owner was noted as the older brother of the late country singer,  Little Joe Carson,  who came on the recording scene in 1950  at the age of 16.  Little Joe, tragically killed in an automobile accident in 1964.   When arriving in Wichita Falls,  the first order of business was to secure lodging  accommodations,  the band inquiring at a motel convenience not too far from the club,  but the expense was unacceptable to all but Larry,  the three continuing the search for an inexpensive room for their three nights of refuge.   Venturing back across town, reconnoitering a previous unexplored part of the bounded city, stumbling upon a fourstory hotel  on 7th Street.

The hotel being located in a detrimental area, a block from the bustling railroad switching activity, the three having no problem accepting the lodging location,  discovering a room with a kitchenette for $18 a night.  The unkempt furnishings were somewhat precarious, but considering the insignificant monetary detriment,  the trade-off was acceptable.   A reminder of their location was prevalent,  especially when attempting to sleep, the constant sound of the train whistles giving notice of the locations shuffling labor.   The daytime hours would find them at Weeks Park Public Golf Course,  with the exception of Larry.  Golf clubs always a stellar traveling  companion for the three on extended out of town engagements,  and when not researching their location for  new booking resources,  an ongoing competitive game of  three-handed pinochle fulfilled their idle time.

Glenn by far was the largest in stature of the three, having the appearance of never missing a meal,  and was well over two hundred pounds of drumming exponent.   The group would budget their dietary expenditures to one festive charcuterie feast per day.   Wichita Falls entrusted a renown favorite luncheon buffet,  Steers Cafeteria,  the establishment providing all you can eat for a dollar,  a single meat entrée inclusive,  with drinks and desserts extra.   Glenn,  never-failing to amaze those in attendance of his comestible capacity,  and ability to digest a capacious amount of the cafeteria’s  dividend asset,  for his single  dollar investment.  Gary concluding,  he and Jerry,  the one hundred forty pounders,  were  less partakers of the cafeteria’s culinary volume,  offsetting Glenn’s intake,  thus establishing Steer’s a margin of profit.

As the name implied,  the Golden Corral Club was primarily dressed in western decor,  but the Untouchables enlivened a diversified spectrum to the satisfaction of the clientele,  evoking other musical penchant.   The Saturday night after twelve intermission,   the musicians departing the bandstand lingering with customers,  the crowd beginning to dwindle and with the final bandstand appearance about to commence,  Gary and Jerry noticing a sudden influx of patrons arriving.  A copious number beginning accumulating, Gary curious about the sudden arrival of so many people, discovering that the traveling Country Music Review featuring Nashville recording artists performing  at the Municipal Auditorium having concluded their show,  and the influx was those desiring a night-cap.  J M  recognizing and greeting a particular group, the band being informed,  that among those being seated were celebrities of the auditorium program, including  Charlie Walker,  Wade Ray, Hank Cochran and Willie Nelson.  Gary discovering that Marty Robbins,  Stonewall Jackson and Jeannie Sealy were also featured in the Country Music Review, but retired for the night after their performance.

A return to the bandstand,  the band ready to conclude the night’s performance,  when J  M  approached and asked to tender an announcement.  Gary was astounded to notice the club had suddenly accrued a cardinal amount of customers, J. M.  with mike in hand garnishing an introduction of the celebrities.  Gary wasn’t as apt as Jerry in name recognition of the country musicians,  save the celebrated ones who songs frequented the top forty charts.   The Au Courant of Charlie Walker and Wade Ray were unknown to him,  but he recognized the Willie Nelson credit,  because of his current country hits,  One In A Row and The Party’s Over.  With the introductions,  those in audience could be heard wanting the visitors to sit in.

The country artists having been acquainted with J M’s late brother, obliging Little Joe’s memory for the applauding fans,  ascending to the bandstand,  Gary noticing,  but not surprised that their instruments materialized.  The four inclusive members of the Untouchable somewhat taken back at the opportunity to perform with true stars of country music,  especially Willie.  The country icons brief performance concluding, the band finishing a memorable night.  Gary mentioning to Jerry the unique adroitness of Willie’s playing ability,  Jerry’s remark was one of resolve,    He has the worst timing of any singer or guitar player I have ever experience.   Gary agreeing that it was unusual,  but also unprecedented,  something that sets him aside from all the other up and coming country artist.

Tornado beginning to form

The weather forecast was for severe thunderstorms,  but that was hastily updated to a tornado watch.   Most Oklahoma City residents were unconcerned about the forecast,  as was Gary until another television weather interruption.   A cloud rotation and possible tornado was reported southwest of the Oklahoma City International Airport by radar,  and observers reported it was tracking Northeast,  and about to enter Oklahoma City.

Apparently Gary wasn’t the only person ascertaining  the announcement,  venturing outdoors, discovering several neighbors standing in their yards,  all attentively looking towards the southwest,   the presence of  the greenish bellowing  thunderheads,  the lightning and audible rumble providing an indelible warning,  announcing their approach,  and below the upward ordained profusion,  the omnibus horizontal layer indicating  a wall cloud.

Gary wasn’t alone, his three-year old son Scott standing by his side,  bucking the gusting wind, a sense of trepidation was beginning to evolve with the enveloping rush of the oncoming storm.   Vigilance prevailing,  the two on  continuance watch  for  a sign of a funnel,  but to no avail.   Gary and young Scott eyes fixed westward towards May Ave, then a sudden gesture,  the wind gust changing the elements, scattering the air with debris,  the sudden crackling, popping sound of electrical discharge,  the whirling wind spreading  rubble,  gathering  momentum.  Gary turning to access his neighbors who have earlier joined him to watch the display,  discovering they had vanished, returning to the security of indoors.

For an instant, the turbulence paused,  the boy and his Dad standing alone,  a brief  hesitant  silence arresting the scene, underscoring an aura of their solitude.   Taking Scott’s hand,  abandoning the  outdoor environment for the structured sanctuary of the house.  The aftermath of the brief storm was negligible,  the tornado fleetingly touching the ground on its traverse across Oklahoma City,  the nearest damage assessment,  the sudden removal of a Dairy Bar structure at 38th and South May Avenue,  a distance of  eight blocks.  A more compelling and damaging storm was the one prevailing within the band,   Gary having recognized the clouds on the horizon and understood the catechetical consequence to the untouchables.

   A compelling and damaging storm was prevailing within the band,   Gary having recognized the clouds on the horizon and understood their catechetical consequence.   Larry Burns the clarinet and sax aficionado,  having left after a dispute over Glenn and Gary’s booking travel expenses to Texas, and a another  transpiration,  the bands accomplished guitar and tenor sax mentor, Jerry Willis,  having succumbed to full-time employment with DEMCO, Drilling Equipment Manufacturing Company,   a prominent oil industry complex as a machinist,  and with this full time commitment,   could only avail himself for Friday night and Saturday engagements.  

  Then there was the most distressing event,  drummer Glenn Froman, Gary’s close’s friend and confident, the person who introduced the pianist to the music profession would be returning to Indiana.

Gary’s thoughts of collected logic would reign,  prioritization would have to be instituted,  consternation kept in check.  First things first, an inquiry to Del City Music’s friend and owner,  Bob Woods about the availabilities of drummers.   Bob acknowledging he was aware of  a drummer named Dewey Moore, looking for a job, having heard he was good,  but knowing him in name only.  Gary placing a phonecall, arranging to meet Dewey at his trailer park residence in Midwest City.  On arrival,  Gary discovering the drummer had some forethought, having assembled his trap-set  for a percussion demonstration,  his expertise would complement the band.  The first engagement with the new drummer was at the Officers Club at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City,  Dewey  introducing his wife Elaine, Gary confident he made the right decision in  hiring the Midwest City musician.  The second obstacle still remained, a revision of the band schedule would have to be undertaken,  Jerry’s  limited to playing weekends presented a major problem, to book weekdays, another guitar player  would have to be found.  For the time being the weekend engagements would have to suffice.

The band playing their closing song,  concluding the Weekend at the Broadway Club, in the basement expanse of the fourteen story Broadway Towers building,  on East Broadway in Enid.     With the  band equipment stowed in Gary’s car,  the Pianist and Jerry having agreed to retrieve drummer Dewy,   having left with a waitress to see her home,  asking to be picked up at her apartment on their way out of town.  The two arriving at the apartment, Gary announcing their arrival with a brief sounding of the horn, an expectation that the percussionist would appear, but after  waiting a reasonable time,  they decided to make an inquiry,  knocking on the door.  The door opening, both witnessing the waitress in a state of havoc,  flustered and upset, screaming that Dewey had forced himself on her,  and was physically attacked.   Gary remained silent listening to the accusations,  and her exclamatory notice.   That if he was ever in her presence again,  either here or at work,  she would notify the police,  and press charges of attempted rape.  Upon leaving the scene, Gary was perplexed,  the drummer was silent about the accusations and with the waitress’ indictment,  Gary was left with no other alternative but to inform  Dewey George Moore,  his services would no longer be needed.

The Oklahoma State Fair having arrived, Gary approaching the Hammond Organ display in the large exposition building.  Seated at the console of the mammoth circular keyboard was Larry Flowers,  Gary well acquainted with  the Hammond Organ franchise dealer.   The displayed Hammond Organ, it’s boisterous sound augmenting the building structure with its tonal ascendancy.  Gary getting closer, noticing a familiar sound,   the total rhythmic audio of a live  percussionist,  a drummer.   This was not the synthetic rhythm sound that normally accompanied an organ,  but the actual audio of a sideman,  he could hear the snare,  tom-tom, bass drum, and highhats and cymbals,  Gary was intrigued.   Larry, pointing to what resembled a control box latched to the side of the organ bench, explaining,  it was a Chamberlin Rhythm mate, the electronic accessory providing continuous loop tape recordings of a live drummer.  

Fourteen taped rhythms being performed, with three variations for each,  with a volume  and speed control,  producing  Latin,  Swing,  Shuffle,  Rock-n-roll,  Jazz,  Waltz,  Two-step,  brushes and other rhythmic recorded venues,  played thru an amp.  The discovery and exhibition of  the Chamberlin Rhythm mate providing an insight to the musicians admonition about the future,  and a possible solution to his band dilemma.  

  The Pianist giving serious thought,  with Glenn gone, and Jerry only available on weekends,   maybe it was time to tailor his piano,  from the bandstand to a more congeal solitary format,  the piano bar.   A decision to enter a new musical realm would be a major step,  the demanding presence and expectation of a solo entertainment performer was a venue he had never experienced, but  every new horizon begins with the start of a new day.    

The accomplished half of the Willson family, Gary’s wife Kaye,  making a reference to Gary’s inactivity following the demise of the band, although preparations for a musical change of venue having begun,  the securing of a Chamberlain Rhythm mate, the invisible but audio percussionist would accompany Gary at the keyboard bass and piano.  Unbeknownst to Kaye,  during her employment hours,  Gary having cultivated and compiled an impressionable piano consonance, for his new solitary entertainment venue.  He realized a new professional pilgrimage would only come to fruition by acknowledging that first step.  The dormant musician finally taking the initiative,  calling  Ruth Sallee,  the agent not having any confirmed prospects, but hearing a rumor earlier,  that Jim Mullen’s,  who plays piano bar at The Apartment Key Club on North Hudson was leaving.

The evening hour finding the musician venturing to the Sieber Hotel and Apartment Complex at 13th and North Hudson, in Oklahoma City.  The club occupying space next to a corner dry cleaners occupying the north end of the apartment complex,  its entry portal plaque labeled  The Apartment Key Club.   Not a key member,  Gary engaging  the push button buzzer for entry,  a return buzz un locking the door,  entering taking stock of his surroundings.  To his immediate right,  a piano  stationed at a circular piano bar , able to seat six, and a dance floor with a jukebox .  To his left,  a row of booths extending the length of the room.  The bar  across from the booths, with tables positioned between it, the dance floor.   Gary estimating that the quaint club would seat about 60.

Gary questioning the bartender about management,  being directed to a person seated at the bar.  The musician introducing himself to Bob Francisco one of the owners,  conveying what he had heard about a change in the clubs entertainment.  Bob acknowledging that it was true, their conversation continuing, the pianist attempting to explain,  besides the piano and his vocals, he also played keyboard bass , and had an electric sideman drummer.  He could tell from Bob’s expression that he wasn’t getting through to him, but Bob cleared the air with a statement, his partner and co-owner,  Jerry Gross, who was somewhat of a musician and did the entertainment hiring.  Jerry was out of town,  but would be back tomorrow afternoon. If the pianist wanted to set up and audition,  he would contact Jerry.  The two agreeing on 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon for the meeting.

Arriving for the audition,  Gary having no difficulty setting up at a circular piano bar, the  Electric Piano designated for keyboard bass resting atop the clubs console piano.   With the Rhythm mate electric percussionist adjoining the piano bench, everything was in place for the performance.  Gary providing a scenario of songs that he deemed appropriate, ones  to enlighten the two owners of his versatile repertoire.  He had a suspicion that his trio sound would impress the two, the owners alertly taking notice of the piano, bass,  and drum sound.   The audition completed,  the pianist leaving the club with a feeling of accomplishment,  being given a start date for six night per week,  but the real satisfaction would come later with a success of his first attempt as a solo performer.

Gary recognizing that Jerry Gross and Bob Francisco were entrepreneurs, the Key Club a result of their vision.   The club,  a discreet bastion for singles to gather,  providing for intimacy, and also an intermediary place for couples to meet before descending “On The Town”.    And in the same respect,  assembling at the conclusion of an evening.   A boon to the club was the proximity  of Mercy Hospital,  with its ample supply of nursing and healthcare personnel.  The club accommodating the hospital employees with a short-wave  radio receiver tuned to the hospital frequency,  enabling off duty staff member to keep abreast of any activity.   Gary’s introduction to a solo performance was pragmatic,   the Key Club provided an acknowledgement,  enabling an interpreted capriccio’s  new found platform and  music to blossom beyond the presence of delectation,  Gary experiencing a gratifying  acceptance from the clubs clientele.

Gary was not apropos with this sport,  hockey was new to Oklahoma City and somewhat distant from his knowledge of  the athletic contest.   His erudition from his high school sports calligraphy era and heralding from the west coast, he lost interest in a number of major professional sporting events,  save the National Football League.   It wasn’t until his senior year at Castlemont High did the Dodgers and Giants arrive on the west coast giving carriage to major league baseball.   For some reason a sundry perception of hockey  lingered,  an event produced on a rink was more for entertainment rather than contest,  much akin to the Ice Capades and Roller Derby.   But with a witnessing,  this perception all  changed, hockey acquiring his total respect with its athleticism and the discerning expertise of the combatants.

Bob and Jerry’s Apartment Key Club provided a secluded place of assemblage,  acquiring  little attention from Oklahoma City’s bedlam of nightlife aspirants, but a congress for many professionals seeking anomalous proprietary.   The Oklahoma City Blazers, a farm team of the National Hockey League’s Boston Bruin’s,  components of  the Central Hockey League, The Blazer’s introducing professional hockey to the city, and an overwhelming attendances of admirers at the Fair Grounds Arena.  The Blazers also were introduced to an admiring residency of Bob and Jerry’s Apartment Key Club,  able to  experience diversion from the discipline rigors of their profession without publication or notoriety.

Gary making the acquaintance of  Gerry Cheever’s,  Wayne Cashman,  Dallas Smith, Bill Goldsworthy and the teams disciplinarian, Derek Sanderson,  who upheld the motto,  “if you can’t win the game,  at least win the fight.”    The musician discovering the Canadians to be deferential and magnanimous of their Oklahoma City surroundings,  and not without distinction in appreciation of his melodious application.  Gary’s wife Kaye,  also becoming addicted to the skilled combative sport, happening upon a high school friend,  Ron Norick, who besides having a prestigious father serving as Mayor of Oklahoma City since 1959, was the publicity agent for the Blazers.

The Clubs attendance growing with other known notables  inhabiting the piano presence in the evening hours,  included local television personalities and their guest,   Bob and Jerry’s Key Club a discrete unpublished  accommodation of opportunity.   A sense of accomplishment flourishing, the musician discovering a certainty in his solo playing environment,  not missing the activity of the road.  But as time progressed,  a sense of lassitude began to infiltrate with the challenge removed.   With the passing months, six nights of continuous ascension beginning to reach a crescendo,  the accommodation starting to become  complacent,  Gary questioning his resolve,  searching for accessible solution.  His quest for an answer arriving, his best friend, the incomparable guitarist and sax player band member, Jerry Willis,  who’s performing having been idled by his day job, agreeing to return to the euphonious world of music on weekend nights.

The addition of Jerry on Friday and Saturday nights soon assured a major capacity.   The financial realm of the club was ascending, but the nightspots’  quiescent aura that once prevailed,  was capitulating its flavor, its soft glow atmosphere diminishing.  Bob and Jerry’s new found financial windfall influenced  venturing to enlarge the seating capacity,  rendering the removal of an office wall, and disposing of the ambient circular piano bar.   An extension to the  counter of the bar,  subsequently embraced room for the piano and other instrumental accords.   The musician was complacent  with the clubs success, but disconsolate with the mutation addressed by its new atmosphere,  his conjecture being of no consequence,  falling on deaf ears.

With the clubs expansion completed, It was evident, Gary could sense the uncertainty, the pianist questioning the change with a wonderment about the future.

The resonance of the apartment key club, which represented its euphoric atmosphere was no longer present, Bob and Jerry’s Apartment Key Club on North Hudson,  having progressed from a quiescent ambiance opportunity,  to a financial gifted asset.   Gary was hospitable to the adjustment because of financial acceptance,  and displayed a deficiency of meaningful involvement in the divisiveness that developed between the two owners.   The ascendancy of sit-in guest vocal entertainers,   Donnie Dickson, a  Bobby Goldsboro stylist,  and  Frankie Val,  a renowned Oklahoma City Elvis clone  were taken with notice as was the vocals of the clubs waitress Olga, a Brazilian of German descent.

The adjoining business to the Apartment Key Club was a long-established laundry and dry cleaners,  according indulgence to the Sieber Hotel complex,  and was in process of abdication.   A constabulary finding,  Jerry Gross was again interested in an expansion of the clubs domain,  a financial ascendancy reason becoming subjective,  a subsequent controvert, becoming apparent.   Bob Francisco,  his quiet demeanor and  prospective,  a differential from the more vocal personality of Jerry Gross,  Bob aspiring for the quiescent era of the past, but caught up with the execution and expansion for the second time..

During Gary’s subjection to the clubs expansion,  an acquaintance reemerged,  his good friend and drummer,  Glenn Froman having returned from Indiana.  With a disposition initiative,  Gary promoting Glenn,  to accept an opportunity to display his percussion expertise,  joining Jerry Willis on weekends, the once piano bar Key Club now sporting a weekend trio.   The capacity amplitude was exceeding well over the hundred mark on weekends, but a major discourse,  the parking accessibility becoming a major problem, discerning  the nearest parking expanse location was at Mercy Hospital,  which was problematic.

With the second expansion,  the nightlife populace beginning a declination, Gary discerning it was the expanding numbers and  lack of parking, deciphering the two expansions having decimating the once abeyance soft glow of the Apartment Key Club.   Jerry Gross, his personality no longer a club fixture,  extending his appetite for an additional opportunity, promulgating another acquisition,  the Tempo Club at Northwest 23rd and Portland.   The fissure between Bob and Jerry was inevitable,  the two entrepreneurs discovering  singular directions,  one captive with ambiance,  the other with ambition.

The musician finding himself in the proverbial ‘victim of circumstance’,  the expanded Key Club in demise and ameliorating with a concern.   Gary refusing to be a victim, not expecting a notice,  but not giving one,  invoking a wait and see period.    All options were open when Oklahoma City Blazer, Bill Goldsworthy,  suggested  the musician explore another piano-bar lounge,  the Dugout club, situated on Northwest 10th,  across from the fairgrounds complex and All Sports Stadium.

It was as the name implies,  a sports bar facility,  catering to and frequented by the professional athletes of the seasonal activity.  A commitment was installed,  Gary giving notice at the Key Club, accepting the Dug Out Clubs offer, but soon discovering  his presentation was not compatible with the climate and clientele of the club.   Gary acknowledging the quandary, deciding it was best to move on.

Saying goodbye to the Dugout Club was without fanfare, Gary deciding to take a breather before checking the piano bar opportunities.  An evening found, Helen, Gary’s mother in-law mentioning if she could ask a favor, inquiring if he would drive her to Houston to retrieve her 58 Oldsmobile Fiesta Wagon.  Helen having purchased and loaned it to her ex-husband Frank Grider,  whom had returned to Oklahoma city to constitute a painting business. 

    Frank having dropped out of sight the past couple of weeks,  and Helen’s concern being answered with a call from the Houston Texas police department,  the Olds had been impounded.  Gary’s wife Kaye,  deciding her and young Scott would encompass Gary and Helen to the reaches of Houston.  The four leaving Oklahoma City,  traveling in  Gary’s 63 comet,  discovering the five hundred mile drive to be very arduous, but  with the completion of the all-day venture, the four welcoming the advent of Houston and its surroundings.

The evening stop, the four enrolling a motel room giving the travelers some needed rest.   The beginning of a new day, the family entertaining a luncheon tour of  Galveston,  the overcast wind-driven waters of the gulf preventing a very much desired stroll to feel the delicate sand and consume  the semblance of the gulf.   The afternoon finding Helen completing her transaction with law enforcement, a trip to the impound garage, her Olds being released, Gary electing to pilot the paroled 1958 Oldsmobile Station Wagon back to Oklahoma City, Kaye to drive the Comet.  Both cars to caravan the return  by way of Waco,  Helen desiring to have a fleeting look at a town bearing many memories.  

  Continuing on, with a stop in  Arlington to  reside the night with  Kaye provincial cousin, Gary still somewhat confused at the actual relationship,  as Helen was also an only child, the relative being Helen’s cousin’s daughter, Mary Ogier, unable to meet her husband Paul, a pilot for Delta Airlines  who was on a flight.  The morning found the convoy of two autos making application from Arlington to Interstate 35 and a welcomed return to Oklahoma City.  Gary’s only comment about the venture was. the world of family and relationships never-ceasing to amaze one.

After a brief time off, the pianist was ready resume his ambition, having giving some thought to a possible new endeavor.   Approach  piano bar virtuoso Jim Mullens,  about forming a twin piano presentation.  Gary having no difficulty finding Jim’s phone number, placing a call,  discovering he also resided in the southwest part of town, the two agreeing to meet.  Gary setting up his Wurlitzer and Amp at Jims residence,   and with Jim’s piano, the two auditioning each other’s talent, singularly and together.   The session completed, interesting considering the contrasting styles, Gary satisfied with “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” 

Gary deciding to make a call to the Sallee booking agency, Ruth communicated an overture received from a Holiday Inn representative, soliciting a Piano Bar entertainer for a series of engagements.  The bookings would entail 30 day engagements at subsequent Inn’s,  providing wages, lodging,  and discount meal privileges.  A further inquiry revealing it would commence  with the Holiday Inn at Chickasha,    a 45 minute drive on the H E Bailey Turnpike,  with the subsequent place of assurance at a  Holiday Inn in Harlingen Texas,  a venture of over eight hundred miles.   Gary finding the offer interesting but realized, extended travel was out of the question, but  tentatively accepting the agents offer,  having something else in mind.   The thirty days of commuting to Chickasha,  would provide an opportunity for the musician to search for a more applicable contingency in Oklahoma City.