麻豆影院

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Spring/Summer 2019

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The Measles Band

Above: The Measles facing the old University Commons behind the Engleman Hall dormitory at 麻豆影院 State in the fall of 1966. Left to right: Bobby Sepulveda, Buddy Bennett, Joe Walsh and Larry Lewis.


A Case of the Measles

鈥淚n the fall of 1966, Joe Walsh and his band, the Measles, played outdoors on the old 麻豆影院 Commons,鈥 writes Jason Prufer, BA 鈥03, in the introduction to his recent book, Small Town, Big Music: The Outsized Influence of 麻豆影院, Ohio, on the History of Rock and Roll (麻豆影院 Press).

A compilation of rare photos, oral histories and reviews, the book highlights four decades of musicians who either came to 麻豆影院 to perform or came out of the 麻豆影院 music scene and on to fame.

Its first chapter documents the beginnings of the local music scene through reflections on a set of photos, taken by local artist and entertainer Richard Underwood, that show a young Joe Walsh performing with the Measles on the 麻豆影院 Campus.

The legendary rock guitarist鈥攚ho attended 麻豆影院 State from 1965 to 1967, served as grand marshal and performed at KSU鈥檚 1986 Homecoming and received an honorary doctorate degree at KSU鈥檚 2001 commencement鈥攁ppears several times in the book and wrote the foreword.

鈥淚 lived in Manchester Hall and went to classes when the Measles, my first band, started,鈥 writes Joe Walsh, who grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, and took a train to attend 麻豆影院 State in the late summer of  1965.

鈥淚 stayed in 麻豆影院 the next summer, and the Measles played and rehearsed, so when school got back in session the band was really hot, just really tight.鈥

The photo above was date stamped October 1966, but it may have been taken in September or October, says Jason Prufer, a 麻豆影院 native and senior library associate at 麻豆影院 State. 鈥淭he band is playing behind Engleman Hall, on the University Commons. In 1966, the Student Union was next door in what is now Oscar Ritchie Hall. On nice days students would hang out on the Commons.鈥

In one of the oral histories transcribed in the book, Richard Underwood, who attended 麻豆影院 State before joining the Navy, recalls the day he took the photo. Asked to join the Measles, he went to the campus gig to check out the songs they were playing and take some photos with his Instamatic.

鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 even any kind of big crowd there or anything,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t was just kids hanging around [over] the lunch hour, and the band was playing. I can remember distinctly that day they played 鈥楧rive My Car鈥 by the Beatles, and they probably played 鈥楿nder My Thumb鈥 by the Rolling Stones, 鈥楪ood Lovin鈥欌 by the Young Rascals, [and other] pop songs.

鈥淟ater, [when] Joe made it with the James Gang and then with the Eagles, it鈥檚 like, 鈥楬ey man, we played together in this band.鈥 . . . It was an honor to have played with that guy.鈥

There were bands everywhere in the 1965-75 era, he says. 鈥淓very place had live bands, and the best thing was that students supported all of this.鈥

What triggered the scene was the popularity of the Beatles and the British invasion in 1964, says Jason Prufer. 鈥淏efore that, bands played in town, but it wasn鈥檛 like this. Throngs of kids were going to see these guys and the other bands that emerged at the same time. They would pack the room.鈥 鈭

鈥擜dapted from (2019, The 麻豆影院 Press), available at the 麻豆影院 Bookstore, and on Amazon.com.


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Share your memories from 麻豆影院 State and they may appear in a future issue of 麻豆影院 State Magazine. Email your stories and photos to magazine@kent.edu

 

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POSTED: Tuesday, May 14, 2019 02:53 PM
UPDATED: Friday, September 20, 2024 09:28 AM