My First Rock and Roll Show

    So back in about 1963 or '64 I was still working at Ski Run marina during the summers. They doubled my salary; I was now making $2.00 dollars a day. What was I going to do with all this new found wealth? But along with the extra dollar also came more responsibility. I was now giving instructions to the people renting the boat on how to operate it and how to find their way back to the marina, using the face of Heavenly Valley as a point of reference. I'd load up the life jackets, give my little talk, untie them from the dock, and send them on their way. If they didn't return by late afternoon the boss would send me out in a 14 foot aluminum fishing boat to go look for them. We didn't have radios or walkie-talkies. I'd just head out in a little boat with a length of rope to tow them in if they were broke down or if they were lost and couldn't find the marina I'd have them follow me back.
    Now across from the marina parking lot was a large four story hotel. This place was real popular with the college kids as was our motel which was just a short walk away. The word gets out that the owner of the hotel is going to throw a birthday party for his daughter at the beach where I work, I think she was turning 18.
    So one morning after I finish my morning garbage detail and working with the rental boats a crew of guys show up. They remove the pinball machines from the little chicken wire enclosure and start setting up the bands equipment. Now, this is a small space, maybe 10 by 25 ft. But it is open except for the chicken wire and it faces the beach.
    As fate would have it, the group that was hired to play was staying in the motel next to ours. I was riding my bicycle around my folks place and saw this purple van next door with the words "The Kingsmen" painted on the side. They were popular at the time for their hit "Louie Louie". I had seen them on Shindig and I think one of my sisters had the 45 with their big hit. That song was everywhere.
    The beach started to fill with kids mostly in their teens and early twenties. It was a sunny day and everybody was in their swim suits. Bikinis had just become popular but they weren't of the skimpy type like now, they looked more like grandma's underwear. The band crams into the chicken coop and starts playing and the college kids go wild! Everybody dancing in the sand, the frug, the watusi, the jerk, and all those dances that were popular at the time.
    I was just standing there getting jostled about by all these older kids when the band finally breaks into its big hit, "Louie Louie." Now the crowd is really going crazy. Suddenly my boss pulls me from the crowd and says I have to go home. Some of the girls were starting to lose their tops and things were getting out of control. My boss called my dad and told him not to let me come back till the next morning. When I did get there the following day the place was trashed. Bathing suits, beer cans, and unexploded fireworks scattered everywhere. There were lots of people still sleeping on the beach. I guess it was quite a party as I filled up several big burlap sacks with beer cans and bathing suits and other assorted stuff.
    So that was my first live Rock and Roll show. My dad had an "arrangement" with a big shot at Harrah's so we got to see lots of shows there for free in the South Shore Room. Those were performers like Donald O'Conner, Red Skelton, Robert Goulet, Sammy Davis Jr... well you get the idea. While those shows at Stateline were fun I'll always remember the Kingsmen playing "Louie Louie" in the pinball chicken coop at the Ski Run beach when I was 9 years old.

Me gotta go now,
Bob

The Kingsmen - Louie Louie - 45rpm