The Drum Riser From Hell

 April 2, 2024

   Recently, I showed an old band photo to my grandson, Weston, and his mother said, "What's the deal with that drum riser?"

The Exits, New Year's Eve, 1964

A Painful Confession

   Well, If you look up "Drummer With Big Ears And A Huge Ego" I think this photo of me on my drum riser should be there to illustrate the absurdity.

   Here's the deal: my childhood friend, Rick Ridenour, was in shop class at Mohave County Union High School in 1964 and he said to me,

"I need a project for the next semester, what if I build you a drum riser like Ringo Starr was using on the Ed Sullivan Show?" And I said "Boy Howdy, I would love that!" Unfortunately, when it came time to build it, we went overboard and scaled it at four feet high which is embarrassingly egotistic. "Hey, pay attention to me up here!" And, for historic reference, here's Ringo on his groovy drum riser on the Ed Sullivan in February, 1964.

Maybe three foot high?

   So now you know the Drum Riser From Hell story.

The More Things Change. . .

On the evening of September 29th, 2008, a gunfight exploded within a nightclub located in Ciudad, Juarez, in the Mexican State of Chihuahua. According to an article posted the following day at elpasotimes.com, four men were killed in a shootout occurring shortly after midnight. The participants wore western style clothing and cowboy boots, and investigators found a total of fourteen bullet casings at the scene.The name of the nightclub: “The OK Corral.”

"The more things change, the more they remain the same."

—Alphonse Karr, 1849, in Les Guepes a monthly journal he founded. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.