Lanny Barnett Recalls The Hustlers
We would sit for hours listening to records, trying to figure out songs and how they did certain things. Well, as you might imagine, these groups and songs were completely unknown to “good ole” Mrs. Batey. In the fall of 1962, our music teacher planned a music recital for her students— piano, guitar, and other instruments. Egad… we had to play that long hair stuff in front of other people. Sure enough that was her plan. We pleaded and begged her to let us play something modern. Finally, she gave in and said if we practiced and played her selections we could play two songs of our own choosing at the end of the recital but we had to do it as a duo (David and I). Well, no problem; we went to the best music store in town, Garvins Jewelry on Canyon Street. They had all kinds of sheet music and, best of all; they had wonderful, beautiful, perfect Fender Guitars of all kinds. We would go in there and drool all over the carpet in the back part of the jewelry store where all the instruments were kept hanging on the walls. Imagine buying a brand new 1963 Fender Stratocastor for around $300, or a Fender Precision Bass for $286. As far as we were concerned, it might as well have been a million dollars. We picked out a piece of music, ‘The Ballad of Jed Clampett,’ (Beverly Hillbillies theme song), but we couldn’t find the music anywhere for the other song, ‘Pipeline’ by The Chantays. We already knew the song but had to convince Mrs. Batey we could actually play it and play it right. So, some fall evening in 1963, we played out first gig at the Library Annex (how ironic since I now work there). After all the parents listened to all the boring long hair music, the final presentation was David and I playing our two modern songs. ‘Pipeline’ woke ‘em up and by the time we finished (perfectly) the Beverly Hillbillies theme song, the crowd was howling and clapping. That was all it took— we were hooked—some recognition from a crowd to our playing. Not bad for a couple of 13-year-old kids.
David and I continued to play together and were joined by another 13-year-old guitarist named Larry Gregory. David and I have talked about how we met up with Larry and we can’t figure it out. We were Happy Valley boys and Larry lived in Country Club—not a likely combination back then. I have just recently asked Larry how we met each other and begin playing and he can’t remember either. We three knew something was missing but didn’t know what it was. Somehow (a lot of this is just a blur) we met Tommy Riley, who had played drums for the Eisenhower Junior High Marching Band. Tommy had persuaded his mother (Simmie Riley, a local school teacher for many years) to buy him a set of drums. One thing I will never forget is the first night we ever played with a drummer. We then knew what was missing. When we went to Mid High School in 1964, we found out a lot of guys had the same ideas and dreams of playing rock and roll. Around this time we became aquatinted with another couple of musicians, Glenn Getings and Mike Bartlett. Bartlet played sax and organ with us. Glenn’s mother and my mother were aquatinted and Glendale began playing guitar with The Hustlers. He was a great addition to our band. We practiced at each other’s houses and everywhere we practiced we drew a crowd of people; after all we were only 13 and 14 years old. I can’t remember exactly why Tommy Riley had to leave us—something to do with moving or leaving town for an extended time—but we quickly found a young kid (12-years-old) who could play a set of drums like crazy. This was Bobby Joe Conger. Conger was great and his older brother was Billy Conger, a great drummer we all had heard of. This was the original Hustlers the best I can remember it. We played around town and made pretty good money for 12, 13 and 14 year old kids. We made enough money to buy some pretty good amps and guitars. For the next three to four years we would play with this person or that person as this band or that band. Eventually girls, work and other interests overcame our desire to play. We went off to college and parted our own separate ways.
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