An Interview With John Reeves
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
John Reeves (JR): I played clarinet in junior high school circa 1959-1960 and then mostly enjoyed the growing San Francisco sound of the early to mid Sixties. We hit the Fillmore and Avalon on most weekends during high school and several close friends played guitar and formed a band, which I followed closely. I did not play guitar then; that would wait until college. I was quite influenced by The Byrds and, in particular, Roger McGuinn's 12-string, but was a big fan of Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Steve Miller, Big Brother, Quicksilver, and all of the great bands playing the San Francisco scene.
60s: Was The United Travel Service your first band?
JR: The United Travel Service was my first band. We formed in the fall of 1966, the beginning of my sophomore year at Oregon State University. We were together through college until I entered active duty with the Air Force in July 1969. I think the guys played some after my departure, which may be why some names that have been attached to the band are unfamiliar to me. I grew up in the Bay Area in the ‘60s and was a regular patron at the Fillmore and Avalon. It was a magic time for music. Heading up to Oregon State University for school, I was discouraged by the music, or lack thereof, in Oregon. Save for The Sonics and a couple others, the music up there was a bit disappointing so I set my aim on starting a band and bringing a more San Francisco sound to the Northwest. I placed an ad on the school bulletin boards--Wanted: Drummer--knowing I was the only bandmember and owned a guitar but not even an amp at the time. Dale Sweetland answered the ad and was at first skeptical but agreed to listen to my musical interests. He came to my dorm room and I had him lay on the floor between the speakers bellowing out The Grateful Dead's ‘Viola Lee Blues’. Dale sat up, totally bought in and agreed we had a band to create. That was the true beginning of The United Travel Service. Dale and I pulled in Ben Hoff who wrote the songs we later recorded.
Once Dale bought into the idea of forming a band with me and trying to bring a San Francisco sound into the Northwest, we were on our way. I had a Hoyer acoustical-electric 12-string but no amp to start. I immediately purchased a Vox Berkeley II amp, on time, for $10/month payments! Dale had to be nuts to want to do this! This was my band but it would have never happened without Dale and I will forever be grateful to him for having the faith to move forward with the idea. Actually, the first name of the band was to be The Virgin Forest, fitting for Oregon and being a start-up, but that was only momentary. Our first gig was in a lounge in Corvallis and we may have played as The Virgin Forest, but if that was the case, it was the only time. Ben Hoff had a conflict that night and we played just with Dale on drums, me on 12-string and another guy on some keyboards. I can't remember his name. It was a miserable start but we got through it.
The four primary members for the longest duration were: John Reeves, 12-string rhythm/vocals; Dale Sweetland, drums/vocals; Ben Hoff, bass/lead guitar/vocals; and Jim Richards, lead guitar. Also playing with us for periods were Ray Doern and Steve Bennett. There may have been one or two others but I really can't recall.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound?
JR: I was trying to bring some of the San Francisco sound to the area, so the acid rock of the day was evident in our jams and Jim Richards could copy just about anything. He was particularly good at covering folks like John Cippolina of Quicksilver. Aside from that, the 12-string gave us a somewhat unique sound. Ben Hoff brought his incredible songwriting into the picture and we had a rather special sound to offer. All the bands I’ve mentioned influenced us but we found our own niche with Ben's music and that is what we will be remembered for. I would say we were about 40% our own material and 60% cover for our live performances.
60s: What was the Portland rock and roll scene like at the time?
JR: In the beginning, it was all Sonics and Kingsmen. Other than that, you had Gary Lewis and The Playboys and the like. I recall the first time I heard The Jefferson Airplane (‘Somebody To Love’) on the radio up there. The DJ said they should fly back home. I was committed to changing that attitude. By the time we started recording and playing regularly, things had quickly changed. Quicksilver headed a card which we were also on at the Portland Masonic Temple sometime in '68 I believe. We met them in a small pawn shop by coincidence in Portland. I was a huge fan of Gary Duncan and John Cippolina and was thrilled to have met them. The United Travel Service name was close to a plagiarism to be honest. We also opened for The Doors at OSU in and around the same time, so the music in the Northwest was changing rapidly. Of course, we also played on a ticket with The Brothers Four at OSU's Gill Coliseum so some of the folk stuff remained a fixture.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
JR: We played a lot of frat/sorority dances as well as a few in the OSU Memorial Union building. I recall playing in Eugene at a place I think was called the Yellow Balloon. If memory serves me, The Vanilla Fudge was heading that card and it was a thrill to be part of it. We played the gig in Portland's Masonic Temple. We played in Monmouth at the Western Oregon College. We played at some high schools in the area as well. After getting established, we spent much of our weekends recording in Portland and Vancouver. We were a start-up group for producer Rick Keefer (and engineer Ken Bass if I remember the name correctly). They were awesome to us and it was more fun than the live performances as far as I was concerned.
60s: Did The United Travel Service participate in any battle of the bands?
JR: I think we may have played in a couple of these, but I really can't recall any specifics. You know after 40 years the mind slips a bit. There is a fine line between factual memory and nostalgic creativity.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
JR: We played from Eugene, Oregon to Woodland, Washington and several points in between.
60s: Did The United Travel Service have a manager?
JR: We managed ourselves entirely. In fact, this was one reason (perhaps) we never really made any big moves with our recordings or touring. We had no money, as we were all starving students. Had we had some money behind us, I think, we could have made a reasonably good-sized splash, even on the national scene.
60s: How popular locally did The United Travel Service become?
JR: At one point, ‘Wind and Stone’ was #3 on the KFLY charts in Portland. I think we were reasonably well known at the university but beyond that, I wouldn't really have a feeling about it.
60s: What were the circumstances leading to the opportunity to record the first Ridon 45?
JR: Between Ben and Dale, they had the connection with Rick Keefer and we were one of his first groups. Rick basically gave us unlimited time in the recording studio for no payment. We couldn't have paid anything to speak of so it was a terrific deal for every one concerned. This started in Ken Bass's basement, I believe, but they opened their first real studio in Vancouver in '68 or '69. We played back up for another band they recorded but they had great faith in our sound and gave us a lot.
With the first recording of ‘Wind and Stone’ and ‘Drummer of Your Mind’ it is my recollection that it was just Ben, Dale and me. I believe Rick or Ken actually laid the bass, but it might have been Ben just laying a separate track. I thought it was all done with the Vox amp. It was very exciting for me but being the least experienced musician I think I stressed out about it more than the others. When we recorded ‘Gypsy Eyes’ (still my favorite) and ‘Echo of You,’ we were throwing in some gimmicks as Laurie Records wanted to appeal to the younger set. On ‘Gypsy Eyes,’ I remember laying a track with Dale drumming on the 12-string. ‘Gypsy Eyes’ was an incredible piece of work. On the ‘Echo of You,’ we used a Leslie speaker for the 12-string, giving off a very unique sound. We also used a metronome, and in the middle, I rushed into the room with stuffed animals playing Brahms, Bach and Tchaikovsky tunes. We used a chain across a piano and used a cello bow over the 12-string toward the end to fill out the sound. I loved the creativity of the recording studio.
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