KSHE, The CDB and St. Louis - Soapbox Jr.
St. Louis was always a huge market for Dad and the CDB and all because of a radio station that would go on to legendary status, KSHE 95.
Now I was pretty young during a lot of this, so I wasn’t as familiar with the radio stations that I would often accompany Dad to when I was out during the summer school breaks ore in between Christmas and the New Year, so much of what I’m going to report about I learned about later in life, but I do remember sitting in the station with Dad while I was probably reading a stack of comic books.
That being said, in the 70s, KSHE had a big outdoor concert that they called the KSHE Kite Fly. I don’t know how many kites actually flew, but I do know that they brought in a lot of fans for the concert.
In fact, in 1974, KISS brought in a walloping 40K fans to the event, which is quite impressive, however, the 1975 show – the fifth annual one - doubled the attendance of the KISS show.
1975’s headliner…?
That would be none other than The Charlie Daniels Band which brought in over 80K fans, and the stories of what went on behind the scenes were quite entertaining. If I remember correctly, security wasn’t going to let Dad into the show because he had not brought his backstage credentials, but he never usually did because of the CDB’s road crew and security obviously knew who he was and when he was arriving, and the gate was quite a way from the stage. The scene on the day of the Kite Fly was a bit more chaotic, as I don’t know if the organizers were expecting that twice as many people would attend as they had the previous year, and security had strict orders not to let anyone in without the proper passes.
About a half hour from the CDB’s scheduled set, Mark Klose, one of the KSHE jocks – got a call on his walkie-talkie from a security guard that “some big ol’ cowboy lookin’ dude” who was trying to get in but didn’t have credentials.
Klose told security to he would be down to the gate shortly, and to keep the cowboy there. He then borrowed a motorcycle from another jock and rode down to pick the cowboy – Dad – and he hopped on the back and the two of them made their way up to the stage. Klose estimated between the two of them, they probably weighed over 500 lbs, putting a lot of stress on the bike’s shocks, but from what I gather, they got there just in time for the CDB to tear it up on stage.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the opening act for the 1975 Kite Fly was a little three-piece band from Canada called Rush. I wonder what ever happened to those guys…
Dad played St. Louis more times than he could probably even count, but there was one show in particular that stayed with him, probably even haunted him for a long time.
On October 20, 1977, the CDB was headlining Keil Opera House when someone rushed into the dressing room saying that there were reports that Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane had crashed and everyone aboard had been killed.
Dad was not happy that someone came in with terrible but unsubstantiated news right before they were going out to play for a full house who had paid good money to see them perform at their best.
He made no mention of the report of a plane crash, he just dedicated their set to the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band.
The next day, the real story emerged. While it wasn’t as tragic as the initial rumors had been, it was still bad… very bad. Five souls lost their lives, both pilots, Steve Gains and his sister Cassie who was one of the Honkettes backup singers, roadie Dean Kilpatrick and Dad’s friend and Skynyrd lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant.
Almost a year later, Dad would use that moment in time in a song he wrote called “Reflections.” The last verse is about the Skynyrd crash and the death of Ronnie:
“It was October in St. Louis town
When we heard that the Free Bird
Had fell to the ground.
We all said a prayer before we went down to play.”
There were other things I remember from St. Louis and being on the road with Dad. There is a picture of Dad and I with Pete Rose who was playing for the Philadelphia Phillies at the time and they just happened to be playing the St. Louis Cardinals that day.
Then in 1983 the CDB played a festival at Busch Stadium which also included The Beach Boys and Foghat.
Lots of memories in St. Louis, both good and bad, but on November 22, another good memory will forever bind the CDB to the Gateway to the West. The CDB is going to be honored by being inducted into the St. Louis Classic Rock Hall of Fame.
Dad would be honored that the impact his music had on the good folks in the St. Louis area.
I just wish he was going to be able to accept the award in person, but he’s already booked in a glorious venue.<
Thank you to the good folks in St. Louis for many decades of support and to those that put him in the St. Louis Classic Rock Hall of Fame.
Much appreciated.
What do you think?
Let’s all make the day count!
Pray for our troops, our police, the Peace of Jerusalem and our nation.
God Bless America!<
#SonyReleaseHonkyTonkAve#
BenghaziAintGoingAway #End22
- Charlie Daniels, Jr.
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