In 1965 Roy Head’s song “Treat Her Right” was at the top of the charts.
While back-to-back Beatles hits kept Roy Head out of the number one spot, “Treat Her Right” was a worldwide hit.
Archie Bell’s “Tighten Up” topped both the pop and R&B charts in 1968.
On Sept 3rd, 2005 these two musical legends appeared at the Continental Club with The El Orbits as the opener followed by The Allen Oldies Band and then a mix of the members of both served as the house band for Archie Bell and Roy Head.
I didn’t get pics of the El Orbits but here is a great shot of Allen Hill getting goofy with The Allen Oldies Band. All those great 50’s rock and roll songs set the mood for the evening.
That’s Landis Armstrong on the far left, Mikey Trafton on the bass, Allen Hill on vocals, my good friend Jim Henkel playing the sax (that guy can play ANYTHING!), Joe Earthman also on sax and David Schoenbaum playing the Farfisa organ. Invisible behind Allen is the one and only David Bebee on the drums.
Guess what? Allen’s got a fever! And the only prescription..
You guessed it! MORE COWBELL
Before long the stage was reset and the band was in place for Archie Bell.
Notice the very talented Allen Hill has switched to the bass guitar.
He did not disappoint. This Houston native still had a ton of soul and put on a most memorable performance.
His set was followed immediately by Texas’ own Roy Head.
You will note that Jim has moved to the guitar, his primary instrument and it’s none other than the Dazzling Pete Gray playing the piano.
40 years later Roy Head still knows how to put on a show! Incredible energy!
The climax of the evening was when Roy Head and Archie Bell teamed up to sing “Got My Mojo Workin'”.
To top off all the great music there were some good friends in attendance who hung out, shared drinks, sang along, danced and just generally contributed to the good vibe of the evening’s festivities.
And now the obligatory picture of myself and the performers.
I look just a tad insane in this one. I’m just crazy for live music!
Man, I really wanted to come out, but I crashed and burned after spending all day at the skydiving place.