Chapter14

CHAPTER 14
CHASING THE 50TH

        It was 1994. In eleven years, if we could make it, the band would have performed for 50 years. This has never been done. Rene' and I were trying very hard to book the band in the casinos, which had popped up all over Louisiana and Mississippi. We finally got the casino door opened by booking a two week engagement at the Ameristar Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi. I thought that the band would go over real big on the casino circuit, but I had a lot to learn. The problem was that our band was too loud and bodacious for the casino customers. In a casino, the band is not the center of attention unless they are in a separate lounge. We had to play behind the bar and in the open casino. Our music disturbed the old folks quite a bit, and they were only too eager to complain. The entertainment director made us play so soft, that we were not effective at all. The wanted us to be part of the scenery and not to stand out. We were not accustomed to being handcuffed like this. But the money was good, the food was good the hotel rooms were nice. I tried as hard as I could to make the band conform to the conditions, but it was impossible to convince ten Cajuns to play at a casino volume level. They still wanted to blast out, and eventually the sound would get out of control. The sound man got so frustrated that he would turn all of the microphones off and leave the board when we were playing. We were doing five shows a night, and it didn't take very long for us to begin to disintegrate. Disagreements turned into arguments. Arguments evolved into fights. I wondered if we should pursue the casino circuit or go back to the bawdy night clubs.
        We played a Boogie Kings reunion at Shep's Club in Mansura that was quite successful in 1994. At the intermission, a young 17 year old boy came up to me and introduced himself as Jamie Dea. He told me that he knew G.G. Shinn and that it was his intention to get a job singing with the Boogie Kings. Thinking that he was just another brash young kid that thought that he could sing, I told him to make a tape and send it to me. A few days later, I received the tape and put it in a drawer with no intention of listening to another bad tape. Quite by accident one day, I was playing some tapes and I gave it a listen. It was rough and crude, but Jamie's talent shined through like a beacon. I said to my wife, "This kid has potential!" I called Jamie and invited him to sit in with us at an upcoming Grant Street Dance Hall event. He came and sang a couple of songs with the band and really impressed me. Shortly after that, I hired Jamie, and he performed with the band for the next four years. He left the band and recorded a CD under the name of "Parker James" which is his stage name now. Seldom does a young player have the right feel and style for rhythm ‘n blues music, but Parker has it down pat. I wish him much success in all of his endeavors and he will always be welcome on a Boogie Kings stage.
        After we made a few casino appearances, we began to develop a new following. The word got around that we were a good band, and we began to prospect other casinos.
        My friend, Cal Arnold, had given me a tip about a man named Marsh Edelstein from Minnesota. He was the booking agent for all of the Grand Casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi. Five casinos, to be exact. Rene' kept urging me to contact Mr. Edelstein, but I told her that he would never pay our price. I had spoken to some of the bands that were working the Grand circuit, and according to them the pay was lousy. Well, Rene' called him one day and he was very interested in booking us. She handed me the telephone, and I very reluctantly spoke to the man. I knew that he would not pay my price, but I was not at all afraid to quote it to him. Marsh was a very nice gentleman, telling me right off the bat to call him "Marsh." He said that he had heard of us and was very anxious to have us play continuously in all five of the Grand Casinos. He asked what it would take for us to contract some jobs. I didn't think he would negotiate the price, so I nailed him right between the eyes with a price that was more than I really expected to get. As I thought, he hit the ceiling! He said that he had never paid a lounge act that much money. So I thanked him for speaking to me, and I hung up the phone. Fifteen minutes later, he called me back, and offered a little more money. I told him that his offer was an insult, and I couldn't consider it, and I hung up the phone once again. I told Rene' that it was a nice try, but Marsh would never meet our terms. Wrong! Fifteen minutes later, the phone rang again, and I booked $100,000.00 worth of contracts in one shot. God is good. God is great. This was the beginning of a long term friendship and a very profitable one. I am very grateful to this wonderful man for giving us this wonderful opportunity. Marsh, I'll never forget you, my brother.
        In December of 1994, I stopped the show, and Rene' and I got married on the bandstand at the Grand Casino. It was a beautiful wedding. Daniel Lacombe was the Justice Of The Peace. A very talented kid named Travis Thibodaux, and his dad, Gary Thibodaux performed a song called "The Wedding Song". It was a beautiful song and it was they performed it flawlessly. Travis also composed that song. It was a memorable event.
        We played the casinos very successfully for the next five years. Several players came and went in the group, but basically it was Jon Smith and Duane Yates that helped the group more than anyone else. We were playing the casinos about 36 weeks out of every year and making good money. It got to be very tough after a while because of all of the rules that casinos have. We were much more comfortable playing at night clubs, but we could not turn down all of that casino money.
        All of a sudden, out of a clear blue sky, Marsh Edelstein called me and informed me that he was resigning from the Grand Casino. He had kept us booked for five years. One by one, we started losing our Grand Casino dates. We managed to keep the Grand Casino in Marksville, LA, only because we were a top draw. Instead of 36 weeks a year, we now only had 6 weeks, and times were beginning to get rough. Rene' and I hung in there as well as we could. As times got worse, I began to drink very much and went back to using drugs. I was getting more and more depressed. In fact, I was losing it. But the band was playing enough for us to survive, so I stuck with it.
         I don't often speak about religion or politics. Actually, i despise those who use religion as a shield for their misdeeds. Most of my life, I was not into religion much, but that all changed in 2002. I was at one of the low points in my life. I was living in an apartment that my son owned in Abbeville, La, my home town. For some odd reason which I cannot explain,   I turned off my TV, all of the lights, closed my curtains, and lit two candles. Then I got on my knees, and began to pray to God. something that I had never done. I was 65 years old. I had been in Alcoholics Annonymous for two years at that time. All of a sudden, my whole body went numb, and the dark room that I was in lit up with a mysterious light that I cannot explain. I lifted my head up and asked God to forgive my sins and take charge of my life. I said, "Lord, I turn my life over to you". I felt a total change come over me, a very uplifting feeling came over my body and an intense desire to go forward with my life and my career, even though things looked very bleak at this time. Since that experience, I can truthfully say that God has surrounded me with some of the most loyal and supportive friends and musicians that I have ever had the pleasure of being with. I learned that my God is a very forgiving God. Turning my life over to him has protected me from harm until this day. God is great. God is love. I consider a relationship between and individual and his Higher Power to be a very necessary part of a person's life.
        Jon Smith and I formed a production company to manage the band in 1994. I didn't really want to operate as a partnership, but frankly, I was getting burned out. I was now approaching the age of 60 and I was beginning to slow down. The partnership worked very good for several years, even though Jon and I had conflicting personalities. We had some good players in the mid nineties. Our drummer was Harry Ravain, a very accomplished and experienced player. His friend, Robert Wilson was working with us also. Robert is the best bass player that I ever worked with. He knows all the songs and always stays right in the pocket. On keyboards, we had Rick Allen, a jamming player that the audience loved to watch and listen to. The band was sounding very strong, but with the addition of the New Orleans players, I felt that we were leaning towards a kind of a second line sound and drifting away from our roots. One night, at a show at the Grand Casino, I looked back and saw that Harry had removed his coat. It was a policy of the band that we did not break the uniform code, and I told Harry to put his coat back on. That pissed him off and he declared that he would take his coat off any time he felt like it. So we got into it, and I ended up letting him go. Robert hung in for a few months after that, but he eventually left the band.     After Harry left the group, we had a rough time finding a drummer that could satisfy us.
        We hired Tommy Richard in the mid nineties, and he hung in for ten years. Tommy is a wonderful blues player and is a rock solid player with a great attitude. We almost lost him a couple of years ago when he suffered a serious heart attack. But he has rebounded and is playing better than ever. Tommy left the band in 2004 to join the "Cypress Band" with Willie Tee and Warren Storm.
        Jerry Henderson joined the group shortly after Tommy and stabilized our drummer headaches. Jerry was a wonderful, very stylish player and he added a great deal of class to our sound. Jerry had a great sense of humor, a wonderful attitude and he was perfect for the group. Jerry died in 2007 from cancer and we miss him dearly.
        Willie Tee had played with us off and on for the past ten years. Willie is a wonderful player and singer and a master of "Swamp Pop"
music. Willie currently has 4 CD's on the market. He sounds a lot like Fats Domino on his vocals and plays his saxophone with a unique style, that others cannot duplicate. Willie and his wife, Gloria, came to my aid in 2002 when I was in a very down period of my life. They gave me a place to live, food to eat, and money to help me survive. I will be forever grateful to this couple for what they did for me. Willie and Gloria now have their own band.
         Nick Farkas, a dear friend from the sixties, and a talented creative player and vocalist has been our steady keyboard player for the last few years. Nick can play any style of music at moment's notice, but he is at his best on a straight blues tune. Nick, also had a serious heart problem, but he was cured with a quadruple bypass. Where would we be without our wonderful doctors?
        Gerald Romero filled in on bass after Robert left and did a wonderful job for the band. Gerald is a great player and he does some vocalizing on the side. He still works with us from time to time.
The year is 2008. I had already announced the retirement of the band and we had done several farewell concerts. I was just about to get in the old rocking chair when God sent another miracle to us. A friendship formed between Allen, Gregg, myself and a man named Hadley Cohen. A few months after we became friends with Hadley, he offered to sponsor us on making a new CD. Although I cautioned Hadley that a recording is a risky investment, he still had enough faith in us to go forward with the recording project. The result of all of this is that because of the dedication of the new players whom I call, "The New Breed", we were able to come up with probably the best CD that we have ever recorded. We will always be grateful to Melinda and Hadley Cohen for enabling us to do this classic Boogie Kings recording. It is entitled, "Never Go Away".
        Allen Wayne is now the lead singer with the band. Allen brought a great attitude to the group, something that had been missing for a while. Allen wrote four original songs for the new CD. He is a wonderful entertainer and a great friend.
          Gregg Martinez, a wonderful singer, has been performing with us for a few months. Gregg has a wonderful voice and is a top notch professional performer. His classic original, "Never Go Away" is a masterpiece of a song, and his performance of it is nothing short of pure genius.
          Shayne Whitmore has replaced Tommy Richard on guitar. He is a fine player with a great attitude.
        But the best thing of all, Mark Klein, a 14 year old wonderfully
talented young man, has been performing with us since he was ten years old. He is a very gifted young man and he'll go a long way.
        Jon Smith left the group in 2002 to tour Europe with Peter Moffay. He still does the tour every year. Jon also records with most of the major artists in the USA. Jon played with the group "Toto" for a while. He also records with Edgar Winter, a monster musician from Beaumont, Texas.
        GG Shinn owns a very successful night club in Alexandria, Louisiana. We perform there occasionally. GG still sings his heart out, just like he did for his entire career. He always was a consummate professional front man, the best that I ever worked with. He always excites a crowd and never misses a note.
        Jerry Lacroix still has chops of steel and an uncanny feel for the blues. One would think that his rough, raspy style would have burned his voice out, but he still belts it out every time. He told me the wisest words I ever heard way back in the sixties. He said, "Ned, you have to upset the audience or they won't remember you!"
        Duane Yates, the most soulful white man that ever held a microphone, is retired. He has performed with us longer, and recorded more songs with the Boogie Kings than any other singer. His unbelievable "Otis Redding" style always captivated the audience. On the other side of the coin, he can croon out a "Nat King Cole" sound also. Duane had to replace GG Shinn back in the sixties when GG left to form his own group. That was some big shoes to fill, but Duane was perfect for the task.
Duane and I have played together in Las Vegas, Hollywood, Reno, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco to name a few cities.
        Matt Schlenker, a true friend of the band, has been taking
photos of the band since 1992. He has literally spent thousands of dollars doing this. Matt has given me and the guys hundreds of pictures and to this day, he has never charged us one red cent.
You couldn't have a better friend than this. Matt has documented hundreds of our performances. Thank you, my soul brother.
        I have spoken very clearly and freely about drugs and my involvement with them in this book, but I need to make one thing abundantly clear. I do not wish to glamorize the use of drugs and I do not advocate the use of drugs in any form, shape or fashion. Drugs ruined my life and I am now in recovery, living one day at a time.
        Rene', my beautiful wife has been there for me since the day we got married. She has put up with my moody personality, my sarcastic ways, and all of the other shit that goes along with being a musician. When I am ugly to her, which is quite often, she always puts me in my place. Rene' is a kind, giving, strong and warm person who cares deeply for other people. She is the first one to forgive me when I go astray. She loves pets, flowers and children. Nothing makes her happier than to go on the road with the band. She has a son, two daughters and three grandchildren. Rene' encourages me daily to do better and try harder. She laughs with me and cries with me. Her belief in me has given me the strength to carry on, year after year. I love Rene' from the depths of my soul, and I always will. She is the best thing that ever happened to me and I could not make it without her.
        I must mention some great friends.   Benny Davis and his friends from Tyler, Texas began to sponsor gigs for us in Tyler. Benny used to bring us barbequed brisket that was delicious. Craig Neal from New Roads, Louisiana hired us to play some gigs at the Civic Center and also at his farm in Woodville, Louisiana. Craig always treated us like "Kings" with his great deer roasts. Don Ball booked a gang of gigs in the Port Arthur area. Floyd Soileau of Jin Records produced three new recordings on the band. Lou Gabus inducted us into the Louisiana Hall of Fame. Kent Juneau gave us some gigs at "Kyrle's" in Mansura. John Blancher featured us at the "Rock ‘n Bowl" in New Orleans. Norman Land at Kingsland Entertainment threw us a bone. Mark Layne at KVPI in Ville Platte, Louisiana has always helped us tremendously. David Rachou, engineer at "La Louisianne" studios in Lafayette did a terrific job on our recording projects. Paul Marx and Phil Daigle at KBON Radio played the dog out of our records. Gene Romero from New Iberia, Louisiana repaired our cars for little or no charge, helping us to stay on the road. Connie and Jimmie Rogers from Dallas, produced a recording on us. Bill Anderson gave me financial help when I was desperately in need, and even flew down to catch one of our reunion shows. Roy Shaw helped us to get the "Walkin The Dog" project produced. Marsh Edelstein from Minnesota got us into the casino circuit with a bang. The internet created a world wide market for our recordings. Maureen Brennan and Danny Kimball fixed my head. Jimmy George helped me personally more than words can express. Nell Gauthier gave us our look. John Howe kept us alive in Shreveport. The guy that helped us most of all was Jeffery Sabree, entertainment director at the Paragon Casino in Marksville. Jacques and Celeste Louviere manufactured our CD's for us at prices that we could afford. Sam Montel and Huey Meaux gave me the rights to all of our old recordings. Social Security and Medicare gave me a kick in the butt. My brother and attorney, Kit, bailed me out of several bad situations. Marsh Edelstein gave us 5 years of the good life.
        We did our farewell tour in 2006. The fans came out in huge
    numbers. But they didn't come to tell us goodbye. They came to tell us not to hang it up, but to keep it going as long as we could. Then, out of nowhere, a couple of people came into our life, gave us the budget to do a brand new recording. We did the album entitled "Never Go Away". It may or may not be our last recording. I hope not! We will be forever indebted to Melinda and Hadley Cohen.
    I mentioned all of these names because I could not have made it to where I am today without the collective help and support of all of them.
        As I write this amazing story, it is 2007 We made it!! Fifty-three years and still going strong. Of course, there is one more final story.
     On April 9, 2005 we had a sellout crowd at the Port Arthur Civic Center at $25 a ticket. We got a standing ovation before we played the first note! And guess what? I was the promoter of this gig. When all was said and done, I drove home with so much money, I couldn't close my briefcase. Thank you God. I waited a lifetime for a big payday and it finally came. No one is laughing at me now.
          On April 21, 2005 we played the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the largest festival in the world, and when all was said and done, that huge crowd gave us a standing ten minute ovation. After all, 20,000 people couldn't be wrong, could they?
     That is the fantastic story of a fantastic life of a little Cajun boy with a horn and a dream. If this book has a moral, I guess it would be this: No matter how many times you get your ass kicked, never give up. Take one more chance. Dream one more dream.
     I have always pursued my goals with honesty and integrity and total dedication. I always tried my best to succeed. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to serve the community and my state through many fund-raisers, civic and charitable events. By my calculation, my band has raised many hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity. Because Boogie Kings fund raisers, a small child will have something to eat tonight. This child will have a roof over his head and a blanket to keep his tiny body warm. Because of the Boogie Kings fund raisers, school children will get the supplies they need to further their education. Because of the Boogie Kings fund raisers, an older, less fortunate musician can get a life-saving operation and continue to share life with his family. Because of the Boogie Kings fund raisers, Law Enforcement Officers have obtained much needed supplies and overtime pay.
To all of the thousands of Boogie Kings fans throughout the world who have supported us through the historic Boogie Kings era, you have my unconditional love forever. It was because of you that we were able to maintain a standard of excellence in the music industry that will never be equaled by anyone, anytime, anyplace. It is for you that this book was written. Without your total support and dedication, there would be no Boogie Kings. .
    To the new Boogie Kings fans who are checking us out in record numbers, you are our future and our legacy is yours. We graciously accept your acceptance. We hope that what we leave behind will forever be validated by fans and musicians. The internet has made us a world wide phenomenon.
     To all the Boogie Kings players who number over one hundred-fifty through the years; you have proven to yourselves to be a cut above the rest. You are all a part of the incredible legend of this great band. You have always performed on a professional level with dignity and honor. It has always been a privilege and an honor for me to share the stage with you. The fact that this wonderful group of musicians is still performing today is a testimonial to your skills. I am truly blessed to have been afforded the opportunity to have served as your leader. I love you guys. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
     To Jerry, Gary, Bado, Bobby, Robert, Sed and Danny, rest in peace my Brothers. Your legacy will never be forgotten.
     I am a musician. That is my job. That is what I do. I would not trade my life's experiences for anything on earth. I paid the price. I never gave up. I proved it over and over again, year after year, that I could stay the course of my mission.
     To the young aspiring musicians, I have only this to say. If we have inspired you, then we have served you well. Pursue your goals with vigor and enthusiasm. If you stumble and fall, brush yourself off, get up, and get back in the race. Never say die. Set your goals, and work hard to achieve them. Believe In yourself, and you will find that dreams really do come true!

You see, God planned it that way.
Ned Theall

Ned Theall at 70