Knott's Berry Farm, did/do you play there?

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 23 Feb 2005 6:33 pm

One of my favorite places was Knott's Berry Farm in So. Cal. They had lot's of musical shows/events, especially at the campfire and often included steel. Lot's of great and famous folk played there over the decades.

I'll always remember seeing Emmy Lou Harris as a solo act for 2 weeks running between stints with Gram and then The Hot Band. She was what was hot about The Hot Band, even with Burton on lead.

Anybody see steelers play at this venue or remember good times from the past?

Anyone playing there now?

All the greats played there at some point.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 23 Feb 2005 6:39 pm

Ron
I truly LOVED Knott's Berry Farm! It was the amusement park we preferred when I was a kid, this was before Disneyland happened in 1955. We used to eat in the chicken restaurant, ride the train, the Bird Cage Theatre, the whole nine yards. Around the campfire, I recall seeing the Sons of the Pioneers there, also a group called the Wagonmasters. It was before my western swing consciousness but I think it was Ace Spriggens, Deuce Spriggens, and Tex Atchison.

Buena Park was also closer to Hollywood than Anaheim, another benefit.

Later, in 1970, I played there around the campfire in a band called "Tex," which featured forumite Boomer Castleman on guitar and future Cosmic Cowboy Michael Martin Murphey on bass.

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Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 23 Feb 2005 7:06 pm

Hey Ron you cant put anything past Herb,he knows his history. You can try but you cant beat him..Herb was Leo Fenders best man back in 1927..hahahaha then he went to Tex Williams Bar Mitzvah

This is a great thread what happened to Fred Shannon? hey Fred where are you??

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 23 Feb 2005 7:27 pm

That had to be a blast, Herb, both the playing on stage AND getting to see The Son's! Roy wasn't sitting in with them by chance was he?

I'm not suprised you liked it so much, it really was a nice place, great atmospere with all the big trees and friendly people. The Knott's parking lot was a usual hang for us when cruising, as you had all the shops and the chicken diner outside the gates to enjoy. You know a place is cool when you're happy to just bum in it's parking stalls!

I know a young Eddie Cochran played there often before he saw Elvis and then went a-rockin'. Anyone familiar with his friend and very able partner on steel, George Foreman?

Tracy Sheehan · Post by **Tracy Sheehan** » 23 Feb 2005 9:34 pm

Does any one recall a fiddle player that played at Knotts Berry Farm in 1952 who was in a hot swing band and played with the fiddle laying in his lap.About all i remember about it is they played out doors and the fiddle player honked.Never did figure out hw he kept that durn thing from sliding off his lap.Tracy

John Bechtel · Post by **John Bechtel** » 23 Feb 2005 9:47 pm

Yeah! Didn't George go on to become Heavy-Weight Champion of the World, several times? He really had that ‘Midas-Touch’! (on steel that is¡)

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“Big John” Bechtel
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Jerry Hayes R.I.P. · Post by **Jerry Hayes R.I.P.** » 24 Feb 2005 4:46 am

I played there some with the Johnny McKnight band, Rod Culpepper, and a couple of others while I was still in SoCal. We'd usually play in the Wagon Camp which was a really cool outdoor venue, high stage, etc. All around the outside of the place were covered wagons you could sit in to watch the show. It was cool to see some of the road acts who'd come by to perform. I saw Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band in the theater with the great Tom Brumley. I saw Red (Rhodes) there a couple of times with some of the "Hippie" country bands of the era. One of the best shows I ever saw was by Freddy Weller which didn't have a steel but had the great Bob Warford on B-Bender Telecaster and he tore it up. One of the stupidest things I ever saw was a show which featured Don Gibson as the headliner. Molly Bee was the opening act and would you belive it, she acutally did "Oh Lonesome Me" on her set. I was shocked! How could someone be so dumb as to do one of the hits of the headliner in their show. I guess that gal hadn't done her home work or something...JH in Va.

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Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Jim Eaton · Post by **Jim Eaton** » 24 Feb 2005 9:20 am

I use to play the "John Wayne" stage there with "the Jim Gibson" band. Fun gig unless the wind was blowing the smoke from the campfire back on to the stage. Kind of like being stuck at the top of a chimmney!
JE:-)>

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 24 Feb 2005 9:45 am

The John Wayne Theatre was where I worked w/ T.O. The thing I remember about it was,the "rain" in front of the stage. They had a water pipe running across the top of the stage curtain,w/ holes drilled in it,& a "gutter" at the front of the stage,to catch the "rain". I guess it was supposed to be an "artistic" touch,but it also kept the "squirrels" off the stage too.

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Rick Schmidt · Post by **Rick Schmidt** » 24 Feb 2005 11:34 am

My very first gig in California was a week at the John Wayne theatre playing with Dusty Drapes and the Dusters, backing up no other than Minnie Pearl! This was sometime around 74, and in the audience was Mr. and Mrs. Knott.

I remember two things in particular...

Minnie's idea of a rehearsal was 10 minutes before the show telling us in her classic drawl..."Well boy's, everything I do is FAST and in the key of C. Try to keep up!"

After the first show of our six sets/six days, the band got a memo straight from Mr. Knott. They didn't want us to do any more "country songs" (about drinkin', fightin', and being heartbroke etc....which was 90% of our repetoir) on our solo spot. After that I've never had to play Rolly Poly, Boots and Saddle, and Will the Circle be Unbroken so many times in my whole life.

I remember Minnie as being a real sweet lady, although nothing like the ignorant hillbilly gal she portrayed.

Larry King · Post by **Larry King** » 24 Feb 2005 11:34 am

Smiley........Mel Tillis liked that rain curtain feature so much he incorporated it into his Theater in Branson...i.e. he re-created that exact thing.

Richard Gonzales · Post by **Richard Gonzales** » 24 Feb 2005 1:53 pm

The only gig I had there was in 1950 picking berries at the farm. That is when there was only a stop sign at hwy 39 going from Cypress to Anaheim. Use to make school in 10 minutes, now 30 minutes if traffic is light.

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 24 Feb 2005 4:44 pm

I played there with my originals and cover band, Elvis Montana, about 1981-82, just a few casual gigs. Played a tobaccy brown MSA D-10 through a Webb at the time. Great venue. We opened for Steve Wariner when he was newly breaking out, and was he ever a nice, friendly guy, and monster guitar picker.

All the bands, from then till now as far as I know, were hired by great fiddler Harvey Walker, whose full time gig was KBF entertainment director. Great guy, anyone know how he's doing?

Oh, and a few years ago I saw the Dixie Chicks play an outdoor set at the same spot we often played, by the tracks and the big open courtyard. They were just about to break big, just as their first album was released, and put on a great show. No steeler, not even Lloyd Maines, as I recall. But fun, smart gals.

That park really provided a lot of work for many local country bands over the years, thanks to Harvey---thanks Mr. Walker!

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Boo Bernstein · Post by **Boo Bernstein** » 24 Feb 2005 4:54 pm

I played many gigs at Knotts in the early 80s with many different bands. Many of them were with Jack Daniels (the guitar player, not the libation) who went on to form Highway 101. I remember one time I walked backstage and one of the band members was smoking an illegal substance and blowing the smoke out through a small hole in the wall. When I walked outside later I saw that the small hole came out to a painted wall that said "Sheriff's Office." Too funny!

Rick Schmidt · Post by **Rick Schmidt** » 24 Feb 2005 5:45 pm

John...I think Harvey is still at Knott's. I did a gig with him and Billy Erickson about a year ago there. That gig has been a long career run for Harvey! Besides being entertainment director, he's all over the park playing fiddle or banjo...or whatever.
Yes he is a really great guy! I don't think they have many country bands playing too regulary there these days though.

Just like everywhere else...sigh.

Hey was Cliff Saunders in that version of Elvis Montana? Cliff is my favorite bass player around these parts!

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 24 Feb 2005 6:04 pm

Does any one recall a fiddle player that played at Knotts Berry Farm in 1952 who was in a hot swing band and played with the fiddle laying in his lap.......It may have been Dickie Phillips who played great guitar the same way. A few years later came to New York to appear on the Godfrey talent scout show and then went back to the west coast to join Tex Wiliams,,maybe?? was he built slight? curly hair and a big smile?

If so that may have been Dick.edited was he sitting on the floor while playing?[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 24 February 2005 at 06:06 PM.]

Terry Bethel · Post by **Terry Bethel** » 24 Feb 2005 6:32 pm

I played at the John Wayne theater in the early 70's with Mel Tillis. It was a great place to play, good sound, great stage, and some great people back stage.
It was the first rain curtain I ever saw.
I didn't see another one anywhere for years.
I also played my one and only show on an Emmons steel guitar. It was a single 12 with 10 pedals and 7 knee levers. I used an E6th tuning that had everything on it that my D-10 Sho Bud had. However there were certain pedals that were critical to getting everything I wanted to get, and they never could get then to work the way I wanted.
So I went back to my trusty ol' Sho Bud,
Terry Bethel
OzarkSGA
Bethel Steel Guitars
Paul Harris Show

Otherwise I ain't doin' much[This message was edited by Terry Bethel on 24 February 2005 at 06:33 PM.]

Tracy Sheehan · Post by **Tracy Sheehan** » 24 Feb 2005 6:37 pm

As i remember it he set in a chair.Been a long time ago.Tracy

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 25 Feb 2005 4:58 pm

Knotts Berry/Wagonamsters related:
http://www.thewagonmasters.com/

Pics, products (slow to load) http://www.thewagonmasters.com/prod03.htm

Billy Beeman (Wagonmasters) is still at it in one form or another, he also has a book out on his career, and a certain amount focuses on the Knotts experience.

The late Carl West, a forumite and steeler used to play there with Jim Johnson and Country Store, that was a typical Californian honky-tonk band and one of the first modern bands to get a regular gig at Knotts which disbanded quite a few of the Western acts in 1968, although some were back within a year due to popular demand.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 25 Feb 2005 7:11 pm

You nailed it with that post Jason!

I love the sepia colored shot of The Wagonmasters 1960-62, all with (Barthel?) guitars/bass made by legendary Paul Barth of So. Cal.

Great to see a rare vintage shot of the great steeler Jerry Compton as well.

What a time warp!

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 26 Feb 2005 11:25 pm

Apparently Billy's book (books?) are full of old pics and tales of working Knott's, etc.
I mean to buy one, but never seem to remember when I have some spare $$ for online stuff to convert to U$ currency.

I must try and do that soon, I think they're all from the guy who was the official photographer at Knott's in the 1950s and 1960s.

Chick Donner · Post by **Chick Donner** » 28 Feb 2005 1:59 pm

Played there a couple of times with J.C. Riley in early 70's. Usually buckled to appearances at Disney. Great time, always, usually followed by evening at the Palomino listening to JD.(Maness).

Gary Morse · Post by **Gary Morse** » 28 Feb 2005 10:40 pm

I played Knott's with several bands back when I lived in California. I played steel in Suzy Ogden's band (Pete Anderson on lead guitar)five nights a week for a couple of summers in the Ghost Town. It was called The Barn Dance. I also played some gigs there with Ray Park's Rangers. Carrie and Larry Park were the guitar players and later on we worked together in the band Boy Howdy (Jeffrey Steele on lead vocals). After that I played there with The Doo-Wah Riders. Years later I played with Pete Anderson again both on tour and on records with Dwight Yoakam so I guess Knott's Berry Farm played a major role in quite a few player's careers from the sound of it.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 1 Mar 2005 1:46 pm

Very nice input, gentlemen.

Seems like the place was even better than I remember it!

Jerry Hayes R.I.P. · Post by **Jerry Hayes R.I.P.** » 2 Mar 2005 4:34 am

I believe that Harvey Walker plays some with Johnny Blankenship as a drummer friend of mine (Monte Paul) gigs with them occasionally. When I was with Johnny McKnight at the Swizzle Stik in Huntington Beach around '69 or '70 we had a great drummer named Ted Kovar. Ted left our band to go to work with Harvey at Knotts in a band they were forming called "Hear and Now". They did an LP which was quite good. I have a copy somewhere around the house. Ted died of a heart attack at an early age, maybe 43 or so....JH

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Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

[This message was edited by Jerry Hayes on 02 March 2005 at 04:35 AM.]