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RAINFACE 1970-1972
RAINFACE was a band formed in Boston
in 1970 by David-Allen Ryan, Danny McBride, Bobby “Jesse” Henderson and
Glenn Jordan. The first three had been members of a disintegrating
Boston Super Group called THE RAMRODS, originally called THE ROCKIN’
RAMRODS, a band that had had great success in the 1960s. But in the
early summer of 1970 THE RAMRODS experienced a blow from which they
never recovered.- - they were fired from a gig at Preston’s Airport
Lounge on Nantucket, the only place on the island with a live band and
about the only time they had ever dealt with such a negative reaction.
Leader Vinnie Campisi, a founding member of the band, said he’d had
enough. He was married now and had a gig with Warner Brothers Records
in the Boston office and decided he would devote his career to the
business side of music. Danny took a gig as a radio DJ on WAAF, and
Bobby devoted more of his time to being a recording engineer at Angus
Studios where he eventually became one of New England’s premiere
recording engineers. David hung out on the island of Nantucket for a
couple of months. During that time he met Alice Pitcher, a beautiful
scion of an old Nantucket family dating back to the whaling days of
yesteryear. His love of music and his fondness for Alice helped him
develop a plan. He would form a new band to play at Preston’s,
initially anyway, before going out to conquer the great wide world. He
called Danny and Bobby and told them that we should continue playing,
using an acquaintance, Glenn Jordan, from Canterbury, New Hampshire to
take Vinnie’s place. It would be a great band- -four great singers and
players capable of all kinds of music from light country rock to
heavier hard rock. They really only rehearsed once because Bobby had
decided to stay with his studio gig and not travel anymore. So David
went about finding a drummer to take Bobby’s place. He found Stew
Kassner from Mattapan, a section of suburban Boston. Stewie proved to
be the “Ringo” of the band, totally obsessed with music, and bringing a
sense of humor to the group that infected everything they did. So in
the winter of 1970-71 they began rehearsals at Stew’s parents’ house,
which had a finished basement- family room perfect for a four piece
band- -David and Danny, Glenn and Stew- -bass, two guitars and drums.
Their
first gig was actually at The Summit Club in Peabody, Massachusetts on
Route #1. Club owner “Marion” hired them on for several weeks playing
Wednesday thru Saturday nights. During this time another member
emerged- -a manager named Arthur “Scotty” Scott, who promised to get
some great gigs and supply some equipment. When the springtime came and
the snow melted, the band headed out to Nantucket to Preston’s. They
lived there and gigged there for several months- -David and Alice in
one room, and Danny, Glenn and Stew in the other room. Scotty came to
see them occasionally and never seemed to have found another gig. The
band had gotten Preston’s on their own, although Scotty took a
commission anyway. During band meetings with Scotty it was often
mentioned that he didn’t seem to be doing anything for his commission.
Eventually this came to a head and RAINFACE was replaced at Preston’s
Airport Lounge by another of his bands, JUSTIN TYME, featuring future
AEROSMITH guitarist Brad Whitford. This started a feud with Scotty that
left him fired and out of the financial equation. It was now late
spring and there were no gigs until Ed Malhoit decided to take the band
on. He already had several popular bands throughout New England,
including the newly formed AEROSMITH, and he plugged RAINFACE into his
Northern New England resort circuit. They played The Blue Tooth, The
Red Barn, Ladd’s and a dozen more of the happening venues at the time.
They worked every week.
They developed a following. Then they
scored the summer gig at The Mill Hill Club in Yarmouth, Massachusetts,
on Cape Cod. Seven nights a week opening for the headliners, which for
July was a barrel-house act called BOB EMMA’S RAGTIME REVIEW which was
a musical comedy act that filled the place with college kids. In August
the act was THE HAPPENINGS, New Jersey’s great FOUR SEASONS-ESQUE
singing group that had had several hits in the 1960s. RAINFACE played
every night as opening act. This was a good billing as the two acts
were very complimentary in that they really related to an audience, so
much so, that when THE HAPPENINGS played in Boston at King’s Row, a
very fashionable club at the time, they invited RAINFACE to open.
Unfortunately, RAINFACE did not dress in snappy uniforms, or matching
outfits, but in jeans and sneakers, and had long hair and looked more
like THE GRATEFUL DEAD than grateful to be in one of Boston’s most
upscale clubs where there was a dress code to get in that the RAINFACE
band couldn’t pass. The clientele liked them anyway, but the management
never had them back. The following winter they headed north again to
ski country and played a number of the fashionable ski lodges in
Vermont and New Hampshire and also in Maine and Quebec. All went well
until late winter when Bob Emma needed a bass player and David accepted
the gig- -it was more money. His gig with Bob Emma lasted about six
months until THE HAPPENINGS needed a bass player, which was more money
and better music. He stayed with THE HAPPENINGS until SHA NA NA needed
a bass player and he took that gig and played with them for the rest of
his career until his death in 1998. Glenn Jordan picked Jeff Licht to
take David’s place and as a good a bass player as he was, he was not
the stage personality David had been. RAINFACE continued with Jeff
instead of David for about six months, but Glenn wanted to do other
things- -he came to Hollywood and eventually got music scoring gigs,
most notably PEE WEE’S PLAYHOUSE. Jeff went back to school and got his
doctorate and is on the frontlines of the greening of America,
designing green buildings and eco-systems that will self-sustain. Stew
played with some other local Boston bands, got married and moved to
Florida. Danny joined David in SHA NA NA for a few years, especially
during GREASE and THE SHA NA NA TV SHOW as “Dirty Dan” and now has his
own geezer rock band based in Los Angeles.
RAINFACE was
as good as EAGLES in those days. Too bad not much exists that they
recorded, although there is some out there. They also were more fun
than just about any other band around. Vinnie Campisi has retired after
a career with Warner Brothers and Bobby Henderson is with the Bose
Corporation. Stew is still in Florida, and Glenn and Danny are in Los
Angeles.
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