Very first band...........

[Jim Carr]

In 1963, I was 13. It was just before the Beatles and the "British Invasion." My first band in Overland Park, KS, with Ernie Neal (rhythm gtr.), Danny Shirley (lead gtr.), and Mike Byrd (drums) was called "The Intrusions."

It was pretty much all surf instrumentals, with a little Kingsman stuff thrown in. I played a japanese tobacco burst 1 pickup solid body bass with a borrowed Airline guitar combo 112 tube amp. Fun.

We played an actual gig in the year and a half we were a band. It was a private party in someone's basement. Kids danced while we played under dim red lights.

The Beatles arrived, Danny moved to Hawaii, and in 1965, I was recruited by a hot new quartet called "The Hairs." Great times.

 

[basted]

My first band was called The calypso trio. I played a drum made from a steel drum that had two tones. The leader was a guy from Trinidad who had played percussion for Harry Belafonte. He sang, played steel drums and guitar. We had a couple of regular gigs at pubs and i remember people would buy us lots of drinks.
Moved on from that to playing bass in a rock band. The guitarist taught me the bass lines. We played a few gigs and after our best gig ever at the university the singer and the guitarist had a huge fight and the band broke up.

 

[REV]

I was about to quit playing bass... I went to the music store to trade my bass for an acoustic guitar. At the music store I saw an ad on the wall "bassist wanted". I called the number and the next day I was in my first band. We played together all summer... through one amp. We played one party and broke up but it kept me playing bass.

 

[bikeplate]

16 years old, 1982. Been playing about 6 months. We all kinda sucked but it was fun. Played one cool hi school party. I quit soon after to play with better guys as the others were not getting better. Guitarist died a couple years back, drummer is out west, and other guitarist owns an insurance agency

 

[Pings Bass]

Circa 1979, "Night Mare" (it was). Eighth grade. Me on rhythm guitar, I had to borrow a Musicmaster and a little Peavey practice amp from a friend in another band. My good buddy played lead guitar, and we had a random bassist and drummer whose church was having a talent show. The bassist and drummer quit a couple days before the show, so we got replacements. None of us in the final lineup went to the church, and nobody showed up for the Saturday afternoon show except parents and the kids in the handful of other acts. We blundered through instrumental versions of Smoke on the Water and 25 or 6 to 4. Carmen, who must have been in another act, later wrote something in my yearbook about being a rockin guitarist, and it was the first clue I had that playing an instrument on stage was attractive to women.

 

[nilorius]

I organizad that as funk first band at 18, it was cool and we took a lot of contests, but after it went down.

 

[davidgoldman]

My first band, the Rickoches. This would be about 1964-65.

 

[Basshappi]

13.
Blackroot Vale.
We were actually very good because we worked very hard at it.
Each of us were also members of our school's band and played multiple instruments.

 

[Ostie]

Late 1977 I was 22 and joined a country rock band as a RG. The drums, bass and LG/LS were all a decade older than me. It was kind of a compliment that they hired a younger kid, but I had been playing guitar off and on since I was about 14. I played with them for about 3 years before they fired me for being too rock and roll. If you gotta be fired, that’s the best you can hope for, right?

 

[SimonSays32]

1999, I was just about 13 - I am still in the same band.

It took about 6 years to get to a point where I can look back at the archive recording and not have to make justifications about the performance.

It’s taken 20 years to feel mostly comfortable saying we are a good (original) band.

 

[Jon Lars]

first band ... high school rock stars - ha ... played our first bar gig when i was around 14-15 ... brought a note from my mom stating i wouldn't drink ..!! which was a green light to drink away ... Zecharia ... was actually a pretty good band of folks who went on to music school , and/or on to playing for decades ...! cut my bass chops on some Grand Funk , Deep Purple , Uriah Heep , Doobies , etc ...

View attachment 3636026

yeah , that's me in the middle ... as usual , the youngest member

You look kinda short in that photo...

 

[Shalto]

13 or 14. Thrash metal. Went from high school band to bar band. Ended when we were 20 or there abouts. One member went onto be in a national act so ill s say we were better than most teenagers with instruments were.

 

[funkytoe]

13. I saw a band called "Now and Then" at the junior high talent show. Just two guitars and a drummer. They played Johnny B. Goode and the girls went crazy - rushing to the front of the stage and pulling at their pant legs. I said "that's for me." I got an audition with the band about a month later as a new lead singer/third guitarist. Made the band, but the 3 guitars wasn't really working. Went to a rehearsal one night and the guitarist's older brother (who also had a band) had just finished rehearsal. He was hanging out with his bass player and they stayed to give us some tips. The bassist saw that i was trying to fill out the lower root notes on my Strat and took his bass out of his case. He walked over, handed it to me and said "guitars are for pu**ies", try this". I played his bass through my old Yamaha amp and loved it. Traded my Strat for my first bass two weeks later. Been a full-fledged member of the low end ever since.

P.S. That bass I was handed - the first I ever played - was a brand new Burgundyglo Rickenbacker 4001 that now resides in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The bassist - Cliff Burton.

 

[Davbassdude]

I was 11 going on 12 in 7th Grade (in 1972). The guitarist was good; turned me onto Alice Cooper and Yes. I acquainted him with early J. Geils, Cream, Jefferson Airplane and the Stones. The drummer was a kid I knew since Elementary School. Played our first gig at the local Knights of Columbus in 8th grade and made about $14 each. For some reason, I found it easier to both sing and play back then! I later ended up playing with the same guitar player playing many parties in high school.

 

[bobba66]

Got fired from my first band around 1980. Hard rock group that later had some success in bars around town. Good guys that got tired of my unreliability. Can't blame them, I was a wreck at the time.

 

[MegaSwing]

I never had a real band until I was well into adulthood—after a major layoff from playing anything but a stereo system. By now I've been in many, in many genres.

When I was a teenager, getting a good bass was simple. But I could never scrape up enough for a decent amp, which cost significantly more. Jammed around. Studied songs. Didn't seek out many opportunities.

Amps are no problem anymore. I just wish I'd gotten the urge back in my 20s, instead of doing what I was doing at the time, which was nothing I truly loved.

Boy, if I knew then what I know now. (Or even suspected it.)

 

[Davebass77]

My first band was a very loose jam in the summer of 1975 in Rocky Point, New York; a beach community on Long Island. I was 17 and started playing a few months earlier. Two guitarists, and a drummer. We played 3 chord rock, simple stuff.

Started as the singer but kept losing bass players, so I took the plunge, bought this godawful Rickenbacker copy. The strings were so far from the neck, truss rod not functioning, very questionable intonation. The only thing the bass did for me was build up my hand strength quickly because it was so hard to play!

Played a party at the end of the summer and did okay, but that's where the love of music, bands, and being the glue that holds a song together really started. I'm 61 now, still singing and playing. Still have the awful Rick copy, but now it just hangs on the wall where it can't do any damage.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

1965, I was 15. I played guitar. I am still friends with the drummer. A wonderful experience. The drummer was introduced to me by a school friend. He told me his old band broke up. He gave me a tape of their rehearsals and a small recorder and asked if I could learn the tunes. His band was amazing. I felt totally inadequate but did my best to learn the material.

I never quite managed to play the songs perfectly but we did a decent job.

A year later , much to my surprise, frustration and eventual relief , he told me it was a tape of the Ventures doing the “country classics”. It drove me to be a better player BUT I spent a year feeling like an inadequate guitarist.

We still joke about this 55 years later.

 

[juancaminos]

I was taking group guitar lessons in the mid 60's then moved to private lessons at home. After every home lesson two of my friends would come over and I would show them what I was taught. Eventually we found a kid that had a set of drums and set up in my back yard. That was around 1968, I would have been 14. Our little band members were 13 & 14 years old. We played three guitars and one microphone thru two guitar amps. The microphone was a little tape recorder mic spliced into a guitar chord, we stuck a shovel into the grass to use as a mic stand. The police came to shut us down on that faithful night but they were very nice about it. From there we would practice in my garage or one of the other guitar players garage. We called ourselves The Golden Age.

Eventually I stripped the B & E string from my guitar and played bass with it. My mom then bought a Telecaster bass and Kustom 100 for me and we took off, changing our name to Organized Confusion. We played proms, house parties, NYE parties, fairs, school dances, weddings all before we could legally drive. Eventually girls, cars and the trouble that comes with being a teenager brought and end to it all. That and the two guitar players arguing about who the band leader, lead guitarist, front man should be.

There is so much more to the story...What time we had!

 

[Davbassdude]

I was taking group guitar lessons in the mid 60's then moved to private lessons at home. After every home lesson two of my friends would come over and I would show them what I was taught. Eventually we found a kid that had a set of drums and set up in my back yard. That was around 1968, I would have been 14. Our little band members were 13 & 14 years old. We played three guitars and one microphone thru two guitar amps. The microphone was a little tape recorder mic spliced into a guitar chord, we stuck a shovel into the grass to use as a mic stand. The police came to shut us down on that faithful night but they were very nice about it. From there we would practice in my garage or one of the other guitar players garage. We called ourselves The Golden Age.

Eventually I stripped the B & E string from my guitar and played bass with it. My mom then bought a Telecaster bass and Kustom 100 for me and we took off, changing our name to Organized Confusion. We played proms, house parties, NYE parties, fairs, school dances, weddings all before we could legally drive. Eventually girls, cars and the trouble that comes with being a teenager brought and end to it all. That and the two guitar players arguing about who the band leader, lead guitarist, front man should be.

There is so much more to the story...What time we had!