Is That You?
Ev Smith sent me this photo, compliments of Carter Houk. It was taken at the old Dekalb Hotel. There’s a lot of local history here! Though the old hotel is gone, many of these musicians are still playing in bands. Have a closer look – maybe you’re in this picture:
Can you name these people? That's Bill Gokey on banjo in the center front. The other banjo player right behind Bill is Rich Williams. Carter Houk and Al Worthen are also in this photo. Where are they?
We are looking for as much info as we can about the occasion, the people, etc. Can you help? Please feel free to comment below, or email me directly ([email protected]).
How about that cowboy outfit? You never see matching shirts and cowboy boots around here anymore. Folks dressed up more in the ‘60s… Even the waitress (whose backside and legs are on the right) is wearing stockings, heels, and an apron. Who is the fellow on the right with the tweed sport coat and hanky in the pocket? The woman in the back row looks upset with the guy on her right. I wonder why. Who is the fiddler on the far left? Who is the emcee behind the microphone?
The Dekalb Hotel looked old – even then! This photo must have been taken in the winter, as the windows are frosted. Of course, it’s probably pretty warm in the bar after a night of music, drinking and dancing. Speaking of drinking, a couple folks in this photo look like they’ve had a few. Maybe this is a ‘late night’ photo… And look at all the smokers! You sure don’t see that anymore! White socks sure were popular then, and men wore ties a lot more too…. all kinds of ties. The guy sitting on the amp has rubbers on his shoes. Are they still called rubbers? You know, in studying this photo, I realize that the one thing that HASN’T changed over the decades are the instruments! Most of the ones in this photo are probably still around. Ev Smith told me his brother owns one of the banjos in this picture.
I’d love to hear from you if you know someone in this picture – or if you ARE someone in it! Did you hang out at the Dekalb Hotel? How about sharing some memories – fond or otherwise. I’d love to read about them.
…. And thanks for your comments.
The building that housed the DeKalb Hotel is actually still standing. It has been run as a semi-private, informal membership (for veterans) bar for a number of years. But, until about a decade or so ago, it was the DeKalb Hotel and one could still hear music there occasionally on a Saturday night. Going back another decade, there was also Walsh’s (then White’s…etc) Bar on the diagonal corner from the Hotel. All of these places were great community gathering points–for music, for benefit concerts for those in need, etc. (Of course there was a fair share of drunk and disorderly conduct based in these places, too!)
Carter is easy! He’s the only one playing a 6-string… just to the right of the two banjo dudes.
But my question is: what exactly is he playing? It’s some sort of single pickup guitar with THREE(?) bridges? (or is the upper one a skinny pickup?) Doesn’t look a Fender, Gibson, Epiphone, Airline, Danelectro or Carver…. what else could it be? I’ve just spent the last hour looking up vintage guitars on the net to absolutely no avail. Help!
Mr. Houk is easy to spot! He’s the only person with a six-string guitar… just right of the two banjo dudes.
But what I want to know is exactly what kind of electric guitar he’s playing! It looks like a single-pickup with THREE bridges? (unless one or two of them are skinny pickups) I just spend an hour looking at pictures of vintage electric guitars and couldn’t find anything like this in the Gibson, Fender, Epiphone, Danelectro, Airline or Carver catalogs. Did he build this himself?