Band Scrapbook - My Musical History

I've been in a lot of bands throughout the years. Some of them lasted for a while and where profitable, and others were short-lived and ended up being a drag. But I don't regret a second of all the weirdness that has happened and all the strange gigs that I've played. The first band that I was in was called Crosstown Traffic. I was 16 years old. I played a Fender Mustang that my brother the infamous Hogeye Bill of San Francisco gave me. I had my first paying gig with this line-up. We had 3 guitars, a drummer, and NO bass! We played "Freebird" 3 times. The last time, just the fast part. You get the picture.

The next band I was in was in Tehran, Iran. We had gigs at the Military club and high schools. We had a very interesting line-up. Guitarists from England, Australia, and the US. A drummer from the Philippines, and a bass player also from the US. We used to sit on the roof-top of the bass players house and smoke hash while Iranian armed guards would guard the front gate. The bass players dad was a General or something. Back in the states, the next band was BAGSHOT ROW. We had quite a few decent gigs. We played around Northwest Arkansas and acquired some new gear. The line-up was Mike Taylor and myself on guitar, Severino Myers on bass, and Kirk Burnside on drums. I forgot how long this band lasted but we all ended up good friends.

After a few months a friend and good drummer/guitarist (Bill Lonon) came to a little solo acoustic gig I was doing and said "Ben, I've got it, THE FUGITIVES!" And for the next 15 or so years that was the band. Over the years I figure there were about 30 FUGITIVES. We had some pretty good gigs, and we had some gigs from hell. Here is a photo of the first gig of the FUGITIVES. The line-up Randy Julich (now of Branson, Missouri) and me on guitars, Bill Lonon on drums, and Bill Terry on bass. We had gigs in and around Fayetteville, Arkansas. Lonon did most of the lead vocals and sang the heck out of CREEDENCE, KINKS, JACKSON BROWN, THE BAND, BEATLES, and STONES songs. The FUGITIVES temporarily broke up many times, usually just long enough to work in another musician to fill the vacancy. Members were either kicked out, or quit on their own for reasons too numerous to mention. Pictured are various line-ups of THE FUGITIVES. One of the latest was James Biggs (of Fayetteville via L.A.) and myself on guitars, Bill Terry on bass, and Tim Carnes on the skins. We warmed up for BLACK OAK ARKANSAS on several occasions and had quite a few gigs playing every week for over a year. This is when I started writing my own music and performing original songs live. This line-up ended when Biggs went to M.I. (then called G.I.T.) in L.A.

The next era of the band was a bit wild. My old friend and partner in crime "Daddy Rabbit" from Kansas City showed up in town ready to jam down on his briefcase full of blues harps. His timing was perfect. I'll never forget that first night when he walked in the Bulls-eye Pub and jumped on stage when we played our version of "Kansas City". It was mucho fun. Then, as if the band hadn't become wild enough, "Bobby Rocket" from New Orleans joined in on keyboards. He is quite the musical poet. His dad is Miller Williams who wrote that poem for Bill Clinton's Inauguration, and his sister is Lucinda Williams. This line-up of FUGITIVES was a party from day one. We all lived in band house #1, #2, #3, and #4. For some reason we kept getting kicked out. We would play lots of biker bars and end up inviting the entire bar home nearly every night. I would wake up in the morning and literally stumble over strange people crashed on the floor going from my bedroom to the kitchen every day. Seems crazy when I think about it now. This line-up lasted remarkably long considering how much booze and all we consumed. We finally thizzled outÉ.for a while, but then...

A buddy of mine, David Miller from Memphis, came by the house during a FUGITIVE sabbatical and said he could book a bunch of gigs. We hadn't jammed together in years. It worked out nicely. We had Gigs in Little Rock, Hot Springs, Fort Smith, Arkansas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Springfield, Missouri, to name a few. We played mainly hard-driving blues, and a few originals of mine. Miller played bass. The bar photo was at a gig at the "Library" club in Fayetteville. There was a movie starring Peter Fonda filmed there in the early 70's when the club was called the "Swingin' Door". It is now called Chester's.

It's a little hazy as to what happened jam-wise at this time. The next band was Border Patrol. We had a few gigs. We did mainly outdoor parties. The line-up was Jeff Meyers on bass and lead vocals, James Biggs and myself on guitars, and Kirk Burnside on drums. I also did solo or duo acoustic gigs during this time. My guitar mentor, Bob Myers and I had a pretty cool gig for a little while. It was THE BOB & BEN SHOW. I played straight acoustic and Bob played his syth guitar with every kind of stomp box and gadgetry that you could ever imagine. He's great. We had a hoot.

The next band I was in was Tres Amigos. We were totally acoustic, but we played rock-n-roll. Our motto was "Amps?.....We don't need no stinkin' amps!!! It was a blast and we gigged regularly for about a year. The line-up was Darren Ray (singer extraordinaire) and Biggs and myself, all on acoustic guitar. We traded off leads and bent the strings as if they were electrics.

It was around this time that I got dumped by my girlfriend, wrecked my car, and dropped out of college. (I had been whittling away at college the whole time). At this time I was fortunate enough to get a sponsor for recording my first CD (Deb "Head" Rush). So for about a year I totally immersed myself in my original music and recorded "Ben Orton & other Infamous Fugitives", in 1995. I did all the vocals and guitars, and brought in other FUGITIVES to do the other tracks. Also David Rasico, of St. Louis played the keyboards (mostly first takes), Rob Ellison of Fort Smith played bass on 2 tracks, Pete Zajak of Chicago played some killer harp, Marty Peyton and Trey Stanley played auxiliary percussion, and Steve Katzekus of Palm Springs also did some keyboard work. I put together a band, THE FUGITIVE SOULS, to promote the CD. Hal ____ from Tulsa on bass, Tim Carnes on drums, Tony Letto and me on guitars. I also did some shows with the "Victims of Gravity" as well. This line-up was Noel Stanwick from Paris, France and myself on guitars, Steve Young from Chicago on bass, Crieg Woodman on drums, and sometimes Pete Zajack on Harmonica. I was also fortunate to get to Jam with Bob Ketchum for a few memorable gigs in Mountain Home.

Daddy Rabbit, Ben Orton, and ???

Ben at La Bruja in Jaco, Costa Rica.

- BenJammin'