--BlastersNewsletter Contest --We Have a winner!  Mike Moreau of Montreal, Canada won a Jerry Angel autographed Drum stick. Question: Name 2 bands that Jerry has played in, before the Blasters, with members or former members of the Blasters. Answers: Dave Alvin's All-Nighters, The Pleasure Barons (with Dave Alvin), and The Mike Eldred Trio (with John Bazz).

     I don't remember what they played exactly in the way of tunes, aside from the blues standards we all loved. They didn't play any typical wedding songs that I recall. It was more just a huge party with dancing. I was the groom and wasn't paying too much attention to that stuff, and also we left early for Yosemite.
     Looking back, what comes up for me is feeling really great about the Blasters success. The Rockabilly revival had just begun and these guys were leading the pack and not selling out, their influence on the music of the day had been set in motion. I was proud that these Downey guys, who'd been playing dive bars for a decade or more, were finally about to show the world what American music was really all about. And well that was just plain old cool. ~ AM
Photos courtesy Mike George 

Big Joe Killed By The Blasters     It was a good show. We did two nights and Ray Campi was a guest one night and Big Joe the other. Big Joe and his wife showed up to the gig around 7 PM. The Palace staff were very respectful and gave him his own dressing room. They told him what ever he needed, they would get for him. There were a few opening acts and we, The Blasters, did our 90 minute set.
     Big Joe didn't get on stage until after 11 PM. I'm using the words "got on stage" loosely (laughs). Some guys went into Joe's dressing room and got him drunk. I don't mean drunk; he got PLOWED. He was drinking all night. By the time they escorted him on stage, we were ready for the encore They brought him out and sat him down (Joe would always sit on stage because of his failing health.)
     He sang the first line of SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL and then passed out. We kept vamping away and I looked over to Lee and said: "Is he okay?" Lee said: "This isn't good, David." I said: "Did we kill him?" I'm laughing now, but we were dead serious. I could just see the headlines 'Big Joe Killed By The Blasters.' He eventually came out of it when Lee and Phil jostled him. He continued singing the song and then suddenly started a second song when we were supposed to go off stage.