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Band History
THE GREEN ONIONS
RHYTHM & BLUES REVUE was formed by drummers JOE HIBBS & TIM LOONEY and
played their first gig on July 21, 1980 at the WHISKEY RIVER on Gessner in
Houston. They soon became a mainstay at the RAIL HEAD on Richmond Avenue every
Sunday & Monday.
The band was
basically formed as a musical outlet for the players doing their
"legit" gigs. At times the band numbered up to THIRTEEN pieces(!!)
& had some of the hottest players in town.
During their
tenure at the RAIL HEAD, the line-up was: RONNIE HALL - Lead Vocals; WAYNE HOLT
- Guitar (1st 2 weeks); CHRIS FIELD - Bass; SAM HIGHBURGER - Hammond Organ; JOE
HIBBS and TIM LOONEY - Drums; TOM CUMMINGS-Percussion & Vibes; EMILIO LUNA -
Tenor Sax; JOE MILLER - Trombone & STEVE MOORE - Trumpet & Harmonica.
Later, CLIFF
FALDOWSKI & JIM FULTON replaced Holt on guitar (Jim & Cliff on Sunday
and just Jim on Monday) and Tenor player TONY CAMPISE replaced Luna. HAL ROBERTS
filled one of the two drum chairs when Looney left.
In August of '81
the band began performing at FITZGERALD'S. These gigs brought the band some
welcome publicity and it was at this time GARY DORSEY replaced Field on bass.
On January 31,
1982 the ONIONS began a 17-month stay at REMINGTON'S that saw the addition of
Trumpet player KIT REID & bassist BILL ROWE replacing Dorsey & Tenor
players JOHN TORRES, JOHNNY GONZALEZ & JOE LYNCH variously working with the
band. BILLY GIBBONS came to see the band almost every Sunday when he was in town
& the ONIONS were considered for the opening slot on the Texas leg of ZZ
TOP'S ELIMINATOR TOUR, but managerial music business politics kept it from
happening.
In July of '83,
bassist STEVE ANDERSON replaced BILL ROWE who took a 15 year leave-of-absence.
In September of that year the band began a 6-month stint at THE ROOF that saw
the addition of CHRIS YOUNG on 2nd Trumpet.
Anderson left
after THE ROOF, replaced once again by bassist CHRIS FIELD. In May of '84
keyboardist JERRY HOWARD came aboard. The band performed two dates at the
HOUSTON MUSIC HALL in 1984 for KNUZ Radio where they opened the show &
provided music back-up for DEL SHANNON, FREDDIE CANNON, THE SHIRRELLES, THE
CRYSTELS, THE PLATTERS, and BEN E. KING.
In September of
'84 TRAVIS "The B-3 Man" DOYLE came in replacing Howard & the band
had a six-month stand at Houston's GRAND HOTEL.
In February of '85
original drummer & one of the founding members, JOE HIBBS, left the band
replaced for three months by HERMAN MATHEWS. Through February of '86 the band
went through a succession of some of Houston's finest drummers as HAL ROBERTS;
VAN BRAMLETT & GEORGE WEIMER all variously held the drum chair. It was at
this time that the Houston economy took a down turn and caused Ronnie to cease
the GREEN ONIONS for 16 months.
SECOND GENERATION BAND
Ronnie re-formed the band in June of '87 and the new line-up was: RONNIE HALL - Lead Vocals, ELTON BROUGHTON - Hammond Organ, STEVE LUSTGARDEN - Guitar, GARY LOCHE - Bass, MIKE La FABRAVE - Drums, LARRY SLEZAK - Tenor Sax, JIMMY GERLICH - 1st Trumpet, RON OCHOA - 2nd Trumpet, & MARK HOLTER - Baritone Sax. ROBBIE MATTIX replaced Gerlich on 1st Trumpet in January of '89...