Entertainment report for week ending 12/3: Thibodeaux and Hitchings to rock the Crane this weekend

By BEN OLSON/for The Herald  —  Scott Hitchings, owner and operator of Keyboard Central on 1st Street in uptown Oakridge, has regaled me with stories of playing music in the “big leagues” before moving to town. He spent 18 years playing keyboards with the Temptations- yes, those Temptations. By the time Scott hired on, they were down to one original Temptation, Otis Williams, who also owned the rights to the name of the band.

Scott has told me that, musically, it was one of the easiest gigs a musician could get. Unlike a cover band, always having to learn new top-40 tunes, once you learned the 35 hit songs that were on their concert list, you never had to work on anything new. There would be no new Temptation songs. The people that went to a Temptations concert only wanted to hear the “solid gold.”

Cover band or the real deal?

I got to thinking about this after I read an article the other day about a number of famous bands out touring today with none of the original members. None. I’m not going to drop names, though. I assume that if you’re going to spend big bucks to take your honey to a concert, you’ll do a little research yourself. No doubt, the band that you’ll see will be good, but if the guy who sang the songs on the albums is gone, you’re just seeing a pricey cover band. 

I’ll admit that, many years ago, I went to see Steppenwolf a second time, and John Kay was not the guy with the microphone singing “Born to be Wild”. That was a major letdown.

To put things in perspective, though, last year’s Super Bowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, had none of the original players from their team that first played in Kansas City in 1963.  By then, Otis Williams had already been singing with the Temptations for 3 years.

Oakridge’s own celebrities at the Crane this Saturday

You can catch Scott Hitchings on the piano this Saturday, December 2 as he backs up the ragin’ cajun, Kelly Thibodeaux at the 3 Legged Crane. Get ready for a night of acoustic swamp rock, with fiddle, piano and lead guitar. No drums that night, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see somebody providing percussion on the washboard. The show begins at 7 pm. Check out Kelly’s website at www.etouffee.com.

On Friday evening, December 1, Eric Leadbetter will be returning to the Crane. He’ll be bringing his “echoes from the golden age of rock and roll” with him. A whiz on the guitar, he’ll be mixing some well-chosen covers and great original tunes. Find out more at ericleadbettermusic.com. Showtime is 7 pm. The 3 Legged Crane is a brew pub, making much of the beer and ale right there in the back room. There are appetizers, sandwiches and dinners on the menu. The Crane is located on 1st Street in uptown Oakridge.

LMB is back on track with Broken Horn

After a few days off following the Thanksgiving holiday, the Lion Mountain Bakery will be open for business as usual. Broken Horn will be back, offering his song stylings from 11 am until 1 pm this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 1, 2 and 3. The Lion Mountain serves breakfast and lunch and has a variety of special coffee drinks. They can be found on Highway 58 in Oakridge.

I’ll be in the Cascade Artworks playing ukulele this Friday evening, December 1, for the First Friday Art Walk. The music will run from 5 until 7 pm. This will be the last Art Walk before Christmas. It’s a great chance to patronize the stores in uptown Oakridge and buy your holiday presents locally.

The Dexter Lake Club will be idle this weekend. However, stop by and have a drink and a meal over the weekend. The Dexter Lake Club has a full bar and the adjoining Rattlesnake BBQ has appetizers, sandwiches and dinners on the menu. Friday night is also prime rib night. They’re located just off Highway 58 in the east end of Dexter near milepost 12.

Pray for snow (up high, only!)

Willamette Pass Resort needs some help from mother nature in the form of a great big winter storm to get opened up. The winter storm I have in mind will happen above 3000 feet in elevation. As soon as that happens, there’ll be music there every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, as well as other selected dates.

Get your karaoke on

Karaoke fans, it’s the Loggers Den on the west end of Oakridge on Wednesday nights, the Dexter Lake Club on Thursdays and the Corner Bar in uptown Oakridge on Friday nights.

Before you buy tickets to that Monkees concert, remember, there’s only one Monkee left- Mickey Dolenz. While you would expect him to sing “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone”, only Davy Jones could sing “Daydream Believer”.

Until next week, stay warm, and support live music and the musicians who make it.

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