Alan Jones - Hickory Wind / B F Trike

When and where were you born? What was your childhood like? When were you first introduced to music and what initially fascinated you about it? Do you have any siblings? What would you and your friends do for fun in the early days? Where would you go to see live shows and who were among some of your favorite groups you saw that left a heavy impression on you?

I was born in Louisville, KY. My childhood was riding bikes and listening to the transistor radio. I was always exposed to music in church but when I discovered the radio that was it. I have one Brother. My friends and I would collect records and get together and listen to them. The first real concert I went to was The Dick Clark Caravan of Stars, then The Young Rascals, The Byrds. After I got Older there was a club in Louisville called Changes Unlimited. I saw The Mothers Of Invention, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly and lots of bands from Jacksonville, Florida. (My Back Yard, Tiffany System, 31st of February (Hour Glass),The Raves (New York), Sacred Mushroom (Cincinnati). I also saw the Grateful Dead at Bellarmin College.

Did you participate in any groups prior to Hickory Wind? How did Hickory Wind initially form and when did you meet your fellow bandmates Bobby Strehl, Mike McGuyera and the late Sonny Prentice? What were your first impressions of them? What led to the decision to put the group together at the time? How did the name Hickory Wind come about?

Before Hickory Wind I played in a group in Louisville called Foster Street Exit. We played local clubs and also Changes Unlimited. I knew Sonny Prentiss and he played bass in a club called Micas Lounge with Bob Strehl, in Louisville. Bob and Sonny wanted to do a new band and Bob knew Herb Hatt in Evansville and Herb had a studio and record label.  Sonny wanted to play guitar but they needed a bass player. Sonny asked me if I would play bass and we could do an album at Gigantic Records. I never played bass before, but I said sure. So Bob set it up with Herb and we recorded the Hickory Wind album there. During the sessions we needed some harmonica on a song and Bob knew Mike Mcguyer. Mike came in and we had a blast with him and he finished the album with us. We got along really well, never had any disagreements. He played guitar and some keys and Vocals too. After that we played around the Evansville area. We called the band Hickory Wind  because we really liked the song by Gram Parsons on the Byrds Sweetheart Of The Rodeo album.

Where would you guys rehearse and what was the chemistry like right off the bat? What other similarities did you guys share outside of music? What was the group’s writing process like and when did you guys begin to construct your own tunes?Tell me about working with producer/engineer H.G. Hatt. Who did the illustration for the cover of the album?

I don’t remember much rehearsing. In Hickory Wind we either wrote the songs that we recorded individually or together or we recorded some songs that Herb’s writers had written. I don’t remember when we started recording the album, but it didn’t take long to record it. We probably did it all in 10 sessions. For me it was an amazing experience for a 20 year old Kid. Everything was recorded at Herb’s studio at Gigantic Records. Herb was an older guy and was always very pleasant to be around. We always had a great time there. I actually lived in one of the back rooms while I was recording there and a little after we finished. Bob Strehl did the illustration. Herb wanted it black and white. I think because color was more expensive to print.

Would you mind giving a little back history to the songs that are featured on the LP?

1:   I Don’t Believe: was written by Sonny. I think it was about a girlfriend.

2:  Time and Changes: was written by Bob, Sonny and me. Bob had most of the lyrics and Sonny and I did the music.

3:  Maybe Tomorrow: was written by me about a , you guessed    it, girlfriend.

4:  Transit Blues: was written by me about leaving home to be a big rock star.

5:  Country Boy: was written by Chuck Lawrence, one of Herb’s writers. The other guys didn’t want to sing it so I sang it. We would rather have done one of our songs but we did it for Herb.

6:  Judy: was written by Lee Hyatt. Herb was cutting an album on her. She was a very good writer and singer. We ended up playing on some of the songs on her album. (What If We Gave A war And Nobody Came (on Gigantic Records)

7:  The Loner: was  written by Chuck Lawrence and was another song that nobody wanted to sing so I drew the Short straw and sang it. We did it for Herb.

8:  Mr Man: was written by Sonny. I think it was a song he wrote to impress his new love.

9:  New Albany Police Carnival: was written by me after I got a speeding ticket in New Albany, Indiana.

10:  Father Come With Me Today was written by Sonny and was another song by Sonny that he thought was very deep

What was the first order of business once the album came out? Did you guys tour, or play any local gigs to help promote the record? What eventually happened to the band after the album came out? I understand in ‘71 you guys started a trio that included Strehl, McGuyer and yourself called B. F. Trike.

We didn’t tour much after the album came out. We played a few local gigs but not many. We were booked into a club in Joliet, Illinois called the Mist Lounge and someone in Sonny’s family died, (his Grandmother I think) and he couldn’t make it so Mike, Bobby and I played it as 3-piece and we played really well together and the people in the club really liked us so we decide that Hickory Wind was over and the new band was gonna be B F Trike. Bobby and I had long hair and instead of doing some psychedelic artwork on the side of the van we would paint  something business like on the van something like B F Tricycle Company, less chance of being stopped by the cops.

Can you tell me about this outfit and what you guys wanted to achieve, or express that maybe you couldn’t with Hickory Wind? How did the name for the initially come about? Tell me about the band’s approach to writing and what those giggs were like. I understand you guys opened for Cactus and Ten Years After. Can you tell me about the show and any other performcare that comes to mind?

We never pursued that any further than talking about it, but since we were a 3-piece band we thought Tryke but that name was taken.  So Big Fuckin’ Trike sounded good but we shortened it to the pg 13 version B F Trike. We practiced a lot and became rather good. We hooked up with Bob Alexander (Concert promoter) and started writing the kind of music we wanted to do.  We got to do concerts with the shows that Bob did. We played concerts with The Guess Who, Frijid Pink, The Ohio Players, Grand Funk Railroad, Mylon Lefevre and the Holy Smoke Band, Ten Years After, Cactus, Mountain, Johnny Winter and Mott The Hoople. There were others but I don’t remember them all.

We went to Nashville to Cinderella Sound and cut the B F Trike songs and never did anything with the recordings until Rich contacted Mike and worked out a deal to release them for the first time. That was a hoot knowing that someone was actually interested in the music. Now Alex at Guerssen Records contacted me and wanted to reissue the B F Trike material again. What a crazy world. I see that the Hickory Wind albums still sealed sold for over $2300.00 and the B F Trike albums are going for several hundred. Bob Alexander decided to move to L A and wanted B F Trike to come with him. He felt that he could get us a deal rather quickly. Mike was married and teaching school and couldn’t just drop everything and move so that was the end of B F Trike.

Is there anything you would like to share with the readers?

The most important things that I am most fond of was everything.  The studio work and the concert work was amazing.