John Durzo - Strongbow Interview

Born and raised in Columbus, OH, Durzo grew up with a very typical childhood for that time, but his life forever changed when he heard the likes of Johnny and the Hurricanes’ “Red River Rock” and Jan and Dean’s “Baby Talk” on the radio. He immediately had to be in a band and hasn’t looked back! Prior to going the Strongbow guys he participated in bands such as Johnny and the Rebels and St. John’s Mod. Durzo would eventually join Strongbow in ‘73, performing on the group’s only album that was released in ‘75 and would play with them until that following year before the group disbanded. Over the years Durzo has played with the likes of The Muff Bros, Money, Slamm, Roi Blu, Little Thugs and the great JD Blackfoot, just to name a few. In this interview we explore Durzo’s youth growing up in one of the most rocking’ states in the whole country - Ohio, playing in early garage rock outfits, joining Strongbow and recorded the band’s lone LP and much more!

Tell me about growing up in Dublin, Ohio. What was your childhood like? When did you first begin to fall in love with music, more specifically the bass guitar? Was music relevant around your household growing up? Do you have any siblings?

Let’s start at the beginning. I was born in early October 1949, in Columbus, Ohio. Typical childhood. I attended Clintonville Elementary School from first to fourth grade and was never arrested during that period of my life. My family moved to Dublin right before I started fifth grade. It was a big house with a detached 2-car garage and stable right on the Scioto River. Over the garage was a room, which later became the band room, much to my father’s chagrin. Growing up in Dublin at that time was great. We had small classes, a small village, and everybody knew everybody. I was such a typical kid, playing sports, chasing girls, swimming in and skiing on the river all summer, and skating on the ice all winter. Everything was great UNTIL I heard Johnny and the Hurricanes’ Red River Rock and Jan and Dean’s Baby Talk on the radio. I had to play sax and sing in a rock’n’roll band! At the time, my dad didn’t see anything wrong with learning a musical instrument, an opinion he would change over the years when he saw how I turned out. My love of music started in the 50s and has continued to grow ever since. Music had no real relevance in our house, although my parents were friends with Billy Maxted and his Manhattan Jazz Band (Satin Doll). Mom and Dad didn’t play instruments, but all 4 kids did. I played Bb tenor sax throughout high school with both of my bands but switched to bass guitar in February 1968 while at Miami University. Growing up, I had 3 siblings – 2 younger sisters and a younger brother. My 2 sisters are still with us, but my brother unfortunately passed away in 2004.

What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years? When and where did you see your very first concert and when did you realize you wanted to spend your life making music?

During my Dublin days, my friends and I would run wild through the countryside around our homes. We would spend hours exploring a nearby 250-acre dairy farm. We would build forts and play army. And try to avoid the cow patties. In high school, we would get together every so often and camp out in the middle of big corn fields with whatever alcohol we could scrounge together. But most of my weekends were spent playing music around the Columbus area. When I started playing sax, I did spend quite a bit of time practicing, and not so much time in the woods. As I began to listen to more records, I started picking up on the bass and drums more and more. My influences early on were James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt (Motown session players) and Duck Dunn (Mussel Shoals session cat). They seemed to be the main players in the music I was listening to. Later, my tastes expanded, and I was influenced by the styles of Greg Ridley (Spooky Tooth, Humble Pie), Gary Thain (Uriah Heep), Chris Squire (Yes), John Wetton (King Crimson, Uriah Heep, Asia), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin). I also LOVE King’s X and Doug Pinnick’s bass tones. My first concert was either the Kingsmen (Louie, Louie), or Johnny & the Hurricanes (Red River Rock) at Valley Dale in Columbus. That was it! I was hooked from the mid-60s on!

Did you participate in any groups, or outfits prior to Strongbow? How did you initially meet your band mates? What was the chemistry between everyone both musically and personally? You joined them after the 45 was released, when and where did you make your live performance debut with them and what was that experience like for you?

I think I was starting seventh grade when some eighth-grade friends (Johnny and the Rebels: John Palmer, Dean Richards, Chuck Mascari, and Dean Duffy) cornered me in the hall at school. They had 2 guitars, bass, and drums, but wanted something else… Me! We started playing parties, sock hops, at swimming pools, anywhere they would have us and pay. We soon formed an alliance with a couple of the local WCOL disc jockeys. They would pay us $25-$30 per night to make their job easier. We were starting to sound okay. Not great, not good, but okay. We stayed together until June 1966 when all the other members graduated from dear old Dublin High. Two were going away to college, one was going into the Marines, one to a business school, and our manager was going to Ohio State University. I wasn’t quite done with frolicking in the crazy world of music, so the manager Phil Pence) and I decided to stay together. I found a keyboardist (Mel Reid) who had graduated from Dublin the year before, but was attending Ohio State also. He was interested in picking up some spare change on the weekends. One of my friends who also played bass, Mike Haines (later the original bass player for Strongbow. I took his place in 1973), knew a bass player (Bob Vallely) and drummer (Jim Luce) from North High School. We met, hit it off, and they both joined the band. Next, we needed a guitar player. Another friend suggested a young kid from Mifflin, John Schwab.

His audition was playing a gig with us at a party at my parents’ house, with no rehearsal! From that point on, we were St. John’s Mod. In August of 1967, I enrolled at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I went back almost every weekend to play, and even got the band a gig at a fraternity party at Miami. When I returned home for Christmas break, the other 4 members had started playing bars 6 nights a week as a 4-piece band. We decided that I couldn’t get back for the bar gigs, so we parted ways. They continued playing as St. John’s. There was a band in Oxford called the Water Bears. They had just lost their bass player to the Lemon Pipers. I had always helped the bassist in Johnny and the Rebels figure out his parts and I played bass on a few songs with St. John’s Mod when Bob would sing lead or play the keyboard, so I told them I could do it. The 3 guys in the band were all from Columbus. Phil Beck with (rhythm guitar, vocals), Mike Meyer (lead guitar), and Dave Elder (drums). The girl who I was dating at the time had a bass playing brother. He had recently broken his wrist and he sold me his 1964 Fender Precision bass for $125! And I still have it! The Water Bears were the happy hour house band for the Boar’s Head in Oxford during the school year, but we all went home for the summer. I think it was the summer of 1968 when I met Frank Pierce in Columbus. He was a drummer/pian player/singer/songwriter. He had heard about the room over the garage somehow and approached me about jamming out there. Frank had been in a successful band in high school and knew a lot of talented Columbus musicians.

He brought Billy Carroll (original drummer, then singer for the Fifth Order, Columbus’ #2 band throughout the mid-60s) and Michael Shortland (guitar player who took Dave Workman’s place in the Dantes, Columbus’ #1 band throughout the mid-60s). We became Sweat Bighouse and played during the summer on campus mainly. These 3 people became the nucleus of my success in the Columbus music scene. I owe them a lot. Sadly, they are all gone now. RIP, my brothers! Back to college and fraternity and band life, which didn’t bode well for the grade point average. After two full years, I was still a freshman. The college informed my draft board, and I was re-classified from 2S (student deferment) to 1A (take me now!). This was during the time of the first lottery. And I was number 125 and was drafted! No cash prizes, but you got to vacation in an exotic location near the South China Sea. I left school and went back to Columbus. I tried to enlist in the Army, but my blood pressure and ulcer kept me out. Michael Shortland called from Athens, Georgia. He was with JD Blackfoot and; Uncle Billy. Their bass player got homesick and left. They offered me the gig, and I accepted. That lasted until early 1971. We broke up because JD was shopping for another label, and I needed to work. I re-connected with Billy Carroll, now back on drums. He was working with George Mobley (later, JD Blackfoot’s guitarist for the past 50 years) and Bobby Saint. They found a Hammond B3/sax - John Stelzer. We worked the Dynamic Entertainment circuit, playing top 40. Fed up with the songs we had to play, I moved to the San Francisco Bay area In October 1971. I ended up settling in Mountain View, between San Jose and San Francisco. I found odd jobs until JD Blackfoot called from Southern California. I moved south to Running Springs/Arrowbear in January 1972. JD had connected with drummer Leon Becken. Leon had a side studio gig in Santa Ana, and they needed a bass player. Guess what? I’m a bass player! I clicked with the 3 songwriters (one of whom was Bill Sheppard from the band Stack!) who had hired Leon and me.

We collectively became Ruby Wheeler. JD moved to New Zealand to follow up the Ultimate Prophecy album with The Song Of Crazy Horse album. Leon didn’t want to get into a band situation, so he bailed. I called Billy Carroll in Ohio to see if he wanted to move west. He did, so four of us jumped in my van and drove to Ohio to pick him up. When we got back to SoCal, we rented a house and built a soundproof studio inside the living room. We recorded 6 originals at our home studio to go with the 4 we had completed with Leon. We picked up a business manager who had a fleet of Cadillacs to drive us around Los Angeles and Orange counties. Things were clicking, and we were sounding better, and better. THEN, the guitar player (Rick Gould, also from Stack) decided that he wanted his bass player buddy in the band instead of me. That kind of fucked me up for a while. However, Johnny Starbuck, a friend who was an assistant engineer at United Audio (our studio in Santa Ana), told me that there was a Texas guitar player coming in later that week looking for some players. I auditioned and got that gig with Timmy Harrison, later Timmy Dulaine (name change). I moved up to Hollywood with Timmy and his manager. They rented some space at Studio Instrument Rentals, and we auditioned drummers. We settled on Brian Glascock, a British cat who had just come from the British band Rose. Brian’s brother John was the bassist for Jethro Tull at the time. Brian later became the drummer for Martha Davis and the Motels. Timmy had already hired a B3 player from Houston, Danny Rose. We rehearsed for several weeks, then went to Stockton to a rock club for a 2-month gig to tighten up before our showcase at SIR. We went back into United Audio, and recorded 6-8 songs there.

Brian left the group after the United Audio sessions. Timmy somehow found a trombone player (Jim Carrington) from the Bay Area who just so happened to be a monster drummer, too. Then Timmy realized that an old friend of his from his New York days was working out of the Record Plant in LA, Robert Margouleff of Black Bull Music (Stevie Wonder’s producers) with his partner Malcolm Cecil. They were kind enough to give Timmy free studio time and assigned Austin Godsey to engineer, and produce the sessions. Timmy and I spent many days in the Record Plant with Austin, usually working all night. Timmy went back to Houston to see his wife in October 1973, and I went home to see my family (1 st time in 2 years). While I was in Ohio, I got a phone call from Michael Shortland who was now in Strongbow with John Stelzer. He said that Mike Haines (Strongbow’s bass player) had just quit. He asked if I wanted to audition. I chuckled and told him about the Record Plant deal, and said I would come over and jam. Two songs in, I asked who was going to ride out to SoCal with me so I could get my stuff. I was sold. The more songs we played (originals), the more impressed I was. Bill Bendler was the lucky one who rode out to California with me. We drove straight through, stayed in LA for 3 days so I could say goodbye to 4 girlfriends, and then drove straight back to Columbus.

I first met the various members of Strongbow over the course of a few years. In 1968, I met Michael Shortland (guitar) through the group Sweat Bighouse with Billy Carroll and Frank Pierce. In 1970, Michael and I were playing (in JD Blackfoot and Uncle Billy) in Lancaster at a club when the original Strongbow members came in during our soundcheck for a meeting with the club owner. I knew Mike Haines, the bassist, and he introduced me to David Smith (the original and only Strongbow drummer) and Bob Hill (guitar). Later, when I was in White Heart with Billy Carroll, John Stelzer (Strongbow keys, saxes, flute, synth.) was our keyboard and sax player. I first met Bill Bendler (vocals, keys, trombone with Strongbow) at my “audition” in October of ‘73. I got along great with Michael and John from knowing them in previous bands. David and I ended up rooming together on the road, so I found out early on that he was just as sick, and twisted as I was. We became very tight, and the best of friends. The trip to and from SoCal brought Bill and I closer. The musical chemistry was there instantly. Stelzer and I (in White Heart) were into the same underground bands: Spooky Tooth, Atomic Rooster, Illinois Speed Press, Baby Huey and; the Babysitters, Bull Angus, etc. Prior to our first gig, we rehearsed for a week, then did two weeks at Mother’s Lounge on the West side of Columbus as my debut on bass. Mother’s was a rough little bar. It turned out to be a great place for my/our debut, though. We could barely fit our equipment on the stage. We were ALL Ampeg-powered and we had an old West PA. Sound check was deafening. The place filled quickly with rowdy West side bikers, and rock’n’roll fanatics. It was crazy. Those people loved us! Every time we played there it was standing room only!

In ‘75 the band released its lone debut LP. Can you tell me about writing and recording this album? When and where did recording take place and how did the deal with Buddah’s sister label Southwind come about? What was the overall vision and approach to this record?

Most of the album songs were already written by the time I joined the band. But I was able to put my own spin on them with my licks and bass tone. Everyone was very receptive to my suggestions and parts. We spent about half of our time for the next 3 years in Michigan and the rest touring around the Midwest and South. The band was good friends with some great booking agents. They had us on the same circuit as Kracker, Kansas, Styx, and Chopper. Any time we had a break, we would find a studio, and lay down tracks. Our newer songs were more influenced by the British bands Yes, Genesis, and King Crimson. We still favored the heavy, hard-hitting style of Grand Funk, Deep Purple, and Uriah Heep, so most of our originals were driving rockers with subtle influences from those other bands. Our whole goal was to secure a recording contract. In 1974, we had a nice press kit, and started shopping it around. We sent it to many labels, mostly with no response. But we did hear back from Alan Lorber, president of Southwind Records, a subsidiary of Buddah Records.

He was very interested in our music and our sound. We arranged to meet him in North Carolina (we were playing in Charlotte at the Lizard Creek Ballroom) in Winston-Salem. Another one of his acts was playing there, Free Beer (great name!). We talked, he gave us a copy of his contract for us to discuss with our attorney, and we arranged another meeting, this time in Columbus. Alan brought his vice president, Lenny Scheer, and the Buddah art director, Milton Sincoff. They came to see us at another little bar, the Bistro. They loved the live band, and we ended up signing the contracts that night. They decided that the tapes we had submitted weren’t good enough, so they scheduled us into a little rat-infested studio in the middle of a field in Bailey, NC. It turned out to be not horrible, but not the way the band sounded live. The bass on one song, Move Over Gloom I believe, was non-existent. In 2000, the band released 3 CDs: Con Carne (the demo tapes we used to get the contract), Coulda’ Shoulda’ (songs that were recorded, but not released), and Live in ’75 (recorded at Studio 5 in Columbus right after our California tour). We also re-released the Strongbow album just prior to our 2021 reunion show at Natalie’s Grandview with a bass track mixed in to Move Over Gloom.

When the original album was released, the local radio stations played it in heavy rotation. It didn’t hurt that we were friends with all the disc jockeys at the stations! We also started opening for a lot of the national acts who were coming into town: Bob Seger, Cactus, The Image, Ambrosia. We were booked at Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, opening for Ted Nugent, and later, Elvin Bishop. We hit Miami Beach and blew Frijid Pink off the stage. We opened for Lydia Pense, and Cold Blood and Ruby Starr and, Grey Ghost at the Starwood in LA, where John Mayall jammed with us on stage for 40 minutes. Buddah went belly up. Southwind disappeared. We were relegated back to bar band status, and we began to get pissy with each other. In late 1976 after a bar gig at Mr. Brown’s, tempers flared, and I was fired. I was replaced by Mike Shoaf. The band struggled for another 2 years but never reached the level where we were in 1975. I went on to Tyler, Columbus’ first supergroup, and then the Muff Bros, which became the muffs, which became Money. Strongbow (Bill Bendler, David Smith, Michael Shortland, John Stelzer, and me, John Durzo) played one more time in the 70s. In 1979, Ray Rogers, former owner of Mr. Brown’s, was the manager of the Sugar Shack. He contacted us about doing a reunion show. It was smoking hot. Standing room only. Most Columbus musicians were there. It was a great night! 42 years later, the band got together again for 3 sold-out shows. It was surreal, stirring many fond memories and emotions. And we are just now finishing a CD from those shows.

What have you been up to in more recent years? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?

Since my time with Strongbow (1973 – 1976), I have played and recorded with the following bands: Tyler (with Frank Pierce from Sweat Bighouse), the Muff Bros, the muffs, Money, Slamm, Roi Blu (from Dayton/Springfield area), Little Thugs (with Carl Shelor from Rosie), the Big E Band, Absolute Truth, and – after moving to Florida – recorded with JD Blackfoot (Yellowhand, I Hate To Say Goodbye, Legend of Texas Red, and Comes A Time CDs, plus some compilation CDs), Money (money-muffs) (Money Kills, Now/Then, Money-muffs 2019). I did a track for a friend in Sweden and a CD for a friend in Columbus. Played several shows in and around the St. Louis area with JD Blackfoot and did some reunion shows with Money-muffs. I just finished mixing and mastering the tracks from our Strongbow & Friends – 42 Years Later CD (from the 2021 Strongbow reunion).