Helmut Getto - Rain (Part One)

Born and raised in Austria, Getto moved to the US with his family at just the age of eleven. Relocating to Rochester, New York, Getto would soon find himself in and out bands until the stars aligned and Rain was born. The group recorded their legendary live, debut album on Christmas night circa 1971 and the rest is well… History! 2022 saw the release of the band’s unheard material on the label Jargon Records and since then has gained the group very much deserved attention and a whole new audience of listeners.

What was growing up like for you? Are you originally from Rochester, New York? When did you first begin playing music and was this something that was relevant while you were growing up?

I was born in Austria on Christmas day in 1944 and immigrated to the US when I was 11. My dad was a musician, He played accordion, violin, drums, tuba/susaphone and other brass instruments, especially in his younger years. Because of that I grew up immersed in music. The radio always seemed to be on in our house so I was influenced by the classics, especially Strauss, German and Sousa marches, and a variety of European folk music. At the age of eight I took violin lessons for 2 years. In May of 1956 my parents, two sisters and I immigrated to America; Rochester, New York to be exact. After I adjusted and learned the language my dad had me take accordion lessons for a year. Elvis appeared on Ed Sullivan, which was my introduction to rock and roll. That Christmas I asked for a guitar and received a Harmony F hole acoustic guitar for Christmas from my brother-in-law. That started the ball rolling. I took lessons, but I was more interested in learning how to play rock and roll and learned by ear from listening to 45 records, over and over, slowing them down to get right notes.

Where would you go to see live concerts and who were some of the first bands you saw? Who, or what left a heavy impression on you in those early days and made you think to yourself ‘this is what I want to do!’? Did you participate in any groups prior to Rain? What initially led to forming the group? What were your first impressions of everyone? When and where did the band first get together to rehearse, or jam? What was the chemistry like right off the bat?

The Renegades lasted a couple years, we learned quite a bit, music changes quickly and we broke up. Other groups I was in, pre and post Beatles, were the Rivieras, Ye Bitter End, Odds and Ends, Invisible Side Show and Rainbow. Our singer, Brad Morse, was in the Invisible Side Show band with me. When that band broke up we formed Rainbow and got to be known around town. We had some personnel changes, focusing in on the type of music we wanted to perform and write. Eventually, after some personnel swaps, we changed the name to Rain, found Ted Paris to play bass and Mick Guerin on drums. Both just clicked the first time we jammed together in my basement. Funny thing is that both Ted and Mick were a bit younger than Brad and I and had come to see Rainbow play at a few places, and they were familiar with our style so it worked out great.

I found out later that Ted was actually a guitar player and told us later that he would rather play bass for Rain than play guitar in another band. Mick had just graduated from high school and we had to convince Mick’s parents that we were not leading the kid astray and that we would take care of him. I had a full time job as a printer, with a wife and 2 kids, so I was stable enough for them I guess. The only live concerts I ever attended were sock hops and dances at schools and churches. All were local bands, pretty much copied what was going on at the time. Realizing that I could actually play as well as some of those guitar players, I bought a used Danelectro guitar, along with a small amp, and I was rockin’ in my parent’s kitchen after school by myself. I found another guitar player and taught one of my buddies the basics of drumming, which he picked up pretty quick. Our first “gig” was at Tommy’s roller skating palace in downtown Rochester, NY. We were called the “Wailing Renegades” ... I was hooked!

When and where did the band make their live performance debut? What was that experience like? Tell me about writing as well as recording the band’s debut LP “Live, Christmas Night”. What was that show like for you guys? Can you tell me about the audience and what the whole experience of that night was like?

Our first gig/appearance was at an open air concert at the Highland Bowl. They estimated the crowd at 10,000 and I remember the fear and nothing else. Once we loosened up a little it was great. Brad and I would get together and come up with songs we would like to perform. At times we came up with some originals too. We did a few cover songs; Stones, Small faces with Rod Stewart, Yardbirds, Hendrix and Cream. My influences were rock and roll, but in my early years I discovered the three kings: Freddie, BB and Albert King. Lonnie Mack, King Curtis, Hank Ballard and Muddy Waters, Elmore James and others from Chicago and the Mississippi Delta along with the hits of the 60’s. There were a lot of clubs and bars in the area along with Teen clubs not serving alcohol, that were great venues for bands. We were invited to play the Mariner Hotel Ballroom for Christmas night.

The lobby was packed, people outside waiting to get in, doors open, sparks in the air. The sound was provided by Brighton sound. Bill Thompson and Duffy were great guys. Bill a fabulous engineer (started Ashley Audio products) decided to record the concert on a 2 track recorder, an amazing feet. That live recording became our first album, which Jim Armstrong our manager put together, paid for and distributed 1,200 copies. CMF, the first stereo public radio station in Rochester had just started broadcasting, and gave the live album a spin and it took off. I don’t really remember too much from that night other than that we were in a groove and enjoying every minute. Much of our material was rehearsed, but we always left room for spontaneous changes and jamming. We always had fun, and enjoyed playing and I think it came across to our audience.

How did the deal with Whazoo! Records come about? The band would record a single on Paramount Records in the same year. What kind of trajectory was the group on that year? It seemed to have been very productive and promising!

Whazoo was actually our publishing company that we created for all of our written material and our very own record label. Dick Storms, a local artist, created the logo for our live album and Whazoo Records and silk screened the album art. Because of the release of the album we were quite busy. Jim, our manager, took the proceeds from the album and booked some time at the PCI studio in Rochester. Whenever the studio was available we would go there after hours during the week and on weekends after the gigs and record some songs. It was to be a follow up of our live album and we wanted to experiment with new songs and our sound within a studio setting.

The now famous Mick Guzauski (google that name and find out) was a senior in High School when he engineered and mixed the album. An amazing talent that helped us create the group’s sound. He was so great to work with, and when we had a certain sound in mind, he always gave us a few options to choose from and always seemed to come up with the finished sound we were looking for. The studio album, as it stands today, is a rough mix. We planned to add and change some things. Before we did that, Jeff Wheat became our new manager and took our live album and the mix of this studio album and signed us to a one year, three single record deal under RCA records.

The album was put on hold and we went to record three songs at RCA in New York City. After our local studio recording we added Gary Cullota on keyboards to expand our sound, which to me needed something fresh. We signed and recorded with RCA and had to choose a producer from a list that RCA had given us, none of who we knew. The producer didn’t know who we were, what we sounded like live and what exact musical direction we were heading. Gary was a great piano player, but unfortunately our new musical direction was still developing and the whole recording was a great disappointment. We recorded 3 singles that were never released and the band came to a screeching halt. Our producer at RCA turned out to be Ron Robinson who was scheduled to produce Lou Reed’s solo album. He asked if I was interested in coming to London to play guitar on this project. At that point in my life I wasn’t interested, so I said no.

What eventually happened to the group after ‘71? I understand that 2020 saw the release of “1971...The Lost Album.” Can you tell me about that project and how the deal with Jargon came about? What have you been up to in more recent years?

The RCA experience took a toll, and so did our gigs. During this time, leading up to the RCA recording, we opened up for many acts in the Rochester area. Ike and Tina Turner; Freddie King; Canned Heat to name a few. We played quite a bit and we as individuals were changing. Our music needed some new life and we couldn’t seem to find it. I still had a full time job, where I could set my own schedule. I also had my family with young kids that I never saw. I had to make a choice and I chose my family; by the way I have never regretted it.

My wife Mary and I have been married 57 years, our three kids are grown and have their own families and we are enjoying our 5 grandkids In 1977 I became a Christian, eventually attended a local bible institute and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1988. We have served around the world and in the states since then, and are still active locally although retired, whatever that means, hah! I play the acoustic guitar in church and lead the singing for the church service. Those music days were exciting, tiring and educational. After we broke up the band members slowly drifted away, establishing their work and families. We would occasionally talk on the phone and we finally got together in 2013. What a great time we had remembering, filling in memory gaps for each other. In 2019 Ted Paris started the ball rolling for the vinyl pressing of the 1971 Studio album that had never been released. He put everything together with Dave Anderson of Saxon recording. This album is part of the history of the band and part of the history of Rochester’s music scene, which is very rich in its success. Dave, owner of Jargon Records, put in an enormous amount of work with various version of tapes, digitizing them and getting this ready for vinyl and CD. He is quite the music historian himself and I am happy that this was his project.

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

Some of my special remembrances: When we opened for Canned Heat at the War memorial, Mick’s bass pedal broke in the middle of the first song. The whole bottom dropped out... Within seconds the drummer from Canned Heat came running out to replace the pedal with his own and we went on to finish without another hitch. I think one of my memorable things was when we opened for Freddie King. His recordings influenced me a great deal when learning guitar. I asked if we could take him and the band to breakfast after the show which we did and had a great time. Just recently our old manager told me that when we were recording at RCA, he was approached by an RCA executive and asked if we as a group were interested in being a backup group for David Bowie, who was looking for musicians at the time. The manager turned it down because he felt we wanted our own career as “Rain”. By the way our name “Rain” had to be changed because it had already been taken and registered with the music union, so we changed our name to “Shivers”.

Dakota Brown