Tony Martin - Clease/Blight (PT.1)
At one point in time Tony had some photos of the groups(s) in an envelope, but was buying a car and had left them in the old car he was trading in. When he remembered he went back, but the pictures were not there and no one knew what happened to them.
“Story Of A Phoenix Rock Band”
(1965-1975)
For high-school graduation in 1964, I got an electric guitar and a small amp. I had 5 years of classic piano lessons and 3 years of high-school mixed chorus and was ready to learn how to play a “cool” instrument. After two weeks of throbbing fingers, the guitar went into the closet. A year later I tried again, taking my guitar to the recreation room at Encanto Park in Phoenix. There I met Danny Cotterman, who also played guitar. Barely playing bar chords, we pushed each other, practicing 3, or 4 hours every day. I had it easy, growing up and Danny had it rough. i was book smart. He was street smart. I had to think things through. Danny was spontaneous and charismatic. We added Carol, a girl drummer and Terry, who had a bass guitar and amp. Four months later we made $40 playing at a CYO dance. Danny and I plugged two mics and both guitars into a 40 lb. National Amp. We sang 3, or 4 song. The rest were non-vocals like “Walk Don’t Run”, “Pipeline” and “Wipe Out. Terry, the bass player couldn’t play and sing at the same time.
When he sang “Gloria” he hit the E-string over and over. Danny and i changed band members several times. We were now the singers playing covers of the radio and then I’d scribble down words and chords. Danny would figure out his own style on lead guitar for the sings. Danny sang the rougher sounding songs like “House Of The Rising Sun” and “I’m A Man” by the Yardbirds. I sang the mellow ones like “White Bird” by its A Beautiful Day and “Just A Little” by The Beau Brummels. We played semi-regularly and in battle-of-the-bands. Our first group, The Metallics kept running into The Earwigs, who later became Alice Coooper. Vincent Furnier (vocals), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Glen Buxton (lead guitar) were Earwigs and recorded Alice Cooper’s first hit single “Eighteen”. Our group and the Earwigs sounded ok, but were still at garage band level. Both groups auditioned to play for dances at St Thomas. They won the audition, 3 votes to 2. Danny and one of their guys exchanged insults. When we got outside, Danny said “we’re gonna fight them. I’ll take the biggest guy.” After a star down with Vincent (Alice) trying to be a peacemaker, a priest came out. “Break it up. Everybody go home.” So we did. On April 27th, 1968 I saw my first live convert featuring Country Joe and the Fish and The Buffalo Springfield. I saw Jimi Hendrix twice and just missed seeing The Doors. My girlfriend sold our tickets! Two years later I returned to Phoenix.
“Clease and Blight”
Danny and I put together a new band, Clease. The name came to Danny in a dream. Over the years we used different combinations of amps and PA’s. Vox, Fender, Ovation, Kustom and Masrshall. Danny’s favorite guitar was a Vox Continental Baroque double keyboard organ and later a Hamond B-3. I’d play one set on rhythm guitar and the rest on keyboards. Sam Schattenberg became our drummer. Sam was from Scottsdale and was the drummer Knowbody Else/Black Oak Arkansa from 1967-1969. He toured throughout the South and East. We put an ad in the paper for a bass player. Mike Powell didn’t look the part, but he could play. He played in country bands. With his hair slicked back, he’d wear a cowboy shirt and bola tie. Clease was now complete. A converted garage with layers of carpet and egg carton walls was our practice space. Danny had beceome a pretty good song writer. In 1972 we recorded tow of his songs, “The Weird One” and “Naturally” at Audio Records, the largest studio in Phoenix. We wanted some air play at least a little. Using Billboard Magazine I mailed copies and band information everywhere, record companies, publishers, booking agents. Alice Cooper even got a copy, we didn’t receive a response. Two years later we had our second recording session at Audio Recorders.
Bass player Mike Powell got a girlfriend and moved on. Danny, Sam and I regrouped. I played keyboards, exclusively. We added a bass player, Terry Faith and a second guitar player, Ken Brown.We named the band Blight combing the words black and white. Terry came from the San Francisco area. He recorded exclusively at Cruz Records Studio, played at Filmore West and was a member of The Count 5, who recorded “Psychotic Reaction”. Ken was raised on Kalamazoo, MI, toured and was friends with Mark Farner (GFR) and Cubby (Brownsville Station). Both were solid musicians. Ken Played led guitar was a performer and front man. In ‘74 we recorded three of Ken’s songs, “Wounded Knee”, Free and Easy”and “Education”. We had the sound track for a fourth song, but no melody, or words. Eventually I added a melody and words. “Shane” became song #4. Our recording time was 8 hours plus 4 hours of mixing. Again, we didn’t have much luck publicizing our records. We a signed a contract with a local manager, played some more and then went our separate ways.
“The After Years”
After Blight, I played with two excellent musicians, Bruce Herring on lead guitar and Dave Macaluso on drums in Eli Knife. We played covers of BOC, Captain Beyond and Deep Purple. A year later I went solo singing and playing my Ovation Custom Legend guitar. I used a Compu-Rhythm for a fuller sound. In the mid 2000’s I played for several years at an Italian restaurant. That was fun. Performing stopped when I became caregiver for an ailing parent. I still have the Hammond B-3, play the guitar occasionally and the piano a lot. Sam Schattenberg lives in Scottsdale. We’ve lost touch and I’m still in contact with Danny. He continued playing music and has a guitar collection. I’ve lost track of the others. My favorite memories go back to the early days at Encanto Park. Danny and I would sit in a circle with a group of friends. Then we’d play our guitars and sing. It was a tome for friends, music, and dreams of the future.
Dakota Brown
