6.14.2011

THE ODYSSEY IN ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN: JON CAMPBELL

My friend Jon Campbell (former mgr Odyssey)

Jon Campbell: Bar manager and sit-in drummer with several bands at THE ODYSSEY; as well as drummer for GIBRALTAR and briefly for SATIVA (tried to replace Robby Stawinski--what was I, or they, thinking!?!)...

THE ODYSSEY, 208 West Huron Street, Ann Arbor was in my opinion the hottest club in the early 1970's. It didn't last long at that address of 208 Huron St. Lot's of different businesses tried to do business in that location. The Whiffletree restaurant came in after the Odyssey and it was a great place to eat. Sadly it burned to the ground as it was almost completely made from wood. RK



Bobby Craig was married to Ann Arbor scenester Mique Burnett-Craig. Mique had a hair salon directly west of the Odyssey/Whiffletree. Miq wanted to rent me the upper level for my Nail Salon. Something fell through for Miq and the owners of the building and she left. I stayed upstairs for 2 years. RK

Ya gotta remember... Kimmer, this one night in 1972. It was also after we moved the stage to the front--put the bar staff more in the mix that way! (I remember when the stage moved up front)

WALRUS was a cool band, but didn't have the out of town (Detroit, Toledo, Lansing, Flint, etc) drawing power of THE ROCKETS, GUARDIAN ANGEL/LIGHTNIN', SATIVA (with Robby Stawinski before he went with Badfinger), SRC, SKY KING/NEW HEAVENLY BLUE, MOJO BOOGIE BAND, RADIO KING, DETROIT, LUTHER ALLISON (!!!)--I could go on & on (and I really should start compiling a list), but it's getting late and, as Scott R used to sing, "You get the picture..."

These are all locals (I didn't include a few of the pics--and didn't "tag" some that I did include--and way too many are no longer with us on this planet) but these "in the trenches rockers" made THE ODYSSEY their home on a nightly basis...Hey, It's Only Rock 'n Roll!!!

BTW: I've already gotten a lot of response on this from band members (Rick Jacobi of Sky King, members of Walrus, etc.)

NOTES:



WALRUS: This band came down from the U.P. and were really popular with the locals at the bar. Randy Tessier (bass) is now with George Bedard & The Kingpins (along with Richard "Radio King" Dishman)

Al Goode: Was my best friend and former business partner (up into the early 80s). He's still a very good friend. His "claim to fame" was a band called OURSELVES (managed by Jack Ashton) (I am interviewing Jack Ashton for tomorrow's RK) and they opened for The Jefferson Airplane at the Grande back in the day. He was also the assistant manager of THE ODYSSEY...

DOUGH STOUGHTON: Member of Jim Tate's MOJO BOOGIE Band (along with Donnie Backus [ROCKETS], Steve MacKay [STOOGES] and Bill Lynn). Also toured with WOOLIES & CHUCK BERRY. Spent way too much time at THE ODYSSEY...

LEONARD POISSON: Was an ODYSSEY regular. He still does hair someplace in Detroit...

JOANNE SCHUMEYKO: On-Air talent (DJ) at WCBN, wait staff at THE ODYSSEY and currently with JWT Broadcasting & Talent in The Motor City. A good girl and a good friend to this day...



Enjoy, Kimmer...

THANKS JC XXOOK

5 comments:

Jon "Tropical Jon" Campbell said...

Nice job, Kim!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this! I went to the Odyssey too! I knew Booby and Mique and was on Mique's baseball team. Leonard Poisson who is still a friend of mine cuts hair at a shoppe in Kerrytown. Thanks for the memories Kim!

Cheryl Sinclair

PattiO said...

Neil told me I was the manager. Ha Ha! I guess I was just a front for you guys. No matter, we all had fun. I remember Yvette and I hard boiling eggs at home to sell at the bar. I remember one of the guys flipped the pool table one afternoon when his quarter wasn't honored. All I could do was declare the pool table closed! I remember seeing a chair fly through the air from the stage area toward the bar area one night(when the stage was in back). Soon the bar itself was rocking back and forth, and I had ducked down behind it - and survived! What an education. Best music in town at the time, and I was living with musicians who agreed. Yes, it lives on in me, too.

Jon Campbell said...

PattiO: Neil told you what!?! That is curiously funny, but as you said, it really didn't matter (Although OFFICIALLY Al & I ran the joint when Neil owned it and after that, when it was sold, we went along with the deal!)--We all had fun there just about all the time! That night of the real major brawl was classic--Bill Lynn (Mojo Boogie Band) commented on it to me recently, as a matter of fact! Yep best crowd, crew, drinks, music and diversion in A2 at the time!

Anonymous said...

Jon, Great photo of you on this blog. It's how I remember you!!
I played Lead Guitar with Jon in Gibraltar and Sativa in the 70's.
floated around the US and overseas since then and I am now in California putting together another band project here. However, my favorite memories were when we rehearsed in your basement in Ann Arbor, Dale Fox

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