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| Three members of Don and the Wanderers display their record produced in 1967 and the Belding sesquicentennial calendar which features their picture. From left, Jack Peterson, Robert Thompson and Don Thompson. |
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10/1/2007 9:57:00 AM
Groovy Guys
Belding rock band was big in the 1960s
Diana Henderson
Staff Writer
Music, entertainment and showbiz were once a part of five Belding area men's lives while they were still in high school.
Don Thompson, 55, of Belding, started playing the six-stringed guitar when he was 11. It was shortly after that, that his brother Robert Thompson, 57, of Belding got involved in music.
"He started and then I sold my motor scooters to fund buying a bass guitar and amp," said Robert Thompson, now a Belding city councilman.
The two brothers first formed a band called The Flying Mustangs and eventually formed a band called Don and the Wanderers in 1964.
Don Thompson played lead guitar and the other members provided the rest of the instruments as well as the vocals.
"Don's a really good lead guitarist," said Michael Bresnahan, who played bass guitar. "He's just got flying fingers. I just sit there and listen to him. It was nice playing when we were all teenagers. We'd do two or three sets in a row with no mistakes or anything. That was kind of cool."
The band started practicing in the family room of the Thompson's house and continued to do so throughout the seven years of the band's existence.
Jack Peterson, drums
Jack Peterson, 54, of Belding, played the drums. He got his first drum set as a gift from his parents at age 14.
He took lessons and ended up in the band.
"I learned fast enough that they picked me up, tried me out," Peterson said.
Michael Bresnahan, bass guitar
Bresnahan, 56, who is originally from Grattan and now lives in Everett, Wash., said his family owned a ski slope and getting into music wasn't his idea. Bresnahan played the bass guitar.
"My mom kind of forced me in it," Bresnahan said. "We were skiing all the time. She was trying to break me away from that. She bought me a guitar and an amplifier."
She also signed him up for music lessons with Robert Thompson at Ray's Music in Belding.
Bresnahan first played for a small band out of Grattan called Davy James and the In Men. He got involved with Don and the Wanderers when Don Thompson saw him play at a battle of the bands.
Bresnahan already knew Robert Thompson from guitar lessons and became a member of the band when one of its bass players went off to college. Bresnahan was in ninth grade at that time.
"I thought it would be fun to go on the road and play all of these bigger venues," he said. "The Beatles had a lot of influence on everybody. Everybody wanted to be like the Beatles. It was exciting."
Dave O'Brien, keyboard
Dave O'Brien, of Grattan, was also a member of the band and played the keyboard. He was killed in a car accident in 1971.
Russ Thompson, manager
Don and Robert's father, Russ Thompson, was the manager of the band.
"My dad thought it would be something for us to get involved in," Robert Thompson said. "He was the one who did most of the marketing."
"He knew where we were at," Don Thompson said. "We were focused on the activity and practiced during the week too."
Robert Thompson said that the money he earned from playing in the band helped to fund his college education.
"We treated our band as a business. We were in it as a business," Robert Thompson said. "With our dad being our manager he made sure we were on time. He negotiated the contracts. But for us it was a wonderful experience and because most groups in high school were making a third of the amount of money that we made. I think Bob Seger was only making $100 more a night than we did."
Bresnahan also has fond memories of Robert Thompson's father.
"He always dressed impeccably in three piece suits he wore for all of our gigs. He looked like Cary Grant," Bresnahan said. "Just being around him, he taught us professionalism. He liked being out and in that type of show biz. We felt like big showmen."
Different music, a common sound
Don Thompson said his parents helped them by providing them with equipment at the beginning but they bought nearly everything else with their own money after that.
"Basically what we made in performing pretty much paid for our equipment," Don Thompson said.
The band played all different types of music.
"We just pretty much did copies of everybody," Don Thompson said. "Back in the 1960s it was pretty much top 40 one-hit wonders. Whatever was popular on the radio usually we had it.
Don Thompson said that his dad had a unique ability - he was able to listen to the radio and pick out a song that would become a No. 1 hit two to three weeks before it actually climbed the charts.
"That's what set us apart," Don Thompson said. "He bought the album and by the time it was No. 1 we had it ready."
Making the rounds in Michigan
Don and the Wanderers performed concerts almost every weekend as well as a couple nights each week in the summer.
"Pretty much every weekend might mean two nights in the same town or different towns," Robert Thompson said. "My dad might drive three hours to get us home."
The band traveled throughout Michigan playing at high schools and teen centers.
"Back in the 1960s there were a lot of after-game dances," Robert Thompson said. "We probably played every city from the lakeshore to the lakeshore, Bad Axe, Battle Creek, Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Whitehall, just about every little town that had a high school."
Bresnahan said they also played at Ferris State College (now Ferris State University) in Big Rapids for fraternity parties.
Fronting a legend
Depending on the type of venue the band played Don Thompson said they had a crowd of between 100 to 200 people for each show.
"People liked what we did back then," Robert Thompson said. "You had to have a lot of horsepower. You had to have big amps, things that we invested in that gave us the ability to go out and reproduce that sound."
A major highlight for the band came on Aug. 3, 1969, when they opened for hard rock legend Alice Cooper.
"He had just became nationwide," Don Thompson said. "A lot of people thought Alice Cooper was a girl singer. They (Alice Cooper and his band) were a wild bunch. We were at the Cobra in Hastings and Alice came in they just brought their guitars and amps and drums. We played our set. They set him up at one side of the building we were on the other side."
Getting their own record
Another big accomplishment was professionally recording their own record.
"(That) was kind of the era when local bands competed in Grand Rapids," Don Thompson said. "A lot of times, the first prize was a recording deal."
So, in 1967, the band won a contest and found themselves in Cleveland, Ohio, recording their very own record.
"I was 15 at the time," Don Thompson said. "It was huge to actually be making a record."
Don Thompson said that they ordered 500 records and sold more than 400 of them.
Looking back at all the fun
Perterson said that by being in the band he learned to enjoy life.
"Whatever you enjoy doing don't hesitate," Peterson said. "Go out and do it."
Robert Thompson said that he learned that even though people may wander off for a while they usually come back to their home roots.
"For me travel is an easy thing," Robert Thompson said. "Doing that early in life I've been to Europe, South America, many different countries. Just being able to get up and go. It makes you appreciate all of the travels you did. I lived away from Belding. I enjoy being back. At home you have a base some place."
Being part of the sesquicentennial
A picture of Don and the Wanderers was featured in the Belding sesquicentennial calendar during the month of July.
Robert Thompson said that back then, he would have never imagined that he would be on city council now.
"It's interesting, when you look at the calendar you see the first page of me sitting mayor pro tem and the activities of the city for the betterment of the city," he said. "Back in the 1960s that was antiestablishment. Even through we had long hair we had a certain upbringing. We didn't vary from that."
Robert Thompson said that since the band members had long hair there were certain places that they had to avoid but his father pretty much kept them in line and they didn't have any major incidents.
"Speaking for myself we are very honored to be a part of the sesquicentennial," Robert Thompson said. "Being a part of this calendar means a lot to us. The committee spent a lot of time researching. By all means for them to remember us from our days as the local rock-and-rollers really means a lot to us."
Moving on
Don and the Wanderers disbanded in 1972. Don Thompson said that everyone wanted to go different ways so they had to break up.
Peterson went into the tool and die trade and is now retired from that occupation. In the past he volunteered with the Belding Labor Day committee and has helped organize parades and arrange talent shows.
Bresnahan went to school for electronics technology and then got into an apprenticeship and became a certified electrician. He now works on commercial buildings, such as doctors' offices, hospitals and dental offices.
Don Thompson sold music equipment for 10 years and now is marketing and selling his own musical invention - a B-string bender for the electric guitar. He served on the Belding Labor Day committee for 33 years until 2003.
Robert Thompson graduated from Ferris State University with an associate's degree in tool and die and product design. He now works for Negri Bossi USA Inc., a producer of injection machines based in Milan, Italy. He currently serves on the Belding City Council as mayor pro tem.
Bresnahan, Peterson, Don Thompson and Robert Thompson said they all have fond memories of their days with Don and the Wanderers.
"I couldn't imagine life without music," Don Thompson said. "We played every weekend for so many years."
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Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Maria Lindenthal
Finally!!!! I have been holding onto this picture since 1967 with two autographs of the guys on the left. I have been wondering about them for a very long time. All I could remember about them was that I saw them at the zoo on stage outside. The only song I remember was Light My Fire. I went with my girlfriend and her mother and I remember she had to drag me away when i was trying to get all the signatures. So thanks for writing about these guys.When I was at the Record show last month I was asking if anyone knew about them. This one guy said he would like to buy it from me but I couldn't part with it without finding anything about them after all these years of holding on to it.
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