Dale Anderson's Gusto stories

  Doing lunch with a man on his way to becoming one of Nashville ’s most successful songwriters.   Nov. 25, 1977 Gusto feature story A New Tunesmith             The first thing you want to ask a guy named Even Stevens is what’s his real name. Stevens, sitting in front of a Bloody Mary in Sebastian’s Restaurant on Main Street , says he isn’t telling. He’s not telling his age either, but anywhere in the upper 20s is a good guess.           Those matters out of the way, Stevens proves to be a most personable kind of fellow with a sunny, slightly wacky sensibility. Maybe that’s why he’s starting to do so well as a songwriting collaborator in Nashville .           He’s in Buffalo to wrap up a promotional swing through Upstate New York, the first place outside New Orleans where his debut album, “Thorn on the Rose,” has gotten attention.           His co-authorship on Eddie Rabbitt hits like “Drinkin’ My Baby off My Mind” introduced him to the country music stations. What made a

  When Dwayne Hall wanted to make his Sportsmen’s Tavern the honkiest, tonkiest place in town, this was his inspiration.   Nov. 18, 1977 Nightlife Belle Starr             The countryside hath charms. Nobody knows it better than a city dweller on the run from industrial perfumes, photochemical sunsets and the expressway grand prix. One of Buffalo ’s blessings is that the urban sprawl doesn’t go on forever. Hop in the car and drive for an hour and you’ve left the tract houses far, far behind.           Pastures, streams and woodlots seem to have a salubrious effect on concrete-choked sensibilities. So do fresh air and the absence of ambulance sirens and the fact that all the stars are visible at night. Roll it all together and you’ve got a natural high.           That’s the magic that starts to work on visitors to the Belle Starr in Colden even before they hit the door. Nestled among the rolling hills and happy hollows 25 miles south of the city on Holland-Glenwood Road off Ro

  A last-minute bail-out on a show in Memorial Auditorium on Oct. 17 seriously raised the hackles on local fans.   Nov. 11, 1977  If the Star Fails to Show           The show must go on. But not for Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, Jerry Vale, Marvin Gaye, Aerosmith, Patti Smith, Raquel Welch, Queen or the Band. All of them have burned their Buffalo backers out of their bookings during the past two years. Sometimes it’s not their fault. Patti Smith’s equipment truck broke down near Schenectady . But too often it is.           “Most groups that are on the road now can make the money whenever they want to work,” says a man who deals with promoters and groups here regularly. “They’ll say, ‘Hey, book something else for me. I’m tired. The point being, any time they want to work, they can make $50,000. They can do it at their convenience.”           That certainly seems the case with Rod Stewart. His Oct. 17 no-show at Memorial Auditorium left 10,000 ticketholders in the lurch. Why make

  Hometown heroes make good. Really, really good. Nov. 11, 1977 From the Clubs, Onto a Record             The city’s most successful jazz-rock group, Spyro Gyra, has issued their first album on their own Cross-Eyed Bear label and, for many followers, it should be a signal to catch them quick. They won’t be around town much longer. This quintet is going places.           Part of the first pressing has gone to record companies and producers. It’s hoped that a major label will buy this debut and reissue it. As for Spyro Gyra, it’ll be their ticket to ride. They expect to be touring.           The 10 all-instrumental compositions by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein and keyboardman Jeremy Wall form a concise and stunningly smooth portrait. Executed almost entirely at Mark Studios in Clarence with musicians that Beckenstein and co-producer Richard Calandra know, it disproves for once and for all the myth that nothing first-rate can be recorded here.           There need be no apologie

  A few minutes on the bus with a musical master.   Nov. 11, 1977 Albert King’s Blues Still Lookin’ Good             The blues are alive and well and touring out of East St. Louis – no, make that Brookfield , Ill. – in the person of Albert King. The left-handed guitarist’s Memphis recordings on Stax in the ‘60s (“Born Under a Bad Sign”) put funk into the blues. Whenever he pulls his converted Greyhound bus up to the door, as he did at the Belle Starr in Colden last month, it’s clear that here’s one legend who’s still in the making.           A big, affable bear of a man, he’s 53, but looks 10 years younger in his dark blue leisure suit, hat and photogray lenses. He returns power handshakes and thumbs-up greetings as enthusiastically as his young white listeners offer them.           “I take the month of January off,” he says as he turns on the heater in the bus. “Other than that, I keep running. But I don’t mind it because I enjoy playing for the kids. I get a kick out of

  A celebrity visit takes me into New Yorker “Talk of the Town” mode.   Nov. 4, 1977 Debby Lights Up St. Mary’s Pupils             “They think you’re like Elton John,” says the woman who invited Debby Boone to St. Mary’s School for the Deaf. The teenage students hang out the windows above the limousines in the courtyard and throng about the door, chatting excitedly in sign language.           For the young, previously unknown singer whose “You Light Up My Life” has been America ’s favorite record for the past four weeks, this will be the fifth of six stops in a whirlwind promotional tour of Buffalo Thursday. Furthermore, it’s the only one that doesn’t directly involve the music business.           It already had been quite a day. Before she even left the Sheraton Inn-Buffalo East, it had started. A phone call to Pittsburgh and deejay Jim Quinn. She’d eaten her health-food breakfast in the white limo on the way to WKBW.           “I’ve never seen so much commotion or pr

  Sometimes record reviewers just wanna have fun. Nov. 4, 1977 It’s Quiz Time             Get your pencils, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. It’s mid-term time in the fall record album semester and today we’re having a little multiple-choice test. First of all, who said multiple-choice was their favorite kind of test because they already gave you the right answer? Was it Brenda Lee, Johnny (Guitar) Watson, Ted Nugent or Robert Klein?           Right – Robert Klein. Who also happens to be the only avowed comedian in the bunch. Now in this test, you go play multiple choice in your friendly neighborhood record store. Instead of 100 points, imagine there’s $100 in your pocket. Of course, you’ve got to take away 7 percent tax. And there’s our $15 mandatory Robert Klein special above, which leaves you with $78 to spend. Each of the following questions is worth $6:           1. Every hit sound and voice seems to bring back its predecessors. Which late ‘60s hitmaker is staging a