I went to his Wiki page today and it’s light.
How did he end up going from Chicago and meeting the crew, etc.
Maybe it’s in Skydog? If so let me know and I’ll go back and re-read it.
Berry joined The Romans which backed up Tommy Roe who was a national act at the time. They crossed paths with The Jokers out of Indiana which Dickey was in. Dickey and Berry became friends real fast and decided to put a band together in Jacksonville called The Second Coming. They chose the name because a club owner thought Berry looked like Jesus.
You probably know the rest of the story. Duane and Gregg played on the same bill as Dickey and Berry and when Duane tired of studio work at Muscle Shoals he wanted to steal Berry for a 3 piece band Phil Walden wanted Duane to do. Walden introduced Duane to Jaimoe. That 3 piece band evolved into the ABB
http://www.berryoakley.net/raymond_berry_oakley/
The following is an account of Berry's formative years in music, according to my friend Brian Paul, who is originally from Chicago and now lives in Dallas.
"Berry was one of the original hot licks lead guitar players in the Chicago area back in the '60s. His band, The Shanes, and my group used to play many of the same venues. Since my band was comprised of guys a year or so younger than Berry and his guys, we often were the warm-up act," he said. "Berry used to play a forest green Strat through a 2 X 12 Sears Silvertone amp back then, and it sounded great!
"As the band gained popularity in our area, they got to play with some pretty big name acts of the time, including the Byrds. One group they played with a lot was Tommy Roe's backup band, the Roemans. This is where Berry got his first big break. The Roemans' bass player was drafted, leaving a void. Berry's band was playing the warm-up show for them at Westwood Junior High in Park Forest, Illinois when he found out about the impending departure of their bass player, and volunteered to take his place. The only problem was that Berry did not play bass! So he pressed into service the talent of his good friend and former bass player, Jim May. Jim was the guy who got Berry playing bass. He coached him for about two weeks to get him going. Berry then dropped out of Rich East High School and went on the road with the Roemans. The rest is history."
Lots of good info here:
Whoa, never saw this photo before
Nice.
Lots of good info here:
Whoa, never saw this photo before
And their drummer, Bertie Higgins, later found fame in the US as a solo artist with his 1981 hit song Key Largo . . .
https://southerngaragebands.com/Roemans.html
😮
