ROCKABILLY MUSIC has an
obscure but interesting history in the Pacific Northwest. Because a number of
small local recording studios were actively cutting sessions with
numerous country/western musicians, it was inevitable that a few hot rockabilly sides
would be released. Many of these were one-shot novelty efforts by players who
probably could be found at the local grange hall on Saturday nights performing
a much more straight style of country music – but rock music was beginning to
sell, so they gave it a shot.
Clayton Watson and the
Silhouettes, however, rocked from day one.
Formed in 1957 in Lewis
County the band was comprised of six teenaged greasers: Clayton Watson (vocals,
drums); Roger Jeffries (guitar); Norm Lindscott (piano); Carroll Hill (sax);
Randall Watson (sax); and Gary Elsey (bass). Contacted recently, Clayton Watson
recalls: “We played all over the Northwest. And we played all the time…because,
see, it was new. And even though I was a nobody,
just the fact that I had a rock band could get a crowd.” The DJs at Seattle’s
giant KJR radio had begun throwing a few teen-dances and when they booked the
Silhouettes, the band was hyped as “The
First Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the State.”
It was likely around April
1958 that the band booked time at Portland’s Northwestern Inc. recording studio
and cut a couple original tunes. Then Watson decided to form his own record
label – one that would be named in honor of the garish color of his hotrod:
Lavender Records. As an early example of rock ‘n’ roll’s vaunted do-it-yourself
indie spirit, their single “Everybody Boppin’” / “Tall Skinny Annie” sold like
hotcakes at their dances, but failed to garner radio airplay.
But the band did catch the
attention of the region’s top dance/concert promoter, Pat Mason who began
booking them on tours all around the Northwest. Watson’s memories are of the
primal days of Northwest rock: “I can remember Paul Revere coming up to a dance
– he was younger than me by a couple of years – and he said he wanted to start
a band, and how did he go about it? [laughter] Here he [later] made millions
and I play weekends! [laughter]"
As it happened, Pat Mason
had begun handling tour logistics for numerous stars, and the Silhouettes
benefitted. During a time period when Gene Vincent’s Bluecaps had disbanded and
Mason was managing the singer (while he lived locally), Watson’s band backed
the star at many shows. “We traveled with names like Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill
Haley and his Comets using my group either as a backup for the name or
traveling along with the name band.”
It was in 1959 that the
Silhouettes were spotted by Tacoma big-band leader Art Mineo who doubled as a
talent scout for Golden Crest Records, the New York-based label that were then
enjoying the success of Tacoma’s Wailers who had scored a national radio hit
with their instrumental tune, “Tall Cool One” (Billboard #36). The label
was interested but suggested that the Silhouettes record only instrumentals.
Oh, and a name change would also be in order. The band – which by this point
had undergone several personnel changes – finally settled on: Lord Dent and the
Invaders. Lord Dent? “Well,” explained
Watson, “my nickname was ‘Dent’ because I had two accidents in my car.” Golden
Crest’s subsidiary label, Shelley Records, soon released the Invaders’
two-sided classic: “Wolf Call” / “The Greaser.”
Playing all those gigs while
backing the stars over the years had additional career benefits for Watson: “I
developed friendships with some of these people and I got calls to work steady
on the road as a drummer, with like the Bluecaps, Buddy Knox and the Rhythm
Orchids, and Bobby Freeman. I made my living that way for about two years.” It
was 1963 when Watson retooled by forming a new band, the Trends and began
working the Las Vegas scene for several years. After returning home, the Trends
morphed into a country band whose current lineup includes Watson; his son Kevin
(keyboards); Ken Thomas (guitar); and bassist David Shriver (formerly with
Eddie Cochran, Donnie Brooks, and Trini Lopez).
[Note:
This is an edited version of an essay that originally appeared in the “Northwest
Music Archives” column of Seattle’s The
Rocket magazine back in November, 1983.]
Text copyright © 1983, 2014 by Peter Blecha.
Text copyright © 1983, 2014 by Peter Blecha.