Sunday, March 15, 2009 12:16 AM CDT
Making music has always come naturally to Camargo man
By Bonnie Clark, Features Writer
bclark@jg-tc.com
When Denny Long tears into a Jerry Lee Lewis song on the keyboard, there isn’t a foot that isn’t tapping anywhere within hearing distance.
The pounding beat, glissandos from one end of the keyboard to the other... “Goodness, gracious...” it could “rattle your brain.”
Lewis is one of Long’s favorite performers, along with “Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Elvis, of course. I liked them all,” he said. “The list goes on and on.”
Long, 65, of Camargo has been making music since he was a boy. A drummer first, he also plays keyboard, guitar and harmonica, and sings. And, he’s working on learning to play the violin.
“I grew up on rock ‘n’ roll,” he said. “I didn’t take lessons, but I put on those old rock ‘n’ roll songs and tried to learn to do what they were doing. It was much easier for me to play what I heard. That’s what I’ve always done. A lot of guys play that way.”
It’s obvious that music plays an important part in Long’s life, from the music notes on the iron gates and archway over the drive at his farm home on the east edge of Camargo.
Along with the notes, the arch features the words “Long’s Pride.”
“The ‘Pride’ is actually for Charlie Pride,” Long said. “I happened to think of him when we were building the house in 1981 and looking for a name for the place.
“Pride played the Arthur County Fair in 1972, and Conway Twitty was there in 1973. That’s how I got to know them both. It’s been a while.
“When entertainers came for the fair, I helped take care of them, showed them around, things like that, and once in a while, when they were warming up, you might get to play something with them.
“Not a lot,” he said. “Very little, actually, but it was a big deal to me. It was a nice experience.”
Although he can’t read music, Long’s ear for music allows him to play just about any song he hears.
The idea didn’t work out so well in high school band, however.
“To be honest, I got kicked out of band. I was playing drums and I wanted to play a little different style than we were supposed to play. I wanted to play what sounded like what I wanted to hear.”
Long began playing with his first band, The Demons, in 1965.
“There were four of us,” he said, “Jim Craven, Larry and Chuck Taylor and me. We played Mattoon, Sigel, Effingham, Paris — just towns around the area.
“Then in the late 1960s, early 1970s, we had a band called Three Jacks and a Jill. That was my uncle John Long and his daughter, Cathy, who was the drummer, and Larry Taylor.
“We didn’t play too much in the spring or fall, because a couple of us were farmers and didn’t have time during farming season,” he said.
Long sometimes plays bluegrass during the summer months with a group that gets together Monday nights at the Arcola Civic Center. He is also a member of the praise band at Victory Church in Camargo.
There have been other bands that have come and gone, Long said, “but now it’s jam sessions more than anything.”
Jam sessions take place on Thursday evenings, usually in Long’s garage or at the home of one of the other musicians.
Most any Thursday night finds Long jamming with original band member Jim Craven of Oakland, rhythm guitarist and singer, and his son, Tony Craven, lead guitarist, both brick masons at Eastern Illinois University; Tom Rennels, rhythm guitarist and singer, a plumber at EIU, and his son, Chris, both of rural Charleston. Chris, a mechanical engineer for a company in Champaign, plays bass and sings.
“At one time or another, everybody used to play in their own band,” Rennels said. “We still play with other bands some, but none of us does anything serious.”
The group does play an occasional benefit or party, and will be playing March 28 at the American Legion in Newman. But mostly they get together every week for the joy of making music.
“It’s therapy,” Rennels said. “You can play for three hours and not have any idea how much time has passed. You’re just thinking about the music.”
Rennels, who also plays lead guitar, mandolin and dobro, said he also learned to play by the listen-and-learn method.
“I play a lot of things, but I’m not a master of any of them. As far as sitting down and learning to read music, none of us did except Tony. It’s just something you have a feel for,” he said.
Rennels, 52, said he bought his first guitar on Lincoln Avenue in Charleston as a young man.
“They were selling guitars out of a semi. I got one, sat down with a chord book, learned three chords and started singing.”
Rennels said he is still learning. “When you play with other guys, you learn something all the time. It’s always challenging.”
Among his favorite musicians are Merle Haggard — “He’s my favorite” — George Strait and George Jones.
Long said one instrument he’d give anything to play, the banjo, has thwarted all of his attempts.
“It was the hardest thing I ever tried,” he said. “I worked on it three or four months, but could never get it where I wanted it.
“I don’t think I ever will. I’ll just stick to the other stuff.”
Contact Bonnie Clark@jg-tc.com or 238-6847.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
