The Cryan' Shames concert at Rory's Music Cafe, February 16th, 2001
 Pics By Marlene O'Malley

The Shames PicsThe James Band Pics

Well, we are still recovering from this great Cryan' Shames concert which also had ,The James Band (James Fairs) on the bill. We met James at the motel and got to watch him and his group rehearse, and we got a sneak preview of his new CD which was to be for sale at the concert tonight with The Cryan' Shames, with fifty percent of the proceeds to go to Isaac's Guillory's family. We also met James's drummer Casey Dean , a Philadelphia native, who relocated to Sarasota,Fl. 2 years ago. Casey, who has been a drummer all his life, played blues prior to meeting James and co-wrote the song "The Mud" which appears on the new CD.
Gregg Voorhees, A Lombard ,Il. native and their Bassist, first met James at The Blue Village in Westmont when James was with The Cryan'Shames. He moved to Bradenton, Fl. in 1976 when James was touring with Gregg Allman and linked up with him again 20 years later. A bassist forover 39 years, Gregg played classical music for the Chicago University Symphony, and was in the band "Human Race" (Lombard ,Il.). Gregg, an incredible bassist with a strong background in Jazz, has a Music Ed.degree and is a recording engineer in Bradenton, Fl.

We arrived at Rory's early and got to visit with James and group while they set up and did their initial sound checks. They rocked on their practice during set up, and James radiated the aura of a professional musician, a product of a life time of performances across the country. His professional seriousness showed even while setting up,deeply in concentration about the night's strategy .Though suffering from the flu, the show was to go on. This was business and James wasgoing to deliver. We got a preview of what was to come with a few of his songs from his CD. James also teased us with Sunshine Psalm that he had written earlier while he was a member with The Cryan' Shames. James did the guitar music for this song which is posted on this web site. He hasn't lost it after all of these years, it was incredible.

Rory's Music Cafe, located at 701 W. Lake St. in Addison, Il.features various Chicago 1960's bands such as The Cryan' Shames, The Mauds and The New Colony Six along with newer area groups. Rory's rolled out the red carpet for us, and their pizza was out of this world! Rory's is a fairly large place with a sports theme, and their food is excellent.

James, a serious musician, expands his seriousness to his everyday life .When asked how he can keep up the rigorous pace, he discussed how you must remain active to the extent that you are challenged to prevent your slowing down and becoming complacent. Exercising your mind by continually learning new things, and tolerating no laziness from yourself helps keep you fast. He also emphasized the importance of a proper diet.

Tommy Otto with The Cryan' Shames was the next to arrive, and announced that Jim Pilster (J.C. Hooke) was on his way, with Jimmy arriving shortly afterwards with his conga drums. Jimmy set up his Congas to warm up with James and did a great Conga drum solo. The Crayon' Shames were to perform tonight , followed by The James Band .Jim Pilster gave the Home Page concert update info. for the Events page which is now posted. Jimmy was deep in thought organizing the concert details, while Paul Wood meticulously set up the band's equipment and Jim Nudd did his sound checks. Paul Wood and James Fairs worked together to resolve a technical difficulty with the equiptment.

We took The James Band back to their motel room and Marlene O'Malley, G.L.O.R.I.A. Knuth,Alan Dawson (drummer from The Cryan' Shames Synthesis album) were there with the rest of the Shames when were turned.We visited with Alan while Ron Brandt and Tim Rutter were tuning their guitars, and Rocky Penn and Larry Covney were visiting with friends.The Shames were going to perform before a packed house tonight with standing room only and it was one half hour before showtime!.

The James Band warmed up prior to The Shames's performance with awesome guitar and Bass licks bordering on Jazz. Ron Brandt visited with us and showed us some CDs from prior bands that he was with. Rory's had a dim lighting atmosphere which complimented what was to come.

" LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE CRYAN' SHAMES"!


The Shames were especially tight tonight with their opener of 1st Train To California with Larry Covney on main vocal, and Rocky Penn on 2nd vocal, and their songs which followed. Greensburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith and Jones featured Tim Rutter and Rocky on vocals.If I Needed Someone, featured Larry on main vocal again and great mixolydian guitar work by Ron Brandt. Next. Jim Pilster mixed with the audience during Mr. Unreliable to the audience's delight, with Paul wood singing the main vocal. The Band had great harmony!.

The Shames received a great reaction from their audience with enthusiastic cheers, applause, and fans screaming " Jim Pilster, Ron Brandt, Paul Wood, etc.". This was one of their best performances!. The Shames did various Chicago sixty's covers along with their remaining hits.

Jimy Rogers from The Mauds joined the Shames in performing "Hold On" with an excellent job on the main vocal. Marlene and Gloria hit the dance floor on this one!. The Mauds were the house band for The Cellar in the 1960's, and frequently performed with The Shames. Jim Pilster and Ron Brandt had the waitresses dancing with Jim's Conga solo and Ron'svocal on "I'm A Man". Paul Wood was wearing a guitar tie tonight complete with frets and tuning machines which didn't escape notice from the audience. Up On The Roof followed with great five part harmony, and the main vocal by Ron, who later told us he had an even better version to present at a future date.


Next, James Fairs joined the Shames for It Could Be We're In Love with a great guitar intro, and vocal from James ( Larry did the mainvocal), and Sugar And Spice with more great five part harmony by the band and guitar licks from James Fairs and Ron.This was a great finale!.


THE JAMES BAND


Tonight was their Chicago area debut, and James Fairs's new Techno-Blues band from the Bradenton, Florida area was off to a great start with a awesome guitar intro on Teen Spirt. James showed a powerful stage presence, deep in concentration on each individual note played. Man, you could feel the emotion with this song!. James performed their songs from his new Techno- Blues Sampler CD .James did an Irish song (in Dorian) which had the audience dancing "River Dance" steps led by The Danzman. Living In The USA was strong, forceful and penetrating. Jim Pilster joined James on Congas for this song, and they rocked the place!

Fantasy Girl Had the waitresses dancing again and Casey did agreat job on drums. James's slide guitar on Come Back Virginia was awesome, and we saw why Gregg Allman chose him to play slide guitar with his band. James's "Johnson" guitar was tuned to "G". He earlier gave Pat a slide guitar lesson at the motel, and explained how a light touch is needed to play slide .Believe me, it isn't as easy as he makes it look! Voodoo Child had a great intro with Jimmy P. playing Congas which wound up the waitresses again. James by himself is a one man show with Gregg and Casey complimenting him.

The Cryan' Shames and James Fairs gave autographs after the concert was over, and visited with their fans.

We joined James and his band back at his motel room for Pizza and avisit before turning in. We had the fore sight to get a motel room, and there was no way we were driving home at 3A.M. Jim Pilster kindly invited us to attend their concert the next day, but Barb and Pat were shot (Worn out) !, Marlene and Gloria attended and covered this great event. We are gonna have to take James Fairs's advice on how to keep up with the Chicago crowd.

With the 2001 concert season opening they rocked the place!.

The Cryan' Shames Home Page Staff:
Marlene O'Malley, G.L.O.R.I.A. Knuth, Barb and Pat Malott and guest Alan Dawson