The Smoke Ring (band)

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The Smoke Ring was a rock band from Norfolk, Nebraska active in the 1960s. It was formed from two previous regionally popular rock and roll groups, Little Joe & the Ramrods and The Strollers.[A] They had strong regional success but charted only one national hit, 1969's "No, Not Much".

Little Joe & the Ramrods

"Little Joe" Hupp, (guitar, piano) founded this group in the early 1960s, and had some success playing throughout the Midwestern United States. They recorded a single in Oklahoma, "B.B. Limbo" b/w "Yogi Twist", released on Soma Records; a second recording session, in Minneapolis, yielded "Somebody Touched Me", "Hurtin' Inside", "Oop Poo Pa Doo", and "We Belong Together".[1] The Ramrods split up over a disagreement, at which time discussions with members of The Strollers picked up.

The Strollers

The Strollers had originally formed in 1959 and played mostly local events into the early 1960s.[2] Among its members were Little Joe's brother, Bob Hupp. In 1965 the group lost its drummer and decided to merge with Little Joe & the Ramrods into one group, which they would rename The Smoke Ring in 1966.

The Smoke Ring

Their first national release was the single "That Girl Was My Girl" on Mala Records in 1966. Starting in 1967, they expanded their lineup to include more

bell bottom trousers.[5] They disbanded in 1972; that same year, Little Joe Hupp released a locally produced full-length, Heavy Metal Whale, under the name Smoke Ring, which did not feature any of the band's previous members. The members, Mike Smith, guitar and vocals, Mike McKern, drums and vocals, Ralph Goldhiem, keyboards and vocals, Joe Lalich, bass and vocals, Scotty Hastings, drums and vocals. This song was recorded at Shue records engineered by Garth Fundis in Nashville. The next band, were some of the members (including lead vocalist Tommy Shaw) continued under the name MSFunk in 1973, basing themselves out of Chicago.[6]

The group was inducted into the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame in 1995, and has regularly reunited for regional concerts since then.

MSFunk

Smoke Ring guitarist Keith Goins put together the last version of The Smoke Ring in September 1971. At that time, all he had left was drummer Danny Keller, so he nearly had to start from scratch. Lindy Gallaher (bass player from "Isaac" in Kansas) was the first to arrive, along with Colin Keefe (trumpet and lead vocals) and Mike Ragatz (trombone) from another regionally based horn band, "The Chancellors". Lindy suggested two other members from "Isaac": Robert Orr (keyboards and trombone) and Larry Stewart (trumpet, sax, and flute). The new players moved into Kings Ballroom (owned by band manager Joe Hupp) and put an entire show together in three days. Six months later, the band moved to Memphis, soon hired Tommy Shaw, and not long after that changed their name to MSFunk. MSFunk members later became members of

Le Roux, and Shaw Blades
.

Members

Little Joe & the Ramrods
The Strollers
  • Chuck Asmus - drums, vocals
  • Pat Wead - guitar, vocals
  • Jerry Benjamin - guitar
  • Bob Hupp - bass, vocals
  • Jim Casey - guitar
The Smoke Ring
  • Jerry Benjamin - drums, guitar (1966–1967)
  • Tom Benjamin - drums (1966–67)
  • Jim Casey - saxophone, guitar ('66-'70)
  • Dave Dohren - trumpet ('66-'70)
  • Bob Hupp - guitar ('66-'69)
  • Little Joe Hupp - keyboards ('66-'68)
  • Nick Hupp - bass ('66-'70)
  • John Schrad - saxophone ('66-'68)
  • Chuck Asmus - drums, vocals ('66-'68)
  • Roger Volk - drums ('68-'71)
  • Greg "Bosco" Goodman - keyboards ('69-'71)
  • Ron McClure - trumpet ('68-'69)
  • Mike "Pinky" Semrad - trumpet and guitar ('68-'69)
  • Steve Dahl - vocals
  • Jon Hischke - saxophone
  • Garth Fundis - vocals
  • Keith Goins - guitar, vocals ('70-'72)
  • Colin Keefe - vocals, trumpet ('71-'72)
  • Danny Keller -drums ('71-'72)
  • Tommy Shaw - guitar, vocals ('72)
  • Lindy Gallaher - bass ('71-'72)
  • Robert Orr - keyboards, trombone, vocals ('71-'72)
  • Mike Raggatz - trombone ('71-'72)
  • Larry Stewart - trumpet, sax ('71-'72)
Transition to MS Funk
  • Keith Goins - guitar, vocals ('72-'74)
  • Danny Keller - drums ('72-'73) ('75-'76)
  • Lindy Gallaher - bass ('72-'76)
  • Colin Keefe - lead vocals, trumpet ('72-'74)
  • Robert Orr - keyboards, vocals, trombone ('72-'76)
  • Larry Stewart - trumpet, flute, sax, vocals ('72-'74)
  • Chaz Baker - trombone, vocals, electric piano ('72-'75)
  • Tommy Shaw - guitar, vocals ('72-75)
  • Fergie Frederiksen
    - vocals ('75 -'76)
  • Mike Borch - drums ('73-'75)
  • Richie Mayer - guitar, vocals ('75-'76)
  • Bobby Piatt - vocals ('75-'76)

Notes

  1. ^ Not to be confused with the other band called The Strollers, who saw chart success in Malaysia in the late 60s and early 70s.

References

  1. ^ Little Joe & the Ramrods, Nebraska Music Hall of Fame. Accessed November 2, 2007.
  2. ^ the Strollers, Nebraska Music Hall of Fame. Accessed November 2, 2007.
  3. Billboard Magazine
    . Accessed November 2, 2007.
  4. ^ The Smoke Ring, Nebraska Music Hall of Fame. Accessed November 2, 2007.
  5. ^ Interview with Mike Semrad. Accessed November 2, 2007.
  6. ^ The Smoke Ring at MyFirstBand.com. Accessed November 2, 2007.
  7. ^ "Joseph Ferdinand Hupp August 02, 1941 - May 09, 2020". mogro.co. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
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