Rockin' In A Wooden Shack
Ann Brewer and the Flames
Century Recording Corporation of Dodge City, Kansas
Master Leasing Division
Audtion Copy
Copyright 1965
Discography:
22409 Side 1 - Walkin Down The Street
22409 Side 2 – Rockin’ In A Wooden Shack
22410 Side 1 - Low Down Blues
22410 Side 2 - Frustration
There was an interesting post from a member of the early Flames posted years ago to a yahoo group dedicated to the Kansas music scene. I saved the message at the time, unfortunatly omitting the poster's name.
Yahoo has long since removed all those groups where one could exchange messages on all kinds of topics. Archive.org kept all those messages, but navigating them is quite complicated; you have to download huge files and process them in some way before you can at last access a specific group.
Here is the post :
Before there was an Ann Brewer and The Flames, there was The
Mossmen ... a three piece group consisting of Tom Moss on bass, his
brother Frank(?) on lead, and me on drums. Tom sang and we did a
lot of Chuck Berry covers with wailing guitar and even "steps". We
were playing the Catacombs in Lawrence when this cute little
brunette started working behind the counter upstairs at the pizza
joint. Her name was Ann Brewer and she caught Tom's eye ... as
well as other significant parts of his anatomy. He decided he had
to "get me some of that". The next thing we knew she started
showing up at rehearsals. Well, that's when Frank(?) quit. I
guess he didn't like the idea of playing backup to a GIRL. So, Tom
started playing lead, we hired a bass player named John Malone,
stuck Ann up front and changed our name to Ann Brewer and The
Flames. We played a lot of James Brown covers ... hence, "The
Flames" ... which Ann covered quite credibly.
Ann was a natural screamer. She was a true original. And a
trailblazer. To my knowledge, she broke the gender barrier for all
rock bands in this area and probably for many, many counties
around ... perhaps states. For that reason alone, she deserves to
be in some Hall Of Fame.
We never played the Kansas Circuit. The Catacombs was
our "home". But, we did play the Yuletide Tea Dances at The
Muehlebach Hotel. At one Tea, there was some showboat guy up front
dancing his ass off, doing the splits, and screaming the words to
every song Ann was singing. It was Michael "Spanky" Landis. I
guess he saw Ann and decided he had to "get me some of that" ... and
he didn't mean Ann. He became an avid groupie over in Lawrence and
we even let him sit-in a couple of times. The next thing we know,
he's holding a trumpet and fronting Spyder and The Crabs. And I've
gotta ask ... did he ever really play that trumpet? I always
thought it was just a prop to give him something to do when he
wasn't singing ... or doing the splits. I don't think I ever heard
one note come out of it.
We also played RanchMart Auditorium a couple of times. I remember
wearing a gold and pink Nehru jacket. What a world!! In the
audience was this skinny little blond-headed punk named Jimmy
McAllister. I guess he heard us and decided he had to "get me
some of that". He didn't mean Ann, either. But, I understand he
was more impressed with our volume than anything else. He gives
the Ann Brewer group credit for inspiring him to get into the biz
and for that I will be eternally proud. Because, I was the loud
one. Everybody else had to play over me. Weren't all drummers
like that?
Post-Catacombs, we started playing the TeePee quite a bit and went
in search of another lead guitarist. One of the guys we auditioned
was this hulkingly sweet gentle giant of a kid that played just like
Frank Plas. His name? Ed Toler. I wanted to "get me some of
that". But, Ann and Tom didn't care much for him. And, despite
my adamant protestations and several adjectives referring to their
taste and intelligence, they didn't hire him. I would have loved
playing with Big Ed. That was a big missed opportunity for me.
(Sigh).
I don't remember why I left Ann Brewer. It could have had
something to do with nepotism. She married Tom Moss and started
putting the rest of her family in the band. First it was her
sister, Dede, on backup vocals. My good friend Paul Dahlstrom
took over my drumming duties for awhile, but that job eventually
fell to her brother, David. The recording of "Rockin' In A
Wooden Shack" that Bill has (thanks, Bill) was recorded in Dodge
City and Paul thinks it's David on drums. It sure isn't either of
us. I don't know what happened to any of them or even if they are
still alive. If anybody does, please pass on the info. I'd
really appreciate it.
Ann Brewer (now Crosta) and her group, The Flames, were a Kansas rock 'n' roll band started in 1962. They performed throughout the Midwest during the sixties. Later they were based in Las Vegas and then moved on the Los Angeles. In 1973 Ann suffered a mugging resulting in damaged vocal chords and the end of her singing career. She then began to teach dancing in California. She was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
