Day the "Chase" music died in Jackson County

It's in southern Minnesota.

My recent writing about Jackson County reminded me of a tragedy from music history. So it's pop music or to be more precise, jazz-rock. A cutting edge performer in the field was Bill Chase. He played his trumpet in big bands like Woody Herman before forging his own identity. Not sure he really became a household name. I was sure rooting for him. 

I was not present for the one time he played in Morris. The concert made one impression, according to the people I talked with later. "Loud!" Well it was fashionable in those times of the early '70s. Music was "cool" if it was loud. This in the judgment of my boomer generation. 

Seems strange: wanting to hear live music or a recording played so loud, it was uncomfortable to listen to. Bill Chase had sensitivity to the prevailing standards. So he "cranked it up" with the volume in his appearance in the early '70s. We might have forgotten how a premium was placed on sheer volume. 

Legend has it regarding the Chase performance in Morris, about half the crowd left during a break, so off-put they were by the volume. Such a shame because Chase's artistry was top-notch. He had carved out a new type of sound with a unique instrumentation to boot. 

Trumpets! Yes this group was a celebration of the trumpet. Nothing subtle about the instrument! This was Bill's "axe." He had a full trumpet section with him. The group had a vocalist that fit right in with the gravelly sound of some top male vocalists of the time. Think Kenny Rogers along with the group "Blood, Sweat and Tears." But "Chase" was not really derivative. 

Jackson County was where it all came to an end. I wrote about the place recently because of our Morris boys basketball team playing Jackson County Central in the section tournament. The game was in fact for the section championship. And the game was played down south too at Southwest State in Marshall. 

Our basketball team alas came out on the losing end. So the JCC Huskies advanced. And in state they lost to Albany, in fact got demolished by Albany. (Albany too is the "Huskies.") A major irony or surprise is that our Tigers had beaten Albany in the regular season. Go figure comparative scores. 

 

Bill Chase's third album

Tragedy 

Bill Chase was working on a fourth studio album in 1974 when he was en route to a performance at the Jackson County Fair. Shudder, his name was added to the list of musicians who were ill-fated because of plane travel. His life was taken in a crash of a Piper Twin Comanche. Bill was 39 years old. Three of his group members were on board and they died too. So did the pilot and co-pilot. 

 

Innovation in music 

The "Chase" group had its start in 1971. Bill established a style that had pop, rock and blues. Four trumpeters were featured and they often played "cascading notes." Truly that was the trademark. If there is one tune you are likely to remember, it is "Get It On." Our high school jazz band in Morris under John Woell even played this. Why, I believe yours truly was in the trumpet section so I can tell you where the auditorium was. It was the auditorium of our old school which no longer stands. 

Chase's trumpet players were capable singers and they arranged music. The group's instrumental makeup was considered unorthodox. On came G.G. Shinn as vocalist. Del Sarlette and yours truly had the opportunity in 2007 to meet and talk with Shinn at a Chase reunion event in St. Paul. I'm happy to recall that my fellow 1973 Morris High School graduate Mike Eul was at the performance too. Actually I gave Mike the "tip" on this. Mike played trumpet and was quite enamored with Chase back in the day. 

The reunion concert included "alums" of the group who were not on the plane that went down. The group did total justice to Chase's vision and standards The performance was at the Minnesota Music Cafe in St. Paul. "Where the food is great and the music's always cookin.' " 

 

A mega story 

And it might have been a joy all the way around. But there was a major tragedy in the Twin Cities that night. This was when the bridge fell into the Mississippi River. It was a major story but it did not dampen the reunion. Del and I called home upon arrival to assure our family members we were OK. We did not cross the bridge in question. 

Jane Sassenfeld (nee Larson) who was a '73 MHS grad like Mike and I, had some serendipity that may have saved her life. But the musicians in the Chase event seemed totally focused on their music revival mission. This you can sense from the event videos on YouTube. Del, Mike and yours truly were seated just a few feet from the stage. 

Overhead TV screens gave us the live picture of news coverage of the bridge disaster. It commanded all media attention. Of course we couldn't hear anything because of the concert! So you might wonder, was this performance annoyingly loud like (considering the legend) the long-ago event in Morris? Well I would say no. There was a real sense of climax when the group concluded with the hit "Get It On." Talk about cascading trumpets! It was a signature sound, indeed. 

Cover of the first (vinyl) "Chase" album

Why did my generation feel it so important or "cool" to have music set so loud? (This was years before the expression or joke "take it up to eleven," popularized by the faux group "Spinal Tap.") Well, when I was young the capacity of "stereo speakers" to generate high volume depended on the money you were willing to spend. "Loud" speakers with a minimum of "distortion" were a status symbol! You had to spend money and then impress your friends with the loudness. 

Remember the talk about "woofers" and "tweeters?" 

As the years passed we got the "unplugged" movement which was a withdrawal from full-on volume. Music did not have to be loud, it just had to be good. Makes too much sense maybe. I think the advent of CD quality sound meant a lot. Just relax and listen to perfect quality sound and forget about the volume. I remember buying a Paul McCartney "unplugged" CD. 

 

Oh my, "what if?" 

What would Bill Chase have done as the years passed? Jazz fans can get engrossed in the question. He had genius quality. He could not complete his fourth album but others came along to do it for him. Without Bill the album had no meaningful potential. But it was a labor of love, done on principle. Of course we could cry as we wonder how Bill would have packaged it. 

And then, what musical ventures would have lay ahead for him? Death is absolute finality. Just like with John Lennon leaving us. Before him, Buddy Holly and others. Amen to the wisdom of the late John Madden of football: "Just stay on the ground." 

I was up on a small plane just once with a well-known crop-duster guy. I was with our Morris newspaper and I took the short flight with some female pork royalty candidates. So I took a photo to give a little "pub" (publicity). In those days pork royalty was assumed to be female. I do remember the pilot's name: Gary Oleen. Obviously there's a system where the doors are securely locked! 

Remember when our U.S Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife died in a plane crash? I remember being at Quinco Press in Lowry when news of that broke. We can all imagine the horror of the final moments. 

 

Enjoy, don't emulate! 

Bill Chase played the trumpet in a way that you would not encourage for high school kids. The style is often described as "scream trumpet." And who was more famous with this than Maynard Ferguson? Chase played in Ferguson's band for a time in fact. And I heard Maynard and his band at Southwest State in the early '80s. 

I have cited the coincidence of the bridge collapsing on the same night as the Chase reunion concert. Here's another coincidence that goes further back: On the day of the plane crash, Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, August 9, 1974. I was in St. Cloud at the time. 

The 1974 "Pure Music" album included the tune "Run Back to Mama," judged so misogynistic by 2007 standards it was not considered for the reunion concert (according to scuttlebutt I picked up). Society evolves. Which is why, the movie "Revenge of the Nerds" seems to have all but disappeared. But what about the old Native American stereotypes in Western movies? 

 

left to imagine 

What would Bill Chase be doing today? What would John Lennon be doing today? Jim Croce? Time is money for pop musicians - air travel is tempting. We saw the Hank Williams character in the movie "The Last Ride" arrange a risky small plane trip. Plane flew just above a storm. The actor Jesse James played Williams' driver, remember? At the end, Hank bequeathed his Cadillac to the young man. Fred Thompson played Hank's manager.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com