Former Odebolt Residents Inducted into the
2007 Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

GARY JOHNSON -- Gary Johnson (Odebolt-Arthur Class of 1964) was inducted into the Iowa Rock & Roll Music Association's 2007 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony held Sunday night, September 2, 2007 at the Roof Garden in Arnolds Park, Iowa.  Read some anecdotes, and Gary's music biography (courtesy of the Iowa Rock & Roll Music Association) below the photos,

CHARLES FERGUSON AND MIKE PETERSON -- Also inducted into the Hall of Fame was The Fifth Generation band, with Charlie Ferguson & Mike Peterson (Odebolt-Arthur Class of 1968 and 1969 respectively) as former members.  Read about The Fifth Generation at www.iowarocknroll.com

The Fifth Generation
Photos courtesy of Mike Peterson.  Click each picture to enlarge it..

Photo of the Fifth Generationtaken in the O-A school multipurpose room in late 1968 / early 1969.  Charlie Ferguson, Steve Volk, Mike Peterson, Mark Brenny and Bernie Gronstal (Volk, Brenny & Gronstal are from Carroll)

Poster of the 5th Generation Bernie Gronstal, Mike Peterson, Charlie Ferguson, Steve Volk and Mark Brenny

Photos from the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
awards ceremonies held Sunday, September 2, 2007,
Courtesy of Gary's brother, Al Johnson.  Click each photo to enlarge it.

Al Johnson's autographed copy of the program	Gary Johnson accepting his award	The IRRMA awards ceremony was held Sept. 2nd at the Roof Garden  in Arnolds Park, Iowa.
Under the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame sign.	Gary at his display table	Audrey Mandernach Bettin looks over Gary's shoulder as he signs his autograph.  Jim Howard, far left, attended with his wife Jesse.  Judy Fineran Meyer and Jane Johnson (Al's wife) are in the background. Arlene Howard Lange, Richard Lange, and Kathy Morkin were also at the event.
Gary Johnson sitting in front with Odebolt Class of '64 classmates that made the trip to Arnolds Park to surprise him.  Directly behind him are Carol Clark Zoffka, Virginia Mandernach Branson and Judy Fineran Meyer.  In back Bonnie Girvan Ekse is at left, then Ron Grove and Allan Christiansen.		Front, l to r: Noni Johnson, Judy Fineran Meyer, Carol Clark Zoffka, Virginia Mandernach Branson, Cathy Christiansen, Allan Christiansen.  Back:  Gary Johnson, Bill Meyer, Donavon Zoffka, Bonnie Girvan Ekse, Jeanie Grove and Ron Grove.  Standing on chair in back, Dick Ekse

ANECDOTES FROM GARY JOHNSON

After the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Gary Johnson shared some stories from his musical career, ranging from hilarious to poignant.  - Bonnie Ekse

Gary's first "gig" was at a bar in Lake View, Iowa, when his friend told bar patrons that Gary could play his guitar with one hand. They didn't believe this was possible, so the friend retrieved Gary's guitar from the car and Gary proved to them that he could indeed play with only his left hand. He returned to the same bar several times to entertain the patrons, each time drawing a larger crowd. He wasn't paid by the bar owner, but she was more than happy to sell the beers his fans presented to him. Gary recalled one night when he counted 70 beers set out in front of him!

Gary's first paying gig was at a bar in Sac City, Iowa. At the time he didn't know enough songs to fill up a night, and he scrambled during the day to learn new songs for that evening. This was a paying gig, and the bar owner gave him a raise every week.

Once Gary was hired to sing and play at a birthday party. The honoree entered the room, the guests shouted "surprise!", and Gary began leading the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday". However, he was seated on a stool on a makeshift plywood stage, and a leg of the stool fell into a crack between two pieces of plywood. Gary and his stool fell backward off the stage. Fortunately, he wasn't injured, and he righted himself and his stool and resumed playing. The party-goers were so focused on the birthday honoree, and were singing with such gusto that they hadn't even noticed Gary's mishap and the interruption in his music!

Gary has seen many examples of the unifying power of music as a universal language. Once as he played for a group of senior citizens, a disheveled man entered the room and began behaving erratically. He obviously made the audience uncomfortable, and they tried to ignore him while Gary continued his performance. However, when Gary began singing "How Great Thou Art", this man joined in. The audience warmed to this odd man and soon accepted him as a member of the group.

Gary particularly remembers a performance at the Tommy Dale Home in Sioux City, Iowa. The residents there all had severe physical handicaps, but Gary noticed one boy in particular. He was carried out by the staff in a blanket and was laid on the floor to listen to the concert. He was perhaps about twenty years old, but was only about three feet long. Gary wondered how in the world this boy could derive any benefit from his music; yet as he played and sang, he looked down and saw a small foot moving in time to the music. Gary was profoundly touched, and to this day there is a catch in his voice when he tells the story. And you could hear a pin drop in the room.

GARY JOHNSON BIOGRAPHY

Courtesy of the Iowa Rock & Roll Music Association

Odebolt native Gary Johnson is a unique performer. He was stricken with polio as a boy and lost the use of his right arm. In spite of this limitation, he developed a way to play the guitar.

He tunes his guitar to a D chord (D-A-D-F#-A-D) and frets bar chords with his index finger and strums the strings with his little finger or ring finger. He also plays the electric bass guitar with one hand "by percussion", that is, fretting the guitar string forcefully enough to produce the bass note.

His professional career as a vocalist and guitarist began in 1967 and he continued to perform in supper clubs, dance halls and other venues until 1984. He did 150-225 performances a year in Iowa, eastern Nebraska, southern Minnesota, and eastern South Dakota. Most of those performances were done as a solo act, with the exception of three outstanding years when his brother, Dean Johnson, played with him. Many of the venues he played had a dance floor such as Cobblestone Ballroom in Storm Lake or Lakewood Ballroom in Lake View, both great Iowa ballrooms.

Several factors allowed him to be accepted as a "dance band". First, his guitar style was very rhythmic. Secondly, he used an electronic "drum machine", and designed a foot-controlled console that allowed him to control the tempo and volume of the rhythm. And third, he favored songs with a strong backbeat, such as the classic songs of Chuck Berry.

As time passed, he had more opportunities to do concerts rather than dances and clubs. His repertoire then expanded to include more ballads, folk, and country style songs. For this type of material the open tuning guitar was too limited, so he taught himself to play guitar in standard tuning. He then used a double neck guitar which allowed him to switch between open and standard tunings. Some of the highlights of those years: Cedarwood Publishing in Nashville, Tennessee published twelve of his original songs in 1972.

During the late '70s he received a grant from the Iowa Arts Council to spend the summer performing in various facilities that do not normally experience live music. He did concerts at Handicapped Village in Sheldon, Florence Crittenden Home in Sioux City, Hope Haven in Rock Valley, Iowa Home for Boys in LeMars, New Hope Village in Carroll, Tommy Dale Home in Sioux City, Faith Hope and Charity Home in Storm Lake, and the Senior Center in Sioux City. When the project ended, he was invited to do a concert in the Capitol Building for then-governor Robert Ray.

When he was in high school, he went to dances at Lakewood Ballroom in Lakeview, only a few miles from his home in Odebolt. Years later he became a regular performer there. The ballroom, which dated back to the 1920's, was destroyed by fire in 1975. He was one of many people who were saddened by the loss of this landmark. This led him to write and record a song, "The Last Dance at Lakewood", which was sold as a single throughout the area.

In 1980 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Iowa Committee on Arts for the Handicapped. He was also selected by the Iowa Arts Council to do concerts as part of their "Solo Artist" and "Artists in the Schools" programs. In 1980 he received two grants to do concerts in Iowa schools. He did 10 concerts in the Waterloo area high schools, and later 10 more concerts in Bettendorf area high schools.

In 1982 the Iowa Easter Seals Society selected him to receive the "Personal Achievement Award" for demonstrating "extraordinary achievement in adjusting to a severe physical disability".

He recorded five singles and two albums that were sold "over the bandstand".

In the early '80s, he began doing concerts in churches. He received such a strong response to these programs that in 1984 he decided to attend seminary at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo. During his years in seminary, he did concerts and programs in churches throughout western Missouri and eastern Kansas. He also produced an album of original material entitled "Songs of a Seeker". Following graduation from seminary in 1987, he worked for three years as a chaplain at Baptist Medical Center in Kansas City. In 1990 he took a position as an addiction counselor at Baptist Medical Center where he worked until 2004. He continues to do occasional performances in the Kansas City area and special events in Iowa.

See all the entertainers that have been inducted into the
 Iowa Rock and Rock Hall of Fame
Iowa Rock & Roll Music Association

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