Heaven From '57 The Rockin' and Rollin' Clutch

By Wayne J Trosclair

Heaven From '57 The Rockin' and Rollin' Clutch is a must read for all musicians from garage bands to touring veterans to relive or dream about the trials, tribulations, and fun times of life on the road in a rock and roil band. The legendary 50's and 60's rock and roll showband Clutch started out in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1974. and during their 40 years of touring they traveled all over the USA, parts of Europe, and the Middle East spreading joy and fun times to all who attended their shows. Their unique stage show consisted of beautiful harmonies, tight musical arrangements, animated choreography, and hilarious comedy skits. They were inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2012. 

This book tells the complete story of the showband Clutch from the beginning to the end and all points in between, of the highs and lows, happiness and sadness of the realities of life in the entertainment business.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wayne J Trosclair
• Release date: Dec 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223121565

Wayne J Trosclair

Wayne J Trosclair was a member of the Clutch Show Band from 1984 to 1993 with subsequent appearances in 2001 and 2009-2010. He was the guitarist and his stage name was Jumpin' Johnny Flame. His musical career encompassed more than 40 years and included playing in 50's & 60's show bands, Southern Rock bands, and traveling the USA, Europe, and Asia with National and International Broadway Shows like Smokey Joe's Cafe, Fame, and Grease with Frankie Avalon. He recorded in such renowned studios as Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, La., Muscle Shoals Sound in Sheffield, Al., and the old Capricorn Studios in Macon, Ga. He was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2012 with Clutch and again in 2014 with the Southern Rock band JJ Muggler. He resides in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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HEAVEN FROM ’57  THE

ROCKIN’  AND ROLLIN’ CLUTCH

WAYNE J TROSCLAIR

HEAVEN FROM ’57 THE ROCKIN’ AND ROLLIN’ CLUTCH

Copyright © 2023 Wayne J Trosclair. All rights reserved.

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Cover Design By: Awan Designer@dexpert30 at Fiverr.com

Proofread By: Lyndell Wilson

This book was self-published through Barnes & Noble Press

First Edition: December 2023

This book is dedicated to all of our family, friends, and fans who made this journey possible

And to our fellow band members who have gone before us.....’til we meet again on that big rock and roll stage in the sky.....

Foreword

My name is Robert Hudson, a.k.a. Bosco Motsifeni. I graduated from Lee High School in 1971. I think that one of my favorite classes was choir. From the 7th grade through the 12th grade my voice coach was Drew Shaw and he helped me to develop this love for four-part men’s harmony. 

I always envisioned myself, one day, playing music on the big stage, to huge audiences, in some fancy costumes, in some huge venues.......... well folks...... 

From the MGM GRAND in Reno to the Mill Hill Club in South Yarmouth, Mass. From the Golden Rock in Orlando to the Evangeline Club in Ville Platte, Louisiana.  From the Playboy Club in St. Petersburg, Fl. to the ARAMCO compounds of the burning sands of Saudi Arabia....it happened!!!

We met so many awesome people on the road and learned so much from these life experiences.   

One of my favorite quotes came from a fantastically talented Holiday on Ice show comedian that I met during my travels. His name was Lito Italiano. With Lito’s heavy South American accent, he put it this way..... Show business is no easy. 

If you didn’t LOVE what you were doing, the 24/7 stress and pressures of the road would eat you alive, and you wouldn’t last very long. Ya had to live it and really LOVE it!!! 

My other favorite quotable quotes came from one of our agents, Babe Bellagamba.  He said #1 - Don’t put your business in the street. And #2 – Don’t put your male part  in the cash register (when referring to dating club waitresses, female club bartenders, and female club employees). 

Yep, some good fatherly advice!

This book was written so that all of the adventures, creativity, band humor, and stories of life on the road could be shared with those in our audiences, as well as the rest of the world.  Lots of what we did may sound unbelievable, but I can attest to its authenticity. I was there for the first 12 years or so..... 

So one day in 1972, I got a phone call from one of the founding members, Randy Rudolph Walsh, and the rest of the story, of how this band came together, and stayed together, is Clutch HISTORY!!

And that’s what this book is about.....

Robert Hudson

Prologue

The audience was appreciative and receptive at the Shriner’s fundraiser on that warm summer day in Montgomery, Alabama. As the band went out to perform their encore little did any of the fans know that they were witnessing the last song.....the swan song.....of one of the greatest 50’s show bands that was ever assembled, spreading laughter, feelings of joy, camaraderie, and good old fashioned rock and roll all over the US, parts of Europe, and the Middle East for nearly 40 years.

But how did this grass roots band of rogue musicians, gypsies, and highwaymen get their start? How could such a phenomena transpire? How did a band aspire to become bigger than the sum of its individual parts? To know the answers we have to go back in time.....way back.....

Two Louisiana cities were responsible for the beginning of this musical journey:

In Baton Rouge the elements of the rural blues of the Mississippi Delta shaped the sound of the area and captivated young would be musicians. The emergence of many local entertainers such as Johnny Rivers, Buddy Guy, John Fred and the Playboys, just to name a few, also shaped the diverse musical sound of the area. It was in this rich cultural element that 4 high school kids were influenced by their Choir Director to form an acapella group.

90 miles down the Mississippi River, New Orleans was a stocked catfish pond of great musicians.....as a child your parents took you to the Mardi Gras parades and in the distance you could hear the rhythmic beats of the marching band’s drum corps long before they appeared. There were great local musicians and songwriters like Allen Toussaint, the Neville

Brothers, Fats Domino, Dr. John and dozens of others who would play in local clubs and festivals. On any given day you could turn on the TV and hear Dr. John singing the Popeye’s Fried Chicken commercial or Aaron Neville singing the Folgers and Cotton commercials.....music was instilled into your everyday lives.

So it’s not surprising that the local South Louisiana musicians would find a way to funnel this infusion of musical soul and forge it into some of the greatest entertainment entities of its time. This iteration of successful 50’s show bands got its start when these musicians took note in August of 1969 of Sha Na Na’s performance at Woodstock.

If the story of Clutch was all unicorns and rainbows it would undoubtedly be a pretty boring story. The reality of a band member’s life on the road was made up of enduring the many miles of travel, the bickering and disagreements, the loneliness of being away from loved ones and friends, and overcoming personal tragedies..... and then they would go out on stage and the drummer would count 1 2 3 4 to start the show.....then everyone would be brothers again.....that’s the true story.....having the energy and desire to go onstage every night and look like you are the happiest people in the world.....and to make the audience feel that way too.....that was the real magic of Clutch.

Some of the stories and personal accounts in this book admittedly seem far-fetched and might I say possibly a bit embellished, but keep in mind that memories fade and sometimes different members have slightly different recollections of the same stories. And of course we are dealing with very passionate, talented, and creative people here! But having been a personal eye witness to many of these stories I’d like to remind the reader of these two idioms: The truth is stranger than fiction and You can’t make this stuff up!

So with that in mind I hope that you enjoy reading the story of one of the most phenomenal show bands that ever performed.....ladies and gentlemen I present to you.....Heaven From ‘57.....the Rockin’ and Rollin’ Clutch!

––––––––

Wayne J Trosclair

Part One

1

1971-72 Lee High School

Lee High School was located near the banks of the Mississippi River and practically a stone’s throw away from the Louisiana State Capital Building; it was a bustling education center for the Baton Rouge area in the early 1970’s.   Burt Wilson had been running with a bad group of guys and so he joined his high school's choir to try to change the direction of his life. He recalls one day as he was walking to the choir room there was a bunch of guys waiting for him. Apparently several days earlier a couple of underclass students got beaten up in one of the bathrooms with a couple of miniature Astroworld baseball bats. Burt happened to be in the bathroom smoking a cigarette at the time and although he fled the scene before the fight happened, he was framed for it.     

The guys who got beat up had their friends on the lookout for Burt and that day they were waiting for him at the choir room door and started hitting him with their chains and bats. Luckily there was a guy named Crazy Harry who carried around a tear gas gun that shot little pellets of tear gas up into the air. He gave Burt the tear gas gun and he shot it up into the air and it dispersed a little smoke and tear gas. The crowd quickly scattered but the word was out around the school that he had shot somebody!

Burt was summoned to the principal's office and was locked in a closet. The bullies tried to break into the principal's office to get to him and the cops were soon called in to quell the situation.

––––––––

Burt decided it was time for a change and once he met the other choir boys....Randy Walsh, Bob Hudson, Steve Lackie, along with choir director Drew Shaw, he felt he had found his calling!

Drew Shaw had previously taught Burt and Bob in the 7th and 8th grades and now had them in high school. Drew was also a piano player and years earlier had played with former Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis who wrote the song You Are My Sunshine, so the musical heritage was rich from the very beginning!

Burt was blown away by what he heard and he joined the group right away. His mischievous friends ridiculed him for doing so and the next thing you know they also joined the choir!

1971 - 1972 – Original a Capella Group

Randy Walsh,   

Burt Wilson,  Bob Hudson,          Steve Lackey 

Randy Walsh recalls one of his memorable moments in the choir: We had a parent’s night where the choir was going to perform in the choir room and the parents were coming and Drew gave me the pitch pipe. So we’re all standing there in our blazers and he looks over at me and I’m standing there with 60 other people and Drew has his baton and all the parents are there and he looks at me and I guess I was supposed to hit the F on the pitch pipe. And he’s all poised with his baton and he looks over at me again and I just kept looking at him and thinking What? And the sweat started running down his face and I finally realized that I was supposed to give the  note with the pitch pipe!

Burt, Bob, and Steve soon joined the high school stage group called the Rebeliers which featured Drew Shaw on piano while they performed a Capella songs and did choreography. 

The guys originally decided to break away from the Rebeliers and start a country band but that idea didn’t seem to get much traction. Randy Walsh fell in love with Sha Na Na and in the summer of 1972 he decided he wanted to start a band like them. He called Bob and recruited him, Bob then suggested Burt, and Burt got Steve to join.

Surprisingly the 50's acts were not their biggest influences but The Beach Boys and the Beatles were, along with more vocal oriented groups like the Lettermen and the 4 Freshmen. Burt was the arranger of the harmonies and tried to mimic the sounds of those bands. The guys had good listening skills and were able to perform intricate harmonies.

Soon they moved Burt's piano, which he got when he was eight years old to Randy's house and they practiced three days a week on harmonies. They started going around to all of the member's houses and their parents would throw little parties, the guys would come out and sing a Capella songs like Earth Angel and Sha Boom and everyone loved them.

The four young vocalists soon got their harmonies tight and then decided it was time to electrify! They got an offer to practice at Bob's sister Becky's apartment complex at the pool on Saturdays and entertain the people there. So Randy brought his guitar, Burt played piano when they decided to haul it to the pool, and they had a bass player named Cletus who they nicknamed Skinny. Skinny wore glasses and was a born nerd but he had some PA cabinets and microphones and wanted to be in a band so they let him join because he had the equipment. Their first rehearsals did not go well, when the band was playing in the key of Bb Skinny would be playing in B!

One night they met a spirited socialite from Marksville named Claudia Normand who was a friend of Becky’s. Claudia was the life of the party and had a magnetic personality that everyone wanted to be around. She would bring a couple of her college girlfriends around and she had Cajun French names for them like Key sa dee which is Cajun French for How ya doing and another girl she called Hiker.

She had a nickname too which was given to her when she was a teenager.....her nickname was.....Clutch!

Ms. Claudia Clutch got the band their first club gig at a place called The Tiger Lair which was at the Tiger Plaza apartments in Baton Rouge. When she was about to introduce them to the stage she asked what their name was.....they all looked at each other and said Tonight we'll be you, we'll be Clutch.....and that's how the band name Clutch was born!

Soon after the band got rolling Bob befriended a local Baton Rouge artist named John Ramistella who would often visit a mutual friend who lived two doors down from Bob. John would give Bob advice about music, bands, traveling, etc. So how did this John guy acquire so much knowledge about such things? Well it seems that several years earlier John Ramistella had changed his name to Johnny Rivers! Again, the musical heritage ran deep.

2

1974 – 1976 The Original Members of Clutch

Wonderful Rudolph (Randy Walsh) – Vocals/Guitar,  Salvador (Burt Wilson) – Vocals/Keyboards,  Bosco (Bob Hudson) – Vocals/Saxophone,  Smackie (Steve Lackie)/ Turkey (James Bordelon) – Saxophone,  Skinny (Cletus Robinson)/ Ruben the Cuban (Craig Bajon)/  Francis T. Weatherbee (Kevin Mulvill) – Bass,  Lucky Legs (Travis Barnett)/ Ange (AJ Miceli ) – Drums,  J.J. Scaloppini (George Sexton)/ Pharaoh Earl Razzmatazz (Kerry Rees) – Guitar,    John Price/Tom Miceli – Roadie,  Alvin Cahall - Roadie

Randy Walsh left the band in 1975 to pursue other business interests    Skinny left in 1975 and was replaced by Ruben the Cuban  Ruben the Cuban left the band and was replaced by Francis T Weatherbee    Smackie left the band in 1976 and was replaced by Turkey  JJ Scaloppini left the band in 1976 and was replaced by Pharaoh George Razzmatazz    John Price left the band and was replaced by Tom Miceli

Lucky Legs was the original drummer but he was a heavy metal musician, when AJ Miceli got out of the service he joined the group in late 1974. He and Randy Walsh had been in a few bands together and he actually started out as the drummer for Clutch before moving to vocals and guitar.

Whew! If you need a scorecard to keep up with the changes welcome to the club!

______________________

Randy tells the story about Lucky Legs: "We had a drummer who was basically a rock and roll drummer, he had double bass drums, 15 crash cymbals, 35 ride cymbals, 12 hi hats, 19 tom toms, we couldn’t even see him, he was hidden behind this wall of brass and drums. We called him Lucky Legs and I wanted to get rid of him so bad because we were playing something like Silhouettes on the Shade and he had his double bass drums going diggada diggada diggada diggada! He was a straw, he was 35 feet tall and an inch big around and he was orange from that spray on tan stuff. He was just a bad fit for our style of music.

So AJ and I had been playing together all through high school and we had a lot of track records together. He was a year ahead of me and when he graduated he went into the Navy and wasn’t available otherwise he would have been the first person I called from a drum standpoint.

When AJ came back home we were playing at a fraternity party at LSU and I invited him to come hear the band. So we were getting dressed for the show in the restaurant part of the fraternity and somehow or other I ended up with all the knives and forks that the guys had stolen! AJ said that he would be interested to play so we got rid of Lucky Legs and he became the drummer."

AJ was good a good fit for the band because he had a lot of energy and vision, he and Randy both shared the same vision of where they were pushing the band. They went to South Park Apartments and used the rec room to retool, they divided up into sections, some of them had music, some had choreography, some had comedy, and some of them had wardrobe and they would come back and put it all together. AJ was really big in the retooling of the band.

They put together a Johnny Carson set, a Hank Williams set, a West Side story skit, and Bosco did an impersonation of Little Richard. When they came out of rehearsals they were going on a tour and they had an RV pulling a trailer and were all loaded up and the first stop was at the Wagon Wheel in Gonzales. So Clutch pulled in with this new set to perform and they were booed and the audience was throwing stuff at them! Randy remembers going into the dressing room during the break, All of our faces were gloomy and I remember us saying ‘do we forget it, do we go back and play Smoke on the Water?’ So we stuck with our show and that night we headed to Oxford, Mississippi and played in a cafeteria. We were in the kitchen getting dressed and the big question was ‘what are we going to do, our old show or our new show?’ We went out and did our new show and it was a resounding sensation and we never looked back. But had Gonzales tainted us, had we thrown the baby out with the bath water we would have never gotten into our comedy routines and that’s really where all the comedy began.

One of the first paying gigs Clutch had was at a club called Mike’s which was on Florida Blvd. in Baton Rouge. They were working for the door and when they made their first $100 total for the night they split it between all the band members. That came out to about $15 apiece but it didn’t matter, they were pumped, Clutch had become a money making venture!

Word quickly spread and the band played several other clubs in the Baton Rouge area like the Tiger Plaza Bar, the Holiday Inn South’s Showroom, and Smackwater Jack’s. For a more detailed list of the venues they played refer to the Tour Dates chapter later in the book.

They hired an agent named Alton Causey and soon expanded their list of nightclubs by booking engagements all over Louisiana. This was called the era of the Crawfish Circuit. Clutch played these clubs where hundreds of coon-asses would save their money for the weekend and spend it all in huge night clubs like The Southern Club in Opelousas, La., The Red Dog Saloon in Monroe, La. and The Texas Pelican in Vinton, La., just to name a few.

Their agent booked them in Gainesville, Florida at a club named Dub’s Steer Room which was a college bar with a huge stage. One night they shared the stage with a troop of actors and comedians called the Ace Trucking Company which starred future Saturday Night Live entertainers like John Belushi. Another night they shared the stage with a little known band at the time called Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!

Soon after the first gig at Dub’s they lost their agent and started booking themselves which led to greater progress in the venues that they played. A.J. left the road for a brief period so that he could concentrate on booking and managing the band. During this time he booked a trip to Anchorage, Alaska where the band played a six week engagement at the Ramada Inn Gold Rush Hotel’s main showroom. AJ rejoined the band for the Alaska trip and they also added Turkey on Sax and JJ Scaloppini on guitar.

The show room at the Gold Rush was packed full every night, not much entertainment went to Anchorage at that time and Clutch definitely had a corner on the market. There were some folks that would actually come and see them every night!  

One weekend while in Alaska they went to the University of Alaska and backed up the legendary Bo Diddley for a concert.

On one particular night a bus load of beautiful girls filed into the lobby of the Ramada Gold Rush Hotel. The guys thought Wow, what the heck!?!? These girls were skaters with Holiday on Ice and they had just spent 6 months in Central and South America. They were all nice and tan as compared to all of the Alaskan girls who were as white as the three continuous weeks of steady snow outside. 

Bosco recognized one of the skaters and realized that he had met her several years before, she was from Zachary, Louisiana. They cultivated a relationship and dated for ten years while they were both on the road, getting together every Christmas.....and they have been happily married for 38 years!

Things were starting to go well for the band; they were playing 48 weeks a year and only taking two weeks off for Christmas and two weeks off for Mardi Gras.

Later in 1975 the band started playing in newer clubs in Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida. Clutch performed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi and Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Fl.

By 1976 the original rhythm section for Clutch left the group and the band hired some musicians who were more jazz type players and didn't really enjoy playing 50's music. They soon grew tired of the music and the traveling and Clutch found themselves with only the front singers left in the band. 

The remaining members were familiar with another show type band from New Orleans named the Belairs and so they went to see them at a Mafia owned club called The Organization.....go figure!

3

The Bel-Airs

90 miles to the southeast of Baton Rouge, straight down Interstate 10 in a quaint little city called New Orleans, a high school kid named Dino Marshall was attending a concert at a local music venue called The Warehouse. The date was December 31st, 1971 and the Allman Brothers Band had just lost their lead guitarist Duane Allman to a motorcycle accident a couple of months earlier. The concert consisted of the Allman Brothers Band as the headliner, REO Speedwagon performed before them, and a local 50’s band named Vince Vance & the Valiants opened the show.

Dino was blown away with the showmanship, choreography, and musical ability of the Valiants and quickly began searching for a way to break into the music business. He had also seen Sha Na Na in the Woodstock movie and was influenced by their performance also. He figured he was very athletic but not able to be a college football player so he thought I can do this!

He and his high school mate Sal Candelora began performing at a local pub called Bisso’s which was on the corner of Magazine St. and Napoleon Avenue (now called Ms. Mae’s.) Sal, who had a beautiful voice, would sing and as the story goes, Dino would pop the gator.....that was the whole show! (If you don’t know what pop the gator means you will just have to go to YouTube as we will not attempt to explain it here!)

Sal was soon recruited by another talented 50’s show band named TQ & the Topcats and Dino was left to find his own way in the music scene.

There was a small band called Roger Dodger and the Darts that played at Friar Tucks who had some talented musicians and he joined them. In 1974 he took some of the musicians from that band with him to start the Belairs.

One night he went into the Escape Lounge next to the Cinema City 6 bar in Chalmette and heard two fantastic singers..... Lloyd Faust and Duke Chauppetta (who was also playing bass) and they were soon recruited into the Belairs.

Lloyd looked like a biker with a big red beard, long hair, and a cut off denim shirt.....he was the musical version of Mike Tyson.....someone who looked rough and tumble but had a delicate voice. He was such a dichotomy as someone who looked like he could beat your brains in but was the sweetest person so Dino named him Buttercup.....and so the legend began!

Dino, Buttercup, and Duke were the front line of the group.....they got Margo Domaigne to make them some silver lame’ pants with black lame’ jackets and lightning bolts sewn onto them. They used to wear them everywhere they went and people thought they were in the circus!

They were fairly poor back then so their marketing strategy was simple.....illegally paint the name The Belairs on all of the underpasses in Metairie and New Orleans that they could find. After about 4 weeks people would say that they heard of the Belairs not realizing that they saw the name while driving through the underpasses!

The lineup of the band included Dino & Buttercup as lead singers, Daddy Rat (Vince Costantini) on guitar, Duke on bass and vocals, Buddy Love (Jerry Nuccio) on keyboards, Francis Q Weatherby (Errol Theriot), Izy Nuts, Rockin’ Darby, and Moose (Dennis Zambon) on sax.

The Belairs were creating a name for