A long, long, time ago about 1965 or 1966, if memory serves me well, I purchased an old bass guitar at a garage sale with the intent that I would learn how to play it but I was well aware that it would probably end up sitting in a corner somewhere soon to belong to someone else who would probably put it through a similar routine until, he too, turned loose of it. I definitely wanted to learn how to play it but as we are all well aware, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions!"
I was going to St. Mary's University at the time and was on my way back to the dormitory when I noticed my fuel gauge was nearly on empty. I pulled into a gas station with my bass lying across the back seat.
Back then, you didn't pump the gas yourself like you do today and the attendant actually took the time to wash your windshield, check the oil, and pump the gas for you. As I waited at the pump a young man came out and asked, "Can I help you", to which I replied, "Yea, fill it up with regular please." He went on about his duties until suddenly he said, "Can you play that thing," while pointing to the bass stretched out across the back seat of the car. I said, "No", and he said, "Do you want to learn?" I said, "Yes I'd like to", and he said, "Give me your telephone number and I'll call you." I gave him my number and that night my phone rang and he came over to St. Mary's and I had my first lesson on bass guitar, just the basics but at least it was a start. His name was Chris. He was a real nice kid and took an interest in my learning to play. Across the hall was a student from China and he spoke very little English but he had a set of drums and the three of us ended up getting together quite a bit but we didn't play any songs in particular, we just jammed.
About three or four weeks went by and one evening while I was studying, Chris came by and came into my room with the drummer and said, "Grab your bass, we've got a gig." I said, "How can we have a gig when I don't even know how to play?" and he said, "Sure you do, and what you don't know, you'll figure out."
In a matter of minutes we were headed to downtown San Antonio to a club that was located where Hemisfair is now. It was an old building and the club was in the basement and they had brass poles on each end of the stage where dancing girls did their thing. That was the first time I ever played in public and it actually wasn't that bad as I recall!
Another short period of time went by and after a few more lessons Chris showed up on another night and we took an impromptu gig at "Frisky-A-Go-Go." It was unbelievable for me at the time and I was starting to think about dropping out of school, but finally I told Chris that I had to back off and study more because my grades were starting to suffer, but I kept in touch with Chris and he became a member of a band called "The Argyles" and I would go to their gigs from time to time. They were really good!
I remember one time I took Chris to a job at Lake McQueeney and we were headed north on I35 with the top down on my car when a truck full of rednecks kept harassing us. First they'd pull up behind us and almost hit our bumper while honking their horn incessantly, and then they'd pull up next to us shouting obscenities until finally Chris said, "Is this car pretty fast" to which I commented "Yea, about 400 horsepower." Then he said, "When I tell you, gun it and swerve off at the next exit." We continued down the road for about another half mile and when the rednecks came up behind us this time, Chris took a full can of beer, turned around real quick and threw it right through their windshield, then he said "Gun-it" but he really didn't have to. I swerved off at the exit, the rednecks went straight and we never saw them again!
Chris's last name was Holzhaus and he went on to have an interesting musical career with a lot of big namers like Eric Johnson, and was Delbert McClinton's lead guitar player shortly before he passed away. There will always be a place in my heart for Chris Holzhaus because he gave me something I could never repay him for. The same goes out to John Ramirez and George Hill of RockSand. God bless you George and Chris, George passed away some time ago, and Chris passed away last year. --May we meet again someday!
Sincerely, John (Hop) King - "RockSand"
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