Danny Crooks has been an integral part of Austin,Texas' music scene for decades. We caught up with Danny, and asked him 22 Q's...his answers make for a snapshot of life as an Austin club manager,and booker of major talent,both local and outside the city gates.1- Danny, tell us abit about your early days...where were you born,for example, do you come from a musically-inclined family, and how long were you living in Germany,what city ?i was born in greenville s.c. while my dad was in korea. army brat. went to over a dozen schools because of transfers and wars. went to high school in kaiserslautern, germany from 67 to 70. loved it great hippie culture. good hash. on school breaks and holidays my friend bill and i would take trains to paris, london, austeia, holland or amsterdam. loved it love to travel. still try to go somewhere every year. have been everywhere but africa and australia.
2- you met Elvis as a kid? wow...do tell...have any specific memories of that encounter?
when my dad got back from korea we were stationed in killen at fort hood. 3rd armored division(hell on wheels) was my dads company. elvis was stationed there . him and my dad became friends. we went to his house for diner once and all i remember is all the cadilacs and all the girls writing on them in lipstick and wondering how this private lived in this big house and my dad was a sgt. and we lived in a small house. had my picture taken sitting on his lap.the patch he wears in g.i.blues was from my dads outfit.during this time a t.v. show called the rebel with nick adams did an episode there and my boy scout troop got to be in it. then they went to germany together and thats when they both started taking speed to make them be able to drink longer.
3- you have been musically-connected in Austin over the decades,especially at one of Austin's most beloved musical venues, Steamboat. How did you start out in this business, and what led to your position at Steamboat?started bartending in 73 at a topless bar called the lucky lady on guadelupe was manager within the month. did that for a couple of years. the people who owned it also owned one down town on 9th and congress called the red baron so i ran that also. it was more of a whore house than a topless bar. it was mainly for the legislature, lawyers and judges. got tired of that and in 75 got a job at this big country and western bar called the silver dollar on 183 and burnet . held about 5,000 and booked the big country bands loretta, conway , ronnie milsap all those guys buy on off night we would have local stuff like sammy alred, the country music revue(benny and ronnie from that band have been in george straits band for twenty years or more) peoples choice and more and i had always gone to see music at the armadillo, black queen, rome inn, soap creek, castle creek, the split rail, castle creek all irreplaceable venues that have been replaced and this little club where dallas nightclub is now called steamboat springs. but it was the first time i had worked in it and i was hooked.in 76 i started managing a bar called the oasis where the south forty is now and i booked marsha ball,alvin crow, johnny bush, bert revera , johnny dee stuff like that. loved it. had this country cover band play and the bass player was this young kid who hated having to do that for a living. liked writing songs and we would talk about what we wanted to do . he came in one night all excited about this young guitar player that was going to do some of his songs and he wouldn't have to do this stuff anymore. his name was bill carter and he continued writing for stevie .stayed in country till 89 the oasis turned into the front page ,then it closed. sold mobile homes for a few years then j.d.'s west in pflugerville for four years and the job at steamboat opened in 89. started out as the manager and booker then craig hillis who owned it sold me the steamboat and joe ables the saxon pub in 95 i think lost our lease in 99.
4- that version of the club lost it's lease in '99...was that an ugly or amicable divorce? recall I was quite pissed that it closed down,having been one of the fortunate ones to have jammed there onstage.you went from prime real-estate there to...ugly. saxon fox who owned the building promised to sell it to me but the people from the aqurium offered more money just to rent it than she had offered to sell it to me for. right when i had come up with the money. her bastard son scot was the main force in it. he got mad at me because i wouldn't keep giving him money for drugs, he was a junkie so he talked mom into dumping steamboat after being there for 21 years.will always hate them both and they are the only two people on the planet that i can say i hate.
5-the second incarnation off of Barton Springs/Riverside. That building there, now LaBare or something, seems like it would be a great location,yet seems snakebit. Many things have been in that building, and few seem to take off. What;s your take on that? the day i got there this shaman looking guy came uo to me and told me the place was cursed. i thought he was crazy. but... you know it is owned by the davy crockett heirs.
6- you got sick...real sick. Hep C? How did you find out,what were your initial symptoms,how long were you sick before properly diagnosed?probably got it in 76 didn't know i had it till 97. was real sick did the interferon, riboviron stuff when it first came out.it didn't work. was told i had maybe eight years left to live. just keep getting sicker. by 2001 i was going downhill fast. couldn't do anything. walking to the living room would wear me out. my doctor told me i only had about a year left but he wanted me to try the treatment again. that stuff almost kills you but my wife made me do it and after a year i was able to get back some strength back. i still have hepc always will. still have pssorocis of the liver and thats what i will probably die from. i'll never be able to do what i used to but i'm still alive and loving life and my beautiful wife of thirty years.
7- did you have any health insurance?my wife has been with u.t. for around twenty five years so thankfully i have always had insurance.
8- tell us about other venues,clubs,etc, you have managed. The list is quite long and You obviously have much experience in these things.did that in question 3
9- you watched as a number of stellar Steamboat regulars acts went on to snare record deals. Can you name some of those acts?better than ezra they played every tuesday for a year. got signed at sxsw, ian moore, vallejo, little sister, fastball, pushmonkey,gin blossoms,the presidents of the united states,the arc angels,soul hat and alot more really. before me stevie and christophr cross. chris was the first.alot of them got signed during sxsw. i think steamboat had more bands signed during sxsw than anyother venue.
10- you also had a part in the "Save KUT" ordeal. explain to our readers that scenario if you would.it's always about change. kut wanted to be more like kgsr so they got rid of larry monroe, paul ray, john aiella the ones that made them what they were. hired kevin conner and a few more ex kgsr people and now we have two kgsr's the original one is better. but everything changes.
11- Steamboat alumni have really gone places over the years. Some are playing with the likes of Stevie Wonder,Prince,Clapton...name some more,for the list is impressive. Who plays with whom now, as well as in past?well lets see. brannen temple played with chaka kahn and janet jackson. brady blade played with lennie kravitz, has been with emmielou harris for around ten years, he is also in dave matthews side project, derek edmondson did the soundtrack for white men can't jump , he also plays with prince and stevie wonder, charlie sexton plays with bob dylan, doyle brahmhal plays with eric clapton and roger waters, einar pedderson plays with kelly clarkson and that dan band, heath clarke played with bo bice,larry bragg is lead singer for tower of power, j.j. johnson plays with john mayer he used to play with sugarland i know im forgetting some but i'm old.
12- what type of treatment are you taking for your illness? have bad days, or better days now? there better than they used to be but i'll never be normal again. i take five different drugs everyday for what ails me.
13- Todd Rundgren was a regular visitor at Steamboat when in the area. You get to know Todd? Great writer,performer. yeah good friend. came by whenever he was in town. loved the basement. in ben fong torres book the history of rock and roll they ask todd what his favorite place to play was and he said he doesn't play there much but his favorite place to hang was steamboat. that basement was magical. whenever forest whitaker was in town he would come by and hang in the basement.shoot whenever most of the touring acts back then came to town they would come by after their show and hang. that was before the music hall,stubbs,la zone rosa ,the backyard
14- do you anything in the cards for 2010,musically, or personally?my steamboat reunion that i do every year. third sunday in may. this year pushmonkey, little sister, patrice pikes band,del castillo, kacy crowley, van wilks and extreme heat. nothing other than that unless someone has some money they want to give me to open a new club.
15- let's talk family. Wife? kids? Are they musically active,too?wife leslie for thirty years. son sean is in the alice rose, planet rye co , the battlemen and the roky errickson cover band acid tomb. he plays almost every instrument bass is his main one now but because of being raised at steamboat he learned how to play drums,keys and anything with strings.
16- what 5 Austin restaurants do you frequent, and what do you usually order there?serrano's everthing, that chinese place in southpark meadows it's great, traviotie in wimberly im saying it wrong, vaspaio.
17- tell me the 5 records or cds you'd take with you on a desert island.revolver,working class hero, gram parsons collection,allman brothers live at the filmore, sister shooting star by billy white trio
18- what clubs do you frequent now days, and who has It together,in your opinion?none. i haven't found one i like. it seems no one knows how to start on time, no one intros the band are even knows whos playing. i get real frustrated when i go see my sons bands are any of the old steamboat guys because everybody does it so halfassed. steamboat spoiled me.
19- are you involved at all with the Sims Foundation?not really. although peyton told me when he put it together that and hamm and aamp that he molded them after the way i ran steamboat.
20- are you a spiritual guy? Elaborate.i believe in karma. thats about it for me. i believe all religion's should be based on the golden rule. one sentence says it all. do unto others as you would have them do unto you. so simple.
21- one of the coolest things I recall about Steamboat was that famous painting that hung on the wall of one Freddie King. who painted that? where is it now? did you ever meet the great Freddie King? jim franklin. it hung in the armadillo for years. i hope jim has it. and yes i was lucky enough to meet him several times. i meet him before steamboat but because of steamboat i meet everybody i ever wanted to meet except john lennon. one of the cool things was if there was somebody i wanted to meet i could just book them.
22- who were your musical influences as a kid,what records do you recall growing up with?elvis, jerry lee, beatles of course,beach boys, stones, ten years after, pink floyd, humble pie, cat stevens,roy orbison
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