The Macabras
The Macabras
The Macabras Band 1965 -1970
In the late 60's Rock'n Roll was everywhere. From 1965 to 1970 The
Macabras were a big part of Rock'n Roll in Southeast Iowa and Western
Illinois. Macabras was a strange name for a band that did mostly vocal
rock. The name comes from the word "macabre" meaning "strange
dance" and there was certainly a lot of strange dancing in the late 60's.
Their posters were hanging everywhere and the "MACA" would be
crossed out so they were often refered to as "The Bras".
The Macabras were a five piece band that consisted of lead singer Gary
Smith, Joel Kipp guitar/vocals, Tom Lippert keyboards/vocals, Tim
Hermann on drums and Dennis Duke on bass. The members were pretty
young when they started playing but vocal talent and vocal harmony with
the gifted voice of Gary Smith made them a bit different than some of the
other bands of that time. Being so young when they started put them a bit
under the radar of a lot of the rock clubs so you would find the band mostly
playing in youth centers and for school and city functions, such as
Steamboat Days in Southeast Iowa and Western Illinois. One such place
was "The Spiderweb" which was operated by Mrs. Roy (Mom) Uffelman.
The boys were very close to "Mom" and helped out around the club.
The band performed a lot at the Spiderweb and got to be known as a band
that not only played the standard rock hits of the time but also the more
vocally challenging songs.
Songs by groups such as The Buckingham's, The Cryin Shames, Three Dog
Night and of course The Beatles. In the 60's there were no synthesizers or
samplers. The band depended a lot on Tom's Hammond organ and Leslie to
play the horn lines for many of the Motown tunes.
The Macabras played almost every weekend both Friday and Saturday
night and also doing some Sunday nights in West Point, Iowa. They played
in dozens of "Battles of the Bands" which were popular in those days and
won every Battle of the Bands that they ever played in except for one when
they came in second place to a great band called "The American Legend".
Upon graduation from high school in 1970 the boys went their separate
ways. Although they did record one 45 RPM at Fredlos Studio in
Davenport they never really got a chance to do much recording. The band
members have always kept in touch and in 1994 everyone came back to
Burlington, IA for three days of recording. They started recording on a
Friday evening and went straight through until Monday morning. The end
result being the "Better Late Than Never" CD. This CD is representative
of the music they played in the late 60's.
Music has stayed a main force in their lives. Joel Kipp has been operating
a recording studio in Southeast Iowa for over 30 years, recording local
bands in the area. Gary Smith has become a talented songwriter and has
recorded many great songs. Tom Lippert has been working as a vocal
director in Florida. The boys are all turning 60 now but there is still music
in their souls.
In the late 60's Rock'n Roll was everywhere. From 1965 to 1970 The
Macabras were a big part of Rock'n Roll in Southeast Iowa and Western
Illinois. Macabras was a strange name for a band that did mostly vocal
rock. The name comes from the word "macabre" meaning "strange
dance" and there was certainly a lot of strange dancing in the late 60's.
Their posters were hanging everywhere and the "MACA" would be
crossed out so they were often refered to as "The Bras".
The Macabras were a five piece band that consisted of lead singer Gary
Smith, Joel Kipp guitar/vocals, Tom Lippert keyboards/vocals, Tim
Hermann on drums and Dennis Duke on bass. The members were pretty
young when they started playing but vocal talent and vocal harmony with
the gifted voice of Gary Smith made them a bit different than some of the
other bands of that time. Being so young when they started put them a bit
under the radar of a lot of the rock clubs so you would find the band mostly
playing in youth centers and for school and city functions, such as
Steamboat Days in Southeast Iowa and Western Illinois. One such place
was "The Spiderweb" which was operated by Mrs. Roy (Mom) Uffelman.
The boys were very close to "Mom" and helped out around the club.
The band performed a lot at the Spiderweb and got to be known as a band
that not only played the standard rock hits of the time but also the more
vocally challenging songs.
Songs by groups such as The Buckingham's, The Cryin Shames, Three Dog
Night and of course The Beatles. In the 60's there were no synthesizers or
samplers. The band depended a lot on Tom's Hammond organ and Leslie to
play the horn lines for many of the Motown tunes.
The Macabras played almost every weekend both Friday and Saturday
night and also doing some Sunday nights in West Point, Iowa. They played
in dozens of "Battles of the Bands" which were popular in those days and
won every Battle of the Bands that they ever played in except for one when
they came in second place to a great band called "The American Legend".
Upon graduation from high school in 1970 the boys went their separate
ways. Although they did record one 45 RPM at Fredlos Studio in
Davenport they never really got a chance to do much recording. The band
members have always kept in touch and in 1994 everyone came back to
Burlington, IA for three days of recording. They started recording on a
Friday evening and went straight through until Monday morning. The end
result being the "Better Late Than Never" CD. This CD is representative
of the music they played in the late 60's.
Music has stayed a main force in their lives. Joel Kipp has been operating
a recording studio in Southeast Iowa for over 30 years, recording local
bands in the area. Gary Smith has become a talented songwriter and has
recorded many great songs. Tom Lippert has been working as a vocal
director in Florida. The boys are all turning 60 now but there is still music
in their souls.
| 2012 |
Tim Hermann
1952 -2012
1952 -2012