Seeing that youtube of Mike Wansley posted on Facebook (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7t5s1AF8XA&feature=share) last week really got me thinking about The Pins. Bruce Hewes, Billy Shaw, and Pat Hewitt.
Bill and Bart and I first met them with at The Bahamas Underground, a dump of a bar literally under the building on the corner of 1st and Yesler. We were loading in for one of, if not our first gig in Seattle (we were a Tacoma band). 1981.
The place was classic, low ceiling, dark as a cave, stage at the back and only about nine inches off the floor. The stage was a tricolor checkerboard translucent plastic each square a different color…red, yellow, and maybe light green. It was ugly and the colors flashed to the music because they were triggered by some sound sensor. The Pins were the band that was sharing the bill and they were just finishing sound check. They were LOUD and they were a sight. Two of them had sunglasses on (in the cave). The drummer had laced up leather boots that come up to his knee, jeans tucked inside. Billy. The bass player looked like he just got off shift as a longshoreman. Bruce. The third one looked Hollywood and drove a new Chevrolet Corvette convertible. Pat. His Super 400 obscured his body from the top of his socks to chin. Bruce’s Fender Precession bass looked like a toy guitar in his big hands. They were hipsters of that time.
They had recently finished a tour with the Rolling Stones (The Pins formed the core of The Ragin' Cajun Doug Kershaw’s band...see picture above). I think Pat Hewitt was the music director. We unpacked our stuff and they closed up their guitar cases. Before too long, we were chatting and joking and they were even helping us with gear and the getting the PA right.
They were really sweet guys and they could flat play. What they did with songs like Simon and Garfunkle’s I Am A Rock, or Mark James’ Suspicious Minds, was something to see and hear. Nothing too fancy, stripped down and bashed out with controlled recklessness and sung beautifully (all three of them sang). We became friends after that and played many shows together. Pat produced our one and only EP and even stepped in to play with us when Glen had his car accident.
What happened to The Pins? The Heats broke up. Steve Pearson joined The Pins and they changed the name to The Rangehoods. Sadly, Bruce died in a car accident a few years later.
I’ll never forget Bruce. Here is the kind of guy he was; After the Yanks, Denise and I moved back to Seattle. We did not have a pot to piss in. Denise was pregnant with Rainier, I had no job and were living in a small apartment on 2nd and Aloha, Queen Anne Hill. I needed money so I put my SVT up for sale in the Seattle P.I. Who calls? Bruce Hewes. Bruce says “OK, here is the deal. I know you love this amp so I’ll buy it and if I ever decide to sell it, I’ll first offer it back to you for the same price I am buying it today”. Deal. Sold for $800.00. Years later, Bruce was down on his luck and my luck had turned a little for the better. He calls me. The SVT was in a pawn shop. I went in and got it out. Bruce paid me back. And then maybe a year later, true to his word, he calls me and says “I want to sell the SVT. This guy offered me $1200.00 but I am offering it to you for $800.00. Do you want it?” I said “no but thanks a lot Bruce”. How cool was that?
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