Iron Knowledge interview
hammertime
2,389 Posts
I did this interview with Iron Knowledge bassist Gary Blalock 2 or 3 years ago, and it's been sitting on my hard drive ever since...so I figured I might as well post it so people can at least read it. Has anyone ever approached you to talk about the Iron Knowledge Band?No man, I didn???t even know anyone out there knew about us.Yeah actually ???Show Stopper???, that???s a pretty legendary tune.It is?You know, among soul and funk record collectors.You???ve gotta be kidding me man. I never thought too many people heard it because it got a little bit of radio play here and there and that was it. I did that song when I was 16. Me and my brother started that group. He???s deceased now; in ???97 I lost him.I???m sorry to hear that. Yeah those records sell for about $50.I can???t believe that man (laughs). I haven???t heard that in I don???t know when. I don???t even know if I???ve got a copy of that 45. We cut that up at a little studio in Cleveland, I can???t remember the name of it.What year was that?Around 1972-73. I graduated when I was 17 and we cut that when I was 16. I think it was around November of ???72. That thing???s old man.Did you ever record anything other than what came out on those 45s?Nah not really???we made tapes and stuff over the years but we never really did put out any more stuff. The thing with us man, we were always trying to do something big even though we were young. But back then it was just hard to get on the bigger labels, that was the whole thing. Back then, you know, record companies were real choosy. And that???s what amazes me to this day is how the young kids make it the way they do. And they practically do it on their own! Back then that was unheard of. You had maybe 10 major labels and they???d listen to your stuff and if they didn???t like it, hey, that???s it. So we tried to get played on the radio and we got a little airplay around here.How did you hook up with Tony?We used to go down to his record store, and we would buy records and stuff. And he heard us in there talking I guess, me and my brother, and then we got to talking with him. We found out who he was, and we started from there. And like I said we never had any money behind us back then, but it???s a whole different thing now.Did you play live?Yeah we used to, we played a lot of cover music, and we???d take a lot of stuff and change it up into our way. See me and my brother were a different breed, man. We???d play anything from James Brown to Jimi Hendrix. And that???s where you hear ???Show Stopper??? with that rock sound, that???s me on the bass. I start it off with that ???jjrrrrr??? (imitates distorted bass intro). So we added that rock. And the guy that sang his name is John Warren, I have no idea where he???s at, I haven???t seen him in probably 20 years. And he made up those words; we used to just put stuff together in my bedroom.I think that???s why that song is so highly regarded; it???s just such a unique sound.Well I thank you for that. I wish I knew some people that really liked it (at the time). I???m serious, because it didn???t really go over big around here because like I said it got airplay but it didn???t really get the right type of airplay you know.Sometimes it just takes time before people figure it out.Yeah, I just wish it could???ve gotten out of town, like California, New York, the big cities. I think some of the songs we made really could???ve gone somewhere. I never met people that actually liked it. I was a radio DJ around here years ago, and we never played it too much. Every now and then we???d play it, and when we did it was mostly after 6 o???clock in the evening believe it or not, because of the way it sounded and the content. Nowadays it???s different. As far as I???m concerned outside of Ohio that sound could be new, like up in New York or something.Who was in the band at that time?There were five of us that did ???Show Stopper???. One dude, the singer, I don???t know where he???s at. The guitar player???s around here, if you listen to that kid he was like 16 at that time. Yeah his name was Jimmy Vass; he???s still around and I still see him now and then. The drummer is up in New York somewhere, his name is Larry Johnson. My brother???s name was Milton Van Blalock, he played guitar and sang. And John Warren is singing that song. There were two guitarists, bass, drums, and vocals. We were the type of dudes, we didn???t care. Back then everybody called it r&b and soul music. We???d go do a show playing soul music and then turn right around and play in some of the hottest rock clubs around here. We could play all that stuff. We were just different; we didn???t believe that ???just because I???m black I???m supposed to play soul???. No, it doesn???t work like that. I can play what I like. We liked rock, we liked funk, we liked blues, we liked everything you know. That???s the way we were. And I???m not bragging but that was a dangerous five-piece band (laughs).And ???Who Put the Ram???, that was Tony???s idea. We did that as a gimmick type song. You???ve got The Edsels and ???Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong???, well his whole catch was ???Who Put the Ram in the Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong??? if you know where I???m going with that. It was like a gimmick thing, and it kind of caught on around here a little bit, believe it or not. We did that song during the era???remember those songs that came out like ???The Streaker??? and those crazy songs? Yeah it was kinda like that???the song was Tony???s idea, and me and my brother put the music together. My brother sang lead on ???Who Put the Ram???, John Warren was in the background. And that deep voice is me with ???What ram???, ???Whose ram???. A guy named Dooley Petris I think played drums on that, I couldn???t even tell you where he???s at. And the horns were studio horns.And you were also in Steel City Band right?Yeah me and my brother made that one up later on. We more or less just threw a name on a song, you know. We didn???t really have a group together at that moment, we just got people that we knew to come and help us. Where does that come into the timeline?That song ???Shakin??? It Down???? That was the last one. Me and my brother put that song together. I forget which year exactly. I always thought that was a good song but the only thing that blew that song was an overdubbed guitar line that didn???t fit.Do you still play bass?Yeah I still play here and there. Do you like jazz?Yeah.You ever heard of Victor Wooten? He???s the bass player for Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. That???s one of my favorite bass players. I was up in Cleveland about five or six months ago, he was at the House of Blues. And me and a friend of mine went to see him. And he???s one of the best, real nice guy. And they were on this tour called Victor Wooten???s Soul Circus. And I???m standing in front, right at the stage, and Victor???s got a part in his show where he gives the bass to people. So one of his assistants comes down, and he???s seen me in front of the stage grooving all night. So he looks at me and says, ???Do you play bass???? I was like ???Yeah???. So he handed me that bass and I???m telling you man I had some fun (laughs). I was really into and the people went wild, then I passed it to my buddy, and then some other dude got it. But Victor liked what we were doing. We didn???t really get a chance to talk to him but we left a message with one of the guys to get with us because we want to go to one of his bass camps. He has them every year. If you look up Victor Woot
en???s Soul Circus on the internet you should find a picture of me, I was wearing a Washington Redskins throwback jersey. And I tell you man that was one of the highlights of my life, right up there with my son being born.
Iron Knowledge Band 
L to R: Milton Van Blalock, Gary Blalock, Tony March, Gary Ramey (owner of Peppermint Studio in Youngstown) during the recording of the Steel City Band 45
en???s Soul Circus on the internet you should find a picture of me, I was wearing a Washington Redskins throwback jersey. And I tell you man that was one of the highlights of my life, right up there with my son being born.
Iron Knowledge Band L to R: Milton Van Blalock, Gary Blalock, Tony March, Gary Ramey (owner of Peppermint Studio in Youngstown) during the recording of the Steel City Band 45
Comments
publish it? Too short for Wax Po or something?
haha i've only heard about the mythical sleeve here, never seen one. but it wouldn't surprise me if Tony made one up without the band knowing, it seems like he did things like that all the time. if he did print some up he didn't/doesn't have any, because Shady McGee in LV that had just about every Tammy title on ebay continuously for the past few years bought most of his stock, and I've never seen him sell one with a cover.
you should have told him that "Oh Love" is one of the most beatiful soul tunes ever made. Thanks for the interview!
yeah probably...I sent it to them when I first did it, and they said they could maybe use it for an upcoming black rock issue. then i emailed tehm again when I tracked down Jimmy Vass, the lead guitarist, and got no response. I think I emailed them a couple other times, and eventually just got tired of bugging them.