We have three accounts of what happened musically on that tragic day when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

THE UNDERBEATS

Rod Eaton of the Underbeats provided this account of the night:

This Underbeats poster hung on the wall in Jim Johnson’s home studio. How it got there is an interesting story. As the band got rolling back in 1963 people asked for posters to advertise our appearances. So I made some. One of our early gigs was at Osseo High School. The contract was signed by Terry Santo – a student. November 22nd was a Friday – the day President Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas. We assumed the dance would be cancelled. But the students and teachers agreed it would be a good thing to proceed. As we were setting up in the school gym, someone – it may have been Terry – asked us to begin by playing the National Anthem. The Anthem isn’t an easy piece for a guitar band. This was well before Jimi Hendrix turned it into a piece of Woodstock history. But Jim [Johnson] worked through the chords and, with some drum rolls and cymbal crashes from me, led the kids in singing our National Anthem. That moment is vivid in my memory.

After the dance Terry took this poster home. Thirty or so years later she became friends with Jim and offered him the poster. At the time Jim had no place to hang it. He asked Terry to keep it for him. A short while later Jim moved into his own home. Terry again offered him the poster – and it was hung on Jim’s wall. Thanks for telling me the story, Terry.

 

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MYRON LEE AND THE CADDIES

Myron Lee and the Caddies was an early rock ‘n’ roll group from Sioux Falls.  On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, Myron posted this story on Facebook:

In early November of 1963, 58 people met at a New York City hotel for the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars Tour. The next morning we boarded two buses for a short trip across the river to Teaneck, New Jersey, where we rehearsed 12 acts doing 6 songs each. This lasted about five hours and then it was time to change clothes and do our first show to start a six week tour. I knew who the acts were in advance so we had already done a lot of work on the songs before we left Sioux Falls. Myron Lee and The Caddies were on Bus #1 with Dick Clark sitting up front across from the bus driver. Some of the stars on the show were Brian Highland, The Ronettes, Paul and Paula, The Thymes, Little Eva, Freddie Cannon, and Bobby Vee was the headliner. Del Shannon joined us for a couple of shows and The Rolling Stones did two shows with us in Philadelphia.

 

By November 20th we had traveled down the east coast and across country, arriving in Sioux City, Iowa, to do a show in the auditorium that night. The band and I looked forward to this date because a lot of family members came to visit us and enjoy the show. It was a GREAT show and the band was tight with great musicians. Jerry Haacke – bass, Curt Powell – lead guitar, Stu Perry – drums, Fred Scott – sax, and Joel Shapiro – sax.

On November 21st we did a show in Wichita, Kansas, drove all night and arrived in Dallas, Texas around 10AM on November 22nd, 1963. We checked into a downtown hotel and the plan was to get some sleep before the night show. I was brushing my teeth and planned on getting some sleep when an announcer on TV stated that the president’s motorcade would be arriving in about 30 minutes and the parade route was just two blocks from our hotel. I called Brian Highland who had a room next to mine and asked him to join me. We were so excited in 1963 to have a chance to see the President of the United States up close and just a few feet away. There were people lined up on both sides of the street as far as you could see. We could spot that black limo two blocks away and all of the sudden there they were right in front of us. We felt and wanted to believe that the Kennedys were looking right at us as they smiled as waived their hands in our direction. We were ready to head back to the hotel when we spotted a sign that read Nieman Marcus so we decided to check it out. Just as we were about to enter the store, we heard what we thought were firecrackers.

Never in our wildest dreams in those innocent times would we think we were hearing gun shots three blocks away. We entered the store and there was a little television set on the counter near the cash register. All of the sudden the screen showed “News Bulletin.” A local TV personality came on and said “It is believed that gunshots have been fired at the presidential motorcade.” A few seconds later, Walter Cronkite came on and read that very emotional statement we’ve all seen many times. Brian and I, the city of Dallas, and people all over the world were in shock. We quietly walked back to the hotel not saying much. For the rest of the day and night, all we heard were sirens. Later on that afternoon we watched TV as Air Force One took off to fly back to Washington, DC. I could see the plane on TV and I also spotted it live out of my hotel window as it disappeared into the clouds.

After this happened the show that night was canceled of course and the next two dates also. One of those dates was Nashville, which I so much was looking forward to. I’ve always had a special thing for Nashville and country music. We continued the tour four days later I think in St. Louis.  I will be forever grateful to Bobby Vee as he recommended my band to Dick Clark.

Now 50 years later, it all comes back to me like it happened only yesterday.

 

 

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PETER NERO

Pianist Peter Nero was scheduled to perform with the Minneapolis Symphony in a sold-out show at Northrop Auditorium on November 24, 1963, but because of the assassination the concert was rescheduled for March 9, 1964.