The slogan, "Musical Memories That Will Blow Your Mind," says it all. Songs from the 1960s, 1970s and later will be played at this year's Sounds of Summer and a good time will be had, said one of the members of the southwestern Minnesota band, the Cavemen, which now plays with Tilly and the Time Bombs.
The "musical memories" are songs such as "Whiter Shade of Pale" "Latest Flame" and "Vehicle" and the "blow your mind" part is that the musicians are "seasoned," as Lynd native Jerry Jorgensen said.
Jorgensen, who now lives in Omaha, Neb., is one of the musicians who will perform at the free Sounds of Summer concert from 8 p.m.-midnight Saturday at Memorial Park in Marshall at the corner of East College Drive and Main Street courtesy of the Landmark Bistro.
"We're excited," Jorgensen said.
Saturday's performance is a reunion show with members of The Cavemen overlapping with musicians from Tilly and the Time Bombs.
"Tilly and The Time Bombs was put together by Tilly and I when some of the Cavemen couldn't commit to playing again," Jorgensen said. "We played up by Minneapolis as the Cavemen/Tilly and The Time Bombs and it was a blast."
"Tilly" is Tracy native Stephen Thielges who is a drummer and vocalist. When he was a teenager in Tracy, he played with Gary Rue and Dennis Morgan in a band called PJ and the Sleepers. That band is now being inducted into the Minnesota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Sept. 17 in Minneapolis.
"That should be fun," Thielges said.
In addition to drumming for various metro bands, Thielges has played on USO tours, and has played drums for Gene Pitney, the Coasters, the Platters, the Marvellettes and Freddy Cannon. Among his other activities, Thielges plays in a John Lennon tribute show every Dec. 8 at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
"A lot of people from Marshall who live in Minneapolis come to that," Thielges said.
Having bandmembers with such a vast musical background comes in handy in more ways than one, Jorgensen said. One time the band was rehearsing the song "Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games With Me)" which was written by Crow, a blues-rock band from Minneapolis.
"We were arguing over a certain chord and (Tilly) just called them up and asked," Jorgensen said.
"I had played in bands with (the Crow bassist) Larry Wiegand and I called him and asked him 'what is this chord?'" Thielges said. "And he told me."
Jorgensen, a guitarist and vocalist, heads up FMG Productions in Omaha. He said Tilly and the Time Bombs will be an "event band that will play two or three, maybe four shows a year in Minneapolis, Marshall and Omaha."
Other bandmembers are keyboardist and vocalist Jerry Gray who has played the piano since he was 6 years old. He moved to the Twin Cities in 1992 from Tucson, Ariz., and was named "best keyboard player" in the Fortune Magazine Corporate Battle of the Bands in 2004.
Vick Johnson, on guitar, keyboard and vocals, grew up in Michigan and arrived in the Twin Cities in 1975. He has opened for Herman's Hermits, Del Shannon, Tommy Roe, The Coasters - and he was part of the backup band for Gene Pitney with Thielges.
"Vick is a musical encyclopedia," Jorgensen said.
Linda F. Williams, a saxophonist and percussionist, is the author of the anthology, "Black Women and Music: More than the Blues," co-authored by E. Hayes. Williams received degrees in music from Virginia State University, the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1996.
Williams joined the faculty at Creighton University in 2008 as resident assistant professor of ethnomusicology. She has performed with a variety of jazz musicians including Lionel Hampton, Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Nat Adderley and Shirley Scott. She has more of a jazz background, Jorgensen said, but wanted to explore rock and roll music.
Williams said transitioning from jazz to rock is "a lot of work. You have to go strictly by the charts."
But she said playing with the band is a "blessing" and she's glad to able to round out her repertoire by working with professionals with a long history in rock.
Jim "Jimmy O" Olson, a guitarist and vocalist originally from Westbrook, got his first guitar in the sixth grade and played with a variety of southwestern Minnesota bands before joining the Cavemen in the mid-1970s.
Caveman Kim Henspeter of Marshall, on bass and vocals, will perform this weekend as well as Jere "Shorty" Polman who sang lead vocals for The Cavemen back in the 1970s. Polman, who now lives in Cold Spring, said he has received a "tremendous response" in the form of e-mails and phone calls from people saying they are looking forward to the show.
Polman will sing about 21 songs, Jorgensen will sing another 21, and Thielges and Henspeter will have their moments in the spotlight as well.
"We'll all harmonize on songs such as 'Pretty Little Angel Eyes.'" he said. "I'm really looking forward to that."
The Cavemen/Tilly and the Time Bombs also will play Friday at Key Largo. For more information and to listen to a few songs, go to the Tilly and the Time Bombs page on Facebook.com.
