Bill Hodgson & Friends - Unplugged at Alvin's Twilight Bar (1981) [2020 REMASTER]

[@dkbradley43]

I always viewed him as the music superstar of the Corridor of that period 70s-80s. What a tragedy.

[@andrewscott1970]

I can see why! Wish there were more recordings of him available, especially ones where he's performing unplugged, like this.
I do have one more remastered recording of him coming right up later on today, this time from March 27th 1973. It's the band Detroit with Rusty Day, Bill Hodgson, Gordon Maslowiski, Terry Emery, John Sauter, and Ted "T-Mel" Smith opening for Iggy Pop at the Michigan Hall!

[@BoiDetroit]

I played acoustic with Bill during that era but nobody thought of recording anything. The songs you have here were recorded at Alvins by the soundman. I wasn’t aware that we were being recorded. Bill and I later hooked up with “Swanky Franky”, a great baritone singer, and I did record some of that but I have no idea what ever happened to the tapes. Dave Opatik is singing harmony on some tunes you have.

[@andrewscott1970]

That’s the first time I ever heard of Swanky Franky. Sounds interesting! Yes, that’s Dave in rhythm acoustic and backup vocals. He also duets with Bill on You Gotta Move here. Tom Karsiotis plays the resonator on the last three tracks, Come On in My Kitchen, Satisfied Mind, and From Four Until Late. I hope to find more of Bill out there, especially if it’s acoustic like this. Such a beautiful performance this is!

[@BoiDetroit]

@@andrewscott1970 That's me on a National Tri-Cone Resophonic guitar on the last 3 cuts. Bill liked to goof around, calling my guitar a Dobro, and sometimes referred to my Bouzouki as a Balalaika on stage. On Come on in my Kitchen bill is playing slide on his acoustic with me on the resophonic lap steel. If I remember we never tried that before that night. Thanks for posting these.

[@heathinvaderstudios]

@@BoiDetroit You mean you’re Tom Karsiotis? Wow! This is an honor to meet you. Excellent job on the slide and resonator, by the way. I hope to someday have a resonator myself (not the kind you play on your lap, though, because I don’t know how to play that kind).
What was Bill like as a person?

[@BoiDetroit]

@@heathinvaderstudios That’s a tough question to answer, Bill and I were just good friends. He was also an artist and did drawings, painting, leaded glass, and more. I ran across some cassettes of Bill, Frankie and myself playing in my living room in Highland Park. I’m setting up the cassett deck and will see if I can get them into mp3’s. David Opatik, from Shadowfax, is living in northern Michigan and is a luthier who makes some great guitars. Chambers (the drummer) was last seen driving a semi. George is dead.