The Viceroys play their first dance… earning $60… they had arrived!
For the next four years, the Viceroys would become one of Seattle’s most popular bands, playing school dances around the area. Singers in the Viceroys included Jim and vocalists Jimmy Pipkins and Aaron Stewart.
Then in the spring of 1963, the band recorded an instrumental, written by Al Berry, called Granny’s Pad… (JimValley.com)
Ric Hansen interviews Jim Valley on this Radio Conference Call. Randy Roadz is in the booth with some audio treats —
Ric Hansen interviews Jim Valley (1:00:16)
Sun__Mar_8__1981
Nov_13__1987
There is still that 10 year gap, from 1970 to 1980, that he did not “fill all the holes”.
You’re right. We kinda messed that up, didn’t we? We’ll do better in future projects Jack.
It could be, that Jim Valley did not want to cover his life during that time period…if that was his choice, it is no one’s fault.
Jim and my brother were best friends. I have known Jim for 40 years. It was so awesome to hear this interview and fill all the holes of his life I did not know about. It was seamless and so entertaining. And although hearing he is going to be 80 next year was like an arrow to the heart, his ability to retain all these life stories and his enduring talent help ease the pain.
Jason,
I so agree, they were wonderful moments that I’ll always treasure and never forget!
I didn’t know Jim Valley very well, but his brother Steve and I attended kindergarten, together in 1947-48 at JJ McGilvra School in Seattle’s Madison Park. Jim was a year younger than Steve and I, and he didn’t enter our school until a year later.
Both Steve Valley and Jim Valley, were fantastic artists and could almost instantly draw pictures that could be sold at any art gallery.
I bring this up, because in 1948, the only operating television channel in the Northwest was KRSC’s Channel 5, (Now King TV). There was an early promotion for children to submit their pictures to the station and the best drawings would win a brand new, bike. We were so proud of Jim Valley when he was one of the first winners!
That’s cool! Thanks for taking us through the Time Tunnel, Bruce. I imagine those were wonderful times.
Very enjoyable!…I likely attended a dance or two, featuring the Viceroys…also quite a few other groups from that era…I wish Jim Valley had “named dropped” a few more of his musical compatriots…they were important people, in the evolution of NW Rock…I wish I had been on the sidelines of this interview, so I could interject a little info that these guys glossed over…Jimi Valley is a great guy, although his need to get with some sort of religion is off-putting to my agnostic self. But so many artists of the time frame jumped into the drug/alternative lifestyle…so Valley eventually leaned into a more traditional “opiate of the masses”–called organized religion. Don Galucci did a similar thing…BTW–Little Sally Tease deserved to be a national hit!…that tune truly rocks!…As a NW native guy, I am so proud of the musical accomplishments ofthese “first wave” rockers …the scene up here was rivaled only by the San Francisco Sound–and that actually started a couple of years after our NW musicians had started rocking out. In fact, a couple of the original Frantics eventually migrated to the Bay Area–and wound up in an outstanding, yet under-appreciated group, named Moby Grape!..Jimi Hendrix had even pinned a small button on his famous hat, embossed with the name of Moby Grape…he knew that a couple of the members were dudes he briefly had known back in the day, in Seattle!
One flaw in this interview–they skip his life, from 1970 until 1980!…that is ten years…did they, or he, do that on purpose?..If so, why?
Ask Jim. Thank you for writing in, Jack.