“I opened for Janis Ian when she was touring on [her 1967 album] Society’s Child,” says Kidney via phone. The Numbers Band performs a 55th anniversary concert at 7:30 pm. on Saturday, March 8, at the Kent Stage. “I opened for Linda Ronstadt and the Stony Ponys on her first tour. The guy who ran the La Cave liked me and would let me open for acts for free.”
One night, after sharing the stage with local rockers Pig Iron at the Akron Art Museum, Kidney was invited to a rehearsal with the band. He showed up excited to play with his friend, [Pig Iron singer] Gary Hawk, and his band. But Hawk had quit, at least that’s the band members told Kidney.
“I was given a band,” says Kidney. “I took over as the frontman for his band, and that became 15 60 75, or the Numbers Band, which is the street name for the band. That was in the summer of 1969.”
In the fall, the Kent State shootings occurred, and the band’s music, “powerhouse blues-effected shit,” as Kidney puts it, took on a new intensity.
There was a battle of the bands at the Kove in Kent on July 4, 1970, and, after winning, the Numbers Band became the house band there for the next four years.
“When we took the stage for our spot — this is one my fondest memories — as I reached down and picked up my harmonica, I said to myself, ‘We are going to take this place tonight,'” says Kidney. “I turned around and we did the first song and the people went nuts. The reason why is because the band had a primal force. It generated a genuine commitment to the moment, which is what I’ve always been about.”
The 1976 live album, Jimmy Bell’s Still in Town, stands as the band’s crowning achievement. There’s an intensity to the album, which opens with “Animal Speaks,” a tune with snarling saxophones and manic vocals. But Kidney says it wasn’t well-received when it initially came out.
“It didn’t hit a chord with people,” says Kidney. “We had won some contest at the Scene. We were voted Best Blues Band. I had written these songs. We became friends with a guy who was involved with the Agora, and he booked us in the Mistake, which was downstairs. All of a sudden, we were offered the opportunity to do a live record.”
After a few false starts, the band finally recorded a live show that would become Jimmy Bell’s.
“We walked out onto the stage at the Agora and did the show and that became Jimmy Bell’s,” says Kidney. “WMMS was going to get behind it, and the whole thing was gonna rock on. they heard the music and went, ‘What in the fuck is this?’ They played it, but the station manager said nobody but your fans are calling in about this record. She showed me this picture of this guy who looked like he was trying to look like Elvis. His song was ‘Hurt So Good.’ She said, ‘This is what we’re going with.’ They weren’t interested. The whole thing drifted off.”
The group only sold 2000 copies. Pere Ubu’s David Thomas, however, thought the band was fantastic. And so did Ubu drummer Anton Fier, who would go on to form Golden Palominos, a national act, and advocate for the Numbers Band.
“These two characters brought the profile up,” says Kidney. “It went from there, but it was panned. Robert Christgau, who wrote for The Village Voice, panned it. He came into the town for the Akron Sound, which he thought would be the new Liverpool. He wasn’t impressed.”
And yet, the album had its advocates. When Exit Stencil, a record label with local roots, put the CD out, Rolling Stone writer David Fricke reviewed it and said it was “blues and chaos, raw power and the true price of independent rock ‘n’ roll spirit.”
“He made these incredible statements,” says Kidney.
Fricke even wrote the liner notes for the Exit Stencil reissue.
Kidney says the upcoming show at Kent Stage is “a simple and straightforward show about the band.”
“The theme [of the concert] is that we’re standing in the moment with our music and with our eyes to the future,” says. “The train is in the station. The show is going to be centered on the band. We have new material. We’re still writing. The only musicians I’m bringing back are [guitarist] Michael Stacey and [bassist] Chris Butler. They both showed up when I needed them.”
The other important thing, says Kidney, is that the show is dedicated to the band’s “patrons,” his term for the group’s loyal followers.
“They put money in our pockets,” he says. “Fifty-five years, man. What? Just think about it. We’re still hauling equipment out of the trunks and driving to the club and going back home. We’ve been doing it for over half of a century. And we’ll be doing it for that fucking show. It’s distinctly unique. We don’t play covers and shit. We’re not taking a year off and then showing up somewhere and calling it an anniversary show. We’re working. Even when I had my transplant, my brother handled the band. We never quit. We’ve never stopped playing.”
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This article appears in Feb 13-26, 2025.
