Tonto and the Renegades
| Tonto and the Renegades | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Grand Ledge, Michigan, United States |
| Genres | Garage rock |
| Years active | 1964-1969 |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Dick Wagner, The Frost |
| Past members |
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Tonto and the Renegades (also referred to as Tonto & the Renegades) were an American garage rock band from Grand Ledge, Michigan who were active between 1964 and 1969. They were formed by students from Grand Ledge High and their moniker derives from the nickname of their bass player, Gary Richey, who because of his Native American heritage, was nicknamed "Tonto" by his friends at school. The group had several hits in the Southern Michigan region in 1966 and 1967. By the late 1960s group was being courted by major record labels, when the prospect of the Vietnam War draft caused two members to leave the band, resulting in the group's breakup. The intervening years have witnessed a revival of interest in the band's music amongst garage rock enthusiasts. Tonto and the Renegades are now best known for their song "Little Boy Blue", which is today regarded as a garage rock classic. In 2012 Tonto and The Renegades were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame.
Tonto and the Renegades were founded in 1964 by four grade school students in Grand Ledge, a town in Michigan's Lower Peninsula which is surrounded by rural farms and is known for its foliage and rugged sandstone rock formations which lie along the Grand River that cuts though an area considered a prime scenic attraction for visitors, particularly during peak seasons of the year. When the band was formed, all of the band's four original members Tom Kirby, Terry Slocum, Bill Ford, and Gary Richey, were 8th graders at Grand Ledge High School (though a high school, it had an eighth grade class). Two years earlier in 1962, while their drummer Kirby was fourteen and in 6th grade, growing up in a subdivision just outside Grand Ledge, he expressed interest to his parents that he wanted to learn to play percussion, they bought him a drum set and arranged for him to take lessons from a retired music professor who had retired from Michigan State University. Kirby and his older brother Randy played in his first band, the Grandaires. The Grandaires repertoire consisted primarily of covers of Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, and other hits of the day, but they broke up shortly thereafter. Terry Slocum, who grew up on a farm, started out playing a clarinet which his mother, a fan of Pete Fountain, bought him. Terry became a fan of rock and roll after hearing his brother play his collection of rockabilly, R&B, and early Motown records. A pivotal moment for Slocum was when watched the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show which convinced him to start playing rock and roll. He took his clarinet to Marshall Music in Lansing and traded it for a guitar the following day. His father tried to discourage him from playing the new instrument, claiming that he would never master it, but he persisted, spending most of his spare time practicing in his room, intent on proving his father wrong. Bill Ford grew up on the outskirts of Grad Ledge next to Highway 43. He began playing guitar in 1962, following brief spell of attempting to learn the drums. He took guitar lessons, and improved to the point where he was able to teach guitar at the Zvonar Music Studios in Charlotte, Michigan. Like Slocum, Ford remembers being "completely blown away listening to the music of the Beatles". He did not yet have an amplifier, so he compensated by plugging his guitar into a tape recorder owned by his uncle, but ended up blowing out the speakers. He then saved up to buy and amplifier. Kirby, Slocum, and Ford started practicing together informally during their eighth grade year and played in a number of talent shows. They added fellow schoolmate Bob Dick on and later that year and named their act the Henchmen.
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