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Lewis Bagwell: “Little Walter”

Lewis Bagwell’s Musical Saga

To start the series, we begin with none other than Mr. Little Walter himself, Lewis Bagwell. Lewis is a native son of Rockingham County and Harrisonburg. But – here’s a shocker - when he was 5 or 6, his father was transferred to Coconut Grove, Florida and then to Havana, Cuba, so Lewis actually lived in Havana for a couple years as a child before the revolution forced them to return to the States. That could explain some things.

Lewis’ family returned to Rockingham County when he was 11 or 12, and he lived with his grandparents out in the country. Music had already taken hold of his soul. He was totally bowled over by the Beatles, and he decided to be a drummer like Ringo. He’d bang on every surface he could find that made a good sound. He and his buddy Harold Smith would stay up half the night on weekends, listening to WBZ out of Boston. He remembered hearing “Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders for the first time on WBZ in 1966, when he was 14. They’d go to Woolworth’s in Harrisonburg and listen to 45’s for hours. His dad bought him a portable record player made by Senger Sewing Machine Co. that he could play 45’s on while on the school bus going to school and back. He read Hit Parader Magazine voraciously and had his walls plastered with pictures cut from it.

His mom finally bought him a set of drums from ShenValley Band Instruments, and he started his first band sometime in 1967. His neighbor Danny Teter played electric guitar; Danny Turner played bass; and Lewis played drums. They recruited James Ewell, who did a great James Brown impression, to sing with them at a talent show at Broadway High School. James split his pants during the spirited performance. They came in second place – EL Smith’s band, which did a rendition of The Theme from Bonnie & Clyde, won first place.

We're not quite sure where this fits into the musical chronology, but we thought it was definitely worth including.

This band became Disraeli’s Gears. They played a number of private parties, with Lewis’ dad hauling all their equipment in the trunk of his 1960 Ford Fairlane. Their biggest gig was playing for a Girl Scout Conference at Massanetta Springs.

After a while, Lewis formed Sound Track, with Danny Teter on guitar; Wes Allen on keyboards; and Billy Kiger on bass. They occasionally rehearsed in the Lindsey Funeral Home in Bridgewater. They brought in Robby Farney to play drums so that Lewis could concentrate on vocals. They changed the name to The Lost Chord, and went on to play gigs at Bridgewater College, in West Virginia, and around Harrisonburg. Lewis’s favorite gigs with The Lost Chord were the street dances on Green Street in Bridgewater.

Next came a band called The Rubber Band, with Don Knicely on bass, Stuart Vining on guitar, Bud Tysinger on guitar, and a guy from Luray on drums. It was a variety band, doing CCR, Chuck Berry, and other rock standards. They played a lot of Elks clubs, Moose lodges, and private clubs for a couple of years.

In 1974 Lewis got back with Danny Teter to start what would become their most successful band yet, Tundra. Brad Clatterbuck was recruited as a second lead guitarist; Joe Bandish came on as bassist; and Billy Gray played drums. The band stayed together for 4 years and established themselves as the area’s premier rock band, performing Allman Brothers, Thin Lizzie, and hard core rock and roll. They played the Elbow Room and a lot of JMU gigs, including frat parties and outside concerts. (See the feature story on Tundra that appeared in JMU’s The Breeze in September 2977.) They were often performing 3 nights a week in addition to rehearsals. At some point, they got too busy, and Brad felt he needed to leave. They recruited Keith Lawson to take his place. Billy Gray was transferred to Pennsylvania, so they recruited Frank Cain from Staunton to come in on drums. At the peak of their run as a band, they were offered a contract to go on the road to perform on the east coast circuit. Jobs and marriages forced the band members to make some hard decisions and they turned the offer down.

Pilgrim was the next band for Lewis, with Joe, Danny, and the late Rodney Braithwaite on keyboards. It was another successful band for a couple of years, with a gig for the Scavenger motorcycle club at the Staunton Armory standing out as a highlight.

This was followed by Sanction Fleet, with Rusty Whitesell on drums and Donald Nuckalls on guitar, along with Danny Teter. Joe Bandish and Vance Coffey played bass at different times.

Next came another great band, Crossfire, with Mike Holmes on keyboards, Doyle Shaffer on drums, Tony Ray and Randy Lauderman on guitar, Lewis on vocals, Roland “Toad” Glover on bass – a hot band. But by then disco had come along. Compounding the problems, the drinking age was raised in 1983 to 19. (By 1987 it was raised to 21.) The number of bars with live bands in the region declined dramatically. It became harder for a rock band to get steady gigs.

Because he still loved singing and performing, Lewis joined The Coachmen in 1983 or so. They were a well-established variety band that played country and rock standards, everything from the Doobie Brothers to Dolly Parton. Their New Year’s Eve at Augusta Expo was the most memorable gig for Lewis.

The Coachmen (with Lewis second from the left)

After a couple years with The Coachmen, marriage and the responsibility of raising children triggered a 20+ year hiatus from performing for Lewis. (He did sing with a praise band, Headz Bowed, in 2007 with Joe, Danny, Lewis and L.B. Hottle.)

There would be an occasional request to form a pick-up band for a charity fundraiser for an old friend from time to time. For one of these, in 2010, Lewis asked Rusty, Joe, and Brad Clatterbuck to play. When they played, the magic of performing rock and roll was still there. They were all yearning to perform again, so they started rehearsing as a band. When Brad dropped out, Rusty recruited fellow Stauntonian John Whitfield to play guitar, and John recruited Bruce Thompson to play keyboards, and voila, Little Walter and the Convictions was formed at the close of 2010.

Lewis belting it out with Little Walter & the Convictions at FundFest in Harrisonburg.