Author Topic: Lunch with Jack Defranco Sr. and Jr.  (Read 326 times)

Offline Jeff Green

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Lunch with Jack Defranco Sr. and Jr.
« on: May 23, 2015, 12:27:59 pm »
Yesterday(Friday May 22, 2015), Julie and I enjoyed lunchtime with Jack Defranco and his dad, Jack Sr.
at Skyline Chili in Lyndhurst, Ohio.
Jack and I first met at the San Pedro Hilton Hotel just prior to The Ventures "Cruisin' to Baja" event in February 2003.
It turned out that Jack was raised in Richmond Heights, Ohio, which is only 5 miles as the crow flies from my own
hometown of Eastlake, Ohio.  In 2003 however, I was married to Julie and our home was, and still is, in Solon, Ohio.
This is less than 10 miles from Richmond Heights, and Jack when reading over the manifesto, seeing that 2 guys
on the cruise were from his former home area, he made it a point to meet up with Don Ressler of Eastlake and me.
That was an surprising discovery, to learn that Jack grew up in such close proximity to us here on the Northcoast
of Northeast Ohio. We got along very well right from the start and Jack provided me with an All Access badge!
Jack, Julie and I reminisced about that exciting time aboard the Ecstasy, and the cruise to Santa Catalina Island
and Ensenada, Mexico.  Night after night we were the recipients of concerts by The Ventures and Los Straitjackets.
We also enjoyed music from Zoe McCullough and the remarkable Elvis presentation by Tracy Moore, and who
could forget the Cruise Fan Jam that received eloquent praise onstage from Don Wilson.
Also, for the first time. many of us met Josie Wilson and other members of The Ventures family including Jill,
Staci and Tim.  Lucky, lucky me, while having breakfast at the Hilton, who happened to be sitting at the next
table?  It was Judy Edwards who was soon joined by Nokie! After that, we got together a few more times for
breakfast or lunch, and Nokie and Judy came to Cleveland in August and our group The Pickniks backed up
Nokie for his concert at The Beachland Ballroom!  Since then, Judy, Nokie, Julie and I have over the years,
enjoyed other times that we were able to spend together. That was a fabulous time on the cruise,
I won a Stratocaster guitar on my birthday, Ferbruary 4th, and 2 members of The Ventures celebrated birthdays;
Don Wilson and Bob Spalding, both on February 10th.
Jack speaks with high praise for the all Ventures, especially praising Don Wilson and Bob Bogle for their contributions
for the groups longtime success. For Jack, his association with the guys became his own tutorial for the process of
constructing musical arrangements.
Jack and his lovely wife Joy now live in Michigan, but Jack visits his dad here every 2 weeks.
Jack Sr. is 94, and looks great! When he asked me, "How old do I look?", I responded with,
"You don't look a day over 80." Then he had a hearty laugh!
Jack has his own instrumental group, Surfs Zup. You can check his group out at SurfZupBand




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Offline tabalt11

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Re: Lunch with Jack Defranco Sr. and Jr.
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2015, 04:02:17 pm »
Jeff- Thanx for sharing this 'surprise' experience with all of us.   I
too know Jack 'fairly well,' having hooked up with both you & Julie,
John Magee & Byron Titetjen at Busch Gardens in '012 & '013.   I'm
also another 'Ventures Nut' that can claim being part of THE CRUISE-
easily for all fans involved, a 'once in a lifetime' event!

Offline wstagner

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Re: Lunch with Jack Defranco Sr. and Jr.
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2015, 11:24:08 am »
Jeff....where's the video of you and the Pickniks backin' up Nokie?

I wanna SEEIT!  :)

Offline Jeff Green

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Re: Lunch with Jack Defranco Sr. and Jr.
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2015, 07:54:16 pm »
Walt, the concert took place August 1, 2003 at The Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, and was attended by 227 fans.
Jack DeFranco drove down from Michigan to attend and Byron Tietjen came over from his home in New York.
We have 2 VHS tapes of Nokie's concert(1 black and white by Bob Kenney and 1 color by Byron Tietjen) Thanks guys!
However, we do not have any means to duplicate the tapes. If you contact Byron, perhaps he can provide a copy?
I do have several pictures from this concert and also from a 2004 concert when we opened for The Surfaris.
Maybe I should get these pictures together, duplicate a few, and send them you to post on Fans of The Ventures?

The only Pickniks members you'd recognize from these concerts are Grant and me.
At that time, John Ramski was not our regular drummer. John joined on a permanent basis on September 5, 2004,
when our Pickniks original drummer left for health reasons. Our rhythm guitarist left on June 7, 2007 and Bob Kenney
then became a fulltime stage member. John had played drums with us several times, and Bob had been helping
with equipment and appearing on stage with us since 2002. So the only members you'd recognize are Grant and me.
But if you go back to 1964, you'd find The Quests, With John on drums, and Grant and me on guitars.
We didn't have a bass player until 1966.  There were very few bass players here back then!

Offline wstagner

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Re: Lunch with Jack Defranco Sr. and Jr.
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2015, 01:58:31 pm »
Jeff...I have the means to DIGITIZe and puton DVD.
Please contact Byron and see if he'd agree to send me the VHS tape.
YOURS and his tapes should be digitized ASAP before those tapes become unplayable.

Offline tabalt11

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Re: Lunch with Jack Defranco Sr. and Jr.
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2015, 09:32:12 am »
Walt- A 'very good' point indeed.   Get crackin' guys!