12 Step Program, part two, chapter forty-three
Whatever Happened to Bob Jansen?
The lights went down and the sense of anticipation in the Commodore was palpable, was real.
The concert had started, for Matt Brady the search since 1982 finally was over, for many in the ballroom a question was about to be answered. Who was this Bob Jansen guy?
Luke Mitchell’s band opened. Several local bands cried to be on the bill, but Luke’s was a well-rehearsed working band and Luke had a history with Bob that connected the two.
In L.A. and then Seattle, Luke had tried to write but couldn’t do it. Bob had simple ideas that Luke could transform into rock arrangements and Luke always respected that.
He was a player, not a creator.
Once back in Seattle, he slipped easily into blues. Blues had a form and a history and there always had been a blues element to whatever he did with The. Hi-Steppers/Steppers/Steppers. One of the first songs Luke can remember playing on guitar was Howlin’ Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning.
So there he was, starting with Green Onions, following with Talkin’ Bout You and throwing in an “original” – a song that had his lyrics stapled over top a fammiliar riff or feel. People loved it; after all., he was a good guitarist.
If Bob Jansen was nervous, he didn’t show it. Well he wouldn’t, thought Matt, but deep down, I bet he is.
Luke and his band knew the material and, in preparation, Bob went into the care homes singing louder and more aggressively than he usually did. When he threw in some rock and roll, he lost the seniors immediately. They couldn’t sing with him and for those rock oldies he hadn’t prepared lyric sheets. It was back to Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter and the Berlins. He got his version of Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again from The Byrds’ first album. If desperate, he always could lead them in How Much Is That Doggie In The Window. It never got to that.
Nervous or not, he hopped up and down while the P.A. played a prerecorded Tall Cool One by The Wailers.
This was the cue for Luke and his young band to troop onto stage, set up, get ready. As Tall Cool One ended, Luke immediately led the band into what sounded like Sonny And Cher’s The Beat Goes On. It wasn’t. It actually was an adaptation of The Grantchesters’s Bachbeat .Luke had heard a tape of it with Peter supplying those familiar classical hooks on his piano. It wasn’t much more than a simple blues progression that was the foundation of both The Beat Goes On and Bachbeat. Luke filed it away in his memory. The Beat Goes On fit the lyrics of Living Without You, the Randy Newman song that was The Hi-Steppers’ first single. Luke hoped somewhere Abe Stern was smiling.
After a protracted vamp on the riff, Bob appeared to loud applause.
“The milkman brings the sun up.”
He sounds great, thought Matt, a little shaky perhaps but in control.
Then came Lonely Weekend followed by Pandora’s Box. The audience was with him and his confidence grew with each number.
Conspicuous by its absence was 10 Commandments Of Love, Instead, Bob had inserted The Steppers’ arrangement of What Is Love. At first, the audience was puzzled but, as it slowly recognized the song, it joined in on the chorus.
“That’s how The Steppers did it; we also did this….”
Tainted Love, Luke bearing down on the chugging riff, making it more of a rock song than the electro-pop hit for Soft Cell that came much later.
“And this.”
This version of 96 Tears allowed the keyboard player to stretch and gave Bob a little time to catch his breath.
Big Bang Theory, The Seven Ages Of Man, for which Bob struck a Jesus pose, Empire Builder, for which he crossed his arms in front of is chest and looked stern.
,“Time to pay respect.”
Highway 61 Revisited, played as a sizzling, lean blues shuffle but not far off the Bob Dylan original.
“Here’s one that most people don’t know. Might be the wrong time of year but what the hell.”
Santa Clones. Luke and his band played for laughs while Bob seemed to waltz with himself.
Catching the full house’s celebratory mood they essayed Just Like Chuck and, just like that, they were back in rock and roll mode. When they were done, Eric Matthews appeared to a little recognition, marched over to the drum kit and gratefully received the sticks from a reluctant but gracious drummer.
Eric gave Luke a sign that he was ready and the guitarist banged a mighty three chords.
That sounds like The Flirtations’ Nothing But A Heartache, thought Matt, trying hard to remember.
It was. Luke liked the bigness, the drama, of it, and how it might morph into 12 Step Program. The guitarist had rehearsed it with the band and instructed Bob to lay out, which he did, eventually recognizing the right second to launch into first verse.
Hands were in the air, fists seemingly punched the ceiling. The crowd might not know Bob Jansen but it knew 12 Step Program. Bob looked taken aback by the adoration. I wrote this, Matt read Bob’s thinking. It means something to these people.
He sang the first verse straight.
Girl, I’ve got it bad’
You’re the best thing I never had.
All your love is all I ever crave
But I know it’s the one thing I’ll never have.”
Even as he got to the chorus there were people already shouting along. Bob quieted them.
”First step,” he sings practically in a whisper.
“i need your love,” the crowd intones
“Second step,” Bob continues a little louder.
“i say a little prayer,” it sings, also louder.
“Third step,”
“ i’m gonna stop.”
“Fourth step,”
“Find someone who cares.”
He does a slight jump that turns him to face his guitarist.
“Waddaya say, Luke?”
As Luke trips into his solo, Matt felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find Ruth.
“Ruth!” exclaimed Matt. “I thought you were running the merchandise table.”
“I was, but I wanted to be beside you. Share your big moment. Somebody from the Commodore is looking after the shirts for us. And hats. I thought you said he was dead. Remember our conversation just before you smoked him out?
“You told me about the rebirth of !2 Step Program,” she added. “I sorta knew it, but I didn’t know Bob Jansen wrote it.
“This is him, huh, he’s good but I thought he was dead.”
“The Bob Jansen we knew is dead. This Bob Jansen, “Matt smiled as he looked at the beaming singer, “ is alive.”
When Luke ended his solo, he slipped into repetition of the riff. That was my favourite part, Matt remembered. Stay in the groove, lock into the bass line, create tension. Not much to it but the part is so fraught with drama.
Bob Jansen milked that moment, instructing the band to play quietly, before he told the crowd.
“I was born January 8, the same day as Elvis Presley, years apart. I took this as a message from God or Whomever. It said it was my destiny to sing rock and roll. So I put a band together, a good band, and we had some ups and plenty of downs. Too many downs.
So I quit singing rock and roll for a few years, But, you know what, I’d been infected, this was destiny, and I couldn’t shake it.
That’s why I’m back; that’s why I’m here tonight. To meet destiny; to find a cure, to sing one last time.
“Are you with me?”
The crowd roars a collective yeah.
“I said, are you with me/“
Louder now.
Bob lights into the chorus softly.
”First step,” he sings.
“i need your love,” the crowd intones
“Second step,” Bob continues a little louder.
“i say a little prayer,” it sings, also louder.
“Third step,”
“ i’m gonna stop.”
“Fourth step,”
“Find someone who cares.”
The crowd roars. Bob positions himself front and centre.
“Fifth step,” he’s louder now.
“Everybody knows.”
“Sixth step,” gaining power.
“Somebody help.”
“Seventh step,”
“ Say another prayer.”
“Eighth step,”
“Gonna make a list.”
“Ninth step,” Bob roars.
“Gonna make amends,” the crowd roars back.
“Tenth step,” he shouts.
“Clean up my act,” it shouts back
“Eleventh step.”
“Keep on praying!”
“Twelfth step.”
“Tell everyone I’m free.”
“I’m cured!“ Bob Jansen testifies. “This was my 12 Step Program!!”
