Daytona gears up for 70th year
Bikers, do you need a little time off for bad behavior? Do you want to hang out with bad company? Are you flirtin' with disaster, living life in the fast lane?
The 70th Bike Week, which roars into town today and continues through March 13, may or may not provide such temptations. But it will provide a soundtrack for such temptations -- a soundtrack for both bikers and non-bikers alike.
Country outlaw David Allan Coe, Confederate Railroad (the band behind the hit "Trashy Women") and a former lead singer for Bad Company will be in concert this Bike Week, among many others.
Here's a look at some of the musical happenings. For more Bike Week events, see our events calendar.
Memphis resident and piano player Victor Wainwright chunked his fledgling career as an air traffic controller and pursued what he calls "a double major in boogie, a master's in rhythm and a Ph.D. in swing."
On the album "Beale Street to the Bayou," the Zeus-voiced Wainwright and his band, the WildRoots, crank out jazzy, urban blues on the song "Mighty Man," acoustic delta blues on "Sold Down River" and Allman Brothers-style blues rock on "Long Way to Go."
Wainwright and the WildRoots will be in concert from 1 to 5 p.m. today, Sunday and Thursday in Riverfront Park, across from Daytona Harley Davidson, 290 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach. Other bands will be performing in Riverfront Park from 1 to 5 p.m. daily through March 12.
Singer Brian Howe is no stranger to bad company -- make that Bad Company.
As the former singer for the British rock band from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Howe supplied the pipes for such hits as "If You Needed Somebody, " "No Smoke Without a Fire" and "How About That."
Howe will be in concert at 10 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday at the Iron Horse Saloon, 1068 N. U.S. 1, Ormond Beach. Information from the venue: 386-677-1550.
Howe made his debut in the rock world as lead vocalist for Ted Nugent on the gonzo guitarist's 1984 album, "Penetrator." Later that year, Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke and guitarist Mick Ralphs tapped Howe to replace departing lead singer Paul Rodgers. For the next decade Howe wrote, recorded and toured with the band and appeared on the 1993 live album "What You Hear Is What You Get -- The Best of Bad Company."
These days Howe performs many of Bad Company's hits from both the original incarnation of the band and from his own tenure, including "Can't Get Enough, " "Holy Water" and "Ready For Love."
Howe released his second solo album, "Circus Bar," last year.
- The Colorado rockabilly band Hillbilly Hellcats will perform during the Church of Chop Rat Rod and Chopper Show, which also is being billed as the "To Hell With Daytona Show."
The event will be Saturday at the Junkyard Saloon, 5115 N. U.S. 17, DeLeon Springs. Information: 386-624-4444. Show registration will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with awards presented at 4 p.m. Other activities include a pin-up contest and a burnout contest.
Music begins at 1:30 p.m. and also will feature the Oak Hill Drifters and the Bloody Jug Band.
- In the 1970s, David Allan Coe was an outlaw in more ways than one. Along with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, Coe helped pioneer that rebel brand of music known as "outlaw country." And Coe also was a biker -- a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
Back in the day, Coe crafted such veritable biker anthems as "Cheap Thrills," "Time Off for Bad Behavior" and the boogie-saturated "Son of the South." And Coe penned another biker-friendly anthem: "Take This Job and Shove It," which Johnny Paycheck turned into his signature tune.
Other Coe hits include "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" (written by Steve Goodman), "The Ride" and "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile." He also wrote "Would You Lay With Me (in a Field of Stone)," a hit for Tanya Tucker.
Coe long ago left the Outlaws (the motorcycle club, not the style of music), and he told The News-Journal years ago that his health dictated that he stop riding bikes. But he remains a fixture at Bike Week, where he's performed for more than 30 years.
Coe is scheduled to perform at 11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 3 p.m. Wednesday, 11 p.m. Thursday through March 12, and 4 p.m. March 13 at the Iron Horse Saloon in Ormond Beach.
The Southern rock band Molly Hatchet will be in concert at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Doghouse Bar & Grill, 601 Main St., Daytona Beach. The band is known for such hits as "Flirtin' With Disaster," "Gator Country" (in which the Hatchet lads give shout-outs to their fellow Southern rockers) and a cover of the Allman Brothers' "Dreams."
-Confederate Railroad frontman Danny Shirley champions the outlaw and biker life on the band's song "Still One Outlaw Left."
"Boys like me are a dyin' breed," Shirley sings. "I've stared down a sawed-off, mister call your dogs off. Actin' like Billy the Kid, rode a hog in the hard rain, tryin' to catch a fast train. Dogs couldn't catch me but the devil sure did."
It's no wonder Shirley got a little bit of outlaw on himself: He toured with Coe in the days before Confederate Railroad hit the big time.
However, Confederate Railroad is known more for such free-spirited, even humorous hit ditties as "Queen of Memphis," "She Took It Like a Man," "Trashy Women," "Elvis and Andy," "I Hate Rap," "White Trash With Money" and "The 'R' Word."
The band also sang about the outlaw life on "I Am Just a Rebel." And they've reflected on life's more serious sides, as with "Jesus and Mama, " "Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind" and "Wasted Time."
Confederate Railroad will be in concert at 11 p.m. Wednesday at the Iron Horse Saloon in Ormond Beach.
- The Eagles are a biker band? Well, maybe -- their song "Life in the Fast Lane" is as good a biker anthem as any.
The Eagles tribute band Seven Bridges Road performs at 11 p.m. March 11 at the Broken Spoke Saloon, 1151 N. U.S. 1, Ormond Beach.
Other tribute bands performing at the Broken Spoke during Bike Week include:
Straight Shooter (Bad Company), 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Houses of the Holy (Led Zeppelin), 11 p.m. Thursday and 9 p.m. March 12.
Black Water (Doobie Brothers), 9 p.m. March 11.
Last Child (Aerosmith), 11 p.m. March 12.