Menu
John Wood to play Elks on 90th birthday
If there were plans in place to make John Wood’s 90th birthday concert a farewell show, then someone forgot to share the plan with the pianist.
Asked if the Friday, Oct. 13 show at Greencastle Elks No. 1077 would be his last, the stalwart of the local music scene was in a joking mood.
“It may be, if I kick the bucket the next day,” Wood said with a smile.
The show is set for 6-8 p.m. at the Elks, 202 S. Indiana St., and is open to the public.
The event also includes a dinner of roast, sides and dessert for $8.
“We’ll be celebrating John’s 90th birthday,” Elks Trustee Patty Evans said. “We want everyone to come out and help celebrate his birthday and make it a super night for him.”
Despite rumors to the contrary, Wood doesn’t plan to stop tickling the ivories anytime soon. However, his schedule has opened up a bit in recent years.
“We’re still playing, not too often though,” Wood said.
The current lineup of the Combo features Wood on piano, Carol Hamm on bass, Bill James and clarinet and Donnie Hopkins on drums. Friday will also feature Jim “Figgy” Hardwick singing and telling jokes.
The lineup has gone through a lot of changes over the years, though that is to be expected in 60-some years.
“A lot of my old players are gone. ‘Hoppy’ is my 25th drummer,” Wood said.
“We started back … I don’t really know … started back in the middle ‘50s, I guess,” Wood added. “We used to play a lot. Our band was pretty popular and played when the old music was popular
“At that time, we played for a lot of high school proms. We played for about all the big events we had around here.”
The group’s heyday even saw it playing between features at one of Greencastle’s old cinemas.
“We would play between movies at the Voncastle Theatre.” Wood said. “Had our name on the marquee — big time.”
The popularity of groups like Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and the entire rock and roll era that followed changed music. However, the Combo has stuck to what Wood calls “old music” — mid-century names like Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Irving Berlin.
“We’ll be playing our usual stuff,” Wood said of the Friday show.
Music isn’t the only thing Wood has seen change.
“The year I was born, in 1927, was the year Lindbergh flew across the ocean. And that was the year Henry Ford introduced his Model A car,” Wood said. “Things have changed a lot since then.”
As if the music group’s history dating back to the ‘50s wasn’t enough, Wood’s time at the keyboard goes even farther, back to the ‘30s.
“My mother gave me piano lessons when I was a kid,” Wood said. “I used to play around in amateur contests and played on the radio one time at William H. Block Co. in Indianapolis. I was probably about eight or 10.”
In high school, Wood’s love of music had him rubbing elbows with the man who would go on to become Greencastle’s most famous musician.
“I was in the high school band with Bob Flanigan and played with him when I was in high school,” Wood said. “He was a little older than me.”
While at Butler University, Flanigan was a co-founder of The Four Freshmen, one of the most influential vocal bands of the 20th century.
For his part, Wood has influenced the Greencastle musicians who came after him, including Bill Hamm, Steve Michael and Sandy Williams, all of whom played with Wood when they were young.
It all adds up to what would be a well-earned retirement, but Wood is having none of it. He still enjoys a good round of golf and the chance to be up there onthe stage again, even if he doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to do it.
“We’re still playing … I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna be around,” Wood said. “About all my friends are gone.”