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John Wood to play farewell concert Friday
Having entertained local crowds for about 70 years, John Wood will give his farewell concert on Friday.
The John Wood Combo, staples on the Greencastle music scene since the middle of the last century, will play Greencastle American Legion Post 58 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
After that, Wood plans to call it quits.
“It’ll be our last one, I think,” Wood said. “I started playing in the late ’40s, early ’50s.”
The pianist is 93 and will turn 94 next week and estimates he’s getting too old to keep playing.
It will mark his first big hurrah since a 90th birthday celebration concert back in 2017.
“That was a big deal when I turned 90,” Wood said. “They thought that would be my last one.”
While there were other shows in the meantime, Wood’s keys have been quiet, at least in public, since early 2020.
“When the virus hit, a lot of places quit having live shows,” he said.
It’s been quite the run, though, particularly for a man who didn’t want to learn the instrument for which he’s known.
“I was always involved with music — my mother liked music and she made me take piano lessons against my will,” Wood said. “I also played Clarinet and oboe in the high school band.”
In school, he even remembers playing in the Greencastle High School jazz band with Bob Flanigan, who went on to become Greencastle’s most famous musical son as the founder of vocal jazz group The Four Freshmen.
However, Wood gave up on woodwinds after high school.
“I wasn’t very good and I didn’t like it,” he recalls.
After high school, though, he finally started to enjoy playing the piano. It didn’t hurt that he lived on Anderson Street right next door to the Hardwick family.
“They had four kids and all of them were musical,” Wood said. “None of the Hardwicks ever had a music lesson. They were just natural musicians.”
After briefly playing in a different band, Wood hooked up with Tom Hardwick as his bassist, and they stayed together for decades.
“Tom Hardwick was with me for years — all through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s,” Wood recalled.
The early years were great for Wood, as he recalls playing high school proms and plenty of dances at DePauw.
Then came Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and with it a different kind of music. At this point, Wood doesn’t even recognize some of it as “music.”
“We just still play the old music, what was popular back in the World War II era,” Wood said. “All the songs we play were written in the ’30s and ’40s, probably some even in the ’20s.”
He enjoys still being part of that tradition.
“The big bands — Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller and all of them — they had great musicians,” Wood said.
Of course, Wood has shared the stage with his share of good players as well.
“I’ve had a lot of good musicians with me through the years,” he said. “They’ve all passed away.”
That starts with Hardwick, who was replaced by Carol Hamm years ago, and she’s still playing bass for Wood.
On the other hand, current drummer Donnie Hopkins is his 24th different drummer.
Friday’s lineup will be rounded out by a special appearance from guitarist Sandy Williams, who as a teenager would sit in with Wood.
Jim “Figgy” Hardwick will be the emcee on the evening.
The Legion, located at 1401 Indianapolis Rd., will be open to the public, with dinner available for $8 each. The menu includes ham and beans, fried potatoes, cornbread and a dessert.
It’s a very affordable dinner, but a far cry from Wood’s early days, when the band members might expect to make $5 each from a gig, “and that was good money.”
“We just like to do it,” Wood said. “It’s a good hobby, never really made money at it.”