The story of Harry and the Hightones

...which may or may not be true.

As the legend goes, passed around in conversations at the Hightone Cafe & Garage, it all started when a group of youngsters decided to start a "garage band" in the back of the cafe. That was 1965 and the Beatles were hot on the radio. But, radio reception around Doss was poor back in those days, so the boys were forced to learn songs from the LPs that their parents owned; records that had been bought during car trips to San Angelo and other big cities.

The Hightone Cafe & Garage

The boys decided to name themselves "The Sons of the Dukes of Doss" after the famous "Dukes of Doss", a local polka band comprised of couple of their fathers. But, being teenagers, they couldn't stand polka music and preferred the swing music from a collection of 78's owned by a fellow in Doss, who couldn't stand polka music either.

The band continued to play in the garage, next to the cafe as the years passed on. The members of the band went to and finished school, played sports, graduated, dated, and married their sweethearts. Kids came along, which broke up the regular Tuesday night rehearsals for a while, but the boys always came back to the garage and each night they played, honing their skills as musicians, learning, singing and enjoying new swing songs.

Dukes of Doss -1949

Over the years, the band had several name changes. In the 70's they decided to call themselves "The Electric Tractors" in order to keep up with the times. This name change got them great notoriety and a one gig at the Ozona Area County Fair. It also brought on a lawsuit from some Japanese guy who had actually invented some kind of electric tractor, so, the band changed their name again. They wanted to call themselves "The Free Range Roosters" but some of the wives didn't think too highly of that. So, after many pots of coffee in the booth at the Hightone Cafe and hundreds of napkins written on and then scratched through with band names, some of which didn't make any sense at all, the boys finally struck on the perfect name for the band.
Actually the boys didn't think of it. It was Luther Samuel Dozier who thought of it. Luther, the cafe dishwasher looked up from all the napkins and said,

The Electric Tractors -1973

" You know, you fellars have been playing in the garage out back for years now. Why don't you call yourselves what you really are?...The Hightone Garage Band."

It was brilliant.

Over the years the name got shortened to "The Hightone Band" and then just "The Hightones". The name stayed that way until the summer of 2003 when a shady sort of fellow show up on one of the two streets in Doss. That one street happened to be where the Hightones practiced and played. He heard the band playing and came by, saying that he had just retired to Doss and was stopping by to say hello. He introduced himself as Harry Marlowe.

Come to find out, this Harry fellow turned out to be one of the best and most versatile musicians the boys ever met. He could play any instrument you put in his hands. Harry started coming to practice and eventually the Hightones asked him to be the leader of the band. Harry made some big changes in the band soon afterward. First, he said the Hightones needed to do something with their music, namely, go out and play for other people.

Harry Marlowe

In other words, the band needed gigs. After several conversations with the wives it was decided that it was OK. Harry got the Hightones booked into the Hill Country Opry on November 22, 2003. It was the Hightones first gig since Ozona. But, something awfully strange happened that night.

Harry never showed up for the gig. The Hightones found out later that Harry had apparently received a very mysterious phone call and had immediately driven to the airport where he boarded an airplane for some distant destination that the Hightones had never heard of before. When he reappeared at the next band rehearsal, he explained that although he was retired, "the company" , referring to his former employer, apparently needed his expertise and would be calling him out of retirement to employ him on a "contract basis" from time to time.

So, as the story goes, the Hightones have had to live with having to tell audiences, "Harry didn't make it tonight."

But, every once in a while, Harry does make it to the gigs. In fact, he played with the Hightones at the Texas Arts & Crafts Fair in May. The Hightones were thrilled, to say the least.

So, if you get lucky, you may, in fact, get a glimpse of Harry Marlowe in action at one of the Hightones' performances. Be sure to check the calendar for the next show.

The End...maybe

|| H o m e | Our CD | Photo Album | E n g a g e m e n t s | The Band |Store | Comments | C o n t a c t U s ||