No doubt their paths have crossed a few times in the last 15 years, but here is video proof of Bill Bateman and Jonny Ray Bartel jamming together in October on The Red Devils classic “Goin’ To The Church”:
The video was shot Oct. 10, 2010, at a VFW post in San Gabriel Valley, California. The occasion was a 50th birthday celebration for DJ Art Martel. Guests included Nick Curran, Phil Alvin, Big Sandy, The 44’s and more.
Besides Bateman and Bartel, this “Church” included Kid Ramos on guitar, effectively a reunion of Blue Shadows members from the Devils’ early days. Adding to the merriment were guitar phenom Kirk Fletcher, and 44’s Johnny Main on vocals and Tex Nakamura on harp.
David Mac of Blues Junction Productions did a great write-up on this event, giving some perspective on the “wow” factor of these jams:
Blaster and former Red Devil Bill Bateman sat in with the 44’s on drums. Former Red Devil bassist, Johnny [sic] Ray Bartel played as well. By this time there were Blasters, Red Devils and T-Birds all over the stage and in the audience.
Orbitgal has a bunch of photos from the event on her Flickr stream, including this great pic of Bartel and Bateman, and several other videos from the event can be found on YouTube.
No Fightin' 