History Of Harley

Doobie, or not Doobie: LA Harley Band to perform with the Doobie Brothers in ...

By Emily Tuttle Special to the Sun Journal

They’ve listened to the Doobie Brothers since they were young. They play Doobie Brothers covers when they perform. The L-A Harley Band, comprised of six veteran local musicians with day jobs, can’t believe they’re going to be sharing the same stage with the Doobie Brothers in just one week.

“I’m a little nervous about it, but I can’t wait,” said Bert Asselin of Auburn, one of the founding members of L-A Harley Band and sales manager of L-A Harley Davidison in Lewiston by day. “For a bunch of local rockers, this doesn’t happen but once in a blue moon.”

Asselin said he got a call from someone looking for an opening act with big stage experience for The Doobie Brothers. They jumped at the chance.

Reconfigured since they emerged as the classic rock band with powerful vocals in the 1970s, The Doobie Brothers will perform July 30 at the Wellness Pavilion in Rangeley in a benefit concert for the Rangeley Region Health and Wellness Partnership. The L-A Harley Band is scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m.

Asselin and his band-mates, like most rock fans, know by heart the California band’s monster hits like “Listen to the Music,” “Jesus Is Just All Right With Me,” “Black Water,” and “Long Train Runnin’.” Playing since 2005, L-A Harley Band has always included The Doobie Brothers in their set list.

But not for this concert. The band’s other co-founder Steve Grenier of Minot, who co-owns Main Street Music Lessons in Auburn, said including those covers “might be a little cheesy” when opening for the actual band.

Instead, L-A Harley will play other rock covers and roll out a couple of original tunes, said Grenier. He and band member Renald (Remo) Lefebvre have been writing music together off and on for the past 20 years. The entire band has had a hand in polishing the songs, said Grenier.

“We all love to play music,” said Grenier, who plays guitar and fiddle. “For me, the bigger the production, the bigger the stage, the bigger the excitement. It’s like a huge adrenalin rush.”

L-A Harley Band is no stranger to the big stage. They opened for rock legends a couple of years ago at the Heroes of Woodstock concert in Livermore that featured Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Ten Years After and Canned Heat.

Knuckle Buster: A Hill Cimber's History - Larry Franz's Last ...

Last year at Wauseon my Canadian friend Rick Wolfe sent a gentleman my way who said he had a Hill Climber for sale. I spoke to this gentleman for a few minutes and realized it was Jerry Franz! I told him that I had one of his dad's bikes and a bunch of his dad's racing stuff. He said, "your the guy in Pennsylvania that has my Dad's first Harley." ...Yup that's me. I said I was interested and gave him my info....months went by and I didn't hear from Jerry. Then one cold winter day there was a thick envelope in the mail. Jerry sent me a note saying he had heart surgery just after Wauseon 2010 and, was I still interested in the his dad's bike and "stuff" that he had. In the envelope were many pictures of the bike and a vast amount of parts and literature that all belonged to Larry Sr. Some of the fantastic "stuff" that I loaded into my van that day were all the original pieces that came off this bike when Larry designed and fabricated the extended swing arm and gas shock rear section. The bike had been through many iterations over the years to remain competitive, the swing arm was the final version. Jerry kept everything, the original hard tail section, spring fork, handlebars, wheels, etc. The literature was also incredible. Among the four boxes of letters, articles, magazines, parts books, manuals, etc. was a letter to Larry Franz Sr. from the Harley Factory Engineering Department dated March 1941 answering some questions Larry asked them about his HD Hillclimber including a question about the very same Schebler Carburetor that I was holding in my hand when I read it! Wow!

Harley-Davidson History & Mystique

The complete Harley-Davidson

The Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Archive Collection

Harley-Davidson, The American Motorcycle

The Timechart History of Harley-Davidson