About Blog

This blog will document vinyl records (singles & EPs) of country, bluegrass, and rockabilly on San Francisco Bay Area labels. It will range from the earliest 78rpm records to current 45rpm records. The most updated list can be found at: http://www.westernswing.com/sfba.pdf

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Dusty Dale

Roland “Dusty Dale” Chivers wore a lot of hats: disc jockey, singer, bandleader, and comic entertainer with a hat full of comic charcters like Dan’l Hanby, a hayseed character; Ace in the Hole, a rather ominous looking junkie; Pancho Lopez, the King of Olvera Street; and Wabash Cannon Ball. He led several bands on both sides of the Bay at places like Craby Joe’s Barn, Top Hat, and Mardi Gras in Oakland and Cotton’s in Belmont. He was a regular on the revised Hoffman Hayride (later California Hayride). He continued performing at various clubs and special events until his death in 1968. Below is one of his releases on the Oakland based Trilon label.









Postcard of Dusty Dale and the Trail Herders at Sandra’s


Ad for Sandra’s from Hayward Daily Review February 18, 1949


Sandra’s was taken over by Banchero’s, an Italian restaurant, which expanded on the original quonset structure still visible on this side angle. It is located in unincorporated Hayward near San Leandro.  



Clipping from Hayward Daily Review January 22, 1955. 
Crow Canyon Chateau in Castro Valley area.

Ad from Oakland Tribune, February 28, 1948 showing Dusty Dale 
following Ivory Joe Hunter at the Mardi Gras club in Oakland.

5 comments:

  1. Amazed to find my Uncle listed on your site along with audio. Can't wait to swap notes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Roland, "Dusty Dale" Chivers was my grandfather's brother. The family had several reek-to-reel tapes, some recorded off of tv broadcasts of his performances. In the 90's, I remastered those old tapes and produced a CD for our family. It is great to see him on here. Please share any memories you have.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The guitar player on the postcard above was Don, "High Pockets" Dye. He also did a whistling act called Piccolo Pete. Really kind, funny guy. I visited him at Shingle Springs and we played music together. He was playing that same Epiphone and a tenor guitar. Somewhere I have a video tape of our "concert."

      Delete
  4. Found out a family secret at the last family reunion. Dusty may actually be my grandfather.

    ReplyDelete