Born to Boogie Band

Please Note: There are additional pictures of the band under the “photos” tab…

The Born to Boogie Band really began in 1988 as a studio band for Chicago Bear Dan Hampton’s weekly TV show.

Howell’s band “The Bad Habits”. This band was the studio band for Chicago Bear Dan Hampton’s TV show from 1988-1990. Mike Arturi and Tommy Dzillo went on to play with John in “The Born To Boogie Band” and “The Jr. Samples”…. Also pictured is Pat Azirello (keys) and John Brandt (Bass). Brandt also played with Cheap Trick for several years.

During the 1990’s, Big John & The Born to Boogie Band performed over 500 shows.

The Born to Boogie Band varied in size depending on the season and availability of musicians. The band could include up to eight or nine members. Some shows featured only core players. This excerpt is from a stripped down show at the Naperville Rib Fest.

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The great Tommy Dziallo is heard on guitar. Tommy fills up the entire stage with his sound and solos through every tune.

Joe Macicak is on bass and features his “2 pack a day” vocals.

Mike Arturi takes care of business. Behind the drum set and also in collecting the cash owed to the band.

The raw tape was enhanced with movie clips from “The Blues Brothers” and used on the air for some (now forgotten) reason.

Back row: Ed Kowalski, Bill Towery, Danny Patton, Joe Macicak and Doug Murphy

Front row: Gary Jacklin, John Howell, Mike Arturi and Nate Klinger

During the summer of 1993 John and his “Born To Boogie Band” played 63 concerts. The band at that time had just added Danny Patton(Guitar/Banjo). Also in the band at that time was Mike Arturi (Drums), Joe Macicak (Bass/Vocals), Nate Klinger (Keyboards/Sax/Vocals), Gary Jacklin (Guitar/Fiddle/Vocals).

Gary Jacklin works the crowd

The band was tight and included a lot of on-stage banter, audience interaction and a wide range of music. These following excerpts are from “The World’s Largest Block Party” at Saint Pat’s Church in downtown Chicago. Howell’s band was opening for Lee Roy Parnell.

This was the show where the band had to play an extra hour due to a contract problem between Parnell and the festival producers. Also, Joe’s bass rig was knocked off the back of the stage after some interpretive dance moves that went askew…

Please note the brillance of the late, great Danny Patton who was killed in an auto accident a couple of years ago. Danny was returning to Nashville after a gig and lost his life along with country legend Billy Walker. He was a “musician’s musician”, entirely self-taught, great friend and always left the guys with the quote “be safe”.

Ace In The Hole

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Last Meal

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Boy Named Sue

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Route 66

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Foggy Mountain

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Hot Rod Lincoln

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Pick Up The Tempo

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Joe Macicak and Howell always sounded best on beer tent stages…

July 4th weekend of 1994 John and the guys played at the Taste Of Chicago on the Fox Stage. This four minute montage covers some of that show. This lineup included John, Joe Macicak, Mike Arturi, Gary Jack Jacklin,Nate Klinger, Danny Patton along with John’s old radio pal Bill Towery (who passed away a number of years ago) and Doug Murphy on percussion.

The sound man responsible for mixing the band for many years was Ed Kowalski. Ed was also the stage manager and drove the Winnabago.

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At that time, Big John was an endorser of Old Style Beer, cutting many different radio commercials for the brewery. In this excerpt you’ll hear Tommy and Howell teaming up on an original Old Style jingle. Tommy composed the music and is playing all the instruments. Howell contributed the lyrics and marginal vocal abilities. This played on several Chicago stations without the Howell identifications.

Tommy Dziallo and Howell’s Old Style Boogie

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