This is part two of historical highlights of the Hall Brothers Jazz Band. Part one can be found in the December issue of TST, read: The Hall Brothers Jazz Band: Beginnings. When we left off in 1962, the core lineup had finally come together. Stan Hall, piano; Russ Hall, trombone; Charlie Devore, cornet; Butch Thompson, clarinet; Mike Polad, banjo; Bill Evans, bass; and Donald “Doggie” Berg, drums.
The Driveshaft Incident
Thanksgiving weekend, 1962. The plan was to leave for New Orleans after finishing up playing at Brady’s Bar in downtown Minneapolis. The two college kids in the Hall Brothers Jazz Band, Butch Thompson and Mike Polad, excitedly climbed into Mike’s ‘’53 Cadillac Coupe DeVille at two o’clock in the morning to begin the 1200-mile adventure. They made it eight of those miles. Then, with a loud bang, the driveshaft gave out.
They found a phone and called Stan Hall who arrived shortly with his truck. This is the way Butch tells the story. “I thought that Stan would be able to rescue us by getting the car out of there, but that we wouldn’t be able to go.” He chuckled, “But no.” Stan had remembered seeing an old Cadillac that had been up on blocks for months in a vacant lot next to where he lived. “He said we had to be very stealthy about this, but wasn’t saying what the next step was, not exactly.” Stan brought them to Brady Motors. Butch co
