PHOTO GALLERY - BANDS AND ARTISTS

CRYSTAL WINTER - (Contributed by OKIE D) Bob Ocampo - guitar,voc / Eddy Ocampo - drums,voc / Ricky Rodriguez - bass / Paul Getty - guitar / Phil Moran - voc. Okie-d writes: CRYSTAL WINTER (74') was a group of young guys from Edison HS. A little bit stiff but fairly competent nonetheless. The band was well under way when Eddy broke his shoulder, so they hired me to sing. Thanks to older brother Bob, they pulled off a surprisingly nice version of "Reeling in the years".

Clockwise: Rick Rodriquez, Eddie OCompo, Paul Geddi, Bob OCampo

(Contributed by Bob O'Campo) BO writes: "Update on Crystal Winter by Bob O'Campo: Rick Rodriguez passed away almost ten years ago. Don't know what happened to Paul Getty. Brother Ed and his son are DJ'ing around town and Ed also has a jewelry business. Bob is in the insurance claims industry and is one of your "good neighbors". Just a note, Bob's (guitarist) son, Michael, has carried on the tradition. His band "Lifter" is currently in the studio producing their second CD. Their first CD was self produced and they have now been signed by an Indie label. Their website is lifterrocks.com. Wouldn't we have had fun with a website back in the day....... .Our favorite (bands) were Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and later the Doobie Brothers. I remember our big night was when we opened for Oz KaNoz. Anyway, I still wish we could have played together longer. I do fondly remember the band Meadow ....seems they had a great blues guitarist......and a wailin' lead vocalist. Great site Mike....Thanks for the blast from the past."

(Contributed by Ron Frei) RF writes: "I worked with Crystal Winter, Replacing Paul Getty for a short time 1973."

(Contributed Aug. 2009 by Bob O’Campo) BobO’ writes: The final and by far BEST Post-Canteen incarnation of CRYSTAL WINTER came together in late ’74 and included: Mick Jagger-style singer Roger Chambers/Voc; (the late)Rick Rodriguez/Bass/Voc; Myself on Lead Guitar/Voc; Ed O’Campo/Drums/Voc and a new member, local guitar slinger/voc Steve Norman filling the slot vacated by Paul Getty. We had worked very hard to incorporate a great many popular rock hits featuring double lead guitar solos into our repertoire and thanks to Steve’s talents and cooperative attitude adding him was a smooth transition and an immediate enhancement to our sound and stage show. Steve and his older guitarist brother Jamie are the products of their accomplished Country Western guitar player father Gene Norman and both learned to play a variety of styles from a very young age. Although you would never guess it if you ever heard Steve rip through one of his monster blues numbers, Steve was actually a somewhat shy, reserved and gentle natured fellow (very much like Mike Lowell J) and just the kind of guy I enjoyed splitting my guitar duties with. Sadly, our time playing together would be short lived and before long the challenges and changing priorities of life pulled each of us in different directions. In spite of the improved line-up and show CRYSTAL WINTER would disband by the end of 1976. Disenchanted with the changing local music scene (thanks to disco, etc.) I opted to hang up my axe and enrolled in a full-time dental trade school where I would meet and after one year marry my beautiful wife of 31 years, Ann. Upon completing that program and less than six months of marriage Ann and I relocated to Austin Texas to manage a private Dental Lab. We started our family in Austin and after three years there returned to San Antonio with our 1st of three sons to finish my bachelor’s degree at SWTSU while working full-time in a research lab at the UT Health Science Center. Finally earning my college degree in 1984 I spent a couple of years teaching High School and Dental Tech programs after which I segued into a 15 year insurance claims industry career; Singer and front man - Roger Chambers left to wild cat in the oil fields of East Texas and we haven’t heard from him since; Bassist – (the late)Rick Rodriguez went on to play in several other bands including one of the final incarnations of Overload; Our drummer/my brother Ed got married and with his son Ed Jr. at his side dabbled in various enterprises over the years while continuing to sit in with numerous bands including a set at legendary Gilley’s Nightclub with Micky Gilley’s band; Steve Norman went on to play in other SA bands including: Apocalypse, Squeeze, Razz and Heyoka. Steve moved to Austin Texas in 1988 and played with such Austin bands as Shakedown, Duke Jupiter and Preacher Keen. Eventually Steve fronted his own bands and is actively gigging today as the Stevie Norman Band. For additional SNB info visit: www.stevienorman.com and ww.myspace.com/stevienorman . ALSO- Here’s an update on my (2nd) son Michael’s aspiring music career: At the insistence his former Indie Label his band LIFTER changed its name to Electric Crush (Mike hated that name) and primarily due to poor management decisions and a major lack of funding, etc. the E.C. project unceremoniously ended almost two years ago. Mike has a NEW extremely promising band project in development called “OUR WAKING HOUR”. Their debut CD should be out very soon. For more OWH details visit: www.myspace.com/ourwakinghour . One final CRYSTAL WINTER honorable mention: Thanks principally to the efforts of brother Ed, in the summer of 1986, CRYSTAL WINTER would perform one memorable Reunion Show as the featured cap-off event for Ed’s Class of ’76 Edison High School Ten Year Reunion festivities. Line-up included: Johnny Saucedo at vocals, Bob O’Campo and Steve Norman on guitars/vocals, (the late) Rick Rodriguez on bass/vocals and brother Ed on drums/vocals. Thanks Ed!!!

Photos contributed by Bob O'Campo / Sam Kinsey