When the class of first-year students arrived at St. Olaf in the fall of 1963, they were humming the songs of Bobby Vinton, Andy Williams, and Trini Lopez. One year later, the newest batch of students had replaced the music of Lesley Gore and Peter, Paul, and Mary with The Beatles, The Animals, and The Dave Clark Five. Included in that incoming class was a blind guitar player from St. Paul, Minnesota named Don Hoover who brought with him the idea of starting a rock and roll band at St. Olaf College.

It all started with  a couple of residents of Ytterboe — Don Hoover ’68 and Roger Christians ’67 — getting together with their guitars and playing with the windows open. Eventually they needed a bass player (David Nelson ’68) and when another guitar player (David Erdman ’68) came by, he was invited to join in. And it wasn’t long before parents were being asked to ship guitars and amps to the school. Finally they found a drummer (David Hersrud ’68). And when it was suggested that the “band” participate in the annual school talent contest, the die was cast — The Reveres were born. With Hoover leading his band of merry music makers, two songs were all that was required for an audition. Needless to say, the band’s appearance at the contest was a resounding success; unfortunately, the joy of the moment was short-lived. The dean of men informed the band they would no longer be allowed to practice their “devil music” on campus. He even went so far as to have private meetings with some band members to try and convince them to quit the band — which didn’t sit well with former presidents of their Luther League.

At this point it would have been easy for the band members to simply give up and go back to just being college students. However, someone had the idea that perhaps we should find out if we could practice in the power plant. The Green Army came to the rescue. From that point on, we had a home even if we had to practice at a sometimes-deafening volume (we like to say we invented “heavy metal”). By then we also had a new lead singer (Bob Anderson ’67).

In those days, Minneapolis was a musical hotbed. Local bands like The Underbeats, The High Spirits, The Castaways, and Gregory Dee and The Avanties were carrying on the tradition of bands like The Trashmen. But there weren’t a lot of rock bands outside of the Twin Cities, so we had numerous opportunities to play. There was a battle of the bands in Northfield, concerts in towns like Redwood Falls, off-campus society parties, and high school dances. After all, what self-respecting adult wouldn’t want a band from St. Olaf?

Looking back, there is something unique about a band’s history. So many stories; so many memories. Here are a few:

• Hoover recording new songs off the radio with his equipment and then insisting we get together to learn them. Don was our band leader, showing us all what and how to play. We were then able to learn songs like The Stones’ Get Off My Cloud the day they came out — even if we found out later that we didn’t have the lyrics correct.
• Holding auditions for a lead singer and finding out that just because you can sing a Bach Cantata does not mean you can sing Satisfaction.
• Having a weekly residence at Ma’s café for free beer and food in downtown Northfield and being called “Ma’s Boys.”
• Our “world tour” of southwest North Dakota and northwest South Dakota and driving around the towns with a loud speaker announcing the shows (ala The Blues Brothers).
• Stuck in Hettinger, North Dakota at 1 a.m. with no keys for our vehicle and freezing cold and being saved by a local police officer who came by and asked his prisoner to hot-wire our vehicle.
• The fire that started when a passing motorist flipped a cigarette that landed in our trailer on our way back to campus after a show and the volunteer fire department that arrived to douse the flames.
• Our “techie” Don Forsythe ’66 who built a brilliant state-of-the-art sound system that made us sound much better than we probably were.
• Different names over the years like The New Jacksonville Blues Band and expanded lineups with other St. Olaf students  (Ralph Flitter ‘70, John Otis ‘68, and Steve Solum ‘70) and even a couple of Carleton students whose names we can’t remember.

By 1967 the band was pretty much over. Bob Anderson had graduated and other members had transferred or left school. Graduation day in 1968 marked the end of a college career and a fitting end to the first rock’n’roll band at St. Olaf College.

P.S. The original Reveres have remained close friends and held a reunion in August 2024. Don Hoover sadly passed away in 1978. Bob Anderson is a retired insurance executive and music lover who has three acoustic guitars, two electric, and two bass — and is actively involved in a praise team. Dave Erdman graduated from college with an architectural degree, ended up in the marine business and is a renowned sculptor whose work is in major galleries in Cincinnati, Charleston, Sarasota and St. Petersburg. Roger Christians is retired and says the band “experience” gave him the confidence to perform in public, which he does as a 30-year member of an a capella group and 26 years in a rock band. David Hersrud worked for Warner-Elektra-Atlantic in the 70s, working with artists like George Harrison, Led Zeppelin, and The Eagles before returning to the family business in South Dakota; he has remained active in music as a writer and was the host of the syndicated program CDTV for 12 years; David Nelson earned a Master of Divinity degree and served churches in his home state of Nebraska for almost 10 years before working in the insurance industry until retiring. David played in rock bands (the Brakemen) in Nebraska during the summer and was inducted into the Nebraska Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. David has his Ibanez bass, a 1992 Stratocaster, and two acoustic guitars.

Thank you to Bob Seger and The St. Olaf Green Army.

(This reflection is dedicated to the memory of our fearless leader and friend Don Hoover.)