Friday, Aug. 07, 2009
Monte Mills and the Lucky Horseshoe Band salutes F. McLintocks Saloon
Local country music fixture's new album includes songs from nearly 30 years of downtown SLO shows
Comments (0) | 
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeFor nearly three decades, Monte Mills and the Lucky Horseshoe Band were the hottest act in downtown San Luis Obispo.
County music fans flocked to F. McLintocks Saloon on Higuera Street every Thursday to hear the band perform. Some even offered to carry band equipment to get in.
“There used to be lines out the doors in the ’70s, people whooping and hollering,” recalled Mills, the band’s lead singer and founder. “They let people dance on the tables in those days.”
The Lucky Horseshoe Band’s latest album, “The McLintocks Saloon Years: Thursday nights from 1976 to 2003,” chronicles those golden years.
“It was just the place to go party on Thursday night,” said Mills, whose band performs Friday in Paso Robles. “We tried to create that atmosphere.”
Golden years
Mills kicked off his musical career in 1974, when he received a contract to shoe horses for Rancheros Vistadores, a group of politicians and ranchers who meet every year to explore the wilderness outside Santa Barbara.
Mills brought his guitar along for the seven-day ride.
Several riders, including bassist Dusty Rhodes of The Whippoorwills, urged him to record an album. The next year, Mills teamed up with Roy Lanham of Sons of the Pioneers and other country greats on “Monte Mills Sings Old Favorites.”
Back in San Luis Obispo, offers for gigs started pouring in.
Monte Mills and the Lucky Horseshoe Band made their McLintocks debut in April 1976. “I think we made $30 apiece,” Mills recalled with a laugh.
Over time, the band and its classic country sound secured a loyal following. One of their strategies, the San Miguel man shared, was distributing T-shirts printed with the band logo to female fans.
“We’d pick the prettiest girls and hold up a shower curtain and they’d change into (the T-shirts),” he recalled, adding that they also won the privilege of playing tambourine onstage. “They all liked the attention.”
San Luis Obispo attorney Krista Kodl laughingly admits to being one of those girls.
She and her older sister, Kim, discovered Mills’ music in the 1990s as Cal Poly students.
“Rarely did we miss a Thursday night at McLintocks,” said Kodl, a North County native who studied agricultural business. “(Monte Mills) was just a local legend. … He just played great music and it was a lot of fun.”
In fact, Kodl said, she’s since become close friends with Mills, who shares her love of horses and traditional tunes.
His band played at her 1997 wedding, as well as those of her sister and several friends.
In fact, Mills said, scores of couples have met and married as the result of the Lucky Horseshoe Band. The group recently performed at a wedding in Paso Robles; they also played in 1977 when the bride’s parents wed.
“That was kind of a milestone,” Mills said with a laugh.
Nostalgic tunes
“The McLintocks Saloon Years” offers plenty for nostalgic fans.
It features 13 of the band’s most popular songs, including “Jambalaya,” “Love Sick Blues,” and “Blues Stay Away From Me,” which Mills described as “one of my favorite all-time songs.”
He also likes “Johnny Cash Medley,” a six-minute track that features snippets of “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Monte Mills and the Lucky Horseshoe Band pay homage to songs about cars and the open road with another new album, “Thunder Road.”
The album, which features “Hot Rod Lincoln,” “Route 66” and other favorites, takes its title from “The Ballad of Thunder Road.”
Robert Mitchum famously sang the ballad on the soundtrack of 1958’s “Thunder Road.”
He gave a repeat performance about 15 years ago when the Lucky Horseshoe Band played a Santa Barbara benefit, Mills recalled.
Both albums feature Mills and the current Lucky Horseshoe Band lineup — guitarist Glen Rathbone, pianist Randy Allen, drummer Tim Kelly, and bassist and vocalist Corine Manroe — as well as past band members and collaborators. Harmonica player Mike Caldwell and singer Shelly Cargill are among the performers.
Still performing
These days, Monte Mills and the Lucky Horseshoe Band are just as popular as ever.
In May the band flew to Pueblo, Colo., for the first Wild Wild West Fest, hosted by the Professional Bull Riders.
They played two shows at the California Mid-State Fair in July, and performed at a Hospice Partners of the Central Coast fundraiser earlier this month.
Upcoming gigs include two free outdoor concerts — one Friday at City Park in Paso Robles and the other Sept. 2 at Templeton Community Park.
“It’s always fun to be in demand,” said Mills, who recently retired after more than 35 years of horseshoeing.
What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
- Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
- Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
- Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
- Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
- Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
- Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
- Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
- Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.