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The Raspberry Ice, or as later called “The Ice” was an outstanding 7 piece horn band which performed at Guys & Dolls in Cold Springs, KY. Members included lead singer & lead guitarist, Tom Knuckles, Roger Riedinger on bass, Doug Hoffman on drums, Ray Rice on Keyboards, Nick Lambrinides on trumpet, Dave Usinger on Sax and Tim Fitzgibbon on Trombone.

 

Guys & Dolls… as it looked in the 1970’s

 

The Story of “The Ice” written by Tom Knuckles

In the beginning

In December of 1968, a group of musicians auditioned for the coveted house band gig at the fabulous Guys ‘n’ Dolls nightclub. Ben Kraft, the owner of the club immediately hired them and within a few weeks the band started playing at this popular night spot on Friday and Saturday night.

Although that was the beginning of the band that became known as The Ice, the story of The Ice began much earlier in the weeks and months leading up to the audition.

When the band finally started playing at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls, Tom Knuckles, Roger Riedinger, Bob Ridder, Dave Fleeman, Bill Davis, Jake Neace, and Panny Sarakatsannis were the musicians in the group. But how we came together is an amazing story of being at the right place at the right time.

In 1967, I was in a band called The Cartesians along with my friend bass player Roger Riedinger. It was early 1968 and The Cartesians had broken up and I was thinking about what I was gonna do next. Bill Davis and Jake Nease played trumpet and sax in the marching band at my high school, and Bill Davis was my neighbor. The three of us started getting together with no particular goal in mind. We had been doing this for a while when I received a call from Roger Riedinger. I told him about Bill and Jake. Roger wanted to start playing again so he came to our next practice and before we knew it we were planning our next band.

Roger suggested calling Floyd Strub, the drummer from our previous band that broke up. Floyd accepted our offer and joined the band. We named the band “Bacchus”. We didn’t know it at the time, but we had just formed the core of the band that would become The Ice.

We started playing at a little bar called The Green Lantern. When we arrived at the bar to start our third weekend it was obvious that something was wrong. It was boarded up. With the equipment still in our cars, we were driving down Monmouth Street in Newport when suddenly Floyd pointed at this little hole in the wall bar called the Mecca Club and said, “let’s see if they’ll let us play in there?” This place had never had bands before but the manager agreed to let us tryout for the weekend…without pay! So we did it, and the following week we were playing four nights a week for more money than we had ever made playing in the band.

We played there through the summer of 1968. Then one night Panny Sarakatsannis and Dave Fleeman stopped in. I don’t remember any of us knowing them or that they were musicians but we all started talking and Panny mentioned that the band at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls was leaving and ask if we would be interested in auditioning to be the house band. So we ask him to set it up, and he did.

Let me pause here for a moment because I don’t want to skip over this unbelievable chain of events. Here we are playing in a little bar on Monmouth St. in Newport that never had live bands before, and most of our audience is going to be staggering out at the end of the night with no memory whatsoever of our band . . . or anything else for that matter, and now our next gig might be at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls as the house band.

Anyway, we kept our focus and our luck continued because Ben Kraft did hire us after the audition, but we still had a few weeks before Karl Edmondson and The Driving Winds would be gone from the Guys ‘n’ Dolls.

So we started planning and rehearsing for our opening night. We kept in touch with Panny and Dave and as it turned out Panny wanted to join the band. Although he was known as a bass player, he also played valve trombone and we only had a trumpet and a sax in our horn section, so he became the third horn player. At some point while this was all happening, Floyd decided to leave the band to focus on school, so we ask Dave Fleeman to be our drummer and he accepted. Now we were a 6-piece band but we really wanted a keyboard player for the Guys ‘n’ dolls gig.

In the weeks leading up to our opening night we played at the 4C’s night club in Erlanger, a little bar owned by Gene Kinney the owner of The Round Up Club. When we finally started playing at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls we added Bob Ridder to play keyboards. Bob had worked with Panny and Dave in another group. Now suddenly we were a 7-piece band with a house gig at the most popular club in town, but there’s much more to the story . . .

The band was originally called The Raspberry Ice, but that was not the first name of the band. We started out with the name Security and the Amirkhanians. This name was taken from a local Cincinnati carpet cleaning business called Security Amirkhanian. Soon after the band started playing at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls and while using this name, we received a Cease and Desist order from an attorney for the carpet business warning us to stop using it. So the band members and Ben Kraft had a meeting and settled on The Raspberry Ice. It didn’t take long before people were calling the band The Ice instead of The Raspberry Ice, and it stuck. From then on we were The Ice.
While the band was playing at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls on Friday & Saturday night, eventually we started playing exclusively on Wednesday’s at Alexander’s, a popular Cincinnati University hangout located in Clifton. Fans would sometimes refer to Wednesday nights at Alexander’s as Ice Night.

The Guys ‘n’ Dolls also featured two additional singers, Tommy Sears and Vicki Taylor. They weren’t part of the band per say but were more like featured artists directly under contract to Ben Kraft. They would perform later in the evening on Friday and Saturday night as sort of a special feature.

In June of 1969 the band went into a recording studio and recorded 5 songs. The songs weren’t original, just popular songs of the time. At the time, Ben Kraft was considering making that session into an album and selling it at the club. He wanted to call it “The Ice” live at “The Guys ‘n’ Dolls, but he decided not to. The recording session took place at the famed Jewel Studios. The good news is that those recordings have survived for over 50 years and will soon be posted so everyone can listen.

The songs were:

(1) It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones sung by Tommy Sears
(2) California Dreaming by Mama’s & Papa’s sung by Tom Knuckles
(3) Don’t You Want Somebody To Love by Jefferson Airplane sung by Vicki Taylor
(4) Aquarius by The 5th Dimension sung by everyone in the band
(5) If You Go Away by Dusty Springfield sung by Vicki Taylor

 

At the time of the recording the band members were:

Tom Knuckles (lead vocals & lead guitar)
Roger Riedinger (bass guitar)
Dave Fleeman (drums)
Bob Ridder (keyboards)
Bill Davis (trumpet, background vocals)
Jake Nease (saxophone)
Panny Sarakatsannis (trombone, background vocals)
Vicki Taylor (lead vocals, background vocals)
Tommy Sears (lead vocals)

Early in 1970, the band performed on a local television show in Cincinnati called “New Faces.” The host of the show was a very popular radio host/disc jockey named Jim Scott. We performed several songs on that show including “Jesus Christ Superstar.” I was ask to arrange songs for two other guest singers that were scheduled to perform on that same show, their names were Annette Scutt and Joy Chutz. Although previous and future show’s featured multiple musical guests with their own accompaniment, all the music on the show that day was performed by The Ice. In 2012, I tried to get a copy of the show featuring the band but unfortunately there was a fire at the television studio years earlier and the tapes of all the Jim Scott “New Faces” show were destroyed.

Throughout the 4 to 5 years the band was together, musicians were replaced for a variety of reasons. The only original band members that were still in The Ice when the band broke up were guitar player Tom Knuckles and bass player Roger Riedinger.

The Ice played their final night at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls sometime in late ’72 early ’73 and the group Strange Brew became the house band. The Strange Brew played at the club till about 1975.

(Side note: Keyboardists Ray Rice sold his Hammond L122 organ to the Keyboardists from Strange Brew to buy a Hammond B3. So when Strange Brew became the new house band, they brought the Hammond L122 organ back to Guys ‘n’ Dolls which was used when he started playing with the “Ice”)

DID YOU KNOW . . .

At one point the band had two horn players whose families owned two different chili restaurants in the Cincinnati area. Panny Sarakatsannis played trombone and his family owned Dixie Chili. Nick Lambrinites played trumpet and his family owned Skyline Chili. Would anyone like a 3-way?

In 1970 the Guys ‘n’ Dolls was raided by the FBI. It was reported that Ben Kraft was in possession of a valuable Rembrandt painting that had been reported stolen. It turns out that Ben had a copy of a Rembrandt painting hanging on the wall but it wasn’t real . . . or was it?

In or around 1970, Troy Seals was a well known entertainer playing at the Inner Circle (now Bogart’s). By all accounts he was well connected in the entertainment industry. He came out to the Guys ‘n’ Dolls on a Saturday night and ask to speak with me. I was the leader of The Ice and Troy had an offer. Troy was in need of a new back up band and The Ice was very similar to the band he had in mind. Troy ask me if I would consider leaving the Guys ‘n’ Dolls and bring The Ice to The Inner Circle as his back up band. I was under contract and a little naive so I declined the offer. Troy Seals moved to Nashville and became one of the biggest songwriters of all time with dozens of hits and gold records. Good call Tom!

While The Ice was playing at Alexander’s Pub in Clifton, we were approached by a clothing store named The Gap. They wanted to supply us with band outfits if we would change our name to “The Gap”. We declined their offer but that’s a pretty good band name.

Ben Kraft was the owner of the Guys ‘n’ Dolls and everybody thought he wore a wig. One day Ben was on the roof patching a leak and by chance I just happened to stop by so I climbed up to see what was going on. Ben was there with tools and materials repairing the roof. I will testify that Ben’s hair was being blown about by the wind and that no wig could have survived in that wind storm. I’m glad that’s finally settled…you’re welcome!

(UPDATE: Ben Kraft passed away on February 18, 2005. Here’s a link to his obituary – https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/cincinnati/name/ben-kraft-obituary . Post by Ray Rice 8/3/21)

Three club owners, Ben Kraft of the Guys ‘n’ Dolls, Gene Kinney of the Round Up Club and the owner of Alexander’s Pub in the UC Plaza, got together to form an alliance. The plan was to have the bands that played exclusively at their clubs, rotate between the three clubs. They thought business would improve at all three locations by rotating the entertainment thereby circulating the customer base. Picture the scene in the Godfather where all of the heads of the families are gathered round the table and Marlon Brando says, “I thought we could come here and reason together”. Anyway, they put together an agreement mostly about promotion and wouldn’t you know it, somebody cheated and it all fell apart. I know who it was, but they convinced me to keep quiet, they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

To the reader: There were a total of 16 musicians that played in the band over a 5 year period. In my quest to reconnect with all 16, I experienced what I can only describe as an emotional roller coaster ride. The musicians that I did find were delighted to hear from me and wanted to help in any way, including contributing and writing their own Bio’s. Some just couldn’t be found. In some cases I wrote Bio’s based on my memories and the memories of others that were around at the time, but there were a few bio’s that couldn’t be written, I just didn’t have enough information. Sadly, in my search I also discovered that some of my band mates were deceased. Their Bio’s were thoughtfully written from the memories of myself and others that knew them. I didn’t know how successful I would be when I set out to reconnect with all of the band members that were once a part of The Ice. I was disappointed however, that some of the musicians that were contacted would not respond or participate, even after I and others contacted them. In those cases, only their names and affiliations are mentioned.

GUITAR

Tom Knuckles (The Ice 1968-1973), band affiliations: Mustangs, The Cartesians, aka Tommy Simms and The Cartesians featuring Sondra Lee, Rainbow, The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, King Kong, Vision, Fantasy, Orange Colored Sky, Trilogy
Tom was a band leader, musical director, arranger, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and lead singer throughout his music career. During Tom’s 56 years in music he appeared several times on The Bob Braun Show (Cincinnati) with The Orange Colored Sky. Tom sang and played on dozens of radio jingles and television commercials. He appeared with The Ice on The Jim Scott television show, “New Faces” (Cincinnati). He was also a studio musician and played on numerous recordings in Cincinnati and Nashville studios. On the flip side of music, Tom was a well known and respected building/ remodeling contractor and was in business for over 40 years. He wrote several instructional books on various building trades and remodeling techniques and was himself an instructor for several years at a Northern Kentucky trade school where he taught Facility Maintenance, Cabinetry, Framing and Contract Law before he retired in 2012.

BASS GUITAR

Roger Riedinger (The Ice 1968-1973), band affiliations: The Cartesians, aka Tommy Simms and The Cartesians featuring Sondra Lee, The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, Hi-Tension
Roger taught math at Newport Jr High for 15 years, and then went on to become principal at Northern Elementary School in Pendleton Co, KY. He owned Polaris Fitness Center in Ft Thomas from 1982-1986. He and his wife, Sandy, now own Beverly International Nutrition, Inc in Cold Spring, KY.

KEYBOARDS

Bob Ridder (The Ice 1968-1969), band affiliations: The Spartans (played at the Peppermint Lounge in Newport in the 1962-1964 time frame), The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice
Bob Ridder was not available to be interviewed.

Louie Niehaus aka Lou James, (The Ice 1969), band affiliations: Lou James trio, The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, and many more combos – Louie left the Ice to go on the road and lead his own combo.
Louie Niehaus was not available to be interviewed.

Bob Armstrong (The Ice 1969-1970), band affiliations: The Ram Rods, The Vikings, The Casino’s, The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, Canon.

Bob Armstrong was not available to be interviewed, but this is what we know.

Bob started playing keyboards (Hammond B-3 organ) with The Casino’s in the early 60s. His distinct organ arrangement on their hit “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” helped push the song to #6 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1967. The Casino’s toured with the Beach Boys and other well-known acts. Many years after they stopped touring, the Casino’s got together one more time to perform on the PBS show “Where are they now”. Bob was also in demand as a studio musician and worked with numerous groups and musicians including Carl Edmondson and The Driving Winds. Bob played in The Ice in 1969. He later played in Cincinnati area in a band called Canon. Outside of the music, Bob had a business degree from Xavier University and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He ultimately decided against making music for a living. Instead he joined his Father’s electric company as an electrical engineer. Bob died of cancer at his home on December 27, 2011. He was 67.

Paul Yuellig (The Ice 1970-1971), band affiliations: The Corvairs, The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, Hi-Tension, The Wyngates, Allus Cats, Danny Morgan, Sundance

Paul joined the Ice in 1970. He attended Brigham Young University in 1968-69 and the University of Cincinnati where he earned a B.S. in elementary education. Although he became a 7th & 8thgrade teacher, his real love was playing music, writing music and writing fiction novels. In recent years and before he retired in 2017, Paul wrote and produced a musical play called ‘Tis of Thee’ which is out on CD. He has also written two novels. He currently performs with a group called Allus Cats. Paul continues to write and create original music and lives in Indiana with his wife and family.

Ray Rice (The Ice 1971-1972), band affiliations: The Mysticons (his dad’s band, age 14), Purity Showband, The Bluedells, Soul Seta, Stash, The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, Carefree Day, West, Friends of the Family (from Las Vegas), Ginger Lee Trio, Razors Edge, East Wind, The Diamonds (backup keyboardist), Grand Slam, Nighthawk, Harlot, Freestyle, Kids Next Door, Target and Troy Tipton who played with the lead singer (John Schlitt) from Head East which had a top 40 hit record “Never been any reason” and Sly Fox, “Let’s go all the way”, a top 10 hit in 1985.

Ray began playing piano when he was 10 years old and began studying music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music when he was 12. Ray played with numerous bands in Cincinnati including The Ice. Later on he formed a group called East Wind and traveled as the backup band for the 50’s group The Diamonds. He eventually reformed the East Wind band in Los Angeles and added Joe Barile, drummer from The Ventures. Ray was also a studio musician and did session work at a studio in Los Angeles owned by Jose Feliciano. Ray retired from music in 1997. With the help of his wife, Ray started a Telecommunication Staffing Company that became one of the top Staffing Firms in the United States, providing employees to some of the largest companies in the world such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and many other fortune 500 companies.

DRUMS

David Fleeman (The Ice 1968-1970), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, Ram Jam, Starstruck
David Fleeman was not available to be interviewed, but this is what we know.

Dave was considered to be one of the most respected and talented drummers to ever come out of Cincinnati. He played in several groups around Cincinnati including The Ice. Dave eventually left the band and joined The Ram Jam band. The groups leader was Bill Bartlett of the Lemon Pipers. Dave became famous for the fantastic drum track on the song Black Betty. He put several bands together through the years and was still actively playing music when he passed away on December 28, 2018. He was 69.

Doug Hoffman (The Ice 1970-1972), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice

Doug Hoffman was not available to be interviewed.

SAXOPHONE (tenor, alto and baritone)

Jake Nease (The Ice 1968-1969), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, The Purity Showband, The Van Dells
Jake Nease was not available to be interviewed.

Dave Usinger (The Ice 1969-1972), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, October Road, Daybreak.

Dave joined The Ice in 1969, along with his friend and high school band mate, Nick Lambrinides, who played trumpet with the band. Dave played Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Sax and Flute. He also fronted the band as a lead singer on numerous songs from that era. Dave left the Ice in 1972 and traveled the country with several other groups. In 1974, he decided to transition back to his home state of California, settling in the Long Beach area. With the local band scene not producing desired results, he decided to get serious about his musicianship and musical future. With dedication and a passion for his skills, Dave received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance on Tenor Saxophone from Cal State University, Northridge, a top-rated school for up-and-coming Jazz Musicians. While in his last semester of college, Dave became interested in the field of Music Calligraphy. From 1979 to 1990 he worked in this aspect of the music industry, preparing instrumental and choral parts for Vegas live acts of the time, TV shows, records, jingles and movies. He also worked with film studios, spending time at Universal, 20th Century Fox, Paramount and Walt Disney Studios. Unfortunately, the tedious and repetitious nature of his job eventually caused injury to his hands, leading to early retirement. Nevertheless, Dave decided to go in a completely different direction, pursuing a secondary passion, the restaurant business. He’s worked for various corporations in the Southwest as a Manager, Training Director and Area Supervisor and even owned his own restaurant. Dave is now semi-retired. He’s been happily married to his wife Dana since 1982, has two married kids and two grand-kids. Family is his #1 passion. They are a closely knit group and all currently live in Colorado. His son, Marshall, composes background music. Check him out at bestilltheearth.bandcamp.com. He told me he has a strong desire to play music again, loves playing Jazz, Old Standards and Pop songs. During our interview, Dave expressed fond memories of his time with The Ice and has since reconnected with many of our band members.

TROMBONE
Panny Sarakatsannis (The Ice 1968-1969), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, The Satins, Carl Edmondson and The Driving Winds, The Chosen Lot
Panny Sarakatsannis was not available to be interviewed.
Bill Hawkins (The Ice 1969-1970), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, The Casino’s
Bill Hawkins was not available to be interviewed.
Tim Fitzgibbon (The Ice 1970-1972), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice
Tim Fitzgibbon was not available to be interviewed.

TRUMPET
Bill Davis (The Ice 1968-1971), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice

The Purity Show Band (recordings at https://www.reverbnation.com/purityshowband )

Bill Davis was not available to be interviewed, but this is what we know.
Bill was a talented trumpet player that started playing with Tom Knuckles in a group called Bacchus in 1967, and that group eventually became The Ice. Bill eventually left The Ice in 1971 and joined The Purity Band. Sadly he was killed in a car crash on February 12, 1972

Nick Lambrinites (The Ice 1969-1972), band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice
Nick Lambrinites was not available to be interviewed.

FEATURED SINGERS

Tommy Sears (The Ice 1968-1971), Band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, The Satins, The Matadors
Tommy Sears was not available to be interviewed, but this is what we know.

Tommy sang in clubs around Cincinnati for many years and was well known in Nashville where he recorded demos for different studios. He had several regional releases. His most successful song was called “Walk On The Outside”, which was released in 1969 and was recorded in Nashville. Tom Knuckles played on that recording. (Google the title and check it out along with Tommy’s other records). In 1968 Tommy (Sears) was hired by Ben Kraft and became a featured singer at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls. He was known by the name Tommy Liss(?). But his real name was Tommy Lysaght. The reason he changed his name to Tommy Sears had to do with a tragic event that took place in or around 1968. The owner of The Round Up Club, Gene Kinney, had contacted Tom (Knuckles) on a Sunday morning about putting together a small group of musicians to play that Sunday night because of some sort of scheduling problem with a band Gene had booked. Tom couldn’t put anything together on short notice so he declined. J.T. Sears was the house singer at The Round Up and was able to put a trio together at the last minute. Tom actually had a phone conversation with J.T. that Sunday afternoon and offered to play guitar if needed. That night after the gig while J.T. was driving home, he was killed in a car accident. J.T Sears and Tommy Liss were good friends, so as a tribute to J.T. Tommy took his last name. To commemorate J.T. Sears and to honor him, Gene Kinney installed a plaque with J.T.s name on it near the stage where he sang and performed for approximately 3 years before his death. Although I couldn’t confirm where Tommy went or what he did after The Ice, I was told by more than two people who knew him that he had planned on becoming a preacher if he didn’t make it in the music business by 1976 which would have been about 6 years after he left the Guys ‘n’ Dolls. Rumors have been around for years that Tommy died in 1979. I was aware of this rumor and Vicki Taylor also heard the same thing, however, I will continue to seek out any information about our friend.

 

Vicki Taylor ( The Ice 1968-1971), Band affiliations: The Ice, aka The Raspberry Ice, The Jelly Bean Frog, Cannon

Vicki was hired to be a featured performer at the Guys ‘n’ Dolls in late ’68 by Ben Kraft.

Before that she sang around town in different groups but the most notable group was a band called Jelly Bean Frog. She sang at the Inner Circle with the group for almost two years before she ended up at The Guys ‘n’ Dolls. Vicki was known for her look of wearing wigs, extensions and nice outfits, and of course she was very attractive and a very talented singer. There weren’t any other featured female singers working in clubs around the Tri-State area at the time so if you wanted to hear a female singer, the Guys ‘n’ Dolls was the place. Tom Knuckles recalls that she was professional and easy to work with. She decided to leave before the band’s last year and joined Karl Edmondson’s new band, Cannon. Tom ran into Vicki in 1994 while performing at a club in Harrison, Oh. It was the first time he saw her since she left the Guys ‘n’ Dolls. She said she had been married since 1973 and was still singing when there was an opportunity. Tom said she looked the same and that the years hadn’t changed her much. UPDATE: I was able to talk with Vicki again in early 2019 and she told me she retired from singing in 2000 and was living a happy and peaceful life on a farm in southern Ky along with Jim her husband, of 46 years (and counting).

I want to sincerely thank the following contributors:

Ray Rice
Gary winters
Randy Winters
Paul Yuellig
Roger Riedinger
Steve Chuke

I want to say a special thanks to Steve Chuke for loaning us his incredible collection of band photos, some of which have not been seen for decades.

And finally, I want to especially thank Roger Riedinger and his amazing memory of the events we shared back in 1968. Without his invaluable contribution, this story could not have been told.

Recordings & photos here; https://reverbnation.com/raspberryice

Facebook Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/razzberryice/