CHET HIMES – Homer (I)
In 1967, Galen Niles went back to college and met Chet Himes, who was dating the roommate of his girlfriend. They started jamming together with drummer Gary Crapster after Himes had been bugging Niles to start a band with him. Himes brought in a friend of his, Frank Coy. Much as the Beatles had done before – when each new member brought in the next – Frank added his friend Pat Cosgrove. The band practiced throughout the summer and became a good cover band with a 12-song repertoire that included “She’s Not There”, “Hush”, and “Land of 1,000 Dances”. After a while, the band dubbed themselves Homer, though Niles is not sure why.
Homer released an album called Grown in U.S.A. in 1970. Bandmembers by that time were Phil Bepko (vocals), Frank Coy (vocals), Galen Niles (lead guitar), Howard Gloor (lead, steel guitar), Gene Coleman (drums), and Chet Himes (bass). The music ranged from psychedelia to progressive rock, with instruments that included a Mellotron. Christopher Cross – who had several hits in the early 1980’s including “Sailing” and got the Grammy in 1980 for Best New Artist – also had some involvement with the album. (Christopher Cross was born on May 3, 1951, same as me!).
Homer was a popular band in the San Antonio area and hung in there until 1974; by that time, the line-up was Don Evans (vocals and drums), Chet Himes (bass), Van Wilks (guitar) and Galen Niles (guitar). Niles recalls: “Man, that was a smokin’ band then – the fact was, the only reason we had a vocalist was to take up some space between the guitar solos.”
Chet Himes exited Homer in 1974 to become a recording engineer and worked with Christopher Cross as well as Ted Nugent.
(September 2011)
