August 1, 1966: The Rest of the Story
Lamar Junior High School, North Central Austin
Paul Harvey made a career of telling two tales at once with
a little technique he called 'the rest of the story'. He'd reveal
the known and then the unknown, or vice versa, and teach a little
history lesson in so doing. With apologies to Mr. Harvey's memory,
here's a Reunion Rest of the Story... The history of Reunion Band is
intertwined with the history of Austin. From playing for a 1972 George
McGovern Rally at the old airport to gigs at
Armadillo
World Headquarters and other
venues no longer extant, to being a familiar sight today at
The Oasis or
the
Austin 3M Half Marathon, Reunion has long been a part of the city's history.
The band officially formed in 1971, but the group's seed can be
traced to the first day of August 1966, when the innocent world
Austinites knew changed forever. Here's what happened: Going from elementary
school to the imposing structure of
Lamar Junior High
 was intimidating
to tweens to say the least. Among the young musicians gathered on
the Lamar parking lot for scale practice were two trumpeters from
Highland Park Elementary, left, a saxophonist from Brentwood, and a
baritone player from Rosedale Elementary. It was early afternoon,
the first day of junior high school Summer Band. The band was
under the tutelage of Vic Williams, a prominent local jazz saxophonist
whose day gig was teaching young prospects to play in tune. Although they didn't know it
at the time, those young musicians would play the first downbeat
with Reunion five years later. Sam would remain on trumpet, baritonist Kelly would debut on trombone, trumpeter Paul,
would become the band's formidable bassist, and saxist Jim would be the
first guitarist. They would actually start Reunion in 1970 out of
the McCallum High School band, shown in photo. To find them, roll
over the photo. But in 1966 it was tentative, controlled notes under the scorching midday Texas
sun and Mr. Williams' baton. It was the first time the founders of Reunion would make
music together. The day would have been a stressful situation to young
artists anyway, but there was an additional uncertainty in the air.
An uncertainty that would make that particular day in Austin famous --
infamous, really -- for a very different reason.
The rest of the
story...
Before the new band recruits had left for practice that Monday morning,
many had witnessed live televised coverage of a crime in progress.
From the University of Texas tower downtown, Charles Whitman had begun
his notorious mass-murder spree by firing at students and citizens on
Austin's streets. He would kill 15 and injure 32. The local
public/campus TV station, KLRU, had positioned a camera on the balcony
and faced it toward the nearby tower. Regular puffs of smoke from
the observation deck, captured by the black and white camera, had been
viewed live by Austinites young and old, including those practicing in
the Lamar Junior High parking lot a few miles away. (Today such media
coverage is commonplace; in 1966 it was virtually unprecedented.)
Aug. 1, 1966. It was the first day that Reunion's founders would
make music together. It was also the day Austin lost its
innocence. And now you know the rest of the story.
 3There
are numerous August 1-related sites in Austin, most around campus.
This off-campus duplex in the central city attracted law enforcement
shortly after the tower crime had ended. Whitman had listed the
address as his on a form he'd filled out. Whitman never lived
there.
Austin, 10 years before the tower incident. Note
the traffic heading downtown.
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