Hughson's Original Rock Band Flying Blind
History of Hughson, California: The People, the Places, the Traditions of a Small Town
Scott Beck, the drummer for Flying Blind, presented at the Hughson Historical Society Meeting on April 4. Was Flying Blind just a one-hit wonder, or was there more going on behind the scenes?
The presentation began with Rennie Beck, Scott Beck’s mother and a member of the Hughson Historical Society, sharing her memories as the “mother of the band.”
It all began with banging on the pots and pans, Beck explained about her son. From kitchen tools to an afterschool community band, Scott Beck was always looking for a musical outlet. Ella Webb, his middle school band teacher, formed a Dixieland Band for Beck and his friends.
With tears in her eyes, Rennie Beck said, “Scott has come full circle” now that he teaches and plays locally. Other band members have also reconnected with the local community. Andrew Franco leads the guitar club. Matt Brown's daughter, Stella Brown, is also a vocalist. At the Hughson Youth Baseball/Softball League Opening Day, the two sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”
“It all started with Ella Webb,” Scott Beck said, opening his presentation. Webb allowed him and Andrew Franca to play in the band room after school. Beck said he learned a lot from Franca in those days and learned the foundation of “professional musicianship” from Webb.
The boys formed a band called Mosh Dogs and described it as “the beginning of me living and my mom's basement with the band.” Beck bought a guitar from Mr. Ingram, who taught music at the high school and ran Ingram and Bauns Musik Shoppe in Modesto. He and Franca wrote two to three songs with that guitar that first night.
One of Beck's fondest memories from this stage is that as they jammed in his mother’s basement, his father was always upstairs in the easy chair. But as soon as they began to play “Radar Love,” the band members kept their eyes on the stairs. Soon enough, they’d see Beck’s father sitting on the stairs, listening, his smile growing. When the song ended, he would nod and say, “Excellent,” before returning upstairs.
The band took a recording to Webb, who encouraged them further and invited them to play for Radio Days. Just before their first gig, they took a vote and chose the name Flying Blind.
Amping up their style, Flying Blind played in the quad at Modesto Junior College and nightclubs. Charlie’s Spirits in Modesto, a hole-in-the-wall club that supported independent musicians, became their home base.
They partnered with manager Chris Rickey to promote the band. Beck said the first time they played “Smokescreen” live, “people went crazy,” requesting the band to play it twice and again later that evening. When asked if he ever gets tired of playing the song, he responded, “Every time we play, every time, it's fun.” He shared the wide reach they’ve seen for Smokescreen, from radio stations in Chicago to karaoke in Thailand: “It ended up traveling the world.”
Jeff Duarte loaned the band enough music to hire producer Todd Herfindel in San Francisco to create a quality-level album. The band slept on the floor of a friend’s home in San Francisco, spending every day in the studio for a month. B93 gave them a chance and played it on the radio, and the song took off. They began playing for Summerfest and X-fest and were told by B93 that their song was the most requested in the radio station’s history.
At their CD release party, with thousands in attendance, Flying Blind sold 1400 CDs and $18,000 of merchandise. The next day, they paid Duarte back the entire amount of the loan.
Record labels pursued them as they negotiated offers between Universal Music and Atlantic Music, and were wined and dined in New York. They signed with Universal Music, which re-released their album before the tour began.
Beck’s tone shifted as he reflected on what went wrong during this period, quickly ending Flying Blind’s upward trajectory. He thought they should have toured more than they did; free downloads with programs like Napster rose in popularity, detracting from CD sales; 9/11 shut down the industry and venues. Beck said Universal Music “shelved” Flying Blind, telling them to wait to tour more, wait to record another record, and to keep waiting.
Eventually, the band asked to be released from their contract, and within a year, the band parted ways.
The remaining members moved to Los Angeles, where Beck lived for eight more years. Although Flying Blind was no longer producing music, Beck began to play with other groups. He played keyboard for a friend whose band signed a German record deal and then toured in Germany. “I saw the world,” Beck said.
In 2010, Flying Blind was invited to reunite and play for the Hughson Centennial. The band members reconciled and now play periodically in the area. But as men with jobs and families, Beck explained, finding a rehearsal time that works for everyone or finding the creative time to produce original music is difficult.
“Each one of us is very busy and at different stages in our lives,” Beck said in a later interview. “Some of us are shuttling kids to and from their own sports and activities. Others have kids who are grown and off on their own. When we’re not playing music, we are teachers, farmers, salesmen and health care workers. Sometimes you’ll catch Matt (and/or Stella) singing the national anthem at a local sporting event. Or you may see Scott (under the name Scotch Beck) playing a solo show at the Friday night market on 3rd street or at various other local markets and venues.”
Instead, Scott began performing a solo career under the stage name of Scotch Beck. He writes ballads, mellower than the days of Flying Blind. Beck produced a solo album called “The Ballad of Bosco Jenkins.”
Flying Blind continues to reunite from time to time, playing local shows. For upcoming shows is either on Facebook: Flying Blind (Official FB Page) and Instagram: @flyingblind209
Originally published in the Hughson Chronicle & Denair Dispatch on April 11, 2023. The Hughson Chronicle & Denair Dispatch is part of MidValley Publications and is committed to the power of the positive press. Reprinted with Permission.
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