In the fertile cultural and musical grounds of the 1960s, bands began to spring up all over the country in garages and anywhere they could find to practice.  Glasgow, Kentucky produced a band called US Inc.that is now lovingly called “the grand daddy of the southern Kentucky music scene.”  I recently spoke with former US Inc members Mike Maggard, Bill Buster, Danny Duvall and Ken Mussnug about their experiences in this pioneering Southern Kentucky rock band.

How did you come together as a group?

Mike: I was the third lead singer Us Inc. recruited to replace their first, Jake Dickinson – leaving Bobby Richey, a great showman, and I fronting the band. Jake was entering the service.

Danny: I could make about four chords on an acoustic guitar that I had and I lived behind Danny Alexander who was a friend of mine. He told Ken.   I also played trumpet in the Glasgow High School Band. Ken, being the wise leader, said “I can teach him the rest of the chords and he knows how to play a horn”, so I’m now a rock n roll star.

Bill: Ken and Gil Rutledge being uprooted Yankees in a small southern town became close friends and hung together. Ken played bongos and performed with Gil on the local radio station, there was only one at the time.

Glasgow High students, Jerry Haynes and Bill Buster formed a trio with Gil to perform in a local talent show. We practiced for months on one song “Sandstorm” and performed it once.  Shortly afterwards Gil was killed in motorcycle accident.  After Gil’s death his parents gave Ken his guitar and Ken holed up in his room and began learning to play. Charlie Martin moved to town with his family and was neighbors with Ken two doors up. After spotting him in his backyard with his guitar, Ken introduced himself and recruited him on the spot. Jerry Haynes and Bill joined the duo to form The Roulettes. Charlie moved to Lexington and Ken found Steve Berry,  Ken, Jake, Tucker (Danny Alexander), and I to become the original Us, inc.. Danny Duvall joined on Rhythm guitar and trumpet then we added Bobby Richey for additional vocals and trombone, it being the soul music era.

As Mike mentioned, Vietnam took Jake, When Jake left for the Marines, Mike became lead singer. Jerry and Tucker left within months of each other.  When Jerry left with National Guard, Mike moved to keyboards, then Tucker left for the Air force and Mike moved to bass [best thing that happened to him].  I thought Tucker was the best, being one of the first to chord a bass guitar and had giant hands, but, after a few months Mike proved me wrong.

How did you decide on “US, inc.” as the name of the band?

Mike: I will have to defer to others on the name origin. Two of the original members came from a band called the Roulettes in Glasgow. At one point record management renamed the band The Glen Plaids forcing Us Inc to wear plaid pants and stage clothes. The name was changed back to Us Inc pretty quickly.

Bill: The official name / logo was Us, inc. That’s how it on bass drums for us and now Bobby put it on the Us Bus I and II After Jerry and Jake started singing and Tucker picked up the bass, The mostly instrumental Roulettes name didn’t seem quite right.  We thought Soul inc. had a cool name and We 3 was popular at the time. I think Ken and I mated the two together for the name

Who were the members of US Inc.?  Where are they today?

Mike: Us Inc members by order of entry were:

• Ken Mussnug, lead guitar, vocals, band leader; Retired PHD, Professor of Industrial Technology at WKU, recorded 10 original projects with the last being a Ventures tribute CD with Bill Buster and me. Accomplished luthier and is presently building me an acoustic guitar.
• Bill Buster, drummer; Retired Industrial Arts teacher, and operates a online drum accessories business.
• Jake Dickinson, lead singer; Operates Insurance agency in Glasgow.
• Danny Alexander (Tucker), bass, vocals; PHD in Marine Biology living in North Carolina.
• Danny Duvall, trumpet, vocals; Retired from General Motors and plays trumpet with Skip Bond.
• Bobby Richey, lead singer, trombone; Owns body shop in Glasgow. Sang professionally for years with  Buster Brown, Thoroughbred, and others.
• Jerry Lyons, keyboard; Retired assistant professor at WKU in Industrial Education. Presently VP of Lyons Company in Glasgow. Played with Mysts of Tyme for until recently.
• Mike Maggard, lead singer, guitar, keyboard, bass; Retired career musician /entertainer. Now a licensed independent catastrophe adjuster. Plays single act and fronts Mysts of Tyme.
• Follis Crow, keyboard, guitar, trumpet, vocal; Funeral director operating Crow Funeral Home in Glasgow. Plays with Mysts of Tyme.
• Ken Smith replaced Ken Mussnug on lead at end of band. Bowling Green music guru and licensed Civil Engineer.

From whom or from what bands did you draw your inspiration? Where any of them local?

Mike: Not really local as we were the first fully packaged area band. The first with quality gear, pro stage appearance (complete with wardrobe changes between sets), soundman, light show and tech, quality vocals, thoughtful arrangements and playlist. I came to the band from a Beatle and British invasion band called the Nobles (Ken Smith was a band mate there) and the Mysts of Tyme, a Glasgow band that still performs. Soul music had become significant by this time. Us Inc had a two piece horn section and had started to cover a lot of soul. Several of the members came from the champion Glasgow Scottie marching band. With my entry the band became more ranging.

Bill:  Mike covered that subject well. All we had were TV programs like Dick Clark, Ed Sullivan, Hullabaloo and Top 40 radio music. We had been playing a couple years before Beatlemania landed in the USA. Of course, like thousands of other USA drummers, I ran out and bought my first set of Ludwigs after seeing that logo on Ringo’s kit at the time.. I was using Charlie Watts Gretsch drums up until then.

With regard to your sound, what were you trying to achieve musically?

Mike: There were two sides to Us, inc.; One was the recording act trying to establish a sound and the other was working as a one-nighter band playing current Top 40 to many venues.

Bill: Pick challenging material; cover it as close as possible, with a few twists and refuse to play bubblegum music.

Did you do original material? If so, who were the songwriters in the group?

Mike:  I recall Ken and myself as primary writers, however most everyone collaborated especially with the lyrics.

Bill: Some, I was never with lyrics, just arrangements.

Were you able to do much touring? If so, where did you tour?

Mike: No. We played primarily from Somerset to Elkton and from Louisville south to middle Tennessee playing mostly events like high school proms, frat parties, fairs, and teen centers. Ken rented the National Guard Armory or the Lera B Mitchell clubhouse and we charged admission for open dances when we had an open weekend date. Crowds in excess of 300 where common at these self promoted events. Us, inc. sponsored an annual Toys for Tots dance that featured many area bands and collected toys for Christmas presents for many underprivileged kids over the years.

Bill: I think our longest was 14 days of one-nighters in Kentucky and Tennessee area. This was during Christmas and New Year season or high time for high school proms and college spring formals.

Did you work with a management company?

Bill: Stumpy Russell from Glasgow got us started at WKU.

Mike: Not for booking. We were self booked by Ken and later myself. Our record company managed our recording, but only booked one club gig for us in Kokomo Indiana at the end of our recording contract after our first single release which became #1 in Bowling Green, Glasgow, and several Kentucky radio stations. I was reminded by drummer Bill Buster that we once played a string on 14 consecutive one nighters, which was quite an accomplishment for a regional act of the day.

I’m sure you had many experiences as you were performing. Can you tell us about one or two that stand out in your memory?

Mike: I was the only member still in high school when I played my first gig with US Inc. It was Western’s freshman orientation dance a very big gig. During my first song I very coolly (I thought) jerked my sax from over my head to grab the mic and sing. The strap caught my glasses flinging them into the middle of the dance floor embarrassing me and causing a band train wreck from the laughter.

Bill: Since I was there for the duration, there so many I couldn’t pick one or two: Playing at the Governor’s mansion; Playing the main Homecoming dance at Western twice; Mike returning all bloody after playing buck – buck in Kokomo; Jake quitting briefly because Ken wouldn’t let him smoke on stage; Anything Danny Duvall did or said (Funniest man I‘ve ever been around); Bobby squeezing into a 16 x 16 drum case as Capt. America; Ken and the Magic fingers coin box in Hopkinsville and Bobby paying for breakfast entirely with quarters.

But, mostly Ken’s last night with Us, inc.,  We had cleared the stage and Ken just started playing Sandstorm.  It echoed eerily in that empty GHS gym where Gil had played it.  Not many people know how sentimental that tough German Yankee was and still is. Full circle, huh!

Danny: Musnug ordering a cheeseburger and a turkey sandwich at the same time at the Glass House Truck Stop on a trip back from Louisville one night. 

After playing for a dance at the Old Bowling Green High School on Center Street for a prom, we ran a red light while leaving town. The police stopped us and while Musnug was trying to explain the police office said “Shut up fat boy or I’ll take you all to jail”. If you got the group together we could tell more stories than you could print and some stories that you couldn’t print. The memories and friendships that we have lasted a life time. During the 60’s to be in a band when the music revolution started was unexplainable and one of the greatest experiences a young man at that time could have.

What brought about the dissolution of the band?

Bill: Ken’s leaving left shoes too big to fill.

Mike: In a word, Vietnam. We were drafted into pieces. In a short period of time I went from front man, to keyboards, to bass guitar just to cover vacated member’s spots. We got the band back on track with the addition of Follis Crow from Mysts of Tyme on keyboards who became our youngest member. Follis was also a quality trumpet player and rhythm guitarist. When Ken Mussnug went to the service it was the beginning of the end as I could not competently fill his shoes as band leader at my age. We all did our parts as musicians; but Ken was the organizational force behind the success of Us, inc. and the best band leader I have ever worked with. The band owes most of their success to Ken and I credit my music career since to Ken.

Danny: We worked with a man in Nashville named Norris Wilson, who was from Scottsville, Ky. He wanted to change our name from Us, inc. to  The Glen Plaids. He also pitched a song to us that was a country song. Being that we were Rock n Roll stars we turned down the name change and the song. The song was latter recorded by Charlie Rich written by Noro Wilson and became a top 5 song on the country charts.

Is there anything you’d like people to remember about US Inc?

If you are the right age and from southern Kentucky you remember Us Inc. The Headhunters call Us Inc their inspiration as well as many area musicians of the era.

Bill: All their good times they had at the Armory, Lela B Mitchell clubhouse, Frat keggers, Proms and on and on

Ken: Many of the questions above stem from someone with today’s musical scene in mind. In the 1960’s, when US Inc. started there were no other bands. A couple other Glasgow bands came along shortly after Us and some BG bands. But, Us Inc. was pretty much it for a while.

Musically, we were into survival. We played what the people wanted to hear, and struggled to learn how to play them. We were growing and performing at the same time. Since we had a monoploy of sorts we were able to get away with it. Today everybody plays and the performers are spectacular. Look at the number of music stores in BG alone. In the 60’s there was Royal Music specializing in school band instruments and that was it.

Thanks so much. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Mike:  Only that I owe my musical career to this band and I remain grateful to these guys from 40 years ago. Forty years after the fact, strangers still approach me asking me if I was the lead singer for Us Inc. 

My life has been blessed by my musical experiences. I have had the opportunity to play with some of the most successful local bands prior to leaving Kentucky several years ago. In the late 70s and through the 80s the local club and one-nighters scene was thriving and I feel certain I have played more BG clubs than anyone living.

After I left BG I had the opportunity through my feature show and as art director on cruise ships to perform while traveling 40 some odd countries. However, none of these experiences rival the excitement and the thrill of playing in Us Inc. Much had to do with the times and I am sure my youth. Still Us Inc from Glasgow was the grand daddy of the southern Kentucky music scene inspiring many bands of the day. We were the first and only area band (to my knowledge) of that day to find to find and secure a recording contract in Nashville and were the first entertainment choice of most every high school and college event in Southern Kentucky. No act that I have been involved with since has inspired the excitement or the following of US Inc.

Bill:  It was never a job playing with all or any of those guys; It was a joy!

Danny: I now play in a band called Skip Bond and the Fugitives. A few years ago we played for a reunion at WKU for alumni of the 60’s and 70’s. During a break a lady and her husband came up to me and told me they went to school at WKU in the 60’s and there was a group back then that played a lot at WKU and there name was Us, inc., Didn’t I play with that group in the 60’s. I was so proud to say “Yes”.

Jack Montgomery is a librarian, author and associate professor at Western Kentucky University where he handles bookings for musical acts in University Libraries, Java City coffeehouse. Jack has also been a professional musician since 1969 and performs with a celtic quartet called Watersprite. Visit him at MySpace/shadowdancerjack