On Red's adventurous spirit:
"Red had back surgery and was supposed to go easy on his back. We went down to Morrow Bay for a gig and ended up on ATV's on the beach. All of a sudden Red see's a big ol' hill and starts up it. I was yelling, "Don't go up there Red! Don't go, remember your back!" But Red had to do it, it looked like fun, you know. He flipped the ATV over, got all banged up. I told him but he did it anyway. That's Red, he just lived his life to the fullest." ~ Stephen Kalvig
"I thought that cat had 9 lives. Somehow I expected him to outlive all of us." ~ Stewart Burr
On Red's spontaneity and playfullness:
"Red was touring and he was playing at a club in El Paso, Texas. The Red Horse Saloon, I think. During the intermission Red got a hold of a couple of bricks of fire crackers, which are illegal to shoot off in Texas. Red went out back and lit a whole brick... it looks like a brick, too, hundreds of them at once! They started shooting off continuously; bang...bang.... bang, bang bang, bang!!!!! It was so loud! All of a sudden a Texas Ranger drove up and hollered, "Who lit all those firecrackers?!!!"
Red hollered back, "I don't know... we're trying to play music here and we had to stop because of all this noise out here!!!". ~ "Road Doggie"
On Red's commitment to friends and family:
"Red was booked at Biscuits and Blues but he cancelled his gig to play at our 40th wedding anniversary. Can you believe that? He cancelled Biscuits for us." ~ Dad and Mom Kalvig
"I met Red in 1997. Red never shook my hand ever, the whole time I knew him. It was always a big bear hug. The whole band was that way, Don Baraka, Stew, all of them. You couldn't hug Red back too hard, though. Cuz of his back, you know. He'd always go, "oh, oh, my back".
~ Steve Kalvig
On Red's talent:
"The first time I ever listened to "West Coast Soul Stew" I was driving down 101 in my truck. I had the radio up real loud. Track 3, 1% Bounce came on. The way they do that jungle beat thing with Red soloing was so cool and then transitioning back into the beat. Wow. When the song ended, I actually raised both hands off the steering wheel to applaud! I laughed so hard! There I was alone in my truck applauding a CD! Now, that's talent!!!" ~ Suzy Tyler
On Red's generosity:
"When I first moved to the Bay Area, I got a phone call from Red Archibald. He introduced himself and welcomed me to town. He told me if I needed help meeting musicians or finding clubs to play he'd be happy to help me out. Most musicians aren't like that, you know? They're kind of competitive. He wasn't like that." ~ RJ Mischo
"When we were working on our first CD, "Shelter For The Blues", I asked Red if he could give me vocal lessons before I did the final vocals. He looked over his glasses at me and said, "Suzy, I'm not really a vocal teacher, I teach harmonica. I don't even have that good of a voice." (I disagreed, I always loved his voice.) All the same, he took me under his wing, came down to the studio virtually every time and worked with me on phrasing and vocals. He would say, "do it again, do it again, no... like this, do it again. Have her listen to it, now do it again. THAT'S IT!" It was grueling but I learned so much from him." ~ Suzy Tyler
"Red didn't like to talk bad about people. Whenever I would, you know, try to repeat something kind of bad I had heard about someone else, Red would say, "You don't know that, Raymond. You just don't know that." He always wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt. He was really good about that." ~ Raymond Victor
"Red was definitely a top notch blues player but was also a person with a heart of gold."
~ Karen and Glenn "Houston Jones" Pomianek
"I knew Tom in the early seventies and had the distinction of being one of his girlfriends ( and there were a few!) He blew into our little Canadian village - at the time, the Bay area couldn't handle him!!- and took us by storm, plugging us all into the great blues revival that swept us up at that fine time. Tom turned us all into rabid blues fans - turned a whole group of country 15 year olds on to the likes of Taj Mahal, Johnny and Edgar Winter, Steve Miller and of course Charlie Musselwhite. I remember him picking up an old guitar of his cousin Steve's, twanging away chaotically but so tunefully and with so much soul that we were stunned when he said he'd never had a lesson. He was the real deal - he was the blues. I last saw Tom two summers ago when he came up for his nephew's wedding. He was full of the old charm, still larger than life, talking about the good time the wedding would be and how he would find a club in Ottawa and play the blues. From what I hear, that's just what he did. From what I can guess, that's what he's doing right now. Memento, domine. God remember him." ~ Donna Ashford (Victoria, BC Canada)
"I played guitar with Red and the Internationals in the mid eighties in Germany. What a great guy to be with. Wonderful times! I ask God to comfort his dear ones. Miss you bro. " ~ Kris Kristjansson (Reykjavík, Iceland)
"I'm glad I got to see and play with Red last Summer. Every time I play the harmonica I will remember him." ~ Derrick Walker (Stockholm)
" Tom was my first cousin and born just a couple of months before me, although for most of our lives we were seperated by great distance. I grew up in a small place in central Ontario, Canada. We had a few family visits as kids, but around 1970, with Tom proving a handfull of a young fella, it was decided that he might benefit from life with my family in Canada. He spent almost two years here and I think had a greater impact on our community than we had on him, some of it even good. (smile) It was during this time that Tom really picked up the harp, and I remember being amazed at what clearly came from deep inside him. He became a brother to my siblings and I, and a somewhat prodigal son to my parents.
We were extremely fortunate to have Tom spend a week or so up here with my family in late summer 2004 when he came to my nephew's wedding. It was a WONDERFUL time. Tom even managed to get a set at an Ottawa blues club after sitting in the night before, and about 30 family and friends were able to share."
We Love him and miss him deeply. ~ Allan Sproule (Ontario Canada)
I played with Red in one of his first groups, recorded with him on his first record in 1973. I just produced a County Gospel CD that is Reds last recording. Wow what a unique friend. The wild side of Red (I will always know him as Tommy), was at times more then most could handle, however it always produced laughs and an unforgettable experience. His showmanship and ability to capture your heart, as well as his acceptance to all people made up for his bad behavior. He lived with me for a year once, back in 1974, and those that experienced life with Tommy understand truly what a love/hate relationship is, I would not trade those times for anything. In the last months I discussed with Tom his relationship with God, his confusion in Christ assures me that his suffering is over and we can rejoice in his life. Tommy we will miss you
/s/ Dennis Hulbert
My name's Scott aka Prof. Washboard. I invited Red to come over to Europe after seeing the fine Marin Red Show in San Fran. It was an unbelievable summer we had in Amsterdam. The story I'll always remember that really summed up how quick and funny he could be, happened in Berlin. We were staying in a small family run hotel, the kind with a little bar in the reception/owners living area. We had been playing in an outdoor cafe and a guy in a newspaper stand next door was hassling and called the police. So the playing stopped that day. But Red got hold of some little stink bombs, at a joke shop, that smelled like rotten eggs and later that day one found its way in the magazine stand. That night, as he was going up the stairs to the hotel, he bent over and one fell out of his pocket, broke and had a huge smell. But before it got up to the 3rd floor he was already sitting at the little bar. The middle aged owner and his wife were there watching the TV with their poodle. The wife then smelled it and said to her husband "Heinz,du stinkt" upon which Heinz started pointing at the little poodle. Red, looking all concerned, asked "Is the dog sick?".
So many memories, good, some tough, funny, musical come to mind. But especially his very big heart. Really sad to hear the news. I thought he might pull this one out too.
~ Prof. Washboard
Hey, my name is Per Ove Sleen and I'm from Norway, but back in the eighties I lived in Germany and went by the name of Ronnie, and as such, I spent a lot of time with Red. I'm also a musician and I also remember Mr. Kristjansson and Prof. Washboard. And man, did we have fun in those days. We played music and partied big time. I'm afraid Red and me were a bit too much alike and of course, we had a ball. But I know for a fact that sometime we were both too much for the others. You know, we were both a tad over the top, and I think this is just a way of life for us. Red was the only man I ever met that understood what I go through from time to time. He also knew why I do what I do, cos he did it too.
I cried when I accidently saw pics of Red on "flickr" today and saw the text (Red Archibald Memorial) and I knew he was dead. And now I realize how much I loved that man. ~ The Pos ( The artist formerly known as Ronnie :-)
p.s Nice to see that Kris and Prof are still kicking and to hear that Red was among loved ones when he died. It's kind of soothing.
8/1/07 Hi: I worked as a bassist with Tom for almost a year during his extended tour of Canada back in 1976. Ajax was the absolute pinnacle of my 'Rock' career. I have recently created a CD made from a tape I recorded onto a 2 track Akai reel to reel with 2 mics lying on the stage floor during one of my final performances with the band.
Thanx for maintaining this site. I have a 'tale' or 2 to tell about Mr. Archibald as well, if you like.
Laurie Ingalls ('djingo379' on youtube)
8/3/07 *I JUST FOUND OUT:
I was the bass player in the Amsterdam Allstars in guess where, about 1983. We had both gone to Europe from San Fransisco. Red first. Everybody eventually met in Amsterdam. They included Derek Walker, TT Fingers, Zacharias Angelos, Ron Hacker, Bob Christopher, Fro Miller, King Soloman, Harry Rotten and myself.
Everyday with Red was a wild crazy adventure. He was a great entertainer, on and off stage. Later, we lived in Brussels, Belgium, where we went under the name Red Archibald and the Internationals. Lenny Northover was on sax and sometimes Derek would show up from Sweden. The first Christmas Red insisted on making a turkey dinner for everybody at my house. There are SO many stories to tell. Red had lost or sold his passport so he went to the american embassy and got an official looking document simply stating that he CLAIMED to be Thomas Archibald. He made everybody inluding the police believe this was some kind of legal ID. This didn't keep him from spending the occasional night in jail but he always charmed his way out by playing his harp, telling jokes and claiming to know the actors in Hill Street Blues. They ALWAYS let him go, he was THAT good. I'm sad that I'll never see him again. -Curt Hansen
