WELCOME sells one more!

Bill Babin, drummer and band leader of Big Zephyr, also had a 20th century band called THE RUBBER MEMORY. The band rocked parties all over New Orleans from 1962–1972. Strongly influenced by The Beatles, Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, and more, they developed their own hard-edged sound which finally produced an LP in 1970 called WELCOME.

“It was 1970, the year of our high school graduation, and we were all very uneasy about the future and Vietnam. It was already clear that the band was breaking up because two of our members were headed to LSU in Baton Rouge. That summer, we decided to write songs and record an album.” For all the details on this monumental moment in music history, READ MORE HERE.

Our main concern in this story is what happens 25 years later. So in 1995, Bill is now living in Phoenix Arizona, raising two boys with his high school sweetheart, Jocelyn, and not playing much music. And then a phone call comes. It is from a vintage vinyl collector in Dallas who is looking for a copy of WELCOME. Well Bill did have four original copies in mint condition and he sold one to this collector for $100. And that story was captured by THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC.

Bill continues: “You see, I should have held out for more money because I soon learned that the album was actually in high demand among world-wide collectors, selling for $800-$1000. Remember, there were only 100 copies pressed. And I still have two left. “