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It is hard to believe that five young boys, one with no arms, started a band right here in Lexington, when they were barely teenagers in the early 1950s, and lasting until 1971.
The original members of the Rhythm Makers were Billy Hoffman on coronet; his brother Tommy Hoffman on drums; Lewis Watts, lead singer; Frank Woodly on piano; Bernard Broadneaux, the son of Lylburn Downing’s principal, on tenor sax; and Teddy Borgus on trombone. Vaden “Sticks” Thompson joined the band a little later and still lives in Lexington.
The principal, U.B. Broadneaux Sr., was responsible for seeing that these boys got their hands on instruments and helped them find their way to becoming talented musicians.
As the boys got a little older, they began playing, not only in Lexington at frat houses, but also up and down the East Coast. They were a solid backup band for many of the great Motown singers of the 1950s and 60s. They played with Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Drifters, The Coasters, and Little Willie John, just to name a few.
Most of these years of touring were during segregation. Imagine how determined and innovative they had to be just to eat or sleep on the road. There were so many places that didn’t allow Blacks to enter. They got by though, somehow. One way is that they learned to heat up Vienna sausage and baked beans on the transmission hump of their old station wagon they drove from gig to gig for many years.
One of the remaining members of the Rhythm Makers is Billy Hoffman, who now lives in Roanoke. It is he, and his band, The Bill Hoffman Jazz- tet, who will be performing at Lylburn Downing Middle School this Sunday, Oct. 15, at 3 p.m.
The fact that Billy is returning to Lexington to play music in the very school where he began his life as a noted musician, is very special. But of further significance, he is performing as a fundraiser for the Jacqueline Pleasants Scholarship Fund, begun by the local Democratic Committee and held by the Rockbridge Community Foundation CFRBA.
Admission is free but donations will be much appreciated to help a deserving student to continue his or her education. Cash or checks payable to the Jacqueline Pleasants Scholarship Fund will be accepted.
