Steve Elliott, one of the original Silver Laughter founding members, is at the far left. Rex Schluenz is seated second from the right.
This photo ended up in my mom’s collection. As I said before, she rarely threw anything out… fortunately for me! Here, on the Davenport side of the Mississippi River, with Rock Island, IL in the background, are Steve Elliott (far left) and Denny Walton (seated left) with their band, Sneaky Feelin’.
In the days before touring, Silver Laughter used to do some Led Zeppelin. Steve sang lead, and I was impressed with his vocal range. I think he also sang some Guess Who; he did Burton Cummings very well. After Silver Laughter spent a couple of months on the road, he decided touring wasn’t for him.
Before he left Silver Laughter, he had taken up steel guitar which we used on the song, “Whiskey Heaven” from our first album.
That is Steve talking at the beginning of “Whiskey Heaven” about being in a “space age booth at Disneyland”… not me. People thought our speaking voices sounded much the same. However, I think his singing talents far out shined mine with regard to range. But I had written more songs by that time which made me an asset when it came to recording original material.
The only other member I can identify in this photo is the second from the right; Rex Schluenz. He was also an auto mechanic for Chevrolet and worked on my dad’s cars. Dad was a Chevy man!
Mick Orton
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