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Date Posted: Fri September 04, 2009 17:05:43
Drummer left mark on Cedar Valley
By TIM JAMISON, tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com
EVANSDALE --- Ernest Klatt Jr. knew how to entertain a Cedar Valley audience, whether he was playing the drums in one of his several bands or making speeches during one of his unsuccessful bids for mayor.
The former car salesman, professional musician and nightclub owner --- and 2000 inductee to the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame --- died Aug. 29. He was 68.
"Everybody knows Ernie," said George Clark, who began playing in bands with Klatt when the two attended Waterloo East High School. "I was telling someone at the store that my best friend died, that he was a drummer, and the woman behind me in line said, 'Ernie died?'"
Then again, Ernie wasn't easy to forget.
"He was a very good drummer, but he was just full of these (antics)," Clark said. "He was very quick witted. You wondered where he came up with this stuff."
Klatt and Clark both were members of Eddie Randall and the Downbeats, which was considered one of the state's first rock 'n' roll bands and became a fixture at local teen hops. The band opened for acts such as the Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Gene Vincent, Frankie Avalon, Dion and the Belmonts and Johnny Horton and was called in as a replacement act for the Winter Dance Party tour when a plane crash near Clear Lake in 1959 claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in 1959.
Klatt entered the Marine Corps, where he would eventually earn entry to the Marine Corps Hall of Fame for his drumming. He later worked for John Deere; owned and operated Ernie's 50's Lounge in Waterloo; and was a salesman at C&S Car Co. from 1987 to 2007.
Klatt continued to play the drums, teaming up with Clark to perform as the Checkmates for many years and fronting a band called Ernie and the Nightcrawlers.
He also had an interest in local politics, running for mayor of Waterloo in 1985 and 1989, losing both races to Bernie McKinley. He ran for mayor after moving to Evansdale in 1993, but lost to incumbent John Mardis.
During all of those campaigns, Klatt was a master of memorable one-liners.
Concerned about the lack of construction on an elevated portion of Highway 218 in 1985, Klatt suggested Evel Knievel should be brought in to jump the gap across downtown Waterloo. He said the city was spending "billions of dollars of bridges over a 10-cent river" in his call to dredge the Cedar River.
During a 1989 forum, he said someone needed to shake the citizenry out of their doldrums.
"It's sad. I would get out and promote this town," Klatt said. "If I had to run up and down the street naked, I'd get their attention."
Memorial services for Klatt were held at 10 a.m. today at Kaiser-Corson Funeral Home in Waverly.
(In 1959, Edie Randall & the Downbeats released the 45 "Downbeats Rock" b/w "Fool's Paradise".)
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