Belair Shopping Center Event, May, 1973

Belair Shopping Center Event, May, 1973

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Bean bag toss. Belair National Bank can be seen in the background.

Marty's Cards, Etc. Belair Liquor.

These pictures were posted as part of the Bowie Blade Pic Project, I've been posting pictures taken by Arnie Miles for the Bowie Blade between 1973 and 1975.

Photos of Bowie Maryland 1973 through 1975 by Arnie Miles is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License

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Foxhill Park, May, 1973

Foxhill Park, May, 1973

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These pictures were posted as part of the Bowie Blade Pic Project, I've been posting pictures taken by Arnie Miles for the Bowie Blade between 1973 and 1975.

Photos of Bowie Maryland 1973 through 1975 by Arnie Miles is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License

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An Early Paul Reed Smith Band

Years before Paul Reed Smith founded what would become the country's third largest guitar manufacturer (behind Fender and Gibson), he was a member of several local bands around Bowie. Pictures from a performance of one of those bands can be seen below. The photos were probably taken in 1973 or '74.

The following are some interesting facts about Paul Reed Smith and PRS Guitars.

• Smith grew up in Bowie.
• Smith's father bought him a ukelulu when he was five.
• Smith's first job was selling flowers next to a movie theater in Bowie.
• Smith's worst job was washing dishes at the Dutch Pantry on the corner of Routes 301 and 50 in Bowie.
  
• Smith signed up for three or four shop classes at a time while attending Bowie High.
• Smith made a bass during his time at Bowie High.
• Smith graduated from Bowie High in 1974.
  
• Smith worked as a repairman for the Washington Music Center.
• Smith repaired a broken Les Paul Junior owned by Joe Perry from Aerosmith.
  
• Smith built his first guitar while attending St. Mary's College in St. Mary's City, Maryland.
• Smith would hang backstage at concerts to attempt to sell his guitars to popular musicians.
• Smith's first backstage sale was to Derek St. Holmes, the rhythm guitarist for Ted Nugent. St. Holmes now plays with Smith in The Paul Reed Smith Band.
  
• When Smith tried selling a guitar to Carlos Santana at the Cap Centre in 1976, Santana asked Smith to play with him.
  
• Smith opened The Guitar Shop on West Street in downtown Annapolis in 1985.
• Smith moved his operation to Virginia Avenue in Annapolis in 1985, and PRS Guitars was born. The company is currently located on Kent Island in Stevensville, Maryland.
• PRS Guitars have been used professionally by Carlos Santana, Jimmy Page, Dave Matthews, Dave Navarro, Ricky Skaggs and others. Click here for a picture of Carlos Santana playing a PRS Guitar.
  
• PRS Guitars hired former Gibson Guitar Corp president Ted McCarty as a consultant. McCarty designed the Gibson Les Paul with Les Paul.
  
• The giant guitar on the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore's Inner Harbor is a replica of the PRS Guitar McCarty model - named for Ted McCarty.
  
• Inlaid birds are used as fret markers on PRS guitar fingerboards.
• Gibson Guitar Corp sued PRS Guitars for patent infringement in 2001 claiming that the PRS Singlecut guitar too closely resembled the Gibson Les Paul. Gibson lost.
• Two PRS guitar models were included in the Guitar Hero video game in 2009.
• Smith plays with The Paul Reed Smith Band (see video below).
  

Click each picture to see a larger image.

Paul Reed Smith

Paul Reed Smith

Paul Reed Smith

Paul Reed Smith

From left to right: Bernadette "Bunny" Sweeney (vocals), Chuck Harding (vocals), Paul Reed Smith (guitar)

Roger Chamberlain

Chuck Harding

Scott Burgett

Rick Breza (drums)

Chuck Harding

Bernadette "Bunny" Sweeney

These pictures were posted as part of the Bowie Blade Pic Project, I've been posting pictures taken by Arnie Miles for the Bowie Blade between 1973 and 1975.

Photos of Bowie Maryland 1973 through 1975 by Arnie Miles is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License

The Paul Reed Smith Band playing at the 30th Annual Guitar Show in Dallas in 2007.

Other Paul Reed Smith Videos

• Paul Reed Smith interview discussing guitar quality
• Paul Reed Smith demonstrating the tones available on a PRS Custom 24
• PRS Guitar Factory Tour - Part 1 of 4
• PRS Guitar Factory Tour - Part 2 of 4
• PRS Guitar Factory Tour - Part 3 of 4
• PRS Guitar Factory Tour - Part 4 of 4
• Mike Ault of PRS Guitars plays Little Wing at the Dallas International Guitar Festival in 2008 to demonstrate PRS Guitars
  

References

• Paul Reed Smith Guitar Company overview on Answers.com
• The PRS Story, Paul Reed Smith Guitars website
• Guitar Hero, Baltimore Magazine
• Guitar Maker Paul Reed Smith's Greatest Hits, Washington Post
• Paul Reed Smith Music website
• Paul Reed Smith And Band To Play Prince Theatre, February 4

Other Paul Reed Smith Posts

• An Early Paul Reed Smith Band
• Teen Club with Paul Reed Smith, March, 1974

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Dave Ross Ice Cream Party, Summer, 1974

Former Maryland House of Delegates member Dave Ross held an annual ice cream party every summer at his house on Whitehall Drive in Bowie. The parties were so large that they spilled over into the neighbors' yards and houses.

Below are pictures from the 1974 ice cream party. Click here to see a full set of pictures from the party on Facebook. Feel free to tag anyone you recognize.

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The Ross' backyard in the Whitehall section during the party.

U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (center) chats with Prince George's County Councilman Frank Francois (right).

Mikulski was a Baltimore City Council Member when this picture was taken, and she was running for a U.S. Senate seat at the time. Her 1974 campaign for U.S. Senate is the only election that she's ever lost.

Francois served as a Prince George's County Commissioner before the county switched to the county council form of government. He served 10 years as a County Councilman.

Former Maryland House of Delegates member Xavier Aragona kisses Barbara Mikulski.

Prince George's County Councilman Frank Francois (left) chats with Hyattsville City Councilman (and future Maryland Governor) Parris Glendening (center). To the right of Glendening is Frances Anne Hughes, who would later marry Glendening.

From left to right: Future Maryland House of Delegates Member and Prince George's County District Court Judge Jerry Devlin, future U.S. Congresswoman Gladys Spellman, Maryland House of Delegates Member and party host Dave Ross, and Maryland House of Delegates candidate Marcia Krasnick. All four people in this picture were running for office in 1974. Krasnick would be the only one who wouldn't win.

Bowie was in Maryland District 24 in 1974, and District 24 had three House of Delegate positions. In the 1974 election, Leo Green running as an independent would receive the most votes, Jerry Devlin would receive the second most, and incumbent Dave Ross came in third.

The entertainment.

Jerry Devlin and future Bowie City Councilman Walter Planet. The button reads:

Devlin, Krasnick, Ross
24th District
House of Delegates

Maryland State Senator Ed Conroy (left), Jim Dowden (center)

These pictures were posted as part of the Bowie Blade Pic Project, I've been posting pictures taken by Arnie Miles for the Bowie Blade between 1973 and 1975.

Photos of Bowie Maryland 1973 through 1975 by Arnie Miles is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License

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Craft Show, April, 1973

Craft Show, April, 1973

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Tin Can Craft. Karl Fowler. Everything you see here is made from discarded tin cans.

These pictures were posted as part of the Bowie Blade Pic Project, I've been posting pictures taken by Arnie Miles for the Bowie Blade between 1973 and 1975.

Photos of Bowie Maryland 1973 through 1975 by Arnie Miles is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License

Other Bowie Blade Pic Project Posts

• Next: Dave Ross Ice Cream Party, Summer, 1974
• Previous: First Maryland Savings and Loan, April, 1973
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