Uncle Sams - Des Moines

was in college first at DMACC then at Drake height of Disco friends would pile in almost every night. Drummer at the beginning was great and going from one bar to the next to listen to some folk singing in the 2nd bar when you needed to give your ears a rest. Backroom pool tables and foosball spent a lot of hours there some play for play and other nights could make enough under the table to pay for all the drinks of the night. You could on most nights drink all night for under $20. Girls were a lot of fun with the crazy light show of the dance floor

Great to hear from you. A friend of mine from back sent me this link. I was shocked! He used to pretend to dance on penny beer night. We sure packed them in. Peace Brother.

Scott , that's a cool shot of you, thats my floor tom to your right ,I think you were useing it ,that was a long time ago , Yes I remember you went uo tp Eugene Oregon to go to school ,Those were the days, do you still play drums , I have never given up playing and still do as well as Guitar.
Were are you located at these days. Chris woodythx138@mlode,com

I was the first drummer at the Uncle Sam's in Des Moines. The kid you see in the picture replaced me when I moved to Oregon. I played there for about three months. I used to party with the DJ. We used to open the set with "Ride My See Saw" from the Moody Blues. When the song went wild, we lit off two smoke bombs. One of the better experiences I had as a drummer.

I hate to burst your bubble. But the photo of the uncle sam's next to the Godfather's pizza is from Davenport, IA. I spent many a drunken night there. Including meeting my wife there. 33 years later, and still going. I can put my hands on about 6 Firecraker glasses and beer mugs. And still have a buuch of freebie passes.

Hey I just noticed this page as I was searching around on Facebook. I worked at a Wild Uncle Sams in Cheektowaga NY (Buffalo) in the late seventies or early eighties hard to remember now. Our DJ and still a good friend and My chiropractor was Dr. John Zilliox, along with one manager I remember was Jim Farkas

I remember working first as a drummer on my 18th birthday in 74 or 75. I loved that job and it got me off the road. I was traveling with a show band and playing in some real dives. The job paid...get this $17.50 a night. I would play from 9pm until 1:30 taking a few breaks. After it seemed the uniqueness of the drummer was wearing out I started to DJ too. Honestly, I did anything to make a buck. Anything from cleaning the restrooms to servicing the lights and sound system. I was at that club from 10 or 11 each day until 2:30am or so to close. I rember working with Chris Garcia. He was a nice guy and a good drummer too. I hope everyone who enjoyed themselves at the club are healthy and doing well. I worked for Uncle Sam's who was owned by American Avents from Cincinnati, OH. You name them and I worked for them. I was just visited by Cowboy (Bob Yarbrough) in August in Florida. I worked at Uncle Sams in Des Moines, Lincoln, Ne, Davenport, IA and Levitown Long Island, NY. I also DJ'd at an upscale 23 and over club called Park Avenue in Milwaukee, WI, and Orlando, FL. My email is theaudiocoach@gmail.com and I am on Facebook as well. Just search The Audio Coach if you would like to catch up with me.

Wow , never thought I would here this club name again , while living in Des Moines I was the drummer that played along with the local disk jocky and all the top 40 music , it was a great way to do things, a live drummer on stage following the latest music of the day while listning to it through head phones ,I have a couple pictures I could submit, are there any other pictures showing the drummers on stage at the Des Moines uncle sams I would love to see more. Chris

I was the photographer for the Uncles Sams in Knoxville, TN around 1973-74. What a job! I went table to table taking pictures of groups and making sure the customers knew to come back the next week to see themselves on the big screens. Pay? Are you kidding? I did get free beer though.

I will someday dig through the boxes in the attic and see if I still have any of the slides to forward. I know I had some of Steppenwolf on stage there.

Jim Chapman is on Facebook

When I turned 18 in Michigan in January 1977, Uncle Sam's at Telegraph and Schoolcraft was the first bar I ever went into. What a great place! I lived in Livonia, only about 5 miles away so that was an added benefit of hanging out there. When I started going to Wayne State in September 1977, my east side friends would come over to Uncle Sam's on the west side one Saturday night and us west siders would go over to their east side hangout Harpo's the next Saturday night. Wild times! There was also an Uncle Sam's in Houston, where I now live, and the lady who is now my wife hung out here in Houston at the Uncle Sam's back then. So we were 1200 miles apart back in 1977 but connected by Uncle Sam's!

I was a manager for Uncle Sam'a in the mid to late '70's. I ran clubs in Knoxville, TN; Lincoln, NE; Davenport, IA; and Houston, TX. My name is Bob Yarbrough but my nickname then was Cowboy. I would love to hear from former employees and customers. It's fun to read all the comments from all of you.
Tony Greco, US manager owns a restaurant in NYC. Richie is somewhere in Florida, Miami area I think.
If anyone knows how to contact Jim Chapman I would really like to find him. Jim worked with me in Davenport anf at another club in Orlando, FL, also awned by the same company thet owned Uncle Sam's.

Always heard alot about the Des Moines US club. The photo of the Davenport club brings back GREAT memories!!!! Anyone else here from the Davenport ot Des Moines clubs?

Hey, did we really look as nerdy as that photo above? Those guys look like wimps in that photo. I do remember the knit pants and the platform shoes. It was great that a guy that's only 5'9" (I think I was 5'10" at one time, but I think I've shrunk) was 6 foot with those monster shoes on. Those were the days. I've got a picture of me with those slacks on, my platform shoes, and playing drums down in my basement. Had the long hair and beard. People used to say I looked like Al Pacino as Serpico. In fact, I remember one of the waitresses at Des Moines who had a crush on Pacino and picked me up one night. Went back to her dorm room over at Drake and we made love and spent the night. Next morning I woke up and sure enough, on the wall was this HUGE poster of Pacino as Serpico. I didn't know if you could post other photos like that or not, but I got them. I wonder where that coed is today... can't even remember her' name. If she reads this though... give me a call or leave me a message. We had some good times.

Hey Starsky!  Yup, I was there for the rumble you spoke of but would rather remember the "other" action in the parking lot you alluded to in your post. I have many fond memories of fun nights spent partying until closing time and then going to breakfast with the guys or home with a babe. Know you do too...Is nice to know there are a lot of people out there with the same recollections.  Would love to party at Uncle Sam's again with all of them! You are right, the Catholic church is still there as is Miller's Hardware across the street.  Used to park there on Tue and Wed nights when the Uncle Sam's parking lot was full.  Always got there late on those nights, because of our mutual friend Tom...

Yeah, I was going to say, I knew my memory was fading, but that wasn't my recollection of the old Uncle Sam's in Des Moines at all! The building that Uncle Sam's was in was the old Katz Drug building with the famous Katz neon sign. It is now a state office building. Used to be an old Hinky Dinky supermarket across the street (anyone remember those?). The old Catholic church that was next to the back parking lot is still there (in fact, I believe is on the state's historical registry list). If those parking lots could talk!?! I made out in my car many a night and had a few rumbles in the parking lot. Hey, Wally Cleaver, do you remember the rumble that Starsky and Hutch had with Mr. Heck and cohort? I'll bet a few Des Moines coeds lost their virginity in that parking lot.

That photo of the exterior of Uncle Sam's was not from the Des Moines location, but from Davenport Iowa instead.

Since I submitted that I just wanted to clear that up.