From 1966 to 1973, Betty Harris not only heard and wrote aboutAlice Cooper, Jimi Hendrix, Iron Butterfly and The Who, but she hasalso interviewed The Beatles.
She once asked The Beatles at a press conference if they everdreamed about "walking down the street without getting mobbed."According to Harris, John Lennon replied, "We used to do that withno money in our pockets."
Harris spoke at Bracken Library Monday, courtesy of the Friendsof Bracken Library. She brought yellowed newspaper clippings of oldstories and pictures she had taken of famous groups.
As a former columnist for the Muncie Evening Press, sheinterviewed and wrote about dozens, if not hundreds, of local andnational bands throughout the '60s and '70s.
On one particular occasion, Harris spoke with musician AliceCooper without having set up an interview. She waited by hisdressing room hoping to speak with him. Cooper's manager toldHarris she would have to leave. But Cooper, wearing platform,leopard-print thigh-high boots stopped the manager, saying, "Lether be. She swings."
"Alice Cooper (was my most memorable interview) just because Ithought I'd never get in there," she said.
As a Muncie reporter, Harris also covered local groups. At least10 members from former rock 'n' roll bands attended the speech.
"I'm thrilled to see so many people from my past," she said.
Carl Storie, a former member of the local group The Chosen Few,responsible for writing the top-ten hit "Dancin' Shoes," said toHarris, "You were like our mom or something. Every week we wouldlook for Betty. That's how we knew where everyone was playing ..."
Harris' speech opened the eyes of students about Muncie 30 yearsago.
"I had no idea that in the late '60s Muncie had so much to dowith the rock 'n' roll scene," freshman Leah Beatty said. "Ithought there was nothing in Muncie. There was more than Ithought."
Harris also used to work for Ball State's Miller College ofBusiness and has at least four books credited to her name.
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