THE EGYPTIAN COMBO

The Atlanta Journal
The Atlanta Constitution
Nov 2, 2000
By Kathy Wagstaff

BEATLES? NO THANKS: At 15, Reinhardt College President William Nevious played drums and put together the Egyptian Combo, a local band in St. Louis that developed a following, made the '60s pop charts and played next to Ike and Tina Turner. He also had a brush with the Beatles. In the new book "Before He Was Fab" by Jim Kirkpatrick, Nevious is featured as the band leader who rejected the Fab Four. "I found out accidentally when an AP reporter called and wanted to know about me turning away the Beatles," said Nevious. "The bottom line is, I told them, 'Don't call us, we'll call you.' " In the early 1960s, George Harrison's sister heard the Egyptian Combo and asked Nevious if he could book her brother's British band at a pavilion the Combo leased in Benton, Ill. If the band got enough bookings, they planned to come to the States. After listening to a few cuts, Nevious rejected the request. When Harrison asked if he could sit in and play with Nevious' band, members said no. "We didn't let other people play in the band," Nevious said. "That was our policy." The rest is history. For more on the Egyptian Combo, go online to community-2.webtv.net/autodoug/THEEGYPTIANCOMBO/

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Record Collector #256
December 2000

During summer 1963, George Harrison spent three pleasurable weeks of comparitive anonymity at his sister's Louise's home in Benton, a small Illinois mining town. Conspicuous only as a long-haired Englishman, he was unrecognized, unphotographed and unpestered as he wandered its streets, thumbed through wares in its record store, and watched movies at one of those new-fangled drive-in cinemas. An interview on local radio and even a stage appearance with the Four Vests, Benton's bass group, had the impact of a feather on concrete -- the British Invasion was still months away.

In the centuries to come, George's ghost is less likely to be observed wailing and rattling chains around Benton than, say, the Speke council estate where he grew up. Nevertheless, his US holiday is the thrust of this well-researched -- if necessarily slim -- volume, by a regional journalist who argues that it was as significant as Stephen Foster's equally brief stay in "My Old Kentucky Home."

One of the Four Vests, for example, recalls "hearing George play a guitar lick that sounded similar to 'Day Tripper.'" Moreover, Harrison was to return to Britain with the Rickenbacker 425 that he would go on to use on later Beatles hits; a James Ray album from which he'd revive "Got My Mind Set On You" to million-selling effect in 1988, and a funny story about the aftermath of his night with the Vests when someone told him that "with the right kind of backing, you could go places."
~ Alan Clayson

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The Atlanta Journal
The Atlanta Constitution
Jan 18, 2001
By Glenn Hannigan

Some people must overcome great odds to succeed in life.

Some people must overcome great odds merely to survive.

Reinhardt College President William A. Nevious has done both.

Nevious, 53, didn't just take the road less traveled on his unusual journey to the upper tier of academia. He took the road unchartered.

Though not all the specifics appear on his resume, here are a few roles Nevious filled on his remarkable path: hobo, migrant worker, foster child, rock 'n' roll drummer, decorated Vietnam veteran, Associated Press photographer, marketing executive, newspaper publisher, business owner, college president.

His extraordinary story would be difficult enough to edit down into a book, let alone recount within the space confines of a newspaper column.

"It's certainly been an unusual journey for me," Nevious says with a gentle smile. "My wife, Kristen, has been encouraging me to write down some of the details of my life. She thinks it might make an interesting book."

Indeed. The biggest challenge might be convincing people that Nevious' incredible stories are purely nonfiction.

From the start, he faced tough odds.

At age 5, shortly after the death of his mother, Nevious was thrust into life as a vagabond, literally following in his father's footsteps. The two hopped freight trains from town to town, state to state. The youngster's only schooling came on the streets, learning how to beg for food from the back door of a restaurant and creating makeshift beds out of cardboard boxes.

Nevious and his father occasionally worked in migrant camps, picking peaches, apples and --- worst of all --- cotton.

"Cotton really cuts your hands up," says Nevious. "I spent three of the worst weeks of my life working the cotton fields in Alabama. We never did that again."

At age 9, while visiting his grandmother's home in southern Illinois, Nevious' life took a dramatic turn.

"My grandmother pulled me aside and said, 'You're going to hate me for what I've just done, but one day you will thank me,' " Nevious said.

An hour later, social service workers arrived to escort young Nevious to an orphanage. He would see his father only a few times afterward.

"I had to learn to survive in all types of circumstances," Nevious says. "I was 9 years old when I was sent to school for first time in my life. I had to learn how to be flexible and know how to adapt."

After three years of bouncing from foster home to foster home, Nevious was placed with an aging childless couple who lovingly raised him until he graduated from high school. They also purchased him a set of drums, which soon set his life on another course.

"I picked up the drums pretty quickly," Nevious says. "I soon got involved in forming a group called the Egyptian Combo."

The young rock band, which developed a strong following in the St. Louis area, made the '60s pop charts and performed on the same bill with Ike and Tina Turner. More noteworthy, the group was heard by the sister of a young British guitarist.

The young woman, sister of George Harrison, asked Nevious if he would book her brother's band at a pavilion the Egyptian Combo often leased in Benton, Ill.

In a recently released book about Harrison, "Before He Was Fab," author Jim Kirkpatrick relates the story of how the Beatles were turned down flat by young Nevious.

"Harrison's sister sent me a demo with a few Beatles songs on it," the college president recalls. "She said if they could get enough bookings in the U.S. they would bring the band over for a tour. I knew their sound was something new and different, but I really wasn't too interested. I said something like, 'Don't call us, we'll call you.' Looking back, I think 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' might have been one of the songs on the tape."

Nevious also rejected a request for Harrison to sit in and play guitar with the Egyptian Combo.

"We didn't let other people sit in with the band," he explained.

Eventually, Nevious and most of his bandmates volunteered for the Army and were sent to Vietnam, an unusual story that received widespread press coverage.

The Egyptian Combo even brought their equipment to southeast Asia and were often dropped off by helicopter into outlying firebases to perform for the troops.

"I don't think any other band was ever sent into the kind of areas we were sent into," Nevious says. "It was crazy. The enemy would hear all the noise and then zero in on our location. We'd end up scrambling for cover from mortar fire. I took some direct hits on my drum set. We had amps with bullet holes in them."

Fortunately, the band members fared better then their equipment. All survived the tour of duty, which included the infamous 1968 Tet Offensive.

While serving in Vietnam, Nevious won a Minolta camera in a card game, which began another significant life change. After returning to the United States, armed with his poker winnings, he began a successful career as a photographer.

He also earned a master's degree in education and a doctorate in speech communication.

"I've learned how to cope with change in my life," says Nevious, who has two sons, Matt, 11, and Ben, 3. "I think that puts me in a good position to face all the challenges ahead."

After taking over as president of Reinhardt last year, Nevious has wasted little time.

In December the 117-year-old college was awarded accreditation as a four-year institution from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Until the mid-1990s, the college offered only two-year degrees.

According to Nevious, Reinhardt will continue to expand its curriculum --- and its facilities. The Waleska-based school is currently undergoing $13 million in new construction projects, with more being planned. The school has also built a $55 million endowment.

"We have many challenges in properly preparing for the future," Nevious says.

"We have a blue-ribbon committee researching options for expanding our library facilities, our student center and student housing. We have to be prepared to survive in an increasingly competitive environment of higher education."

And who could be in a better position to deal with rapid change than William Nevious?

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