MINDEN – The Four Preps, which burst onto the music scene with 1958’s “26 Miles,” will perform at 7 p.m. March 29-30 at the Carson Valley Inn Ballroom, U.S. 395 in Minden. The group features original lead singer Bruce Belland and Bob Duncan, former leader of the Diamonds. Mike Redman and Skip Taylor, formerly of the Crew Cuts, complete the quartet.
For a video of the Four Preps, click here.
“Things have really exploded in the last two years, thanks in great part to the constant re-broadcasting of the PBS special ‘Magic Moments,’ in which we are featured,” Belland said. “We’ve performed for over a quarter million people since our last Carson Valley Inn show (in 2010) and we’re anxious to return to the up-close setting of the CVI’s Valley Ballroom.”
The Four Preps will stir up memories with such hits as “26 Miles” (Santa Catalina), “Big Man,” “Down by the Station,” “Dreamy Eyes,” “Late Summer Nights,” “Gidget” and more. Popular tunes from the Diamonds, Crew Cuts and other artists of that era also will performed at the March concerts, including “Sh Boom,” “Unchained Melody,” “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” “Little Darlin’,” “Silhouettes,” “Earth Angel,” “Moon River,” “Come Go With Me,” “Runaround Sue,” “You Belong to Me,” “Blue Velvet” and “Shangri La.”
The Four Preps’ million-seller “26 Miles” took the country by storm in 1958. That song and the Four Preps inspired many others. Jimmy Buffet, in his biography “A Pirate Looks at Fifty,” titled one chapter “26 Miles Across the Sea.” Brian Wilson, in his biography “The Nearest Faraway Place,” sites an appearance by the Four Preps at his high school as his inspiration for starting the Beach Boys.
Tickets cost $22 and can be bought at the Carson Valley Inn hotel desk or by calling 775-783-6606. Doors open at 6:15 p.m.
Carson Valley Inn is on U.S. Highway 395 in Minden, Nev., near the start of state Route 88, 20 minutes from Lake Tahoe’s south shore and 45 minutes south of Reno. The property includes a casino, sports and race book, 150-room hotel, 74-room motor lodge, 59-site RV park and a convenience store with Shell gas and diesel fuel. There also are banquet and meeting rooms and services plus three dining facilities: CV Steak, the Inn’s Nevada-style steakhouse featuring steaks, seafood, pasta dishes and more; Katie’s, for 24-hour dining choices; and Job’s Perk, offering coffee drinks, pastries and sundries.
