The Epicurians in 1965, from left: Wayne Wolters, Steve Murphy, Jerry Clark, Phil Messerli, and Tom Brockman.

FAIRMONT — On September 5, 2021, a bit of Fairmont’s history will be honored in Iowa. The Epicureans, Fairmont’s own Rock and Roll band from the ’60s, will be inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association. Tom Tourville has written a large number of books and articles covering the musical heritage of the Midwest, and he shares what the Epicureans meant to the people of Fairmont in their day.

“To all the kids in town, they were our Beatles,” he said. “Wherever they went they drew huge crowds.

“One of the things that really helped make them stand out was their record that they recorded at IGL Studios in Milford Iowa. That was on the IGL records label, which was a very big label now that we look back at Midwest Rock and Roll. More bands from Iowa recorded on that label than all the other labels in Iowa combined.

“With the Epicureans being so close to that Minnesota line, that was an easy place for them to go down and record. The song was “Baby Be Mine” and John Senn, who has passed away and was the owner of IGL Studios, said they had the second largest selling record ever at IGL. He said it was so popular across the southern tier of two counties in Minnesota as well as the northern tier two counties in Iowa in any venue within that space, whether it was ballrooms, teen clubs, VFW’s, Fairgrounds, the Epicureans were playing there.”

Co-founder of the band Jerry Clark also shared some memories of recording “Baby Be Mine.”

“It became a pretty good regional hit at the time,” he said. “We thought it was going to be “I Don’t Know Why I Cry“, which Steve had written. But “Baby Be Mine” was originally the B side, but it went on to be the A side and it did quite well for many years.”

“The reason they are being inducted now into the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association, which has been in place for 26 years, is that they were so popular.”

Tourville shared that the association is the largest and oldest state-based rock and roll non-profit in the Midwest.

“They have a Hall of Fame and there’s been over 25 years of musicians and bands that went into the Hall of Fame. They have a category for what they call Border Bands, which is bands that live on the border of Iowa, and the Epicureans are a border band.”

Tourville went on to share that the induction was meant to take place in 2020, but was postponed until now in order to make sure things were up and running smoothly.

“The band has not gotten back together and played since they were inducted into the Minnesota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he said. “Now they will be members of both states’ Hall of Fame.”

Tourville went on to share that the band’s induction will be bittersweet, as co-founder Steve Murphy recently passed away from cancer. Murphy’s son, Jade Murphy, will be taking his father’s place in the show.

“One of the things that has been difficult is that Steve was so looking forward to being inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he said. “That was a really big deal and I know he was trying to fight his cancer to make that date which got thrown away because of COVID.

“That is really cool,” said Clark. “We’ll have Jade playing up there for dad, Wayne Wolters will be playing along with myself. We’re hoping that Tim Messerli might make it, but we don’t know for sure.

“A couple of guys have health issues, everybody is north of 70 right now and it gets difficult. But we’ll have some good times and great memories. We had a lot of fun playing back in those days.”

Clark said that other band members from different periods will also be playing. He went on to share that the event will be as much in memory of Steve as it will be about the band.

“This induction will be a tribute to the Epicureans, but also a tribute to Steve Murphy. He was a one-of-a-kind guy, he was the best.

“We’re looking forward to it, it will be fun, and it will probably be the last reunion of the old Epicureans for sure. We appreciate the honor of being inducted and it will be a privilege and an honor.

“The Epicureans were such an important band to the music of Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa,” Tourville said. “It’s kind of hard to put into words, you almost had to live it to understand it.

“When they stopped being the Epicureans they became a group called Highway, which was also led by Steve Murphy and Jerry Clark. They were a super popular band and they played everywhere. That’s also going to be a part of this and it’s going to be really good.”