Steve Ellis and The Starfires History

Unless you lived in Pipestone in the 1960s you may not even know we had a rock legend, who had he not died tragically in a motorcycle accident on August 31. 1967, might have been enthroned into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Steve Ellis Garlich founded his band called Steve Ellis and the Starfires in 1962 in Pipestone, Pipestone County, Minnesota.  Steve Ellis together with Jim Brandenburg and Butch Hatting were members of the first band in 1962. Steve was a 1963 graduate of Pipestone High School.

They had a unique sound that paralleled Buddy Holly and the Crickets in his big song hit with chimes Walking Around that mentioned the famous Square in Pipestone and a young boy’s search for love – we all can relate to the many trips around the 3.5-mile Square we all did in High School looking for friends.  The Square activity was very much like the George Lucas movie American Graffiti!  Steve kept changing his dance band sound going from the Buddy Holly ballad dance style to songs that were more reminiscent to the Rolling Stones style of rock with a touch of Grand Funk Railroad or even Led Zepplin!

In listening to the audio stories that I have links for on this webpage, you will hear that Steve Ellis wanted to develop a great Dance Band and avoid the Show Band mode that was common then.  His former bandmates tell the interviewer that Steve was always tuning his sound to challenge the audiences to new “beat” dance tunes. Many of the songs they played were originals written by Steve and his band.  There were many fans of this local Pipestone band which you can read about and listen to via the audio track links on this webpage.  Had Steve not died so young in his early 20s it’s quite possible he and his band could have been just as well-known as some of the top bands of the day. 

Steve lived fast and furious and accomplished many things in a few years.  Being a 1971 PHS graduate, I was only 15 when Steve Ellis died so I never really got to know about his amazing music career or went to see him in person. Still remember him driving his 1938 Desoto street rod coup around the square with his monster engine exposed. Was the initial inspiration for me to build my 1973 Camaro into a show car with a 6-71 supercharger. 

Pipestone was a hot spot for music back in the 1960s with another great hometown band called the Pilgrims led by Randy Geise. a 1964 PHS graduate.