McAllister was born in 1944 in St. Louis, Mo. She recalls how exercise was a significant part of her childhood. Even after she married Don and had children, she still loved “hiking, swimming, playing tennis, and riding her beloved horse every day.”
In her 30th year, her athletic lifestyle was wiped away when Linda was diagnosed with RA (rheumatoid arthritis). Within weeks, her pain was so severe and her mobility so limited, her bed had to be moved downstairs to the main floor of the family home. It was the pain and her sadness over losing her physical mobility that propelled Linda into music.
As she sat at home one day, she came across a weekly guitar lesson on TV. She bought a $37 guitar from a catalog and taught herself to play. She practiced hours a day. Soon she began offering guitar lessons to “anybody who was interested.”
When she and Don moved to The Dalles in the 1980s so he could teach and be a counselor at Wahtonka High School, Linda found the guitar of a lifetime inside Columbia River Music. This little beauty was a 1933 Gibson Archtop acoustic guitar. Linda recalls it was “pretty expensive,” and she had to think about it some days before handing over $125. Now 38 years later, her Gibson archtop is still the main guitar she plays.
Although Linda started playing and singing folk, country and Top 40 hits, she transitioned to swing music when she heard the 1940s jazz style at Weiser Fiddle Festival in Idaho. She was smitten by the guitar rhythm and nostalgic songs. Linda learned basic swing chords and later jammed with experienced players who kindly explained “she was not playing the chord shapes on the guitar correctly.” Linda remembers, “These guys were really nice; they taught me the right shapes, and I wanted to return the favor, so I created the first swing workshop at Weiser.” Linda was also inspired to create a series of swing music instructional books that are still used by players today.
Swing Crew poster of Linda Mcallister and Connie Williams.
Contributed photo
Linda has taught hundreds of guitar students over the past 50 years. “I was given a burning desire to learn and share music, I guess that comes from the Creator,” she said. A little over two years ago, Linda suffered a stroke that has affected her vocal cords and agility in her hands, but she still teaches. She has six students who come weekly to The Springs at Mill Creek Assisted Living community in The Dalles.
“I am so grateful I can still play” and help others, she said. She also gets out weekly to jam with other musicians at Shannon’s Ice Cream parlor on Fourth Street in The Dalles.
Linda explains, “Music is a community’s juice; it’s something everyone can share regardless of politics or religion.”
Music can happen anywhere, as Linda fondly recalls a workshop she led in Enterprise, Ore. It was a “heating, plumbing, and music shop where all the guitar students sat on toilets.”
It took some time, though, for Linda to venture into solo singing. She wasn’t often encouraged to sing by the men in the first bands she played in. But one night, she attended a party where she met John Fogerty. It was just before his comeback album Centerfield was released. Fogerty had been the lead singer for Creedence Clearwater Revival. Throughout the evening, Linda recalls John would say, “Sing another one, sing another one Linda.” Fogerty liked her voice, and it changed her life. Someone who knew about voices believed in her. This boosted her confidence, and she’s “been singing lead ever since.”
John Durkan guitar playing orthopedic surgeon Hood River, Linda Mcallister, and Paul Viemeister previous band teacher The Dalles High School.
Contributed photo
Linda is warmly remembered for “Linda’s Song Menu,” which she created on colored paper to hand out to customers at The Dalles Tapedera Motel in the restaurant where she played more than 100 gigs. Customers could look down at the list sitting on their table and call out their favorites. It was an innovative and popular method for taking requests and getting her listeners involved in the music. Later Linda formed Swing Crew, a long running Columbia River Gorge band.
Linda celebrates her 80th birthday next year, and she expresses gratitude for a music-filled life: “It helped me get over my sorrows — music literally saved my life.”
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Sher A. Schwartz is a published essayist, poet, musician, and retired University of Alaska Southeast-Ketchikan assistant professor of humanities living on a 200-acre historic farm outside The Dalles.
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