Local musicians recall performing with Donnie Iris
Donnie Iris never played the “diva act,” said Jim Spears, who recalls performing alongside the late rock musician.
Iris’s music career ran from the 1960s to the 2020s, spanning thousands of shows across the nation, but Iris always recognized his band members along the way.
Spears has played thousands of gigs himself over decades and said the few times he played with Iris in a backing band, the singer treated everyone like they were the team they were.
“He was just one of the guys in the band,” Spears said.
Iris, a New Castle native and Pittsburgh-region music icon, died Oct. 26 at 83 years old. He was known for hit songs with the Jaggerz and Donnie Iris & The Cruisers, but still spent much of his career playing in the Pittsburgh region, with shows extending throughout Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio.
He announced his retirement from performing in a letter posted to social media Oct. 9. His final concert was at Citizens Live at the Wylie in Pittsburgh on Sept. 28.
Another Butler musician who had backed Iris before, Tom Menchyk, of Butler, saw Iris in concert in March in Kent, Ohio, where the singer “put on a great show.”
Menchyk said it was there that he learned Iris was going through treatment for cancer. A member of his band commented that the singer had chemotherapy that morning.
It hardly showed, according to Menchyk.
“Donnie sounded good; he hit the notes,” he said. “He worked hard and put on a great show.”
Menchyk also shared recollections of when Iris sang a few songs at a Butler County Realtor Christmas event circa 1990 at the Butler Country Club. The event featured a cycling lineup of singers who performed a few songs each alongside the backing band. Menchyk, the guitarist for the band, said he talked to Iris on the phone in the days leading up to the party where he discussed the songs he planned to sing.
The two numbers Menchyk remembers playing with Iris were the Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” and “Land of 1,000 Dances,” which came as a surprise to him. Still, performing with him went off without a hitch.
“He was just the most cordial, friendly, humble, easygoing guys,” Menchyk said. “He said, ‘Thanks for letting me sit in with you.’”
Spears had also worked with another Pittsburgh music mainstay, B.E. Taylor, for years, whom often shared concert bills with Iris. This is what led Spears to meet Iris in the 1980s to 1990s, and he and Taylor would hop on songs with one another at their live performances.
Having played with many musicians over the years, Spears’ experience with Iris was always positive.
“He was always cordial, always friendly,” he said.
