Missouri

Missouri is a blues rock band from Kansas City and their debut album was released on an independent label called Panama Records. The album cover depicts the St. Louis Gateway Arch superimposed over a scene of Monument Valley in Arizona. The song "Movin On" received a lot of airplay in the Midwest. After its release in 1977, the album was listed on Billboard's Recommended Album page and the band went on tour. They played with several national acts such as Ted Nugent, Golden Earring, The Scorpions, Blackfoot, Sammy Hagar, Nazareth, Molly Hatchet, REO Speedwagon, Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen, Jefferson Starship and others. Randall Platt joined the band after the album was recorded and the drummer Bill Larson left after the album was released and he was replaced by Jeff Litrel.
Before their second album Jeff Litrel and the guitarist Lane Turner left the group and were replaced by Dan Billings and Webb Waterman. Missouri then signed with Polydor records and released its second album, Welcome Two Missouri, in 1979. Rob Brennan replaced Dan Billings after the release of their second album. The group continued touring until 1984 but Polydor did not renew Missouri's option to record another album and they disbanded.
In 1994 Ron put together a new version of Missouri with Bill Larson on drums, Chris Jones on keyboards, Brett Eklund and Jim Bingston on guitar, Chris Wiliker on bass and Julie Flood on violin and background vocals. They stayed together until 1996 and shared the stage with April Wine, Mountain, Kansas, The Little River Band, REO Speedwagon, FogHat and Steppenwolf.
Dan Billings stayed in the music industry as a sound engineer until he passed away in 2007. Alan Cohen was the bands original bass player and he died in 2003. Bill Larson kept drumming with local country groups like "Delisa Dawn and Route 66", and "Live Wire". Lane Turner does audio and video productions for "Unity Village" and also does recordings on classical, orchestral, and choral recordings for various groups. Randall Platt started the business, "Music and Midi Sales" and is partners with harpist, Phyllis Hoffman in "The Hoffman Harp Gallery". Ron West started a 24-track studio and has been recording radio commercials, rock bands, acoustic artists and is working on new material.