All posts by Chris Bishop

Categories: Apex, Canada, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon

The Witness Inc.

March 9, 2007 Chris Bishop 77 Comments

The early Witness, Inc. (l-r): Craig Kaleal, Les Bateman, Kenny Shields, Ed Clynton and Dennis Tremeer

Witness Inc, second and longest-lasting lineup, l-r: Ed Clynton, Dave Tupper, Kenny Shields, Allen Ayers and Les Bateman (kneeling). — Second and longest-lasting lineup, l-r: Ed Clynton, Dave Tupper, Kenny Shields, Allen Ayers and Les Bateman (kneeling)

The Witness Inc. came out of Saskatoon in the central Canadian province of Saskatchewan and immediately became a touring sensation in the western provinces. They released a series of 45s which became increasingly pop after the second. The band finally caught on in Ontario after several years and many personnel changes.The original band consisted of Kenny Shields vocals, Ed Clynton guitar, Dennis Tremeer bass, Les Bateman organ and piano, and Craig Kaleal on drums. I was surprised to learn that the band traveled to New Mexico to record their first 45, probably at Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis.

“I’ll Forget Her Tomorrow”, is a fine pop song, backed with “Girl Before You Go”, an original by Dennis Tremeer (listed as Doug Tremeer in the BMI database). The picture sleeve features a different band lineup than the group on the recording, with new members Dave Tupper on drums and Allen Ayers on bass.

The A-side of their second record, “Jezebel”, is a cover of the old Frankie Laine standard. As good as the Teddy Boys version, it was probably their biggest hit, reaching #1 on CKXL in Calgary in February, 1968.

Younger fans like myself generally prefer the flip side, “Not You Girl”, an original by Ed Clynton and Les Bateman, which speeds by in a hasty 1:46 with a great scream from Shields and an nifty organ solo by Bateman.

The January 13, 1969 issue of RPM Weekly announces that the band had dropped the ‘Inc.’ from their name for their fifth single, “So Come With Me”, recorded at Sound Canada studios in Toronto. Surprisingly the article says this was their first Canadian session!

45 releases:

I’ll Forget Her Tomorrow/Girl Before You Go (Apex 77044) Sleeve
Jezebel/Not You Girl (Apex 77063) Sleeve
Harlem Lady/I Put A Spell On You (Apex 77077, & in U.S., Decca 32328) Sleeve
Visions Of Vanessa/Another Side Of Her (Apex 77087) Sleeve / Reverse
So Come With Me/I’ve Got To Go (Apex 77093)

Saskatooon Musician's Association Annual Social 1967

Thank you to Ivan Amirault for providing scans of the sleeves, and to Peter Studer for the clip of I’ll Forget Her. Very special thanks to Cory for the photos and clippings of the original lineup from his father Dennis Tremeer’s scrapbook.

Witness Inc., first lineup at the Saskatoon Musicians Social, l-r: Craig Kaleal, Kenny Shields, Dennis Tremeer, Les Bateman and Ed Clynton — First lineup at the Saskatoon Musicians Social, l-r: Craig Kaleal, Kenny Shields, Dennis Tremeer, Les Bateman and Ed Clynton

RPM Weekly, January 13, 1969, now simply 'The Witness'. — RPM Weekly, January 13, 1969, now simply ‘The Witness’. Thanks to Chris Smith of the Factree for the clipping

Witness Inc. news item from Jan. 13, 1969 RPM Weekly — news item from Jan. 13, 1969 RPM Weekly

Categories: Bermuda, Duane, New York, Stony Brook, Suffolk County

The Weads “Don’t Call My Name” / “Today” on Duane Records

March 4, 2007 Chris Bishop 12 Comments

The Weads Duane 45 Don't Call My Name The Weads were the first rock band to release a record on the Duane label in Bermuda. I wondered, how did a band from Stony Brook, New York end up on a label from Bermuda? That question was answered when I spoke to Rodger Jackson, bass player for the Weads, who generously provided a lot of information about this great band.

Rodger Jackson started a band called the Statics with Allan Varela at their high school in Garden City, Long Island, Rodger playing bass and Allan lead guitar. Allan was 14 at the time and Rodger a little older. The next year, Allan moved to Stony Brook, where he attended the Stony Brook Boys School, though he continued playing music with Rodger. They recruited Dick Turano from Northport to play drums and Myron MacLeod ~~McCloud~~ to play rhythm guitar. Myron was from Texas but was attending the Stony Brook Boys School at the time.

The Weads distinguished themselves from other groups by playing only original songs, most of them written by Allan Varela (listed as Varella II on 45 label). They outfitted themselves in suits, and played through Vox Super Beatle amps. Allan Varela played a Stratocaster, Rodger a Precision bass, and Myron a Vox Teardrop guitar.

Also at the school was a student from Bermuda, Alan Dowdy, who took a demo tape of the Weads back home with him and played it for Eddy DeMello, owner of the The Music Box in Hamilton. DeMello liked what he heard, and in short order he contacted the Weads and signed them to 3 year, 10 song contract. The Weads recorded at least four songs at National Recording in Long Island. DeMello then took the masters back to Bermuda and pressed records there.

DeMello stocked them in his record shop and DJ Bryan Lodge got them played on the local radio station ZBM, sending “Today” to #2 in Bermuda. Allan Doughty from Bermuda became their manager. All the college students there for vacation knew the songs from the local radio play, so when the Weads arrived for College Week, they already had a good audience. Like the Savages, they played for college audiences around the island and at the Princess Hotel. It’s likely that the success of their 45, “Today” / “Don’t Call My Name”, led to the recording and release of records by the Savages and the Gents.

Back in the states, the flip side “Don’t Call My Name” went top 10 on Long Island. The Weads did an hour-long radio interview that may still exist on tape somewhere. They played shows at local Hullabaloo clubs and in Pt. Jefferson. They also started recording commercial jingles and may have recorded new material at Ultrasonic in Hempsted.

About a year after signing with DeMello the Weads decided they wanted to get out of contract in order to concentrate on breaking into the national scene. DeMello fought this and made it difficult for them to find another label. Columbia passed on them in late ’66/early ’67 and with members going to college, the Weads called it quits.

During college, Rodger joined a club band, playing the Hamptons and Lake George. He fondly remembers late night jam sessions with members of other Long Island bands at the Afterhours.

Master tapes of the Weads sessions should still be in existence. One of the unreleased songs has a title like “Her Name Was Lynn”. Until those tapes surface, we’ll have to wonder what else this talented group was capable of. Given the quality of their original material on the Duane 45, they could have done well if they had the backing of a major label.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

Categories: Dallas, HBR, Josie, Knight (Dallas), Robin Hood Studios (Tyler), Southern Sound, Texas

Jimmy Rabbit and Positively 13 O’Clock

March 2, 2007 Chris Bishop 31 Comments

Jimmy Rabbit cuts Chuck Dunaway's call letters off his shirt — Jimmy Rabbit cuts Chuck Dunaway’s call letters off his shirt after winning a boat race between the stations. Photo from The History of KLIF Radio (http://1650oldiesradio.com/pgone.html – now defunct).

Jimmy Rabbit Knight 45 Pushover Jimmy Rabbit was a prominent DJ at Dallas station KLIF AM 1190 with a show that mixed British Invasion sounds with Texas acts like Mouse and the Traps, Sir Douglas Quintet and the Five Americans. Having tried his hand at singing as a young rockabilly under his real name, Eddy Payne (Dale Payne), he decided to make another attempt in 1965. With help from friends, Rabbit released three good garage 45s from ’65 to ’67.

“Pushover” is distinguished by a popping rhythm and sharp guitar. It was released with three variations in the name. First as Jimmy Rabbit with Ron and Dea on the yellow Knight label, on a blue Knight label as simply Jimmy Rabbit, and then picked up for national release on Southern Sound as Jimmy Rabbit and the Karats (ha ha).

Jimmy Rabbit Knight 45 Wishy-Washy Woman The b-side “Wait and See” is dark and less catchy, but pretty good too. Both of these were written by Lindsey-Kirkland-Rambo, arranged by Bob Rambo and produced by Bob Sanders.

Next came the bluesy “Wishy Washy Woman” from July of 1965, written by Ron Price. “Wishy-Washy Woman” reached #31 on the KLIF charts thanks to Jimmy’s connection with the station. It’s a formulaic blues, but gains momentum a little over halfway through as Jimmy sings just over the drums, with the other instruments coming in at the end of each measure.

The flip side is “My Girl”, credited as a Price original but really more a version of Willie Dixon’s “My Babe” with some different lyrics.

Jimmy Rabbit Southern Sound 45 Pushover Jimmy Rabbit Josie 45 Wishy-Washy Woman

Positively 13 O'Clock photo — Positively 13 O’Clock lineup, from left: Dave Stanley, Bugs Henderson, Jimmy Rabbit and Jerry Howell Jimmy Rabbit: “The picture of Positively 13 O’Clock was taken while we were playing at the world famous Lou Ann’s Teen Club.”

Positively Thirteen O'Clock HBR 45 Psychotic Reaction His biggest hit came in 1966, with a buzzy cover of “Psychotic Reaction” under the name Positively Thirteen O’Clock, recorded at Robin Hood Brians studio in Tyler, Texas with members of Mouse and the Traps: “Bugs” Henderson and Ronnie “Mouse” Weiss on guitars, Ken “Nardo” Murray drums, David Stanley bass, and Jerry Howell organ.

The solo has a frantic, trebly quality that’s a trademark Texas sound. The band ends the song with a final burst of fuzz rather than coming back into the verse as in the Count Five’s original, itself an imitation of the Yardbirds’ raveups. This abbreviated version clocks at a tidy 1:59!

High Yellow film still photo

Mr. Rabbit wrote to me:

The Dallas records [“Pushover” & “Wishy Washy Woman”] were a totally different thing than the Tyler recordings [“Psychotic Reaction”]. When Bobby Rambo and I teamed up in late ’64 we were a part of a new kind of music “thing” in Dallas-Ft. Worth.
We all came out of rockabilly music and we all used to hang out at the Sand-Lin Recording Studio (Bob Sanders and Lewis Lindsey) and played at, among other places: LouAnn’s and The Cellar in Dallas. This was right when the change from American to English music was taking place. We really tried to become/sound English! (like my friends in The Sir Douglas Quintet).
I was a teenager with a Beatle haircut who was the number-one d.j. on KLIF Radio. I had brought the Beatles on stage when they played Dallas [fascinating write up was at http://www.radiodailynews.com/rabbittchapter12.htm but can now be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20120329141938/http://www.radiodailynews.com/rabbittchapter12.htm] and played in several bands, so we all got record deals at different times. There were several bands that hung out and listened to and recorded music. At any given time, there could be a band called ‘Jimmy Rabbit and the Karats’, ‘Jimmy Rabbitt with Ron (Boston) and Dea’ (Kirkland), ‘The Rowdies’, ‘The Bobby Rambo Rock-Kings’ and on and on.
The songs “Pushover” and “Wait and See” were recorded in 1965 and were featured in the movie, High Yellow. The band included Bobby Rambo, Lewis Lindsey, Dea Kirkland, Rex Ludwick, Ron Boston, and others who have been long forgotten!
Bobby Rambo, Rex Ludwick and I (and others) became Jimmy Rabbitt and Texas (on Atco Records) and later Jimmy Rabbitt and Renegade who recorded an album for Capitol with Waylon Jennings producing in 1977. Of all the records that I have made over the years, the only song that Bobby Rambo didn’t play on was “Psychotic Reaction”.

Check out Jimmy Rabbit’s website at www.jimmyrabbitt.com.(defunct)

Categories: Bay City, Cameo, Cameo-Parkway, DJ and Radio gigs, Michigan, Pa-Go-Go, Tangerine

? and the Mysterians

February 24, 2007 Chris Bishop 6 Comments

Saturday, Feb 24, 2007, there’s a benefit in Brooklyn for Rudy Martinez aka “Question Mark” the singer and songwriter of 96 Tears. His house burned down on January 9, and he lost all of his memorabilia, including the actual Farfisa on which Mysterians’ organist Frank Rodriguez played the famous 96 Tears riff. There’s a moving video of Question Mark walking through the wreckage at http://96tears.net/ and if you want to donate something to Rudy, you can do it there.

Come out to the Laila Lounge, 113 N. 7th St. (near the L train at Bedford) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There will be bands from 8 pm until 11, then djs including Phast Phreddie, Mike Lynch and myself, and a raffle of rare 60’s movie posters. Only $5, and all proceeds will go to Question Mark.

Most people familiar with garage will know their famous songs “96 Tears”, “I Need Somebody”, “‘8’ Teen”, so I’m including just a few lesser-known tracks as samples of their sound.

The version of “96 Tears” here is an earlier, slower take. It’s good, but I don’t think this version would have gotten them to #1 on the charts. “Ten O’Clock” is one of the best songs from their first lp, and was never released on 45. The soulful “Ain’t It a Shame” is from a 1969 single on the Tangerine label (? has a thing for the color orange, supposedly signing with Cameo-Parkway and Tangerine because of the color of their labels!)

? and the Mysterians cut plenty of good garage songs, and I definitely can recommend either of their original lps or the ‘Best of’ compilaton for those who want to hear more.

Categories: Germany, Polydor International

The German Bonds

February 23, 2007 Chris Bishop 5 Comments

The German Bonds started out in 1962, soon acquiring a top spot in the Star Club lineup of german beat groups. A few early r&b performances are preserved on the album Rock and Beat Bands Competition, recorded in December of ’63. Their first 45 was the horrendous mock-classical “Sonata Facile”, redeemed by a fine version of “So Mystifying” on the flip.

In 1965 they contributed a good version of a song I’m not a fan of, “Remember” (aka “Walkin’ in the Sand”) to a couple Star-Club various artists lps of the time, Scene ’65 and Sweet Beat.

The line-up changed from time to time, but by 1966 consisted of Rainer Degner lead guitar and vocals, Peter Hecht keyboards, Jurgen Bock rhythm guitar, Dieter Horns bass and vocals, and Peter ‘Peet’ Becker drums. This line-up recorded their strongest record, “We’re Out of Sight”, backed with a great adaption of the traditional “Sing Hallelujah”, released in September of ’66 on Polydor International. It took me nearly three years to track down this one!

Their last recording was for Fontana in 1968, the awful pop tune “Skinny Eleanor” with a somewhat better freakbeat-ish song called “Birthday Is Today” on the b-side.

The Bonds have some connection to obscure Star-Club artists like the Fixx (supposedly the Rattles) and Our Gang. Check out the best song from the Fixx’s only release, “Looking for the Right Girl”.

German Bonds promo card signed to Jimmy Ward and the Tropicals — Promo card signed to Jimmy Ward and the Tropicals

Categories: Dallas, Texas

Johnny Green and the Green Men – early days in Dallas

February 22, 2007 Chris Bishop 2 Comments

Johnny Green at Surfers A Go Go club in Dallas

Two members of Johnny Green and the Greenmen at Surfers A Go Go club in Dallas

Johnny Green and the Green Men at Surfers A Go Go club in Dallas

Johnny Green was raised near Green Bay WI, then moved to California in the early ’60s, and eventually settled in Bismark, North Dakota. Johnny and the Green Men toured constantly, and ads I’ve found cite the band as from California or Las Vegas.

Johnny Green & the Green Men may not have started in Dallas, but they seem to have been regulars on the live music scene in the area, so I’m including them in the Dallas section for the time being.

The Grand Prairie Daily News-Texan published a photo of the group on August 29, 1965, noting that the Green Men would be playing at the Hi-Ho Ballroom on W. Jefferson would be playing at its “Shabang” with a battle of the bands and go-go girls.

The photos on the right are from the Surfers a Go Go club in Dallas and were sent to me by Jerry Colwell of Kit and the Outlaws. Howard Wales may have been the keyboardist in the Green Men when these photos were taken. I don’t know the names of any other group members from this time.

As far as I know, Johnny Green & The Green Men’s first single was “Something You Got” / “Green Thumb” on Emerald 2001 and picked up by Tou-Sea. Ken Elliott produced and Mickey Miller sang lead vocal. They later recorded for Ranwood, Edmar and Barak labels.

Johnny Green would become one of the Joker’s Henchmen on the Batman TV series. He kept touring as Johnny Green and the Green Men throughout the years, as far as I know, he may still be at it.

Info from an interview on Batmania.com.

Johnny Green and the Green Men Emerald 45 Something You Got — Johnny Green & the Green Men’s 1st single?

Categories: Detroit, Michigan, Ocean-Side, Sidra, Sound Patterns, United Artists

Chris Carpenter

February 15, 2007 Chris Bishop 12 Comments

This is a bizarre pop-psychedelic gem of a 45 by Chris Carpenter of Detroit, Michigan.

“This World (Is Closing In on Me) (written by L. Drake) is full of paranoid lyrics. “Waterfalls” (songwriting credits by Parsons, Toma, and Carnes) features a harmonium, thunder sound effects, rattles and yet more obsessive lyrics. Both sides were produced by P. Carnes for Sidra Records, and arranged by L. Drake. Not sure if this is the same Chris Carpenter now involved in sound mixing for Hollywood.

This was originally released on Ocean-Side, a subsidiary of the Sidra label of Detroit in October 1966, then on Sidra itself a month later, and then picked up for national release by United Artists in February 1968, over a year after the original release.

Someone named Jim wrote to me to say that this 45 exists without the sound effects, dampening the impact. Same label, but it’s less common than the 45s with these tricked-out versions.

To make matters more confusing, both sides were remixed with heavy fuzz guitar overdubs and released under the artist name ‘Preston’ on yellow vinyl on the Sound Patterns label in 1969.

Anyone have a photo of the man?

Categories: Germany, Munich, Yugoslavia

Daniela

February 9, 2007 Chris Bishop 9 Comments

Daniela released two EPs in Yugoslavia singing in Serbian. She made the one pictured above with the band Plamenih Pet (The Flaming Five) around 1967. This low-fi EP has competent covers of I Got You Babe and These Boots Are Made for Walking sung in English.

The real gems are on the b-side, Dan Je Divan Dan (on web translators the title comes up as “Presently Had Wondrous Light”!), written by G. Aber and V. Olear, and Ja Nekog Želim (“I Someone Desires”), written by V. Olear and Daniela herself.

I haven’t heard the other Yugoslavian EP, pictured to the right, but the track list is Hippy Hippy Shake, Things We Said Today, Detroit City, and O Flamingo.

I knew almost nothing about Daniela, but after posting this last week, a very nice person named Freddy sent me some information along with scans and other mp3s of her career in Germany.

Daniela’s real name was Danica Milatovic. She was born in Munich, Germany on December 13th, 1949, and her parents had come from Yugoslavia some years before. In 1960 she recorded her first 45. Between 1965 and 1973 there were 12 more 45s and two LPs with German songs. Her biggest hit was “Im Jahre 2002” (“In the Year 2002”).

Most of her German work is very pop oriented ( visual example here) but I’ll post a couple of the more uptempo numbers, Sag mir nicht Good Night (Don’t Say Good Night) and Ich bin wie Wachs in deiner Handen (I’m Like Putty in Your Hands).

Categories: Canada, Longueuil, Montreal, Quebec, Varennes

Les Harmonicos

January 31, 2007 Chris Bishop 6 Comments

A group in Montreal called Les Harmonicos recorded this 45 in 1968 to give away as a souvenir at “Canada Family Day.” There is absolutely no information as to who was in the group or wrote the song on the sleeve and labels. The only info is “Production Son Illimité (de Montreal) Inc.” on the label. Reverse side of the sleeve is blank. I read that the group were air cadets, but as I later found out, that is not correct.

The single was not distributed in stores. “Les Oiseaux Mecaniques” / “The Flying Sound” starts off with a funky drum break and catchy riff, then come the jet sound-effects!

A nod to Canada’s bilingualism, each side has the same backing with vocals sung in French on one side and in English on the other. I think the song sounds better in French.

I found out nothing new about this single until guitarist Serge Verreault wrote to me in February, 2015:

First, let me mention that I was a founding member of the group, and contrary to what it says on the page, we never were air cadets. The group was created by five guys that met in school around 1965. Four members lived in Varennes at the time, and one in Longueuil. They were Pierre Savaria, drummer, Jean-Paul Jodoin, guitar, Marcel Colette, bass guitar, Serge Verreault, guitar and Gerard Cormier, lead singer.
When we first started, it was just for the fun of hanging around together, but very quickly, we developed a talent to play all sorts of music and started to get hired for weddings, dance halls, or various other fund raising activities. Before long, we had over 250 songs or instrumentals that we could play.
In 1967, we got hired to play at Expo 67, in front of crowds of over 15,000 people. In 1968, United Aircraft was having a Family Day for all its employees, and being one of them, I was asked to write a song, French and English, and to record it on a 45 RPM to be handed out to all the visitors.
So within a week, I wrote the music, and some lyrics in both languages, rehearsed it with the group and recorded it. At the last minute, the lyrics were changed by someone from the company, who thought my lyrics were not specific enough to the company. So we had to use those new lyrics for the recording, and since our singer could not speak a word of English, and he did not have time to learn them phonetically, I had to sing the English version.
a picture of the final version of the group
Later, the group had some modifications, due to various reasons, mainly to adjust to work constraints by different members. So the final version of the group added a new bass player (Jean Savaria), a new keyboard player (Jean Racine), and a new singer and leader of the group (me).
Our group recorded an LP of instrumental dance music in late 1969. We had signed for a three record contract, but since the producer never delivered his part, we closed the deal and it was the end of our recording career. And judging from the results of the recording, we all tried to forget we ever got to record it.
Our activities lasted until 1971, when we all decided to put an end to it and went our different ways.
Serge Verreault

Categories: Capitol, Cleveland, Ohio

The Outsiders

January 31, 2007 Chris Bishop 1 Comment

The Outsiders from Cleveland, Ohio were famous for the nationwide hit, “Time Won’t Let Me”.

Here I’m featuring their fifth single, the classic “I’m Not Trying to Hurt You” (which my band the Trip 9’s used to cover) with the uptempo flip “I’ll Give You Time (to Think It Over)”. Both songs were written by guitarist and leader Tom King with Chet Kelley and Bob Turek.

Tom King’s brother, Don produced another Ohio band on Capitol, the Turfits.

Garage Hangover