Chicago’s Cryan Shames found huge success from the A-side of this 45, “Sugar and Spice”, but the flip “Ben Franklin’s Almanac” is their finest garage moment and might surprise you. It has a fantastic guitar break too.
Anyone have a photo of the group?
The Destination label was also home to the Boyz excellent pop 45 “Come With Me”.
Interestingly the schedule for Mother Duck, below, shows there was a band by the name Ben Franklin’s Almanac playing around Chicago in 1969.
The Delights from Chicago cut this excellent cover of the Kingsmen’s “Long Green” that surpasses the original in energy and excitement, The Delaware label released it backed with “Find Me a Woman”.
The Delights were Gregory Grimes, Vincent Schraub, Norbert Soltysiak, Robert A. Bluff, and Louis Sanjurio.
They followed up with a cover of the Zombies’ “Just Out of Reach” backed with “Every Minute, Every Hour, Every Moment” on Smash, then disbanded.
Norbert (Norb) Soltysiak later joined the Hardy Boys, a band that released two lps on RCA as a tie-in to the TV show of the same name. The Delaware label also released A.J. and the Savages organ-groover “Long Long Time”.
Here’s an oddity – not garage but a gonzo 60’s instrumental with horns, twangy guitar line and all.
“Your Red Watermelon” is catchy and funky, and was well received when I spun it at Shakey’s Night Owl Record Fair this past Tuesday.
Allyn Ferguson was best known as the band leader on the Andy Williams Show. In the late ’50s his Chamber Jazz Sextet had an LP on Cadence as well as backing Kenneth Patchen on his LP for the same label, and in the ’70s he co-wrote the theme to the Barney Miller TV show.
Update: I’m sorry to report that Allyn Ferguson passed away on June 23, 2010, he was 85 years old. A full obit is here
The äva label also released a fine 45 by the Pace-Setters that I’ve covered on this site.
The Tasmanians, clockwise from left: Gypsy (Mike) Carns, Woody Pollard, Craig Davis, Greg Brunt and Robbin ThompsonThe Tasmanians first 45 “Baby”
The Tasmanians ruled West Palm Beach, Florida in 1966-67. The group’s members came out of Melbourne High, Cocoa High, Satellite High, Merritt Island High and Brevard Junior College. Released on the local Conda label, “Baby” is a garage classic. Despite being a rare 45, it’s found its way onto many garage comps over the years. The flip side is a great pop song, “Love, Love, Love”.
Members were:
Mike (Gypsy) Carns – lead guitar and vocals Robbin Thompson – lead vocals and acoustic guitar Craig Davis – keyboards Woody Pollard – bass and vocals Greg Brunt – drums
Robbin Thompson’s site also mentions Steve Bland and Ronnie Cable as later members.
Thompson and Carns wrote three of the four songs released, with Woody Pollard’s help on “I Can’t Explain This Feeling”. Robbin’s name is spelled ‘Robin Thompson’ on the Conda labels and Mike Carns last name is spelled ‘Carnes’ on both.
Robbin Thompson and Mike (Gypsy) CarnsGypsy and Craig, dig the Canadian Rogues’ drum kit in the background.
Gypsy Carns wrote to me:
Robbin Thompson had a band called The Fab Gents – I joined that band and from there we formed the Tasmanians. He knew a couple of guys and I knew a couple of guys and we jammed with different people then we settled on this line up.
I’ll have to get with Robbin on how we met Bud Blount, but he was THE MAN without question and ruled the band with an iron hand. He was law enforcement in West Palm Beach Florida and an ex-Green Beret – so he had control of the band. We grew to be very popular in Florida and the south – had out the records and were by all accounts an energetic – rock till you drop – sort of with reckless abandon – type of band. You can hear it on BABY…the first single.
Robbin related this info to Jeff Lemlich:
“Baby” was written by me and Mike Carnes, now known as Gypsy Carns. “Baby” and “Love, Love, Love” were produced by a guy named Bud Blount, who was our manager at the time and also a cop in Boca Raton. I think a guy named Dave Hieronymus [drummer of the R-Dells/American Beetles/Razor’s Edge, later producer, engineer, and studio owner] had something to do with it from the production side also. He was a writer from Nashville who wrote the “b” side of a second 45.
I think all four songs were recorded at the same time at Criteria Studios in Miami. the band was “discovered” by the manager and father of a member of the band “Count Five” the one-hit wonders of the song “Psychotic Reaction”. They introduced Bud to us. Bud was a part-time concert promoter.
Robbin wrote to me recently:
We were introduced to our manager, Bud Blunt by the manager and father of the singer of the Count Five (“Psychotic Reaction”). The interesting part of that story is that when we played with the Count Five we were a whole different band called the Fab Gents. The band broke up for various reasons. We re-formed, called Bud and didn’t tell him we were really not the band that was seen by the manager of Count 5 except for me and Mike Carns. Bud’s younger brother, Glen Blount was also in the mix of all of this.
The Tasmanians broke up after Craig Davis, the keyboard player got busted for smoking pot. He was set up by one of his high school teachers. She convinced him she wanted to try it and he went over to her house with a couple of joints. When he lit one up cops came from out of the woodwork and arrested him. He got off due to entrapment but we were all smokin’ by then and having a cop for a manager was a bit awkward so we parted ways. By that time Bud was a detective for the Boca Raton Police Dept. We kept up with him for a bit but he found another group to work with, the name escapes me but they were a straight laced kind of a pop band.
The Fab Gents and Tasmanians were regulars at the Melbourne Teen town which was at the Civic Center there. Between the two bands we opened for bands such as the Beau Brummels (they practiced in our living room before the gig), the Mind Benders, the Lemon Pipers, the Bitter End (a band with Allman Bros drummer Butch Trucks). We also opened (in other places) for the Turtles, Blue Cheer, Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, Mamie Van Doren, Wayne Cochran and a group called The Seven of Us which later became NRBQ.
“Baby” and “Love,Love Love” were recorded in one session. “Can’t Explain this Feeling” and “If I Don’t” were recorded in different sessions at Criteria Studios in Miami by then novice engineer Ron Albert. At that time there was only one hit record on the wall there, James Brown’s “Please, Please, Please”, as I recall.
The only members still living in the original band are me and Mike (Gypsy) Carns. Craig Davis died several years ago.
Years went by and I searched Bud out. Gypsy Carns, Bud and I reconnected and have been keeping in touch for many years now.
The Tasmanians 2nd 45, “I Can’t Explain This Feeling”
For their second and last 45, the Tasmanians adopted a much more English feel – “I Can’t Explain This Feeling” is as good as some of the top UK freakbeat of the time. It’s b-side “If I Don’t” is competent if unspectacular Beatles-influenced pop. It’s released on the Power label, or Flower Power if you take the picture into account.
Gypsy Carns:
The manager agreed to cut this track [“If I Don’t”] – written by producer Dave Hieryonmous – ‘to get a better deal on the studio.’ The band hated this song and looked at it like a ‘sell out’. The track turned out great in retrospect but the band never played this song live.
Once the band splintered Robbin got some other guys together as the Taz but that was short lived and did not have the charisma the original band had. It was an awesome experience. Robbin and I are very close to this day.
After the Tasmanians broke up, Robbin Thompson joined the Blues People, Transcontinental Mercy Flight, Steel Mill and others.
Robbin Thompson wrote “Woody (Callis Woodson Pollard III) died of drug overdose in the early 70’s or earlier.” Gypsy Carnes tells me that Greg Brunt has also passed away.
Special thanks to Gypsy Carns for the photos of the band. News clipping and some info from the Limestone Lounge.
“Greg was the dynamic drummer for the band. Loved to wear leather and suede – a great drummer and friend. He has passed on.” – GypsyWoody and Robbin“Craig was the keyboardist for the band. As you can tell he would rock the house. He very rarely played the keys standing still. He would rock the organ back n forth or take it off the stand and parade around the stage like he’s doing here.” – Gypsy CarnsCraig and Woody hanging in the dressing room – Melbourne Civic Center.Gypsy on guitar with Greg behind him. “The Tasmanians held their record release party on the beach in West Palm. It was a wild affair!”Greg Brundt with Gypsy in front. Dig the two-tone jeans!Gypsy CarnsGypsy and RobbinRobbin and Woody jamming, Gypsy to the left. Rocking in Fort Lauderdale, Florida“On the ground was a big part of the band’s show. Whether Gypsy was hanging off the stage blowing harmonica or Robbin working the crowd. In this photo Woody and Gyp were both getting feedback from the back line.” – GypsyBill Vermillion, the Weird Beard with a later six member lineup – can anyone give a who’s who in this one?
Things are shaping inside my head, I can’t explain this feeling My mind is warping, my nerves are damp, it keeps me on the ceiling I see a blur and I hear a shot, I can’t explain this feeling I think my mind is gone to pot, it keeps me on the ceiling People start to stop and stare, they can’t explain me sitting there In a corner dark and damp, staring at a broken lamp The crowd gets bigger the days go by, they’re wondering when I’m gonna die, someone grabs me and pulls me down… I feel an object but it isn’t there, I can’t explain this feeling They say I’m wrong but it isn’t there, it keeps me on the ceiling People start to stop and stare, they can’t explain me sitting there In a corner dark and damp, staring at a broken lamp The crowd gets bigger the days go by, they’re wondering when I’m gonna die, someone grabs me and pulls me down…
The Tasmanians “I Can’t Explain this Feeling” by Carns, Pollard and Thompson
Barry Cowsill, the group’s bassist, had been missing in New Orleans since the hurricane in September, but this week his body was identified.
I originally posted this record a while back – by odd coincidence I found this 45 in New Orleans last year. I’ll repeat it in his memory, especially as these are rare tracks never put on any Cowsills cd that I know of.
The first incarnation of the Cowsills consisted of four brothers, Bill, Bob, Barry and John, from Rhode Island, managed by their dad.
“All I Really Wanta Be Is Me” / “And the Next Day Too” was their first 45, very fine folky teen garage, released on Johnny Nash’s Joda label. Supposedly it was the only record on which they played the instruments instead of studio musicians until they recorded their “In Concert” lp in 1969.
When this 45 was recorded in 1965, Barry would have been only 10 or 11 years old. Within a couple of years the Cowsills went pop with their mom Barbara and sister Susan singing along.
C.C. and the Chasers, from left: Charles Currie Wicker, Ted Demos, Joe Castagno, Jack Bruno and Richard BarnabyC.C. & the Chasers have just this one 45 on the Cori label from 1967, “Hey, Put the Clock Back on the Wall” / “Two and Twenty”
C.C. was Charles Currie Wicker, lead vocalist for this group from Boston. Both songs are by Gary Bonner. “Put the Clock Back on the Wall” is more famously done by the E-Types. The flip, “Two and Twenty” is well-turned twee pop.
It was recorded at Continental Studios in Framingham, MA, the same studio used by the Rising Storm. Dan Flynn ran both the studios and the Cori label.
Richard Barnaby wrote to me about the band, and Jack Bruno sent me scans of the two photos seen here. I will have a fuller story soon but for now here is a little info from Richard:
Members:
Charles Currie (CC) Wicker – lead vocals Ted Demos – lead guitar, vocals Richard Barnaby – bass guitar, vocals Joe Castagno – rhythm guitar, vocals Jack Bruno – drums, vocals
We switched from Bonner and Gordon, done largely with George Papadopolous’s (Unicorn) input to a more psychedelic format called “The Sacred Mushroom”, and then went to New York. After that we changed to Applepie Motherhood Band without Currie, and taking on Ann Tansey. After Applepie, the group went in many directions. Jack and I went to Florida and played with The Second Coming, and shared a house in Jacksonville with the Allman Brothers. Then Jack went with Shakey Legs Blues Band with Ted, and then Jack went with Tina Turner, and was her drummer for 15 or more years, and then he went with Elton John for about 2 years.
Thank you to Jack Bruno and Richard Barnaby for the photos and info about the band.
C.C. and the Chasers, from left: Charles Currie Wicker, Joe Castagno, Jack Bruno, Richard Barnaby and Ted Demos
The Four of Us were from Birmingham, Michigan, just outside of Detroit.
They had two 45s on the Hideout label. The first from 1965 features “You’re Gonna be Mine”, which smoulders under a sharp fuzz riff. The flip was originally called “Batman”, then titled “Freefall” on a later pressing.
The 4 of Us’s second single, from May of ’66 was a good version of “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” / “I Can’t Live Without Your Love”.
Minor footnote in rock history is the fact that a teenage Glenn Frey joined the band after these records.
Here’s a quick post before I try to make my way across town during the subway strike – the Ugly Ducklings from the Yorkville section of Toronto, Canada.
Members were Dave Byngham vocals (spelled Bingham on the songwriting credits); Glynn Bell guitar; Roger Mayne guitar, John Read bass; Robin Boers drums. Their first three singles are incredible, later ones are more mainstream but still solid.
Thank you to Ivan Amirault for the scans from RPM.
The Minneapolis area was home to a great music scene in the 60’s. The Jokers Wild were one of the most progressive groups of the era.
Original lineup:
Dave Wagner – vocals Gene Balabon – lead guitar Dave Middlemist – keyboards Denny Johnson – bass Pete Huber – drums
Original lead vocalist Dave Wagner (Dave Waggoner) and guitarist Gene Balabon formed the Jokers Wild after leaving the Aardvarks (“Josephine” / “Reminiscing” on the Bell Concert Recordings label). Neither would be in the group by the time they recorded. Gene was the first to leave, replaced by Bill Jordan.
In 1967, their booking agent/manager David Anthony organized an interesting switch of personnel. He took Dave Wagner and Dave Middlemist from the Jokers Wild and joined them with Dick Wiegand, Larry Wiegand and Harry Nehls of the Rave-Ons to form South 40. Lonnie Knight of the Rave-Ons joined the Jokers Wild on vocals and guitar.
Lonnie Knight – vocals and lead guitar Bill Jordan – guitar (replaced by Dale Strength, then Danny Kane) Greg Springer – keyboards Denny Johnson – bass Pete Huber – drums
The Jokers Wild as a trio, clockwise from top left: Denny Johnson, Pete Huber and Lonnie Knight
Lonnie Knight had been in the Castaways before they hit big with “Liar, Liar” then joined the Knights with the Wiegand brothers and Harry Nehls, the band name eventually changing to the Rave-Ons. They had three great 45s on Twin Town and Re-Car plus some unreleased songs cut at Dove Studio. Lonnie left the Rave-Ons partly because he wanted to pursue a more folk-oriented sound. He would get to that in the early ’70s, but not before spending a couple years with the Jokers Wild, a heavy, progressive rock group! (Read the Rave-Ons full story in Lost and Found #3).
The Jokers Wild first 45 was released on the Metrobeat label. “All I See Is You” is a good original by Knight, given as Lowell Knight on the label. “I Just Can’t Explain It” reminds me somewhat of the Who, and was written by guitarist Bill Jordan.
To me, their best moment comes from their second 45, “Because I’m Free” / “Sunshine” on the Peak label – anyone have good scans of this 45, or a copy to sell?
They had one more 45 on Peak, “Peace Man” (also written by Knight) and “Tomorrow”, produced by Tony Glover. There’s also a light pop-psychedelic number “All the World’s a Copper Penny”, unreleased until the Best of Metrobeat LP in the 1990.
The band was down to a trio of Lon Knight, Denny Johnson and Pete Huber when the time the group broke up in the fall of 1969.
The Jokers Wild later trio lineup, from left: Denny Johnson, Pete Huber and Lonnie Knight Photos from www.lonnieknight.com
45 releases:
All I See Is You / I Just Can’t Explain It (Metrobeat 4451) Sunshine / Because I’m Free (Peak 4456) Tomorrow / Peace Man (Peak 4459)
Sources include: Lost and Found #3 (Rave-Ons article by Jim Oldsberg and Mark Prellberg), Lonnie Knight’s website and an interview with Lonnie Knight by Ray Stiles from mnblues.com.
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
Here’s a quick post before I try to make my way across town during the subway strike – the Ugly Ducklings from the Yorkville section of Toronto, Canada.
