The Pazant Brothers’ “Juicy Lucy” / “The Work Song” have a free, New Orleans brass band spirit, though the Pazant Brothers were originally from South Carolina, and as professional musicians were based in New York.
Working with producer Ed Bland, Al and Ed Pazant and their band created a lot of great music for RCA, GWP, Vanguard and other labels. They even played the Museum of Modern Art.
When I returned to New Orleans in April for Ponderosa Stomp, I remarked at the time how little it had changed since 1995, or even 1986 when I first lived there. It’ll never again be the city I knew. All the closely-knit neighborhoods destroyed, people killed or scattered around the country, it’s crushing to think about.
It’s good to hear Irma Thomas, Eddie Bo, Allen Toussaint and many others are safe and accounted for.
Betty Harris, Ponderosa Stomp at the Rock ‘n Bowl, 2005
Betty Harris may not be originally from New Orleans, but she made her best records there with Allen Toussaint. She was also one of the highlights of the Ponderosa Stomp this year, coming out of retirement after 35 years to just floor the audience with her voice and charisma. It was a really stunning performance by a true star who hasn’t lost the least bit of her abilities.
Ernie K-Doe’s gone but his van drives onIrma Thomas at the Lion’s DenLittle Buck at Ponderosa Stomp, tearing through Cat Scream and Monkey in a SackLittle Buck’s horn section at Ponderosa StompDr. Specs Optical Illusion downstairs at Ponderosa Stomp – they reformed for the Stomp, the highlights of their set being both sides of their awesomely rare and great 45.Barbara Lynn with Buckwheat Zydeco at the organPlas Johnson warms upEddie’s recordsJulie diggingEddie back in April – he and his family are alive and well in Alexandria now, but they’ve lost so much
Dennis and the Times of Norfolk, Virginia were three brothers on guitars and vocals, along with a couple friends playing bass and drums. The Burlage brothers’ father helped them record and release two 45s on the Trend label.
Denis Burlage – vocals Guy Burlage – lead guitar Dean Burlage – rhythm guitar Skip Watts – bass Paris Aiken – drums
The first from November of 1967 included their psychedelic masterpiece “Flight Patterns”. The song was certainly inspired by “Eight Miles High”, though I also hear some of “Have You Seen Her Face” in it as well.
The flip, “Just If She’s There” also owes a debt to the Byrds.
They found a harder sound for their second single, “Denis Dupree From Danville”, from 1969, released as Denis & the Times with only one ‘n’ in Denis. The b-side is a good ballad, “Whenever You Want Me”.
Denis and the Times
James Mrdutt sent in the photos of drummer Paris Aiken seen here, and other photos of Paris with an earlier group, the Mustangs, that I’ve posted to a separate page here. James reported that Paris passed away on December 24, 2009. He also informed me that Paris Aiken played drums on the recording of Billy Joe Royal’s “Down in the Boondocks”.
from left: Stan Foat, Steve Watts, Bill Hughes, Randy Siegers, Brian Cameron and Mike Elam
The Emperors were a southern California group based in Long Beach and not from San Bernadino as I’ve read elsewhere. Their sound had origins in a pre-Beatles rock and r&b style. They toured throughout southern California, including the Balboa Ball in San Diego.
As Steve and the Emperors they released their first 45, “Great Balls of Fire” / “The Breeze and I” on the Best label.
Then came two records on the related Wickwire label. The first was “A Fool For You I’ve Been” / “Searchin’ Around the World”, both written by Bill Hughes (Wickwire 13003). (See this page for more info on Wickwire and Best.)
The next was a cover of Australian pop singer Tony Barber’s “Blue Day” backed with a good rocker, “Laughin’ Linda”, which was written by Cameron-Watts. This 45 was produced by John Hodge and Larry Wilson, and arranged by William F. Williams. Despite the bleached moptops on the sleeve, at this point their forte was strictly 1963 era pop, as the ‘Wipe Out‘ intro on “Laughin’ Linda” attests.
Stan Foat listed the band’s lineup at this time:
Stan Foat – bass Steve Watts – drums Bill Hughes – guitar, lead vocals on “I Want My Woman” Randall Siegars – lead guitar Brian Cameron – saxophone Mike Elam – saxophone and vocal on “Blue Day”
In the spring of 1965 they released their next 45 on the Sabra label. The A-side is a fine jangly ballad, “And Then”, but for the flip they fashioned an entirely different sound. A pounding bass and drum beat punctuated with staccato guitar notes sets up the leering vocal “Let me tell you a story …” and then the refrain: “He-e-e-y woman … I want my woman”! This is the kind of intense, demented record garage fans live for!
Both sides were written by Bill Hughes who also sang on “I Want My Woman”, arranged by Glen Spreen, and produced by Lelan Rogers before he returned to Texas. For a long time there was confusion over whether this was a Texas group because Rogers included “I Want My Woman” on Epitaph for a Legend, which compiled rare tracks of bands on the International Artists label.
The Emperors have one last 45 on the Two+Two label that I really want to hear, “You Make Me Feel So Good” / “Love Pill”. I wonder if there was a change of band members before recording “I Want My Woman”. If not, I’d have to say the Emperors did an incredible job of adapting to the trends in the music scene at the time. One change that definitely happened was Bobby Cochran replacing Randy Siegers on lead guitar, but I don’t know if this happened before or after the Sabra 45 was recorded.
John “Chris” Christensen of Opus 1 recalled the Emperors:
Steve Watts, (the leader of that group) and I met early in 1963 when he offered to help me set up my drums at a gig at the Poly Hutch, which was The Poly High School Youth Center.
I used to have a copy of “Love Pill,” but it seems to have gone away. It was a novelty song, in a sort-of Coasters style. The lead guitarist, by then, was Bobby Cochran, whom, I believe was Eddie Cochran’s nephew.
Bill Hughes was a member of the band indeed, and is the lead singer on “I Want My Woman.”
They changed their membership many times over the years, with the constant always being drummer/singer Steve Watts.
They also released an album in the late 70’s, when they were know as “Emperor.” The keyboardist from that version of the group who was also a member of early 60’s Long Beach band “The Illusions” was Mike Lobbett. Mike and I had a really hot duo in ’78- ’79 for about 8 months.
Spider Taylor (Emperor, Delaney Bramlett, Hey Taxi, and Red Wedding) was also the guitarist for my group, Midnight Flyer, in ’75.
Fan club president Renee Bagley wrote to me about the group:
I am not sure who the members were of Emperor. I knew them more intimately when they first started and had the white hair (The Emperors). I saw them later but I was there at their beginnings.
Steve sang then but was not the lead singer, Mike was the lead singer (the one on the far right of the picture). He left because he didn’t like having his hair bleached white. People made nasty remarks. Most of them at the time were going to Long Beach City College. He was engaged at the time so he just wasn’t into their image.
Then Steve started singing more lead parts. Bill did a lot of the singing too but he left and I think he got drafted … don’t remember now. Then Randy, the guy who is Javanese went I believe it was into the Navy (Vietnam War). I wrote to him a couple of times but don’t know what happened to him. He was a very nice guy.
Then there was Stan on the far left who was my favorite at the time who had a g/f who was always there when they played. He was the bass player.
I think Randy was the lead guitarist. Then they got Bobby who was youngest of them all at that time. They weren’t wearing their hair white when he came into the group.
The Beckett Quintet, featured in KRLA Beat, October 16, 1965. L-R: Steve Nagle, Tommy Muncrief, Norm Reccius, Tim Taylor and Barry Dunkeson
A great 45 by the Beckett Quintet; the producers must have had high expectations, as hundreds of copies exist on the original Gemcor label and this was also picked up by A&M for wider release.
“No Correspondence” has been featured on plenty of compilations since its original release, but there was very little information out there on the Beckett Quintet.
Freddy Fortune sent me these clips from the amazing KRLA Beat newspaper site – a full page article on the guys! Now we know, the band consisted of:
Tommy Muncrief, vocals Tim Taylor, guitar Barry Dunkeson, guitar Norm Reccius, bass guitar Steve Nagle, drums
They were actually students at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, by the Texas border. Over a hundred miles northwest of Lubbock, it’s even further from Amarillo, Albuquerque or Santa Fe, but only fifteen minutes away from Clovis, where Norman Petty ran his studio. I wonder if they ever stepped foot in there.
Most of the article is about how the band saved to move to Hollywood, but, having been ripped off by a manager, they made the journey on a shoestring and half-starved while looking for a break. The subtitle is Cinderella Story, but the band disappeared soon after. What happened to them? What about the stacks of original material that the article talks about – any demos out there?
“No Correspondence” was written by Tim Taylor. The flip is a decent version of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”. Production was supervised by Nick Venet, a veteran producer with Capitol and Mira who worked with the Leaves, Lothar and the Hand People, and Mad River among others. This was the third and last release on Gemcor.
As a footnote, the article gives the band’s name spelled Becket 5 or Becket Quintet, but the record lists them as Beckett Quintet. It also spells the singer name as Tommy Munirief (I also had it as Tom Munifief) but I believe it should be Tommy Muncrief.
Steve Nagle wrote to me in November 2009:
I am Steve Nagle and played drums for the Becketts (formerly the Epics out of New Mexico).
The band originally came together as the Epics when we were all students at Eastern New Mexico University starting out playing fraternity and homecoming dances. Tim was a fantastic guitar player and we decided to start a band so I asked my Mom to send out my drums from Missouri – she sent the drum cases on the Santa Fe railroad and they arrived in Clovis, New Mexico at the start of my sophomore year. I had played professionally since I was 12 years old in my hometown of St. Joe with a rock and roll band called the Teen Kings and also worked in little jazz combos and Bill Geha’s Big Swing Band.
I read your remarks about Clovis and yes we got to be friends with the one and only Norman Petty and were in awe of his connections with Buddy Holly, the Fireballs and others. He took our band to lunch once after he had just returned from London and meeting the Beatles. We recorded in his studio and he helped us prepare some demos to take to California. Our other musical mentors were Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs. They told us we were the next big group out of the Southwest. That’s when we began to lag in our college work and took the band seriously and began getting calls to play all over New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.
The most fun and spiritual times were playing the Indian proms and homecoming dances at various pueblos and little towns in New Mexico. We would drive around to band gigs in Barry’s Chevy Nova with a rickety trailer in tow. One night after playing the Zuni Indian Homecoming we stopped and got out of the Nova to admire the clear starry night and were enchanted by a very bright shooting star flashing a long trail cross the western sky. That moment was when we made a vow to go to California right after Spring semester and make our way in the music scene which as you know was at its zenith in those days.
Promotional card sent with some copies of their Gemcor single, very rare now
We were working on a major album with A&M Records with Herb Alpert and Tommy LiPuma (following our Gemcor contract with Nick Venet) when I got my draft notice. I have some old masters.
We worked all around Southern CA but mainly the Sunset Strip and even fronted once for Dylan at a place called The Trip. We did see Bobby Fuller in California, shortly before he was murdered. We were invited to a Halloween party and Frank Zappa’s house. We saw the Lovin’ Spoonful, we played for Dick Clark, saw Big Brother and the Holding Company, Sonny and Cher, the Grassroots, et. al.
We even had a groupie who we were proud of, he had just spent time in New Mexico and returned wearing knee high moccasins, silver and turquoise jewelry, he wore a concho belt and sported long grey hair – his name was John Barrymore Jr. and he would come to our manager’s house often to listen and a few of our gigs then one day just disappeared.
After my draft notice from the Army in the Spring of ’65 the band got nervous and basically began to disperse and ended up traveling down separate roads.
After several years in government after my discharge from the Army, I went back to Hollywood and worked in a few films and TV shows and ran into Norm who was a practicing clinical psychologist, but we lost contact.
I have an occasional day dream about rounding up Tim, Barry, Norm and Tommy for a reunion and recording but they have all left only faint trails and I have not been able to make contact. I now play a lot of folk music with my Martin guitars and trying to learn the fiddle. I produced an album just last year featuring some of my original tunes, River Voices and Songs – it was a fund raiser for a local conservation organization. My drums are being used by a PhD student from Ghana at a Methodist church here in St. Louis.
The reason I’ll never forget our good year in Southern California is because we were such a close brotherhood and with that mix of Texas and New Mexican guitar work and vocals – we were unique and when we played we got goose bumps and felt deeply we had something special – if only for a brief shining moment.
Oh yes, by the way we were truly a garage band – our manager’s two car garage in Encino was where we rehearsed almost everyday.
Thanks to Steve for the information.
After the Beckett Quintet split, Tommy Muncrief wrote and sang the title song for the feature movie “Didn’t You Hear”.
Unreleased songs
I have a CD with a number of unreleased songs by the group, some taken from acetates. I believe this CD was sent to me by Steve Nagle.
1. “Tomorrow Is Going to Be Another Day” – good punky garage with harmonies 2. “Little Flower” – gentle ballad 3. “(It’s All Over Now) Baby Blue” – dub from the 45 4. “No Correspondence” – dub from the 45 5. “For You” – medium tempo pop ballad 6. “Meant to Be” – excellent garage-folk 7. “Clovis 1” – early instrumental, presumably recorded at Petty’s studio 8. “Clovis 2” – surf instrumental, again probably cut at Petty’s studio 9. “Dancing Stream” – slack key guitar solo by Shiloh Orion (later recording)
Update: I’m very sorry to report that Steve Nagle passed away on March 23rd 2022, according to a comment from his daughter, below. Steve was very helpful in filling out the story of the Beckett Quintet, I’ll miss corresponding with him.
The Galaxies IV formed at Catholic school in Trenton in 1962. Members were T.J. Tindall on guitar, Chris Holmes on guitar and vocals, Charles Brodowicz keyboards, Len Demski bass, and Alan Fowler on drums. T.J. Tindall left the band early on when his family moved to Pennington; he eventually joined the Edison Electric Band.
The first Galaxies IV 45 was “Let Me Hear You Say Yeah” / “Till Then You’ll Cry” recorded at Regent Sound studios in New York City and released on the Veep label in June of 1965.
That summer of 1965 the Galaxies IV played forty shows during at the second session of the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, including eight shows at the New Jersey Pavilion.
The band received a notice in Billboard for winning the First Annual Rock ‘n Roll Olympics on Labor Day 1965 at St. John Terrell’s Music Circus in Lambertville, NJ. It was a huge battle-of-the-bands, judged by Phil Spector and Cousin Brucie Morrow. The notice lists Charles Brody instead of Brodowicz, and says Billboard had mistakenly reported the Rubytones were the winners in a previous issue.
The Galaxies IV at the 1965 Rock ‘n Roll Olympics l to r: Chris Holmes, Alan Fowler, Charles Brodowicz and Len Demski
The Billboard notice also mentions a 45 already released on the Mohawk label, “Don’t Let Love Look Back” but I haven’t been able to confirm this exists.
The win led to features in the NY Times and Reader’s Digest (anyone have scans of those notices?).
In August of ’66 they did release a 45 on the Mohawk label, “Piccadilly Circus” / “I’m Goin’ For Myself” in August of 1966.
“Piccadilly Circus” is a version of the Rolling Stones’ “2120 South Michigan Blvd”, often covered by 60’s bands and usually retitled (other versions include Sly Stone’s “Buttermilk” and Thee Midniters “Whittier Blvd”).
“Piccadilly Circus” was picked up by RCA for national release with the Chris Holmes’ wild original “Don’t Lose Your Mind” on the flip in June of 1967.
Adding a lead vocalist, Steve Shier they changed their name to Galaxie V and then Alexander Rabbit, releasing an lp on Mercury. Afterwards, Chris Holmes took the stage name Duke Williams and led his own band throughout the ’70s.
Alan Fowler of the Galaxies IV
Photo from the Cathedral High School 1969 YearbookInformation and photo sources included Trenton Makes Music (site now defunct) and Randy Now’s Sept. 5, 2007 show which features Duke Williams and T.J. Tindall. Thank you to Alan Fowler and Esther for additional photos for this article.
The Galaxies IV in 1969, from left: Charlie Brodowicz, Steve Shier, Alan Fowler and Chris Holmes (Len Demski out of frame)The Galaxies IV, from left: Charles Brody, Len Demski, Alan Fowler, & Chris Holmes aka Duke WilliamsL-R Alan Fowler, Len Demski, Charles Brody & Chris HolmesGalaxieIs IV at the Allentown Fairgrounds with Gene Kaye of WAEB L-R Chris Holmes, Len Demski, Gene Kaye, Alan Fowler & Charles Brody
(from left) Danny Mansolino, Dave Palmer, Rick Philp, Charlie Larkey, Myke Rosa
Rewritten July, 2011 and again November, 2022
Dave Palmer (vocals) Rick Philp (guitar) Danny Mansolino (organ) Charles Larkey (bass) Michael “Myke” Rosa (drums)
The Myddle Class had three poorly-distributed 45s and little chart action, but there’s a lot more to their story.
They started as the King Bees in suburban New Jersey, in the Passaic Valley towns that border I-78 southwest of Summit. Dave Palmer and Rick Philp came from Warren Township, Myke Rosa from Berkeley Heights, Charles Larkey from Mountainside and Danny Mansolino from North Plainfield.
One account I’ve read says some of the group first got together as the Four Classics, with Danny Mansolino on vocals, Rick Philp on guitar, Myke Rosa on drums and Kurt Gabrook on bass. The band had one job at Hobby Hall, a formal dance school in Summit, where they played for classes until being fired for playing too many Rolling Stones songs.
Danny told me he played with Rick for some time before Dave Palmer joined, playing a Conn organ and doing many of the lead vocals. In any case, the King Bees had started by late 1964.
Dave Palmer and Rick Philp were students at Watchung Hills Regional High School. Danny Mansolino attended North Plainfield High School. He had started out on accordion, but joined the group because Rick wanted someone to play organ. At first Chris Irby played bass (Curt Gabrook, according to “Tales of the Myddle Class” by Todd Abramson), but when he decided to quit, drummer Myke Rosa brought in Charles Larkey, a friend of his from Governor Livingston Regional High School. Charles was only just learning the bass when he joined, but he had good stage presence and sharp clothes from his father’s store Larkey’s in Newark, which kept up on London fashions.
The King Bees live shows became legendary – one concert at Governor Livingston High in Berkeley Heights included versions of “Shout”, “She’s Not There” and an original, “It’s the Season”.
An early photo of the band, taken in Carole & Gerry’s backyard, photographer unknown Front to back: Myke Rosa, Rick Philp, Danny Mansolino, Dave Palmer and Charles Larkey
After a concert at the Berkeley Heights CYO in December of 1964 the band met New York Post columnist Al Aronowitz, who had heard about the band through his babysitter. Danny however recalls meeting Aronowitz at swim club in the New Providence area, with Bruce DeForrest.
Al became their manager, even though he hadn’t done any artist management work before. His home in Berkeley Heights became a base for the group.
Dan Mansolino:
It was my custom to record most rehearsals which took place at my home in North Plainfield. This is where the heavy organ was, first a Conn model and later a Hammond B3. The Conn organ is what you hear on “Gates of Eden,” “I Happen to Love You,” “Free As The Wind” and “It’s The Season.” Very few rehearsals occurred at the Aronowitz residence.
Aronowitz introduced them to Carole King and Gerry Goffin, the husband-and-wife song writing team who were then living in West Orange, New Jersey. Goffin and King agreed to write songs and produce the group.
Danny Mansolino told me that Barbara Rubin did film some of the Myddle Class performances, possibly at Cafe Bizarre & Night Owl, as well as taking photos during rehearsals, in a New Jersey swamp, and at a Fire Island cottage. Barbara Rubin had already made Christmas on Earth and would soon be collaborating with Andy Warhol, Dylan and Allen Ginsberg at about this time. Al Aronowitz wrote the film with the Myddle Class was titled The Suburbs of Heaven. It may not have been completed. I can’t find any mention of The Suburbs of Heaven or her filming the Myddle Class in accounts of Rubin’s career. However, many of her works haven’t been cataloged or made public yet.
A rumor of the King Bees or Myddle Class recording an album titled Soul in White Suburbia seems to be unfounded.
In the fall of ’65 the King Bees changed their name to the Myddle Class to distinguish themselves from Danny Kortchmar’s King Bees who just had a release on RCA Victor. In October, Goffin and King signed a production deal for their new label, Tomorrow, with Atlantic-Atco, expressly to release their first single with the Myddle Class.
Billboard reviewed “Free as the Wind” in December 1965: “New label, new group and new Goffin-King material has smash hit possibilities. Folk rocker is a powerhouse!” Rick Philp and Dave Palmer share writing credit with Goffin and King. Despite the promising review, I can only find evidence of the single hitting the radio charts in Albany, New York in early ’66.
The flip is a moody garage version of Dylan’s “Gates of Eden” that I think is among the best covers of Dylan ever done.
Early on the Myddle Class used Talent Masters Studio in New York.
Flyer for the Summit High show, with pitchfork photo by John Lynch from left: Dave Palmer, Charles Larkey, Myke Rosa, Danny Mansolino and Rick Philp
On December 11, 1965, the Myddle Class headlined a legendary concert at the Summit High School Auditorium with opening acts the Forty Fingers and the Velvet Underground. Al Aronowitz produced the show and booked the Velvets. In fact, it was the first time Lou Reed, John Cale and Sterling Morrison billed themselves as the Velvet Underground and was also their first live show with Maureen Tucker on drums!
I’ve seen it written that Aronowitz was helping the Velvets out after they had been fired from the Cafe Wha?, but they had played at that venue much earlier in ’65. After the Summit High concert, Aronowitz did acquire a residency for the Velvets at Cafe Bizarre. He would get the Myddle Class into the Cafe Bizarre in 1966, along with the Night Owl Cafe and the Cafe Au Go Go (but not the Cafe Wha? according to Danny). Aronowitz claimed he was taping the Summit show, but someone from the Velvet Underground stole his new Wollensack tape recorder. The live tape has never surfaced, which is a shame, though all accounts say the Velvets received a very mixed reaction from the audience.
Review of the Summit High concert by Rob Norris Excerpt from “I Was a Velvetten”, reproduced from Kicks #1 with permission
The Myddle Class’s second single, “Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long” was a #2 hit on WPTR in Albany during the summer of ’66. The success of the single led to a couple week-long gigs at Lake George that summer. They played shows with the All Night Walkers and the Barbarians and met Lloyd Baskin, who would later sing & play piano on some Myddle Class recordings in Boston. One of their set highlights was a version of the Jimmy Hughes single, “Neighbor, Neighbor”.
“I Happen to Love You” is a driving slice of cool teenage angst: in my opinion, their best recording. It may have been one of the songs Goffin and King intended for the Monkees, but the Monkees never recorded it. A revamped version of Them without Van Morrison did an effective cover of it in late 1967.
Despite the band receiving song writing credit on the label, “Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long” was likely taken from the Blues Project’s “Wake Me, Shake Me”, a staple of that group’s live sets throughout 1966. The song derives from traditional spirituals going back to the early 20th Century or earlier. The Blues Project may have adapted the song from the version by the Golden Chords on the Columbia LP Introducing The Sweet Chariot, released in 1963, or from earlier versions such as the Coasters. The Blues Project recorded a demo in January ’66 and then a finished version in August that was used for their album Projections, released in November 1966. The Myddle Class beat them to first release by rushing their 45 out in June, ’66!
West coast pressing of their second 45, probably rush-pressed when the song hit on KFXM in San Bernadino in October ’66
Al Kooper stated to Lyn Nuttal, “The Blues Project let The Myddle Class open for them as a favor and in return, they stole their closing song! Nobody really even heard The Myddle Class theft in the US outside of New York City. The Blues Project’s version of “Wake Me, Shake Me” was the big version in the US and influenced a lot of young bands.” True, but for many teenagers who heard the record that summer, the Myddle Class recording will always remain THE version of the song. When this Myddle Class 45 was reissued on the Buddah label, “Al Kooper and the Blues Project” were credited for the arrangement.
The deal Goffin and King had struck with Atco to distribute Tomorrow fell apart after only three releases (two by the Myddle Class and one by Carole King, “A Road to Nowhere” / “Some of Your Lovin'”).
Goffin and King moved their distribution deal for Tomorrow to Cameo-Parkway, and their first release on a redesigned Tomorrow label was by the Bach’s Lunch, a girl group (with singer Darlene McCrea of the Cookies and the Raelettes – I don’t know the other members), with some of the Myddle Class providing the instrumental backing (Dan Mansolino told me his is not playing on either song). The A-side was a remake of Goffin and King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, but the real gem is an excellent Rick Philp and Dave Palmer song “You Go On”. Scott at Crud Crud wrote up a fine appreciation of the Bach’s Lunch record which I recommend reading.
The band had some regional successes, including good receptions in Montreal and Boston, a short residency at Ungano’s on the upper West Side of Manhattan, and a show in Smithtown, Long Island promoted by DJ Scott Ross that attracted over 3,000 people. However, a number of discouraging developments hurt the band around this time. They had a good audition with Tom Wilson, but supposedly Al Aronowitz didn’t allow the deal to go through. Dan recalls the audition as being for Columbia Records, not MGM. In February of ’67 they opened a show for the Animals, but their set was interrupted by problems with the microphones, and it seems the band worried this performance hurt their reputation with the press.
In April of 1967 the Myddle Class signed to Cameo-Parkway and released one last 45. The A-side “Don’t Look Back” was a cover of Temptations and, uniquely, produced solely by the group themselves. On the flip was the superb “Wind Chime Laughter”, with song writing listed by P. Palmer (actually Philp and Palmer) for Merlin Music, BMI, and production credited jointly to the Myddle Class and Goffin. Unfortunately Allen Klein took over Cameo-Parkway in August and ousted the band’s reps at the label, including Neil Bogart, leaving their new single without any promotion.
Some of the Myddle Class appeared anonymously as models in ads photographed by Richard Avedon. One of Avedon’s photos of Charles Larkey was used for the cover of Esquire in September ’67. Larkey joined the Fugs in late ’67 with rival King Bee Dan “Kootch” Kortchmar for a series of shows at the Players Theater.
With some members away at college and pursuing other musical opportunities, the band was rarely performing live by this time. They did some recording sessions, usually at Dick Charles Recording Service, including demos for Goffin and King songs which would be placed with other artists. I’ve read that they helped recorded and helped arrange demos of “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Porpoise Song” for the Monkees but that may be only a rumor. Nor have I heard a version of “Snow Queen” that they may have cut.
Myddle Class demos of Goffin-King songs that do exist include “Goin’ Back” (a single for the Byrds in October ’67), “I Can’t Make It Alone” (which Dusty Springfield would record for Dusty in Memphis) and a couple others: “An Angel Walks Beside Me” and “Who Does He Love”. The 1967 Myddle Class demo of “Fun and Games” turned up on a Regent Sound Studio lacquer acetate, and is excellent.
Dan recalls the group (except Dave) recording music for a 45-minute Fred Mogubgub film, and Dave and Dan doing a version of “I Can’t Make it Alone” for a Jules Dassin project.
Dave Palmer and Rick Philp signed a publishing with Screen Gems-Columbia, the same publishers representing Goffin and King songs from this period. They received some income from this deal, but a promise from Don Kirshner to sign the group to Colgems never materialized, nor did he place any of their songs with artists. The band recorded demos of some of these Palmer & Philp songs, like “Man on the Bridge”.
A Bell Sound Studios 12″ lacquer includes five of their released songs, a version of “Visions of Johanna” that has never been released, a short snippet of Rick playing during a live show, and six other demos.
Lovin’ Season Visions of Johanna Goin’ Back Man on a Bridge Can’t Make it Alone
Don’t Look Back Gates of Eden Wind Chime Laughter Free as the Wind Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long I Shall Be Released Saint James Prelude
Dan wrote to me:
“Saint James Prelude” … was the intro Rick played for our cover of “Saint James Infirmary”, performed during a live set at the Bitter End Cafe.
I recorded this on my Wollensak stereo tape recorder. I lent the tape to Aronowitz and that was the last I heard of it.
Palmer and Philp’s original “I’ve Come Too Far” turned up on the b-side of a single by the Coven on SGC 15074 in 1968. This was produced by Gerry Goffin and engineered by Chris Hinshaw, indicating a west coast recording. Interestingly, the A-side, a cover of “I Shall Be Released” features a different female vocalist (and no David Palmer vocal) over the exact music track (pedal steel guitar and all) as it appears on the tape Al Aronowitz sold. It makes me wonder if “I’ve Come Too Far” also features members of the Myddle Class. This is not the same Coven from Indiana who recorded for Mercury, MGM, WB and Buddah.
I’ve seen two other titles but I don’t have confirmation that either was recorded or published: “There’s No Easy Way Down” and “Paper Walls of Innocence” (an early song the band stopped playing after their Ungano’s residency in the summer of ’66, according to Danny).
The Myddle Class circa late 1967: front and center is Dave Palmer behind him, from left to right: Myke Rosa, Rick Philp (wearing hat), Charles Larkey and Danny Mansolino In the background on the left side: Bruce DeForrest and his girlfriend Ronnie Photographer unknown (possibly John or Thom Lynch)
Goffin and King divorced and relocated (separately) to California in early 1968, by which time the Myddle Class were effectively on hiatus. Rick Philp and Charles Larkey spent the summer of ’68 in Los Angeles working up arrangements with Carole King for songs that would appear on Now That Everything’s Been Said, the album by King’s group the City. Danny Kortchmar replicated Rick’s guitar parts for the final album, released in 1969. Charles Larkey and Carole had been seeing each other since before she left the east coast, and they eventually married in September 1970.
In the fall of ’68 Philp was playing guitar with Van Morrison, including material that would become Astral Weeks. There is a photo of Rick playing guitar next to Morrison on the Boston Common, in a group that included bassist Tom Kielbania. Rick also joined Van Morrison for a live show on public TV channel WGBH with Charlie Mariano (see interview of Tom Kielbania by Richie Unterberger), and also possibly played shows with Van at the Ark.
Danny Mansolino and Dave Palmer were living in Boston at approximately the same time as Philp, and together they collaborated on songs with pianist and vocalist Lloyd Baskin. In March of 1969 they recorded a number of songs in a Boston studio:
“Mr. Charlie” (a new Goffin and King composition) “Keys to the Kingdom” (written by Palmer and Philp) “Redbeard” (another Palmer and Philp composition, Red Beard being their nickname for Al Aronowitz) “Emmaretta Marx” (named for the Blues Project vocalist) “No Easy Way Down”
and an untitled song with refrain: “let me hide my face within / the shelter of your hair / I traveled far, way down in sin / to find salvation there”
Dan tells me Emmaretta Marx” and “No Easy Way Down” have Lloyd Baskin on lead vocals on the Boston tape, and there is also a version of “Emmaretta Marx” recorded in New York without Lloyd.
Rick, Dave and Danny and Lloyd Baskin planned to have Myke Rosa and Charles Larkey meet them at Gerry Goffin’s new Larabee studio in Los Angeles for album sessions in the summer of 1969. Tragically, any future chances were lost when guitarist Rick Philp was murdered by his former roommate in Boston on May 24, 1969.
All the remaining members of the Myddle Class have had some involvement with music since. Danny Mansolino and Myke Rosa joined Jake and the Family Jewels for two albums on Polydor in 1969 and ’70. They added Dave Palmer as vocalist for a 1971 album on Elektra as the Quinames Band, including Ken Pine (who had played with Charlie Larkey in the Fugs) and Jerry Burnham. Dave Palmer may have had the biggest success as an early vocalist with Steely Dan and with his own group, Wha-Koo.
Neil Bogart , after leaving Cameo-Parkway and joining Buddah Records, reissued “Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long” / “I Happen to Love You” on 45 in mid-1969, with little impact. “Lovin’ Season”, an unreleased song from circa 1968, showed up on a sampler LP “Rock And Roll With Buddah” given away only at the N.E.C. (National Entertainment Conference) in Memphis in February, 1970. These releases were possibly a tribute to Rick Philp. “Lovin’ Season” is a great rocker with a repetitive organ riff and harmonica solo, and definitely sounds like it was cut at the beginning of the Myddle Class’s career.
Rare sampler LP with “Lovin’ Season”
Before Al Aronowitz passed away on August 1, 2005, he was offering a cassette copy of a collection or recordings by the Myddle Class called One Time Only through his website. The track list is below in the comments, below. It was not the Myddle Class’s rumored unreleased “album” as it includes recordings spanning their entire career, including their singles, the Bach’s Lunch songs and some of the demos mentioned here.
The version of “I Can’t Make it Alone” is excellent but marred by a glitch in the tape. Dan Mansolino told me Lloyd Baskin’s piano was overdubbed on this cut. Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers would release a single of “I Can’t Make it Alone” on MGM in 1968.
The only other track on it that I haven’t mentioned so far is one titled “Unknown Instrumental” that is a home or live recording of a minute of Rick playing guitar in a jazz style. Dan Mansolino told me Rick played this as the intro to “St. James Infirmary” at Myddle Class live shows.
Supposedly a legitimate release of their material is languishing because of legal troubles. It’s a shame, as I can’t think of another band that deserves a retrospective more than these guys.
I hear that Michael Rosa passed away on January 13, 2012.
Update: Be sure to check out the scans I’ve added to this site of business cards, two fan newsletters and other ephemera sent to me by Dan Mansolino.
Sources:
Kathy West’s A Song For You is a an excellent source of first hand information on the band and Kathy’s relationship with Rick Philp. See my review for more information.
Al Aronowitz wrote an extremely funny and interesting account of trying to break the band into the charts. I recommend it highly, but currently only an excerpt is available online.
Lyn Nuttal provides an exhaustive history of “Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long” / “Wake Me Shake Me” on his fascinating Pop Archives site.
“I Was a Velveteen” by Rob Norris in Kicks #1 (1979)
“Tales of the Myddle Class” by Todd Abramson in Breakthrough #1 (1984) was one of the first appreciations of the Myddle Class.
Info on the Velvet Underground’s early gigs here. A review of the concert used to be online but has since vanished.
Thank you to Susan Palmer De Leon, who sent in two photos of the Myddle Class that I had never seen before. Thanks also to Brian Kirschenbaum and Jeff Lemlich for excellent 45s scans, to Steve for the tip about the Coven single, and to Mike Dugo for alerting me to “Fun & Games” on youtube.
Bach’s Lunch – white label DJ copyBach’s Lunch – blue label promotional copy
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
Dennis and the Times of Norfolk, Virginia were three brothers on guitars and vocals, along with a couple friends playing bass and drums. The Burlage brothers’ father helped them record and release two 45s on the Trend label.
The Emperors were a southern California group based in Long Beach and not from San Bernadino as I’ve read elsewhere. Their sound had origins in a pre-Beatles rock and r&b style. They toured throughout southern California, including the Balboa Ball in San Diego.
The next was a cover of Australian pop singer Tony Barber’s “Blue Day” backed with a good rocker, “Laughin’ Linda”, which was written by Cameron-Watts. This 45 was produced by John Hodge and Larry Wilson, and arranged by William F. Williams. Despite the bleached moptops on the sleeve, at this point their forte was strictly 1963 era pop, as the ‘Wipe Out‘ intro on “Laughin’ Linda” attests.
Freddy Fortune sent me these clips from the amazing KRLA Beat newspaper site – a full page article on the guys! Now we know, the band consisted of:
Steve Nagle wrote to me in November 2009:
After a concert at the Berkeley Heights CYO in December of 1964 the band met New York Post columnist Al Aronowitz, who had heard about the band through his babysitter. Danny however recalls meeting Aronowitz at swim club in the New Providence area, with Bruce DeForrest.
In the fall of ’65 the King Bees changed their name to the Myddle Class to distinguish themselves from Danny Kortchmar’s King Bees who just had a release on RCA Victor. In October, Goffin and King signed a production deal for their new label, Tomorrow, with Atlantic-Atco, expressly to release their first single with the Myddle Class.
The Myddle Class’s second single, “Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long” was a #2 hit on WPTR in Albany during the summer of ’66. The success of the single led to a couple week-long gigs at Lake George that summer. They played shows with the All Night Walkers and the Barbarians and met Lloyd Baskin, who would later sing & play piano on some Myddle Class recordings in Boston. One of their set highlights was a version of the Jimmy Hughes single, “Neighbor, Neighbor”.
Despite the band receiving song writing credit on the label, “Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long” was likely taken from the Blues Project’s “Wake Me, Shake Me”, a staple of that group’s live sets throughout 1966. The song derives from traditional spirituals going back to the early 20th Century or earlier. The Blues Project may have adapted the song from the version by the Golden Chords on the Columbia LP Introducing The Sweet Chariot, released in 1963, or from earlier versions such as the Coasters. The Blues Project recorded a demo in January ’66 and then a finished version in August that was used for their album Projections, released in November 1966. The Myddle Class beat them to first release by rushing their 45 out in June, ’66!
Goffin and King moved their distribution deal for Tomorrow to Cameo-Parkway, and their first release on a redesigned Tomorrow label was by the Bach’s Lunch, a girl group (with singer Darlene McCrea of the Cookies and the Raelettes – I don’t know the other members), with some of the Myddle Class providing the instrumental backing (Dan Mansolino told me his is not playing on either song). The A-side was a remake of Goffin and King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, but the real gem is an excellent Rick Philp and Dave Palmer song “You Go On”. Scott at Crud Crud wrote up a fine appreciation of the Bach’s Lunch record which I recommend reading.
In the fall of ’68 Philp was playing guitar with Van Morrison, including material that would become Astral Weeks. There is a photo of Rick playing guitar next to Morrison on the Boston Common, in a group that included bassist Tom Kielbania. Rick also joined Van Morrison for a live show on public TV channel WGBH with Charlie Mariano (see interview of Tom Kielbania by Richie Unterberger), and also possibly played shows with Van at the Ark.
All the remaining members of the Myddle Class have had some involvement with music since. Danny Mansolino and Myke Rosa joined Jake and the Family Jewels for two albums on Polydor in 1969 and ’70. They added Dave Palmer as vocalist for a 1971 album on Elektra as the Quinames Band, including Ken Pine (who had played with Charlie Larkey in the Fugs) and Jerry Burnham. Dave Palmer may have had the biggest success as an early vocalist with Steely Dan and with his own group, Wha-Koo.
Neil Bogart , after leaving Cameo-Parkway and joining Buddah Records, reissued “Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long” / “I Happen to Love You” on 45 in mid-1969, with little impact. “Lovin’ Season”, an unreleased song from circa 1968, showed up on a sampler LP “Rock And Roll With Buddah” given away only at the N.E.C. (National Entertainment Conference) in Memphis in February, 1970. These releases were possibly a tribute to Rick Philp. “Lovin’ Season” is a great rocker with a repetitive organ riff and harmonica solo, and definitely sounds like it was cut at the beginning of the Myddle Class’s career.
