Carol Chakarian lets loose with a great vocal on “Put Your Accent on Love”. Not ‘garage’ music, but a pop song in a country style. Hear an excerpt.
The flip is the more sedate “Lost in This World of Love”, both songs written by Phil DeWolf, publishing by Tronic BMI. Released in 1965 on Nashville 5242, “A Tommy Hill Starday Studio Production”.
I can’t find any info on Chakarian or DeWolf.
Here’s an obscure one, the Little Indians doing two original songs, “No” / “Wait a Minute”. It may also be the first release on Chanté Records, as it is release 101 and has master numbers CH-1 and CH-2.
Richard D. Tellier and Edward Martin composed both songs, and registered copyright in March 1965. They have other copyrights that may have not been recorded, “Blind Date”, “Life Was So Lonesome” and “Anymore”.
Tellier and Martin registered “Wait a Minute” and “Blind Date” in 1964 with © Sigma Seven Productions, Inc., but that production credit is dropped for the ’65 copyright and the Chanté release. Sigma Seven Productions turns up on singles by the Irridescents on Fleetwood, and the Fabulaires on Chelsea, among others.
Chanté Records labels usually have a Lou Alfieri production credit, but this one reads “A Pabodi Production”. Alfieri Music and Eastwick Music published both songs. A trademark application from 1965 lists a West Moorestown, New Jersey address, not far from Philadelphia.
Anyone have more information on the Little Indians or these song writers?
I do not believe this was the same Richard Tellier who played guitar with a Canadian group called Octopus.
I found a previously unknown poster for Martha’s Laundry on Sunday, September 24, 1967. The venue was The Balloon at 1031 Kearny in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.
The building still exists. When it opened as The Red Balloon on April 1, 1953, it was an indoor amusement center. By 1967, the name shortened to The Balloon, and the entertainment had changed to “Topless Games” including “topless ping pong”. In April 1967 it had a short-lived name, La Carnaval, with “topless rassling”. In December 1967 it advertised as a “Cellar Cabaret” with an underground theatre performance. In 1977 it started a long run as the Palladium Club.
I read the poster artist name as “Eli Lcon”, but I’ve been informed it’s Eli Leon.
There are images of posters and flyers for Martha’s Laundry shows in Concord, Berkeley and Santa Cruz, but I hadn’t seen this one before.
Members of Martha’s Laundry were:
Jim Lehman – lead guitar
Tom Peterain – rhythm guitar
David Kessner – keyboards
Richard Wilkins, then Michael Husser – bass
Randy Smith – drums
The only information on the group comes from an interview that Mike Dugo did with bassist Michael Husser circa 2008, which I’ll quote a section of because it is no longer on the web:
We played diverse locations such as Pauly Ballroom at U.C. Berkeley, The Straight Theatre on Height Street in San Francisco, The Family Dog at The Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, and private parties. We even played for the ordination of an Episcopal Minister in Berkeley and were mentioned in and article in Time Magazine relating to the event (the issue dates from March 22, 1968 and the article was entitled, “Hippie Ordination”). I don’t remember playing teen clubs and we didn’t play any band battles; we only played places that guaranteed our fee. We did play some festivals with Creedence Clearwater Revival as the headliner.
We played blues and worked on jazz arrangements to blues tunes. Our influences were Gary Burton’s album Lofty Fake Anagram and the first Moby Grape album.
We didn’t play original material and didn’t think people would buy arrangements of known songs. We played primarily covers of somewhat obscure blues songs.
Randy, Jim and Dave started a music store in Berkeley called Prune Music. Jim left to move to Texas and start his own music store. Randy and Dave moved Prune Music to Mill Valley, California. Randy started working on guitar amplifiers and formed a company called Mesa Engineering … Randy then named his amps Mesa Boogie.
Jim’s music store in Austin, Texas is called Guitar Rez.
Dave Kessner had played with many bands including Cold Blood.
I later played with Little Richard, Elvin Bishop, Harvey Mandel and other artists in the Bay area and then started a band called Moon Rose Forest. We recorded a live album with Buffy Sainte-Marie in December of 1968 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. In ’69 I returned to the Bay area and then moved to New Mexico where I lived on the Acoma Pueblo Reservation and recorded an album of music with tribal members. I then moved to Albuquerque and began a career in broadcast television as an audio and video engineer.
Thank you to Derek Taylor, John Pitts and Vance Pollock for help with background on the Balloon. Any info on the ’50s and ’60s incarnations of 1031 Kearny, the poster artist or Martha’s Laundry would be appreciated.
The Federal Fugitives were unknown to me until Rick Ledbetter commented below with the lineup:
Rick Ledbetter – lead guitar
Steve Allen – rhythm guitar
Dennis Mitchell – bass
Gary Stone – drums
Johnny Stovall – horns
Steve Allen – horns
“Woman of Stone” is a good light-psychedelic original by Ledbetter and Stone. Jim Youmans (of the Swingin’ Apollos) did a fine job of production.
The musicians are accomplished, I wonder if the Federal Fugitives is a pseudonym for another group.
Ledbetter and Stone also wrote the harmony-filled ballad flip, “Just Remember”.
Released on Youmer Records Incorporated, YM 1002 with an address of 524 Plasters Ave, in Atlanta. Youmer’s first release was the Sons of Bach, “Stubborn Kind of Fellow” / “I Knew I’d Want You”, which I haven’t heard. Youmans produced this one too. Without original songs, there’s even less chance of finding out who played on that record.
Both songs published by Margie Music BMI, which was based in Decatur, but I can’t find registrations for either.
Rick told me more about the members of the Federal Fugitives:
Gary Stone went on to play with Billy Joe Royal.
Dennis Mitchell played with Ben Dover and Tennessee Tucker and also appeared in Six Pack with Kenny Rogers.
Rick Ledbetter went into radio broadcasting (Rick Ledbetter On Air on youtube).
Steve Allen performs as a one man band.
Johnny and Ted Stovall also played horns with The Soul Patrol around Atlanta after Rick formed the new group after two years in the Army.
Ted Stovall went on to arrange the horns on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “What’s Your Name” and “Moonlight Feels Right” by Starbuck.
I cannot find much information on the Incidentals, who were primarily an instrumental band. They released three singles on the Ford Records label out of New York.
The first is the excellent “All Night”, a band original, backed with a version of the Ventures “Driving Guitars” (including drum solo), on Ford Records 134. Cash Box reviewed the single in October, 1964, giving the sides B+ and B grades. These instrumentals are primarily guitar-driven melodies, but the group did have a pianist. The entire band plays very well.
Rest-A-While Music Company (ASCAP) published “All Night”. Rest-a-While Music appears on other Ford and Merry-Go-Round releases, including Ford 117, The Gallant Men’s “Lost Romance” by Foti and O’Donnell, and Dolores Rodell “Go For Broke” written by Vin Roddie, on Ford 132. The company had a New York City address.
I haven’t heard or seen their second single as the Incidentals, two more instrumentals, “Fireside” / “Lucille” on Ford 138. Cash Box reviewed it in January 1965, awarding the same B+/B grades as their first single.
A third 45 “Walkin’ the Dog” / “If You Go” on Ford 143 is credited to Bill Ervin & the Incidentals. The Library of Congress has a May 1965 registration for “If You Go” written by William Ervin, published by Merry-Go-Round Melody Co. I’d like to hear these, and would like to know if Bill Ervin was an added vocalist or if he played an instrument on the earlier records.
Billboard listed Sherman Ford Jr as the Incidentals personal manager, he was also president of Ford Records and Merry-Go-Round.
This Incidentals almost certainly was not the group from Ocala, Florida with a single on Paris Tower “baby I Want You Back Again” / “It’s All in Your Mind”. Members of that Incidentals were Ed Barnett, vocals; John Winter on guitar; Steve Fordyce on bass; Tony Cummings and Biff Ruff on organ; and Mike Barnett on drums.
Nor were they the group who cut “Baby Shake” / “Till the Ending of Time” on Gold Standard.
The Motleys were an actual band, though the lineup I see online is partly incorrect. Harvey Price (now known as Mike Price) and Mitch Bottler formed the group at Fairfax High School. It seems Mitch Bottler became more of a behind-the-scenes song writer with the group as it settled into the lineup for its two singles on Valiant:
Mike Price – guitar and vocals
Dan Walsh – lead guitar and vocals
Steve Adler – bass and vocals
Bob Carefield – drums
Dan Walsh’s brother John Walsh produced some demos at Gold Star that have not been released, but the Valiant contract came from an audition for Bodie Chandler, Barry DeVorzon and Don & Dick Addrisi.
Bodie Chandler and Edward McKendry wrote the top side of their first Valiant single, “I’ll See Your Light”, arranged by P. Botkin, Jr.
Bodie Chandler and Barry DeVorzon wrote the rockin’ flip, “Louisiana”.
Billboard and Cash box reviewed the single, with Cash Box labeling it as “Newcomer Pick”, saying “Deejays should come out in droves”. That didn’t happen, and in retrospect I wonder if “Louisiana” may have been the more commercial side. The group did appear on 9th Street West to promote the single.
Mitchell Bottler and Michael Price wrote both sides of their second single, released on Valiant Records V-739 in February, 1966.
“You” is very different from their first single, more complex but also more pop, and with piano the lead instrument. “My Race Is Run” features the group’s harmonies.
Sherman-DeVorzon Music published “You” and “My Race Is Run”. I found a February 1966 copyright registration for a song that may have never been released, “Rain on Down the Line” with words by Harvey Price and Jack Herschorn and music by Mitch Bottler.
Valiant kept Mike Price and Mitch Bottler signed as song writers, and they added Dan Walsh to their team when he brought them a song “Carnival of Life” (the demo for which seems lost unfortunately).
At this point, they met producer Gary Zekley who asked them to wrote songs for the Looking Glass and the Visions. Rev-Ola’s Temptation Eyes: The Price & Walsh Songbook lists the top session musicians who played on their demos, like Hal Blaine, Bodie Chandler and Carol Kaye. I suspect these musicians also played on the Motleys singles.
Price and Walsh started work on an album with Zekley (with Mitch Bottler assisting in the song writing) that was never completed. Price and Walsh went on to much success as a song-writing team, while Mitch Bottler continued to work with Zekley for a time.
Zekley was not in the Motleys, despite repeated incorrect statements on the internet.
I asked Mike Price about “Rain on Down the Line” and he responded:
I don’t recall cutting a demo on “Rain”. We probably played it for Barry Devorzon, who was the head man at Valiant Records, and they had someone do a lead sheet and then copyright it. That song was inspired by a great, early folk rock band called the Rising Sons. We went to see them at a folk club in West Hollywood called the Ash Grove, and they blew us away. So, we ran home and did our version of what we heard.
Dan Walsh and I were staff writers at ABC Dunhill records for eight years beginning in 1969. We wrote a couple of tunes aimed at Steppenwolf when Gabriel Mekler was producing them. One was never completed, and the other, a song called “Mojaleskey Ridge” ended up being cut by a group called Smith.
We did our demos in studio A at ABC / Dunhill recording complex, Steely Dan recorded down the hall in studio B. They took so long recording that their drummer Jimmy Hodder and guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter would wander down the hall and sit in with us. So, we had some songs with half of Steely on them.
Dunhill was such a hot label, it was an amazing place for two 21 year old songwriters to be.
Rev-Ola’s Temptation Eyes: The Price & Walsh Songbook has a photo of the Motleys. Steve Stanley’s extensive liner notes to that CD was the main source for this article.
The Trojans of Evol came out of the Gary, Indiana area, and cut one amazing single in early 1967. The band members were:
Ted Zale – lead singer and keyboards
Steve Polomchak – lead guitar and keyboards
Chuck Kukelka – rhythm guitar
Barry Ardell – bass guitar
Curt Burgess – drums
Carlo Espero contacted one of the members and received this short history of the Trojans of Evol:
Songs were recorded at Columbia Studios in Chicago. Ted wrote the lyrics and Ted and Steve wrote the music [for “Why Girl”]. They were just a garage band that played at parties and small events in the area. The record got a lot of airplay on the local radio station in Gary, Indiana and jukeboxes across the area (where we all grew up) and made it to the top of the chart. Steve was invited to play with the Buckinghams when they were looking for a new guitar player. We have no pictures but I can try to find some for you.
Ted Zale wrote “Why Girl”, arranged by Steve Polomchak. The label credits Barry Ardell and Steve Polomchak as writers of “Through the Night”, arranged by Curt Burgess and Barry Ardell.
Released on their own T.O.E. label with a Columbia custom pressing code of ZTSC-125969/70.
If anyone has photos or more info on the band, please contact me!
Unit VI is an unknown group, possibly from the Louisville, Kentucky area, but also possibly from southern Indiana.
“About that Time” is a good garage original, danceable but relaxed. “Mother May I” has a chunky rhythm. R. Bundy and A. Stultz wrote both songs.
I’ve searched for info on the group but have no leads yet.
The publishing of both songs is Brownsboro Music SESAC, unusual for Trump singles, which usually have Falls Music publishing.
The Precision Record Pressing codes of PRP-211/2 date this to early or mid 1967.
Blackwater is an early ’70s obscurity from the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.
“It Doesn’t Matter” is the rocking side, a successful performance. I like how the lead singer repeats “It don’t matter” but the title uses the more proper “Doesn’t”. I hear two lead guitars, piano, organ, bass and drums, plus the vocals.
The flip is a ballad with an uptempo middle, “Paper Airplanes”, written by Al Bernard and D. Stipp.
I have no info other than what is on the labels. Al Bernard arranged both sides, with Werdina Music publishing.
I don’t know of any other releases on Bernwald Records; the address was 2621 Gallinghouse St, New Orleans.
Jimmie Bolado – guitar
Zeke Green – guitar
Jim Bisset – bass, sax
Mickey Drumm – drums (also Eddie Guererro – drums)
Jim Frizzell also was a member on guitar and keyboards before he joined the Chayns.
The Rel-Yea’s were young kids when they recorded their first two 45s on Wildcat Records in 1960.
Their second Wildcat single credits the band as “The Relyea’s From ‘The Ricci Ware Show’. Ricci Ware was a popular San Antonio DJ. Johnny Ware played sax with the group at times, I’m not sure if he was related to Ricci Ware. “Round Rock Boogie” includes someone named Ware as co-composer, but the Library of Congress registration only lists Zeke Green.
Beginning in 1963 the Rel-Yea’s released three singles on Kaye Records, which seems to have been their own label, located at 327 Shropshire Drive in San Antonio. The first of these is a fast instrumental by the band, “The Rugged Rock” b/w a version of “Good, Good Lovin'”.
“You Know How” is the second of their Kaye Records singles. Jim Bissett and Jimmie Bolado sang lead vocals.
I found a notice for the Rel-Yea’s playing at the Arcadia Theatre in Kerrville on April 17, 1964. Bruce Hathaway, DJ at KTSA in San Antonio is also on the notice. The Arcardia was the primary movie theater in Kerrville, but this is the only live band notice I’ve found so far. The former Rialto Theatre hosted a number of live events in 1967.
A full discography for the Rel-Yea’s is at Rockin’ Country Style, and you can see a few photos of the group at Mean Gene’s Bull Session blog. Jimmie Bolado’s Facebook page has a number of photos of the group, including many with famous country & pop stars of the day, including George Jones and Roy Orbison.
I’d like to know more about the group. The Rel-Yea’s continued into the mid and late ’60s but the recordings stopped around 1964.
