The Bobbies came from Florence, Alabama, cutting this one fine single, “(She) Put Me Down” parts 1 and 2 in June, 1966. Members included:
Bobby Heathcoat – lead vocals (Bobby Heathcote ?) Richard Hahn – organ Glenn Hall – bass
– but I don’t know the other names of the group. Scans of an autographed 45 include these names:
Duck Hempil or Henpil? Randy Wills “Angel”
Sonny Limbo (real name Robert Limbaugh, I believe) was a DJ at WAAY in Huntsville, Alabama, about 72 miles east of Florence. I am not sure how he found the Bobbies, but Sonny had been hipped to local Huntsville group the In. The In recorded a demo of “Just Give Me Time” at Bobby Land’s studio in Huntsville and asked Sonny to produce a finished version. Sonny brought both groups, the In and the Bobbies to Sonic Recording in Memphis to share a four hour session.
Autographed copy of the Bobbies 45, courtesy of Brandi Garrison.
The bands, who did not know each other before, became friendly and helped out on each other’s session. The Bobbies and their friends contributed to the crowd noise on the In’s version of “Midnight Hour”, plus Bobby Heathcoat contributed backing howls and Richard Hahn played organ on the song. Eddie Burton of the In added some lead guitar to the Bobbies recording.
The In’s session would lead to a national release on Hickory of “Just Give Me Time” / “In the Midnight Hour”. In an interesting twist on the usual sequence of local-to-national release, Hickory dropped the group (supposedly because their session was non-union), and Limbo released the songs locally on his own label, pairing “‘Live’ in the Midnight Hour” with “You’re So Fine” for Sonny 45-1002, and “Just Give Me Time” with Eddie Burton’s original “You’re Not Gonna Live Forever” for Sonny 45-1004.
Limbo released the Bobbies single on Sonny Records 45-1001. I’m not sure what songs the Bobbies planned on recording when they went into the session, but Sonic Recording owner Roland Janes gets writing credit for “(She) Put Me Down”.
I expect there is a Sonny 45-1003 out there but if so, I haven’t seen it.
The A-side of the Bobbies received a B+ in the July 30, 1966 issue of Cash Box.
Richard Hahn would go on to join the In.
The Wessex Combo (before the “In”), from the Decatur Daily April 28, 1965
I couldn’t find any news clippings for the Bobbies, but did turn up this interesting mention of an early version of the In, calling themselves the Wessex Combo for the 14th birthday party of Miss Jeannie Sharpe, the band featuring Bill Peck, George Vail, Chet Nolette, Eddie Burton and Fred Sanders. It was published in the Decatur Daily (Decatur Alabama that is), on April 28, 1965.
By the time of their Memphis recordings, Chet Nolette was out of the group and the In consisted of Bobbie Land – lead and backing vocals and organ, Eddie Burton – lead and backing vocals and lead guitar, Bill Peck – lead and backing vocals and rhythm guitar, Fred Sanders – lead and backing vocals and bass, and George Vail – drums. Later on Jackie Tiller of the Rocks would play bass for the group.
Anyone have a good photo of either group?
Info for this article comes from Jeff Jarema’s interviews with Eddie Burton of the In on the Sundazed and 60sgaragebands.com sites, both now defunct.
This is an early, relatively unknown single on Jimmy Capps’ JCP Records label 1016. There’s nothing ‘garage’ about it.
“My Love for You” is a latin-styled pop song with male harmony vocals, and a female recitation in Spanish. Tonie Krakora wrote the song, published by Aimee Music Co. which handled many JCP releases, so I believe this was an original song, not a cover.
“Ram-Bunk-Shush” is a good instrumental, probably learned from Bill Doggett’s version.
Distributed by Sound of Nashville, SoN 17061/2.
I haven’t been able to find anything about the group or Tonie Krakora.
The Warlords, original band, from left: Sam Harrell, Terry Stead, Randy Hill, Roger Smith and Jack Ellis
Keyboard player Jack Ellis wrote to me about his three bands: the Warlords, who didn’t record; Hunger, who cut a rare 45 “Freedom Today” / “Buy Me” and an unreleased album; and the Spores who released an EP and have the lead-off track “Don’t You Worry” on Varulven’s 1983 compilation, Boston Rock-N-Roll Anthology.
The Warlords
Terry Stead – lead vocals Roger Smith – guitar Jack Ellis – keyboards Sam Harrell – bass Randy Hill – drums
Manager – Wilson Harrell
When I was 14 years old I got a Acetone organ for Christmas. It was a suitcase organ that you store the legs in the back and screw them in and set it up. When I told my friends at school (Denbigh High School in Newport News, Virginia), that was the beginning of the band. We all used Sears Silvertone amps (they were cheap and you could get them at the Sears store). We practiced at bass player Sam Harrell’s house.
His father Wilson Harrell heard the band and wanted to be the manager. He quit his paint salesman job and became our manager and booking agent full time. Wilson soon became the biggest talent booking agency in the area (Check Productions), covering the VA. Beach, Norfolk, Newport News, Williamsburg, Richmond area and was booking hundreds of bands every week. Having a built in booking agency gave us an advantage over all the competition and the Warlords were booked solid.
Wilson brought in a singer named Pete to sing the soul and Motown songs for the fraternity parties, and Terry would sing the rock songs. Our first gigs were frat parties at Fraternity Row at William and Mary College.
There was a road with 10 to 20 frat houses where bands like Bill Deal and the Rondells and Danny & the Delnotes would be playing next door to us. During our breaks we would go down the Row and check out the bands who came from different cities and places and there would be all new bands the next week. All the other bands’ trailers, trucks and buses would be parked on that street. The Warlords had a white trailer painted like our business card so we would get gigs from people walking by and hearing the band. Soon we were playing college gigs from Norfolk to Richmond.
One night after a fraternity party gig someone crashed into our white trailer that was parked in front of Wilson’s house with all the equipment in it and destroyed the trailer and everything in it. The insurance company paid to fix the trailer and equipment. The band went to Chuck Levin’s Music outside of Washington D.C. and we bought 3 Vox Buckingham amps as a package deal. The drummer had Ludwig drums. My organ survived the crash so I still had that. We started with some kind of horn type p.a. and then upgraded to Vocal Master p.a. columns.
Warlords at the Hullabaloo in Newport News
Wilson became one of the biggest talent booking agency (Check Productions) in the area, covering from Nags Head, Va. Beach, Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg to Richmond. The Warlords played all the clubs including the military base clubs in Norfolk and Ft. Eustis. Wilson Harrell taught me the music business, without Wilson I wouldn’t be who I am. Wilson is the man who fueled the Tidewater Music scene and promoted hundreds of bands and gave them jobs in the music industry. Wilson and Sam are no longer with us.
The Hullabaloo picture is with a guest guitarist from The Wild Kingdom who played the gig with us.
Unfortunately the drummer Randy’s father pulled him out of the band. He was replaced by Bobby Pinner.
The Warlords with statue of Lief Erickson at The Mariners Museum, taken January 28, 1968, from left: Bobby Pinner – drummer, Sam Harrell – bass, Jack Ellis – keyboards, Roger Smith – guitar, Terry Stead – singer
Hunger
Terry Stead – lead vocals Robbie Robertson – guitar Mike Hanson – guitar Jack Ellis – keyboards Scott Tribue – bass Stan Eury – drums
After the Warlords I started a new band called Hunger (1970) based out of Newport News. Our biggest competitors The Swinging Machines and The Wild Kingdom were gone and I ended up with Robbie Robertson from The Wild Kingdom as one of Hunger’s guitar players.
Hunger’s rare 45 “Freedom Today”, recorded at Richmond Sound Stages for winning the WTVR Radio 1970 Battle of the Bands
We were playing in Washington D.C. when we got a record deal with Paul Simon’s studio in Nashville. After Nashville, Hunger went back to Newport News where we did the Va. Beach, Nags Head club circuit, plus outdoor concerts with Grand Funk, Poco, and any festival that needed a band. The 45 is rare. There were only 200 pressed that went to the band family members and friends (gone instantly).
We were still booking gigs with Wilson Harrell. Wilson got us a deal with the USO Show circuit for the military to fly to Cuba and Puerto Rico to do clubs and concerts at Gitmo and Roosevelt Rds. These gigs would be for a week at a time (a vacation in paradise). Playing gigs was my job and paid very well. I also played with the Norfolk Aliens for a short while.
Hunger, from left: Scott Tribue, Mike Hansen, Terry Stead, Robbie Robertson, Stan Eury and Jack Ellis
The Hunger band equipment was massive. Wilson taught me if you look big you are big.
Keyboards:
Hammond C5 (CV) with 122 leslie speaker cabinet Baldwin Electric Harpsichord Hohner D6 Clavinet Wurlitzer Electric Piano Mini Moog Model D
Keys amp system: 4-Fender Showman cabinets which I bought used and replaced the speakers with Electrolux SRO (4-15”s) and JBL (4-15”s). I would stack 2 each on their sides making a wall behind me.
On top of that were two Marshall amps (1-100 watt and 1-50 watt). Yamaha board to mix instruments and send them to the amps, 2 mics on the leslie.
Mike Hanson – two Fender twin reverb amps with 2 Fender Bandmaster extension cabinets (8-12” speakers all together), cherry sunburst Gibson Les Paul guitar.
Robbie Robertson – two Fender Band Master amps (4-12”speakers), brown Gibson Les Paul with Fender neck he built himself (not sure if strat or telecaster neck, had a small headstock).
Scott Tribue: Ampeg bass amp with extension cab.
Band PA: Two Voice of The theatre bass cabinets with JBL 15” speakers, JBL horn with 2440 compression driver on top on each side/, 2-Crown power amps on each side. Don’t remember the board (some kind of English board had a British flag emblem on it).
We had a bread truck with the sliding front doors that could carry all the equipment and two roadies to drive it and set up the equipment. All equipment was paid for from gig money since none of us worked. We later bought a school bus that we painted dark green and gutted, turning it into a camper. We left two bus seats up front on each side, built a wall to block off the sleeping section (3 bunks on one side and 2 on the other) another wall to section off the equipment in the rear.
Every time we went through the Norfolk tunnel we had to pay for a bus toll which was very expensive. The toll guy told us if we put in a stove and propane tank we would classify as a camper, so we went to the junk yard and bought a gas stove and an empty propane tank and hooked it up. It was all for looks and didn’t work. Our tolls were now $1.75 and the toll guy would get on the bus with his flashlight every time and check it out.
We would take turns driving from Washington D.C. to Georgia so you could sleep if you wanted or if we were playing more than one night we could crash for the night or party in the bus. When the equipment was in the club the back of the bus was huge. While on the road we would run into the Allman Brothers, Cactus and other bands doing the same circuit. All the bands would stop at The Jolly Roger right before the Norfolk tunnel for a beer and we would always stop to see who was in. Someone always had to stay with the bus so it wouldn’t be stolen with all the gear in it. It was usually someone who was sleeping.
The Spores, from left: Mike Debellis, Paul Mudarri, Jack Ellis, Donny Prevost, Ken MacDonald, and John Cristoferi
The Spores
Donny Prevost – lead vocals Paul Mudarri – lead guitar Ken MacDonald – rhythm guitar Jack Ellis – keyboards Mike Debellis – bass, replaced by Joe Evans John Cristoferi – drums, replaced by Dennis DuBre
The whole time I was playing I was still training as a classical pianist (since age of 6). While in Hunger I came in 2nd place at the Va. State Classical Competitions and in 1978 decided to move to Boston to further my studies at Berkeley College of Music where I got my diploma after four years.
While I was in school I joined the Spores, a rock band in Boston and I’ve been busy ever since. When I joined they were already playing steady so I just walked in ready to go. Their business organization was top notch. They had a red moving truck and an unbelievable rehearsal situation. One of the guys lived in the studio, it was huge. It use to be a gym that went out of business that the band picked up the rent. It was two stories with office rooms, showers, a huge changing room with lockers, a lounge and a full kitchen.
The manager was Jim Higgins who was in charge of a concert sound system company and the PA system was twice the size of Hunger’s. The PA was so massive the road crew would build a ramp system from the truck to the stage and wheel everything in. The sound man Jeff Karlson knew his stuff and worked concerts for the rock star bands.
One thing the Spores did that my old bands didn’t was record every show from the house mix. We would listen to each show the next day after the gig in the office of the studio as a band and improve on the show. I have two big bins full of cassette tapes. Also whatever big bands were using our PA we would record them too. I have tapes of Robin Lane and the Chart Busters, Orchestra Luna (great band, very novel), The Dead End Kids, The Verdict, maybe The Stompers and The Fools. These bands don’t know these tapes exist, we just threw them in the bins and moved on.
We were getting recording deals and working for Don Law Productions. We would get the albums recorded but couldn’t close the deal with the record company. We had a deal with Hirsh Gardner from the band New England who produced our album. They toured with Kiss and the deal was with their management company in New York. Alda Nova got the deal and I don’t blame them, that was a great song for the radio. I got the album done for free and pressed it myself in New York. Same thing with the Hunger album. I signed the deal but it never got off the shelf, so I got the album for free and pressed it myself.
The Spores only lasted til 1983 with over 100 originals recorded and thousands of hours of live tape, the quality is excellent.
After that I played in other bands, some really big, some not, sometimes three bands at a time. Lots of studio gigs (worked with Stones producer Jimmy Miller on an album project). In 2000 I did another album with the Spores in my home studio which came out pretty good and another in 2005 which was never finished. The singer and songwriter Donny got cancer and died and we never finished it.
I’ve had two more recording deals while in Boston and during Covid I’m working on another album in the studio.
Little John and the Monks Graves 45 acetate Woman Take a Trip
Little John and the Monks came out of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Tom Davis, a singer from Scotland, founded the group as the Nomads and changed it to Little John and the Monks when they went to Eugene. The membership changed frequently in the few years the band lasted.
Members included:
Lloyd Barnhurst – ? Tom Davis – vocals Luis Weathers – bass guitar Davy Jones – saxophone Clark Lynch – drums Stan Brawn – lead guitar Bob DiMartino – keyboards Larry Harding – lead guitar Dennis Baldwin – ? Lee Wilson – bass Bob Martin – drums
In late 1965 the group cut Tom Davis’ original song “Black Winds” backed with a cover of “Needles and Pins” on Jerden 775. Many years later, an unreleased song, “Too Many People” appeared on Big Beat’s Northwest Battle of the Bands Volume 3 showing a tougher sound for the group.
Little John and the Monks Graves 45 acetate All Them LiesIn August 2020, an ebay auction featured a demo lacquer (acetate) by Little John & the Monks with two original songs recorded at Graves Recording Service in Eugene. “Woman Take a Trip” continues in the heavier northwest sound, and extends it with a frenzied rave-up of squealing sax, sustained guitar notes and sliding bass notes. The bass line drives the flip, “All Them Lies” with cool unison accents by guitar and sax and some bluesy organ.
Tork Publishing, perhaps meant for release on Tork, which did release the Moguls – “Round Randy” / “Another Day”.
Anyone have good photos of the group? I’d also like to know who played on what recordings.
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”.
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”.
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 Red Balloon at 1031 Kearny St., in 1964
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 Balloon Cellar Cabaret “Underground Theatre in the Round” with the Pitschel Players, W.C. Fields Memorial Orphanage. S.F. Examiner Dec. 2, 1967
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.
Cash Box, October 30, 1965Billboard Oct. 30, 1965
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.
Cash Box, March 26, 1966Despite a “B+” in Cash Box in March, there was no chart action and when Valiant dropped them, the group broke up.
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.
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
The Bobbies came from Florence, Alabama, cutting this one fine single, “(She) Put Me Down” parts 1 and 2 in June, 1966. Members included:
I expect there is a Sonny 45-1003 out there but if so, I haven’t seen it.
