All posts by R.D. Francis

Categories: Capitol, Detroit, Michigan, Orchard Lake

The Shaggs of Orchard Lake, Michigan, “Mean Woman Blues” / “She Makes Me Happy”

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The Shaggs: Bottom Left/Clockwise: Jim Gilliam/bass; Stan Burger (glasses)/drums; Perry Rouse/guitar and lead vocals, bottom center; Roy Rouse, guitar and lead vocals; Doug Preston/lead guitar, right corner

In March 2024—ironically, on the 50th anniversary of the release of the Phantom’s Divine Comedy effort—we received an email from drummer Stan Burger, in response to our March 2023 posting regarding his band, the Revolvers, and their connection to that infamous “Jim Morrison solo album” from 1974.

Stan tells us that, prior to their joint tenure in the Revolvers, he and guitarist Don Hales, along with guitarist John McDaniel, formed the 3 Deuces.

“We were just these kids forming our first band. Don lived a few houses down from me, while John lived past Don and was friends with him. Our sets were all covers, featuring stuff from the Byrds and the Hollies. We did ‘Eight Miles High,’ which sounded great because Don played a 12-string and we were great at harmonies. We played at places like the White Oaks Inn. A few school dances, too.

The 3 Deuces, Left to Right: John McDaniel (vocals), Stan Burger, and Don Hales.

“I wasn’t in the Revolvers that long, so I don’t remember much, I’m sorry to say. I knew Ted [Pearson] from Oxford High School. I didn’t know Harold [Beardsley] and met him through Ted and they knew Don through me. Ted was always the tallest guy in the room and was on the school’s baseball team.

“I know that Limberlost flyer for the Revolvers show you posted [November 04, 1967] says the band was releasing a ‘new single,’ but I don’t recall us ever recording or doing original material. We did a lot of covers. Ted particularly loved Cream and we did a lot of Doors tunes. I believe I was in the Shaggs at that point [their earliest documented show was in November 1967]. So maybe they kept going and did something with another drummer.

“The Revolvers played The Limberlost a lot, as it was a popular teen hangout in the day. We went to [the] Mount Christie [ski resort] in Oxford quite a few times and The Roostertail [for their “Upper Deck” and “Saturday Night at” all-ages events]. I had no idea of Ted’s career accomplishments with the [Capitol] album, and after that [Pendragon] until seeing your article on the Revolvers.”

While most Detroit garage bands disappeared without recording a long-forgotten single, Stan Burger was fortunate enough to have his drumming last via overseas-bootleg compact disc compilations dedicated to ’60s U.S teen bands [a fate that plagued Detroit’s the Ascots and the Sincerely Yours with their own, one-off 45-singles]. After leaving the Revolvers, Burger joined Orchard Lake’s the Shaggs, which released their one-off single on Capitol Records—both on U.S shores and select European markets.

German issue

“Those were some exciting times playing in the Shaggs,” continues Stan Burger. “Ray Skop, our manager, was enthusiastic, ambitious and had some big plans for us. He was obsessed with Brian Epstein and wanted that type of success, so the Shaggs did a lot of Beatles covers. We idolized the Thyme out of Kalamazoo [Michigan, 1966 to 1968; three singles] and tried to be like, sound like the Thyme. They opened for Jimi Hendrix and Cream and we wanted that for ourselves.

“Since we had a single on a big label, Ray booked us into a lot of clubs, like the Silverbell Ski Lodge [Hideout], the Mount Holly Ski Lodge in Oakland County, the Grande Ballroom, the Crow’s Nest, the Village Cave in Lake Orion, and there were a lot of high school events. The Silverbell was particularly memorable: It was a fixed up old barn out on Bald Mountain Road that had a dance floor on the second level with a stage at the other end. The first floor had a stage and dance floor with a big working fireplace. Most nights bands played on both stages. We saw everyone there: Bob Seger, SRC and Tea, so the Shaggs playing there was exciting.

Shaggs “Mean Woman Blues” / “She Makes Me Happy,” June 1969, Capitol Records“You mentioned Pioneer Recording Studios in Detroit [where the Rationals and the Detroit Vibrations, aka Frijid Pink, recorded] as where we [possibly] recorded our Capitol single. It does seem to ring a bell; maybe the Shaggs tried to record there after I left. I do remember, when recording the single, the three of us, me, Roy and Perry, standing in the booth, under the microphone, singing vocals over the backing track. I thought, ‘I’m recording for Capitol Records like Bob Seger. This could be big.’ [Seger released his Capitol debut single, “2 + 2=?” from Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, in 1968].

“As far as the Shaggs from Miami, Florida, you’ve told me about, that Ray Skop brought them to Detroit to record [“Ring Around the Rosie” b/w “The Way I Care,” 1966, on Palmer Records]: I don’t recall that piece of history. We were the Shaggs and Ray didn’t name us. I don’t recall covering those songs in our sets as a ‘continuation’ of that band, either. I never heard of this story until you told me. We did, however, in addition to Beatles covers, do a lot of Roy Orbison and Elvis covers at Ray’s request, which is probably why we recorded ‘Mean Woman Blues’ as our A-Side. Roy [Rouse] of course, was great, sounding like Roy Orbison and Elvis; even Jerry Lee Lewis tunes. Perry [Rouse] was great with the Beatles songs.”

5. Tim Buckley Shaggs Newsprint Ad 1967-07-21

A part of the Detroit Shaggs’ history is their connection to the city’s rock royalty that is embodied by Bob Seger, as well as making a coveted appearance on WKHM disc jockey Robin Seymour’s popular, CKLW-TV Channel 9’s television show.

“During the early, local days of Bob Seger’s career, he needed a backing band for one of his dates at the Silverbell, so the Shaggs did that gig,” tells Stan Burger. We also did our Byrdsy B-Side, ‘She Makes Me Happy,’ on Swingin’ Time.

“As far as this story you’ve told me about Ray Skop being the first manager of the Amboy Dukes and his co-writing ‘Journey to the Center of the Mind’ with Ted Nugent and Steve Farmer, at the same time he managed the Shaggs, that’s wild . . . if it’s true. It’s the first time I am hearing it. I never met Ted and we never did any shows with the Amboy Dukes. I’d think I’d remember an Amboy Dukes show! If Ray did work for Hideout Records [Ed “Punch” Andrews’s label], as you’ve said, that must have been after the Shaggs, too.

“The Shaggs met Ray Skop through Bob Burwell who produced the record and was the bassist in the Wilson Mower Pursuit [with Rick Stahl of the Sincerely Yours]. He was the bassist on the single and wrote ‘She Makes Me Happy.’ Our original bassist was Jim Gilliam; I don’t recall why he wasn’t on the record. Doug Preston was on lead guitar, I was on drums and backing vocals, and then the brothers Ray and Perry Rouse. Again, Ray sings lead on our Roy Orbison cover, ‘Mean Woman Blues’ [the A-Side], and Perry sings ‘She Makes Me Happy.’ I went to Oxford High School with Ray and Perry; we were in the school choir, together. The Rouse family was a large one with seven brothers, as I recall.

“Sadly, Perry passed some years ago. I reconnected with Doug Preston from the Shaggs in our next band, Circus. He’s a longtime friend of Bob Sexton, who was also in Circus, as well as with Don Hales from the Revolvers. Don knew everyone since he worked at [Frank Merwin’s] Pontiac Music [and Sound] in Sylvan Lake. That opened around 1973, when Circus got started. Those were the days of the Firebird Lounge where I remember [Johnny Heaton’s] White Heat being a very good band.”

Circus, 1972/73: Left to Right: Stan Burger, bottom; Doug Preston, middle; Bob Sexton, right.

As is the case with most teen bands on the Detroit scene, such as Waterford’s the Coronados, the Shaggs’ career momentum—that chance “to make it big,” as Stan Burger reflected during the recording of their single—was lost as result of the Vietnam War.

“I was drafted into the Army in 1969. I served from September 1969 to September 1971. So, I was out of the scene for two years and lost touch with everyone. That’s why there was never another single for the Shaggs. I understand Ray Rouse got together with Robert Burwell again in the Roustabouts [most likely inspired by Elvis’s 1964 movie of the same name, with the other “Rouse” about-brothers, Perry and Randy].

“The Rouse brothers formed a country-rock band, Summit, which was Roy and Perry on lead vocals, and their brother Randy. They released a nice album; Life’s a Dream [1981; rounded out by Marty McCarrick on drums and Ed Kubilus on piano, saxophone, and trumpet. As of 2021, the album is available on You Tube via CD Baby].

7. Summit Newsprint Ad

“When I returned from the war, I got back into music with Circus, which was, again, Doug Preston, Bob Sexton, and, for the life of me, I can’t recall his name, but he was a relative of Doug’s. That was the earliest version of the band. As with my previous bands, Circus covered popular songs. We were around for a while and played Lake Orion’s Royal Oak Inn, Waterford’s 300 Bowl, and the Mount Holly Ski Lodge, with its Swiss Chalet-styled building and big wood trusses. It was there I’d seen early shows by Bob Seger and Terry Knight and the Pack.

“As you wrote on the Revolvers post, yes, Don Hales did end up in Jacob’s Folly, but I think the band’s name was Jacob’s Kelly and they were from Flint. I haven’t spoken to him in ages, but I believe he is still alive in Clarkston, Michigan. I am sorry to hear that Harold Beardsley passed and sad about how Ted Pearson died. Don had a duo with someone named Jim Davis, and then did a rock ‘n’ roll oldies revival show with the Fast Eddie Band for many years. Roy Rouse is still around, I believe; he was a popular Elvis tribute artist in the area [You Tube] for many years.”

Jacob’s Kelly, Left to Right: Bill Douglas, bass guitar; Don Hales, guitars; Bob Frakes, drums; Randall Curtis, lead vocals.

Ex-Revolver Don Hales joined the Ted Nugent-cum-Grand Funk Railroad-inspired, AOR-driven Jacob’s Kelly in 1972, which started in 1967. The band dissolved in1984 after twelve years of regional Midwest touring, during which they released three independent singles and one vanity-press, ten-song album. Hales and the band issued their debut single, “Confusion” b/w “Same,” in 1977.

As the “house band” at Pat’s Northview Lounge on Portage Avenue in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Jacob’s Kelly memorably entertained officers at Kinchloe AFB, in addition to’80s head bangers at Flint’s beloved “metal bar,” Contos, Mr. G’s Lounge on Bristol Road, Good Times on Clio Road, and The 300 Bowl in Waterford. They consolidate their local success opening for Bob Seger at the IMA Auditorium (Industrial Mutual Association) in Flint.

The Shaggs: Detriot Club Dates

* Images Provided with Source Credit

Top Row: Left to Right:

* July 22, 1967: Grande Ballroom (Detroit): Opening for Tim Buckley on the second date of two dates held July 21-22. Birmingham, Michigan’s Ourselves opened first night. Credit: Rock Posters.com, San Francisco. (Newspaper Print Advert for the same show, above.)

* August 19, 1967: Grande Ballroom: Headlining/Saturday Night local show w/Mothers Little Helper and the Troyes, opening. Credits: (2) Poster & Newsprint Advertisement/Mike Delbusso’s Splatt Gallery.

* August 24, 1968: Silverbell (Ski Lodge) Hideout (Auburn Hills): Opening for SRC. Credit: Artist James Render’s Archives Facebook.

Bottom Row: Left to Right:

* November 02, 1968: Silverbell Hideout (Auburn Hills): Opening for the Bob Seger System, with Asian Flu. Credit: Artist James Render’s Archives Facebook.

January 10, 1969: Something Different (Southfield): Undercard for Ted Pearson’s post-Revolvers concern, Madrigal, with Popcorn Blizzard (Meatloaf’s band), Train, and the Underground Wall.

January 17, 1969: Hideout #3 (Clawson): Opening for Toronto, Ontario’s Mandala.

* February 7, 1969: Something Different: Opening for Wilson Mower Pursuit. Credit: Mike Delbusso’s Splatt Gallery.

* February 9, 1969: Village Pub (Birmingham): WABX-FM Benefit Concert for the Birmingham Youth Assistance Program (with nine other Detroit bands). Credit: Vernon Fitch of Pink Floyd Archives: Birmingham Michigan Poster.com.

February 14, 1969: Crow’s Nest West (Westland): Opening for Plain Brown Wrapper.

* March 28, 1969: Village Pub: Headlining, with Poor Richard’s Almanac. Credit: Vernon Fitch of Pink Floyd Archives: Birmingham Michigan Poster.com.

June 27, 1969: Village Cave (Lake Orion): Headlining, with Licorice Philosophy.

Article by R.D Francis

Credits:
All band images/Stan Burger
Tim Buckley 1/4 newsprint /Mike Delbusso’s Splatt Gallery
Rouse Brothers’ Summit Newsprint/Ron Course
Shaggs poster graphic/R.D Francis
Dates/The Concert Database.com
Jacob’s Kelly images/Bob Frakes

Categories: Detroit, Michigan

The Revolvers from Lake Orion, 1966 to 1967

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The Revolvers: Left to Right: Harold Beardsley, Ted Pearson, Don Hales, and Stan Burger.

The Revolvers hailed from the Detroit neighborhood of Lake Orion, forming in the hallways of Lake Orion High School.

According to his brother, ex-Detroit area disc jockey and program director, Bill Pearson, the band’s founder, Earl “Ted” Pearson, excelled at sports — both basketball and baseball — from his Little League diamond days up through high school. As a star player for the Oxford High Wildcats, he was scouted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals. A refusal to cut his long hair resulted in his dismissal from the team; a later shoulder injury ended his baseball career. He soon formed the Revolvers at the age of 16 in 1966 with his long-time music associate, bassist Harold Beardsley.

The Revolvers opening for Scot Richard Case at Club Limberlost

Rounded out with guitarist Don Hales and drummer Stan Burger, the Revolvers frequently appeared at Club Limberlost in Leonard, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. One of the Revolvers’ gigs at the Limberlost — which hosted many gigs by the more-established SRC, the MC 5, and the Rationals — was as a prestigious undercard to Panic & the Pack opening for a-soon-to-be-signed-to Capitol Records’ SRC.

While Stan Burger’s later musical exploits are forgotten, the Ortonville-born Don Hales graced the stages of Lake Orion’s Royal Oak Inn and Waterford’s 300 Bowl with Jacob’s Folly.

Madrigal, out back behind the Silverbell Hideout, 1968. Left to Right: Ted Pearson (tree), Don Hales (bass), and Jim Roland (vest; drums), and Ray Campbell (guitars; keys). Courtesy of Tom Welscher.
The Whereabouts: Marty Blair, then on keyboards, second from right.

By 1968, with drummer Jim Roland (previous bands, unknown) and ex-Echoes from a Broken Mirror/Good Tuesday keyboardist Paul Cervenek, the Revolvers became the harder-edged Madrigal — managed by Bob Seger associate Joe Aramini. Along the way, Marty Blair, formerly of the Whereabouts (1966 to 1967) joined on keyboards.

Walpurgis: Left to Right: Ray Campbell, Harold Beardsley, Jim Roland, and Ted Pearson at Cranbrook Manor, 1973.
Walpergis with SRC at the Palladium

Upon more line-up changes — and with only Ted Pearson and Harold Beardsley from the original the Revolvers — Madrigal became Walpurgis in 1970. Under the new moniker, Walpurgis (for a time as Walpergis) shared the stage with SRC on August 19, 1970, at the Birmingham, Palladium with Julia (a Bob Seger-associated act) on the bill.

Upon the return of Jim Roland, and the addition of ex-Downtown Clergy keyboardist Russ Klatt, Walpurgis signed with Punch Andrews’s Hideout Productions. Rechristened as Phantom by Andrews, they recorded the 1974 Capitol Records release Phantom’s Divine Comedy: Part 1. Marty Blair, now a drummer, was a brief, non-recording member of Phantom.

The Whisky a Go Go: Ted Pearson (center) with Iggy Pop and Ray Manzerek.
The Whisky a Go Go: Ted Pearson, center, with Danny Sugerman and Ray Manzarek.

Ted Pearson eventually worked with Ray Manzarek and appeared at the infamous “Jim Morrison Third Anniversary Disappearance Party” at the Whisky A Go Go on July 3, 1974. After a stint with the touring solo band Mitch Ryder, Pearson fronted — under his legal name change of Arthur Pendragon — the band Pendragon from 1976 to 1983. Pendragon’s rosters featured Rick “The Lion” Stahl from Wilson Mower Pursuit and Sincerely Yours, Joe Memmer of the Free, and Jerry Zubal of the Kwintels. Late ‘70s demos by Pendragon were recorded and produced, in part, by Tom Carson, formerly of the Lazy Eggs, at his music store-studio, Fiddlers Music.

Pendragon: Top Left, clockwise: Ed Lawson, Ted Pearson, aka Arthur Pendragon, Marc Kopchak (ex-Wildwood with Billy Csernits of Mitch Ryder’s solo bands), Bob Ellis, and Rick Stahl. Courtesy of Rick Stahl.

The Revolvers, Madrigal, Jacob’s Folly, Echoes from a Broken Mirror, Good Tuesday, and Downtown Clergy recorded no singles. It is said the Revolvers completed acetates that were never officially pressed; any radio airplay given to those acetates, are unknown. If anyone can provide a background on the Whereabouts and Jacob’s Folly, it would be appreciated.

Our thanks: David McLaughlin, publisher of the private-press book, Rockin’ the Limberlost, (2009), University of Michigan Press for the Revolvers’ flyer images, Tom Weschler/Bill Pearson for the photo and Gordon Jones for the roster information on the Revolvers, Mike Delbusso of Splatt Gallery of Walled Lake, Michigan, for the Whereabouts and SRC flyers, Tom Weschler/Bill Pearson for the Madrigal and Walpurgis photos, and James Fortune for the Whiskey photos.

Article by R.D Francis.

Categories: Detroit, Dot, Lamar, Michigan, Waterford

The Coronados of Waterford, Michigan on Dot and Lamar Records

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The Coronoados, left to right: Bob Stayton on guitar, Bill Goddard on drums, Jerry Schemmel on saxophone, and Rick Stockwell on bass.

This tale of forgotten Detroit rockers begins in the Stockwell family basement in the early 1960s as Rick Stockwell formed the Coronados and his brother Joe formed the Nomads. Learning about rock ‘n’ roll through his older half-brothers was Michael Marsac. His first group, Old Friends, was an all-acoustic group with Dave Anderson, Ken Crawford and Johnny Heaton, later of the West End.

Managed by Cecil, the father of the band’s Jerry Schemmel, the Coronados appeared on WKHM disc jockey Robin Seymour’s CKLW-TV Channel 9’s television show, Swingin’ Time. Featuring Rick Stockwell on electric bass, the Coronados were rounded out with Bob Stayton on guitar, Bill Goddard on drums, Jerry Schemmel on saxophone, and Gene Gustafson on keyboards.

Coronadoes Lama 45 Zig Zag The Coronados soon had the support of a country music song-smith known for writing songs for Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Mick Vickery produced and arranged four sides for the band across two singles. The first, “The Nomad” b/w “Center of Attraction,” was issued in 1965 on Paramount Pictures Productions’ musical division, Dot Records. Issued that same year—and with the “e” added—the Coronadoes recorded Vickery’s “Zig Zag” backed with an original, “What Would I Do,” for Dino Productions on Nashville’s Lamar Records.

Coronadoes Lama 45 What Would I Do

The Vickery deal was the culmination of the band winning the Michigan State Fair’s annual “Battle of the Bands” talent show, along with winning the Starlit Stairway’s Talent Show hosted by Rita Bell (the station’s meteorologist) on WXYZ-TV Channel 7 in 1963, in addition to a well-received opening slot for a Walled Lake, Michigan, appearance by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. As the Vietnam War arrived, the Coronados splintered as result of Rick Stockwell and Jerry Schemmel’s service. Schemmell wouldn’t return home.

Above: Ron Course’s photo montage video featuring all four sides: Dot 45 first, followed by the Lamar single.

Once back in the states, Rick Stockwell, along with his brother Joe, joined fellow Vietnam veterans-friends Larry Merryman and Gary Markley in the Detroit-based jam-band collective, Stonefront: a band known for overseeing the Gar Wood Mansion commune located at 450 Keelson Drive, Detroit, on Greyhaven Island located on the Lower Eastside of the Detroit River. During the years of 1969 to 1972, with an ever-changing roster (featuring ex-Coronados’ guitarist Bob Stayton, along with drummer Jeep Capone and guitarist Rod Shivers of Seeds of Doubt), Stonefront hosted rent parties attended by—with the bands sometimes performing a second, free show after their gigs at the Cobo Arena, Eastown Theatre, and The Grande Ballroom—Cream, Joe Cocker, Iron Butterfly, the Rolling Stones, and Leon Russell.

The Gar Wood Gang, courtesy of Adrian Wright.
Stonefront practice at Gar Wood, courtesy of Colleen Donovan.
Newsprint photo of Stonefront at home in the Gar Wood: Left to right: Larry Merryman, Joe Ford, Jeep Capone, Bob Stayton, and Rick Stockwell. Courtesy of Jeep Capone.
Stonefront inside Detroit’s Terra Sherma Studios: Left to Right: Jeep Capone, Bob Stayton, Rick Stockwell, Rod Shives, and Larry Merryman. Courtesy of Jeep Capone.
After the Corondoes and before Stonefront: Leadville Feed, Seed & Bag Company, 1968-ish: Left to Right: Rick Stockwell, guitar, organ and lead vocals; Mark Lungdren bass and vocals; Bob Stayton, guitar; Dick Ayers, drums.
Coloradus: Right to Left: Joe Stockwell, Elde Stewqrt, Ron Course, Rick Stockwell, and Mike Marsac.

By 1971 the Stockwell brothers—along with their then 16-year-old half brother, Michael Marsac—formed the country-rock driven Coloradus. By the mid-‘70s Coloradus consolidated their regional, Great Lakes-area success to the point of opening shows for Detroit-touring national acts, such as the like-minded .38 Special. Coloradus Saloon 45 What Was I to DoGuided by producer Calvin Simon, formerly of Parliament/Funkadelic, Coloradus cut an album at Chess Records in Chicago. As is the case with new bands hoping to generate a hit single, Coloradus recorded two cover tunes by the Allman Brothers to complement their southern-rock styled originals. Unfortunately, the planned release stagnated for a variety of reason lost to the times, but mainly due to Rick Stockwell suffering an “accident-sustaining injury.” The band eventually rebounded with a 45-rpm single issued on the band’s vanity-press Saloon Records in 1979, fronted by Rick Stockwell’s “What Was I Do To” and Michael Marsac’s “Good Lovin’” on the B-side.

The Excels of Pontiac, Michigan, the first band (and drum set: a Slingerland Buddy Rich White Marine Pearl purchased from Pontiac Music) of Ron Course, center. From left to right: John Gains of Texas on bass, Nick Nickerson of Maine on guitar, and Leo “Rio” Carter of California on guitar.

In between the career development of the Coronados and Coloradus, the Stockwell brothers—as well as other Coloradus members, such as long-time Stockwell associate, drummer Ronald Course—strolled through the turnstiles of Detroit’s iconic Danny Zella. Zella—with the ampersand moniker The Zell Rocks—graced Detroit stages since the late 1950s with national and regional hit singles, such as “Black Sax,” “Wicked Ruby,” “Steel Guitar Rag,” a cover of Leiber and Stoller’s “Kansas City,” and “Sapphire.” Later opting for the Zeltones suffix by the early ‘70s, Zella became a fixture on Michigan and Great Lakes-area stages as he provided a “rock ‘n’ roll boot camp” for those musicians who invaded the Gar Wood during its progressive rock years. It was through Danny Zella, and his band’s eventual transition into Kottage, then his retirement from the stage, in which Coloradus, birthed.

Prior to the mid-70s arrival of the Stockwells’ Coloradus, the brotherly duo performed alongside Johnny Heaton in White Heat. That band’s rotating roster featured ex-Zeltones and Coloradus drummer Ronald Course, Dale Kath of the Ascots, as well as Dave Anderson and Ken Crawford of Mike Marsac’s Old Friends.

While the Stockwell brothers are no longer with us, Michael Marsac continues to record and perform in the Big Rapids area of western Michigan as part of the musical concern, Michigan Soul Tribe. Dale Kath and Ronald Course currently record on the Detroit scene as the Blue Room Band.

Article by R.D Francis.

All band photos (banner and You Tube video) provided by Mike Marsac via Ron Course. Coronadoes Lamar 45 scans by Chris Bishop, Coloradus scan courtesy of Discogs.

Other stills of the Corondoes, dated between 1963 to 1965, were provided by Richard Bernard via Christine Evans.

Nightflier, in the early ’80s: Ron Course, left, Joe Stockwell, center.

Ron Course appears on the lost, early-1976/1977 home studio demos of Ted “The Phantom” Pearson’s next concern, Pendragon. The below audio montage features Ron with the following Detroit bands:

Bliss — Country Girl (featuring Ron Course on lead vocals)
Coloradus — Love Shock
Nightflier — We’re an American Band
Shotgun Willie Band — Lonely Tears

 

Categories: Detroit, Farmington Hills, Michigan

The West End of Waterford, Michigan

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West End promo photo, left to right: Frank Mielke (vest), Mike Durette, Terry Worden, Johnny Heaton, and Jeff Deeks (poncho).

The West End is remembered as the teenage-start of lead guitarist Johnny Heaton, later of Tantrum, which opened Bob Seger’s 1974 U.S. tour in support of his album, Seven. After the West End, and prior to Tantrum, Johnny Heaton fronted White Heat, which featured Dale Kath of the Ascots.

The West End, which won the 1969 Farmington Hill Founders Festival band competition, also featured Mike Johns on lead vocals, Terry Worden on rhythm guitar, Mike Durette on bass, and Frank Mielke on drums. According to Frank Mielke, the members of the West End were all around 16 or 17 years old. The Farmington Hills event took place during their summer break between their junior and senior years in high school.

“I was playing in Old Friends,” says Johnny Heaton, “an all-acoustic group with Dave Anderson, Ken Crawford, and Mike Marsac. Mike left to play with his brothers Rick and Joe Stockwell in Coloradus [an outgrowth of the Coronadoes] while I went through a short list of local bands, including the West End. I also worked with Dave Anderson and Ken Crawford in various incarnations of White Heat [one which featured drummer Ron Course of Coloradus]. I eventually moved onto Tantrum. Dave Edwards from Tantrum had later success on MTV with his band, the Look.” [Signed to the Canadian division of A&M Records, the Look was the first Detroit band to air on the channel in 1981/82 with the singles “We’re Gonna Rock” and “You Can’t Sit Down.”]

White Heat, Mk 1: Front Row, Left to Right: Johnny Heaton, Mike Sneed, and Dale Kath (the Ascots), Back Row: Ron Course, Charlie Verno, Dave Anderson.
White Heat at the Firebird, 1972. Courtesy of Ron Course.

“By 1970,” continues Frank Mielke, “the West End broke up when our bass player and lead singer who, at the time, was Jeff Deeks [replaced Mike Johns], left. He was recruited to join Harpo Jets and they opened for [Suzi Quatro and] the Pleasure Seekers at the Birmingham Palladium, which trumped the West End’s accomplishments, thus far.

Ultra Structure, Mk. I. Courtesy of George Wallace via Jerry Zubal of the Kwintels.
Ultra Structure, Mk. II, 1969. Courtesy of Mayo Heger.
Image Left: Harpo Jets headline a CSA Hall show; Image Right: Flash Cadillac headlines a benefit concert with Harpo Jets for the WTSD (Waterford Township School District) campus radio station. Courtesy of Mike Delbusso of Splatt Gallery Art Gallery via Mayo Heger.
Harpo Jets opens for Capitol’s SRC. Courtesy Mayo Heger.

“At the time, Harpo Jets, which also come to include Mike Durette from the West End, was known under a different name when they did the Palladium gig; I can’t recall the name [The Ultra Structure]. They changed their name to Harpo Jets because of Jeff Deeks’s similar looks and actions to Harpo Marx. I’d also have to note that guitarist Tony Combs [part of the management staff at Pontiac Music], who was the leader of Harpo Jets: he was the lead guitar player in my first band, the Patriots. We were twelve or thirteen years old and in junior high school at the time, of course, that’s before the West End. Our first professional gig outside of Mason Junior High in Waterford was playing my Aunt Kay and Uncle John’s wedding. Tony’s younger brother, Andy, was a drummer in another popular Detroit band, Orange Lake Drive. Later on, Tony founded Feather Canyon.”

Tony Combs, far right, of the Harpo Jets on the staff of Pontiac Music.
Feather Canyon: Tony Combs, sitting center. Courtesy of Ron Course.

“By 1969,” recalls band roadie Mayo Heger, “Randy Arnold had left the band and Mike Durette [from the West End] joined on bass. By late 1970, George Wallace and Jeff Deeks were gone; Mike Durrette switched to guitar, and Gerry Christie joined in on bass. At that point the band became the Harpo Jets, then Isengard, then Pitch Blende, and ultimately [country-rock] Feather Canyon.” [Feather Canyon also featured guitarist Bryan Barnes, formerly of Tea/1776 with Jerry Zubal of the Kwintels.]

Flash Cadillac with Frank Mielke, bottom far right, to promote their appearance at the “Walk for Mankind Festival.” Courtesy of Frank Mielke.

“Later, I was asked to play drums for a newly-forming Waterford area, seven-member band known as Flash Cadillac [not to be confused with oldies retro-rockers Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids from Boulder, Colorado],” continues Frank Mielke. “I was the last member to join for what I believed would be a one-time performance at a Battle of the Bands — and an opportunity to do battle with Harpo Jets. Flash Cadillac was an overwhelming hit with the audience and we walked away with a victory over the favored-to-win Harpo Jets!

“The Flash Cadillac project kept me busy and in gas money for the next year and a half playing all the available teen venues — including headlining Waterford’s first ‘Walk for Mankind’ rally [which was held annually from 1969 to 1971]. The out-of-state Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids hadn’t yet been nationally recognized; however, after it became clear that we might be doing this for a while, we, Flash Cadillac, changed our name to David and the Diamonds.”

Tantrum tours in support of Bob Seger’s Seven (1974). Tantrum earned the opening slot after Phantom, aka Walpurgis, the band originally booked to promote the Phantom’s Divine Comedy album (1974), dissolved.
White Heat, Mk II: Left to Right: Johnny Heaton, Mike Sneed, Dave Anderson, Charlie Verno, Ken Crawford, and Steve Dalton.
White Heat, backstage at the Firebird in the early ‘70s: Left to Right: Charlie Verno, Mike Sneed, Dale Kath, Johnny Heaton , Dave Anderson, and Ron Course (part of the Coronadoes/Coloradus axis).

You can enjoy a playlist of the music of Johnny Heaton with White Heat, Tantrum,  and Powerplay on You Tube:

In the uploaded playlist:
White Heat  — “Sympathy for the Devil” — 1972
Tantrum — “Way Back to the Bone” — 1974
Tantrum — “I Need to Know” — 1975
Tantrum — “Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown)” — 1975
Powerplay — “Dragon Attack — 1981

Through the ’90s and 2000s, Jerry Zubal, formerly of the Kwintels, and Johnny Heaton,  formed the bands Roxius, Catching Fire, Seize, and Rock Anthem. You can enjoy an 18-song playlist of those bands on You Tube.

All recordings/uploads courtesy of Jerry Zubal and Johnny Heaton.

Article/interview by R.D Francis.

All photos/images courtesy of Johnny Heaton, unless otherwise noted.

Categories: Detroit, Michigan, Pioneer Recording Studio (Detroit)

Heavyn of Dearborn, Michigan, “Two Man Blues” b/w “Children of the Woods,” 1971

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Heavyn featured in the Detroit News, September 1, 1971
Heavyn opening for Frigid Pink at the Lincoln Park Theatre, September 29, 1971

Heavyn:

Bob Gilbert — lead guitar
Greg Joseph — bass guitar
Dave Ellefson — keyboards
Rick Moll — drums

Producer — Mike Finnin
Engineer — Jerry Cell

There’s not much in the way of ephemera on Detroit’s Heavyn, in fact, everything we’ve discovered regarding the band is included in this overview.

Heaven with SRC at the Lincoln Park Theatre, January 1972

According to The Detroit News in their September 1, 1971 issue, the band appeared at the Dearborn Youth Center’s “Battle of the Bands” in July. In the article, Heavyn’s manager, Mike Finnin, states the band was together for three months at that point — which places their formation around May 1971.

In addition to winning the Dearborn contest, the band opened shows for the earliest stage of Frijid Pink (formerly known as the Detroit Vibrations). Two of the band’s other known shows were opening a January 30, 1972, appearance by Capitol Records’ SRC, and a February 13, 1972, appearance by Tee Garden and Van Winkle, both at the Lincoln Park Theatre in Lincoln Park, Michigan.

W.J’s Club, Walker Lake Road, Mansfield, Ohio

During the month of April 1972, ads placed in Ohio’s Mansfield News Journal (available at Newspapers.com), indicate Heavyn booked dates at W.J’s Club in Mansfield.

Heavyn Long Knight 45 Children of the WoodsThe single mentioned by Mike Finnin in The Detroit News, “Two Man Blues” b/w “Children of the Wood” was, in fact, released on his vanity-press, Long Knight Records. It was recorded at PRSD/Pioneer Recording Studios in Detroit owned and operated by Gary Rubin and Alan Sussman. Through the studio, the duo ran their own imprints: Pioneer, Gold, and Tru-Soul. Pioneer recorded several sides with Ann Arbor-based jazz trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, the Detroit Vibrations — on their way to coming Frijid Pink — as well as the Rationals (released on their manager Jeep Holland’s own A-Square).

While Heavyn’s lone single carries Pioneer’s catalog number of PRSD-2188 and Long Knight’s LK-101, the runout codes “A4KS-3959” and “A4KS-3960” indicate it’s an RCA custom pressing (A = 1971, 4= band supplied tapes to RCA, who then cut the lacquers, K= 45 rpm, S= Stereo).

It is rumored Heavyn broke up sometime in 1972, as the bands’ Bob Gilbert, Greg Joseph, and Dave Ellefson were (temporarily) absorbed into the ranks of Frijid Pink. This roster rehearsed, as well as possibly toured, between the release of the Rick Stevers-led band’s second album, Defrosted (1970) — when lead guitarist Gary Ray Thompson and lead singer Tom Beaudry (aka Kelly Green) left the band — and their third album, Earth Omen (1972).

However, based on the March 1974 Heavyn flyer we’ve discovered, the band most likely absorbed into Frijid Pink in late 1974, after their fourth and final album released in March 1974, All Pink Inside, on Fantasy Records. (On Frijid Pink’s Wikipedia, page, only Bob “Bobby G” Gilbert is noted as a one-time member; it doesn’t state the time frame of his membership.)

Heavyn and Fantasy Hill at the Lincoln Park Theatre, March 28, 1974

If anyone knows anything about Heavyn’s fellow Dearborn-based bands Shelter, Stockton, Sanch Panza, Internal Combustion, Menagerie, and Iliad (mentioned in the press clipping) — or can offer more information on the career of Heavyn and their connections to Frijid Pink — let us know.

Pioneer Recording Studio Detroit

Our thanks to Mike Delbusso of the Splatt Gallery Rock Art Gallery of Walled Lake, Michigan, for the images. 45 rpm and Pioneer Recording Studio advertisement images courtesy of Discogs.

You can learn more about Frijid Pink with an exclusive interview as founder-drummer Rick Stevers sat down with R.D Francis at It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine.

Article written by R.D Francis.

Categories: Detroit, Michigan

Detroit’s Edges of a Broken Mirror / Good Tuesday 1966 to 1968

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Good Tuesday, from left: Dave Duncan, drums, Ron Connolly, bass, Paul Cervenak, keys, Keith McCurdy, guitar, and Kevin Ohl, lead vocals

The band’s keyboardist, Paul Cervanek, provided the rare photo and biography:

My first band was Echoes from a Broken Mirror, which quickly changed to Good Tuesday, due to the name’s length. [The band photo] was taken in my basement, around 1966 to 1968, with the band Good Tuesday. I am the blond guy slouching against the wall, third from left.

We played the various Detroit teen nightclubs that prevailed at that time, primarily those operated by Ed “Punch” Andrews, in partnership with Suzi Quatro’s brother, Mike, such as the Crows Nest—both east and west—and the Silverbell, which was a former ski lodge near Oakland University, and the Birmingham Palladium. We also appeared twice at the infamous Grande Ballroom, along with Something Different located on Northwestern Highway, Wamplers Pavilion, and a few H.S. dances.

I left Good Tuesday in 1968 when I started my first year at Oakland University, but fell into a small music clique that included Tom Weschler and we became friends. I had a short stint with Bob Seger’s band—in between Tom Schultz and Dan Watson—before joining Madrigal.

When Madrigal’s music moved more toward the theatrical rather than rock ’n’ roll—and became more non-danceable, concert-type songs—I left. In retrospect, it seemed odd that a band with that type of product would have been hired to play at the Roostertail, a popular Detroit nightclub, on one of its “Sunday Night at the Roostertail” events, which were non-alcoholic, 18 to 21 years old only. Madrigal performed at all of the same clubs that my previous band, Good Tuesday, played.

Ironically, that was on a warm, late-summer-like evening in September during that Madrigal gig at the Roostertail when I met my future wife [and still married 50 years later]. For that, I am grateful. I recall that may have been one of my last gigs with Madrigal, as my “priorities” changed shortly afterward. At the very end, Ted Pearson, who fronted Madrigal, out of the blue decided the band’s new name was now Walpurgis, this on the eve of our first Grande Ballroom show. They, of course, eventually recorded what became the Phantom’s Divine Comedy project. As for me: my last professional band was Fancy Colors, in the early ’70s.

As it turns out, I gave keyboard lessons to Russ Klatt, a saxophone player. He got a gig in a band called Downtown Clergy as result—and eventually played the Hammond on Phantom’s Divine Comedy.

Paul Cervanek on keyboards with Madrigal, 1968 to 1969.

Good Tuesday, Madrigal and Fancy Colors recorded no singles (though Madrigal, at some point and not during Cervanek’s tenure, it’s rumored, did; but they were never released).

Article written by R.D Francis.

Categories: Detroit, Michigan, Tera Shirma Sound Studio

Detroit’s The Free “Decision for Lost Soul Blue” / “What Makes You,” 1968

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Free Marquee 45 Decision for Lost Soul BlueAccording to guitarist Joe Memmer, this psych-driven single, which features Dave Gilbert on lead vocals, was recorded in 1968 at Ralph Terrana and Al Sherman’s Tera Shirma Studios. The band paid for the sessions, themselves. Carl Cisco, who managed the career of CKLW DJ Tom Shannon, earned his production credit on the single as result of his bringing in Motown’s horn section for the sessions. Shannon, in partnership with Carl Cisco and Nick Ameno—both of the Antiques, the Buena Vistas, and the LaSalles—operated the Detroit-based Marquee Records.

Free Marquee 45 What Makes YouCarl Cisco’s production assistance resulted in “Decision for Lost Soul Blue” being issued on the Marquee label around December of 1968, with the B-side, “What Makes You.” Making the regional sales charts via airplay on CKLW Toronto and WKNR Detroit, the single went on to have a three-week run as the “Pick of the Week” on CKLW. Impressed with the sales and airplay, Atco/Atlantic picked up the record for national distribution, issuing the single in March 1969. (The label variations of the Atco version are result of different pressing plants manufacturing the record. On those releases, the A-Side title was expanded to “(Day of) Decision for Lost Soul Blue.”)

The Free remained together for about a year, until Dave Gilbert left to become the lead vocalist for Ted Nugent in January 1971. While he doesn’t appear on the album, Gilbert toured Nugent and the Dukes’ fifth release, Survival of the Fittest (1971). According to Memmer, Dave’s hard partying lifestyle conflicted with Nugent’s anti-drug stance (which caused him to dissolve the Amboy Dukes in the first place); that, in addition to Dave’s desire to start a band proper with his brother Marc, resulted in Gilbert’s departure.

Clean Records Billboard October 9, 1971
Shadow signing announced in Billboard, October 9, 1971

Joe Memmer and Dave Gilbert starting writing songs again and, along with Gilbert’s brother, Marc, formed Shadow. The band recorded a pair of singles in 1972 for Clean Records, an Atlantic subsidiary operated by Robert Stigwood and Rolling Stone Records’ Earl McGrath; the label’s other signings were the commercially-successful soft-rockers America and Starbuck. According to Memmer, Gilbert’s drug use, compounded with his reluctance to work with Stigwood’s suggestions for the band (adding string orchestrations; remembering Stigwood managed-produced the Bee Gees at the time), soured the deal.

New Order with Dave Gilbert at the mic

By 1974, Gilbert moved to Los Angeles and joined the Stooges’ guitarist Ron Asheton and MC5’s drummer Dennis Thompson in New Order; the band also included KJ Knight from the Amboy Dukes. Marc Gilbert’s next band, the hard-rocking Adrenalin formed in 1977, recorded two albums issued through MCA Records in the early-to-mid ‘80s.

Joe Memmer became a non-recording member of Detroit’s Pendragon from 1977 to 1981; Pendragon eventually recorded two 7” singles with Rick “The Lion” Stahl, formerly with the Wilson Mower Pursuit and Sincerely Yours.

The late Dave Gilbert achieved national success as the frontman for the Rockets, which he joined in late 1975. Comprised of ex-members of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, the Rockets’ biggest hit was their cover of the early Fleetwood Mac tune, “Oh, Well.”

Today, Joe Memmer serves as the lead guitarist for the nationally, critically-acclaimed Doors tribute band, the Detroit Doors.

There are more photos to be discovered of all of Dave Gilbert’s bands—including rare images of Shadow (but none from the Free)—on The Rockets Singer Dave Gilbert Facebook.

Article written by R.D Francis.

Categories: Detroit, Michigan

The Kwintels 1963 to 1968

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The Kwintels with Paul Revere and the Raiders; Jerry Zubal, standing left

Kwintels Photo 1According to guitarist Jerry Zubal, the Kwintels started out as the Quintels, eventually dropping the “Qu” for a “Kw” for the sound-the-same-but-spelled-differently, more “rocking” handle. Jim Baranowsky, who also managed Tom Carson’s the Lazy Eggs, served as their manager.

Ad for the Kwintels, We Who Are, the Thyme and Harmon Street Blues at the Silver Bell Hideout, April 8, 1967

The Kwintels were regulars at the Punch Andrews-managed the Silver Bell Hideout, the Clawson Hideout, and the Birmingham Palladium. Their major gigs were the Southfield Pop Festival in July 1967 alongside SRC, Bob Seger and the Last Heard, the Rationals, and the Mushrooms featuring Glenn Frey. The Kwintels also opened for, and loaned out equipment to, according to Jerry Zubal, Paul Revere and the Raiders during their Detroit stop in 1965. Around that same time, the Kwintels, when Jerry Zubal was only 15, served as Freddie Cannon’s backing band during a Detroit stop in Lake Orion. Impressed with the teens, Cannon offered the Kwintels the slot as his permanent band; they turned him down to concentrate on original tunes. As was the course of bands in those days, they recorded covers of popular songs as singles, but those acetates were never pressed for release.

Later, Zubal joined the harder-rocking Tea, which was known for a time as Poetic Justice when Joe Aramini (Bob Seger’s later road manager) managed the band. Signed to Punch Andrews’s Palladium Records, which issued Seger’s early albums, Andrews felt “Tea” carried a detrimental “drug image,” so the band became 1776. Those 1971 sessions, overseen by Pampa Studios’ Jim Bruzzese and Greg Miller, who also engineered Bob Seger’s early catalog, resulted in the band’s lone, self-titled album. Featuring the Andrews-chosen singles: covers of Dave Mason’s “Only You Know and I Know” and the Bryds’s rearrangement of the Art Reynolds’ Singers’ “Jesus Is Just Alright,” only the latter charted on Detroit radio: the limited success of 1776 was usurped by the Doobie Brothers’ version, released a year later.

After the Kwintels, and prior to Tea, Jerry Zubal and Glenn Frey, he of the recently disbanded the Mushrooms and a co-writer on Bob Seger’s early songs, formed a creatively unsuccessful band. Frey, of course, relocated to the west coast and joined the Eagles. Jerry Zubal also relocated to Los Angeles.

Upon meeting guitarist Brian Naughton, formerly of Rock Candy (who issued one, Montrose-inspired, heavy-metal progenitor on MCA Records in 1970), the Peanut Butter Conspiracy, and the Grass Roots, the duo formed the hard-rock concern Rockits. Renamed by their new management, The Toby Organization (also handled Quiet Riot and Angel), in 1974, Rockicks issued the album, Inside, on RSO Records in 1977. That album, along with later demos and unreleased RSO and MCA-era recordings, were compiled in the 2018 release: Keep on Rockin’: A Retrospective Anthology.

The Kwintel’s core members (who later became Tea):
Jerry Zubal
Mike Roush
Bryan Barnes

Other members:
Greg Ballard
Bob Hinshaw

Tea of Rochester, Michigan: Left to Right: Bryan Barnes (G, V), Phillip Bliss (G, Steel Guitar), Jerry Zubal (G, V), Eggmahn (B), and Bill Doral (D).

In 2010, members of the Quintels/Kwintels held a reunion show in Detroit. You can enjoy a 12-song playlist of that show on You Tube.

Through the ’90s and 2000s, Jerry Zubal and Johnny Heaton, the latter of the West End, would later form the bands Roxius, Catching Fire, Seize, and Rock Anthem. You can enjoy an 18-song playlist of those bands on You Tube.

You can learn more about Jerry Zubal’s Rockicks and his band Brian Naughton’s early years with Rock Candy with the Medium-posted article, “Sometimes you’re Kiss . . . and sometimes you’re Rockicks: Phantoms from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Oblivion.”

There are more photos of Jerry Zubal’s bands Tea, 1776, Rockicks, and Powerplay to be enjoyed on Facebook.

Article written by R.D Francis.

Categories: Detroit, Michigan, Pontiac

The Ascots “So Good” / “Who Will It Be” April 1966 on Frat Records

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Pierce Jr. High School Halloween dance, Oct. 29, 1965, left to right: Bob Pelmear, Dale Kath, John Neff, Chris Chappell, and Frank Giglio. Photo courtesy of John Neff.

Ascots Frat 45 So Good The Ascots hailed from the northern Detroit suburb of Pontiac and lasted from 1964 to 1967. The members were between 14 to 16 years old at the time of recording their only single. Frat Records/Watkins Music is the band’s own label-publishing arm. The 45-rpm/7” has no catalog number; the numbers noted on the label are the matrix codes noted in the run-outs and pressed at Columbia’s Detroit plant. Columbia pressed records for smaller labels, such as fellow Detroit imprint, Hideout. The single was recorded in August 1965, but released in April of 1966. Both sides of the single received airplay on Detroit’s WXYZ-FM and Ontario’s CKLW-AM. The band was managed by Jim Baranowsky, who also managed fellow Detroit teen-rockers, the Kwintels.

Chris Chappell — vocals
John Neff — lead guitar
Dale Kath — rhythm guitars
Bob Pelmear — bass
Frank Giglio —drums
Jim Stiel — bass (replaced Pelmear; doesn’t appear on the single)

Ascots Frat 45 Who Will It Be

1966: left to right: John Neff, Dale Kath, Frank Giglio, Chris Chappell, and Bob Pelmear. Photo courtesy of John Neff.

John Neff and Bob Pelmear from the Ascots would later regroup, along with the brothers Joe and Paul Felice, to form the Tribe. Signed to Punch Andrews’s Hideout Productions (who oversaw Bob Seger’s career, as well as the early Detroit bands of the Eagles’ Glenn Frey), the Tribe issued Neff’s second-composed single, “Maple Street Park,” recorded at Ralph Terrana and Al Sherman’s Tera Shirma Studios. The Tribe soon changed their name to Pavement, prior to their 1968 break up.

Dale Kath formed the harder-edged Electric Blues Band while John Neff formed the Toad and the Mushroom; the latter recorded but never released an album with Elektra Records; acetates of those sessions aired on local Detroit radio. While EBB opened shows for the MC5 and Bob Seger, T & M opened the Detroit stops of Fleetwood Mac and the Spencer Davis Group.

John Neff’s later career featured award-winning partnerships with Walter Becker of Steely Dan and filmmaker David Lynch, as well as producing the Arnel Pineda-era catalog of Journey. In addition to appearing on 200-plus R&B and soul singles cut at Detroit’s United Sound in the early ’70s, he toured as a guitarist for country cross-over artist Hoyt Axton, proto-metalers Steppenwolf, and ’70s one-hit-wonder country rockers, Redeye.

White Heat 1972: left to right, back row: Ron Course, Charlie Verno, Dave Anderson. Front row: Johnny Heaton, Mike Sneed, and Dale Kath. Photo courtesy of Ron Course.

Dale Kath worked steadily on the Detroit scene into the early ’70s with the house bands Danny and the Zeltones and White Heat. White Heat’s Johnny Heaton was formerly with the West End. You can learn more about Danny and the Zeltones as part of our exploration of the career of the Coronados.

Pontiac Music and Sound’s Grand Opening, April 1973: “I did a lot of business at this store that started with Frank Merwin at the old Pontiac Percussion Center. My band, Toad and the Mushroom, recorded an album at the studio, then known as Pontiac Music and Sound, and mixed it at United Sound in Detroit.” — John Neff of the Ascots. Photo courtesy of Johhny Heaton.

There are no images or online audio available for the releases by the Tribe and the Toad and the Mushroom. The Pontiac Ascots are not be confused with the 29 other Ascots that released local and national singles in U.S. during the mid-to-late 1960s.

Sadly, we lost John Neff in December 2022. You can learn more about his successful, post-Detroit career with an extensive, January 2023 obituary by Clive Young at Mixonline.com. You can also learn more about  his BlueBOB project with David Lynch at Wikipedia, and his film career in composition and sound at the IMDb.

Article written by R.D Francis.

Categories: Detroit, Impact, Michigan, Tera Shirma Sound Studio

Detroit’s Sincerely Yours “Shady Lane b/w Little Girl” on Impact

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Sincerely Yours Impacts 45 Shady LaneThe Sincerely Yours was a short-lived studio band hailing from Detroit comprised of Rick Stahl and Erik Dahlgren. The duo never played out live, as the project was intended to establish each as songwriters. As typical of the time—and with all of the artists on the Impact label—studio musicians and arrangers cut the tracks, with the writer-singers themselves regulated to only performing the vocals. By the time of the single’s release, Rick Stahl co-founded his next band, a harder-edged concern known as Wilson Mower Pursuit.

According to singer-guitarist Rick Stahl, the writer of the A-Side/”Plug Side,” the single reached #18 on the Detroit radio charts. The B-Side, “Little Girl,” features the lead vocals of Erik Dahlgren, with Rick Stahl on background vocals.

Issued in January 1967, the single was recorded on October 18, 1966, at Tera Shirma Studios founded by Ralph Terrana and Al Sherman; their chief engineer was Milan Bogdan. The studio is best known for its work with Issac Hayes. The label of issue, Impact Records, was founded by Harry Balk, known for his work with Edwin Starr, as well as co-producing the million-selling single “Runaway” by Del Shannon. (Web repositories place the release of Impact #1020 at either December 1966 and April 1967; we defer to Rick Stahl’s date-of-issue of January 1967. You’ll note the single was issued in both white and red labels; the white-labels were the promotional copies; consumer copies were issued in red.)

Sincerely Yours Impacts 45 Little GirlJohn Rhys, who produced both sides, went on to work as an engineer at the world famous Hollywood Sound Studios, which hosted the likes of Earth, Wind and Fire, Jackson Browne, and many others. His own band, John Rhys and the Lively Set, also record a single at Tera Shirma issued by Impact. The singles by Sincerely Yours and the Lively Set appear on The Best of Impact Records compilation issued on compact disc in 1997.

The Sincerely Yours featured:

Vocals — Rick Stahl
Vocals — Erik Dahlgren
Whistling — John Rhys (on “Shady Lane”)
Bob Babbitt — bass
Uriel Jones — drums
Joe Hunter — piano
Ron Koss — lead guitar
Dennis Coffey — guitars

Babbitt, Jones and Hunter were known for their work with Motown’s the Funk Brothers. Ron Koss—known for his Motown session work—recorded two albums for Reprise with Savage Grace. He was a one-time member of Detroit’s the Lazy Eggs.

Dennis Coffey culminated his Funk Brothers-era session work on numerous Motown-cut R&B and soul recordings with the instrumental “Scorpio” by Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band. Featuring ex-Funk Brother Bob Babbitt on bass, the Gold-selling single landed in the U.S. Top 10 in 1971.

Wilson Mower Pursuit, with Rick Stahl at left

Rick Stahl’s next band, Wilson Mower Pursuit, is remembered in Detroit for its many live appearances at the Grande Ballroom, as well as for their opening shows for the MC5, the Stooges, and Ted Nugent’s Amboy Dukes. After failed offers from Capitol and Kit Lambert’s Track Records, Wilson Mower Pursuit independently recorded their lone album, Last Night Out: Live at the Silverbell. The band’s final live show in the fall of 1968; it was captured-on-tape by Bill Julius, one of the band’s roadies (the album has since been reissued on compact disc). WMP’s Shawn Murphy joined the cast of Hair alongside Meatloaf, formerly with Detroit’s Popcorn Blizzard. Together, they formed the duo Stoney and Mealoaf in 1971.

Wilson Mower Pursuit, with Rick Stahl, center

Concentrating on a songwriting career and retiring from live performances, Rick Stahl returned to Detroit stages in 1981 with Pendragon. After releasing two, private-press 45s in 1983, Pendragon disbanded. A live version of one of their songs, “Queen of Air,” appears on the radio promotional album Live at Hart Plaza issued by WRIF radio. Rick Stahl then retired to Colorado Springs, where he produced music and designed album art for local indie artists.

You can enjoy more of the music of Rick Stahl with this You Tube playlist.

Article written by R.D Francis.