The Starfires of Long Beach entertaining at the Terminal Island Officer’s Club “Shipwreck Party” in 1967. From left: John Cameron, Pete Wilson, Dave Christopherson and Al (surname?) on sax
A couple years ago I posted some business cards from the Los Angeles area music scene, including two cards from the Starfires. I assumed these were from the Downey group that had six singles, including the famous “I Never Loved Her”.
The Starfires Garrison Recording Studio demo, never releasedIt turns out that at least one of those cards belongs to a different Starfires group, operating out of Long Beach, only 15 miles to the south. Apparently this town was big enough for two groups of the same name!
Chris Robere sent me the photos and scans seen here with a little info on the group.
In 1965, the band members included:
Pete Wilson – lead guitar John Cameron – bass and rhythm guitar Don Schraider – sax Dave Christopherson – drums
The band seems to have been popular with the Naval base in Long Beach. They had at least one recording session, as an acetate demo exists from the Garrison Recording Studio in Long Beach. I haven’t heard of “No Hair McCann” before so I expect that must be an original song.
John Irvin Cameron passed away on September 15, 2015.
John Cameron’s business card
The other Starfires, from Downey, deserves to be covered on this site. That group included Chuck Butler lead vocals, Dave Anderson lead guitar, Sonny Lathrop rhythm guitar, Freddie Fields bass guitar, and Jack Emerick on drums. Freddie Fields seems to have done most of their song writing.
The Starfires featured in the Long Beach Naval Station Officers Mess newsletter in December, 1965
The Royal Knights, 1965. From left to right: Phil Whitson, Ric Zacher, Jim Wilson and Steve Werner
Lead guitarist Eric Zacher sent in these two photos of the Royal Knights, one of the many bands who played the Retail Clerks Auditorium and were listed on a flyer I had posted in 2014.
Members were:
Phil Whitson – lead vocals Eric “Ric” Zacher – lead guitar, 2nd vocal Mark Drawbolt – 2nd lead guitar and rhythm Steve Werner – rhythm guitar Jim Wilson – bass Terry Buckman – drums
Eric writes:
The Royal Knights on the bill with Limey and the Yanks, the Saints, and the Things at Retail Clerks Auditorium, Nov. 12, 1965
We started in Terry’s garage as a lot of bands did in 1965. We all went to Millikan high in Long Beach, CA. My dad was our band manager and represented us very professionally unlike other bands. We got lots of gigs (most weeks after we got going were 2 per week!).
We played Retail a Go Go as the flyer said (did about 3 gigs there), Cinnamon Cinder in Long Beach, the Elks club and many “joints” (off campus clubs having Friday and Saturday parties).The songs we did included Stones, Zombies, Beatles, Yardbirds, Byrds and others from the mid 60s.
We broke up in 1967, all went our separate ways. I was in a college band called the Woods – very professional and made lots of money! I still play weddings and am jamming with several local bands. I really got into blues after the 70s. I have cut several CDS of 60s and 70s folk rock.
The Gibson 335 that you see me holding in the pics was purchased used for 250.00 in 1965. It is an original limited edition dot neck 1961 cherry – I still play it as my blues guitar!
The Royal Knights, 1965. From left: Mark Drawbolt (partially cut off), Terry Buckman (on drums, obscured), Phil Whitson (with tambourine), Ric Zacher and Jim Wilson
The Huntsmen – picture sleeve courtesy of Jim Wilson.
The Huntsmen came out of Millikan High School in Long Beach, and were friends with the Emperors and also likely the Royal Knights, as this sleeve scan and the business cards below came from the collection of one of that band’s members.
The Huntsmen had two singles on the Pam label in the early ’60s:
Pam 1001/1002: “Send Me Some Lovin'” / “Wishbone” Pam 1003/1004: “Fever” / “Big Bowl of Soul”
“Wishbone” and “Big Bowl of Soul” are band originals.
The labels list the band members, but I don’t have good scans of the labels – if anyone can provide some please contact me.
Jim Bradshaw – lead guitar and lead vocals Jerry Christensen – drums Mick Lorito – rhythm guitar Bill McKinney Don Rabish (?)
I’m not sure if this is the same Pam label that owned by Jim Aguirre and located at 150 Pamela Blvd in Monrovia, across the city from Long Beach. That Pam had a release from the late ’50s, Bill Garland’s “Lonesome Guitar” / “Guitar Blues” (Pam 45-201).
I’ve heard the A-sides of both singles and they’re excellent as this shows:
Jim Bradshaw had a long career in music after the Huntsmen, including a bi-racial band, the Disciples of Soul, and stints with Johnny Otis, Shuggie Otis, Eddie Vinson, Taj Mahal, Etta James, Junior Wells, and Henry Vestine of Canned Heat. James Bradshaw died in Oregon in 2003.
These band cards offer a glimpse of the local scene circa 1964-’65, including the Royal Knights, the Huntsmen, the Emperors and two cards from the Starfires from Downey. Did any of these other bands record?
Los Angeles band cards from circa 1962-1966, including the Vida-Men, the Coachmen, the Continentals, the Del-Links, Mikron Custom Guitar Finishes (Mike Cohn and Ron Eclit), the Starfires, The Royal Knights, the Impressions, the Ascots, the Leisuremen, the Friends (“Dances – Riots – Concerts”), the Shamrocks, and the Versitile Intruders. From the collection of Jim Wilson.
I tried to assemble a discography of Wickwire Records out of Long Beach, California. I quickly came up short until Bob pointed out that Cedwicke and Best were related labels.
Does anyone have scans of the Steve and the Emperors “The Breeze & I” on Best?
Best 101 The Pyramids – Pyramid’s Stomp / Paul (1962) Best 102 The Pyramids – Penetration (Steve Leonard) / Here Comes Marsha (prod. John Hodge, Nov. 1963) Best 103 Steve & The Emperors – The Breeze And I (Lecuona-Stillman) / Great Balls of Fire (1963)
Best 13001 The Pyramids – Pyramid’s Stomp (Alfred Mercier) / Paul (Feb. 1964, re-release of Best 101 with London distribution) Best 13002 The Pyramids – Penetration / Here Comes Marsha (Feb. 1964, re-release of Best 102 with London distribution) Wickwire 13003 The Emperors – A Fool For You I’ve Been / Searchin’ Around the World (both written by Bill Hughes for Dorothy Music, ASCAP) Cedwicke 13004 Wee Willie & The Pals – We’re Gonna Dance (Powell-Greek) / Teardrop Strawberry Soda Cedwicke 13005 The Pyramids – Midnight Run (Usher-Berns-Christian) / Custom Caravan (April 1964) Cedwicke 13006 The Pyramids – Pressure (Hodge-Wilson) / Contact (Steve Leonard) (June 1964) Wickwire 13007 The Emperors – Blue Day / Laughin’ Linda (written by Cameron-Watts, arranged by William F. Williams) (with picture sleeve) Wickwire 13008 Dave Myers and His Surftones – Gear! / Let the Good Times Roll (arranged by Rodney Barken, pub. by Number One Music, BMI) Wickwire 13009 The Montclairs – It’s Gonna Work Out Fine / If You Need Me Wickwire 13010 The Lady Birds – To Know Him Is to Love Him / A Girl without a Boy
John Hodge & Larry Wilson produced most of these.
The Pyramids also had an LP The Pyramids Play The Original Penetration! on Best (LPM-1001, reissued with London distribution as BR-16501, BRS-36501).
The Cedwicke 45s also had distribution by London Records.
See the Emperors page for more info on their records.
I’ve seen two pressings of Wickwire 13008 by Dave Myers and His Surftones – most have Gary Usher as songwriter of “Gear!” but some have Hodge-Wilson listed as songwriter for that song.
Wickwire may have had a publishing connection to the Mod label which had a release by the Menn, “Things To Come” / “What Ever Happened To” (Mod 1013, pub. by Wickwire Music BMI). The Menn had a previous 45 on the Two + Two label, as did the Emperors (see the Whigs for a little more info).
Thanks to Bob and Max Myndblown for their help with this discography and to Wangdangdula.com for info on the Pyramids releases.
from left: Stan Foat, Steve Watts, Bill Hughes, Randy Siegers, Brian Cameron and Mike Elam
The Emperors were a southern California group based in Long Beach and not from San Bernadino as I’ve read elsewhere. Their sound had origins in a pre-Beatles rock and r&b style. They toured throughout southern California, including the Balboa Ball in San Diego.
As Steve and the Emperors they released their first 45, “Great Balls of Fire” / “The Breeze and I” on the Best label.
Then came two records on the related Wickwire label. The first was “A Fool For You I’ve Been” / “Searchin’ Around the World”, both written by Bill Hughes (Wickwire 13003). (See this page for more info on Wickwire and Best.)
The next was a cover of Australian pop singer Tony Barber’s “Blue Day” backed with a good rocker, “Laughin’ Linda”, which was written by Cameron-Watts. This 45 was produced by John Hodge and Larry Wilson, and arranged by William F. Williams. Despite the bleached moptops on the sleeve, at this point their forte was strictly 1963 era pop, as the ‘Wipe Out‘ intro on “Laughin’ Linda” attests.
Stan Foat listed the band’s lineup at this time:
Stan Foat – bass Steve Watts – drums Bill Hughes – guitar, lead vocals on “I Want My Woman” Randall Siegars – lead guitar Brian Cameron – saxophone Mike Elam – saxophone and vocal on “Blue Day”
In the spring of 1965 they released their next 45 on the Sabra label. The A-side is a fine jangly ballad, “And Then”, but for the flip they fashioned an entirely different sound. A pounding bass and drum beat punctuated with staccato guitar notes sets up the leering vocal “Let me tell you a story …” and then the refrain: “He-e-e-y woman … I want my woman”! This is the kind of intense, demented record garage fans live for!
Both sides were written by Bill Hughes who also sang on “I Want My Woman”, arranged by Glen Spreen, and produced by Lelan Rogers before he returned to Texas. For a long time there was confusion over whether this was a Texas group because Rogers included “I Want My Woman” on Epitaph for a Legend, which compiled rare tracks of bands on the International Artists label.
The Emperors have one last 45 on the Two+Two label that I really want to hear, “You Make Me Feel So Good” / “Love Pill”. I wonder if there was a change of band members before recording “I Want My Woman”. If not, I’d have to say the Emperors did an incredible job of adapting to the trends in the music scene at the time. One change that definitely happened was Bobby Cochran replacing Randy Siegers on lead guitar, but I don’t know if this happened before or after the Sabra 45 was recorded.
John “Chris” Christensen of Opus 1 recalled the Emperors:
Steve Watts, (the leader of that group) and I met early in 1963 when he offered to help me set up my drums at a gig at the Poly Hutch, which was The Poly High School Youth Center.
I used to have a copy of “Love Pill,” but it seems to have gone away. It was a novelty song, in a sort-of Coasters style. The lead guitarist, by then, was Bobby Cochran, whom, I believe was Eddie Cochran’s nephew.
Bill Hughes was a member of the band indeed, and is the lead singer on “I Want My Woman.”
They changed their membership many times over the years, with the constant always being drummer/singer Steve Watts.
They also released an album in the late 70’s, when they were know as “Emperor.” The keyboardist from that version of the group who was also a member of early 60’s Long Beach band “The Illusions” was Mike Lobbett. Mike and I had a really hot duo in ’78- ’79 for about 8 months.
Spider Taylor (Emperor, Delaney Bramlett, Hey Taxi, and Red Wedding) was also the guitarist for my group, Midnight Flyer, in ’75.
Fan club president Renee Bagley wrote to me about the group:
I am not sure who the members were of Emperor. I knew them more intimately when they first started and had the white hair (The Emperors). I saw them later but I was there at their beginnings.
Steve sang then but was not the lead singer, Mike was the lead singer (the one on the far right of the picture). He left because he didn’t like having his hair bleached white. People made nasty remarks. Most of them at the time were going to Long Beach City College. He was engaged at the time so he just wasn’t into their image.
Then Steve started singing more lead parts. Bill did a lot of the singing too but he left and I think he got drafted … don’t remember now. Then Randy, the guy who is Javanese went I believe it was into the Navy (Vietnam War). I wrote to him a couple of times but don’t know what happened to him. He was a very nice guy.
Then there was Stan on the far left who was my favorite at the time who had a g/f who was always there when they played. He was the bass player.
I think Randy was the lead guitarist. Then they got Bobby who was youngest of them all at that time. They weren’t wearing their hair white when he came into the group.
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
A couple years ago I posted some business cards from the Los Angeles area music scene, including two cards from the Starfires. I assumed these were from the Downey group that had six singles, including the famous “I Never Loved Her”.
The Emperors were a southern California group based in Long Beach and not from San Bernadino as I’ve read elsewhere. Their sound had origins in a pre-Beatles rock and r&b style. They toured throughout southern California, including the Balboa Ball in San Diego.
The next was a cover of Australian pop singer Tony Barber’s “Blue Day” backed with a good rocker, “Laughin’ Linda”, which was written by Cameron-Watts. This 45 was produced by John Hodge and Larry Wilson, and arranged by William F. Williams. Despite the bleached moptops on the sleeve, at this point their forte was strictly 1963 era pop, as the ‘Wipe Out‘ intro on “Laughin’ Linda” attests.