The Liberty Lads, from left: Andy Arguello, Eddie Williams, John Lujan, George Tomelloso, and Mike Mendoza. Photo courtesy of Vicki Bowlin George Tomelloso, lead guitar and vocals Andy Arguello, guitar Mike Mendoza, guitar Eddie Williams, bass John Lujan, drums
The Liberty Lads were from the Liberty Farms and Dixon area east of Vacaville. In 1965, like many bands from the area, they recorded at Bill Rase’s studio on Franklin Blvd in Sacramento, a package deal of a few hours recording time and 45s on a custom label to sell at their shows.
George Tomelloso, who passed away some time ago, wrote both sides of their only release. “Too Much Loving” has great tension created by the repetitive bass line and sitar-like lead guitar line. The immense reverb makes the sparse instrumentation seem even thinner. The vocals don’t start until nearly a minute in, and Tomelloso delivers them in a weird snarl with another member echoing the lines deep in the background. A lone handclap accompanies the chorus. At 3:55 this is one of the longest independent singles of the day, and unlike any surf music ever recorded.
All the qualities that make “Too Much Loving” so great are nearly absent on the flip, “I Need Believe In”, a ballad that drags along for over three minutes with only a fine reverb guitar sound to help it along.
The excellent Big Beat CD The Sound of Young Sacramento has a great photo of the group, along with thirty great tracks by bands from the region, and I recommend it highly.
Eddie Williams (Eddie Guilherme) joined the Tears who cut “Weatherman” on Scorpio and “Rat Race” on Onyx.
Thank you to Vicki Bowlin for the photo of the group at top. Vicki commented below that her mother Bobbi Madrid helped manage the band, and had them practice at their house in Vallejo.
Mastin and Brewer, Spring 1966. L-R: Tom Mastin, Billy Mundi, Michael Brewer and Jim Fielder. Unknown lady.
Following the overnight success of “Mr Tambourine Man”, a generation of folk musicians abandoned the traditional form to follow The Byrds’ lead and merge folk with rock elements. One of the most promising outfits was the little known, and decidely short-lived Mastin & Brewer, formed in the spring of 1966 by aspiring singer/songwriters Tom Mastin and Michael Brewer (b. 14 April 1944, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US).
Both had been active on the nation’s folk circuit since the early ‘60s and had met at the Blind Owl coffeehouse in Kent, Ohio in 1964. With the folk scene on its last legs, the duo, abetted by Mastin’s friend and fellow singer/songwriter Dave McIntosh, decided to head out to San Francisco the following year to check out the emerging West Coast scene. Following a brief spell in the city, Mastin and Brewer, parted company with McIntosh and travelled to Los Angeles to visit some old folk friends working with New Christy Minstrel Randy Sparks and manager Barry Friedman (later better known as Frazier Mohawk). While there, they recorded a three-song demo comprising original compositions “Bound To Fall”, “Need You” and “Sideswiped”. Suitably impressed by the quality of the songs, Friedman (who had produced the recordings) took the recordings to Columbia Records, which immediately expressed an interest in signing the duo.
With a recording deal in the can, Friedman hastily organised a support band, so that they could take the songs out on the road, and duly drafted in ex-Skip Battin Group member Billy Mundi (25 September 1942, San Francisco, California, US) and former Tim Buckley bass player Jim Fielder (b. James Thomas Fielder, 4 October 1947, Denton, Texas, US).
During this period, the newly formed band rehearsed in an apartment on Fountain Avenue, sharing the accomodation with like-minded souls Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, then in the process of forming Buffalo Springfield with Friedman’s assistance. Shortly afterwards, Mastin & Brewer and Buffalo Springfield ventured out on the road together as support acts for The Byrds and The Dillards on a six-date tour of southern California.
Mastin & Brewer also played at the Ash Grove and the Whisky-A-Go Go on a few occasions, during which time, they went under the rather unusual name of The Elesian Senate.
Sadly, the group’s initial promise was shattered by internal problems; Mastin reportedly flipped out on a few occasions, and ultimately walked out of the group during sessions for the band’s debut album. With the group’s future uncertain, Mundi moved on to rival folk-rockers The Lamp of Childhood leaving Brewer to soldier on (abetted by Fielder when he wasn’t doing sessions for Tim Buckley or filling in for Bruce Palmer in The Buffalo Springfield) until late 1966.
Amid all this activity Elektra Records released Tim Buckley’s eponymous debut album (featuring contributions from both Jim Fielder and Billy Mundi) and when Mastin failed to turn up for a show at the Whisky-A-Go Go, Fielder decided to take up the offer to rejoin Mundi in Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention.
With the group in tatters, Brewer recruited his brother Keith to replace Mastin (who later committed suicide) and the duo, abetted by Barry Friedman readied the Mastin & Brewer single “Need You” c/w “Rainbow” (45 4-43977) for release, with Keith Brewer overdubbing his vocals over Mastin’s. Columbia duly released the single, albeit in limited numbers, as Brewer & Brewer that autumn, but it failed to attract much interest.
Early in the new year, the duo began work on a new batch of material, including “Love, Love”, and for a brief period called themselves Chief Waldo and The Potted Mum, although they never performed or recorded under this name.
By the summer, Keith had moved on and Mike found work as a songwriter at Good Sam Music, an affiliation of A&M Records. He was soon joined by another old friend from the Blind Owl coffeehouse, Tom Shipley, who had just arrived in Los Angeles in search of work and together they forge a new partnership, Brewer & Shipley.
Working on fresh material at Leon Russell’s house, the duo also recorded “Love, Love” and Mike Brewer’s “Truly Right”, written about Tom Mastin. The latter song was also recorded by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, while The Byrds recorded an instrumental version of “Bound To Fall” for their album ‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers’, but it was not used. Group member Chris Hillman later revived the song in Steve Stills’s Manassas.
Thanks to Mike Brewer for additional additional information on the group’s career, to Billy Mundi for use of the Mastin & Brewer photograph and to Carny Corbett for information on the Brewer and Brewer single.
Left to right: Fred Olson, Marty Tyron, James Hendricks and Mike TaniFeature in Teenset
The little known folk-rock group The Lamp of Childhood was the brainchild of singer/songwriter and guitarist James Hendricks (b. 10 February 1940, Atkinson, Nebraska), who organised the original band around June 1966 after working with The Big Three and The Mugwumps. Beside Hendricks, the group also boasted Portland, Oregon, born lead guitarist Fred Olson and singer/songwriter and Hawaiian born rhythm guitarist Mike Tani (aka Michael Takamastu), who were both relative newcomers to the scene. Indeed, it was the group’s drummer, Billy Mundi (b. 25 September 1942, San Francisco), who was by far the most seasoned member, having studied music at UCLA during the late 1950s and performed with a number of noteworthy groups prior to completing the band during the summer. His musical credentials included spells with future Byrd Skip Battin’s group and as a member of another intriguing folk-rock ensemble, Mastin & Brewer.
It was Hendricks’ connections, however, which led to a deal with Dunhill Records and the release of a handful of singles over the next year. Hendricks’ wife was none other that Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas, who were also represented by Dunhill, and the fact that she and singer Denny Doherty had recorded with Hendricks in The Mugwumps probably helped to clinch the deal.
To assist the band with its recordings, Dunhill linked The Lamp of Childhood up with English expatriate Andy Wickham and Israeli immigrant and classical pianist Gabriel Mekler, who oversaw the sessions for the group’s three singles and numerous unreleased recordings. “The story goes that when [Mekler] arrived in Los Angeles he finds his way to Dunhill Records and tells them he can produce a hit record,” says Jim “Harpo” Valley, who got to know the group while he was playing with Paul Revere and The Raiders. “He had never produced before and wasn’t that familiar with rock ‘n’ roll or pop music. They give him the opportunity with a new group called The Lamp of Childhood.”
Mekler’s relationship with the group was somewhat similar to that of Brian Wilson in The Beach Boys, joining The Lamp of Childhood in the studio but not participating in live work. Mekler’s piano playing was employed for several tracks and towards the end of the group’s life he also assisted with the song writing.
Little is known about the sessions that produced the band’s three obscure singles, but what can be gleaned is that Mundi stayed around long enough to appear on The Lamp of Childhood’s debut release, a low-key reading of Donovan’s “Season of The Witch” backed by Tani, Hendricks and Olson’s “You Can’t Blame Me”. It was an impressive start but the single’s failure to register on the charts that September probably played a part in Mundi’s decision to defect the following month to join Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention (and later Rhinoceros and numerous sessions).
The group carried on, working largely in the studio, and only picking up a drummer for the odd live performance. As Jim Valley suggests, the trio of Hendricks, Olson and Tani were often assisted in the studio by The Mamas and The Papas session crew, drummer Hal Blaine, pianist Larry Knechtel and bass player Joe Osborn. That at least is his recollections of one session, which he was asked to participate in playing acoustic guitar, alongside a string section.
“At one point during my year with The Raiders, I moved into an old mansion that used to belong to Greta Garbo. In the downstairs apartment lived Fred Olson [and] we became pals,” explains Valley, who was approached to join the band soon afterwards. “Gabriel and James asked me to record on one of the sessions. My time with The Raiders was becoming strained, my tunes weren’t being recorded and the group just wasn’t evolving as I felt they would or could.
“My song writing was changing due in part to my association with musicians like Gabriel and Jackson Browne and Pamela Polland, who was with a group called The Gentle Soul,” continues Valley. “So one night, Gabriel and James came over to the house very excited. They had decided that I should leave The Raiders and join The Lamp of Childhood. It felt like the right thing at the right time.”
As it was not everyone was happy about the decision to approach The Raiders’ lead guitarist. “The rest of the group wasn’t in on the decision and as it turned out Andy Wickham, the publicist from Dunhill didn’t agree with the move. He felt that Harpo from The Raiders was not the right move. So it never happened but it did show me I was ready to leave The Raiders,” says Valley.
Despite his fleeting relationship with the band, the guitarist has fond memories of the Lamp’s songs. “‘Misty Morning Eyes’ and ‘I Look For Your Smile In A Thousand Faces’ were the first recordings I heard from the group. Since 1967, I’ve never heard those songs again. I’d love to hear [them] again. Their voices were like angels and I was knocked out with their arrangements.”
Of the two songs listed, “Thousand Faces”, to give it its correct title, is a co-write between Mike Tani, James Hendricks and Gabriel Mekler. The author of the other title, however, is not known unless of course this is just a working title. The BMI, which represents, songwriters, composers and publishers, lists a number of songs written by the band’s members during this period but whether these were meant for The Lamp of Childhood and were recorded in the studio remains a mystery (and Hendricks cannot remember any titles).
To start with Mike Tani and James Hendricks co-wrote one song called “Low Down Woman” and also collaborated on another entitled “Blues for Django” with guitarist Eric Hord. The BMI lists a number of Mike Tani compositions with interesting titles like “Maybe Again”, “Prayer for Julian” and “Sad Sad Memories” but whether these songs were solo tracks, group recordings or meant for other artists is not clear.
As it was, none of the above tracks turned up on the group’s second Dunhill single, released in March 1967. Gabriel Mekler penned the A-side – “First Time, Last Time” backed by Tani, Hendricks and Olson’s “Two O’Clock In The Morning”. Once again, however, the single failed to make the charts despite both being strong numbers and coming in an attractive picture sleeve. The single, incidentally, featured new member, bass player Marty Tryon from The Purple Gang who added a fourth voice to the mix.
Back in the studio, The Lamp of Childhood recorded one final track, and arguably their finest moment on disc, “No More Running Around”, a co-write by Mekler, Hendricks and Tani, which features some fantastic piano flourishes courtesy of Mekler. Coupled with a re-release of “Two O’Clock In The Morning” on the A-side, the single was issued later that summer by which point the band had undergone a major upheaval, resulting in James Hendricks’ departure for a solo career. Like the other singles, “No More Running Around” fell on deaf ears.
In his place, Tani, Olson and Tryon recruited guitarist and singer John York (b. 3 August 1946, White Plains, New York), who had previously worked with The Bees, The Sir Douglas Quintet and The Gene Clark Group and would subsequently tour with The Mamas & The Papas and record with Johnny Rivers before joining The Byrds in late 1968 for two albums. “I joined The Lamp of Childhood after James Hendricks left,” explains York. “His girlfriend [sic] Cass Elliot wanted the band destroyed because she was mad at James and possibly because it might have been a threat to The Mamas & The Papas.”
The new line up did only one gig with a borrowed drummer at the Mount Tamalpais Festival in San Francisco in mid-June 1967. “I do remember vividly our gig at the 1967 Mount Tamalpais Music Festival,” recalled Tryon in an interview in Misty Lane issue 19. “We had to follow The Doors our first afternoon. The last song of their set was ‘Light My Fire’. We played as the people walked out. Our second afternoon, we followed The Fifth Dimension. Their last song was ‘Up Up and Away’ as skydivers with purple trails parachuted into the venue. We played as the people walked out. Talk about feeling invisible. We knew that feeling.”
According to John York, the plan was that the group would erase James Hendricks’ vocal parts on the unreleased songs and he would sing them. Apparently that was not enough for Cass and “Dunhill ‘froze’ the band for seven years.” James Hendricks, however, denies that there was any friction with Elliot and the group.
Whatever the case, the individual members went their separate ways, although Mike Tani and John York did reunite years later to work as a duo act for several years. Marty Tryon meanwhile hooked up with the remnants of John York’s former band, The Bees, now going by the name The WC Fields Electric String Band. After missing out on a chance to join Steppenwolf, he later did sessions for Simon Stokes. He currently works with the Smothers Brothers.
Olson, who moved into session work, appearing on Brewer & Shipley’s Weeds and Mike Bloomfield’s It’s Not Killing Me albums in 1969 and Southern Comfort’s eponymous debut in 1971, sadly died years later from a heroin overdose. Gabriel Mekler sadly is also no longer with us. After the band’s premature demise, he landed on his feet and found the success that he had missed with The Lamp of Childhood in his next project, the multi-million selling Steppenwolf.
As for James Hendricks – he attracted the patronage of singer Johnny Rivers, who expressed an interest in covering the singer/songwriter’s “Summer Rain”. Released as a single, it became a top 20 US smash in January 1968, and Rivers also recorded a number of Hendricks’ compositions for his new album, Rewind. Hendricks later recorded a solo album, produced by Johnny Rivers, with whom he maintained a close working relationship and he continues to record to this day.
In the months that followed The Lamp of Childhood’s demise, one final piece of work emerged on The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s album, Pure Dirt – the previously unreleased Tani, Hendricks and Olson collaboration, “You’re Gonna Get It In The End”. And apart from the inclusion of “No More Running Around” on the Dunhill Records’ sampler, The Penny Arcade, that’s all that’s been heard from a group that promised so much but never achieved its full potential.
Many thanks to James Hendricks, Jim Valley, Brian Hogg, Mike Paxman, John York, Marty Tryon.
Randy Fuller with New Buffalo Springfield, Spring 1969. Clockwise from top: Dewey Martin, Bob Jones, David Price and Randy FullerWhen Texan rock legend Bobby Fuller was found dead in his car on 18 July 1966 in suspicious circumstances, those nearest and dearest were devastated, not least his younger brother Randy, who had also been bass player in the aptly named, Bobby Fuller Four. From the early 1960s up until his brother’s untimely, and yet to be solved, death, Randy Fuller was Bobby’s closest collaborator and during those frenetic years of recording and touring witness to his brother’s extensive talents as a singer/songwriter, guitarist and skilled engineer and producer.
In the first few months following his brother’s death, Randy Fuller came close to jacking in the music career he had so cherished when Bobby was alive. “I came home to El Paso with no idea what I was going to do with my life,” says Fuller. “I felt like I was going to go insane because my mother was having such a hard time over Bobby.”
Later that autumn, however, Randy received a phone call from Bobby Fuller Four member DeWayne Bryant (aka Quirico) and Bob Keane, who ran Del-Fi studios, to return to Hollywood and form a new group with some musicians that Quirico had been playing gigs with in the intervening months. “Keane said that if I came back he could get us back in PJ’s nightclub,” remembers Fuller.
To stimulate some local interest in the new group, prior to it playing live, Keane financed some studio time to record a handful of tracks in late 1966. For these recordings, the studio band consisted of Randy Fuller on bass, rhythm guitar and lead vocals; DeWayne Quirico on drums; Howard Steele on bass; and Mike Ciccarelli on lead guitar and vocals.
“The musicians on all the songs were from El Paso, Texas but [they] never stayed together long enough to promote them [the singles],” explains Fuller, who points out the recordings were all laid down in the final days of the studio’s existence.
The first single to be released (under Randy’s name only on the obscure Mustang label) was the catchy “It’s Love, Come What May”. “[That] is the original track from Bobby Fuller Four recorded at Del-Fi,” says Fuller. “Bob Keane and I recorded my voice on a separate track and remixed it a little louder than Bobby’s in the final mix.”
An infectious folk-rocker, “It’s Love, Come What May” should have been a smash hit but mysteriously did not attract many sales. Unperturbed, Keane prepared a second single coupling Randy Fuller and Johnny Daniel’s “The Things You Do” with another collaboration “Now She’s Gone” but it appears the Mustang release never hit the shops.
Interestingly, Randy Fuller reveals that two of soul music’s heavy weights had a hand in the creative process. “[On] ‘The Things You Do’, Barry White and Dionne Warwick threw in a line or two.”
Events meanwhile were about to take a dark turn. When Del-Fi was forced to close in early 1967, Keane, unbeknown to Fuller, began to issue the recordings through the Show Town and President labels. “Del-Fi went under and Bob kept the masters in a vault,” explains Fuller. “I [later] found out he had been selling these [singles] over in the UK for years!”
Perhaps the most fascinating of these releases are the trippy, Buffalo Springfield-influenced, “1,000 Miles Into Space”, which features some tasty lead guitar work and superb lead vocal by Randy, and “Revelation”.
While Keane was busy releasing the tracks on the sly, Fuller and Quirico began working back at PJ’s joined by guitarists Jim Fonseca and Jimmy Smith. The line up played at the club for nearly two years and according to Fuller, “We probably would have had a hit or two, but as usual ego destroyed the band.”
Left without a band, Randy hooked up with Dewey Martin’s New Buffalo Springfield in February 1969 and toured with this group for the best part of the year, before it morphed into Blue Mountain Eagle. Fuller’s new band recorded an excellent album for Atco Records in 1970 with the bass player’s “Sweet Mama” providing one of the highlights.
Unlike Blue Mountain Eagle’s album, which has been released on CD, very few of The Randy Fuller Four recordings have reached a wider audience via compilation CDs. Perhaps now is the time to rediscover the magic of this material, especially “It’s Love, Come What May” and “1,000 Miles In Space”.
Blue Mountain Eagle, December 1969, Randy Fuller second from left.
Solo releases:
It’s Love, Come What May (actually Bobby Fuller Four with Randy’s overdubbed vocals) c/w Wolfman (Mustang 3020) 1966 US (credited to Randy Fuller) The Things You Do c/w Now She’s Gone (Mustang 3023) 1966 US (credited to Randy Fuller Four but not released) It’s Love, Come What May c/w Revelation (Show Town 466) 1967 US (credited to Randy Fuller) It’s Love, Come What May c/w The Things You Do (President PT 111) 1967 UK (credited to Randy Fuller) 1,000 Miles In Space c/w 1,000 Miles In Space (Show Town 482) 1967 US (credited to Randy Fuller)
Many thanks to Randy Fuller for his invaluable input into this story.
Transfer and scan of “1,000 Miles in Space” courtesy of Colin (Expo67), transfer of “Revelation” courtesy of Bård H., scan courtesy of Freddy Fortune. “Wolfman” scan and transfer courtesy of JP Coumans.
The great b-side “Wolfman”, a Bobby Fuller Four recording originally released as by the Shindigs on the flip of “Thunder Reef”, Mustang 3003 and used again on Randy Fuller’s first 45.
Gemcor was a short-lived label based out of Bill Bell’s studio on Melrose in Los Angeles. It had one of the coolest label designs of the 60’s. There were only three releases on Gemcor, and two are very well known to fans of garage rock.
One of these is the Rumors 45, “Hold Me Now” / “Without Her”, among my very favorite 45s of the ’60s. (I still don’t have a copy of it. Anyone have a spare?) Another is the common and excellent Beckett Quintet 45, “No Correspondence”.
Billboard, July 31, 1965
The very first 45 on the label is almost unknown, however, with Eddie Burkey performing two of his original instrumentals. “Stepping Stones” is a melange of surf, brass and strings, but Eddie cuts loose some ripping guitar lines here and there. The flip is the lighter “Emerald Shadows”.
It turns out Ed Burkey is credited with arranging the Rumor’s “Hold Me Now”, and actually played lead and rhythm guitar on both sides, including the wild reverbed solo on “Hold Me Now”. That solo alone ensures his musical immortality in my book!
Billboard, September 11, 1965
I’ve read that Ed Burkey played with the Ventures but can’t find any confirmation of that. He did cut three instrumentals for the Downey label that went unreleased at the time, now compiled on the Ace CD “Intoxica! Strange and Sleazy Instrumentals From the SoCal Suburbs”. Two of these are loaded with overdubs and experimental sounds. Interestingly, the third is labeled “Dreams of Downey” but seems to be identical to “Stepping Stones”.
Eddie’s early groups included drummer Jim Lewallen, related to the Tucson, Arizona Lewallen Brothers who recorded for Splitsound Records.
Gemcor discography:
5001 Eddie Burkey – Stepping Stones / Emerald Shadows 5002 Rumors – Hold Me Now (Ben Turner) / Without Her (written by Norman Prinsky, credited to “Richards”) 5003 Beckett Quintet – No Correspondence (Tim Taylor) / It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
Sources include: Norman Prinsky’s article on the Rumors. Billboard mentions Herbert L. Sokol and Walter Nelson as other executives with Gemcor.
Since writing the above summary, I heard from Eddie’s longtime collaborator, Les Roberts, who kindly gave a fuller picture of their music and shared his personal photos:
“Eddie (with my Gibson), my Mom and younger sister”Tony Taylor, Les Roberts and Eddie BurkeyOur business cardAngelus 45 recorded at Whitney Recording, courtesy Jim LewallenLes Roberts onstageThe Del-Tones, circa mid-1970sLes Roberts and Dick Dale
Hmmm, don’t know where to start, except from the beginning!
Eddie was born 1945 in Akron, OH. I was born 1947 in Middletown, OH (between Cincinnati and Dayton). We are not brothers, but might as well have been.
We moved to Downey, CA in 1960. I had been learning guitar for a while and Eddie finally became interested when I learned to played “Bulldog” & “Torque” by the Fireballs. We only had the one guitar and to the surprise and wonderment of family and friends, we were both playing songs, simultaneously on the one guitar. We would switch off on lead and rhythm. It was pretty cool.
December of that year I bought a Gibson Melody Maker solid body ($89.00). Now we had two guitars!
We began playing for friends, BBQ’s and finally a “sock-hop”. Eddie and I were the GoldenAires. By 1964 we had incorporated a drummer (Jim Lewallen) and bass player (Tony Taylor), both from Twenty Nine Palms, CA. They had some connections in 29 Palm and we started getting Friday and Saturday night gigs in the area. Up to and including Disneyland. Most of our music was Ventures, Duane Eddy, Dick Dale, and lots of surf music. He became “Eddie Ladd” and I “Les Roberts”. It was fun, no big deal and we were getting paid to do what was easy! By this time each of us had bought custom made Fender Jaguars and Fender Dual Showman amps. His was Candy Apple Red and mine was Metal Flake Blue.
I had started a carpet cleaning business which was making a lot of money and spent a lot of time involved with that. I knew the Chanteys band members and the Rumblers because of some business I had done with Downey Records, which was run by an interesting individual Bill Wenzel. Bill had a record store, Wenzel Music Town, and in a backroom he had set up a small 6’ x 10’ sound room to record in. He had an Ampex recorder and the local groups would come in for $30/hr to record their music. Eddie had bought an Echo machine (tape loop-like that used by Jordan Ingman – “Apache”) and was doing some great licks. The Rumbler’s even used him in some of their recordings.
at Whitney Recording: (l-r) Tony Taylor, Les Roberts, Eddie Burkey and Jim Lewallen
The studio photo was taken at Whitney Recording Studio in Glendale, CA. around December 1964. Tony Taylor was the bassist. Eddie and I traded lead/rhythm. The studio was a gas! The main studio was almost 50’ x 50’. Great acoustics! At the time our manager, Herb Sokol, was financing the group: recording cost(s), uniforms, musical necessities etc. He had sold Scott Seely (Accent Records) on a recording contract. At the time we had finished recording “Madhatter”, “What He Said”, “Watermelon Man” and “Soundin’ Loud”.
The Goldenaires’ Angelus Records 45, recorded at Whitney Recording courtesy Jim Lewallen
Eddie and I were not yet of legal age to sign contracts, so the matter went to the parents and Herb Sokol. Being the fact Herb fronted the money for almost everything, the contract showed the greater percentage of “artist” royalties would go to him until he had recouped his investment (I thought this was reasonable). The parents did not agree. As a result, even though Scott Seely had already signed the contract, to our dismay, it later ended up being trashed.
Not a big issue with Scott Seely, as he had just signed Buddy Merrill. Man, what talent that kid had! He was recording pretty much in the same manner that Eddie and I was doing (Les Paul-type sound-on-sound recording).
Eddie and I were recording some various songs for “future” work. On a couple visits when I could not make it to the studio, Eddie would start laying down the tracks for “Emerald Shadows” and “Thunderhead”. “Thunderhead” was the song that Eddie later edited and called: “Stepping Stones”. (Years later he renamed it; “Memories of Downey”). I loved “Emerald Shadows” as I was a big Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman fan and thought we could edge our music more toward a “tropical” sound.
A few months later Eddie briefly teamed up with Gemcor Records and released the songs around 1965 (Stepping Stone & Emerald Shadows). Another piece of info: Eddie designed the GEMCOR label. If he was involved in any other aspect with Gemcor, I was not aware of the arrangement.
To my knowledge Eddie never worked for or played with the Ventures. They opened an office in L.A. next door to the Mosrite Guitar business office, where we met Semie Moseley, the owner and shortly thereafter Don Wilson and Jerry McGee (who did keyboard and backup guitar work for the group).
Eddy was drafted in 1965 and I enlisted in 1966. Eddie married his high school sweetheart Karen in 1966, while on leave and before going to Vietnam. He settled down in Monterey, CA after the Army and I, after my discharge, in the L.A. area. Eddie was doing some graphic arts design, I was unsure of what I wanted to do, but not too long after Karen gave birth to Brandon, Eddie and Karen moved down to the L.A. area where Eddie and I started Town & Country Apartment Care – something to finance our waning music business.
One Wednesday night we heard of a night club that had a talent contest and opted to go. The house band (which was country) asked if we would like to go to an after-hours jam. Sure! we said. There we met up with Dewayne [Quirico] (drummer for the Bobby Fuller Four), plus some other well know country entertainers who we ended up jamming with for the rest of the night and many times thereafter. It was as if we were an overnight success! We backed a young lady named Trudy Martin and another gent named Ralph Raymonds.
Within a few weeks we were Trudy and Ralph’s back-up band, along with Paul Crum on flat-top guitar and Bobby Fierro on drums. We became: “Rockin’ Country” and was hired as the house band for a nightclub in Azusa CA. We did this gig with great success, for about two years. Ralph and Trudy went in one direction, Eddie and I in another. We tried some gigs as a Trio but things had changed and the “sound” just wasn’t there. I was offered and accepted a job to go on the road with Dick Dale; Eddie took a job playing lead for Barbara Stanton.
Dick Dale’s producer/manager was a cool gent named Jim Pewter, who was also the producer for Jan & Dean, so needless to say we did appearances together. Dick Dale was under contract to perform in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe, which is what I did up until I realized I was going nowhere. Making great money, but going nowhere! I had moved to Lake Tahoe because it was a reasonable commute between Reno and Las Vegas but had lost track of Eddie. Finally, in 1977 I decided (at 30), I was getting too old for this, and with the approval of my wife, stopped the music business (cold turkey) and went back to college, under the GI bill, finished my degree and took my life into a different direction.
I seldom play music, as I have left that to my two sons, both of whom are heavily involved with the trade. I now live in Madera County, just a few miles from Yosemite Nat’l Park (south entrance), and work as a Safety Consultant for Pacific Gas & Electric Company.
I ran into Eddie in 1983 (in L.A.), he had teamed up with a very talented young lady (Leslie) who played piano, wrote music and they clicked (so to speak). They had a lounge act that lasted for a spell and then, for whatever reason, dissolved. Eddie remarried and to my knowledge still lives in the L.A. area.
Eddie Burkey was one hell of a guitar player, with an imagination to go with it. I have hundreds of hours of recordings, we made between 1963-1974, which I sometime load on the old TEAC and listen. I had pictured him going far, but that was our teenaged dreams.
As I look back, it all seemed to have started with that one song: “Bulldog”.
The Darnells circa 1962, clockwise from top L: Tom Hahn, Mike Blattner, Bruce Wells, unknown (sax), center: Denny King (photo courtesy Bruce Wells).
These Darnells (unrelated to the ones on Gordy) began in Milwaukee as Denny & the Darnells circa 1959, with various musicians (including future Legends drummer Jim Sessody) passing through the band. The line-up that went into the Cuca studios to record the first single consisted of lead guitarist Denny King, tenor saxophonist Tom Fabre, singer Gary Lane, Bruce Wells on piano, Norm Sherian on rhythm guitar, and Jerry Sworske on drums. The A-side is their remake of Gene Vincent’s “Little Sheila”, while the instrumental flip is a Latin standard, featuring the jazz oriented sax-man Fabre.
Mike Blattner eventually replaced Sworske on drums, and singer Kim Marie was a member when they played off-night gigs at the Spa on 5th & Wisconsin in September 1962. Our Florida band, the Nightbeats, was touring through Milwaukee’s ACA agency, and they had booked us into the Spa for two weeks. We were looking for a different guitar man and King was looking for steady work, so he joined our band, putting a temporary end to the Darnells. However, five months later King and I left the Nightbeats to reform the Darnells as a trio, with bassist Tom Hahn. Hahn had already been out to Southern California with the Bonnevilles and he wanted to make another trip in order to obtain a Mexican divorce from his estranged wife. A SoCal trip sounded great to Denny and me, so in May 1963 we headed west and landed a gig for the summer at the Firehouse, a beer bar on 17th Street in Costa Mesa.
On the referral of the Nightbeats’ bass player, we connected with the Tide label in L.A. and recorded eight sides – two instrumentals and a pair of vocals by each of us. “Spooner”, the first instrumental, is an up-tempo, surfy, 12-bar blues guitar rocker. The flip is another 12-bar blues, this time a slightly jazzy mid-tempo swing. Denny King’s “She’s My Girlfriend” is teenish, while the flip has the flavor of Troy Shondell’s “This Time”. My own release is teen pop with added strings and voices. To my knowledge, Hahn’s vocals were the only cuts not released from those sessions.
We returned to Milwaukee that fall and, in January 1964, Hahn and I left to join the Cashmeres, bringing a final end to the Darnells. The Cashmeres metamorphosized into the Mojo Men (who later evolved into the Portraits with releases on Sidewalk). Hahn left the Mojo Men and did some work in Memphis with Ace Cannon (“Tuff,” 1962) before leaving the music business and settling in Michigan. After doing some club work with country singer Johnny Carver, Denny King returned to California and teamed up with the Canadian Beadles (sic), whom we had previously met in Ishpeming, Michigan. That combination recorded one single for Tide as the Mojo Men, but they had no connection with the Milwaukee Mojo Men. (It seems that Tide Records, having had their only national chart appearance with Larry Bright’s “Mojo Workout” in 1960, tried to capitalize on the “Mojo” name in every possible way).
After his solo recording for Specialty in 1972, King moved to the Sacramento area and formed a booking agency. He later imported medical supplies from Korea and had other business involvements before he died in 2000; Mike Blattner died in 2004. Gary Lane had gone on to work with the Mad Lads and the Saints Five, and later owned a club in Milwaukee. Besides the Darnells, Jerry Sworske had drummed with several other Milwaukee bands, including the Noblemen and Junior & the Classics. He later became a police officer. Tom Fabre moved to Los Angeles and continued in music until his death in 2007. Kim Marie has organized frequent oldies shows in Milwaukee since 2000. This writer has lived in the greater L.A. area since 1965, played full-time until 1982, and part-time since then.
Darnells releases:
Sara 1055: Little Sheila/Besame Mucho, 11/61 Tide 1090: Spooner/Sleepy, 9/63
Related:
Tide 1091: She’s My Girlfriend/Long Lonely Night (Denny King), /63 Edit 2005: Poor Little Baby/If (You’d Only Be Mine) (Gary Myers), 11/63 Tide 2000: Surfin’ Fat Man/Paula (Mojo Men), 2/64 Tide 2001: Mojo Workout/I Got A Woman (Tommy Hahn & the Mojo Men), 5/64 Specialty 726: Bessie Mae/Go Down Moses (Denny King), /72 Specialty LP 5003: Evil Wind Is Blowing (Denny King), /72
Gary E. Myers is author of two histories of Wisconsin music of the 50’s & 60’s, “Do You Hear That Beat” and “On That Wisconsin Beat”, as well as two instructional books, “Understanding and Using Chords and Chord Progressions” and “Understanding and Using Scales and Modes”. Check Gary’s website for more information.
Darnells in Appleton: Tom Hahn, Gary Myers, Denny KingDarnells 1963: Tom Hahn, Gary Myers, Denny King
Here’s an obscurity by the Disillusioned Younger Generation from Eagle Rock, California, in the hills of northeast Los Angeles, near Pasadena. Band members were:
Dennis Moore – vocals and lead guitar Dave Lobrano – rhythm guitar John McMullen – bass Greg Lobrano – drums
The songs were recorded at Custom Fidelity Studios in Pasadena and released on the custom DYG label. The great track here is “Who Do You Think You’re Foolin'” while the flip “A Man” is good but drags a bit.
Rhythm guitarist Dave Lobrano wrote to me:
I started playing guitar in 1964 at the tender age of 14. About 2 years later, my brother Greg got interested in music and started banging on the drums. We would spend many hours together practicing and having fun.
In 1966, my sister’s husband John decided to try his hand at playing the bass guitar. Soon we formed a three-man band calling ourselves “The Stubs”. We played at parties and had a lot of fun. Then one day we got a call from a guy about our band. We met up with him and found out that he played guitar and would like to join us. He was a pretty good guitar player and he liked to sing. So, we continued to play at parties, dances, and for anyone who wanted to hear us play.
Dennis was a talented guy and wrote several songs. We decided to change the name of the band. We were contacted by a nice lady and her husband. They really liked the band, and asked us if we would be interested in someone to help promote our music. Well, we agreed to it and together they got us several gigs to play. They really liked the song “Who Do You Think You’re Foolin'” and set us up for a recording session. That was in 1967. The record was released somewhere in Texas. I guess it never really took off. A few months after the recording, the band broke up. Greg and I never heard from Dennis again, he moved away. I continued to play but only at home and with friends. I still enjoy guitar playing all these years later.
A blog called CoInside has a good story about finding 28 copies of this record for $5 and selling them off for a small fortune.
The Missing Links have this one excellent 45 on Discovery Records, released possibly in October, 1965. The band is unknown. This record was erroneously listed as from Texas, but California is much more likely, as the Discovery label was from the Los Angeles area.
On the top side is “You’ve Got Your Rosies On”, a nicely produced tune where the singer makes it clear his girl shouldn’t expect much of him, while the girl’s voice chimes in asides like “too bad.” It was written by R. Jarrard and James Hilton and arranged by James Hilton, and published by Jarhill Pub. Co., BMI.
I never thought I’d make a record babe, but look at Sonny and Cher, They had something to say, now I’ve got something to say to you, Babe, you’re expecting too much, so take off your rose-colored glasses, See me as I really am.
You’ve got your rosies on …
Spend all day writing songs, changing worlds, righting wrongs, Everyday it’s ‘get a job’, but I can’t see this working hard, Ain’t me babe, that ain’t me babe..
Wear those funny way-out clothes, my girl says ‘what are those?’ What I am, no I explain, cause your ideas can’t make me change It’s me babe, ah it’s me babe.
Expecting things from a guy like me, causes problems can’t you see, Wear my hair mighty long, need that hair to sing this song to you babe, Just to you babe, oh yeah,
What I’m saying in this song, is maybe I’m right, maybe you’re wrong And just because my pockets are bare, that don’t mean I ain’t going nowhere. I’m going somewhere, oh yeah, I’m goin’ somewhere …
If you don’t want me you don’t have to come at all, But if you want me, you better take off your glasses babe, See me as I really am…
“They Say You Lie” is the opposite of the light-hearted top side. It’s a brooding song, with slashing guitar chords, pounding toms and self-pitying vocals that rise for the chorus “but they say … you lie, you lie”. The guitar solo has a matching intensity. It was written by D. Abrahamsen and N. Nissenson. Both sides were produced by James Becht.
Here’s an obscure 45 by the Fellowship, one side a version of Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman” with a full band, the other a more fanciful number with only acoustic instruments backing the vocals. “Palace of the King” was written by J. Treese, possibly Jack Treese, an american musician who had a long career in France.
One notable thing about this release is it’s on the Miramar label, most famous for releases by the Dovers. See the separate article on Miramar for more info.
Tony Cary produced all the Dovers 45s as well as the Road Runners, Nick Hoffman and Fellowship records on Miramar. He went on to produce the Alexander’s Timeless Bloozband Lp on UNI, released 1968 and Charles Lamont’s solo LP from 1969, A Legend In His Own Time.
This 45 came from a collection of 45s owned by Bob Buchanan, who co-authored “Hickory Wind” with Gram Parsons and played in the New Christy Minstrels for some time, as well as the International Submarine Band. Perhaps he played on this session? The other 45s in the collection were by the New Christy Minstrels, Brewer and Brewer, and Mike McGinnis.
Max Waller suggests there may be a connection to another Fellowship 45, “You Laughed At Me” / ? on Film Town 6169 from July 1969.
Thank you to Jason Sweitzer for help with information about Tony Cary.
The Sedate Sunshine Colony, 1966, l-r: Woody Bell, Jeff Anderson, Pat Erickson, Craig Anderson, Jonnie Sue Bartel and Chuck Zendner
The Sedate Sunshine Colony came from Kingsburg, just southeast of Fresno. Their time together is documented in these photos and a tape of a fascinating live show from April, 1968. The band chose some very unusual songs to cover live, including the Grass Roots’ “Where Are You”, the Byrds’ “Thoughts and Words” and the Peanut Butter Conspiracy’s “Dark On You Now”, making for a portrait of the underground side of pop music during that time. They could really rock out on songs like “Slow Down” and “Evil Hearted You”, or play very delicate pieces like “Summertime”.
The most noteworthy songs on the tape are the originals, all written by guitarist and vocalist Craig Anderson: “Change Yourself for the World”, “Visionary Pumpkin”, and “Bentley Road”. They show Craig to be a distinctive and creative songwriter, and the band capable of a range of textures and styles to suit each composition.
Bassist and vocalist Jeff Anderson gives the history of the group in his own words:
One of the greatest joys of my life was playing in a rock ‘n roll band in the 60’s. Music was just exploding and influences were coming from all over the world. People were only then learning how to play guitar and structure songs and the evolution was quite remarkable. Anyone in a band had grandiose visions of becoming the next Beatles.
My brother Craig and I started our first group, I think in 1962, as ‘the Schillings’. It was an instrumental group that did mainly the usual stuff from the Ventures, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, etc. We had Craig and I on guitars, a bass player that was so bad we actually had him bring in his tuba and play the bass part on that, drums and sax. We then morphed into ‘the Eccentrics’ and later ‘the Essence Reality’ where I took over on bass and we brought in another guitar player, Harvey Adair. The drummer, Russ Zakarian, is now the drummer for the Sedate Sunshine Colony’s current project and was the drummer for our 2004 reunion concert.
The Sedate Sunshine Colony was comprised of Pat Erickson (vocals & flute), Craig Anderson (vocals & guitar), Woody Bell (vocals), Jeff Anderson (vocals & bass), Jonnie Sue Bartell (keyboard & vocals), and Chuck Zendner (drums). We played in the Fresno area, but all of us came from the small town of Kingsburg, California. The band was together from 1965-1969.
l-r: Pat Erickson, Jeff Anderson, Chuck Zendner, Craig Anderson, Jonnie Sue Bartel and Woody Bell.
The Sedate Sunshine Colony was the first band for Pat Erickson, Jonnie Sue Bartell, and Chuck Zendner. I think Woody Bell may have been in a sort of band prior to SSC. Pat was actually in a folk group with my brother, called the Four-tells.
We were a folk-rock band with psychedelic overtones. Folkadelic, I would call it. Above all, we had vocals. Five out of the six of us could sing and harmony was what we did best. We were learning to play our instruments, just like everyone else, and we did ok with one guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and flute. We mostly covered other music, but my brother Craig was a good writer, and we ended up doing quite a few original songs.
We played at dances, proms, picnics and just about everywhere including local fairs. We usually got paid about $100 for the whole band, while performing for about 3-4 hours. When the songs were only 2-3 minutes long, we had to know lots of music.
We were good friends, had a lot of fun, and somehow, almost all of us avoided the booze and drugs that were starting to happen with the music scene.
We continued to increase our fan base over the years and in the summer of 1967 the band caught the eye of a local TV producer. The group appeared on the ‘Dick Carr Show’ in 1967, making their first and only TV appearance. The Dick Carr TV show was a local Fresno show with viewers from Bakersfield to Sacramento (San Joaquin Valley). I would have loved to get my hands on the tape of that show. It was a 30 minute segement where SSC performed three songs totally live. We played two cover songs and one original. It was written by Craig, called ‘Visionary Pumpkin’ and featured a flute solo by Pat. The drummer, Chuck, borrowed the timpani drums from the high school band, and let it rip.
The Sedate Sunshine Colony competed in a number of ‘battle of the bands’ against a wide variety of local groups around Fresno, including rock, soul, psychedelic, & folk-rock. Other bands that we competed with or were friends with were local bands, such as the Accents, Twelve Miles Out, and Jim K and the Vibradors. Our best outing was a 3rd place finish in a large competition in Visalia in 1968. We decided to play four songs, without a break, with transitions that Craig designed. The winning group was a soul band that had about ten members, including a full horn and brass section and Hammond organ.
l-r: Jeff Anderson, Pat Erickson, Craig Anderson and Woody Bell.
The cassette recording date was April 25th, 1968 at the Dinuba Memorial Auditorium, Dinuba, California. A reel to reel recorder was set up with two mics out on the dance floor, about 20 feet from the band. About 15 years after the recording was made, I copied it onto cassette and that sat around getting old for a long time. No wonder it sounds so bad.
The complete song list on the tape is as follows: Dark On You Now, Thoughts and Words, As Tears Go By, Evil Hearted You, Visionary Pumpkin, Where Were You, Change Yourself for the World, Whittier Blvd, Bentley Road, Summertime, Different Drum, Run for Your Life, Slow Down, Whiskey Man, Break on Through, My Back Pages, Soul Kitchen, and Morning Dew.
I asked Jeff to comment on individual tracks on the live tape:
“Dark On You Now” has always been one of my favorite songs to do, simply because I can selfishly wail on bass. If I had my way, I would be Jack Cassidy from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna on every song. I always felt that SSC could really rock if it just let itself go, but it didn’t happen as often as I wanted. I was thinking of sending a copy of Dark On You Now to the Peanut Butter Conspiracy for a laugh. I’m sure nobody covered their song. We changed it quite a bit as well.
“Thoughts and Words” … This recording was a bit experimental, as I tried to make up and sing the counter melody you can hear…I wasn’t even sure of the words.
“Where Were You” was done by the Grassroots in mid-60’s. Our band was infamous for choosing obscure songs on an album that never got any air time. So, a lot of it sounded original.
“Visionary Pumpkin” … My brother Craig, used to set his alarm at about 3 AM so he could wake up and remember whatever he was dreaming about. Then he would turn on the light and write a song about it. I was upset and amazed by this. I think “Visionary Pumpkin” came from one of those nights. He tried to come up with words, but in the end, the melody was good enough. We had a fine flute player in Pat and he was looking for a showcase for it and this was it. We did this song on the Dick Carr TV show in 1966 or 67. Chuck, our drummer, borrowed the tampani drums from high school band and dragged them in to get more dramatic. I wished I had a stand up bass with a bow to play the bass part. On the tape, the bass lines sustain without hearing individual picking, as I used a felt pick and played very fast, back and forth like on the lead guitar on surf music (Pipeline).
Q. Because of the flute “Visionary Pumpkin” vaguely reminds me of California Dreaming, but there seems to be other inspirations – Gabor Szabo or Charles Lloyd Quartet, or Sandy Bull maybe?
I don’t think any of us had any jazz influence for this song. Pat was just good on flute and later graduated with a music degree in flute performance. You should have heard her senior recital.
“Whittier Blvd.” It was lots of fun to really rock. The organ was never loud enough, as Jonnie Sue was a concert pianist and had very little interest in rock music. She sort of hung in the background. Craig was always having trouble with his fuzztone.
“Bentley Road” is another original of Craig’s, which became the name of his band that recorded those 2 songs [the 45 for Forward Records]. It’s a very dark number about an aging maid that gets in a car with seven men and never comes back. The song is not complete as the tape ended in the middle and had to be flipped over. That’s why the quality of the sound improves briefly. Craig redid the song a couple of years ago.
The group broke up in 1968 and most of us continued in music. Craig got his college degree in music composition at Fresno State College. You couldn’t believe his senior recital. It was 1969 and he got most of us in the band to do a short film with weird images. Pat was in a wedding dress rolling down a sand dune. I was in a suit and tie running from something chasing me and end up falling into a huge mud puddle! Craig then composed four songs with differing moods. He took each scene in the movie and made it a different color…red for anger, blue for joy or whatever. He then showed the film while directing the college choir singing the songs. It sounded a little like the choir on 2001 (A Space Odyssey). He says he still has the film and I plan to borrow it and use it for some kind of music video for one of our new songs.
Craig formed a new band with Pat (vocalist) and Jonnie Sue (keyboard) and moved to LA to make it big. Dave Nyberg also went along for the event. They asked me to go along, but I was getting married and needed to finish college. I knew it was the end of the music road for me and I sold both my 1964 Fender Precision Bass and my 1967 ‘blackface’ Fender Bassman for about what I had paid for them. I have kicked myself so many times about this over the years.
Anderson, l-r: Pat Erickson, David Nyberg, Craig Anderson and Jonnie Sue Bartel.
The band, called Anderson, played in many clubs, such as the Wine Cellar in Westwood. They changed their name to ‘Bentley Road’ and signed a recording contract and a management contract with Nick St. Nicholas, the bass player for Steppenwolf.
They recorded two songs, the first, written by the producer, was called “Michael, Michael”. It was a pop song and the label chose this song to push. The flip side was written by Craig, called “Kill the Cobra” and showed what the band could do creatively. It also demonstrated their expertise playing their instruments. Because the first song failed to gain any traction, “Kill the Cobra” didn’t have a chance.
The band became very disenchanted with the label and recorded no more songs. They continued writing and performing for several years, while Craig produced and recorded their songs in his own studio. They broke up in 1975.
The lead singer, Pat, stayed in LA and has been quite successful over the years. She sang back-up vocals for Pat & Debbie Boone, Tony Orlando, and Charlie Rich. Pat appeared many times on TV shows, such as the ‘Johnny Carson Show’ and was a consistent studio back-up vocalist on many records. She continues to make her living through music.
After SSC broke up, the drummer and I started a new SSC with four new members. We had some ability and talent, but didn’t take it as seriously as we should have. We played at a few college dances and broke up in 1971.
Since then, I have played little music, but have dabbled in it for years. I would pick up a bass here, and an amp a few years later and play with friends a couple times a year. I still wanted to play.
[The band reunited for the first time in August, 2004 for a concert at the city park in Kingsburg, producing a CD and DVD of the event.]
In 2007 our high school class of ’67 had its 40th reunion and the Sedate Sunshine Colony was the entertainment for the evening. The concert went very well and the highlight was the debut of a song I wrote just for the event, called “Summer of ‘67”. It was well received.
Partly due to the excitement of performing an original tune, the band has decided to enter the studio in May of 2008 and record an album of 12 original songs. It was quite a job deciding on the songs, as 4 of us have been writing songs for a long time. We are excited and hopeful for the result, but the joy of playing together again after so many years is the real pay-off. Stay tuned for a studio update…
Jeff Anderson
The 2004 reunion, Kingsburg, l-r: Jeff Anderson, Pat Erickson, Woody Bell and Craig Anderson
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 Liberty Lads were from the Liberty Farms and Dixon area east of Vacaville. In 1965, like many bands from the area, they recorded at Bill Rase’s studio on Franklin Blvd in Sacramento, a package deal of a few hours recording time and 45s on a custom label to sell at their shows.
Here’s an obscurity by the Disillusioned Younger Generation from Eagle Rock, California, in the hills of northeast Los Angeles, near Pasadena. Band members were:
On the top side is “You’ve Got Your Rosies On”, a nicely produced tune where the singer makes it clear his girl shouldn’t expect much of him, while the girl’s voice chimes in asides like “too bad.” It was written by R. Jarrard and James Hilton and arranged by James Hilton, and published by Jarhill Pub. Co., BMI.
One notable thing about this release is it’s on the Miramar label, most famous for releases by the Dovers. See 
