The Snakes, from left: unidentified woman, Cecil Cotten, unidentified man in white coat, Keith Ferguson (on floor), Steve Karnavas (seated in barber’s chair) and Benny Rowe
In 1969, four Texans formed a band in San Francisco known as Benny, Cecil and the Snakes. I believe the group’s name was a take on the popular cartoon, Beany and Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent by Bob Clampett.
Members were:
Cecil Cotten of the Briks on vocals Benny Rowe of the Wig and a later lineup of the Jackals on lead guitar Steve Karnavas of the Chaparrals on drums Keith Ferguson – previously with Johnny Winter, and later with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, on bass
Keystone Korner, July 1970, photo taken by Fred King, used with permissionThey played parties for for the Rip Off Press and opened shows for Boz Scaggs, including at the Keystone Korner in July of 1970. Reese Wymans and George Raines of Boz’s band would sit in with the Snakes on occasion.
I found a few published notices for the band:
Benny, Cecil and the Snakes shared a bill on July 24, 1970 with Joy of Cooking at the New Orleans House on San Pablo in Berkeley.
They played for a Young Replublicans of Santa Clara event at the Ramada Inn on November 13, 1970!
July 1-4, 1971 they opened for Charlie Musselwhite at In Your Ear, 135 University Avenue in Palo Alto.
In a February 1971 feature in the San Francisco Examiner, Kathy Goss described the band playing a Bastille Day party at the Pacific Heights mansion she shared at 2300 Pacific before it was torn down. The photo at top was taken at this mansion, I believe; the unidentified man in the white coat was a tenant there. It’s worth quoting a small part of that article:
Maurice and Stanford, the owners of a shop that had recently moved from Union Street to upper Fillmore, had a gigantic French flag that they wanted us to hang outside the mansion for Bastille Day. And so we decided to have a Bastille Day party, and to invite not only our personal friends, but also people who we thought would enjoy having their minds blown by a beautiful, free, colorful party. The house was hung with banners of red felt and velvet, the tables were laden with food.
Benny, Cecil and the Snakes, a fine band and good friends of the house, began playing in the late afternoon. The rooms were filled with shifting images and colors of a light show, and we reveled in the blend of wildly costumed guests of all ages and pursuits who danced and talked and generally enjoyed themselves, sharing in the excitement and energy and splendor of the mansion.
Some unreleased tapes exist of rehearsals and live shows, including one that may have been recorded at the Pacific St. mansion.
Thank you to Wm. Lewis Wms for sending the photos that Cecil Cotten shared with him, and for much of the information in this post.
I’d appreciate more info on Benny, Cecil and the Snakes.
The Snakes, from left: Keith Ferguson, Steve Karnavas, Cecil Cotten and Benny Rowe
The Trophies released one single in October, 1965, “With a Love” backed with the uptempo “C’mon Little Lady”.
If the members were also the song writers, then the band included:
George Jevicky Andy Martin Daniel Nasimento
Geo. Jevicky, Andy Martin wrote the moody “With a Love” published by Blue Coast Music, administered by SESAC. Daniel Mascimento wrote “C’mon Little Lady” published by Duval BMI.
This is the only release on the Golden Sound label that I know of, GS 1011.
Teen Beat Mayhem lists the band’s location as San Francisco, California, but the label credits read “produced by Suwanee Songs, Lenoir City, Tennessee”.
I’d like to know how a San Francisco band wound up on a label out of Lenoir City, a small metropolis southwest of Knoxville.
I found a previously unknown poster for Martha’s Laundry on Sunday, September 24, 1967. The venue was The Balloon at 1031 Kearny in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.
The Red Balloon at 1031 Kearny St., in 1964
The building still exists. When it opened as The Red Balloon on April 1, 1953, it was an indoor amusement center. By 1967, the name shortened to The Balloon, and the entertainment had changed to “Topless Games” including “topless ping pong”. In April 1967 it had a short-lived name, La Carnaval, with “topless rassling”. In December 1967 it advertised as a “Cellar Cabaret” with an underground theatre performance. In 1977 it started a long run as the Palladium Club.
I read the poster artist name as “Eli Lcon”, but I’ve been informed it’s Eli Leon.
There are images of posters and flyers for Martha’s Laundry shows in Concord, Berkeley and Santa Cruz, but I hadn’t seen this one before.
Members of Martha’s Laundry were:
Jim Lehman – lead guitar Tom Peterain – rhythm guitar David Kessner – keyboards Richard Wilkins, then Michael Husser – bass Randy Smith – drums
The only information on the group comes from an interview that Mike Dugo did with bassist Michael Husser circa 2008, which I’ll quote a section of because it is no longer on the web:
We played diverse locations such as Pauly Ballroom at U.C. Berkeley, The Straight Theatre on Height Street in San Francisco, The Family Dog at The Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, and private parties. We even played for the ordination of an Episcopal Minister in Berkeley and were mentioned in and article in Time Magazine relating to the event (the issue dates from March 22, 1968 and the article was entitled, “Hippie Ordination”). I don’t remember playing teen clubs and we didn’t play any band battles; we only played places that guaranteed our fee. We did play some festivals with Creedence Clearwater Revival as the headliner.
We played blues and worked on jazz arrangements to blues tunes. Our influences were Gary Burton’s album Lofty Fake Anagram and the first Moby Grape album.
We didn’t play original material and didn’t think people would buy arrangements of known songs. We played primarily covers of somewhat obscure blues songs.
Randy, Jim and Dave started a music store in Berkeley called Prune Music. Jim left to move to Texas and start his own music store. Randy and Dave moved Prune Music to Mill Valley, California. Randy started working on guitar amplifiers and formed a company called Mesa Engineering … Randy then named his amps Mesa Boogie.
Jim’s music store in Austin, Texas is called Guitar Rez.
Dave Kessner had played with many bands including Cold Blood.
I later played with Little Richard, Elvin Bishop, Harvey Mandel and other artists in the Bay area and then started a band called Moon Rose Forest. We recorded a live album with Buffy Sainte-Marie in December of 1968 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. In ’69 I returned to the Bay area and then moved to New Mexico where I lived on the Acoma Pueblo Reservation and recorded an album of music with tribal members. I then moved to Albuquerque and began a career in broadcast television as an audio and video engineer.
Thank you to Derek Taylor, John Pitts and Vance Pollock for help with background on the Balloon. Any info on the ’50s and ’60s incarnations of 1031 Kearny, the poster artist or Martha’s Laundry would be appreciated.
The Balloon Cellar Cabaret “Underground Theatre in the Round” with the Pitschel Players, W.C. Fields Memorial Orphanage. S.F. Examiner Dec. 2, 1967
The 1967 Levi Strauss & Co. Salesman’s Record is well-known for its tracks by the Jefferson Airplane, Sopwith Camel and West Coast Natural Gas. That was a 10″ LP, and certain of the Airplane’s tracks were also released in 7″ and 12″ formats. Levi Strauss & Co. was based in San Francisco so it made sense to use local bands for their ads.
In 1968 Levi Strauss released a 7″ Salesman’s record with five short songs, this time without any artist credits that I know of. It was released with an art sleeve of a pattern of horses & cowboys arranged in rings. I don’t know what was on the back of the sleeve as I do not own it.
The 1968 record has some good music, but the songs and ad concept are more generic in style than the 1967 record. Two of the songs sound to me like they were recorded by an actual rock band, not studio musicians. Each music track seems to have been recorded separately from the vocals, as each commercial is followed by 20 seconds or so of music tracks without the vocals, unfortunately at a lower level. Here excerpts from each side below.
I have on good authority that the backing track for “Levi Slim Fits (White Levi’s)” was the Family Stone without Sly, with Freddie Stone leading the band.
I’d be interested to know who played on this record. There could be some local artist connections as on the 1967 record. If you have any information or even an educated guess please comment or contact me. Also please contact if you have a good scan of the sleeve.
Golden State Recorders used the Golden State Records label for acts that did not have a deal with another company. The music can range from soul to hard rock to gospel, but Custer & the Survivers, Zorba & the Greeks and the Poor Souls all have good garage sounds.
The changing numbering system makes it difficult to put in exact chronological order without knowing the dead wax of each release. Early singles have white labels with simple black print or yellow and greenish blue labels with bridge logo. This changed to red, green, purple, etc in later years without the bridge logo.
I’m sure there are many more releases than I have listed here, any help with this discography would be appreciated.
GSR 653 – The Astros – Space Walk” (B. Please, Rap Music ASCAP and DeGar Music ASCAP)
GSR-657 – Custer and the Survivers – “I Saw Her Walking” / “Flapjacks” (both by J.B. Pavseni, Mark Nine Music BMI, produced by Arvey Andrews) (Nov. 1965, also released on Vardan and Ascot)
Arvey Andrews also produced the Mystic “I Get So Disgusted” / “Weekend People”, D. Witherspoon & the Future, and the Lovers “Without a Doubt” on Frantic Records, and the Emotions “Love of a Girl” / “Do This For Me” on Vardan.
453 – The Lo-Kals – “Look Out Baby Here I Come” / “I’m So Tired” (Bobby King, Guard Music BMI) (J.H. Lewis Production)
GSR-597-A – Zorba and the Greeks – “One and Only Girl” / “You’ve Had Your Chance” (Nov. 1966)
GSR-597-B – Zorba and the Greeks – “Shockwave” (Myrin, Guard Music BMI) / “Memories of You” (Johnson) (Nov. 1966)
GSR-45-606 – The Donnybrookes – “Time Will Tell” / “You’re Gonna Cry” (Nov. 1966)
GRS-1721 – The Poor Souls – “Baby Let’s Wait” / “It Ain’t Enough” (Frank Marseguerra, Degar Music ASCAP) (Oct. 1967)
GSR-1351 – David London – “Tomorrow’s OK By Me” / “Lara’s Theme” (produced by Leo Kulka)
GSR-501 – Gold – “Summertime” / “No Parking” (production: A-side Country Joe McDonald, b-side George Benz)
GSR – 4-69 – Mel Davis – “Just Another Smile” / “The Life I Live” (1969)
GS106 – Spyders – “I Can Take Care of Myself” / “Make Up Your Mind” (W. Cox) (1968)
GSR-1969 – The Voices of Victory Choir – “I Feel Good” / “There’s No Hiding Place”
GSRC-2452 – Seventh Dawn – “Don’t Worry Me” (Phillips, Phillips, Noyer; Guard Music BMI) / “Wings of Flight” (1970) gold label, G.S.R. Custom Records, band from Oroville
GSRC 437 – Joy Higgins – Come Back Big Jack” / “Shoulda Told You” (1978)
recent pressings of unreleased soul recordings:
GS-2001 (GSR346) – The San Francisco TKOs – “Make Up Your Mind” / “Send My Baby Back” GS-2002 (GSR352) – George & Teddy – “Oh Yeah” / “Lover” GS-2003 GSR362) – Spyders – “I Don’t Care” / “I Can Take Care of Myself”
33 and 1/3 rpm 7″ custom pressings:
M-1967 – Leo & Flora de Gar Kulka – A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year GSR-1562 – Garland Dudley & the Voices of Frederick of the Third Baptist Church – “He Touched Me”, “Touch the Hem of His Garment” / “Sweet Sweet Spirit”, “You Must Live Right” (7″, 33 1/3rd rpm)
LPs on Golden State include Paul LaMont – Psychedelia (Opus 1 & 2), War Songs of the Third Reich, and Joel Andrews – Harp Soundings.
My friend Derek Taylor sent me this batch of photos of a band that he found last year in San Francisco. Written on the back of the two larger photos is “Vandals – Jan 1966” in neat handwriting, plus the band’s name is shown behind the bassist in one shot.
A photo of the bass guitarist similar to the one below was reproduced in a newsletter or yearbook for the St. Ignatius High School (now St. Ignatius College Prepatory) at 37th Ave and Quintara in the Outer Sunset district of San Francisco.
On the back of this clipping is a list of names sporting and events that took place during the four years of that class of ’66 or ’67 with some names (though not of the band) – Vince Spohn, Jim Nevin, Rich Wilpitz, and Den Carter.
Mike Dugo pointed out this was the same group that recorded for Joe Brattesani’s Golden Gate Records – “I Really Want to Want You” b/w “A Reason” and “It’s Like Now Baby” b/w “Wet & Wild” & “Mustang Georgie”
Cosmo Violante – vocals Joe Tarantino – guitar and vocals Nick Paolini – bass and vocals Ned Bawden – keyboards Curt Mellegni – drums
Nick Paolini passed away in 1970.
Bassist Nick PaoliniClipping featuring Nick Paolini from similar photo to the one above
The Banshees were students at Mills High School in Millbrae, just south of San Francisco. They had started in 1962 as an instrumental group the Black Knights, changing their name to the Banshees when they added a vocalist in ’64. Members were Jack Walters, Chris Guiver and Paul and Dennis Studebaker, and for a short time Bob Morelli.
Banshees Solo 45 They Prefer Blondes
They released two records on the Solo label including the crude and energetic “They Prefer Blondes” / “Take a Ride with Me”. “They Prefer Blondes” was written by Jack Walters, while “Take a Ride with Me” was by Paul Studebaker, and both songs were arranged by Paul Studebaker. Lou Dorren, a high-school friend of the band produced both of their Solo 45s, and also recorded them in a later incarnation as the Kensington Forest.
With the help of his brother, George Guiver, I’ve heard from founding member of the band Chris Guiver, who kindly gave a detailed history of the band. Jason Sweitzer spoke to the Banshees’ friend and producer Lou Dorren about his early years as a sound engineer. Fascinating in itself, Lou’s story sheds light on the Banshees progression from garage act to professional musicians.
Chris Guiver:
Jack and I knew of each other from Lincoln School kindergarten. They lived within walking distance in old Burlingame. Later, in early high school (1962-63), we became best of friends through music and life. My mom was a great singer and dancer from the 40’s and apparent genetics rubbed off. I elected to learn saxophone in the 4th grade, taking school lessons. Jack was taking guitar lessons from early on too, found surf music an attraction and moved to electric – always a Fender Telecaster.
Paul and Dennis, the Studebaker brothers, were talent and intelligence beyond belief. Paul played lead trumpet in the Mills High band and orchestra. Dennis played tenor sax in the band. Paul, Dennis and I all went crazy for swing and were members of the award-winning jazz band at the high school. The three played in jazz combos, free-lance and otherwise and actually played “gigs” This is also where we connected with Jack Walters, who to this day, is viewed as a genius song writer.
At the end of that freshman year and in summer, the foursome started to play rock together. Songs like “What’d I Say” and “La Bamba” were played over and over at the YMCA dances and eventually at San Jose State frat parties. Many practice hours in the Studebaker basement began to bring proficiency, style and a great joy in music and friendships. And that is when the first recording of “They Prefer Blondes” and “Take A Ride With Me” was recorded in the hall of the Presbyterian Church (couple of mics and shared amplifiers).
The Banshees playing in front of the Hyatt Theater, before a Chad & Jeremy and Sonny & Cher concert.
Later in the sophomore year (1964), Jack, Paul and Dennis met Bob Morelli who sang like Gerry of Gerry and the Pacemakers. The four of them linked up and established great harmonies together and won the California Band Wars as The Banshees. Shortly after, missing the sax, I was asked to join again. The five-some played together for about 6 months, playing once as a greeting band for “Chad and Jeremy” and “Sonny and Cher”. Bob went his way, leaving the four-some alone as the Banshees. For the Banshees around these times, four gods began to walk the earth – naming themselves “The Beatles”. Went to both San Francisco concerts.
The original “geek” of the high school, Lou Dorren, heard the group and wished to record them in his garage. That was the beginning onslaught of fantastic original material written by Jack.
The Banshees with Don O’Leary (left) and Lou Dorren (right) holding the first Solo 45, August 1965. Photo courtesy of Don O’Leary Jason Sweitzer notes Lou’s perspective on the first Banshees record:
The SOLO imprint was Lou’s conception. He was 15 when he recorded and produced “They Prefer Blondes” in the Millbrae Presbyterian Church recreation room, with full permission of the priest! Prior to this he hadn’t made any garage recordings of them.
Originally, the song was going to be titled “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” but Marilyn Monroe had recorded a song with that title for a movie of the same name.
Using a Roberts Crossfield 770 reel-to-reel recorder and two cardioid dynamic microphones, which Lou and his friend Don purchased for the occasion from Lafayette Electronics in San Francisco, they recorded five or six takes each of “They Prefer Blondes” and “Take a Ride with Me” until the band got the one they liked.
Lou had the tracks mastered and sent to Monarch Record Mfg Co., Los Angeles. Two thousand copies were pressed circa July 1965 and the majority of them were sold for 99¢ at LeCor Camera & Hi-Fi in Millbrae, where Lou worked a part time after-school job, and at White Front Department Store in Sunnyvale, where Lou’s uncle was manager.
Despite being a local success, Lou was unhappy with the sound of SOLO 1 and decided to book time at Coast Recorders at 960 Bush St. in San Francisco to record a follow-up.
from the 1966 San Francisco yellow pages
At Coast they recorded “Never Said I Loved You” and “So Hard to Bear” on a ½” 3-track vacuum tube recorder. This was Lou’s first shot at mixing, and SOLO 2 was pressed mid-September 1965.
These songs show the band developing their melodic side which they would improve upon in their next incarnation. Both songs were written by Jack Walters and arranged by Paul Studebaker.
With this brief stint at Coast under his belt, Lou begged manager Mel Tanner for a job and began helping out in the studio under the supervision of chief engineer Don Geis. It wasn’t long before Lou made his first master cut of the Beau Brummels “Don’t Talk to Strangers.”
Meanwhile the Banshees continued performing, soon landing their first recording contract.
The Ariel
In the fall of 1966 the Banshees received a deal with Bob Shad’s Mainstream label, and traveled down to L.A. to record one single, the very beautiful “It Feels Like I’m Crying” b/w “I Love You.”
This 45 was released as “The Ariel” on the Brent label (another company owned by Shad). In sound these songs are a world away from They Prefer Blondes, with excellent harmonies, introspective lyrics and a delicate melodic sense.
The words of “It Feels Like I’m Crying” are agonizing:
Many times I feel like screaming, Many times I feel like dying, Cause you you, you you, you you, you … Lied and it feels like I’m crying, crying, crying.
Never will I show my feelings, Never will I show the reason, Why she she, she she, she she, she…. Lied and it feels like I’m crying, crying, crying.
Chris Guiver:
Through ‘65 many concerts and performances with largely original material brought an inquiry by a large record label and the band was asked to “try out” at a studio in the city. One of the other bands had a pretty good singer named Janis Joplin. Both bands were contracted to go to L.A. and record in the same studio the Rolling Stones used. What a difference from the old church recordings. Big Brother and the Holding Company could just go. The Banshees had to get parental approval. The producer then didn’t feel Janis had a present enough voice and, yes, required her to double-track her singing!
Local fame had risen and a highlight moment was a senior dance at the high school. The air was sparked with excitement. Regrettably, Paul took ill and couldn’t perform leaving the 3 to fake it. Paul was a year ahead and had gone off to Berkeley leaving the band without its leader and at the end of the ‘65/’66 year the band dispersed.
Kensington Forest
Stereo version of “Bells”
In early 1967 Jack Walters brought Lou a demo of his new song “Bells.” Lou suggested Jack assemble a band and invited them over to Coast Recorders to record it. The newly named Kensington Forest included Jack Walters, Chris Guiver, Dennis Studebaker and Jack’s sister. As the flip to “Bells,” they recorded another Jack Walters original, “Movin’ On.”
While “Movin’ On” was mixed to mono only, Lou made both stereo and mono mixes of “Bells,” and cut separate master plates for each version himself. One thousand copies were pressed with both sides in mono and another thousand made with the stereo version of “Bells” and the mono version of “Movin’ On.” According to Lou, “Bells” was the first stereo 45 engineered to be fully compatible with a mono cartridge.
Pressed at Monarch in mid-to-late May, 1967, and distributed by Melody Sales of San Francisco, “Bells” was a popular regional hit during the summer.
Lou recalls he was driving down El Camino Real listening to “The Emperor” Gene Nelson on KYA when suddenly “Bells” was introduced. It was the first time he heard the 45 played over the radio and he describes it as a peak experience, having stopped his car mid-road to jump up and down ecstatic. Not far away the rest of the band, driving around together in Jack’s car, were doing the same on California Drive!
“Bells” has a rougher sound than the polish of the Ariel 45, but the harmonies and melodic talent are still there, along with some fine guitar work. “Movin’ On” shows the influence of the early San Francisco ballroom groups like the Charlatans and the Dead. If anyone has a better quality transfer of Bells in stereo, please get in touch.
Chris Guiver:
Dennis and I went to San Jose State the next year as dorm-mates. We stayed in touch with Jack who went to Berkeley too but dropped out after a short time wishing to continue writing songs. After a short time, Dennis met a yogi and disappeared into the spiritual only reuniting with me at the 20-year high school class reunion.
Jack and I, with another Bob, formed a group after high school. Jack’s originals, including “Oddie the Troll”, were recorded but Bob was an enthusiast of “The Who”, which didn’t always fly even though Jack was competent in the lead guitaring. I played drums. The group did record probably Jack’s greatest work “Wine Flower” for the guy who produced “Go Granny Go!” in L.A. “Wine Flower” included a string section with tremendous arrangement and harmony – along the lines of the Banshees’ “I Love You”. It is a great misfortune that Jack took mentally ill shortly after.
Gypsum Heaps
Paul Rose of Fantasy Records took an interest in “Bells” and introduced Lou to Max Weiss and Saul Zaentz. After hearing “Bells”, Max offered to distribute Lou’s fledgling Bay Sound Productions and gave Lou a job as sound engineer with Fantasy.
In late 1967 Lou placed audition ads in the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner looking for new bands to record for Bay Sound Productions. By the end of the year he began releasing records on his new Onyx label, one 45 each by the Styx (Onyx 2200); the Tears (Onyx 2201); Weird Herald (Onyx 2202); and Gypsum Heaps (Onyx 2203); with Mark Darnell an unconfirmed 5th artist.
Chris Guiver:
I continued in music and minored at San Jose State, studying and playing bass. I hooked up with Rick Quintinel who became a top California drummer. Rick was connected with the East Bay sound and he and I joined together as a funky rhythm section for soul bands. During that time Rick and I played jazz too and hooked up with a group in “the 10th Street House” that was music 24/7. Two cool things transpired.
By chance, I neighbored with Pat Simmons who became the founder of the “Doobie Brothers”. I used to back him up on bass when all he wanted to perform was James Taylor and “would never go electric”. Tommy Johnson, the Doobie’s lead guitar connected with Pat at “the house” and the rest is history (noting Pat did go electric when Tommy’s Chicago Blues-style got him and they wrote songs that produced a lucrative Warner Brother’s deal.)
Wandering through the East Bay sound playing funk, Rick and I formed a band called “Gypsum Heaps”. Full rhythm section, organ and horns. The singers were Rufus Miller, the original lead singer for “Tower of Power” and Rat his gospel cousin. Hot. I wrote a song called “Would You Love”, which was recorded at Fantasy Records – the other side of the record was the Banshees’ “Movin’ On” by Jack Walters. One can easily imagine the song arranged as a “Tower of Power”. The release landed a concert for 20,000 people with “Santana” as the headliner. The Banshees lived on.
The Banshees were a unique bunch with a great love of all types of music, deep friendships and many talents. If an arrangement called for it, one might say to the other – “I think it would be better if I played guitar and you played drums so I can sing easier”. The other would respond – “Sounds good, lets do it”.
It is a great experience and honor to have played with and known The Banshees, The Ariel and Kensington Forest all of whom were the same guys in different musical venues. It is a trip after 40 years to once again hear some of our music through the efforts of Garage Hangover.
Thank you to Dan for the clips of “Never Said I Loved You” and “So Hard to Bear”. Special thanks to George Guiver for the photo of the band playing outside the Hyatt Theater, and for putting us in contact with his brother Chris.
This article written by Chris Bishop and Jason Sweitzer.
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
In 1969, four Texans formed a band in San Francisco known as Benny, Cecil and the Snakes. I believe the group’s name was a take on the popular cartoon, Beany and Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent by Bob Clampett.
