The 4, from left: George Parks, Greg McCarley, Larry Rains and Paul Crider
Here’s an obscure one that isn’t in Teen Beat Mayhem, though it certainly deserves to be. I didn’t know anything about the group, called simply, The Four, but then I found their photo in Ron Hall’s The Memphis Garage Rock Yearbook, 1960-1975.
The band were:
George Parks – guitar Greg McCarley – guitar Paul Crider – bass Larry Rains – drums
“Now Is the Time” is a good mid-tempo song with harmonies and Beatles-type changes. It was written by George Parks.
“Lonely Surfer Boy” is an original by Paul Crider and Greg McCarley. As comments state below, the group came from Brownsville, Tennessee, about 60 miles northeast of Memphis.
SoN 15101/15102 indicates it was mastered by Sound of Nashville, while the ZTSB 99962-A / 99963-A in the deadwax indicates it was pressed at the Columbia Records plant in Nashville. I’m not sure the date on this one but early 1965 seems about right.
Both songs were published by Lonzo & Oscar Music, BMI and produced by Jack Logan, who was A&R director of Nugget Records of Goodlettsville, Tennessee which also seemed to own the Clark label.
In late 2013 two acetates surfaced of a group called “The 4” from Sam Phillips Recording of Memphis, “69” / “I Gotta Go” and “When Ever Your Down” (sic) / “Midnight Hour”.
“69” opens with one of the most intense screams ever committed to vinyl, and it is now on the shortlist for Back From the Grave vol 9! it was backed with an uptempo pop number “I Gotta Go”. It’s such a different sound that I thought it must be a different group, but both songs were written by George Parks. I haven’t heard “When Ever Your Down” yet, but it was written by Greg McCarley.
The Memphis Garage Rock Yearbook notes The Four “cut three singles, all in Nashville in the late ’60’s. After they broke up, Greg McCarley released two singles on the local Klondike label as ‘Beau Sybin.’ George Parks had a release on Epic that he cut in New York and was also a staff writer at Stax.”
A late ’60s release by the Four on the Nashville North label is likely by another group. “Good Thing Going” (B. Carlton, H. Adams, D. Johnson) / “Cy’s Been Drinking Cider” was produced by Vern Terry and Len Shafitz, out of Massillon, Ohio, just west of Canton. Teen Beat Mayhem lists that band as from Elyria, Ohio. They cut a later 45 on Epic as the Sunny Four “Why Not (Be My Baby) / “Goodie Goodie Ice Cream Man”.
The Clark label had two other garage releases that I know of. On Clark CR-235 is the Ebb TIdes “Little Women” (by Donald Kyre, Michael Wheeler, Michael Whited, and Waldron), which sounds something like the Beatles “You Can’t Do That”. The Ebb Tides came from Columbus, Ohio. Their Clark 45 may have come about as part of a deal to do a summer tour of the Ohio Valley area. The flip is “What I Say”, by Gene McKay & the Ebb Tides. McKay was another singer on the tour and though the Ebb Tides backed him on the cover of Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say”, they did not otherwise work together.
The Ebb Tides had a second 45, the spooky novelty “Seance” (Benny Van, M. Wheeler) b/w a mystical spoken vocal, “Spirits Ride the Wind” (Benny Van) that I really like. This 45 was produced by Rudy Varju on Jar 106 from early 1967. Benny Van of the Ebb Tides became J.D. Blackfoot.
The other is the Jades “You Have to Walk” / “Island of Love”, both written by Paul Helms and released on Clark CR-262 from May of ’67. That group was from Herrin, Illinois, a small city southeast of St. Louis and almost 200 miles northwest of Nashville, but the publishing is also Lonzo & Oscar, and the label states that it was produced and distributed by Nugget Sound Studios, Goodlettsville.
Other songs on the Clark label seem to be country, such as CR-266, Charlie Haggard’s “Throw Me Out the Door”.
Lonzo & Oscar were Johnny and Rollin Sullivan, whose family had started the Nugget Record company in Tampa, Florida in 1959, but Lonzo & Oscar Music Publishing had a Nashville base from the start. They bought or built Nugget Sound Studios in Goodlettsville, just north of Nashville. Most releases they recorded are on the Nugget label, and most are country.
History of the Nugget label from 45-sleeves.com. Thank you to Buckeye Beat for the info on the Ebb Tides 45.
Afton Records started with three releases in 1959:
Afton 616 – Frank Pizani -“Wanna Dance” / “It’s No Fun”, Pino Music Co., distributed by United Telefilm Records Afton 616 – Frank Pizani -“The Stars Will Remember” (Pino Music Co.) / “Steady Cha Cha” Afton 618 – Ted Ostling – “Shivers & Shakes” / “Girls Choice” (Keith Music pub)
I can find a listing of Afton Records as a corporation in the 1963 Illinois Certified List, with an address of 105 S. La Salle St, along with “Ohio M.S. Distribution Company” at the same address, both owned by Milton Salstone of 1700 S. Michigan Ave. In a comment below, Joel Mills points out a notice of M.S. Distributing handling Frank Pizani’s second Afton single.
Seven years later, in 1966, the label returned with a 1700 series. Publishing is usually by Vic Mil Pub or Vic Mil Music. Presumably the Mil refers to Milt Salstone, and the Vic must be Vic Faraci, who produced the Five Bucks and the Gnomes. I haven’t seen any incorporation paperwork for Vic-Mil Publishing – if anyone can dig that up I would appreciate it.
Afton V-1700 – The Strangers – “This Brave New World” (Bob Rubin) / “In the Beginning”, A-side is a top surf instrumental, flip is blander
Afton 1701 – Five Bucks – “No Use in Trying” / “Now You’re Gone” (April 1966), first press omits label # and lists b-side as “Now You’re Mine”, produced by Vic Faraci
Afton 1702 – Gnomes – “The Sky Is Falling” / “Something’s Going Wrong” (both by Carpenter, Sullivan, Vic Mil pub.), great ballad backed by first-rate garage. Produced by Vic Faraci. Anyone know this group?
Afton 1703 – Sound Carnival – “I Wish I Could Tell You” / “Dreams” (both songs by Stock, Siegel, VicMil Music BMI, September, 1967) band from Morton Grove, Illinois
Afton 1704 – Donnie Sanders & the Don Juans with Scherri St. James – “Make a Happy Home” (D. Sanders, Vicmil Music BMI / “Shing-a-Ling Baby”
I’m not sure if V-1700 is actually this Afton Records, as the credits have nothing in common with the others, but the 1700 numbering suggests it possibly is.
There are other Afton labels not connected to this one.
Dave & the Detomics pose in front of their Cadillac Superior, 1966 from left: Vince Slagel, Jeanne Eickhoff, Bill Sheedy, Dave Bethard, Steve Westhoff and Monte McDermith
Dave Bethard – lead guitar/vocals Jeanne Eickhoff – lead vocals Galen Johnson – rhythm guitar Steve Westhoff – rhythm guitar, back-up vocals Vince Slagel — organ and vocals Terry (Fuzzy) Johnson – bass, vocals Monte McDermith – bass, lead guitar, vocals Bill Sheedy – drums and vocals
Dave and the Detomics came from the same southern-central area of Illinois, like Oglethorp and Othelow who I profiled last year. Both groups also had record releases on a southeast Texas label named Van, thanks to the connections of local radio show host Oscar Wells. Wells also recorded additional songs by each group that went unreleased at the time.
In the article below, Dave Bethard tells the band’s story in his own words, with some additional input from band mate Galen Johnson where noted. Dave has been very patient with my questions, and also provided all the incredible photos seen here.
Dave’s pre-Detomics band, the Stardusters, Illiopolis, 1963 from left: Joe Hischer (sax), Mark Myers (trumpet), Dave Bethard (vocal and rhythm guitar), Paul Cooler (lead guitar) and Terry Buff (drums)
My name is Dave Bethard — formerly of Dave & The Detomics of Morrisonville, Illinois, and the surrounding area.
The whole history of Dave & the Detomics included cousins Galen and Terry Johnson (both from Palmer, Illinois—attending Morrisonville High School) on rhythm and bass guitar prior to the band’s later personnel grouping in 1965/66. Dates are hard to fix, but Galen, Bill, Terry (Fuzzy) and I were at it in 1963 and 1964 as the Majestics too, before changing our name. We added Vince Slagel first. Then, later, Monte to replace Terry, and Steve to replace Galen, and then Jeanne was added, but those dates are hazy to me. Vince and Jeanne went to Hillsboro High School (Jeanne lived in Butler), and Steve went to Litchfield High, Monte to Nokomis, so we had a wide following because of the spread-out geography of our members.
Richard Dean’s article [on Oglethorp and Othelow] is pretty accurate—except for the part that we were a rockabilly band. We never thought of ourselves that way, and certainly didn’t work to sound that way or to learn or perform country and western songs, unless they were on the charts and requested. Admittedly, we all had a Midwest twang, which probably sounded country….but that was not our musical intent. We always thought that we were better on instrumentals, compared to vocals, and we worked hard to do numerous Ventures (and other instrumental) songs—indeed, using a version of one of their songs for our theme and break song for years.
Q. How did the band get the name Detomics?
There used to be a gas station in Springfield (between 5th and 6th streets on the South end of town) where the two streets split from divided back to a four lane heading South. That street was only 1 block long, and on the South side, there was a Detomic Gas station. That’s where the name came from.
We all came up with the name together, democratically. I was the leader, but took equal share with everyone else, and didn’t throw my weight around.
Original lineup of the band, winter of 1964, from left: Bill Sheedy, Galen Johnson, Dave Bethard, and Terry Johnson. Taken in Bill Sheedy’s basement by his brother, Richard.Dave Bethard and Galen Johnson
Jeanne was (is) an accomplished vocalist, and her addition certainly made our overall sound better, and our song choices then expanded, allowing us to do more ballads and harmony to accompany her. Along with Jeanne and me, Bill, Vince and Monte all sang individual songs, with Steve doing backup vocals—so we all had mics. Monte’s addition was a great benefit for me, as he could sing and had a higher pitched voice than me—and, he could play lead on some songs, giving me a break on both fronts. We thought it made us look more professional to switch instruments occasionally during the evening for a song or two.Richard is correct that we didn’t draw big crowds in Pana—or in Irving, for that matter–and our enthusiasm to work there shrank after several tries. I’d have loved to hit it off with the Pana, Illiopolis area kids, but multiple trips there for us, at least, were frustrating. We just didn’t click with them, at least, that was our take on it. Too bad.
But, to balance his point, we drew large crowds in Nokomis, Palmer and Morrisonville locations over several years at numerous venues, including the Nokomis Park House, a frequent favorite of ours. Certainly, hailing from the Central Illinois area, we got around as much as we could, and enjoyed nearly every location. The open air Morrisonville Park pavilion was a favorite of ours too, and we used to do Thursday night dances every week during the summer months. It was normal to have between 200 and 300 kids attending—we were subject to the whims of Mother Nature, but rain-outs were rare. The overhead was minimal, so the money take for band members was sometimes better than ‘scale’.
Dave and Detomics on the Johnny Rabbitt show, November 29, 1964Johnny Rabbitt and Kay
The band provided music for the Johnny Rabbitt show – the Rabbitt and Kay signed autographs & did some ticket magic – door prices, chances to another appearance of his, etc. Mainly, it was a venue for him to give away stuff and to mingle with his listeners. To my recollection, he and Kay came alone, I don’t remember any handlers or entourage.The business address for KXOK was was a small one-story house or building as I recall – you could easily drive by it, and we did! I don’t think that our records made it to KXOK—by the time we did them the Rabbit was gone, I think.
Galen Johnson: “One thing I remember from the Johnny Rabbit show was him picking up a phrase we told him while visiting his show, and then using it on his show. That was ‘Hang it on your ear.’ I don’t even know now what that means, but he used it anyway.”
Johnny Rabbitt’s KXOK show, Nov. 29, 1964Bill Sheedy after setting record for 40 hours of non-stop drumming
Probably the pinnacles of our band efforts would have been two major events—Bill Sheedy became the World’s Marathon Drummer in 1964 (I think). This gave him and us front page coverage on most media in the vicinity, and some world wide coverage as well. He played his drums for 40 solid hours in my dad’s garage (our practice spot) and had hundreds and hundreds of people come through during the event. It was over a weekend, so we all got to skip school on Monday—pretty much excused, as it was a big local event.
Dave Bethard of Dave & the Detomics and Dave Davies of the Kinks, 1965, “taken during our 3 day tour of Central Illinois”The Rivieras, on the Kinks tour, 1965
The band did a three day tour (Peoria, Springfield and Decatur, dates uncertain) with The Kinks, Paul Petersen, The Rivieras, and the Hollywood Argyles. Dick and Dee Dee must have been scheduled to appear, but didn’t. Along with another popular local group from Springfield (Randy and the Ramblers) we got to spend a few minutes with the ‘big boys’, while they filled in between bigger audiences in Chicago and St. Louis. That week, all told, with the other ‘normal’ bookings, we appeared in front of about 10,000 people—certainly a huge increase from our norms. And the best part of it all was that they paid us to do what we would have volunteered to do for free!Pretty heady stuff for high school kids!
Galen Johnson writes: “I was in the Illinois State Police and my office was in the Armory Building in Springfield during the last part of my career. One of the people I worked with, Larry Ball, discovered Ray Davies from the Kinks had scratched his name in the marble wall in one of the bathroom stalls in the basement. They used that area as a dressing room during the concert in Springfield. It remains there today. Larry is from Springfield and remembers being at that concert. Mr. John Wayne Gacy was President of the Springfield J.C.’s at the time and that club had sponsored the show in Springfield. That is why he was there. During his murder trial episode there was an article in the Springfield paper about his life in Springfield and it mentioned his involvement with this concert. I wish I had kept that article now.
The Hollywood Argyles on the Kinks tour, 1965 (a rare photo of the touring group – may include Ted Marsh, Deary Weaver, Marshall Leib, Gary “Spider” Webb, Bobby Rey and/or Ted Winters. Can anyone ID the female vocalist? -“all we knew was that she was part of the group!” – Dave
Dave & the Detomics on the Kinks tour, Decatur, Illinois, 1965The original Detomics plus new organ player Vince Slagel in the 1965 Picnic Book
The 1965 Picnic Book was a black and white advertising publication for the Morrisonville Picnic and Homecoming (published by the same folks who published the local weekly paper, the Morrisonville Times) that came out each year, and contained numerous advertisements as well as photos and schedules for the upcoming events. The Homecoming was always THE big event in the year, and I’d bet they still have the books in another form, perhaps. They still have a big crowd for the annual event every July! I believe they also still have dances during the evenings too.Fuzzy and Galen were older, Fuzzy by several years, and Galen by one year. Fuzzy really left the group not too long before he went to the Army, and while there were some hurt feelings on both sides for a while, we were able to get past it, and continue our friendship. Galen’s departure was much more planned, but ultimately he went in the Army also. During the transition between Galen and Steve, we played with 3 guitars and a bass for a while.
Nokomis Sadie Hawkins Dance, November 1965
Monte McDermith has replaced Terry Johnson on bass
Revised lineup, early 1966, from left: Bill Sheedy, Dave Bethard, Monte McDermith, Steve Westhoff and Vince Slagel. This group recorded the first Detomics single
Valentines Day dance at Litchfield, February 1966
At right is Dave’s father
Stage setup in Litchfield, notice light show below organ
Our [first] 45 was an instrumental, side A being “Detomic Orbit”, and side B being “Shatter”. By way of example about how songs and groups superimposed on one another in those days, a version of that song was the theme song for a group we idolized early in our careers, called the Shattertones. We ‘borrowed it’ for our own—the sincerest form of flattery!
Q. After I wrote about Van Records, someone from Holland wrote to me to say his copy of Dave & the Detomics’ second 45 “Why Can’t I” / “Soft White Gloves” came from a Dutch publishing company called Belinda Records that had taken out an option on this 45 to release it in the Netherlands in the ’60s, but for some reason it didn’t materialize. The Detomics came close to having a release in Europe! Amazing if true.
The news about someone else releasing it is new to me, at least, and amusing at this stage of my life.
Lillie [who wrote “Soft White Gloves”] was my mom. Both parents were into and involved with the band—my mom actually had a dream, and the lyrics came to her in the dream. When she got up, she wrote them down and gave them to me with the story. I worked only a short time before putting the music to Johnny B Goode behind the lyrics—and with an uptempo beat, it sounded pretty good. My mom gave it her stamp of approval, and Jeanne was enthusiastic about it too. A song is born!
I did find the 4 Audiodiscs (soft copy records with a metal middle layer) that Oscar Wells made for us. I ended up with more than a double CD full of songs—more than I thought we had.
None of the tracks was recorded in a studio. The 45 records were the best quality, and Oscar did those with his portable equipment in my dad’s garage (the band did adjust our volume and tone accordingly) right where we practiced every week!
The radio station tracks came from three audiodiscs that Oscar gave to us from three radio shows we did in 1966. Sort of like payment…but not exactly. Getting our butts up and on the radio at 09:30 am on a Sunday was tough—especially when we played jobs the night before, which was almost always the case.
The rest were from a session Oscar did for our use only, not for sale (to see what we really sounded like), in 1964 when Monte first joined the group — a full 33 1/3 lp of our early days, recorded (the same way) in the Morrisonville (Illinois) American Legion Home, which we rented for $50 just to do that for an evening. I still have the soft discs, and that’s where all of the CD music came from— none of it is even in stereo. At least it’s durable…has survived all these years—and now, it will live forever in the digital world!
Oscar Wells was a country boy trying to navigate in a city world, and he was somewhat out of place. He was a wonderful person, and was honest, very patient, and helpful in all of our dealings with him. That area of Central Illinois, and his show in particular were more country than rock on most days, if my memory is accurate. Any place where the ‘Swap Shop’ is a hit local radio program for years running, isn’t exactly deep in the heart of the city! Oscar did only good for us, and may he rest in peace.
The lineup that recorded “Why Can’t I” / “Soft White Gloves”, with Jeanne Eickoff
Richard Hall, a guitar student of Dave’s, with Dave’s mother Lillie and his father Clete in the back1966 show
Dave’s red ’65 GTO with the Cadillac
Detomics’ final show, December 31, 1966 from left: Jeanne Eickhoff, Bill Sheedy (on drums), Dave Bethard, Vince Slagel (on organ in back), Monte McDermith and Steve Westhoff
Vince and Jeanne were the seniors of the group when we broke up at the end of 1966—they were both in college. I had just graduated from high school, and the rest were at least a year behind me, I think—my point being—we were just kids doing pretty good work for our ages. We did several high school proms, which were just making the transition from ‘all slow songs’ to ‘a mix of slow and rock songs’, and we always were nervous about them, as we preferred rocking, to playing endless slow songs….plus we didn’t know all that many slow tunes.Dave & the Detomics disbanded after playing our final job on New Years Eve 1966. We were hired by a younger faction of the Auburn Country Club who wanted a rock band for New Years—so they got an upstairs place in downtown Auburn, and we did that job as my last one, and I still remember it like it was yesterday.
Dave Bethard at the Detomics’ final show, December 31, 1966
“During my pre-Japan Air Force leave,” 1967The Detomics jamming during Dave’s leave, 1967
After that, I went off to the Air Force in February of 1967, and the remaining band members, Monte McDermith, Steve Westoff, Vince Slagel, Jeanne Eichoff and Bill Sheedy went in other directions. All but Bill and Jeanne went to the Reactions[see clipping at bottom of that page], and, so far as I know, neither Bill or Jeanne joined any band on a full time basis after that.Those times were tough on 18 year old males not in college. There was a military draft and we all knew we would end up in the military in some manner. I just scheduled mine by enlisting, which was a very pivotal time of my life.
Galen, Terry and Dave in front of Fuzzy Johnson’s CorvetteGalen Johnson, Fuzzy Johnson and Dave Bethard
Vince and Jeanne Slagel are married, and live in Georgia after both having very successful careers outside of music. Steve Westoff still lives in Litchfield, Illinois, and is married. Bill Sheedy is married, and still living in Morrisonville, Illinois. Terry Johnson is married, still plays bass and lives in Missouri. Galen Johnson is married, still plays guitar, is a retired State Policeman, and has a successful real estate business in Pawnee, Illinois. Monte McDermith is deceased.About 4 years ago I found and reestablished contact with all of our band members that are still living, and with Monte’s dad and family. I was also able to locate and make contact with Jeanne Weber, our band manager from the earlier days, who is also now deceased.
I live in Florida, I’m married to a woman I met in my Air Force tour in Japan in 1970, and I’m retired after an aerospace career, and still own, but rarely play guitar. We are all still friends, and communicate on occasion.
Dave Bethard, 2012
Terry ‘Fuzzy’ Johnson in front of his Corvette, 1967
Bill Sheedy, 1967
Two views of the original Detomics: Galen Johnson, Dave Bethard, Bill Sheedy and Terry Johnson. Above, 1964: “I was still using a Spiegel catalog guitar–before upgrading to Fender equipment.” Below: “from a jam session we had when I was on leave in 1967 before going to Japan – October time frame.”
Here’s a 45 by a group called Soulbody that I’m curious about. I don’t own a copy, but was alerted to this by Mike Hadenfeldt who found one with an address label from a suburb of Los Angeles. Mike reports the following info on the labels:
Vintage Records (A Chess Recording) WJZ 51147 “I See You Crying” / “Then Came The Winter” Both songs written by Bill Zurowski Both sides have a date of 1966 under “BMI”
Deadwax info:
“I See You Crying”: F1191 WJZ 51147-2 (no dashes [just spaces] between groups of digits except the last one)
“Then Came The Winter”: F1190-WJZ-51477-1 (dashes between all groups of digits)
Band member Bill Zurowski put the video on Youtube (listing the band name as two words, “Soul Body”) and gave me some background on the band:
We were a band made up of Milwaukee and Chicago musicians in the mid 60’s. We recorded 2 songs at Chess Records in Nov 1966. We recorded in the historic studio where all the hits of the Chess artist were recorded, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Water, Howlin Wolf, Little Walter and Willie Dixon etc. Doug Brand was the engineer. Doug was Chess’s main engineer. We used Fender black faced amps and a Gibson fuzz tone (that’s what Richards used on Satisfaction); my guitar was an ES 335.
I asked Bill if the band ever had their original tape or demo pressed to 7″ 45 vinyl, but have not heard from him yet.
The song sounds like a ’60s recording, but I’m almost certain this is not a ’60s pressing. The fonts on the label point to a graphic style from a later period, and the label name “Vintage” also suggests a later issue. Not to mention a stereo pressing for a private 45 would be extreme unlikely in 1966. Mike Markesich suggested the five digit number code could be a 70s Universal pressing.
Also, despite the labels saying “BMI” and “1966”, Mike Markesich could not find a copyright listing for the writer or song titles from 1964-1972.
In the mid 1960’s the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana became a center for innovative jazz and avant-garde electronic and computer music. Starting in 1967, the Red Herring Coffeehouse just off the main quad on W Oregon became a center for folk artists. And of course there was a thriving band scene at the Illini Brown Jug and other student beer joints. For those not familiar with that area’s geography, the school is located in eastern-central Illinois, roughly equidistant from Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis.
Roger Francisco began recording out of a home studio to the east of campus in Urbana, Illinois circa 1964. Rofran (a combination of the first syllables of his first and last names) was the name he gave to his studio, one of his labels, and also the name of his production and publishing companies. It’s an open question as to how prominent the studio was in that area, as many bands recorded at other studios: Dean Carter, the One Eyed Jacks and the Bacardis for example.
I’ve only heard a few of these records. The Cliques has had the most exposure, showing up on Back From the Grave vol. 7. I’ve heard one side of the Keepers, which is good harmony pop, and the first Prodigies 45, “Kysmyph (KIS-MIF)” a bluesy instrumental with sax and some odd organ sounds, backed with “Don’t Look Back”, which starts out with a hip bossa groove but the vocals are square, mimicking the complex harmonies on brazilian groups from the time.
Mike Markesich filled me in on some Rofran releases:
The Sound Studio Production (Rofran 1010) was a label printing goof – the real group is the Prodigies, university guys from Champaign IL. I have the 45 crediting the Prodigies. They have a second 45 on Rofran 1013 “I Want To Do It” / “What I’d Say”, both released in ’66.
Quarternotes “My Baby Left Me” crude thumpin’ garage rocker with a kinda ‘rural’ vocal vibe.
There are other Rofran releases on different-named labels. One that comes to mind is the Ravins “Andy” on the Syndicate label (#1028). Very cool, moody organ swinger with a crisp guitar break. Flipside is “I Had a Feeling”, which is more aligned to a pop sounding jangle ballad. This was their only recording. One of the songwriters on the 45 made a solo Rofran record.
The Cliques “So Hard” / “Ballad Of A Destitute Man” on Custom 1020 (Jan ’67) is a Rofran release. Ditto the Keepers “Why Have You Changed” / “Tiny Teardrops” on Custom 1021 (Jan ’67).
Although early releases seem commercially-minded, Rofran became a studio for more adventurous music sessions towards 1968 and 1969. Some of those musicians, like James Cuomo and Howie Smith, came out of the jazz and experimental music programs at UICU.I asked Howie Smith about his time with the Prodigies at Rofran studio:
The studio, indeed, started in the basement of Roger’s home in Urbana, and at some point he leased a much larger space in a building on Race Street for the studio.
At the time I enrolled at the University of Illinois, the band with Roger Francisco, Gordy Wilson and Bill Steffen was looking for a sax player and I got the job. I played with them on a nightly gig at The Beacon (a bar/roadhouse located just south of Rantoul Air Base) for about 2 years. Roger played guitar and electric bass, Gordy played some sort of electronic keyboard (my memory is that it was an early Farfisa, but I could be totally wrong about that), Bill was the drummer, I played tenor sax and electric bass, and we all sang.
I don’t remember whether the band went under the name of The Prodigies at that time or not, but it was under that name that we recorded “Don’t Look Back” and “KYSMYPH.” At some point the name of the band was changed to Sound Studio One, but I’m almost positive that didn’t happen until later.
As The Prodigies (a name that always made me cringe) we also released a Christmas recording of “Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer” backed with “Sleigh Ride.”
As Sound Studio One we recorded “Never Tell” backed with a very strange “Never Marry a Woman Who is Taller Than You” that richly deserves (and should maintain) its status as unknown by virtually everyone.
The Prodigies/Sound Studio One was also used as the band behind various singers who recorded at rofran. One of those was Al Ierardi, who I believe had some success with “Drifter” backed with “Dureen.”
I was also doing some writing and arranging for other groups in the area and remember recording horn parts at rofran for at least one song by Feather Train.
At Rofran we were also writing and recording music and voice-overs for some ad agencies in the area. “Oh Boy, Tom Boy” was a commercial jingle written for a short-lived drive-in restaurant a-la McDonald’s.
At some point after leaving Sound Studio One I worked for a time with The Nickel Bag. The band at that time consisted of T.T. Coleman singing lead vocal, Bob Crownover on guitar, Rick Raines on organ, Pat Hammond on bass, John Phillips on drums, Rick Bendel and Ron Meng on trumpets, and Ron Dewar and me on tenor saxes). The group was very popular and quite busy in the Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin area, but we never released a commercial recording.
I haven’t been in touch with Roger or Bill for quite a long time, but I get back to Champaign-Urbana a couple of times a year to do a jazz gig, and Gordon showed up at one of then a couple of years ago.
Roger Francisco wrote to me:
I still have file copies of most of the singles we released on RoFran (which I backed and promoted) and the Custom label (for which I was just studio for hire and processed the pressings for). I remember our ongoing special was a few hours of studio time and a hundred 45 RPM pressings for $100.
As we moved into the 70’s, I got involved with the annual Red Herring Coffee House folk festivals, location recording and producing their LPs, and ultimately got involved co-managing and publishing The Ship, running sound for their live gigs and mixing their Elektra album in LA, and also recording the early efforts of Dan Fogelburg.
I sold the studio operation to Al Ierardi (the Drifter single) around 1974-75 and ultimately became chief engineer at Creative Audio, home to Columbia artist Champaign. I eventually transitioned into commercials and industrial sound track production, and ultimately to Human Kinetics where I put together a corporate recording studio and produce all their DVD and web streaming soundtracks.
The Spoils of War consisted of James Cuomo, Roger Francisco, Frank Garvey, Al Ierardi, Anne Whitefish-Williams and James Stroud. They made a seven-inch, 33 1/3 rpm EP (sometimes listed as You’re Invited to Hear the Spoils of War) in 1969, running over seventeen minutes with five songs: “What Happend Now”, “Now Is Made in America”, “Henry T. Joseph”, “Void of Mystery” and “The Greyness Moves in Quietly”.
In 1999 the Shadoks label released recordings made in 1968 without Anne, and a second CD, The Spoils of War II unearthed further live and studio material from James Cuomo’s archives.
Rofran produced another lengthy seven-inch, 33 1/3 rpm, five song EP in 1970 for James Cuomo, known as Cuomo’s Record and featuring Al Ierardi, Charlie Braugham, Bob Witmer, Cal Drake, Larry Dwyer and Steve Larner. Side A: Suzan Never Smiles”, “Remembering”, “Ring, Magic Telephone, Ring”, and “Victoria Falls”; Side B: “Crimson Uniform”.
Cuomo’s Record
Rofran productions and discography(incomplete, any help would be appreciated):
Early 45s on Rofran, Custom and Syndicate seem to follow a 10xx numbering system:
Rofran 1001 – The Intruders “Deception” / “Intrudin'” Rofran 1002 – The Rogues “Gone To Stay” / “Wait Till the Summer” Rofran 1003 – Lee Rust “Scramble” / “Do You Ever Kinda Wonder?” Rofran 1004 – Lee Rust “Mystery House” / “Come on Back” Rofran 1005 – Lee Rust “Try, Try to Leave” (W.L. Rust) / “I’m Spoken For” Rofran 1006 – Lee Rust “She’s Gone Tonight” / “World Made of Romance” 1007 – ? 1008 – ? 1009 – ? Rofran 1010 – Sound Studio One “Kysmyph (KIS-MIF)” (Instrumental by Wilson-Smith-Steffen) / “Don’t Look Back” (H.A. Smith) (1966) Rofran 1010 – The Prodigies “Kysmyph (KIS-MIF)” (Instrumental by Wilson-Smith-Steffen) / “Don’t Look Back” (H.A. Smith) 1011 – ? Rofran 1012 – The Impalas “Kristina” / “Lost Beat” (both by R. Dilling) Rofran 1013 – The Prodigies “I Want To Do It” / “What’d I Say” (1966) Rofran 1014 – The Quaternotes “My Baby Left Me” / “You And I (Are In Love)” 1015 – ? 1016 – ? 1017 – ? Rofran 1018 – The Lindsey Triplets “Tomorrow’s Another Day” (C.F. & R.E. Francisco) / “Terry” Rofran 1019 – Al Ieradi – “Drifter” / “Dureen” Custom 1020 – The Cliques “So Hard” (J.D. Vance, J.S. Walbillig) / “Ballad of a Destitute Man” (Jan. ’67, produced by Tim Abel) Custom 1021 – The Keepers “Why Have You Changed” (S. J. Beresford) / “Tiny Teardrops” (Jan. ’67) Star Record and Recording P-1022 – Count Demon and His Four Members – “(I Got To) Work With It” / “C-C Rider” (836R-1022, U4KM-9165/6) 1023 – ? Custom 1024 – The Dearly Beloved “Cindy” (M. Gallivan) one-sided record 1025 – ? Psychedelic 1026 – Puppet, Dingbat & Odie – “Transcontinental Balloon Ride” / “Julie” (836R-1026, U4KM-3650/1) 1027 – ? Syndicate 1028 – The Ravins “Andy” / “I Had a Feeling” 1029 – ? Shades 836R-1030 – The Shades of Blue “Not the Way Love Should Be” / “You Must Believe Me” 1031 – ? 1032 – ? 1033 – ? 1034 – ? Custom 1035 – The Camaros “I Need You No More” / “Just For The Love Of A Man” (836R-1034) Psychedelic Sounds 1035 – Howie Thayer and his Psycho-Electric Happening “Movin’, Groovin’ Fairy Tale” / “If Death Don’t Get You (Then the Government Will)” – 1968 -“A Custom Product of Rofran Enteprises” 1036 – ? 1037 – ? 1038 – ? 1039 – ? 1040 – ? 1041 – ?
Folksound 836R-1042 – K. Sandra Wyman (Spud Baldwin, guitar) “Until It’s Time For You To Go” / “Where Does It Lead” (W4KM-5157) with picture sleeve 1043 – ? Psychedelic Sounds 1044 – Howie Thayer and his Psycho-Electric Happening – “Bazap!” / “Side 2” Soul 1045 – Soul Brothers – “Twinkle Twinkle” / Miss Delores” (W4KM-5880, 836R-1045) 1046 – ? Custom 836R-1047 – Linda Fanakos “Candyland Town” / “Let’s Make It Clear” (both by Linda Fanakos). Yellow label with RCA custom press X4KM-2636/2637, which indicates this was mastered in the second half of 1969. (label reads -“A Custom Product of Rofran Enteprises”) Soul Sounds 1048 – Leroy Knox and the Gaypoppers – “The Mistakes I Made” / “Here I Am” (X4KM-3311)
Rofran 836R-2005 – Sound Studio One – “Never Tell” (Roger Francisco, H.A. Smith) / Never Marry (A Woman Who Is Taller Than You) prod. by Howie Smith, W4KM-4773, 1968
Other Rofran productions:
Rofran XALS-2605 – The Spoils of War “What Happend Now”, “Now Is Made in America”, “Henry T. Joseph”, “Void of Mystery”, and “The Greyness Moves in Quietly”
Depot Records (RoFran 0608) – James Cuomo (Cuomo’s Record) – “Suzan Never Smiles”, “Remembering”, “Ring”, “Magic Telephone”, Ring”, “Victoria Falls”, and “Crimson Uniform” 1970
Century 44090 – Mad John Fever “Breath & Thunder” / “One World Lost To Another” (1971?)
Century 35921 – Marvin Lee & the Midwesterners “I’ve Made My Mind Up (To Leave Today)” / “Until My Dream Come True”
Marvin Lee & the Midwesterners – album featuring Sandy Kay, Wil Wilson, Don Markham and Cousin Hi
Notes:
The names on the Prodigies 45 are Howard A. Smith, Frederick W. Steffen III, and James Gordon Wilson. BMI listings show Wilson and Smith wrote a song I haven’t heard, “Oh Boy Tom Boy” with Roger Francisco.
The Keepers is not related to the New York group who cut “She Understands” on the Bravura label, nor do I believe it’s the same group that recorded “Now She’s Gone” for the Mystic label of Hazen, North Dakota.
From a reader:
The “Lindsey Triplets” are identical triplets and were a very popular singing group at the time. They traveled the tri-state area performing at various venues. They also traveled on various U.S.O. tours to entertain the troops and made a few guest appearances on then popular variety shows on national television. For a short time they also were ‘fashion’ models (not Playboy Bunnies) for Playboy.
The group went by two different stage names “The Lindsey Triplets” and “The ABC Triplets (Their first names were Anita, Becky and Cathy). The song ‘Terry’ was sung by Becky with accompaniment from her sisters. While they looked alike their voices were distinctive and each triplet sang their own solos when performing.
They actually did a number of demo tapes of their songs. The group was very talented but did reach the notoriety they deserved due to poor management and not being adequately promoted.
The Lindsey Triplets had one commercial release, “Jiminy Jum Jum” / “Fallin’ in Love” on Top Rank 2010.
Thank you to Adam Lore for the loan of the Sound Studio One 45, to Mike Markesich for much information, to Myskatonic, Bob of Dead Wax, Jeff LaSee, Tim Adams, Ryan Luellwitz, Laurent Bigot, and Downstate Sounds for help with the discography.
Oglethorp and Othellow (sic), from left: Greg Carlock, Don Bearup and Dick Dean“A photo of my first band, The Fade-Aways, taken in 1965. From left: Greg Carlock (Othelow), lead singer David Brownback, Donnie Bearup (Oglethorp), and me. Drummer Jim Lowe was not present. That Stratocaster was my first real guitar, cherry red. Greg’s was a Guild.”
Last week I wrote about Van Recording of south Texas. For some odd reason, at least five singles on Van released between 1965-1967 were produced in Taylorville, Illinois, close to 1,000 miles northeast of Angleton TX, the base for the Van label.
Richard Dean played bass on one of those records, “Please Don’t Go Away” and “I’ll Still Love You” by Oglethorp and Othelow. We may never know how these recordings ended up on Van, but Richard provides a detailed account of the music scene in the area just south and east of Springfield, Illinois during the mid-60s:
Oglethorp was Donnie Bearup, age 17, on lead vocals and rhythm acoustic guitar. Othelow was Greg Carlock, age 17, on harmony vocals and lead acoustic guitar. I, Richard Dean, age 16, played stand-up bass. Mick Presnell, age 16, and not a member of the group, played percussion (two Coke bottles on “Please Don’t Go Away”, a salt shaker filled with gravel on “I’ll Still Love You”). I’ve always remembered it [the spelling of the group’s name] as Oglethorpe and Othello. I think Donnie was a distant relative of James Oglethorpe, who founded Georgia, and I have no idea where the Othelow came from, other than Shakespeare.
Donnie Bearup and Deb Lynch during the Fade-Aways era, 1966
Oglethorp and Othelow were supposed to be folk singers, but most of our songs were Everly Brothers, Beatles, oldies, and some current hits. We were an acoustic group and couldn’t play for dances, but we made three TV appearances (two in Decatur and one in Champaign) and we were on Oscar Wells Sunday morning radio show on WTIM many times. Donnie and Greg had that incredibly close harmony like the Everlys and John and Paul.I was told to show up at the American Legion Hall one summer evening of 1966, and that was where I met Oscar Wells. I think Oglethorp and Othelow’s connection to him probably came through Donnie Bearup’s mother, who did a lot to promote the group. Sometimes local country artists performed on his radio show and that is probably where Donnie’s mother heard of him. I had never heard of him before we recorded. I assumed he owned Van Records and that it was a local Taylorville label. If there was a contract it was only for that record. He paid for the record. We performed for free, I never made a single penny playing with Oglethorp and Othelow, though we were very successful as far as performing went.
with the second place trophy at the State Fair from left: Don Bearup, Richard Dean and Greg Carlock
I remember Oscar Wells as a tall, thin, pale, almost cadaverous-looking, man who seemed ancient to me at the time, but was probably in his 50s. He had a very flat nasal voice and mumbled and said “uh” a lot on his radio show, not a radio voice or a radio personality. He had a very nice Ampex tape recorder, too big to be lugging around in his car, but it was portable.We did take after take of “I’ll Still Love You” and it was almost always a failure of the recorder or the tape itself that meant we had to re-do it. I would estimate we did as many as 30 takes, and even the one that was used had a flub in it. Oscar Wells was very patient, didn’t contribute anything to the music, just let us do what we did. I think he was most interested in recording my friend Mick on the Coke bottles on “Please Don’t Go Away”, there was a lot of natural echo on it and it took awhile to get the sound right. I think we may have done three takes on “Please Don’t Go Away”, it was intended to be a quick B-side, but it was the side that got airplay and that everyone loved. Donnie Bearup wrote both songs. Greg’s guitar was so out-of-tune on “Please Don’t Go Away”, but such a great punkish guitar solo, and acoustic! By the time we recorded that we had spent 2 or 3 hours on “I’ll Still Love You”, and we were just getting to a B-side. If we had known “Please Don’t Go Away” would become the A-side I’m sure we would have tuned-up!
If I remember correctly, Oscar Wells had 300 or 500 copies of “Please Don’t Go Away” / “I’ll Still Love You” pressed. We were getting daily airplay on the Taylorville and Decatur radio stations and he sold all of the copies very quickly, I’m sure he thought he was on his way to the big time. Then he had another 300 or 500 copies made and I don’t think he sold any of them. That first batch was the limit of Oglethorp and Othelow fans. I remember going to his studio on Sundays and there were boxes and boxes of our record sitting there. I think the major reason why the second batch of records didn’t sell was also because two or three weeks went by before they were delivered and by then we were no longer receiving airplay in Taylorville and Decatur. I seem to recall Oscar complaining about not having any records to sell. Then when they arrived it was too late.
Oscar Wells’ Sunday morning radio show on WTIM, Taylorville, was called “The Entertainers Bulletin Board”. I think it started at 6:00 or 6:30. Donnie and I played with the Reactions on Saturday nights, often didn’t get home until 1:00 or 2:00 AM, then had to get up about 5:00 to drive the 17 miles from Pana to Taylorville. Oscar had a great rockabilly version of “Swannee River Rock” as his theme song. Then he would introduce us as “these, uh, boys from Pana are, uh,” and so on. Then Greg Carlock would introduce the songs. Oscar would record the show on his Ampex and afterward we would go to his “studio”, probably where he did most of his recording, a storefront near downtown Taylorville. He had a record-cutting machine. like something that would cut onto wax but these were very heavy brittle plastic, and he would make one copy of the show for us. That was our pay. I received each third one. I kept one of them for many years, it eventually shattered during a move, but I did get it on a cassette tape, with so much static it is almost unlistenable. At the end of the show he played a song he had recently produced by a woman country singer, [Pauletta Leeman – “Little Bit” which was backed with “You’re Make A Fool Out Of Me”, released on Sims 309 in 1966], a very nice song. I found, on-line, that Oscar J. Wells died in 1984, at 71.
Oglethorp & Othelow on Oscar Wells’ show The Entertainers Bulletin Board on WTIM, November 13, 1966:
“English Moon” would have been the second single, with, maybe, “And She Went Away” as the B-side. I’m not sure. I know we had big hopes for “English Moon”.
A story I love to tell about Oglethorp and Othelow: one Saturday, in the spring of 1967, we performed for the Future Homemakers of America convention in Pana High School auditorium. There were several hundred girls there and they Beatled us, screaming and throwing things onstage. It was amazing. We signed autographs for awhile afterward, then had to leave to play a strip mall opening in Decatur. We performed on the back of a flatbed truck and our entire audience consisted of three about-12-year-old very bored boys. That’s showbiz!
Another story: one morning in the summer of 1967 I was hanging out in downtown Pana and Donnie and Greg drove by, saw me, and stopped and said they were going to the Illinois State Fair, in Springfield, to perform in the battle of the bands (acoustic or vocal group, not electric). They were just doing it because they could get into the fair for free. We went to my house and grabbed my stand-up bass and took off. We were wearing jeans and t-shirts, I had on a pair of brown jeans. We did ten minutes or so, mostly Everly Brothers and Beatles, then enjoyed the fair. When we went back to find out who won, we discovered we had finished second. The winners were a vocal quartet of frat boys from Eastern Illinois University, dressed in blazers and ties, singing like the Lettermen or the Four Freshmen. They got to open for Paul Revere and the Raiders that evening, in front of about 12,000 people. If only we had dressed better, been a little more professional, but we hadn’t taken it seriously. After the concert, we spent an hour or so having burgers with Freddy Weller, Raiders’ lead guitarist. When I got home, about 2:00 AM, and tried to explain to my mother what my day had been like, she wouldn’t believe me!
We were on TV three times. Twice on Davy Jones’ Locker, an afternoon kids’ cartoon show on WAND, Decatur, that sometimes had live local talent. It was embarrassing to be on a kids show, the host dressed as a pirate, but it was TV! We were also on The Hop, a Saturday afternoon American Bandstand-style show on WCIA, Champaign, that in 1967 was still using Danny and the Juniors’ “At the Hop” as its theme song. We had recorded what was going to be our second single, probably not on Van Records, in a garage studio in Sullivan, Illinois, but the tape wasn’t playable on standard tape recorders, so we had re-recorded the two songs at Greg’s aunt’s house on a tape recorder that allowed over-dubbing. Donnie sang lead and played electric bass and rhythm, Greg sang harmony twice and played lead, and I played organ and piano. As we were getting ready to lip-sync Donnie told me I should fake the extra harmony and I realized I didn’t know the words, nor did I know his bass part. And there had been a big thunderstorm just as we had arrived at the studio, we had to walk through a foot of water in the parkinglot, and I had taken off my wet Beatle boots and socks and performed barefoot. I was told the camera kept showing close-ups of my feet! The second record was never released.
‘The Re-Actions’, from left: Dick Dean (bass), Steve Westoff (rhythm guitar), Butch Hartel (drums), Monte McDermith (lead guitar) and kneeling, Vince Slagel (organ). Not pictured, lead singer Donnie Bearup
A little about the music scene in Central Illinois in the 60s:
After the Beatles arrived, in February, 1964, it seemed that every teenage boy wanted to play in a band and I was one of them. Pana had a teen center and dances with live bands every Saturday night. Even smaller towns, like Nokomis and Assumption, had regular dances, and tiny towns, like Witt (pop. about 300) had dances at least once a month. The Fade-Aways, in 1965-66, didn’t work every weekend but we played frequently, and made money doing it. Pana, pop. 6000 or so, supported two rock bands, us and Comyk Book. Assumption had The Bluetones. Morrisonville, Dave and the Detomics. Nokomis, later, the Reactions. The summer of 1967, the Reactions worked three or four nights a week, putting on our own dances in the Morrisonville park on Thursdays, when there was nothing else going on, and splitting all of the money.
My favorite band, right after the Beatles arrived and the Pana Teen Center began having weekly dances, was the Classics, a six-piece band from Decatur, four white guys with two black singers, lots of great rock and roll and r&b. Then the Sting Rays, from Springfield.
Dave and the Detomics were several years older than me. As I remember them, they were a rockabilly crew that got on the British Invasion bandwagon, and they were pretty good when it came to rockers, not so good on melodies. When they played at the Pana Teen Center, many times in about 1965-66, they didn’t get much of a crowd. But I do remember they could rock, they had that garage band sound. My first band, The Fade-Aways, of which Donnie and Greg were members, also had that sound, just bashing it out, lots of energy.
I didn’t know Dave and the Detomics recorded for Van. When they broke up, in the fall of 1966, they became the Reactions. Donnie was the lead singer, I played electric bass. Monte McDermitt, former bass player for the Detomics, became the band leader and sang and played lead. Vince Slagel, also a Detomic, was on keyboards (Farfisa organ). Butch Hartel played drums. Steve Westoff was on rhythm guitar. The band was based in Nokomis, Illinois, though Donnie and I were from Pana and Butch and Steve from Litchfield. We never recorded, but we were very popular throughout 1967.
I don’t recall the Embalmers, but the Sting Rays were a favorite of mine. I’m pretty sure they were based in Springfield, Illinois. They were absolute pros, tight and solid, with a great drummer. When I was old enough to drive, in 1966, I would go anywhere around the area to see them. I remember when they washed the grease out of their Elvis pompadours and had Beatle haircuts. I remember seeing them at the Illinois State Fair, at the Teen Fair tent, probably in 1966, and they did a killer version of “Tossin’ and Turnin'”. Very much a guitar group, lots of rockabilly influence.
When I was 17 and could drive, and had a weekend night off when I wasn’t playing, I would drive anywhere to see my favorite group, a five-piece guitar band from Litchfield that did nothing but Stones covers and blues/r&b songs the Stones could have done. They were REO Speedwagon. If you look at their wikipedia page, this version of the group isn’t acknowledged. One Saturday in Taylorville, they were walking off-stage for a break and one of them pointed at me and said, “Reactions’ bassplayer.” I was surprised he knew who I was.
My biggest claim to rock and roll fame was that I was the original bassplayer in Head East, a heavy pop band that formed at Eastern Illinois University in 1969. I was a charter member, when the group was put together by Steve Huston (the drummer) and horn-player Steve Derry. When I showed up for the first rehearsal, it was about a 10 or 12 piece horn band, like Chicago or Blood Sweat and Tears, and I was given a music stand and sheet music. I quit at the end of the first rehearsal, that just wasn’t my idea of rock and roll. Their website doesn’t mention that version of the band.
I continued in music for several years. My last band was a country band, in 1973. I was always more of a lead guitar player, but I had my greatest success on bass.
I tried to track down the Reactions on the Internet. The only one I found was Vince Slagel, who was in the last version of Dave and the Detomics. I live in Denver.
Richard Dean, July 2011
Update: Greg Carlock passed away on December 29, 2019. Mike Choatie sent me the link to his obituary. RIP Othelow.
Thank you to Richard and his sister for the photos and clippings used in this article with the exception of the color photo provided by Donnie Bearup. Thanks also to Tom Fallon and Matt Baker for information on the Kenny Biggs 45.
“Electrified People” is a funky instrumental with a rhythm that kind of follows “Who Do You Love” while an anonymous guitarist throws in repetitive fills with shameless use of the wah pedal. “One Thousand Dimension in Blue” has a more conventional blues structure, the guitar isn’t as wild and there’s a cheesy echo effect placed on the snare drum.
The 45 was mastered at Bell Sound, and issued on Red Lite Records 113. David Gordon commented below “definitely 1971, issued approx. June / July – the label was based in New York and was connected to DeLite (Kool & the Gang, etc).”
I don’t know anything about the group that recorded this, likely assembled in the studio for this session. The Jimmy Peterson credited on both sides seems to be the same Chicago-based songwriter, producer and singer who cut 45s on Limelight (“Half the Time” / “Kathy My Darling” both co-written with Joe DeFrancesco) and Chess (another collaboration with DeFrancesco, “Inside of Me”, b/w “Maria”, arranged by Gary Beisbier of the Mob.)
Sometimes listed as Jim B. Peterson or James Peterson, he wrote or co-wrote many songs, including “Beatle Time” and “This Is the Night” for the Livers (aka the Chicagoans) on Constellation, and as James Butler he did some production work for USA and wrote still more songs, including for the Daughters of Eve (“Symphony of My Soul” and “Social Tragedy”), the Lincoln Park Tragedy, and “Don’t Let It Slip Away” for Ral Donner on StarFire.
James Holvay wrote on Spectropop:
Jimmy Peterson was a singer, entertainer, songwriter and a pretty creative guy in general. He formed the group The Chicagoans along with Gary Beisbier, myself, Bobby Ruffino, Chuck Russell and Larry McCabe. I was the guitar player in the group. We were living in New York in ’63 and performing at various clubs in the city (i.e. Peppermint Lounge, Metropole, etc.)
Peterson being the salesman that he was, convinced Ed Cody/Stereo Sonic Recording in Chicago, into giving us free studio time. In exchange, we would provide the musicians, artists, songs, etc. and become our own Motown and split 50/50 with Ed. We recorded a lot of tracks, most of which I wrote or co-wrote with Peterson.
Unfortunately, depending on Peterson’s greedy mood, the 45’s would come out by “whomever” and sometimes I got credit and sometimes I didn’t. I, along with all the other guys in the band, eventually got fed up and kicked him out of the band, after a 2 week engagement, backing up JoAnn Cambell at a club called the Hollyoak in Indianapolis. The Taylor Brothers were named after Taylor Street (Italian neighborhood) in Chicago. He loved Jerry Butler and that’s why he took his last name. We were also The Livers/”Beatletime”, which I believe Clark Weber (DJ/WLS) came up with, after he heard the acetate. The Kane & Abel singles were produced, after we had severed our relationship with Peterson.
Joe Defrancesco, a local promoter in Chicago, would find a lot of the acts that The Chicagoans produced, even though Peterson would have his name all over the label. Joe found an R&B group in Milwaukee called Little Artie and The Pharoahs. Artie and his brother Al Herrera were Kane & Abel and were the original lead singers when The Mob was formed. Artie got drafted at the peak of the Vietnam war and Al became “Big Al”, the lead singer for The Mob.
Joe Pytel, Jr. sent me many photos and much info on Jim Peterson:
The Mob [had] several personal changes bringing in Jimmy Ford and Mike Sistak from Jimmy Ford & The Executives. Joe DeFrancesco was a promoter & money-man for the Mob as well some other Chicago area bands. He tragically died in a basement fire while still fairly a young man.
According to Carl Bonafede (original manager of The Daughters of Eve), Jimmy Peterson did write under the aliases James Butler and James Dawg as well.
Dan Ferone sent me scans and clips of a 45 by the Invaders on the United label, “With a Tear” (written by Peter Polzak” / “A Song for Squirrel” (by James Butler). Both sides say “orch. arranged and conducted by James Butler” and recorded in Chicago. “With a Tear” lists Butler as producer and credits Polzak with vocal arrangements. It is likely this is Jimmy Peterson under the James Butler pseudonym.
The Electrified People 45 postdates Peterson’s association with James Holvay and Joe DeFrancesco. The closest association I can find is that Jimmy Peterson wrote and produced two 45s for Yvonne Daniels, “I Got to Get Close to You” / “Spread the Word” on De-Lite DE-451 and “Super Soul Music” “I Got to Get Close to You” on Red Lite 117. This is the only other De-Lite or Red Lite 45 that I can find Jimmy’s name on, but my discography is incomplete.
Incomplete Red Lite discography: Any help with this would be appreciated
Red Lite RL 102 – Crystal Ship – Mary Jane Fletcher (Michael Berardi and Richard Berardi) / Lovin’ Stuff (Richard Berardi) (Produced by Bob Yorey)
Red Lite RL 111 – Johnny Desmond with Candullo-Val Blues Band – Red Lips / Jim Webb – Didn’t We (with PS)
Red Lite RL 113 – Electrified People – Electrified People / One Thousand Dimension in Blue Red Lite RL 114 – Dennis Robinson – Hard to Handle / Unchained Melody (prod. by Larry Philips, arranged by Barry Alley) Red Lite RL 115 – Piccolino Pop Strings – Clown Town / Vous Etes Beau (both written by Gladys Shelley) Red Lite RL 116 – Sammy Taylor (and Hot as Hell) – Something the Devil’s Never Done / Send Her Back (Sammy Taylor) Produced by Melting Pots) Red Lite RL 117 – Yvonne Daniels – Super Soul Music / I Got to Get Close to You Red Lite RL 118 – Underground Lite Bulb Co. – Evil Ways (L. Zack) / Happy People (P. Martone) produced by Vince Castellano and Bob Yorey Red Lite RL 119 – Jean Battle – Love Making / When a Woman Loves a Man (both songs written and produced by Sam Dees)
This unknown group recorded one of the strangest versions of Jessie Hill’s “Ooh Poh Pah Doo” I’ve ever heard, titled “Oop-Oop-a-Doo”. Unfortunately there is no name listed under the song writing credits for “Floatin'”, a cool instrumental with sax, piano and some sharp guitar.
Jim Gordon of USA Records started the Destination label to cover bands from the area around his Chicago base, though this group may be from Indiana.
The was a group called the Trade Winds that eventually morphed into Styx, but I think it’s likely a different group. Nor were they the Tradewinds from New York who recorded for Kama Sutra. Anyone know for sure?
Thanks to Geoff Brittingham for the scans and transfers of this 45.
Dave Kossy – guitar / vocals Kirk Brower – guitar / vocals Pete Kaplan – bass Stu Leviton – drums
This single by Zendik shows a promising direction for hard rock in 1970, like the MC5, It’s All Meat or even some early Alice Cooper. Zendik’s “Is There No Peace” and “Aesop” share these bands’ punk, anti-establishment attitude, without succumbing to the dull trends of boogie, soul or progressive pretensions of the time. Music with that kind of edge nearly disappeared from radio in the early 1970s, but is getting the attention it deserves now.
The band is really together on both songs, with lead guitar like a siren on “Is There No Peace” and cutting on “Aesop”, backed with rolling drums and aggressive bass runs. The singing is confident, and the lyrics pointed:
Is there no peace in this world? Well you hide your fine hate and bigotry. What does it all mean to me, I just cannot see what’s the purpose of it all.
Old dress, depress, fornicators, people … [?] In that desert only sick and [?] to pretend to be high. But they just can’t win, Never overcoming this situation that they’re in.
Is there no peace in this world? Each day birds fly, men die, women cry, it ain’t right. Why must people fight and die, never knowing why, Guess we’ll never know the answer.
Do you think you would like to find a way out of here? Do you think you’d like to look at your mind through a kaleidoscope mirror? Well it just might be the answer even though you’ll die faster here, ‘Cause God was dead a long long time ago.
God is dead, God is dead, GOD IS DEAD
Dave Kossy wrote “Is There No Peace” and Kirk Brower wrote “Aesop”.
They were from the suburbs of Chicago and not a part of Wulf Zendik’s Farm in Austin, Texas.
The mastering number “TM 4274” indicates Ter-Mar Studios manufacturing plant in Chicago, owned by Chess Records.
As the label states, these songs were “Recorded in America” and released on Pslhrtz (I can’t figure out the pun there) in 1970. Bob Ambos and Mike Lima produced it, with publishing originally with Into Now Unlimited, BMI, though both songs are now registered with Tim Brophy and Kilkenny Music of Sussex, Wisconsin, outside of Milwaukee. I tried to reach Tim by phone but the number was out of date.
There was very little info about the band out there until I posted this article and heard from Dave Kossy.
There were at least two other songs recorded during the same session as the single. “Mom’s Apple Pie Boy” is so good it definitely could have been the A-side, and “Pink Grapefruit” is fine too. In my opinion these deserve to be released, and I would try to finance a 45 release if the band would agree to it (and the masters or transfers were good quality).
The Light Brigade at the Illini Brown Jug in Champaign, Illinois clockwise from top: Chuck Miller, Tom Becker, Larry Walters, Charlie Leeuw and Bill Throckmorton
The Bacardis 45 on Midgard, “This Time” / “Don’t Sell Yourself” is one of the classics of mid-60s independent singles. “This Time” is a beautiful folk-rock original, very much inspired by the Byrds but with a haunting quality to the vocals that makes it stand out. The b-side gets more attention from garage collectors, for its unison bass and drum hook, great guitar break, and ragged lead vocal.
Incredibly rare, it is also one of the few ‘garage’ 45s from this time to sell for over $3,000 at auction.
The RCA mastering number TK4M-6763/4 shows Midgard Records owner Chuck Regenberg sent this tape to RCA’s Indianapolis plant at the same time as fellow Midgard release the Suns of Mourning which is TK4M-6765/6. Both are late 1966 custom pressings. The production listing “IPPRU” is just an abbreviation for “Div. of International Promotion Production and Recording Unlimited”.
For ages record collectors knew nothing about this band. There are no names on the label to help track it. The Midgard label was from Madison, WI, but the band most certainly was not. One source told me Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick remembers a band called the Bacardis playing around the Rockford area when he was young. He didn’t know any of the group though.
Then I received this photo of the Light Brigade from Illinois, and we found the group that had originally been called the Bacardis. The band members included Charlie Leeuw, Larry Walters, John Shaw, Bill Throckmorton and Chuck Miller. After changing their name to the Light Brigade, they eventually broke up sometime in the early ’70s.
Chuck Miller contacted me with this info about the group:
My name is Chuck Miller. I was the bass player in the Bacardis and Light Brigade. That’s me at the top of the Brown Jug clipping. I joined the Bacardis when I was stationed at Chanute AFB in Rantoul, Ill in 1966. At that time they were four guys who were also stationed at Chanute.
“This Time” was written by Larry Walters when we were living together in an apartment in Rantoul. It was recorded at the band rehearsal hall at Chanute AFB in 1967.
I believe “Don’t Sell Yourself” was written by Larry and Charlie. I think it was recorded at one of the places we played but not sure where. Both songs were band demos to get jobs and never intended to be made into a record.
I will dig through my attic to find any pictures I have of the group.
Chuck Miller
In Febuary 2013, Charles Leeuw wrote to me about the band:
Just thought I’d fill in some names to go with the flyer of the Light Brigade at the Brown Jug. “The Jug” was just off campus and a predecessor to the Red Lion and Chances R.
Chuck Miller – bass guitar, sometime lead guitar and vocals Tom Becker- Hammond B3, Fender Rhodes, vocals. Tom replaced John Shaw our original keyboard player in the Bacardi’s Larry Walters – lead guitar, originator of the band, vocals and songwriter Charlie Leeuw (Chas) – lead vocal Bill Throckmorton- drums, sometime keyboard
Jim Murn was our original rhythm guitar player and an original member, but our first keyboard player was John Shaw, who replaced Jim Murn and also played rhythm guitar and was backup vocalist. By the time of the Brown Jug billboard, Tom Becker was our keyboard player. I strongly believe John Shaw was keyboard on the Midgard record.
More info has come in on the comments below. Hopefully we’ll see more photos of the Bacardis soon.
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Afton V-1700 – The Strangers – “This Brave New World” (Bob Rubin) / “In the Beginning”, A-side is a top surf instrumental, flip is blander
In the mid 1960’s the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana became a center for innovative jazz and avant-garde electronic and computer music. Starting in 1967, the Red Herring Coffeehouse just off the main quad on W Oregon became a center for folk artists. And of course there was a thriving band scene at the Illini Brown Jug and other student beer joints. For those not familiar with that area’s geography, the school is located in eastern-central Illinois, roughly equidistant from Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis.
I’ve only heard a few of these records. The Cliques has had the most exposure, showing up on Back From the Grave vol. 7. I’ve heard one side of the Keepers, which is good harmony pop, and the first Prodigies 45, “Kysmyph (KIS-MIF)” a bluesy instrumental with sax and some odd organ sounds, backed with “Don’t Look Back”, which starts out with a hip bossa groove but the vocals are square, mimicking the complex harmonies on brazilian groups from the time.
Other Rofran productions:
Notes:
From a reader:
This unknown group recorded one of the strangest versions of Jessie Hill’s “Ooh Poh Pah Doo” I’ve ever heard, titled “Oop-Oop-a-Doo”. Unfortunately there is no name listed under the song writing credits for “Floatin'”, a cool instrumental with sax, piano and some sharp guitar.
The RCA mastering number TK4M-6763/4 shows Midgard Records owner Chuck Regenberg sent this tape to RCA’s Indianapolis plant at the same time as fellow Midgard release the