The Carousel recorded in Birmingham, Alabama in 1969. Members were:
Carl Williams – lead vocals Richard Studdard – vocals, keyboards Ronald Naramore – vocals, guitar Donny Grace – vocals, bass Mike Patton – vocals, drums
“Girl Maybe You” and “Gonna Hide My Face” are fast-paced pop originals by Donny Grace. Bob Grove and Unity produced for It’s a Lemon 1002.
Bob Grove ran Prestige Recording Studio in Birmingham, where he had recorded artists for his own Unity Record Company label with its beautiful logo of black and white fists with a dove.
I know of two releases on Unity, Candy Stanton’s “Now You’ve Got the Upper Hand” / “You Can’t Stop Me” (both written by Bo Fowler and produced by Bob Grove and Richard Dingler), and Underground Euphoria featuring Keisa Brown “What Can I Do About You” / “Let’s Go Back (To Our Little World)”.
The Carousel single came a couple years after these. I assume it was also recorded at Prestige. The Carousel 45 was preceded on the It’s a Lemon label by a hard rock single by The Brood “Virginia Neal” / “The Roach”. The Brood was Dale Aston of the Torquays along with Steve Salord, George Landman and Bobby Marlin.
I suppose there’s another release on It’s a Lemon between the Brood and the Carousel, but so far I haven’t found it.
Anyone have a copy of the It’s a Lemon singles, or a photo of The Brood?
Dueces Wild featured in the Amarillo Sunday News-Globe on May 28, 1967
The Deuces Wild formed in high school in Amarillo, Texas in 1965. They continued at least through 1967 and cut one 45 on their own Deuce Records label, “Hey Little One” / “Come Easy Go”.
Members were:
Mark Fenlaw – lead vocals Freddy Johnson – bass and vocals Donnie Rae – lead guitar Mark Hart – rhythm guitar Tommy Pena – organ Bill Hegedus – drums
AY a Go Go: DJ Rick West emceed, and local youngsters were featured in fashion photos by Lonnie Sutherland. Models included Malee Miller, Sally Lewis, Suzanne Thompson, Dennis Coyne, Jane Pangburn, Lynn Hagemeier, David Spooner, Melissa Cox and Susan Elliott.
First mention I can find for the band comes from August 12, 1965, announcing their participation in the Allied Youth’s AY a Go Go at the Amarillo Little Theatre, along with the Illusions, the Windthieves, the Others and the Echoes. I haven’t heard of these other bands.
The group’s ages ranged from 16 to 20 at the time of their 45 release. “Hey Little One” is the Dorsey Burnette song. Freddy Johnson wrote and sang the B-side, “Come Easy Go”. The songs were recorded at Larry Cox Studio on N.E. 24th Street, formerly Ray Ruff’s Checkmate Studio.
On May 28, 1967, the Amarillo Sunday News-Globe ran a feature on the band by Gloria Denko:
Rock ‘n’ Roll Band Cuts First Record
The Deuces Wild started about 2 1/2 years ago …
This week the group joined the ranks of performers on record. Their first release, “Hey, Little One,” on Era, with Mark Hart on the vocal, was produced and reocrded by Larry Cox Recorders, 3412 NE 24th, and hit the airways at KGNC, KPUR, KIXZ and other Panhandle radio stations.
“Come, Easy Go” on the flip side, with Freddie Johnson on the vocal, is an original by Johnson. He wrote the ballad, his first, about two years ago and since has written about 15 others. Johnson said about a third of his songs are ballads and the rest are rock ‘n’ roll.
The Deuces Wild count their appearance following Paul Revere and the Raiders at an all-city dance last fall as the high point of their career to date…
Bobby Harper, the buyer at Cooper & Melin, has been their manager for the past year …
They have performed … at Amarillo Air Force Base, for groups in Hereford, Spearman, Dumas and Vega, as well as in Amarillo.
The Dueces Wild had a stage show that included black light, a siren-whistle, flashing lights in time with music and a strobe.
The Wild Prophets came from Ames, Iowa, about 35 miles north of Des Moines. They recorded one single on Kustom Records, Ltd ARS-1001, an energetic version of the Last Word’s “Can’t Stop Loving You” backed with “Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It”, a Neil Young original with the Buffalo Springfield.
The lineup at the time of the record was:
Ted Nunemaker – vocals Keane Bonath – sax Ken Wood – guitar Roy Aasen – keyboard Larry Kelley – bass and vocals Andy Gielbelstein – drums
Mark Miller signed the label of the record, but he replaced Ken Wood on guitar after the record was made.
Earlier members included Jacque Furman and Ralph Stevens on drums, Ray West on keys.
Later members included Ron Arends on keys and Scott Erickson.
Larry Kelly wrote to me:
I had a few groups in high school. My first band I joined was the Mystics – the first combo at Boone High School. I left that group and started my own band called the Tel-Stars. In ’65 I left that band and got married.
In ’66 I started organizing a new band and we came up with the name The Wild Prophets – Ken Wood, Ray West, Jacque Furman and I. We did things like play guitar/bass behind our heads, lay down on the floor playing, etc. That’s where the ‘wild’ came from in the name. We went thru various other musicians when Ray left. Jacque left and Ralph Stevens played drums. He left in time and Andy took over. When Andy left, Randy Stultz took over on drums.
The recording came about with Ken, Keane Bonath, Ted Nunemaker (both Keane and Ted were ISU students at the time), Andy on drums, and Roy Aaesen played keys. We found the two songs we wanted to do and Ted sang lead on the slow song, me on “Can’t Stop Loving You” which was a Buffalo Springfield flip-side song from their hit, “For What It’s Worth”. But “Can’t Stop” was too slow so we sped it up a bit!
We had a school bus we fixed up to travel in along with the name of the band on each side in big letters. In ’69, we bought over $10,000 worth of new band equipment which today would be more like $80-100k. So many stories, too numerous to tell.
The Wild Prophets recorded at Audiosonic Recording Studio in Ames, and the record saw release in 1969.
According to the informative Boone Rock website, the band played “in Mason City. The Cellar in Ames was a favorite with a good crowd in attendance every time. Other venues they performed at include the Starlite in Carroll, the Pla-Mor in Fort Dodge, the Dance-Mor in Swisher, RJ’s Lounge in Marion.”
The Wild Prophets broke up in 1973. Jacque Furman continued in music, but I have few details other than playing with Cris Williamson and Glen Yarborough.
Ted Nunemaker died on Dec. 14, 2008.
Thank you to Larry Kelley for correcting the spelling of names.
Some information from http://members.iowatelecom.net/thx1136/pages/prophets.html (currently offline).
I can find a few other Audiosonic Recording Studio credits, such as:
Ted Hart – “Down in the Mine” / “I Don’t Need You Anymore” (both by Don Taft and J.T. Schreiner), produced by J.T. Schreiner on Leslie LR 72068 from 1968.
Syndrum of Soul - “Lost and Found” (Gary French, Floyd Brown) / “Do You Care” on SOS 100, produced by M. Harper, from 1970.
The Coachmen, from left: Sam Brough, Glen Cammack, Tommy Burnett (sitting) and Rick Allen, “backstage at the Mid-South Coliseum after a Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs gig.” Photo from Ron Hall’s essential “The Memphis Garage Rock Yearbook 1960-1975”
The Coachmen are not well-remembered now, but were a significant band in Memphis in 1965. They played at the premier of Help at the Loews Palace Theatre with the WMPS Good Guys. They had one single on Gold Standard 155, “I’ll Never Leave You” / “Possibility”.
Members were:
Tommy Burnett – vocals Sam Brough Glen Cammack Rick Allen
“I’ll Never Leave You” is good upbeat pop. Copyright registration from August, 1965 shows Larry Hill and Rusty Taylor (as Roland Parker Taylor) as co-writers. Rusty Taylor was vocalist with the Yo-Yo’s (the Swingin’ Yo-Yo’s) and later had two solo singles on the M.O.C. label. The Coachmen single preceded the Yo-Yo’s singles on Goldwax.
“Possibility” is a Stan Vincent composition which had been done by the Crowns on Old Town Records in 1964.
Gold Standard owner Zeke Clements produced, and the labels credit “The Coachmen (from Memphis, Tenn)” and “vocal by Tommy Burnett”.
Rusty Taylor and Larry Hill registered another composition “I Know”, in October, 1965, also with Blazon Music.
Betty Simpson wrote both songs on this teen record on the Zundak label out of Alexandria, Louisiana, northwest of Baton Rouge. “What Is Love” is upbeat, while “Weeping Willow” is a ballad, as you’d expect from the title.
Betty was a teenager when she cut this in 1965. She worked with a band called the Argos, who were Billy Spillman (bass), Steve Smith (drums), Robert Rachel and Stan Rachel (both on guitar). They performed at the La Paloma Lounge south of Alexandria, and Betty also appeared at the Louisiana Bandstand TV show.
Photos and info come from the youtube video below, which has a few more news clippings of Betty:
They recorded the single at La Louisianne studios in Lafayette. Zundak was the label for one of my all-time favorite Louisiana garage 45s, “Baby Get Lost” by the Barracudas.
The Twilighters came from Kirksville, Missouri, a small city about 165 miles from Kansas City and 200 miles from St. Louis. In 1967 they cut two originals, “Spellbound” / “My Little Angel” at Technisonic Studios in St. Louis.
“Spellbound” is a fast-paced rocker, driven by Dave Daniels’s fantastic drumming. There’s a great guitar break and a double-time ending, and it’s over in less than two minutes.
The chant of “Spellbound” has a distinctive sound that may come from some other song but if so, I can’t think of it. It reminds me of a later cut, Steve Miller Band’s “Living in the U.S.A.” where the group chants “Stand Back”. I’d be interested if anyone has heard something very similar in another song from the era.
The B-side, “My Little Angel” is a ballad with fine vocals, and good recording production.
Released on Red Flame Records 45-1005, the labels show a 1966 copyright date, but the U4KM indicates a pressing date in the first half of 1967.
The Twilighters, from left: Everett Cassidy, Gary Blurton, David Daniels on drums, Bob Harbur, and Randy Elmore. Photo courtesy of David Daniels.
David Daniels wrote to me:
The Twilighters band began in 1963 with Gary Blurton (rhythm guitar and vocals), David Daniels (drums), Everett Cassidy (bass), and Bob Harbur (lead guitar). Randy Elmore joined the band in 1964 because Gary was leaving to join the National Guard and the band would be needing a lead vocalist. Randy played lead guitar as well.
Eventually Bob moved to the St Louis area and Everett also moved away from the Kirksville area. At that point Richard Hudson, also a local boy and friend of Randy and David, came on to play rhythm guitar.
The Twilighters, from left: Everett Cassidy on bass, Randy Elmore on guitar, David Daniels with drumsticks, and Gary Blurton, guitar. Photo courtesy of David Daniels.
This configuration of The Twilighters (Randy, David, and Richard) placed an ad in the local paper seeking a keyboard player, to which Carl Foultz responded and that was the group that made the record “Spellbound” / “My Little Angel”. Carl Foultz was the song writer and organ player, and the bass was covered by the bass pedals on the organ.
Randy Elmore – lead guitar and lead vocal Richard Hudson – rhythm guitar Carl Foultz – organ (and bass pedals) David Daniels – drums (background vocals for “My Little Angel”)
There were no headphones to monitor in the recording room and “Spellbound” was recorded in one live take. The band could not hear the vocal work at all until listening to the playback in the control room. Likewise for “My Little Angel.” It was the first recording the band had made and their first experience in a recording studio.
Randy, Richard, and David were local boys, born and raised in the Kirksville area. Carl was from Pennsylvania and came to Kirksville to attend university at Northeast Missouri Teachers College (now Truman State University).
The band members changed off and on over subsequent years with a total of about 20 different players having done some time with The Twilighters during their run (1963 – 1971).
Randy and David continued to play in many other bands in the NE Missouri area from 1971 – 2011, often times together, other times not, under the names: Country Flavor, Fox, Survival, Loose Louie, Twilighter’s Rockin’ Reunion, BJ Allen Band, and Blue Voodoo.
These photos are of the original players. There are no pics with Richard or Carl, so neither of these are the exact group of players that were on the recording.
David went on to buy Circle M Music in Kirksville in 1974 and operated the music store and built his own recording studio where he recorded many local musicians and vocal groups. David mentored many young kids over the years, sharing his love of music and recording. He retired in 2014 after serving the NE Missouri music community for 42 years. As an honor to his Grandpa David, Black Daniels & The Bears did a cover of “Spellbound” live at David’s retirement party in 2014, the 3rd generation of musicians in the Daniels family, carrying on the tradition.
Randy retired from SW Bell and now lives in Columbia, MO.
Richard did not continue with music but went on to other employment, was a private business owner, and has retired to Lake of the Ozarks.
Carl graduated from NE Missouri Teachers College and moved away, the other band members having lost touch with him.
Gary is retired from local employment in the Kirksville area.
Bob and Everett are now both deceased.
Dick Lawrence (deceased) was owner of Red Flame Records and was an avid music promoter throughout the NE Missouri area his entire life.
Carl Foultz was also a member of an r&b group called the Del-Fis or Del-Phis with Ed Corte, Frank Gantt, T.J. Jackson, Mac Pendelton, Nick Romanetz and Gary Smyth, some of whom were students at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now known as Truman State University).
After Carl Foultz left the Twilighters, Bill Daniels joined on guitar and Ray Beets on bass, as Ray states in his comment below.
Dick Lowrance owned Red Flame Records which released three singles by the group he was a member of, the Red Blazers, usually with Ike Haley as leader.
In 1966 Lowrance released a single by Friar Tuck and the Merrymen’s “Peanut Butter” / “Try Me” (Mike Barger) on his Sherwood Forest Records subsidiary. That band may have been from western Illinois though I’m not sure which town. I’ve found newspaper ads for a “new Friar Tuck and the Merrymen” playing at the Wayside Inn in Moberly, Missouri, about an hour south of Kirksville; not sure if this is the same group.
When singers John Finley and Lee Jackson left The Jon-Lee Group (aka Jon & Lee and The Checkmates) in mid-September 1967, Toronto singer David Clayton-Thomas picked up their backing band, renamed it The Phoenix and moved to New York.
After a month’s rehearsals, the group debuted at the Bitter End and then briefly played at the East Scene in October before working as the house-band at Steve Paul’s The Scene.
The band’s career, however, was cut short during early November when Clayton-Thomas was deported for being an illegal alien.
Leishman also returned to Toronto at this point and played with several groups, including The Power Project and Bobby Kris & The Imperials before joining The Duke Edwards Cycle in late 1968.
Hodgson meanwhile was offered a place in Project Supergroup (later Rhinoceros) in December and flew out to Los Angeles to audition.
After being passed over for the group in early 1968, he briefly rejoined David Clayton-Thomas in his group, David Clayton-Thomas Combine. When that split in mid-1968, Hodgson moved back to the US and became a member of the Paxton Ranch Band, playing on Jackson Browne’s early recordings (aka Baby Browning).
Cutler stayed in New York and worked with an embryonic version of Hot Tuna and then did a stint drumming and managing The Crazy World of Arthur Brown during the band’s summer ’68 North American tour. He later worked as a manager for The Holy Modal Rounders.
When Clayton-Thomas had previously worked in New York in March 1967, he had shared a flat with former Bob Dylan bass player Harvey Brooks, who was in the process of putting The Electric Flag together.
Apparently Brooks had offered Thomas the original vocal slot in the group, but he declined.
Fonfara however, did accept an invitation from the Flag’s drummer Buddy Miles to replace Barry Goldberg when the latter got busted in November 1967.
Fonfara duly appeared on the group’s debut album, before becoming a member of Project Supergroup the following month, which soon changed name to Rhinoceros.
Hodgson and Leishman both rejoined Fonfara in Rhinoceros in 1969.
David Clayton-Thomas joined Blood, Sweat & Tears in June 1968.
Advertised gigs
19-22 October 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York with The Carnival Connection
Mitzee Baker’s “Stand Up Boy” is early ’60s pop, not garage but it has a strong beat and crude production. I’m posting because it seems to be unknown, and there are some deadwax codes I am not familiar with.
The flip is a ballad with some orchestration, “No One Can Love You (More than I)”. Harry Moffitt wrote both songs and co-produced with Fred Downs, released on Dralmar 5000. Pompadour Music published the songs, but I can’t find them in BMI’s database. A Philadelphia origin is likely.
The runout codes are: “D-5000-B A” / “D-5000-B”. Both sides have “A.M.S.” followed by something that looks like a D with a couple short horizontal lines in front of it. In very small lettering on the A-side is “TV 33166”. All are etched.
An embossed stamp on both sides seems to read backwards, beginning with, possibly M.O.I. and ending with CO – but I may not be reading that correctly.
Getting out of my usual range to post about an unknown record from 1973. The label reads “Mumbled on the album Riddles from Home by Humpback Whale” but I haven’t found a trace of that album yet, if it exists.
One side contains a kazoo arrangement of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” with whistling. It predates the version by the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra by a good five years.
“The Whale Sighed” (i.e. the side with the whales on the label) has a great original song called “Passing Tone” by V. Karlsson.
The only other credits are “1973 Angel Guardian Road Service” and “Your Basic Fish Recordings, Chicago, Illinois” and BMI, though I can’t find the songs in BMI’s database.
Humpback Whale – Also Sprach Zarathustra
Randy Chance was lead guitarist for a group called the Other Half, and before that the Just Four. Note this was not the Other Half from Chicago who cut “Girl with the Long Black Hair” / “Third of January” on the Orlyn 503 in June of 1967.
There is an April 1975 copyright registration for “Search for Magicians”, words by Wade Martinow (Martinov), words and music Van Karlsson, pseudonym of Van Carson, Angel Guardian Road Service Publishing Company.
Randy Chance has a website with a timeline, dating Riddles from Home to 1972 and noting that from 1971 – 1973, he built Humpback Whale Studios in Chicago, plus “Your Basic Fish” record company and “Angel Guardian Road Service” publishing.
He also wrote and performed a musical, Turds in Hell by the Godzilla Rainbow Troupe, and a rock opera Breathe Deeply Today is Fill in Blank for the Free Theater and the Center for New Music.
Randy’s online resume includes an extensive list of composition and recording through 2016.
The GTs in the Xenia Daily Gazette Feb. 21, 1967 The GTs came from Dayton, Ohio. Members were:
John Boerstler Eddie Wells Brenda Bishop Mary McCartney Bruce Larson
The Xenia Daily Gazette featured a photo of the band in February, 1967 for their date at the Blue Moon Ballroom.
A 1966 single “Bad Girl” and “Farewell Faithless Farewell” on Nashville NV-5302 is reputed to be by this band, however neither song was written by a member of the group. Cathryn Wright wrote “Farewell, Faithless, Farewell” while “Bad Girl” was written by Earl Isble, listed in March, 1966 copyright registration as Earl Roger Isble. Tronic BMI published both songs.
The 45 was a Starday Recording and Publishing production, so the band only had to send their tape in, not travel to Tennessee.
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
The Carousel recorded in Birmingham, Alabama in 1969. Members were:
I know of two releases on Unity, Candy Stanton’s “Now You’ve Got the Upper Hand” / “You Can’t Stop Me” (both written by Bo Fowler and produced by Bob Grove and Richard Dingler), and Underground Euphoria featuring Keisa Brown “What Can I Do About You” / “Let’s Go Back (To Our Little World)”.
