I was a drummer for one of those bands way back when. Newark, Ohio was our Liverpool. We had The Sticks and Stones for many years – they had their own bus and competed in the national battle of the bands a couple times and I think got a recording deal. Then there was The Lyte Brigade who also had a bus, AND Mel Royster who was a great singer. They put out a record, I think it was called “Showtime”.
Then there was my band – Glass Menagerie that was together till ’70. The members were Steve Risbon (lead), Steve Hideg (bass), Bob Reynard (guitar) and Fred Schonberg (drums).
We were on Jerry Razors’ “Dance Party” and recorded a cover of “Delta Lady” by Joe Cocker which got some airplay. We didn’t have a bus and rented a U haul every weekend. We opened at “Someplace Else” in Mt Vernon I think it was, for the “Ohio Express” after they came back from England and didn’t want to be bubblegum anymore. We also did the Holiday Swim Club, and played from Norwalk to Cadiz and south to West Virginia – with a lot of gigs in Zanesville, not bad when you’re 15.
The photos were taken fall of ’70 with two of the members who were on the record. We all came from garage band roots and the band had been together since 1967.
Writing about Danny and the Counts has brought in a lot of information about the Coronado and Frogdeathlabels, so I’ll feature some more artists from these companies, starting with the Imposters.
The A-side is “Wipe In”, their take on the surf standard “Wipe Out” of course, with plenty of reverb and a deranged introduction. It was written by E. Teleheny, published by Conte Music. The flip is a standard blues, “Tulsa”, written by L. Miller.
I can’t find any info or photos of the band, if anyone has one, please let me know.
Although a DJ in El Paso, Steve Crosno’s Frogdeath label was based in University Park, New Mexico. At least some records were cut at his house. He usually put a witty quip on the label, this one has “Produced by Shteve [sic] Crosno”.
Thanks to Sam Stephenson for the scans and transfers of this 45.
For years I’ve seen white-label copies of the King’s Court record with only stamped titles and the words “Test Pressing”. Until recently I assumed they were bootlegs. I’ve since read they are originals, pressed at the same time as the standard green label copies. There even exist some copies with blank white labels.
I don’t have a green label 45 to compare, but I’ll list the deadwax info from my stamped copy: both sides of the dead wax have the Nashville Matrix stamp, and “95” etched into the vinyl. “Don’t Put Me On” has “WH 3613-A” etched into the dead wax, along with a separate etching of “WH 6̶3̶1̶3̶A̶” (partially crossed out). The flip has the Nashville Matrix stamp, the “95” and “WH-3613-B”. The 95 is code for the Archer Record Pressing in Detroit.
“Don’t Put Me On” has the band playing a steady groove behind a repetitive, buzzing guitar figure. The opening line is “Girl you better not cheat on me” and the lyrics alternate between warning the girl and pleading with her. “Don’t Put Me On” is an original by Holowicki, Suba and Grihorash and published through Jamaica Pub, BMI. The flip is a cover of “Midnight Hour” that’s better than most versions I’ve heard.
Members of the King’s Court were:
John Holowicki – lead vocals Aaron Dytiniak – lead guitar Craig Suba – rhythm guitar Brian Cramer – keyboards Mike Grihorash – bass Bill Barent – drums
Anyone have a photo of the band?
Bill Barent, drummer for the band wrote:
Craig Suba one of the guitar players was installing drapes at our house and heard me playing the drums down the basement. When I came up he asked me if I would be interested in playing in a band. That’s how it all started. The recording studio was in a basement in Dearborn it was a great experience. Grew up in Dearborn Heights, Michigan that’s where all the members of the group lived.
After the Kings Court I played in 10 piece Soul Band called Dan Riley and the Soul Review. I played in the U. S. Army, we put a group together and won 1st Army Entertainment Contest. Later on after I was married I just did weddings and some club work.
The Wheels 4 Records label had a tag, “The Dearborn Sound”, but since that city is just west of Detroit the Kings Court and other bands on the label could have come from anywhere in the area. The records I’ve seen list Bryan Dombrowski as engineer, and I’ve also read he owned the label, though I see Jim Walters is credited as producer on several Wheels 4 sides.
Some of the better Wheels 4 releases include:
3609 – House of Commons “Til Tomorrow” (Tony Franciosi) / “Love Is a Funny Thing” 3611 – Innsmen “I Don’t Know” (Vince Goldsmith) / “Things Are Different Now” 3619 – Hearsemen “I Get That Feeling” / “Christianne” (both by Chris Brent)
There was a three CD set of Wheels 4 recordings, including many unreleased sides, issued in 1994.
Jimmy Peterson, photo courtesy of the Peterson family
“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).”
For years, I mistakenly thought the Jimmy Peterson credited on both sides was the Chicago-based songwriter, producer and singer who cut 45s on Limelight and Chess. However, I now realize that the Jimmy Peterson who is credited on the Electrified People was recording mainly in New York. Not only was Red Lite based in New York, but a conversation with his son, whose mother is Yvonne Daniels, who also recorded on Red Lite, confirmed this info. To make matters more confusing, there was a different Yvonne Daniels working in radio in Chicago!
Jimmy confirmed that the Electrified People an actual group, not just a studio creation, and that Yvonne Daniels was a member.
Jimmy Peterson wrote and/or produced or arranged on all four of Yvonne Daniels’ singles, including “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, and her earlier singles on Roulette and Sterling.
This is the only other De-Lite or Red Lite 45 that I can find Jimmy’s name on, but he has a long list of credits and his own singles on Federal, Barry, Roulette, HoMark, Fox Fire and other labels.
Red Lite discography:
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 with the Electrified People – 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)
Thank you to Jimmy for setting the record straight about which Jimmy Peterson was the correct one for this record and for sending in the photo of his father.
Apologies to Joe Pytel Jr. for removing the photos and info he sent me of the Chicago-based producer, but that is a story for another post.
“A picture of the Sting Rays when we were at the top of our game.” From left: Cecil DeHart, Tom Pittman, “Butch” Schodt, Randy Vaughn, Tom Parker and Vince Screeney
For the 500th story I’ve done on US artists and labels since starting this site, I’m featuring a couple records that are very obscure and rarely heard, but both excellent examples of the sound of bands in the Tidewater region in the mid-60s.
The Sting Rays came from Portsmouth, Virginia. They had two 45s, one on Lawn and another on Vermillion. Both 45s feature an r&b influenced vocal number on one side, and an instrumental on the other.
Their first record is quite a rocker, featuring the swinging horn-led instro “Ele-Phink” backed with the fine, tough vocal “Hey Girl, Watcha Gonna Do” on the flip. Both songs written by R. Vaughn and published through Palmina Music and Florentine, BMI.
“I Need Her”, the vocal side of their second 45 might be their best track. The soulful singing is strong and the horns work perfectly with the driving rhythm section. “Calhoon-a”, the instrumental side, featured piano with bursts of horns (sorry about the warbled sound on this transfer). “Cahoon-A” was written by Tommy Parker, while “I Need Her” was by Tommy Pitman. Both sides produced by F.W. Singleton and published by Florentine Music, BMI. Released on Vermillion 107, the RCA custom press number S4KM-8478/9 indicates that this was pressed in the first half of 1965.
Their lead guitarist Vince Screeney took over on bass for the Swinging Machine when Evan Pierce was in the army.
Vince wrote to me that his time with the Machine, as he calls them, “started with me playing lead guitar for a rival band, The Sting Rays.” Vince gave me some background on the group and sent in the photo at top:
The Sting Rays were:
Cecil DeHart – bass Tom Pittman – lead sax and vocals “Butch” Schodt – drums Randy Vaughn – sax, vocals Tom Parker – organ Vince Screeney – guitar, vocals
These were the members in the group that made the records and we were in top form before we had to break up so that three of our guys could go to college. This is the same group that shared the stage and alternated sets and jam sessions with the Rhondels at the Top Hat club in Virginia Beach.
We certainly weren’t any slouches and recorded twice at a studio in Accokeek, MD. It’s hard to read on the Vermillion label but if you look closely you’ll see that they were recorded by Ray Vernon Productions. His real name was Vernon Ray and he was the brother of Link Wray. Yes, he spelled it differently and I guess he had his reasons. He joked with us that he called his little basement studio “Ray’s Three Track Chicken Shack”. We got to meet Link Wray at our final recording session and I can tell you it was a real charge for me to meet the rockabilly legend.
The Sting Rays had a manager, a retired Portsmouth cop named Woody Singleton who was responsible for getting us recorded. I believe he must have met Vernon during the time Vernon was driving taxis in Portsmouth.
By the way, in case you’re curious, those were yellow shirts, white pants, burgundy jackets and ascots! and of course… Weejuns!
Sadly, we lost Randy on Dec. 23, 2010. The rest of us are hoping for a reunion soon. Thanks to all who remember us and wish us well.
Vince Screeney
I’m sorry to report Vince Screeney passed away on May 25, 2013. Last time I heard from Vince in 2011 he said the remaining Sting Rays were planning a reunion. Vince helped me put this page on the Sting Rays together, and also wrote to me about his next group, the Swinging Machine. He lived in a golden age for music generally and Portsmouth especially.
The Sting Rays with Elsie Strong top row, L-R: Brent Brower, Cecil Dehart, Tommy Parker Middle row, L-R: Bob Watkins, Randy Boone Bottom row, L-R: Roger Thacker, Elsie Strong, Terry Legum
Randy Boone sent in the photo above with a later lineup of the Sting Rays that included:
Elsie Strong – lead vocals Roger Thacker – lead vocals Terry Legum – lead guitar Cecil Dehart – bass Tommy Parker – Hammond organ Randy Boone – drums Brent Brower – horns David Todd – horns Bob Watkins – trumpet
Thank you to Vince Screeney for the scans of both records and the photo of the group, to Chris Beisel for help with an ID in the second photo, and to Mop Top Mike.
Vermillion (Ver-Million, get it?) had some cool 45s, most notably the Executioners “You Won’t Find Me” / “Haunting My Mind”, the top side of which is a fantastic garage number with a cool guitar intro. The band is still something of a mystery, so if anyone hears of an Executioners from Virginia, Maryland or even PA, please let me know!
The Deuce Is Wilde in front of the Catacombs. Photo from Not Fade Away #4The Deuce Is Wilde on film
Updated December 2010
The Deuces Wild (who became the Deuce Is Wilde) performed “You’re All Around Me” with footage from the Catacombs and Love Street in a short 1968 film directed by Charles Burwell, titled Deuce Is Wild.
From people’s comments it seems the band included these members:
Charles Webb – lead guitar Paul Viviano – rhythm guitar Harold Bailey – keyboards Gordon Barnette – bass guitar Rick Slaydon – drums
One early member of the Deuces Wild was Clark Clem, who also played guitar in the Chancellors Ltd. Charles Burwell contacted me to say that Clark Clem recently told him he’d left the band a year before the film was made.
In December, 2010 James Donnelly, who was in Jim Henley & the Thymes, wrote to me about the band:
I always knew them as the Deuces Wild. I went to high school and played in the HS band with two of the members, drummer Ricky Slayden and bassist Gordon ‘Boo Boo’ Barnett. They also had an guitarist named Charlie Webb. Also Harold Baily (keyboards), I think he left the group in ’68 or ’69 and moved to Las Vegas to become a blackjack dealer! Lost track of them years and years ago, although I know the Gordon passed away in the 70’s.
The Deuces were one of the best cover bands around, and covered everybody from James Brown to Paul Revere and the Raiders to the Music Machine. They played the Catacombs on a regular basis. Boo Boo was the comedian of the group, and the bass he played was almost as big as he was, Ricky was one of the best drummers I ever played with.
Margaret Jackson Graeff commented below with information I’ll repeat here:
The Deuces Wild changed their name to the Deuce Is Wilde around 1967. The rhythm guitar player in the picture, who is also doing vocals, is Paul Viviano. The bass player in the photo is Gordon Barnette. Contrary to what was said previously, Gordon did not die in the 1970s. He died in April, 1992. In the early 1970s, their roadie, Howard Lehman died. He lived down the street from Gordon when they were in their teens. I think that is where the confusion is. I knew the Deuces very well.
Charles Webb was their lead guitar player, but left the band when he was a freshman at Rice University. He now has a PhD and is a professor at California State University at Long Beach. He also goes by the name Charles Harper Webb and is a published author. Charles also played in the Houston based band, Saturnalia. Rick Slaydon played drums. Rick also played drums for the Houston-based band, The Starvation Army Band. James Lucas was the lead singer. Harold Bailey was the keyboard player. Paul Viviano, in 1969, formed the band ICE, with Stacy Sutherland, of the 13th Floor Elevators.
Thanks to Charles Burwell for info on Deuce Is Wild and the frame image from the film, and to James Donnelly for the info about the group.
The Surprize, from left: Roger Fuentes, James Marvell and Buddy Good. (Paul Paris not shown)
You can hardly find a better intro than the one to the Surprize’s “I Will Make History”, with an immortal fuzz riff that hooks the listener immediately. I find the lyrics don’t match the intensity of the music, and that hokey interlude just doesn’t make sense to me, cutting the momentum in the middle of the song.
The flip “Too Bad” is more consistent, if more conventional, and is the side I play the most these days. I’ve seen this listed as from the summer of ’67 but I would speculate it was cut a little later.
Members of the band included:
James Marvell (Carlos Zayas) – lead vocals Paul Paris – lead guitar Buddy Good – bass and vocals Roger Fuentes – drums
Roger Fuentes came from the Early Americans who have a great single on Paris Tower, “Night After Night” / “It’s So Cold Outside” where his drumming stands out. Carlos Zayas wrote “Too Bad” and co-wrote “I Will Make History” with Centinaro.
John Centinaro managed and produced the band on his own Cent Record label out of Tampa, Florida. Centinaro he also managed the Robbs and the Mysterians for a time.
Prior to the Surprize, Good and Marvell collaborated with Centinaro as the Skopes with “She’s Got Bad Breath” / “Tears In Your Eyes” on the USA label in the summer of ’67.
In 1968 Good and Marvell released one single with lead guitarist Eddie Wasenberg as ‘Together’, with “I Loved You” (credited to Centinaro, Wonderbuna and Zayas) / “Don’t Laugh at Me” on Cent Records, recorded at Charles Fuller Studios in Tampa. Both sides are poppy productions, and “Don’t Laugh at Me” seems to feature some zippy speeded-up guitar runs.
Marvell, Fuentes and Good went on to join Mercy (“Love Can Make You Happy” on Warner Bros), another band managed by Centinaro. After Mercy, Marvell and Good formed the gospel country music duo the Country Cavaleers, again with Centinaro managing, then went solo in 1976.
James Marvell wrote to me:
The Surprize was originally a 1966 three piece Tampa, Florida band.
Before their days as The Surprize, James Marvell and Buddy Good were singing and writing songs together. It was during those teen years that James and Buddy formed The Scopes. They released a song co-written by their manager John Centinaro titled “She’s Got Bad Breath.” Scope mouthwash banned the song and the duo changed their group name to The Surprize.
Around 1968 Surprize members James Marvell, Buddy Good with their drummer Roger Fuentes joined Mercy and recorded the million seller “Love Can Make You Happy” written by Mercy founder Jack Sigler Jr.
James & Buddy wrote many songs during their teenage years in Florida and even had songs published by The Isley Brothers’ publishing company in New York. James hopes to dig up those recordings from the middle to late 60s.
After Mercy, Marvell & Good went on to form The Country Cavaleers. Today, James Marvell is still traveling and reliving the the music of the 60s. Joining Marvell is his wife Faye.
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).
Danny & the Counts featured in the KELP Paper shortly after their second single. From left: Eric Huereque, Joe “Bozo” Martinez, Joe Huereque, Danny Parra and Javier “Jaguar” Valenzuela
Danny Parra – guitar and lead vocals Javier Valenzuela – lead guitar and vocals Eric Huereque – bass and vocals Joe Huereque – drums Joe Martinez – tambourine and vocals
Danny and the Counts “You Need Love” is a signature tune of the mid-60s, with its unforgetable buzzing guitar riff and opening “Oh, yeah!”. Not to mention the cool bending lick after the chorus, or the lyrics about seducing a rich girl. The b-side “Ode to the Wind” is slower and moody, again with good fuzz guitar.This was their second single, from 1966, on the Coronado label. Danny Parra wrote both songs. Chiyo Music BMI published many of Coronado’s releases at this time.
Their first 45 was more sedate. “For Your Love” is the Ed Townsend ballad, not the Yardbirds song, and on the flip is another mellow one, “It’s All All Over”. KELP DJ Steve Crosno’s Frogdeath label released this single.
The band consisted of Danny Parra, the song writer and lead vocalist, plus the Huereque brothers and (I believe) their cousin, Javier Valenzuela, along with Joe Martinez on tambourine and backing vocals. They were from the Clardy neighborhood in the east side of El Paso, along Delta Drive. The article by Susie Dominguez in the the KELPaper states that the band formed two years before “You Need Love”, though I’ve also read that the band formed as early as 1960, originally performing soul and Tejano music. The article also says that both Javier Valenzuela and Danny Parra played lead guitar.
After these records, Danny Parra went into the Navy and Ken Prichard joined on lead guitar. I’ve also seen two other members listed, but don’t know the accuracy of these: Javier Venisula – organ (same person as Javier Valenzuela?) and Irene Porras – vocals.
Ken Prichard later joined Brand X. Danny Parra moved to California. Eric Huereque passed away in 2003 at the age of 56.
Since first posting this I’ve heard from “Danny”, front man Danny Parra:
Although I was indeed interested in R&B type music back in the day, it was an absolute nightmare to put together and organize a large (8-12) R&B band in El Paso that could ever hope to compete with the likes of The Night Dreamers, The Valiants, The Premiers, etc. which were all fantastic bands in that genre of music in El Paso. One summer after a dismal year of trying to pull together R&B bandmates for rehearsals and even actual gigs to perform I’d pretty much gave up the quest for a large band with a powerhouse brass section.
My interests and my best friend Eric Huereque started to notice the music trends going on in England via the Beatles and Stones, etc. Not only was their music cool and different but their groups were usually only four or five guys! Much more attainable we thought ….. so we one summer Eric and I were jamming on guitars and we noticed Eric’s little brother Joe drumming in the corner of the room with a couple of yellow lead pencils …. and keeping pretty good time at that. We eventually enlisted (after much persuasion) him to try learning some basic beats for our jam sessions. Took a while but we encouraged him.
Spurred on by by his potential and the knowledge that at least we could count on him showing up for practice we realized Eric’s cousin Javier Valenzuela was also an aspiring guitar player and that we might be able to recruit him if an audition proved him viable. Note that at this time the big draw of the eventual band’s members was that most keys guys were Eric’s family and therefore more dependable in contrast to the people we had been trying to recruit and pull together as a viable band from all walks of life and all parts of sprawling El Paso!
Somehow, after countless hours of practice (weeks, months, lifetimes it seemed sometimes) and many horrible and worse experimental gigs we started to focus more on the “English sound” and less on R&B. To make a name for ourselves with this new image and music direction was a herculean task in El Paso because we were all latinos. If you were a band with latinos it was expected that you played only R&B style music back in those days.
Up to this time we had a first record under our belt which was recorded on Steve Crosno’s Frog Death label. We recorded “For Your Love” / “It’s All Over” in a single live take in Steve’s home without a drummer! Unbelievable! The recordings were meant to be a dry run but Crosno decided to put them on vinyl since he could promote them on KELP airwaves where he pretty much reigned as the biggest disc jockey around in those days.
Interestingly, our “For Your Love” was released at the same time the Righteous Brothers released the same song nationwide and the two records were being played back-to-back on KELP. In short order, both records made it up to number ten on KELP’s top 20. KELP published a brochure listing of popular records and music events found all over town that I wish I’d kept a copy of!
Although we got some modest notoriety because of his help on KELP and numerous appearance on his TV “Crosno’s Hop” show, we ultimately made it clear to him [Crosno] that we wanted to pursue the English music trends as a group and abandon R&B. He wasn’t happy about this because his whole market niche was R&B …. so we had an eventual parting of the ways. We produced and recorded our next record “You Need Love” / “Ode to the Wind” using the Coronado label and our own funds.
I’ve seen many comments & references of people who liked our music but were not impressed by the “production” and/or “sound quality” of the tunes. Guess what? These have been very accurate statements since the songs were recorded as live single takes in a dumpy downtown El Paso recording studio for the princely sum of $75.00 (included master tape). The fee was for an hour of recording studio time with a very bored, spectacled, bald geezer that was truly bored out of his gourd during our session. Did he kick up our audio or segregate the instruments and vocals for a sweeter mix? Hell no! What you hear on those tracks was raw, one take, wham-bam-thank-you-maam sounds. We didn’t know any better and the audio engineer simply didn’t care squat or know any more than we did! He might’ve even been the janitor for all we knew.
Q. Is that you playing the lead guitar line on “You Need Love” or Javier?
It was Javier. Many have assumed over the years that the sound was a sitar but I can assure you that we didn’t even know what a sitar was in those days. I recollect that he used either a small glass bottle or lipstick cover on his finger as a “slide” to get that sitar-sound you hear. The fuzztone sound was one of the few guitar effects available back then … made trendy by the Rolling Stones on “Satisfaction”.
Our tape was sent through Steve Crosno’s contacts. He was a bit reluctant to help at first because we weren’t following his R&B recommendation on his FrogDeath label, but he was still cool enough to get it pressed for us with Coronado.
Ironically, I am astounded and flattered that our music seems to somehow endured through other band’s interpretations on their albums and through some compilation albums that you can still buy today that showcased much of the music happening in those days in Texas. There have even been some interesting video efforts (YouTube) made to fit our music. Hmmm, wonder where that audio engineer dude ended up after all these years?
I was drafted in late 1966 (Vietnam) and ended up serving eight years serving my country (Navy) all over the world …. including London, England. Moved with family to California, worked for years as an electronics engineer. Due to a layoff (1985) re-invented and established myself as a much published fashion and beauty photographer in L.A. and authored a book “Model Mystique Unraveled” in 1995-96.
I regret that I lost touch with the band after going in the service after 1966. But I heard that Eric (bass/manager) perpetuated the band for years in spite that I was obviously missing as the frontman!
Article scan from Rick Kern’s El Paso Musicians site, used with permission. Photos of the Frogdeath single courtesy of Danny Parra. A special thank you to Oktay for the scans and help with this article, and to Sam Stephenson for letting me hear “For Your Love” and “It’s All All Over”.
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
Writing about 
“Don’t Put Me On” has the band playing a steady groove behind a repetitive, buzzing guitar figure. The opening line is “Girl you better not cheat on me” and the lyrics alternate between warning the girl and pleading with her. “Don’t Put Me On” is an original by Holowicki, Suba and Grihorash and published through Jamaica Pub, BMI. The flip is a cover of “Midnight Hour” that’s better than most versions I’ve heard.
The Wheels 4 Records label had a tag, “The Dearborn Sound”, but since that city is just west of Detroit the Kings Court and other bands on the label could have come from anywhere in the area. The records I’ve seen list Bryan Dombrowski as engineer, and I’ve also read he owned the label, though I see Jim Walters is credited as producer on several Wheels 4 sides.
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.
