Category Archives: US

Categories: California, GNP Crescendo, Los Angeles, MGM

Sky Saxon of the Seeds passes away

June 25, 2009 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

Sky Saxon (born Richard Marsh) passed away this morning, June 25, 2009. As any garage fan knows, he was singer for the Seeds, the prototypical ‘garage’ band of all time.

I saw him in concert a couple times, once circa 1994 at a free show in San Francisco. He had a pick up band and was pretty out of it. The band tried to get him to sing “Pushin’ Too Hard” but he would only repeat a chant “Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out here”. Well, it was Mothers Day. A few years ago he came to Brooklyn, looking great in a white suit to match his beard and did a fine show with a new group that actually knew the material. I wish I’d taken the request to put him up for a few days.

Many of the Seeds early records on GNP Crescendo have been in print almost continuously since their release. Less well-known are two singles Sky made with a revamped Seeds lineup for MGM in 1970, the incredible “Bad Part Of Town” / “Wish Me Up” and “Love In A Summer Basket” / “Did He Die”. It’s a little vague who’s playing on these, but Patrick Lundborg gives a possible lineup of Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper, and Richard Barcelona, with a few others only remembered by their first names, Chip, Rob, John.

Sky’s story is told piecemeal on the web. The ‘official’ skysaxon.com website is one place to start, but it lacks detailed info on his career. For info on his later recordings, including “Bad Part of Town” I recommend the Lama’s write up here.

“I ran out of gas one day, so I took Michael Jackson’s album in, and all I could get was a dollar” – Sky Saxon, ‘Rolling Stone’ #456, September 12, 1985.

Categories: California, ESP Records, Mercury, Riverside

The Whatt Four

June 22, 2009 Chris Bishop 12 Comments

The Whatt Four released two amazing 45s in ’66 and ’67, both regional hits on KFXM in San Bernardino. The band cut two original songs for their first 45 on producer Gary Paxton’s own ESP label. “You Better Stop Your Messin’ Around” alternates between moody verses, deadly lyrics (“you say you’re shopping, but … someone else is buying you!”) and an upbeat chorus. Great harmonies and a driving bass line really propel this track. It was backed with the raver “Our Love Should Last Forever”, featuring Tom Ference’s slamming drum beats and John Langdon’s piercing guitar work.

Their next 45 went straight to national release on Mercury. “Dandelion Wine” is a tripped-out gem, sounding like a mix of Donovan and the kitchen-sink production of the Stones’ Her Satanic Majesties Request, but with greater focus than most of that LP. It was written by Jerry Scheff, a member of bands like Goldenrod, the Millennium, Friar Tuck and later Elvis Presley’s touring band. For the flip of “Dandelion Wine” we have “You’re Wishin’ I Was Someone Else”, a Greg Sanders original that would have qualified as the A-side for nearly any other group.

I contacted the Whatt Four’s drummer Tom Ference who kindly shared these photos and comments about his time with the band:

The band members are Greg Sanders (bass and lead vocal), Tom Bitters (guitar), John Langdon (lead guitar), and myself as the drummer. Greg and I are cousins, Bitters was my neighbor growing up, so we three grew up together and started playing music off and on about 1965. Langdon was added later as lead guitar. Don’t remember how the name came about other than they’re was four of us, and adding WHAT, but spelled WHATT made it cool.
We were in Riverside, California. Played that whole area and into LA and San Diego. The Bush was our biggest local competition. But they played a different type of stuff. More of a dirty rock sound. The equipment we used were Fender amps and guitars, except Bitters used a Rickenbacker sometimes. We did have a really big Altec-Lansing PA system, which set us apart from most groups at that time. We were able to mike my drums and standard guitars for what ever effect we wanted.
We met Gary Paxton at the Decca Records office in LA. We were seeing Bud Dant of Decca, pushing some demo stuff. Paxton just happened to be there. Bud said he wasn’t interested, but Paxton spoke up and said he was. So we hooked up with him back at his garage, that’s where his studio was, and the rest is history. ESP was Gary’s own thing. The only picture of us and Paxton is us and him by his bus that had all his recording equipment in it.
“You Better Stop Your Messin’ Around” was mostly a So-Cal thing. I think Gary hoped a major label would pick it up and do it national. I did hear it was getting a little play in other parts of the country. Not much really became of it. “Our Love Should Last Forever” was written by Tom Bitters, our rhythm guitar player.
We didn’t know Scheff [Jerry Scheff, the writer of “Dandelion Wine”]. His stuff was in a pile of songs Gary wanted to see if we could do something with. Greg Sanders was told to sound “loaded” by our producer Gary Paxton.
It came out on Mercury Records, a big deal for us. It was really starting to get some action. Then Greg got drafted, a few months later I got drafted, so the group went down the drain. No group, no record. We were lucky, Greg went to Germany as a radio operator, I auditioned and made it into the 98th Army Band (Ft. Rucker Ala). Much better than Vietnam.
What was Ken Johnson’s role with the band? – he’s co-credited on the flip, “You’re Wishin’ I Was Someone Else”
Johnson was a guy who helped Greg put the words on paper with music. And maybe some words.
Greg and I both got out of the army in 1969. We did reform with Bitters, but Langdon had gone his own way out of music. We added Larry Reid and renamed ourselves as “Allis Chalmers”. We did make one record. “Sing a Song” on Cream Records (1971). It was written by Gary Wright, we got covered by that guy from “Blood, Sweat and Tears”. Shortly after that we went our own ways. Just couldn’t go back to playing bars and stuff like that. Never saw Paxton again, I hear he’s into religious country stuff now, boy what a difference from when we knew him. Greg works for the State of California, not sure what Bitters is doing, I retired from Verizon in 2003 and enjoy every day.
I’m always amazed and happy that what we did is still remembered. It was a fun time of musical experiments. I think that was the best part, the only rule was there were no rules. It was what sounded good to you that mattered.
Tom Ferrence, 2009

The Whatt Four with Gary Paxton, second from right.
The bus served as his studio’s control room.

Greg Sanders wrote to me in December, 2011 in answer to my questions about Gary Paxton:

Working with Gary was an experience. We were young and innocent, though we probably didn’t think so and he matured us quickly. Always willing to assist and took a real interest in who we were. Learned alot about recording and “inside” music stuff from him. Hal Blaine (prime session drummer) was visiting Gary during one of our sessions and he joined us for the hand clapping part on Dandelion Wine.
There is one person I want to mention who played a large part in helping us along the way: Bill (Kid) Corey. He was the owner/operator of the Mystic Eye teenage club in Riverside. He hired us in the beginning to be the house band. It was there that we practiced and got tight as a band. Sadly, the club closed sometime in 68 I believe.

The Whatt Four photo — The Whatt Four, l-r: Tom Bitters, Greg Sanders, John Langdon and Tom Ference

In a comment below, Kimberly Langdon-Sauceda sadly reports that her father John Langdon passed away in 2002 after fighting esophageal cancer.

See the entry on the New Wing for more about Gary Paxton and Ken Johnson. All four tracks by the Whatt Four will be appearing from the master tapes on an upcoming Big Beat comp dedicated to the Riverside and San Bernardino scene being produced by Alec Palao. “You’re Wishin’ I Was Someone Else” will also be on “Where The Action Is: LA Nuggets 1965-68” box set on Rhino, due to be released in late September ’09.

Special thanks to Tom Ferrence for sharing his memories and photos of the Whatt Four. Thanks to the G45 Secret Society and Jim Wynand for label scans. KFXM chart reproduced from ARSA. Also a tip of the hat to transoniq for name-dropping Dandelion Wine in a comment about the Rites.

"Better Stop Your Messin' Around", at #12, KFXM, December 9, 1966 — “Better Stop Your Messin’ Around”, at #12, KFXM, December 9, 1966

"Dandelion Wine" at #27, KFXM, November 3, 1967 — “Dandelion Wine” at #27, KFXM, November 3, 1967

Categories: Ohio, United Audio, Youngstown

The Next of Kinn

June 19, 2009 Chris Bishop 8 Comments

Next of Kinn 1966: L-R Steve Brajak, Paul Softich, Jerry Centifanti, Joe Centifanti — The Next of Kinn, 1966, from left: Steve Brajak, Paul Softich, Jerry Centifanti, Joe Centifanti

Joe Centifanti, guitar
Jerry Centifanti, guitar
Steve Brajak, bass
Paul Softich, drums

The Next of Kinn’s “A Lovely Song” is a favorite of mine. Buckeye Beat has the full story on the band, including the photo above – below is a quick summary of their story:

The Centifanti brothers were from Youngstown, and Steve Brajak and Paul Softich other members were from nearby Struthers and Boardman respectively. These kids were young! No older than 10 when they started, and all of 10-14 when they cut “A Lovely Song” at WAM/United Audio studios in the fall of ’67.

Pete Pompura, bassist for the Pied Pipers (who cut the wild 45 “Stay in My Life” on Hamlin Town) contributed the lyrics for “A Lovely Song” and helped the Next of Kinn write “Nosey Rosie”. Jerry Centifanti sang lead on both songs, with Pied Piper vocalist Dennis Sesonsky on backup.

However the band went back into the studio, and the feedback-laden “Nosey Rosie” was dropped in favor of a good version of “Mr. Soul” for the record’s release in January of ’68, with the band’s name abbreviated to Next of Kin on the labels.

I finally heard a dub of the WAM acetate of “Nosey Rosie” not long after I first wrote this post about the Next of Kinn. Let me say it’s all that I had hoped it could be – three minutes of tough feedback layered over a simple backing with vocals similar to “A Lovely Song”. Wow! I can’t think of any other examples of guitar sounds this wild before the second side of the Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat, released several months later in early ’68! Time to rewrite music history again!

The Next of Kinn – Nosey Rosie

Huge thanks to MTM for Nosey Rosie.

Categories: California, Dixon, Dixon

The Liberty Lads “Too Much Loving” on Dixon

June 15, 2009 Chris Bishop 22 Comments

The Liberty Lads, from left: Andy Arguello, Eddie Williams, John Lujan, George Tomelloso, and Mike Mendoza. Photo courtesy of Vicki Bowlin

George Tomelloso, lead guitar and vocals
Andy Arguello, guitar
Mike Mendoza, guitar
Eddie Williams, bass
John Lujan, drums

The Liberty Lads were from the Liberty Farms and Dixon area east of Vacaville. In 1965, like many bands from the area, they recorded at Bill Rase’s studio on Franklin Blvd in Sacramento, a package deal of a few hours recording time and 45s on a custom label to sell at their shows.

George Tomelloso, who passed away some time ago, wrote both sides of their only release. “Too Much Loving” has great tension created by the repetitive bass line and sitar-like lead guitar line. The immense reverb makes the sparse instrumentation seem even thinner. The vocals don’t start until nearly a minute in, and Tomelloso delivers them in a weird snarl with another member echoing the lines deep in the background. A lone handclap accompanies the chorus. At 3:55 this is one of the longest independent singles of the day, and unlike any surf music ever recorded.

All the qualities that make “Too Much Loving” so great are nearly absent on the flip, “I Need Believe In”, a ballad that drags along for over three minutes with only a fine reverb guitar sound to help it along.

The excellent Big Beat CD The Sound of Young Sacramento has a great photo of the group, along with thirty great tracks by bands from the region, and I recommend it highly.

Eddie Williams (Eddie Guilherme) joined the Tears who cut “Weatherman” on Scorpio and “Rat Race” on Onyx.

Thank you to Vicki Bowlin for the photo of the group at top. Vicki commented below that her mother Bobbi Madrid helped manage the band, and had them practice at their house in Vallejo.

Categories: Bronx, Cousins, Mercury, New York, New York City

The Elegant Four

June 15, 2009 Chris Bishop 82 Comments

Elegant Four Mercury 45 Time to Say Goodbye From the Bronx, the Elegant Four were also known as the Elegants. Tom Crosgrove was lead guitarist and vocalist, and wrote both songs on their only 45. Other members included Bill Dennis and Pete Santora.

The chanted vocals and echoing chords give “Time to Say Goodbye” a downcast mood, brightening momentarily during the chorus where the singer gives the boot to the girl holding out on him.

On the flip is the uptempo “I’m Tired”, with more fine harmonies and a good guitar solo.

These songs were originally released on the Cousins label, produced by Mike Barbiero. It was picked up for a December ’65 release on Mercury, but doesn’t seem to have made much chart impact.

Sources: photo from Pete Santora’s site. Thanks to Tom for clarifying the photo IDs.

A couple other photos are available on Tom Walsh’s site Bronx Bands of the Past (warning: Angelfire sites like this one always have pop-up ads).

Categories: Georgia, Hartwell, Toccoa, Uncle

Lamar Collins and the Chashers

June 14, 2009 Chris Bishop 6 Comments

Lamar Collins at home with his mother’s piano All photos are courtesy Jeanette Bleckley, except where noted.

Sam Camp writes this tribute to Lamar Collins, bassist and vocalist with the Chashers and the Avalons:

The first time I met Lamar Collins was in 1963 at Bell’s Drive Inn in Toccoa, Georgia. I was a curb hop there at the time and just happened to walk to his car to take his order. Lamar asked was I the guy that played saxophone and I shyly replied, ‘yes’. I was barely 14 years old and Lamar was in his very early 20s. We started a conversation about music and the rest is history.
Lamar was already jamming with several musicians from Hartwell, Georgia – David Conway, Calvin Coker, Larry Mayo, and a saxophone player whose name I do not recall. Little did I know at the time, I would soon replace the nameless saxophone player. We began to practice at the house where Lamar and his wife Shirley were living on Prather Bridge Road. Occasionally, we would travel to Hartwell to practice. After joining the band, I recall playing at Lake Rabun Georgia for a party and making near nothing and then driving the car back to Toccoa. This band, the name which I do not recall, played a couple more meaningless gigs and soon fizzled out.
Evelyn Bowden-Spencer, Jeanette Bleckley, Lamar Collins & R.J. Spencer at Jeanette’s home. “We often played and sang together.”
Calvin Coker continued to drive to Toccoa to keep the enthusiasm going, but something was obviously missing. Two weekends later, Lamar brought in another musician named Jimmy Sipes. I could tell right away that Sipes was a seasoned musician and that he and Lamar had a lot in common. When the four of us practiced I could sense that there was a little competition between Coker and Sipes and, soon after, Coker did not return to any more practices. Sipes was to play keyboard, “Wurlitzer piano”, and Lamar quickly bought a bass guitar and we continued to practice. The group was not complete without a drummer and guitar player. Somehow Ronnie Crunkleton (drums) and Roy Thompson (guitar) made their way into the band.
After several months of rehearsing, we started sounding like a real rock and roll band. We called ourselves “The Avalons”. We were ready to gig. I recall our first gig at the ELKS Club in Toccoa, Georgia where we had to stretch 33 songs into 4 sets, but all went well. They wanted us to come back!
Lamar and Jeanette Bleckley at the J-S Prom;
We began playing regularly in Northeast Georgia and South Carolina. Lamar Collins and Jimmy Sipes could give The Righteous Brothers a run for their money singing, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”. We were popular for this quality of vocal harmony and on occasion we were labeled as the Righteous Brothers of Georgia.
Lamar was very popular among the ladies with his blond hair, blues eyes, and strong tenor voice. He was endowed with a gift that enabled him to sing straight to your heart and make you remember that feeling the next day. Without question, Lamar was the driving force of the band and well respected among his fellow musicians.
Lamar Collins at the Chicken Shack Photo courtesy Sam Camp
The Avalons gained much popularity as the house band at a local teen club called “The Chicken Shack” located in Seneca, South Carolina. It was not uncommon to pack a thousand fans in on Saturday night where our records and pictures were sold.
I remember our opening song, an instrumental of “You Can’t Sit Down”, by The Dovells on which I played the sax. As its title suggests, it’s an amazing dance number that would heat up any dance floor. This was our signature song and always got the crowd going. They would start to scream the minute we began to play.
During the band’s popularity, we opened for several national acts including such names as The Swinging Medallions, Billy Joe Royal, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Keith, and The Impressions.
Lamar was the lead singer of the band and you can see him in the picture inside the Chicken Shack playing his red Gibson bass guitar. Lamar loved to perform. Folks that came to The Chicken Shack in the late sixties will certainly remember this setting.
The Avalons’s “Come Back Little Girl” was No 1 at WHYZ radio station in Greenville South Carolina. The group brushed closely to fame, but due to conflicts of interest, they sadly chose to split in 1968.
After a period of time, everyone went their separate ways. Soon after, Lamar and Roy Thompson collaborated and put their heart and soul into two songs “The Wind” and “Without My Girl”.
Lamar was a “star” that shined from Toccoa, Georgia. He was loved and respected by many for his musical abilities, but those who knew him closely could tell you what a kind and gentle heart he possessed as well. It was this that shone through in his character. Lamar was responsible for getting me started in my music career and I still play today. During the years I knew him, the man ate, slept and lived for his music. He inspired a surprising number of us to continue in the gift of music God had placed in each of our souls, and for that I will always be grateful.
Lamar Collins gave birth to The Avalons. Essentially, Lamar Collins was The Avalons.
Lamar passed away in 1982 of a brain tumor. To say that I miss him would be an understatement. I think of him often and can testify of many others who do the same.
This is written in tribute to my dear friend, Lamar Collins.
Sam Camp

A special thank you to Jeanette Bleckley for the additional photos of Lamar.

“Lamar & his niece at my old home place”

Lamar Collins, photo courtesy Sam Camp

The Satellites of Georgia — The Satellites: Mike Stephens (guitar), Trig Dalrymple (drums), Horace Baker (trumpet), Ray Deaton (trombone), Gary Huth (clarinet), Lamar Collins (piano). Photo courtesy of Mary Stephenson.

Mike Stephens and Lamar Collins — Lamar Collins and Mike Stephens. Photo courtesy of Mary Stephenson.

Mary writes, “My brother, the late Mike Stephens and Lamar started a band around 1958-1959, and it was called the Sattelites. They mainly played for school dances.”

Categories: Salt Lake City, Utah

The Surf Side 5

June 12, 2009 Chris Bishop 56 Comments

Steve Carter of Phoenix rescued this very rare LP by the Surf Side 5 from the trash, scanned the labels and transferred the LP to CD to share with Garage Hangover. Steve didn’t find the cover, and it wasn’t until August 2012 that Ed Nadorozny found the low-resolution photos of the front and back cover seen below.

Recorded live at the Surf Side Club in Salt Lake City, Utah in front of a small but raucous crowd, this is a solid set of mostly standard cover songs of the day. The performances are well done. “Sparkling Sands” is something of a standout and the track I would recommend.

“Greenback Dollar”, “Louie Louie”, “Surfer Joe”, “Memphis” (the Lonnie Mack version), “Kansas City” (the Trini Lopez version) and “Long Tall Texan” were all hits of 1963, and “California Sun” hit big in early 1964, so I think it’s safe to date this to very early ’64. Certainly there’s zero British Invasion influence in their choice of material or style.

In 2017 I heard from Brent Littlefield, the drummer for the Surf Side 5 who sent in the larger cover scans seen here and answered my request for some history on the group:

I had a three piece band during high school and we mostly played at school dances and assemblies during the Beatles rage at Bountiful High School in Utah.
Walt Sanders (rhythm guitar), Randy Young (lead guitar), and Ted Gosdis (bass) all played together at Granite High School in Salt Lake City. I think Larry Higginson (lead vocal) was also with them. I joined the band in summer of 1964 right after high school graduation.
Walt’s older brother George Sanders formed a teen club named Surf Side and the band played at the club for next to free after they deducted food and Cokes from our pay. That summer their drummer went on vacation and they asked me to sit in for the drummer until he returned from vacation. When he came back they asked me if I would stay and he was not invited back. We were rocking and bringing in packed crowds every night at the teen club.
When we cut the album we had only been together for about 4 months, after a few more months we really got good. The album is called the second edition because the first recording was done so poorly we made them re-do it for free. I have the original but it is terrible.
In 1965 during the “British Invasion” a promoter by the name of Al Michaels (from England) heard of us and wanted to help promote the band. He was very obnoxious but a good promoter. We had no money for promotion so he was on his own.
He arranged a “western tour” for the band. We spent a few days traveling in Idaho. In each town he arranged local performances for the band. We were greeted with convertible Cadillacs driven by a chauffeur and went through a downtown parade. We performed on the city hall steps in front of the mayor, the city council and the community. We performed at an old folks home and later that night participated in a “Battle of the Bands”.
We stayed at a dumpy hotel, but it was OK because our groupies followed us from Salt Lake and a lot of the locals joined us. I guess we got a little crazy.
On the way out of town on Sunday we were listening to the local Sunday morning talk show and they were talking about these rock bands who come into town and raid their culture and people.
We played several gigs at the Lagoon Amusement Park, the same venue used by all the top groups of the day. The Everly Brothers, the Beach Boys, and Paul Revere and the Raiders and others all performed at the Lagoon.
We also played in big promotion concerts at the Terrace Ballroom, another great Salt Lake venue.
While I was in the band I worked in the teen club as a janitor, at Albertson’s grocery as a bagger, and had a full schedule at the University of Utah. I flunked my 7 AM class, as I could never get my butt out of bed to get to class.
I quit the band in early 1966 as I got a pretty good job in the finance industry and planned on getting married in June of 1966.
Brent Littlefield
Feb 11, 2017

It’s amazing that this LP had two editions, with some differences in song choice and the covers. The 1st edition, which the band withdrew, had “Mashed Potatoes”, “Lonesome Town”, “Abilene”, which were replaced by “Vic’s Song”, “Winter Winds”, “Long Tall Texan” and “Memphis” in the 2nd edition.

The Intermountain Recording Service has a Salt Lake address on the label, I believe the studio has moved and is now the Inter-Mountain Recording Studio in Carson City, Nevada, unless that is a different studio altogether.

The Surf Side 5 – Sparkling Sands (phase corrected)

Thank you to Brent Littlefield for his help in this article.

Categories: Sheboygan, Wisconsin

The Dimensions, Dementions, High Water and Pye

June 12, 2009 Chris Bishop 16 Comments

Dementions (Battle of the Bands winners, 1968) with Randy Belger, Don Wadyka, Bill Bernico, Carl Block, Kim Steffen — Dementions, third version (Battle of the Bands winners, 1968) with (L-R) Randy Belger, Don Wadyka, Bill Bernico, Carl Block, Kim Steffen

The Dimensions (first lineup) with (L-R) Bill Bernico, Randy Belger, Don Wadyka, Dan Shaske

Bill Bernico sent these photos of his bands, the Dimensions, High Water and Pye, based around Sheboygan, Wisconsin, about halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay.

I formed the band in the fall of 1965 and our first name was The Dimensions, later changed to The Dementions and finally to High Water (we found a road sign warning of High Water).
We played throughout Wisconsin until July of 1972 at which time we all went our own ways. We played a lot of Sheboygan Armory jobs, opening for such acts as The Robbs, Cryan’ Shames, Skunks, Tony’s Tygers, ? and the Mysterians, The Legends, Next Five and on and on. As for our members, they were… and were from…
Bill Bernico…Sheboygan
Don Wadyka…Sheboygan Falls
Dan Shaske…Batavia
Randy Belger…Batavia
Carl Block…Random Lake
Kim Steffen…Fredonia
Second version of Dementions with (L-R) Randy Belger, Bill Bernico, Don Wadyka, Kim Steffen, Carl Block
After more than 43 years, I am the only one still active as a working musician. I’ve pared down from a 6-piece band to a duo and now a solo act. Other Sheboygan bands I’ve played with included PYE, Colonel Corn and Flashback.
As for recording, we had the song all picked out, rehearsed and ready to record when our keyboard player decided he didn’t want to have to tour to promote it, went to another band.
Bill Bernico, 2009

High Water with (L-R) Kim Steffen, Carl Block, Randy Belger, Bill Bernico

High Water, final lineup (1971) with Kim Steffen, Bill Bernico, Randy Belger (back) and Carl Block (front)

Pye, my 1969 band (lasted 6 months) with (L-R) Tom Roth, Bill Bernico, Steve Progar, Mick Johnston, Dick Colbath

Categories: California, Columbia, Los Angeles

Mastin and Brewer

May 18, 2009 Nick Warburton 9 Comments

Following the overnight success of “Mr Tambourine Man”, a generation of folk musicians abandoned the traditional form to follow The Byrds’ lead and merge folk with rock elements. One of the most promising outfits was the little known, and decidely short-lived Mastin & Brewer, formed in the spring of 1966 by aspiring singer/songwriters Tom Mastin and Michael Brewer (b. 14 April 1944, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US).

Both had been active on the nation’s folk circuit since the early ‘60s and had met at the Blind Owl coffeehouse in Kent, Ohio in 1964. With the folk scene on its last legs, the duo, abetted by Mastin’s friend and fellow singer/songwriter Dave McIntosh, decided to head out to San Francisco the following year to check out the emerging West Coast scene. Following a brief spell in the city, Mastin and Brewer, parted company with McIntosh and travelled to Los Angeles to visit some old folk friends working with New Christy Minstrel Randy Sparks and manager Barry Friedman (later better known as Frazier Mohawk). While there, they recorded a three-song demo comprising original compositions “Bound To Fall”, “Need You” and “Sideswiped”. Suitably impressed by the quality of the songs, Friedman (who had produced the recordings) took the recordings to Columbia Records, which immediately expressed an interest in signing the duo.

With a recording deal in the can, Friedman hastily organised a support band, so that they could take the songs out on the road, and duly drafted in ex-Skip Battin Group member Billy Mundi (25 September 1942, San Francisco, California, US) and former Tim Buckley bass player Jim Fielder (b. James Thomas Fielder, 4 October 1947, Denton, Texas, US).

During this period, the newly formed band rehearsed in an apartment on Fountain Avenue, sharing the accomodation with like-minded souls Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, then in the process of forming Buffalo Springfield with Friedman’s assistance. Shortly afterwards, Mastin & Brewer and Buffalo Springfield ventured out on the road together as support acts for The Byrds and The Dillards on a six-date tour of southern California.

Mastin & Brewer also played at the Ash Grove and the Whisky-A-Go Go on a few occasions, during which time, they went under the rather unusual name of The Elesian Senate.

Sadly, the group’s initial promise was shattered by internal problems; Mastin reportedly flipped out on a few occasions, and ultimately walked out of the group during sessions for the band’s debut album. With the group’s future uncertain, Mundi moved on to rival folk-rockers The Lamp of Childhood leaving Brewer to soldier on (abetted by Fielder when he wasn’t doing sessions for Tim Buckley or filling in for Bruce Palmer in The Buffalo Springfield) until late 1966.

Amid all this activity Elektra Records released Tim Buckley’s eponymous debut album (featuring contributions from both Jim Fielder and Billy Mundi) and when Mastin failed to turn up for a show at the Whisky-A-Go Go, Fielder decided to take up the offer to rejoin Mundi in Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention.

With the group in tatters, Brewer recruited his brother Keith to replace Mastin (who later committed suicide) and the duo, abetted by Barry Friedman readied the Mastin & Brewer single “Need You” c/w “Rainbow” (45 4-43977) for release, with Keith Brewer overdubbing his vocals over Mastin’s. Columbia duly released the single, albeit in limited numbers, as Brewer & Brewer that autumn, but it failed to attract much interest.

Early in the new year, the duo began work on a new batch of material, including “Love, Love”, and for a brief period called themselves Chief Waldo and The Potted Mum, although they never performed or recorded under this name.

By the summer, Keith had moved on and Mike found work as a songwriter at Good Sam Music, an affiliation of A&M Records. He was soon joined by another old friend from the Blind Owl coffeehouse, Tom Shipley, who had just arrived in Los Angeles in search of work and together they forge a new partnership, Brewer & Shipley.

Working on fresh material at Leon Russell’s house, the duo also recorded “Love, Love” and Mike Brewer’s “Truly Right”, written about Tom Mastin. The latter song was also recorded by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, while The Byrds recorded an instrumental version of “Bound To Fall” for their album ‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers’, but it was not used. Group member Chris Hillman later revived the song in Steve Stills’s Manassas.

Thanks to Mike Brewer for additional additional information on the group’s career, to Billy Mundi for use of the Mastin & Brewer photograph and to Carny Corbett for information on the Brewer and Brewer single.

To contact the author, email: Warchive@aol.com

Categories: Daytona Beach, Florida, Paris Tower

The Hungri I’s “Half Your Life” on Paris Tower

May 17, 2009 Chris Bishop 1 Comment

Hungri I's photo

From Daytona Beach and named after the San Francisco nightclub, of course. The Hungri I’s were regulars at the Beachcomber Nightclub and the Surf Bar, as well as the Vanguard Club in Titusville. The lineup was Neil Haney lead vocals and organ, Danny Rowdon lead guitar, Chris Drake guitar, Allen Martin bass and Lou Shawd drums.

They cut some tracks at the Bee Jay studio run by Eric Schabacker, and “Hold On” was released on Bee Jay Demo vol. 2, on Tener. It’s a good organ-led version of the Sam and Dave hit (thanks for sending me that Ad Z.)

At Bob Quimby’s studio in Ormond Beach they recorded a fine original by Neil Haney, “Half Your Life”. Danny Rowdon’s lead guitar really gives the song some momentum. The flip is a relaxed cruise through How Come My Dog Don’t Bark, retitled “Comin’ Round” and credited to Danny Rowdon.

The band paid Gil Cabot to release the two songs on his Paris Tower label, supposedly because he offered to make them famous. Paris Tower was known as a vanity label, however, and never did any promotion for its releases. Years later you could say Cabot’s words have come true, as this 45 is very well known amongst fans of 60’s 45s.

Some Paris Tower singles were issued with a sheet with a photo of the band on one side and a bio &the Paris Tower logo printed on the back. I’m not sure if the Hungri I’s 45 came with this – could anyone verify that insert exists?

It was up to the band to distribute the 500 copies pressed in November of ’67, so for some reason they took to the road and toured Wisconsin, Minnesota and Indiana.

Fuzz, Acid and Flowers lists Ralph Citrullo and Allen Dresser as later members, but I believe it was Neil Haney and Chris Drake who left the I’s and joined the Third Condition, previously known as The 2/3rds, which already included Citrullo and Dresser.

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