Category Archives: Texas

Categories: Dallas, Earth Records, Guyden, Jetstar, Texas

Floyd Dakil

August 5, 2007 Chris Bishop 38 Comments

Updated April, 2010

Floyd Dakil and Pitmen, the group on the Jetstar 45, l-r: Floyd Dakil, Geoff West, Laurry Michlin, Ronny Randall and Terry Billings

Floyd Dakil formed his group in 1963 with fellow Highland Park High School friend Andy Michlin, and three sophomores of Thomas Jefferson High School: Ronny Randall on guitar, Terry Billings on bass, and Geoff West on drums. Within a year or so, Andy’s brother Laurry Michlin took over on keyboards.

In February 1964 they won a competition to become the house band at the Pit Club, a 2,500 person venue located at the Bronco Bowl in Oak Cliff. “Chuck Berry rock ‘n roll pre-Beatles – that’s how I would best describe the music we played at that time” said Floyd in a 2008 interview.

They soon released their first 45, the classic “Dance, Franny, Dance” b/w “Look What You’ve Gone and Done” on Jetstar. The label says both sides were recorded live at the Pit. Originally I thought it was likely to be a studio recording with overdubbed handclaps and applause at the beginning, but Geoff West says in his comment below that it was recorded in front of a large crowd at the Pit in the Spring of 1964: “on ‘Dance Franny Dance’ it required at least five minutes to get several hundred teenagers to clap together!”

In 2009 original member Ron Randall contacted me about the group:

Geoff’s recollections are correct. The recording of “Dance, Franny, Dance” was done live at the Pit Club. Larry Lavine was the engineer using a 4 track recorder set up in the women’s dressing room backstage. It was just one of those nights when everything came together. A great recording.
The recordings done live at the Pit survive on CDs that Geoff West made from an original, not released LP. There are eight songs, some are covers, some original. I have my copy.
Maybe, to add to the confusion, or clear things, the songs “recorded live at the Pit”, and then released on Jetstar have the name of the group as The Floyd Dakil Combo. This is correct for legal reasons. “The Pitmen” referred to the house band at the Pit Club. We were the first. The original Pitmen backed a long list of entertainers at the Pit Club, and went on to other successes around Texas. There were others, after we left the Pit Club, called the Pitmen.

The eight songs recorded at the Pit Club represent the beginnings of Dallas’s incredible garage rock scene. The songs are “Roadrunner”, “Dance, Franny, Dance”, “Look What You’ve Gone and Done”, “You Got Me Crazy”, “Concentrate on You”, “Bad Boy”, “Maybe Someday” and “Rendezvous”.

Floyd recalled that he and the producers brought the live tape into a studio and “sweetened” the two songs for the single.

“Dance, Franny, Dance” peaked as high as #4 on KLIF in May, 1964, which is not surprising given KLIF DJ Chuck Dunaway’s involvement – he’s listed as co-producer along with Bob Sanders, owner of the Knight and Spectra record labels. When the Phiadelphia-based Guyden label picked up the songs for national distribution, “Dance, Franny, Dance” hit local charts in Pennsylvania and California, leading to a brief tour of California state fairs and DJ hops that summer. Floyd noted that the Beach Boys came out with their hit “Dance, Dance, Dance” soon after (in November 1964).

The Floyd Dakil Combo, l-r Floyd Dakil, Andy Michlin, Dennis Mills, Ronny Randall, and Chris Brown

Floyd Dakil went on to record three 45s on the Earth label as the Floyd Dakil Four. “Bad Boy” is the first of these, a very good rocker, produced by John Anderson. The flip is a good uptempo song “Stoppin’ Traffic” about a girl who does just that.The second Earth single combines the rockin’ “Kitty Kitty” (great guitar solo too) with a neat pop song, “It Takes a Lot of Hurt”. The third 45 on Earth has a good original, “You’re The Kind Of Girl” with “Stronger Than Dirt” on the A-side.It was a later Pitmen group who recorded a couple 45s: “Earthy”, plus “Summertime Blues” b/w “Suzi Q” (released on Earth 401).

Ron Randall:

There was another, later group, called the Floyd Dakil Four. That group was Floyd, Ronny Randall, Mike Giles (drums) and Terry Billings on bass. That group recorded the songs on the Earth label, produced by John Anderson. I have that picture somewhere.
“Earth” was a term coined by John Anderson, our manager/producer to describe the sound we had with the Floyd Dakil Four. I had added a Fender VI Bass Guitar to the instrument mix, along with my Stratocaster. So we had two bass instruments on some recordings and live performances. Terry Billings on Fender Precision bass, Ronny Randall on Fender VI bass. It was/is a hard driving click-bass/surf/rock sound done an octave lower to the Stratocaster. Add Terry’s Precision bass, and Mike’s drums and that was the foundation of the sound called Earth. “Earth” was written in huge letters on the back of that Fender VI bass. Ron Chapman commented on how full the live sound was at the “Sump’n Else” Studio at Northpark.
I continued to perform with Floyd at all kinds of venues until I decided to go to college, get a day job. We continue to be friends today. We participated in a concert about 18 months ago at the Lakewood Theater on Greenville Ave. The concert was dubbed “The Legends of Rock and Roll,” produced by Kenny Daniels. We did a “Reunited” performance live at the Stoneleigh in 2005.

After the Earth 45s, Floyd kept the band together while earning a B.A. from Texas Tech. In 1968 he had a solo 45 “Merry Christmas Baby” / “One Day” on Pompeii. Sometime after that Floyd became the guitarist for one of his idols, Louis Prima, and remained for several years until Prima’s ill health curtailed his touring.

Floyd Dakil ... Live! — Floyd Dakil … Live!

In 1975 he released a LP with his own group, Live! in which he runs through 42 songs in as many minutes. It’s definitely an odd mix, if you can imagine “Everyday People” segueing to a chorus of “Yummy Yummy Yummy” then straight into “Whiskey River”! Also about 1975 Floyd turned down a two LP contract with CBS, feeling that the contract was unfair in charging promotional costs back to the artist.

In the late ’80s he started a band with Larry Randall, and this group’s songs were featured in a 1991 movie, Love Hurts with a brief cameo by the group.

In 2009 Floyd was one of the featured acts at the Ponderosa Stomp at SXSW in Austin. I’ve heard a tape of the show and it’s one of the better sets from that night. Floyd played “Dance Franny Dance”, “Look What You’ve Gone and Done”, “Bad Boy” and “Stopping Traffic”, as well as “Nadine”.

This year Floyd’s friend Phil York released an official new CD Rolling Dynamite, collecting some of his early singles and a number of previously unreleased tracks. I just received the copy I ordered, and can provide an overview:

Included are both sides of the Jetstar 45 and both sides of the first Earth 45 (“Bad Boy” and “Stoppin’ Traffic”, though “Bad Boy” on the CD is an alternate with a shorter intro and piano solo [‘take it Andy!’] instead of the ringing guitar break on the 45). Also included are “Kitty Kitty”, the A-side to the second Earth 45; “You’re the Kind of Girl”, the flip from his third Earth 45; and his Pompeii single, “Merry Christmas Baby”. Everything else on it was never released on vinyl that I know of, though five of the unreleased tracks did appear on a CD collection in the mid-90s.

It’s hard to know when the unreleased tracks were cut, as the notes only include a general reminiscence by Floyd and no recording specifics, nor is the CD sequenced strictly by recording date. Of the unreleased tracks the two highlights are definitely the title song, “Rollin’ Dynamite” (a cover of Scotty McKay’s first single, written by Joann Owen) and “Shiver”. Other early songs include “Cold As Ice” and “Sweet Little Anna” and a ballad “Pretty Girl”. “She Bops a Lot” may have been a later song done as a throwback to his earlier style, it’s hard to tell.

A few tracks sound like they could be from late-’60s or early ’70s sessions, including “I Know”, “Turn to the Night” and “Here I Am”, all excellent songs in a gentler style. “Good Times and Rock and Roll” sounds like a 70s track, at least in it’s nostalgic look at the early rock scene. The rest are definitely from the late ’80s or ’90s and range from country to zydeco to “Old Time Rock & Roller”.

Details on recording personnel and dates would be useful for fanatics like myself, but overall I would consider this an excellent retrospective of Floyd’s work, with all of his essential songs presented in excellent sound quality.

I had been looking forward to hearing him play in Brooklyn, New York this summer, but I’m very sorry to report that Floyd passed away on Saturday, April 24, 2010.

Sources include photos from the bigd60s group and a long interview with Floyd Dakil by WFMU’s Michael Shelley from May 10, 2008.

Floyd Dakil ... Live! - back cover — Floyd Dakil … Live! – back cover

Categories: Beaumont, Lowland Studios (TX), National General, Robin Hood Studios (Tyler), Salmar, Texas

The Mourning Sun (aka Morning Sun)

August 2, 2007 Chris Bishop 12 Comments

The Mourning Sun: David Everett, Bill Donley, Don Lackey and Bob Welch — “David Everett in foreground, Bill Donley behind him, Lackey against the tree… and me with the ginger hair” – Bob Welch

The Morning Sun formed when the Beaumont, Texas group the Six Deep broke up in 1967. From the Six Deep were Bob Welch bass, David Everett guitar and Bill Donley drums, and with them were Don Lackey lead guitar and Jeff Griffin on keyboards.

One reason this 45 is interesting is each side was recorded by separate groups with no members in common! The a-side, an excellent hippie pop-psych song “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods”, was written by Bob Welch, and produced by the lead guitarist Don Lackey at Lowland Studios.

The harder-edged “Dark Hair” was written by Jack Grochmal and produced by Freddie Piro at Valley Recording Studios. Both Grochmal and Piro were based in California, where they ran Mama Jo’s Studio (Jack was an engineer there). I feel that both sides compliment each other and sound like they could almost be the same band.

The first release was on the Salmar label from Beaumont, listing Lowland Studios on both sides. The National General release is supposed to have better fidelity than the Salmar, but I don’t have the Salmar to compare.

I recently spoke to bassist Bob Welch, who provided me with the photo of the band and a fascinating history of the band:

The band was actually named “Mourning Sun” – when the 45 was pressed by National General, they screwed it up, but oh well, at least we got a release outside of our region.
The lineup of the band was myself on bass, Don Lackey and David Everett on guitars, and Bill Donley on drums. Everett, Donley, and I were remnants of Six Deep. Lackey joined us after returning to Beaumont from a year’s gigging out in LA where he and Jack Grochmal worked in clubs in the South Bay area and also did session work with Freddie Piro at National General, the then nascent label of Universal. Jack followed Don back to Beaumont, sat in on a few gigs and recording sessions with us and was instrumental in getting Piro to release the song.
Unlike Six Deep which was a showy, high-energy, no-holds-barred band, Mourning Sun was much more sedate and serious on stage. We did a lot of covers but not verbatim… sort of like a Vanilla Fudge… in a way, we were a bit more experimental and a lot more into the LA sound… that was the Lackey influence. Six Deep would have never done a song like “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods”. The song came about from the title of a poem written by another good friend of mine, Bob Hanson – the title is the only thing in common, but that’s where it originated.
We originally recorded a cut of “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods” at Robin Hood Bryan’s in Tyler (where Six Deep recorded)… that cut was much nicer in terms of sonic quality. However, the guy that funded that session absconded with the master as well as another tune titled “Tuesday Woman”… and we never saw or found him again. So, when the opportunity came up with Freddie Piro, we quickly re-cut the song at Lowland. That’s the one you have… “Dark Hair”, the B side, was written and performed by Jack Grochmal in LA… in the haste to get the deal done with Piro, Jack agreed to put his tune (which Freddie had produced) on the flip.
Lowland Studios was in Pt. Neches, Texas – a small community located between Beaumont and Pt. Arthur. It was owned by Mickey Rouse, who played bass in several R&B (i.e., soul with horn sections) bands – bands with names like The Boogie Kings, Counts of Soul, The Rhythm Aces, etc.. It was just down the street from another important landmark, that being Volpi Music – an old line musical instruments store, it’s where everyone went to get their guitars, amps, etc. – the Volpi’s were an elderly couple who “adopted” all us misfits and gave us better deals than we deserved on our gear.
The studio business was primarily for jingles and demo recording but the space was also large enough for rental as a rehearsal hall. Mickey had 2, 4, and 8 track machines with a 24 channel board that he’d cobbled together, a full set of Neumann mics, a drum isolation booth, a vocal room, some old spring reverb units, nothing fancy… it hissed and sputtered along… wasn’t the quietest room you’d hope for, but it gave us a great place to try stuff out while lending him a hand on jingle production. He was good about doing that for local musicians and bands… allowing us to cut tracks there in exchange for services on jingles and as session players on more serious stuff he was doing with the R&B crowd.
We were very fortunate to have access to the facility and the comraderie and mentoring with Mickey. On occasion, one or both of the Winters brothers or members of their bands would drop in for a jam when they were in town… that was always a treat. We recorded quite a few songs and demos there, nothing though that was ever released other than locally. Mickey closed the studio and went on to have a nice career in accounting, owned his own firm, sold it a few years back and went sailing with his wife. Incredibly nice guy that always treated musicians right, but didn’t tolerate nonsense.
The tune “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods” charted mostly in the Southeast, it was a big hit in the Ft. Lauderdale market and got some air play up and down the Florida coast and into the Carolinas. We had several additional tunes in the can as they say. The label wanted us to go on tour to promote “Walk in the Woods” but we were in no position to do so at the time as we all needed to maintain student status to stay out of the draft. So, they dropped it and us, and the record sank into obscurity and the band broke up shortly afterwards.
We had several follow up songs recorded, including one titled “Where’s Love Gone Today” – a very Hollies-like tune – but as I related earlier, it fell by the wayside when we opted out of any touring/promo commitments. Things sort of went their way then as folks were moving out of the area and heading off in different directions. I stayed around for another year, gigging with a local band called Kirk Williams and the Daytrippers, a nice cover band, but with little of the innovation and creative spirit of Six Deep, et.al. I graduated from college and moved to Houston where I started a career in the semiconductor industry. Fast-forwarding a lot, I recently “retired” from Intel Corporation and live in the Sacramento area.
Jack went on to have a successful 25+ yr career in the recording industry as an engineer/session player/vocal arranger in Nashville. He’s really about the only guy I know from that time in our circle who managed to stay the course and make a living in the music biz.

We can only hope those early recordings of “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods” and “Tuesday Woman” from Robin Hood Brians studio turn up eventually.

In 2010, the Lowland recording of “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods” was reissued from an original tape on the LP and CD Local Customs: Lone Star Lowlands, a compilation of various acts that recorded at Lowland Studios. Also included are an unreleased Mourning Sun song, “Where’s Love Gone Today” and three by Bobby Welch, “Benshaw Glenn”, “Yellow River” and “Laughing Girl”.

Thank you to Bob Welch for the detailed history and photo of the band.

Thanks also to Borja for the scans of the Salmar 45.

Categories: Angleton, Custom, Texas

The Brym-Stonz Ltd. of Angleton “You’ll Be Mine”

July 25, 2007 Chris Bishop 12 Comments

Brym-Stonz Ltd. photo, 1967 — “This photo was taken in 1967 in the high school auditorium before we were to play.” – Les Roberts. From left: Mike Riggle, Don Prilop, Les Roberts, Henry Munson, and Dwayne Sanders.

An underrated 45, the Brym-Stonz Ltd cut the excellent “You’ll Be Mine” on the Custom label sometime in late 1967 or ’68.

Although I thought it was recorded at Robin Hood Brians’ studio in Tyler, TX, like other Custom 45s by Billy McKnight and the Reddlemen, Les Roberts states that it was recorded in Custom owner Curtis Kirk’s garage.

“You’ll Be Mine” is fine, moody garage, with a prominent bass line and some unusual chording on guitar and organ. It was written by Dwayne Sanders, while the psychedelic ballad on the flip, “Times Gone By” was written by Leslie Roberts.

Members on the single were:

Leslie Roberts – lead guitar and vocals
Mike Riggle – rhythm guitar / 12-string Rickenbacker, vocals
Henry Munson – Vox Continental organ
Dwayne Sanders – Hagstrom bass
Don Prilop – drums

Earlier members included Ronnie Rogers and Pat Howard.

Curtis Kirk ran the Custom label and seems to have put his name on every song he ever released, but I doubt he contributed to lyrics like “Colored contrasts call me back from illusions of love/ the variations of oceans of lavender skies!”

I recently heard from Les Roberts, lead guitarist and one of the singers for the band:

The Brym-Stonz were a band from Angleton, south of Houston. We were in high school and like most bands met through wanting to play music. We played lots of school functions and after game dances.
The band members were Henry Munson (Vox Continental organ), Don Prilop (drums), Dwayne Sanders (Hagstrom bass), the late Mike Riggle (rhythm/12 string Rickenbacker) who sang the lead vocal on “You’ll Be Mine”, and Leslie Roberts (lead guitar and vocal on “Times Gone By”). The [1968] picture of the band is from after Dwayne Sanders had left.
We recorded these songs in December 1967 at Curtis Kirk’s studio converted garage in Tyler. We actualy recorded 4 songs in Tyler but only put the two songs on record. Curtis Kirk always put his name as a co-writer on songs he recorded. Probably to garner writers royalties in case the song did well.
I used to make the dances at the Brazoria County Fairgrounds auditorium each weekend. I got to see lots of local and regional bands such as BJ Thomas and the Triumphs, Roy Head and the Traits, Freddy Koenig and the Jades, Fever Tree, and others.
We formed another band in ’72 called Moonchild and over the years people left. I still play in a band called Dog Town Blues but everyone else has stopped playing.
Les Roberts

Bry-Stonz clipping Angleton July 18, 1968 — 1968 clipping, from left: Don Prilop, Leslie Roberts, Mike Riggle and Henry Munson

Early photo of Brym-Stonz Ltd wearing jackets borrowed from the Reddlemen! From left: Les Roberts, Dwayne Sanders, Ronnie Rogers, Henry Munson, and Pat Howard

Categories: ARV International, Harlingen, Pharaoh, Rio Grande Valley, Texas

The Cruisers from Harlingen, TX

July 14, 2007 Chris Bishop 27 Comments

Cruisers Pharaoh sleeve Another Lonely Night — from left: F.G. Renaud, Bobby Ledesma, E.J. Ledesma (inside the car), Manny Carmona & Rafael Saldana.
Thank you to Gloria for providing the names in her comment below.

The Cruisers came from Harlingen, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley, like Noe Pro and Simon Reyes.

The Cruisers released at least eight singles on local south Texas labels. I didn’t know the lineup of the band until Gloria commented (see below) that the members on the sleeve above were:

E.J. Ledesma – lead vocals & guitar
Rafael “Kai” Saldana – lead guitar
Manny Carmona – sax
Bobby Ledesma – bass
F.G. Renaud – drums
Arnold Cano – trumpet, keyboards

Other members may have included Joe Rodriguez. More info on the band would be appreciated.

They had five 45s on the Pharaoh label from nearby McAllen, Texas, some of which are very pop oriented. The third 45 on Pharaoh, “My Place” fetched a lot of money when it sold recently, but I have no idea as to its quality.

Arnold Cano wrote to me with information about his time in the Cruisers:

The Cruisers were the first band I played with. The person most directly responsible for me joining my first professional band was Carlos (Charlie) Ledesma. He is EJ Ledesma’s younger brother and was in the Harlingen Coakley Band when I met him. Carlos is the one I will thank for the rest of my life for getting me involved in music.
I came to Coakley halfway through 8th grade from a private school in Brownsville. Lived in Harlingen and wanted to play in the school band. Ended up playing French horn and sat next to Carlos, who played saxophone. He was the one that told me that the band (Cruisers) needed a trumpet player and asked me if I thought I might be able to fill that spot. Even though I had just started playing the French horn that year I decided to give it a try. Asked my parents if they would help me monetarily with purchasing a trumpet and they did. Went to Bledsoe’s Music and bought one, to this day I still thank them for the support they gave me all through the years in music.
Carlos and I were considered younger brothers to the guys and we looked up to them as such. I was 15 and in the 9th grade when I recorded “Oh Sweetness” with the guys, I luckily wrote the month and year on the 45 back then or else there would be no way I would remember now.
I eventually moved on to playing keyboard, again asking my parents for the help. They never hesitated and soon I was playing keyboards with the band. What I don’t remember are the circumstances of leaving the band.
I also played with Noe Pro for a bit … Ray and The Carousels (formerly The Belaires), Los Hermanos Ramos, La Justicia, Tequila Sunrise, Kaos (this was at The Helipad), The AllNighter’s, Tequila Mockingbird and then moved to San Antonio with my AT&T job and played with a Texano band there. I transferred to the Dallas area to follow my telephone job and met an old musician friend I had played with in the valley (Henry Lee). Played in his band, Slick, for a couple of years and then got a call from another friend (Kevin Martin) that I had played with in Kaos Band back in the valley. He was going to contract event gigs and already had a couple of agents. I jumped at the opportunity to get away from the nightly club gigging. Started playing with his band (HitSquad) in Houston. It is a drive but we just do corporate and better paying events. I’ve played many years and still love the music.

E.J. Ledesma, who has had a long career in Tejano music wrote many of their songs including “My Place”, “Another Lonely Night”, “Please Let Me Be (The One for You)” and “Oh! Sweetness”. If anyone has scans or mp3s of the other Pharaoh records, please let me know.

The Cruisers had two releases on the ARV International label, also from McAllen, “Just Having Fun” and “Movin’ Man” were written, arranged and produced by Bobby Ledesma. The b-sides to each are lighter, with “Lucky Man” featuring horns.

List of 45 releases:

Pharaoh 125 – An Angel Like You / The Lonely (1964)
Pharaoh 128 – Another Lonely Night / Please Let Me Be (The One For You)
Pharaoh 139 – My Place / Walkin’ and a Ridin’ (1965)
Pharaoh 148 – The Fire’s Gone / Oh! Sweetness (Aug. 1966)
Pharaoh 155 – Celina / Baby Doll (February 1967)
ARV 5004 – Just Having Fun / Lucky Man (May 1967)
ARV 5010 – Movin’ Man / Children Playing In The Sun
Impacto IM-178 – Down By the River / I Can’t Believe It (1968)

For more on the Pharaoh label see the article on this site.

Thank you to Fred Hoyt for the scans of “Another Lonely Night” / “Please Let Me Be” and the sleeve, to Westex and Max Waller for additions to the discography, and to Danny and Gloria for the info on the band in their comments, below. Thank you to Arnold Cano for his story on the group.

Categories: Dunwright, Irving, Texas, Unknown

South Lamar and Speed Limit

June 27, 2007 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

A real obscurity from Irving, Texas on the Dunwright label that I can’t find a shred of info about.

“Population Zero” starts out well, with a great opening wave of reverbed distortion, then turns into a dirge with horns about wandering around a post-apocalyptic landscape. The song is psychedelic in some ways, but defies easy categorization.

“Pollution” begins as a funky instrumental. For the bridge there’s a slow horn break, then a jarring blast of guitar before going back into the rhythm. Both songs were written by V. Murphy, which turns out to be Vince Murphy.

A version of “Population Zero” turns up on a 45 on the Madella label by the Chaps b/w “Water Hole on Madella”, so there may be some connection between the two groups. The Chaps had many other releases including singles on the Paula and Soft labels.

Thanks very much to Don for introducing this one to me.

Categories: Custom, International Artists, Texas, Tyler

Billy McKnight & The Plus 4

May 22, 2007 Chris Bishop 1 Comment

Out of Tyler, Texas come Billy McKnight & The Plus 4 on the Custom label. “You’re Doin’ Me Wrong” is a fine Yardbirds-influenced punker, the drumming is especially fluid. An odd feature is the way the song fades out twice, each time coming back with a shrill keyboard note.

“Time Wasted” is almost country in its sound. I don’t know who else was in the band; Larry Graham did the arranging.

Both songs were written by McKnight and Curtis Kirk, who ran Custom and also owned Tyler Publishing. It seems he was the type of publisher who had his name added onto every song released on his label. Kirk had been a country singer in the ’50s (info on his first session here), most notably cutting “I Can’t Take It With Me”.

“Unlike Robin [Hood Brians], who began in the living room and moved to the back yard, Curtis started in his garage and stayed there!” – from a feature on Tyler studios in Billboard’s Sept. 8, 1973 issue.

This was the first garage 45 released on Kirk’s own Custom Records, which usually released country or gospel 45s. After the Billy McKnight 45, Custom released a killer by the Reddlemen , “I’m Gonna Get in that Girl’s Mind” and a very good one by the Brym-Stonz Ltd.

Billy released a 45 on International Artists the following year as Billy Wade McKnight, “Trouble’s Comin’ On” / “I Need Your Lovin'”, both McKnight originals. These are lighter pop sides, verging on country music, and were produced by Curtis Kirk and Steve Wright, and arranged by Larry Graham.

In 1970 he cut another single as Billy Wade McKnight on Congress, “Stacey” / “Mary Anne”, produced by Tommy Cogbill, but I haven’t heard this yet.

Categories: Houston, Pasadena, Shane, Texas, Unknown

The Actioneers “It’s You” on Shane

May 17, 2007 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

The Actioneers recorded these two songs in just two hours on November 15, 1965 at Huey Meaux’s Recording Service Studios in Pasadena, Texas. You can tell they went straight from the garage or rec room into the studio, this 45 is about as unpolished as garage gets.

“It’s You” is a great fast rocker, with a repetitive guitar line. I think it’s amazing that there’s no bridge or break, or change of chords for the chorus! The band gets the riff down and stays with it to the finish. The drum kit might be nothing more than a tom tom and a snare!

“No One Wants Me” is also simple, but has a tom tom and tambourine break. I’ll bet they didn’t do many takes of this one!

Both sides were written by Ray Gilburn. The band was probably from Houston, but they were pretty much unknown until boxes of unplayed copies of their 45 were found in Huey Meaux’s studio.

I did find a couple mentions of them in the Baytown Sun from 1965, but no lists of band members.

The only other 45 I know about on the Shane label was by the Eccentrics – “Baby I Need You” / “She’s Ugly” on Shane 60, both songs written by L.J. Swift.

Categories: Beaumont, Big Beat, Texas

The Kidds

May 9, 2007 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

I know little about this group. Their one 45 was produced by Tommy Bee, who had been based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while the Big Beat label shows a Greenville, Mississippi address at 617 Nelson St.

The band actually came from Beaumont, Texas, Kelly High School to be exact. Their guitarist Joey Patrizi commented below. John Schmidt played bass, to be replaced by Glen Moyer.

A good rocker, “Straighten Up And Fly Right” was written by Bryan and Brown. On the flip there’s a ballad, “See What My Love Means”. This 45 is not rare and can be picked up cheaply.

Categories: Arlington, Britian, Texas

The Five

May 8, 2007 Chris Bishop 9 Comments

The Five seem to have come from Arlington, Texas. I couldn’t find any definite info on them until a friend of the band, Michael, commented below.

They sound like they were very young when they recorded this great double-sided 45 on the Britian (sic) label, the pounding “She Doesn’t Love Me Anymore” b/w a fine jangler, “I Don’t Care If It Rains All Night”. Tommy Jacobs and Terry Jacobs are the songwriters.

I’ll repeat most of Michael’s comment from below:

I knew these guys very well back in Junior High in Arlington, Texas (closer to Ft. Worth than Dallas).
Their original last name was Bryant, but changed to Jacobs after being adopted by their step-father. Tommy was about 2 years older than me and Terry was a year younger. Terry was the lead guitarist and lead singer while Tommy was was rhythm and back-up. Their drummer’s name was Bill Smith and can’t recall the bass player’s name, but he was a college guy and I always remembered that he played an Epiphone bass.
Terry always said that he wrote both songs for my sister, since he had such a big crush on her. The Five (one of many names they had gone by) were constant winners at local battle of the bands contests. And Terry could sing a mean falsetto “You Really Got Me.” Ha!! I think the single was made in ’66, but could have been early ’67, since I moved to Colorado in mid-’67. I saw them one more time, in’68, when we bumped into each other at Six Flags Over Texas. I heard that they moved to the San Francisco area shortly after that but no word on whether they kept up the music. The Britian label came about when the producer asked them what they wanted to name their label. They told him “Britain” but he misspelled it.

Thanks to Joe from the Ugly Beats for bringing the Five to my attention.

I’d love to hear from Terry Bryant, Tommy Bryant, or Bill Smith if they’re out there. Anyone have a photo of the group?

Categories: Bismark, Dallas, Denton, Texas

The Chessmen

April 17, 2007 Chris Bishop 64 Comments

The Chessmen feature in almost every account of the Dallas music scene in the mid and late ’60s. Famous at the time for their live shows, the Chessmen are remembered now for the members who went on to national fame: Doyle Bramhall played with and wrote songs for Stevie Ray Vaughan; Bill Etheridge played bass with ZZ Top before Dusty Hill; and Jimmie Vaughan was in the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Beyond their legend, the Chessmen’s legacy consists of rare photos of the band and a few 45s. Their second record, “I Need You There” / “Sad”, was their best, recorded before any of the people named above were even in the band. The Chessmen’s story is confusing with many personnel changes, but I’ll try to sort it out as best as I can.

The original Chessmen at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas from left: Robert Patton, Tom Carrigan (drums), Tommy Carter and Ron DiIulio — The original Chessmen at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas
from left: Robert Patton, Tom Carrigan (drums), Tommy Carter and Ron DiIulio

Original lineup:

Robert Patton – guitar and vocals
Ron DiIulio – keyboards
Tommy Carter – bass
Tommy Carrigan – drums

Fine Arts Theatre, Denton (photo taken 1977)
From the University of North Texas library

The Chessmen formed in early 1964 on the campus of North Texas State University (now University of North Texas) in the town of Denton, about 25 miles from Dallas. The original lineup included Robert Patton of the west Texas town of Midland on rhythm guitar and vocals, Tommy Carrigan of Denton on drums, Ron DiIulio on keyboards and Tommy Carter on bass.

Tommy Carter was the only member who stayed with the band until the Chessmen broke up in 1968.

"first Denton public appearance", February 8, 1965 — “first Denton public appearance”, February 8, 1965

They started by playing at basketball games and football pre-game rallies. At the start of 1965 they signed a management contract with George Rickrich, owner of the Fine Arts Theatre in Denton. George had them play between movie screenings, hired a photographer to take promotional photos, immediately brought them into a studio for their first record and began booking them for shows outside of Denton.

Denton Record-Chronicle, February 7, 1965, Tommy Gayle is listed as featured singer with the Chessmen — Denton Record-Chronicle, February 7, 1965
Tommy Gayle is listed as featured singer with the Chessmen

Ron Dilulio: “We were billed to play between showings of the movie ‘Get Yourself a College Girl’. Back then, there weren’t pop concerts like today’s concert that we think of. We were one of the first, and there were people that lined up down the street to see us that night.”

The Chessmen, at Louann's, April 1965 — At Louann’s, April 1965

This first lineup recorded one unremarkable 45 on Bismark, a cover of the Drifters’ hit “Save The Last Dance For Me” complete with a girl chorus. The flip was a good if mellow atmospheric instrumental “Dreams And Wishes” written by guitarist Robert Patton.

Ron DiIulio recently sent me many photos of this first lineup of the Chessmen.

Ron DiIulio left the Chessmen, but stayed on at college, forming two short-lived bands, first the Rejects and then the New Sound in 1966. Ron later joined both Noel Odom & the Group and the Bad Habits in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana.

May 21 - new guitarist Jimmy Kay introduced, though the photo still shows Ron DiIuliio — May 21 – new guitarist Jimmy Kay introduced, though the photo still shows Ron DiIuliio

July 9 - guitarist Ricky Marshall mentioned — July 9 – guitarist Ricky Marshall mentioned

July 12 - yet another new guitarist for the Chessmen, Richard Dace, left to right: Robert Patton, Tommy Carrigan, Richard Dace and Tommy Carter — July 12 – yet another new guitarist for the Chessmen, Richard Dace
left to right: Robert Patton, Tommy Carrigan, Richard Dace and Tommy Carter

Spinning Wheels Skating Rink, Denton, July 5, 1965

Transitional lineups, May 1965-1966

Robert Patton – guitar and vocals
*Jimmy Kay (aka Jimmy Kay Herbert) – guitar
*Ricky Marshall – guitar
*Richard Dace – guitar
Tommy Carter – bass and vocals
Tom Carrigan – drums

After Ron left the band in April or early May, 1965, the band tried out several guitarists to replace him, including at least three between May and July! The Denton Record-Chronicle lists these guitarists as members: Jimmy Kay (May 21), Ricky Marshall (July 9), and Richard Dace (July 12).

725 North Elm, Denton in 2010 - the former Spinning Wheels Skating Rink? — 725 North Elm, Denton in 2010 – the former Spinning Wheels Skating Rink?

According to a comment by Richard Parker, below, Jimmy Kay is Jim Herbert, who was the Chessmen’s guitarist on their second single, “I Need You There” b/w “Sad”. Either Jim Herbert was in the group for a much shorter time than I thought, or Jim rejoined the band after Ricky Marshall and Richard Dace left. Does anyone know Ricky Marshall or Richard Dace?

The band started appearing regularly at all-ages dances and “sock hops” at the Spinning Wheels Skating Rink on N. Elm.

The Chessmen, mid-late 1965. left to right: Robert Patton, Tommy Carter, Tom Carrigan and Jim Herbert — The Chessmen, mid-late 1965
left to right: Robert Patton, Tommy Carter, Tom Carrigan and Jim Herbert

Robert Patton, Tommy Carter and Tom Carrigan

Second lineup:

Robert Patton – guitar and vocals
Jim Herbert – guitar and vocals
Tommy Carter – bass and vocals
Tom Carrigan – drums

Chessmen Bismark 45 I Need You There At some point in 1965, Tom Carrigan met Jim Herbert while playing gigs around the NTSU campus, and invited him to a Chessmen rehearsal at Carrigan’s mother’s house just off campus. Jim Herbert joined the band as lead guitarist, and they recorded their classic second 45, “I Need You There” b/w “Sad”, released in October of ’65, and a third song which was never released “You’re No Good.”

It’s often stated that the ripping guitar on “I Need You There” is by Jimmie Vaughan, but Jim Herbert told me he is actually the lead guitarist on that song.

Chessmen Bismark 45 Sad On the 45, Robert Patton sings the lead vocals. On live gigs, Robert Patton and Jim Herbert split most of the lead vocals, with Tommy Carter occasionally doing one or two songs. All three would sing harmony. The night they were cutting “I Need You There”, Delbert McClinton and the Ron-Dels were in the next studio recording “If You Really Want Me To I’ll Go”.

“I Need You There” was written by Norris Green and Thomas Sims (or Thomas Patrick Sims). Norris Green also wrote another song for the band, “No More”, but I’m not sure of his connection with the group.

Unissued acetate, scan courtesy of Brandy Herbert.

“Sad” was written by Robert Patton and Tommy Carter. An acoustic guitar carefully picks the melody. That sound and the use of harmonies for both verse and chorus would be expanded upon in the next single.

One unissued demo from this time is “You’re No Good”, written by Patton and done at the very end of a session when they had some spare time. I haven’t heard it, but it’s supposed to sound something like “Ticket to Ride”, with rough vocals from Robert Patton, whose voice was ragged on it.

The Chessmen, 1966, clockwise from left: Tommy Carter, Johnny Peebles, Robert Patton and Doyle Bramhall (front)

The Chessmen on Sump'n Else, from left: Tommy Carter, Johnny Peebles, Doyle Bramhall and Robert Patton — The Chessmen on Sump’n Else, from left: Tommy Carter, Johnny Peebles, Doyle Bramhall and Robert Patton

Third lineup:
(Peebles and Bramhall joined separately, so there was probably some overlap with Tom Carrigan or Jim Herbert)

Robert Patton – guitar and vocals
Johnny Peebles – guitar and vocals
Tommy Carter – bass and vocals
Doyle Bramhall – drums and vocals

Jim Herbert left the band and became one of the Pit Club’s ‘Pitmen’ along with Bill Heald and Rusty Brutsche, and later joined Galen Jeter’s Brass Blues Band. Johnny Peebles took over on lead guitar. Tommy Carrigan also left around this time, and was replaced by Doyle Bramhall. With this lineup they played the Sump’n Else TV show hosted by Ron Chapman.

Chessmen Bismark 45 No More Their next 45 contained two solid songs. “You’re Gonna Be Lonely” was written by Knox Henderson (who also co-wrote Mouse and the Traps’ “Public Execution” and “Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice” and the Uniques “You Ain’t Tuff”, among other songs) and Larry Mackey. Knox Henderson also did A&R for the session. The Chessmen do a good job on the song, featuring twelve string guitar, group vocals and zooming bass accents by Carter. It’s all over in a minute and a half!

If “I Need You There” was their finest recording, “No More” is probably the next best, and it shares the same writer, Norris Green. Interlocking guitar lines, a mournful harmonica, and melancholy harmonies throughout. The 45 was released in April of ’66.

On April 19, 1966, Robert Patton drowned at White Rock Lake in Dallas after falling off a sailboat at 2 A.M. Also on the boat were fellow NTSU students Colin Mustain, Mike McGrew, Phil Teague and John Hargiss.

Although Doyle Brahmall characterized it as “a hazing accident” in a interview many years after the accident, he was not present at the time. John Hargiss wrote to me: “I was with Robert the night of the accident that took his life. There was no hazing. Robert had already been through pledgeship along with me and Mike McGrew. We were fully initiated brothers in Sigma Phi Epsilon as were the other two members of our party that night.

“Robert drowned when he fell out of the boat after our boat left a wind puff at 45 degrees. Three of us were all leaning over the elevated side of the boat to right it and thus avoid capsizing (called ‘hiking out’ in sailing terms). Exiting the wind puff at great speed, the boat then smacked down hard in the water. This sudden jar caused Robert to flip head over heels. I know this because he was right beside me and I almost went over too. We made all efforts possible, throwing out life preservers, reversing course, etc. However, we never saw him again.

“Robert was one of our most popular and beloved brothers. He was a young man of great talent with a winning personality. We all knew he was on his way to ‘big things’, making his loss all the greater. Our fraternity was in mourning for a long time after his death. His funeral drew what seemed to be the entire population of Denton, Texas.”

Bismark promotional, circa mid-late '67, From left: Doyle Bramhall, Johnny Peebles, Jimmie Vaughan and Tommy Carter — Bismark promotional, circa mid-late ’67
From left: Doyle Bramhall, Johnny Peebles, Jimmie Vaughan and Tommy Carter

Despite the tragedy, the Chessmen continued, with an announcement of an upcoming show in May appearing in the news as well as return engagements at the Campus Theatre on June 23 and the Spinning Wheels Rink on July 4.

Johnny Peebles soon brought in his friend Jimmie Vaughan of Oak Cliff to play lead guitar. Doyle Bramhall became the primary vocalist as well as drummer.

Fourth lineup:

Jimmie Vaughan – lead guitar
Johnny Peebles – guitar and vocals
Tommy Carter – bass and vocals
Doyle Bramhall – drums and vocals

The final Chessmen 45 included a repeat of “No More” from their previous 45, but this time as the A-side, and was released in September of ’66. The flip, “When You Lost Someone You Love”, shows some development in the group’s vocals, but otherwise it’s lightweight. It was likely recorded when Peebles was still in the group. It’s the only Chessmen recording with Jimmie Vaughan, his electric guitar playing the quiet fills in the background.

Final lineup:

Jimmie Vaughan – lead guitar
Bill Etheridge – rhythm guitar, keyboards and vocals
Tommy Carter – bass and vocals
Doyle Bramhall – drums and lead vocals

Johnny Peebles left the band by early ’67 and Bill Etheridge joined on rhythm guitar and keyboards. With this lineup, they opened for the Jimi Hendrix Experience in Dallas in 1968.

Later that year the Chessmen broke up. I have to wonder if any live tapes of the band exist, but if so, none have surfaced in all these years.

Jimmie Vaughan, Tommy Carter and Bill Etheridge first formed a more blues-based group called Texas with Sammy Piazza (often incorrectly listed as a member of the Chessmen) on drums and Cecil Cotten of the Briks on vocals. They were initially managed by Jimmy Rabbit who told me he has “small reel to reel with a few songs from that ‘Texas’ session, [including] B.B. King’s ‘Beautician Blues’ sung by Jimmy Vaughan.”

After Cecil left to California, Doyle Brahmall joined as lead vocalist. That group moved to Austin and became Texas Storm with Jimmie’s younger brother Stevie Ray on bass and Bill Campbell on drums.

Mike Leeman of Ft. Worth, TX sent in the following three photos, taken when he and a friend booked the Chessmen for a private party:

The Chessmen played at several parties for us in Ft. Worth, TX during my college days. First heard them at Luann’s in Dallas. These pictures were taken by me with a Kodak Instamatic August 18, 1967 at the Holiday Inn in Ft. Worth, TX @ I-30 and University Drive. Another motel now is at that same location. Tommy Carter on bass, Jimmy Vaughan, lead, Doyle Bramhall, drums and Billy Etheridge, rhythm guitar and keyboards. I also still have a business card, signed contracts (by Tommy Carter) from the Bismark Agency in Denton, TX which handled their bookings and a picture of the marquee in front of the Holiday Inn with “Chessmen” on it. Their booking agent was George Rickrich.
The New Year’s Eve party, Dec. 31, 1967 was quite a “bash”. I remember some of their songs: Train Kept a Rollin, The Nazz Are Blue, Under My Thumb, Purple Haze, You Keep Me Hangin’ On, Sunshine of Your Love, and Gimme Some Lovin.

Chessmen at the Holiday Inn in Ft. Worth, August 1967, Jimmie Vaughan on guitar and Tommy Carter on bass, with Doyle on the drums

Chessmen at the Holiday Inn in Ft. Worth, August 1967, Jimmie Vaughn and Tommy Carter

Chessmen at the Holiday Inn, Fort Worth, August 1967: Doyle Bramhall singing and playing drums and Billy Etheridge on Fender Telecaster

In 2009 the Fort Worth Holiday Inn was demolished.

Ticket to the Chessmen, at the Red Garter Club, December 31, 1967

Thank you Mike, these are great photos of the band!

Chessmen at Texas A&M, August 1, 1967. Thank you to Bill Thompson for submitting this clip.

Chessmen original 45 releases:

Bismark 1010 Save The Last Dance For Me / Dreams And Wishes
Bismark 1012 I Need You There (Thomas Sims, Norris Green) / Sad (Tom Carter, Robert Patton)
B.R.S. 1014 You’re Gonna Be Lonely / No More (N. Green), A&R by Knox Henderson
Bismark 1015 No More / When You Lost Someone You Love

Sources include an interview with Ron Dilulio in the NT Daily, interview with Doyle Bramhall on Anatomy of a Scream site, and photos from BigD60s@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Brown, Kirby Warnock and Mike Leeman.

This page has been updated in July 2007, January 2010 and February, 2011.

Update, November 2011: I’m sorry to report Doyle Bramhall passed away Sunday, November 13 at the age of 62. For more info please see DFW.com.