Fairfax County | Garage Hangover

December’s Children at the Alexandria Roller Rink, November 22, 1967, Jerry Burke holding the mic, photo courtesy of Bud Becker

December’s Children came from Falls Church, Virginia, and part of the same Washington, D.C. music scene as the Telstars. Bud Becker managed both bands, and the photos here come from his collection.

I don’t have the lineups down exactly but I believe members included:

Jerry Burke – lead vocals
Clay Staples (J.C. Staples) – lead guitar
Pete Kahn – rhythm guitar
Steve Gilles
Matt ”Red” Kilmer – organ
Mike Martino – drums
Mick Coiner (Mic Coiner) – lead vocals (replaced Jerry Burke)

Dick Alfers was a roadie for the band.

December’s Children at the Alexandria Roller Rink, Jerry Burke with tambourine, November 22, 1967

Ad for the December’s Children supporting the Turtles at the Alexandria Roller Rink, November 22, 1967

December’s Children biggest show may have been supporting the Turtles on November 22, 1967 at the Alexandria Roller Rink with Bobby Howard and the Sweet, the Plum Beach Incident, the Hounds of Baskerville, the Fantastic Plastic, the Seeds of Life, the Rokz, the Kings Row, the Gnu Generation, and the Yorkshires. WPGC “Good Guy” DJ Jack Alix presented the show.

December's Children, Ltd. Domestic Sound 45 Signed D.C.

Also in 1967, the group made their only single, featuring a cover of Love’s “Signed D.C.” backed with an original “So Long Ago” by Burke, Gilles, and Staples.

On the record the group is listed as December’s Children, Ltd., released on Domestic Sound Records DS-123, with an address at 133 South Washington Street, Falls Church, VA. M.A. Becker and December’s Children and DSP Music published “So Long Ago”.

After Jerry Burke left for Vietnam in 1968, Mic Coiner took over on lead vocals.

I don’t know if the band’s members continued in music. Jerry Burke passed away in 2007.

Bud Becker’s silent footage of December’s Children at a VFW hall with Jerry Burke on lead vocals, followed by Jerry Burke’s haircut shortly before going into the Marines, ending with a short clip at a Hullabaloo with Mic Coiner on vocals.

Thank you to Bud Becker and Paul Burke for their help with this article.

For some reason I had the band listed as from Fredericksburg, which seems to be incorrect, unless certain members started out there. Thank you to Bill Pooten for pointing that out.

December’s Children at the Alexandria Roller Rink, November 22, 1967

Back from the Grave stars the Beau Havens

The Beau Havens had one record, the fantastic “Elizabeth” / “Feel So Good” on Gama Records 45-705 from September, 1966. The photos seen here were taken about a year earlier, in 1965.

I’m trying to decipher the hand-writing on this card, so members’ names may not be spelled correctly. Any help would be appreciated:

John Colgan – drums, vocals on “Feel So Good”
Kerry Miller – lead guitar
Jim Whelan – lead vocal on “Elizabeth”
Allan Hurdle (or is it Allen Hurdle?) – guitar
Tom Whelan – piano

Kevin Miller – manager

The group were all young teenagers in ’65.

Belle Haven, VA has been listed as their town of origin, however that eastern shore town is nearly four hours drive from the Springfield, Virginia American Legion Hall where these photos were taken.

The Beau Havens were actually from the Belle Haven subdivision south of Alexandria, VA, in Fairfax County (tip of the hat to Chris Farrell for pointing out the correct Belle Haven).

A neighborhood newsletter, the Belle Haven Tribune, from May 7, 1965 featured the group. The newsletter spells the brothers names as Tom Whealen and Jim Whealen.

A Pi Alpha Gamma banner appears behind the group, and it’s likely the Beau Havens shared the bill with the Londoners and the Roaches.

Beau Havens photo 1 American Legion, Johnny Colgan on drums — This should be Johnny Colgan on drums

Beau Havens photo 3 American Legion — Photo of the Beau Havens – the drummer lacks his cravat

Jim Whelan wrote and, I think, sang lead on “Elizabeth”.

Rick Fulton wrote “Feel So Good”. I’m not sure if Rick was a later member of the band or simply a friend. Johnny Colgan appears to have sang lead on this side.

Both songs likely were cut at Edgewood Recording Studio at 1627 K Street, N.W. in Washington D.C. A couple of Edgewood acetates of the single exist. On one the song has the title “She Makes Me Feel So Good”, corrected in pen to “She Makes Me Feel Right”.

Doesn’t sound like the Beau Havens had a keyboard player on the record. Claiborne Music published both songs.

Beau Havens photo 2 American Legion — I believe this is Kerry Miller of the Beau Havens

More info on the Beau Havens would be appreciated.

Update May, 2022:

Danny G purchased a guitar in the D.C. area and the name on the case helped him trace it to this post, where it is clearly the guitar in the last photo above. Below are some interesting photos of this custom-made guitar provided by Danny along with his description:

Likely a neck taken from an unbranded Kay guitar and put onto a solid chunk of mahogany (?). The white paint was to emulate the pickguard on a Höfner bass.
The guitar uses two Lafayette pickups, a 99-4536 in the neck which is a screw on pickup made for jazz arch top guitars and a PA-297 acoustic soundhole pickup in the bridge. The guitar has a really unique sound because of the odd choice of pickups, and that’s part of the reason I bought it.
The bridge pickup came with an RCA input and he simply repurposed it as the main input.

Beau Havens, Kerry Miller's guitar - back — Kerry’s guitar – one hook to keep the pickup selector in place, and an eye for the guitar strap

Beau Havens Kerry Miller Guitar 4 Gretsch Tone Twister — Gretsch Tone-Twister palm vibrato

Beau Havens Kerry Miller Guitar 3 Lafayette pickups — Lafayette pickups

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December’s Children “Signed D.C.” on Domestic Sound Records

The Beau Havens “Elizabeth” / “Feel So Good” on Gama

The site for '60s garage bands since 2004