The Apogees were a drum and organ duo. The drummer was Bud Lee and the organist Izzy Navarrete. Izzy’s name is spelled differently each time I find it in print – Izzy Navarette and Izzy Navarrette for example.
Together they made one of the strangest EPs I’ve ever heard, echo-laden versions of Guantanamera, Sweet Caroline (“Sweet Adeline” on the label), Quiet Village (“Quite Village” on the label) and an almost-unrecognizable version of La Bamba. The Apogees release is on Stripe 99 Hollywood 10001A/B. It’s hard to date this, but I guess about 1970.
At one point Izzy was a member of the Spirals, a long-running group from Tulare, California, led by Ralph Alvarez and Manny Alvarez, whose members included Mary Murillo and Ed Torres and probably many others. At this time I don’t know if the Spirals ever recorded.
Photos of Tulare groups the Spirals and the Charades, along with some history the area’s music, can be found in the Tulare Advance-Register, July 5-6, 2003.
Izzy Navarette had a duo with Terry Wall that played often at the El Dorado restaurant on East Tulare Ave in the mid-1970s. The advertisements call it “Izzy Listening” music. There are notices for him appearing in lounges in Palm Springs into the 2000s.
Bud Lee’s name is too common to trace, so I can’t tell you anthing about “El Tomborro” (tamborro?).
Stripe 99 had one further release by the Sand Trackers, “Track of the Scarab” / “Big Bird Blues”, both by F. Stuart Wilson (Ford Stuart Wilson aka Fred Lile), and released as Stripe 99 SNN45-10002.
Drum and organ duos were an efficient combination, and more common than you might think, as I’ve profiled three others on this site.
The Denny & Kenny Duo at GG’s in Davis, CA, from left: Kenny Whitcombe on organ and Dennis Sacco on drums
The Denny and Kenny Duo were Kenny Whitcombe on organ and Dennis Sacco on drums. They came from Davis, California, where they played regularly at Gi-Gi’s night club.
“Meet My Little Sweety In the Night Time” immediately grabs the listener with its speed and echo. I find Sacco’s drum fills endlessly entertaining. The flip “I Love You So” is also good, if not as original. Kenny Whitcombe wrote both songs. Released on Sacramento’s legendary Ikon Records IER 179/180 in 1965.
I’ve always loved this single since hearing it on Crypt Records’s fantastic “The Ikon Records Story”. I finally found a copy, signed by Dennis Sacco! For two people they raise a huge racket.
Whitcombe came from the Carpetbaggers with Dehner Patten who would go into the Oxford Circle and Kak. I’m not sure if this was the same Carpetbaggers from Sausalito who had the single “Let Yourself Go” / “Just a Friend” on the LTD International label in mid-1966. Sausalito is an hour and a half from Davis, but it’s not inconceivable.
Whitcombe opened another Davis club, Mousey’s, and eventually the duo split up. Sacco played with the Daytrippers, then with the Sacramento’s Burgundy Express, and now is pursing a writing career.
Dennis Sacco wrote to me a little about the group, and added more history to the notes for a CD of later, jazzy recordings that he and Kenny did either together or separately.
As a drummer I grew up listening to Gene Krupa, then Joe Morillo and then Louie Bellson.
Back in 1965, Denny and Kenny started playing at GG’s, a little beer bar in Davis, California. Soon, their reputation and fans out grew GG’s. Kenny built a bigger night spot in Davis called Mousie’s. Between GG’s and Mousie’s, Denny and Kenny played in Northern Caliornia and Nevada. During this period, Denny and Kenny cut a record at Ikon Records in Sacramento, California.
Denny and Kenny were a great match. Denny used a Ludwig double bass drum setup and Kenny used a Hammond organ kicking bass pedals. They both did vocals and backup. Many people thought that they were listening to at least four players. They don’t perform as a duo anymore. But each of them, separately or together, have made a few recordings. Included in this album are Kenny’s beautiful and “original” songs (ala 40s style) and some of Denny’s earlier big band recordings for you to listen and enjoy.
There’s a small but interesting genre of organ and drum duo records that include the Me and Him Duo and the Chancellors b-side “5 Minus 3”.
The Me and Him Duo were organ player Phil Long and (I believe) drummer John Hill, from Pottstown and Reading, Pennsylvania. They have a good instrumental on Paza Records, “On the Money” backed with a vocal by Phil Long “Stay With Me”.
Songwriting is credtied to Philip Long and John C. Hill for Mamy Music Corp. and Mary Hill Music BMI.
Phil Long’s real name was Philip Charles Peter Vagnoni. He was related to country songwriter Shorty Long (Emedio Vagnoni). Phil continued playing organ in the Pottstown area with other drummers including Scot Raugh. Phil passed away in July 2008 in Reading, PA.
This is a mid-late ’60s record, not ‘garage’ by most people’s definition, but I’m posting partly to compare it to other organ and drum duos such as the Denny & Kenny Duo, and the Chancellors (usually a quintet but one of their Fenton singles has the instrumental “5 Minus 3” by organist Jim Ovaitt and drummer Rick Garfield):
I shouldn’t leave out the Cosmic Rock Show whose fabulous “Psiship” / “Rising Sun” takes the duo concept into new experimental territory, released in 1968 on Blitz Records 469 from the Minneapolis area.
Back row: Jim Ovaitt (keyboards), Rick Garfield (drums), Rick Blomstrom (lead guitar). Second row Mike Gilliam (bass guitar), Bruce Reinoehl (rhythm guitar). The Chancellors were a quintet from Lansing, Michigan with two 45s on the great Fenton label. Since my original post I’ve been in touch with Chancellors rhythm guitarist Bruce Reinoehl, who wrote up a short history of the band:
The Chancellors was a mid-Michigan band which was active between mid 1965 and late 1967. The band formed around the direction of keyboard man and lead singer Jim Ovaitt. During the summer of 1965, the group underwent several personnel changes before its final composition of Jim Ovaitt, keyboards and lead singer, Rick Garfield drums, Rick Blomstrom lead guitar and vocals, Mike Gilliam bass guitar and vocals and Bruce Reinoehl rhythm guitar and vocals. At the time we were all high school students in East Lansing and Okemos, Michigan.
Our first jobs consisted mainly of high school dances. As we continued to improve we moved up to Michigan State University fraternity parties and local night clubs. In early 1966, we cut our first record. This was the “Journey” / “One in a Million” record of which only a few hundred were pressed. Today that record is quite scarce. I can remember the fairly primitive by today’s standards studio which at that time did not have the ability to double track recordings. That meant everyone had to play all parts of both songs well enough to make a record. That sounds easy especially with all of the rehearsing we had done before going to the recording studio. As with anything one makes, the builder is the one who knows where the blemishes are. There always seemed to be something that just was not good enough. By the time we were finished, I never wanted to play or hear either of those songs again. That changed when I heard “Journey”, an instrumental, used by one of the local radio stations as a lead up to one of their news broadcasts.
By late 1966, the Chancellors were becoming fairly well known in the mid Michigan area. We were playing jobs in Saginaw, Bay City, Jackson and as far away as Harbor Springs. We played at nightclubs where the Byrds and Beach Boys had played a week or two previously. We also cut out second and final record around this time. This was the “Dear John” / “5 minus 3” record.
The picture which was staged on the piano was taken in at the studio of Jim Ovaitt’s piano teacher. The on stage pictures taken while playing were taken at the Band Canyon a nightclub in Bay City, Michigan. Among other bands playing there were the Byrds. The pictures of the equipment were taken at Club Ponytail in Harbor Springs, MI. The Beach Boys also played that club. The motel photos were taken in Harbor Springs. Neither club is still standing.
Playing with the Chancellors was a great experience but it was also obvious that we were not cut out to be professional musicians. All of the members of the band ended up going into professions other than music. In looking back, it was a lot of work but also a lot of fun. I treasure the friendships and memories that have resulted from my experiences with the Chancellors.
Bruce Reinoehl
Bruce Reinoehl and Jim Ovaitt co-wrote both songs on the first 45, “One in a Milliion” and “Journey”. “Journey” and “5 Minus 3” feature Jim Ovaitt’s organ playing, but “5 Minus 3” is especially interesting for being a raucous duet by just Ovaitt and drummer Garfield.
The organ also dominates their first vocal song, “One in a Million”. “Dear John” gives the guitarist and vocalist more room and succeeds as a pop song.
Thank you to Paul Reinoehl for helping me get in touch with his brother and for sending in these great photos, and to Bruce Reinoehl for his history of the band.
Note: one source lists this group as cutting a third 45 on Chamus: “Places We Once Knew” / “Something for Sure”. However, this was a different Chancellors band out of Lincoln, Nebraska featuring Keith Goins and Max Carl Gronenthal. That band had another release on El Cid: “Everbody’s Got To Lose Someone Sometime” / “It Was A Very Good Year”, both singles are good blue-eyed soul with horns. Tip of the hat to Martin Hancock for pointing out this was a different band.
The Chancellors at the Band Canyon in Bay City, MIThe Chancellors at the Band Canyon in Bay City, MIThe Chancellors at the Band Canyon in Bay City, MIAt the Club Ponytail in Harbor Springs, MI
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The Apogees were a drum and organ duo. The drummer was Bud Lee and the organist Izzy Navarrete. Izzy’s name is spelled differently each time I find it in print – Izzy Navarette and Izzy Navarrette for example.
