L-R; Freddie Faccioli, Eric Thorngren, Dale Rider and Slivers Matrassi
Eric and the Chessmen were a well-known group from Utica, New York. They toured throughout upstate New York and into Vermont, and even had a stand at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. They released only one single: the original song “You Don’t Want My Loving” by the band’s leader, Eric Thorngren, backed with a rocked-up version of “Blue Skies”, on Kama Records 777.
The band’s membership changed many times, so I’ll list some of the lineups below to the best of what I can gather:
As simply the Chessmen, the original lineup consisted of:
Eric Thorngren – guitar
Tony Frontera – saxophone
Jon Hynes – bass
Butch DeAngelo – drums
By March 1965 the band consisted of:
Eric Thorngren – guitar & vocals
Norm Knapp – guitar
Dale Rider – bass
Wayne Bohling – drums
When Norm Knapp took a leave of absence in 1965, Chuck Schoenley became the band’s first keyboardist:
Eric Thorngren – guitar & vocals
Chuck Schoenley – organ
Dale Rider – bass
Wayne Bohling – drums
After Chuck Schoenley left the group to join the Rogues, Frankie Convertino became the keyboard player, then Fred Faccioli.
Slivers Matrassi replaced Wayne Bowling on drums by early or mid-1966.
The band featured on the picture sleeve to their 45 and probably on the recording is:
Freddie Faccioli – organ
Eric Thorngren – guitar & vocals
Dale Rider – bass
Slivers Matrassi – drums
The sleeve at the top of this post seems to be very rare. The labels note “Recorded at Chadwicks Recording Studio, Chadwicks, NY”. For more on the Kama and related labels like Krishna and Sutra, see the final section of my post on the Roosters.
The band had other recordings that weren’t released at the time. An atmospheric instrumental featuring organ and a reserved guitar solo called “Too Much” appeared on The Best of Twist-a-Rama: Crude 1965 Garage Sounds from the Mohawk Valley. There are also demos of “Wooly Bully”, “New Orleans” and “Heat Wave”.
The Chessmen continued in different forms into the late 1960s, eventually without any original members. Sometime in 1967 or 1968 Ted Alexander replaced Freddie Faccioli. Dale Rider left to join the Rochester group the Oxford Watchband – a group by that name had a 45 in 1969 on the Hand label, “Diagnosis (One Way Empty and Down)” / “Welcome to the World”.
Eric Thorngren joined the Brass Buttons and went on to a long career as a recording and mixing engineer.
I found this info on the band at the forum After Bebop a Lula: Utica Bands 50s 60s. There are many photos of the band in that thread, see these pages for some of them:
http://clipper220.proboards.com/thread/779?page=108
http://clipper220.proboards.com/thread/779?page=110
http://clipper220.proboards.com/thread/779?page=111
Thank you to Fred D’Huve for the scan of the Audiodisc demo of “Heat Wave”.
My name is brandy roberts..the neice of the late david roberts from utica ny. I was going through his things and found a ton of old band photos..some he played in..some not. But all from upstate ny. There are quite a few eruc and the chessmen posters and photos and business cards . would you be interested?
Brandy…you have a treasure trove of memorabilia. ..it belongs in tha archives of an historical society. I am also certain that Eric Thorngren, lead member of Eric and the Chessmen would be interested as well. He is now a noted recording engineer and resides in the utica area..I am presently trying to locate Eric myself as he may have information regarding Chadwicks Recording Studio circa 1967 where both of our groups had recording sessions. He would most likely want photos and promo materials re: “The Chessmen”
You may contact me directly at intelsec [ at ] npgcable [ dot ] com
Many thanks and best wishes,
Peter
Eric also played in a band called Bulldog. It included Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli from the Rascals. They had a minor hit in the early ’70s titled “No”.
Predominant labels from the Utica, NY area:
Twist-A-Rama
U-Town
Revere
Fuzz
Kind-A-Round
Stentor
Devere
Play
Most notable early rock groups: The Plaids, The BelAires, Terry Daly and the Nutones, Eric and the Chessmen, Andy and the Classics, Dale Wright and the Wright Guys. These were the first significant groups.
Forgot to mention Mark Records.
Tony Madonna and the Madmen. Great group. Ralph and the Royals.. Willie and the New Yorkers.. All early groups and many more around the Utica area…
Remember the Chessman well, some great shows up at Old Forge/Inlet area. Thorngren was a great guitarist. Nice memories.
Also wondering if anyone has any photos, etc, on Willie and the New Yorkers ( Utica). My friends and I set up a show in New York Mills in the mid-60’s and hired them to play. They had quite an act going, great stuff.
Not from Utica but The Seven from Syracuse (late 60’s, early 70’s) was a fantastic upstate band.
Remember the group very well seeing them first at the popular club and bar the 5 Flys on the Vermont-New York border between Cambridge-Hoosick Falls N Y and Bennington Vermont.
The song Blue Sky’s a signature fantastic song by the group was requested snd played over and over.
The recording unfortunately in this man opinion was no where near the actual version at the 5 Flys. I was very let down by the production of the label on the record.
The record which I have maybe 10 as I bought them for collector reasons sounded very hollow also.
Great group, should have had a big shot for stardom but management killed them!!!
Thanks for the opportunity in my giving opinion.