Category Archives: Justice

Categories: Justice, North Carolina, Salisbury

The Aces Combo from Salisbury, North Carolina

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The Aces with go-go dancer and friend. Dig the Sandy Nelson albums behind the drummer!

I found five color snapshots of the Aces from Salisbury, North Carolina, as well as a news clipping from Statesville. Introducing the Aces Combo is one of the better LPs on the Justice label of Winston, North Carolina, or at least, one of the more consistent.

Salisbury is located about 40 miles southwest of Winston-Salem, on the way to Charlotte. Members included:

Tim Ervin – lead guitar, vocals
Johnny Yarbrough – rhythm guitar, vocals
Johnny Nance – rhythm guitar
Michael Earnhardt – bass, vocals, tambourine
Howard Caywood – drums and management

In the color photos the band has a keyboard player, who is not listed in the album credits. Some other personnel may also be different.

The go-go dancers in waist-high cages are a cool addition, as are the signs reading The Aces.

Aces Salibury NC Photo 1

Aces Salibury NC Photo 2

Go-go dancer for the Aces

Aces Salibury NC Photo 5
Salisbury a Go Go – what building was this?
Photo from the front of the Justice LP, Introducing the Aces Combo
The Aces in the Statesville Record And Landmark, January 15, 1966
Aces Combo Introducing Photo 2
Another photo from the Justice LP
Categories: Colonial Heights, Justice, Virginia

Skip and the Creations

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Justice Records was a vanity label based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and run by Calvin Newton. For well under $1,000 a band could record an album’s worth of songs in 4 hours at a local studio, have a few hundred copies pressed with a b&w cover, and then maybe try to recoup their investment by selling copies at their gigs.

Skip and the Creations cut their Justice lp in 1967. They had a fan club based in Colonial Heights, Virginia, outside of Petersburg, According to the caption on the blurry photo on the back cover, band members were Skip, Walter, Brute, Jeffrey, Rick and Tommy. Someone has assiduously marked Jeffrey and Skip on all the photos on my copy, too bad they didn’t include the guys’ last names!

One source says MOBAM stands for “Makers Of Bad-Assed Music” which you may or may not agree with, but there are some fine cuts on this lp. Leading the bunch is what appears to be a band original, “I’m Calling You Baby”. Of the cover songs, my favorite is the lead-off track, “Respectable”, and I like their version of “Harlem Shuffle” almost as much. The band manages to get a good groove going on “Ninety Nine and a Half” after the guitarist’s intro nearly goes MIA.

A good overview of the Justice label is available here.

Categories: AMH, Durham, Justice, North Carolina

The Bondsmen

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I remember how knocked out I was by the Bondsmen’s version of “I See the Light”, which I played over and over after taping it off of WNYU’s Mod Monday radio show when I was in high school.

I had the song on the tape but didn’t know who it was at the time, having missed the dj’s rundown of the songs he played. (If anyone has a tape of this show, please let me know; I do know “I See the Light” was followed by the Q65’s “I Got Nightmares”, which I also played endlessly.)

For years after I lost the tape I searched out who this could be, and was even disappointed (initially) by the Five Americans’ original version when I heard it. Finally I picked up a copy of Tobacco a Go Go vol. 1, and there it was, the opening track! By pure coincidence I later got in touch with the compiler of that lp, Ken Friedman, who provided me with this copy of the 45 and some information about the North Carolina garage scene.

Compared to the Five Americans, the Bondsmen’s version of “I See the Light” is faster, with a fuller sound to the organ. “Our Time to Try” is an ambitious psychedelic track, with thick forbodeing fuzz, and good drum and organ work. The vocalist does a great job on both songs, and the guitarist has a particularly fine solo on “I See the Light”.

The sound and plea for open minds on “Our Time to Try” dates the release to about 1968. The record has a dense production to it which makes it hard to hear the lyrics, and is that a horn I hear at times during “Our Time to Try”?

The Bondsmen came out of Durham, North Carolina, but recorded at Justice Records in Winston-Salem (“I Love You, Yes I Do” / “Out of Sight” on Justice 1003) and AMH Productions out of Chapel Hill. I recently heard from Gene Galligan, who filled me in on some of their story. I had heard that their drummer was Phil Lee, so I asked him about that too.

I am Gene Galligan, keyboard (organ) player for the Bondsmen. This AMH 45 of Our Time To Try and I See the Light was the result of us winning a Battle of the Bands at the baseball stadium in Durham. We did another 45 before this as the Bondsmen, two James Brown songs, Outasight / I Love you Yes I Do. I do not have any copies, however, Ken Heywood told me recently in a phone conversation that he has a box of them somewhere, he just has to find it.

Vocals: Archie Thomas
Bass: Jim Bowen
Drums: Philip Pearson
Trumpet: Tim Hutchinson
Organ: Gene Galligan
Guitar: Ken Heywood

Just a tidbit about my part on I See the Light. I used to play a Vox Super Continental (Dual manual Black keys were white, white keys were black). But on that recording I used an organ that was in the studio … it was like an Allen Theatre organ which is why it has that skating rink sound!!

Yes that was trumpet on Our Time to Try.

Philip Pearson was our only drummer … I don’t know what Philip did later… I was told some 30 years ago that he was in California.. so I don’t know perhaps Phil Lee was a stage name.

John Santa just published a book.

Anyone have a photo of the group?