The Factree, from left: Rick Gauthier, Chris Smith and Mike WeaverAs the Factory, 1967
Like the Sinners who I profiled last week, the Factree came from the Niagara region of southern Ontario.
Guitarist Chris Smith spoke to me about the group and shared his incredible collection of photos and memorabilia along with a CD collecting the band’s music.
There are some great unreleased songs. The early “Who I Am” was written by bassist Rick Gauthier and drummer Mike Weaver and recorded in Chris Smith’s garage. Chris lets loose three incredible buzzing guitar passages, one after each chorus. Rick’s bass lines lock in with Mike’s drumming for a solid backing rhythm. It must have been a great sound to hear live.
Another self-recorded song was Chris’s original “Blue Shades”. The vocals boom from a distance over rolling drums and a repetitive guitar and bass vamp to give an eerie effect. Chris provides another cutting solo.
There are two versions of another Chris Smith original, “Something Called Love”, and they make for a good comparison. The demo recorded at a Timmins, Ontario radio station has a cool bizarre ending not used on the Sparton 45 version, which is tighter and has good use of echo.
Mike Weaver and Rick Gauthier wrote the other side of the Sparton 45, “Kaleidoscope” which may be the culmination of their heavy sound, from Chris’ dissonant opening riff to the psychedelic lyrics and trippy middle section. After a great sludgy solo, Rick’s bass slows to a final Hendrix-inspired lick enveloped in echo. More than any Canadian or U.S. music of the time, “Kaleidoscope” reminds me of the hard-driving rock being cut by English groups like Tomorrow and the Pretty Things.
The Factree postcardThe Tree postcard
By 1969 the band was going by an abbreviated name, the Tree, and cut one last 45 for Michael Addario’s Canland Records label, a loose, catchy version of the Electric Flag’s “See to Your Neighbor” with Mike Weaver’s drums and the rough vocals standing out. It was backed with a Creedence-style version of Suzie Q.
Left to right: Rick Gauthier, Chris Smith and Mike Weaverfrom left: Mike, Chris and Rick
Chris Smith, RCA Studios, 1968Mike Weaver, RCA Studios, 1968Rick Gauthier, RCA Studios, 1968from left: Rick, Chris and Mike
McIntyre Arena, May 19, 1969
Chris Smith answered some of my questions about the group:
I started playing guitar at age 14 like most my age after seeing the Beatles, we figured that’s cool. There were several groups before the Factory. – the Mercy Beats (’64/’65 – there might have been a bigger band with this name, we were just kids in my garage singing Beatles songs); the Spyders (’65/’66 – British rock); the Executioners and the Silencers (’66 – both pop rock); the Moddels (’66/’67 all the cool mod songs and blues); & the 13th Floor (’67 – Doors, Vanilla Fudge etc).
Q. When you joined the Factree they were still known as the Sinners, is that correct? Or was it started as a completely new band?
The Sinners had nothing to do with Factory. Mike and Rick were playing with the Mood – they broke up. I was playing with the 13th Floor. We were looking for a singer and got ahold of Rick to jam. Rick came out but was really only interested in me as a guitar player and wanted to stay with his drummer Mike, so he asked me to jam on our own. This was around ’66 / ’67 – Hendrix, Cream, etc, three man was in, so we wanted to go in that direction.
We came up with the name The Factory. We later changed it to Factree, later our fans kinda shortened to the Tree. The joke was we decided to Fac off. We were about half original, the rest Cream, Hendrix, usual acid rock stuff of the era. We were friends with the Spartons, The Sinners, The Night Walkers, many others, also friendly rivals of everyone – that’s just the way it was.
I wrote “Something Called Love”. We were messing with our garage recordings on a bunch of stuff. The garage recordings were done using two Phillips stereo recorders, Shure PE58 mics one on bass amp, one on guitar, overhead and snare and kick mikes. Run through a Shure mixer, vocals added on during mix. The reverb is the hallway that led to my basement, no processors at that time. I ran 100 feet of cable from the garage, we sang into the PA in the garage, sent it to a speaker in the hall, mike at the other end back to the recorders in the garage. With such long cables no low impedance, no balanced feeds back then, it’s a wonder the noise isn’t too bad considering. That was my start as a engineer for sure.
Pete Borbolli was the DJ friend of the Mood who recorded them on their 45, “Who Do You Love” and “Train’s Late”. He moved to Timmins and asked us to come up. The radio station was old school had real nice full studio for big band era stuff. We recorded “Something Called Love” and some other stuff there. We played a couple of large dance concerts up there hosted by the radio station.
Pete really flogged the music and it was on the playlist and did #1 in the Top Ten. We had a loyal following there and lots of promo and hype to boot. The demo did lead to the RCA contract.
The RCA sessions were a big thing for us small town boys in a real big studio in the big city Toronto. Everything was done in a few hours, we got there around noon and the studio closed at 5:00 so out the door we went. We managed to get it down, so all was good.
The RCA Sparton 45 was promoted by the company and did get considerable airplay at the time so we were happy. The first single on Sparton was to be followed by the second two songs we recorded that day – yeah we did four. It was unfortunate the masters were damaged before the second release was pressed.
We had a falling out with the producer so we decided to [go with] Canland, a friend who had a small music store and some recording gear in a back room. The Canland recording was more home brew and didn’t get the distribution of the RCA 45. It did keep us current and we had product to promote so the live scene was very successful for us.
Q. Regarding the vocals, were you singing lead on your songs and Rick and Mike singing together on ‘Who I Am’ and ‘Kaleidoscope’? How about ‘See to Your Neighbor’, which sounds very different than any other vocal by the band?
Yes, you are right about the vocals. I mainly sing lead on my own and the same for them. “See to Your Neighbour” was sung by Mike.
Q. Can you recall your setup as far as your guitar sound on the recordings and for live shows? You get a great variety of distorted tones on your leads – were there particular combinations of pedals and amps that you preferred?
The Timmins set up was a ’64 Gibson SG and Kimberly Fuzz made in Rochester, NY plugged directly into an Ampex tube mixer then direct to recorder. The garage stuff was Telecaster/SG and Kimberly through a Bandmaster. My set up at RCA was a ’61 Telecaster and ’66 Bandmaster, Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face. The Canland Tree stuff was Ace Tone Wah, Fuzz Face and Marshall Plexi.
Live, my main Factory/Factree/Tree set up was the Ace Tone Wah, Fuzz Face gradually discontinued in lieu of straight over-driven guitar through the Marshall. For the arena rock and halls I used a Marshall and Bandmaster with Sykes cabinets and a Traynor Roto Master Leslie (“I’m a Man” kinda sound). The guitars ’61 Telecaster, ’64 Gibson SG, later ’66 Burns Nu Sonic, ’67 Rickenbacker. The fuzzes evolved from the Kimberly, Zonk [John Hornby Skewes’ Zonk Machine], Fuzz Face, to none. The Ace Tone Wah most of the way in fact I still have it but haven’t used it in years.
Q. Did the group end with Mike Weaver’s sudden death?
Mike was from the club era and wanted to go more commercial away from acid rock, high school & dance concert stuff, so by 1970 we started play more hotel circuit stuff. I wanted to carry on my concert style and didn’t like the club scene on the road – too many nights in the same spot doing stuff I didn’t like. So I left the band.
They continued for a few months when Mike had his first heart attack. He was off a few months then back at it, he became ill again and died a few months later. Either way that was end of the band. Rick finished with another drummer and guitarist but it was over quick.
With the Spencer Davis Group at the McIntyre Arena in Timmins, May 19, 1969. Back row: Spencer Davis, Chris Smith, Rick Gauthier, unidentified. Front: unidentified, Ray Fenwick (?), Mike Weaver. Can anyone help ID the other members of the Spencer Davis Group at this time? Are these still Pete York and Eddie Hardin, or Dee Murray and Nigel Olssen?
Q. In one of the clippings by Kevin Scanlon he writes that there was a deal with Island Records in the works – what happened with that?
The Island thing never went much beyond the rumor. Spencer Davis was talking about trying to set something up but they were pretty much defunct after our couple of gigs. We were hopeful to go to England and pursue the mission, but our own problems and lifestyles, change in direction and factors I discussed before – well it just didn’t happen. As a recap this inability to keep moving toward larger venues ultimately led me to leave my own group.
When I moved on I allowed Mike and Rick to continue as Factree again. Since the begining I was the leader and as such was paid double and had 50% control of any vote issues as well. Just because I was unhappy with direction, I felt I would let them carry on.
Q. What was your next project?
I was playing my thing with Padlok (heavy ’70s rock, half original) – see my web site www.kingoftheattic.com for details, samples and photos.
I haven’t got much to say about M. Yubi & Dizzy Inspiration because I don’t know much. By the look of the chaps on the cover I would say that this was recorded in the late 1960s.
The song “Dendang Seloka” invites all young men and women to dance and be happy and not worry about things too much, otherwise they will just bring themselves pain. The other songs on the EP are ballads.
“Dendang Seloka” is credited on the label for composition and lyrics to Dizzy Inspiration. I have no doubt that they wrote the words, but the music has more than a passing similarity to the Standell’s “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White”. Female Malaysian singer Kamsiah M. Ali also recorded a song titled “Dendang Seloka”, but it is totally different lyrically and musically.
Here’s a fantastic EP featuring some otherworldly music from Vancouver, Canada. There’s a a sweet innocence to the best songs on this record, and a melancholic feel at times.
Both sides of the sleeve read “Rols Royce Bookings 683-5332 Presents … Live from Vancouver”, obviously intended to promote bookings for the bands, but none of the songs were cut live. The label, SGM Records was located at Station “D”, Vancouver 9. All songs published by Astral Music BMI.
The Sound Set
The Sound Set’s “Mind in a Bottle” is one of the highlights of the EP. The influence of the Beatles is apparent, but the song comes together beautifully, with cool guitar and organ sounds, great harmonies and an interesting song structure. Robert Turner and Ken Dedrick wrote “Mind in a Bottle”.
The members of The Sound Set:
Rob Turner – organ and vocals Ken Dedrick – bass and vocals Gerry Tomey – drums Murray Raymond – guitar
Rob Turner wrote to me:
The Soundset was originally formed by Ken Dedrick and myself in South Burnaby, Gerry Tolmey on drums and Murray Rayment on guitar. We played at Gassy Jacks Disco in Richmond a lot and had an ongoing Sunday evening gig at the HMCS Discovery naval base in Vancouver Harbour. We also did a lot of casual gigs in the Vancouver area. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos.
We recorded another song after Don joined called “Everyone’s Born Under the Same Old Sun” at Psi Chord but it was never released. We also recorded several original songs for a CBC radio show, produced by Ray McGuire of Trooper, with Derek Solby on drums. I remember a song called “Someone in the Shadows”. Unfortunately the tapes from both those sessions got lost.
The band had by this time (1968-69) changed its name to Ichabod Crane and we were playing gigs in the interior of BC and on Vancouver Island as well.
The Reign
The Reign
The Reign’s “Sea of Dreams” is another standout, the lead guitarist bouncing licks through an Echoplex while the singer quietly intones the lyrics. Following a drum break there’s a brief impassioned section over a distorted lead.
The Reign were together from 1965-1968. Their members were:
Steve Nordin – lead vocals Don Geppert – guitar Russ Sankey – guitar Bob Douglas – bass and vocals and four drummers: Jack Matches, Frank Gigliotti, Graham Walker and Ken Erickson.
Don Geppert gave me some background on the Reign and sent in the fantastic photos of the group:
Here are a few shots of “The Reign” with then drummer Frank Gigliotti. The first shot is in my basement where it all began.
Stan Cayer was the owner of “Rols-Royce Bookings” and our manager. The record came about totally through Stan who put up the $ and used it to promote his bands at the time. It was recorded at Psi-Chord by Robin Spurgeon in 1968. I still have the contract we signed with Stan.
We believe the drummer on “Sea Of Dreams” (who was absent from the photo) is Jack Matches.
We were very young at the time so the record was exciting. Unfortunately we weren’t rocketed to the top of the charts with it.
After The Reign fizzled out, Rob, Ken, Gerry (Sound Set) and I formed a band called Icabod Crane and played around the Vancouver scene. No recordings.
Bob Douglas was later in Soul Unlimited / Mantra after Carl Graves left the band, and Five Man Cargo (see comments on that page). Don Geppert is now a recording engineer in British Columbia. Russ Sankey passed away in 2008.
Thanks also to Don for filling me in on some of the members of the Sound Set.
The Reign live on stageThe Reign live on stage
The Look
The Look from Vancouver originally consisted of:
Bob Warden – lead guitar and vocals Dave Boucher – guitar Barry Warden – bass and vocals Jack Willander – drums
Bob Warden wrote “In a Whirl”, another gentle song with good harmonies and a nice balance between the rhythm guitar and the drums. I believe after this release Bob Rowden and Barry Rowden joined from the Painted Ship.
The Silver Chalice Revue
The Silver Chalice Revue
With heavy drumming and a horn section “Soul Drifting” by the Silver Chalice Revue sounds a little out of place next to the other three cuts of psychedelic pop balladry on the EP. It’s a strong track, though, and there’s an edgy sound to the guitarist and the lyrics.
Members of the Silver Chalice Revue were originally in a group called the Squires. Silver Chalice played around Vancouver from ’67-’69. Guitarist Daniel Orlando wrote “Soul Drifting”.
Billy Regan (Billy Ostendorp) – vocals Danny Orlando – guitar Charlie Howard (Charlene Howard) – keyboards Brian Linnit – sax Terry Linnet – trumpet Bobby Regan (Bob Ostendorp) – bass Tom Watson – drums
The Silver Chalice RevueThe Silver Chalice Revue
Stan Cayer owned both Rols Royce Booking and the SGM label. He had his own 45s on the label, from the fine rocker “3 Wild Women” and the ballad “Crying on My Pillow” in the early ’60s to a release in the early ’70s, “My My Gemini!” plus an LP I haven’t seen.
The only other releases on SGM that I know of come from a group called Long Time Comin’ (formerly the Shags and the Shapes o’ Things) with “Paper Rose” / “Downhill Slope” on SGM 5-S from 1970 and “Part of the Season” on SGM 12-S from 1972. “Paper Rose” was written by Gary Webstad and produced by Stan GM Cayer. Long Time Comin’ also released one 45 on London Records of Canada in 1971, “Magic World”, written by Mike Bosley and produced by Stan Cayer. All of these are published by Astral Music as well. You can see a few photos of Long Time Comin’ on the PNW Bands site. Other members included Jerry Lipinski and Howie Atherton.Thanks to Ed for the photos of the Silver Chalice Revue.
The Regents from left: Sumner Bell, Bobby Hill, Jeff Paul, Robbie Pond, Jimmy Finnegan, Richard Phelps, Lou Flowers and Johnny Johnston. Not pictured: lead vocalist Mel Gaines
Mel Gaines – lead vocals Jimmy Finnegan – lead guitar Jeff Paul – bass guitar Sumner Bell – organ Robbie Pond – trumpet Richard Phelps – trumpet Bobby Hill – saxophone/lead Lou Flowers – saxophone Ken Lewis – drums Johnny Johnston – drums
The Regents started in Portsmouth, VA in 1967. Looking for a vocalist, they met Mel Gaines in 1967, who was a co-worker of bassist Jeff Paul’s father at WAVY-TV 10. For a group of eight white high-school students to have a lead singer who was African-American and already 21 years old might seem an unlikely pairing, but the band found considerable live success.
Their record on the Mad label shows the band working seamlessly with Mel, as each song features Jimmy Finnegan’s sharp rhythm on guitar, solid drumming from Johnny Johnston and memorable horn arrangements. “What’cha Gonna Do” has been a long-time favorite of mine. The band provides plenty of momentum and gritty backing vocals for Mel’s soaring voice.
“I Tried With You” starts off solidly but really picks up in the second verse as staccato bursts from the horns precede Mel’s pleas, segueing to an smooth, affecting chorus. Bobby Hill wrote both sides of their only 45, recorded at Norfolk’s D’Arcy Studios in 1968.
Mel Gaines passed away on November 18, 2009, two days short of his 63rd birthday.
Below are the stories of drummer Johnny Johnston and organist Sumner Bell in their own words.
Practicing at Bobby Hill’s parents house around 1967. From left: Jeff Paul, Bobby Hill, Jimmy Finnegan and Johnny Johnson on drumsJimmy Finnegan on lead guitar and Johnny Johnson on drums
The Regents featuring Mel Gaines, 1967-1968 as remembered by Johnny Johnston
The Regents Featuring Mel Gaines was a popular soul band established in Portsmouth, Virginia around 1968. The first memory I have of the group is my audition for the band as a drummer in the spring of 1967.Rusty Gibbs, an old high school buddy of mine, told me the group was auditioning drummers at Jeff Paul’s house in the Churchland area of Portsmouth. Jeff played bass with the group and actually liked how I played, and to my surprise the group asked me to join them. I was a junior at Cradock High School in 1967 and was trying to determine if I should continue to play sports or follow my heart’s desire and become a drummer in a dance band.
I had taught myself how to play drums by watching all of the local bands. I especially studied and copied Fat Ammon of Bill Deal and the Rhondels and also The Swinging Machine’s Dickie Bocock. I loved their styles and really became accustomed to the beat and timing they both had. This was when dancing at teen clubs, dances halls, high school dances such as the Ambassadors Club (or AB Club as we called to it) and The Lighthouse in Portsmouth were both at their all time high.
The other band members were especially talented and we were blessed by having a great black singer by the name of Mel Gaines, who resided in Suffolk’s Pughesville area. Mel was a very talented and blessed singer of our group. He was the person our fan base came to see. I remember playing at a dance at Cradock High School in 1967 and when his name was announced the crowd exploded and rushed the stage to sing and dance as he sang.
Johnny Johnston
Soul music was the big sound of our day and we really had a powerful brass section. Robbie Pond and Richard Phelps were on trumpets, Bobby Hill and Lew Flowers on saxophones. Bobby Hill was the driving force of the horn section, and the great horn sound heard on our record. Jimmy Finnegan was the best lead guitar around, and is still playing guitar for a group called El Kabong in the Tidewater area. Jeff Paul was our outstanding bass player and mostly the one responsible for motivating us to perform at our top level of showmanship. I did not realize how good they all were until years later when listening again to our record. Our rhythm section was also capped off by Sumner Bell who played Hammond organ. During the high mark of our short career, all of our members were juniors or seniors in local high schools and on the brink of following college careers.
The short career of our band was topped off when we decided to go into the studio and record “What’cha Gonna Do” which was Side A and “I Tried with You”, was the B Side. As my memory would have me believe we recorded both songs at D’Arcy Studios in Norfolk in four hours. Of course our horn section was pretty tired after playing Side A about twenty five times in a row. At $25.00 per hour for studio time we wanted to get our money’s worth. We made about 300 copies and started selling them for a buck apiece. I think I made about twenty five dollars. We actually made it to the Billboard chart and made the playlist at local radio station WGH.
Just as with all the other local bands we played all the local places such as The Lighthouse in Portsmouth, Ambassador Club, Peabody’s Warehouse in Virginia Beach, The Peppermint Beach Club, The Kage in Hampton, The Four Seasons in Norfolk, The Dome in Virginia Beach, The Sand Box and local high schools such as Wilson, Cradock, Deep Creek and Norfolk Academy.
My favorite place to perform was the Glenshellah Woman’s Club in Portsmouth. It proved to be the best venue for live bands and we could get close to the dance floor. The next best place was the Knights of Columbus Hall in Portsmouth. The dance floor was on the second floor and I remember having a great time. All who attended these dances have fond memories of the music and the people we hung out with. We also appeared on the WAVY-TV DISCO-TEN television program, which highlighted local area high school dance scenes in addition to private parties and other local dances.
Just when we started to really get a following and some momentum, we had finished our senior years in high school and off to colleges we all went. One last ditch effort to try and stay in the music world was when we started a new group called Brave New World. That group was way ahead of its time though and never really caught on, due mostly to our impending college departures.
I am not sure where all the members have gone but I am trying to trace them and would like to see them again if at all possible. Members of our group moved on to other careers. I must say that all of them made my life much richer by playing a big part of my musical career. I still enjoy playing our record and remember all the places we played. Some of the clubs are still in existence after 40 years. And yes, I still have the fire to play thanks to them.
Many thanks to my “way back when” neighborhood friend Len Hamilton who encouraged me to play drums and was instrumental in getting me started in local bands.
Johnny Johnston Cradock High School, Class of 1968 Portsmouth VA
Announcement of Disc-O-Ten show, May 11, 1968, from left: Bob Hill, Robbie Pond, Jeff Paul, Johnny Johnston (with drumsticks), Sumner Bell (at the organ), Jimmy Finnegan, Richard Phelps and Lou Flowers.
The Regents Featuring Mel Gaines’ by Dr. Sumner Bell
Portsmouth, Virginia. AM Radio covers the hits. WRAP. Vinyl 45s. Segregated Schools. Protestant – Catholic. Camelot President. Black – White…..”The times they were a changin”Fast forward to the Fall of 2001: A road trip with my college aged son, Joe, on a Friday night jogged some memories. ‘Invisible Downtown’ packs up its gear in a car in Boston heading for a 9:30 pm gig at the Yale University Women’s Center. Unlike my early band days, the car is driven by the lead guitar player and not one of the fathers. But it seems just like old times, I am with the band in the back seat wondering what the first set will be.
But, times have changed. My son Joe, the rhythm guitar and song writer is riding shotgun. This is no cover band – only original stuff. I’m along for the ride in the back seat, trying to remember what it was that got me interested in bands. We unload and ‘Invisible Downtown’ plays the set. One thing catches my eye as I exit the Yale Women’s Center for the last time carrying an amp and snare drum to repack for the early am drive back to Boston, and it is not what I recall from my days as an XL or Regent — a basket of condoms by the door. Not one of those band members had a bulging wallet.
“Satisfaction” – times have changed, but small bands still ride together and pack their stuff in the trunk. It seemed that I was back where I had been 35 years before; my ears were ringing all the way back to Boston.
Jimmy Finnegan, Bobby Hill and I had been friends thru elementary school. My Dad and Jimmy’s father worked together and Bobby and I went to Monumental Methodist Church; Jimmy went to St. Paul’s. Our families interacted in a variety of settings and encouraged our socialization and many developmentally rich experiences together included after school sports, Boy Scouts, trick or treating, and church before deciding on music as a shared interest and experiment. Little did we or our parents know where our shared interests would lead the boys.
I can remember playing “rock music” in 1963 or ’64 sitting at a upright piano in Jimmy Finnegan’s living room with Jimmy on a guitar…not even sure if it was electrified. Perhaps this was the only time that the keys could be heard above the guitars and soon to be added bass and drums. I think Bobby Hill next came over and may have had a guitar that he reversed the strings on so he could play left handed. Jimmy’s mom Frankie was “quietly” encouraging us. We needed a bass guitar player and Bobby took on a project — to not only learn to play the bass, but also to make one. Ken Lewis (a fellow Trucker and Methodist) subsequently joined us on drums and Andy Copley (a student at Portsmouth Catholic and natural, fantastic musician and ear) took on the bass (something he continued as a professional career across the country).
But, Jimmy loved the music and was the driving force in getting us going as the XL’s. Jimmy’s musical flame has always burned brightest. Jimmy played the St Paul’s Catholic card and we were booked at the Knight’s of Columbus with a microphone stuck inside an upright piano and plugged into one of the first little Fender amps. After our first gig I received a letter from a female fan, a first (I was hooked) and last (what went wrong?)! Eventually, we went on to play “The AB – Ambassador’s Club”, Churchland Teenage at the VFW, and many private parties.
The XL’s were authentic, but an average white band. Jimmy had a Fuzz Tone and we could play “Satisfaction”, the words being distinct enough to be heard across the Elizabeth River by Bobby’s dad Stoney. All of us were too young to drive and when Dr. Hill picked us up in his Rambler Ambassador Station wagon from Portsmouth City Park he wanted to know what WE knew about satisfaction! Not much, but we all were interested in learning as quickly and often as possible. The amps got bigger, as the boys grew to young men, got driver’s licenses and hormones.
The drama that ended the XL’s is lost to me. I think Andy Copley went on to play with a “cooler”, bigger and better band. The bitterness spurred the survivors to retool ourselves. Bobby once again stepped up to learn how to play another new instrument, the saxophone! This time he didn’t make his new found instrument but purchased it.
Retail shoppers for musical instruments visited Portsmouth Music, we haunted the pawn shops on High Street. Jeff Paul came on as our new bass player and with him we enjoyed the contacts of his dad the general manager of TV 10 and his brother Jay who served as our booking agent. I think the addition of Jeff introduced modern marketing to the guys.
Bobby was very interested in the regal sounding name, The Regents, and after some discussion of alternatives the name stuck, usually to our blue blazers, the iconic adhesive pocket logo. R&B, soul music, and beach music were the popular dance bands in southeastern Virginia. So a very practical decision was made to play what the market wanted and would pay for. Jimmy packed away his Fuzz Tone, and saved up lots of musical ideas for his future. One minor weakness that had hampered the potential of the XL’s and subsequently, The Regents, was the lack of an exceptional singer. Mel Gaines filled that need and became the “featured act” of the ever so regal “The Regents, Featuring Mel Gaines”.
Ken Lewis was the first of the original band members to graduate from high school and leave the area for college. Ken was red headed, high energy, and enjoyed swirling those drum sticks between swats at the snare. Johnny Johnston’s transition to the band as our new drummer was seamless. What a quick study!
Johnny’s good nature, sleepy smile, and steady beat assured he fit right in and quickly proved to be a valuable asset. He brought new fans and exposure to the group. The Regents didn’t miss a beat.
Bobby organized the horns into a coalition of harmonies that were extraordinary. Robbie Pond and Richard Phelps were on trumpet and Bobby and Lou Flowers played sax. They swayed and stepped to the music usually prodded by Jeff Paul’s big “axe”.
As lead singer, Mel Gaines was a few years older than the high school instrumentalists, but what we lacked in maturity he covered ever so well. Mel had patience, talent and soul and propelled The Regents from gig to gig as we developed a reputation and following from the Virginia Beach oceanfront to Capron.
Mel Gaines took the stage in a humble way usually dressed in a suit that belied his coming performance. By the end of the second set, Mel had removed his suit coat, sweat was streaming from his face and soaking his shirt, damp handkerchief clutched in his hand and singing with an intensity that was matched by the enjoyment of the listeners and dancers whom he had whipped into a frenzy.
Mr. Gaines was an unassuming man who was always dependable, hard working and on key. Mel only asked for one thing that I recall and that was for “The Regents, Featuring Mel Gaines” to play at a small club in Pughsville that was owned or managed by his relative. Mel wanted to play for his family and friends in his neighborhood and so, we did.
A talented singer, interested and competent management, receptive audiences, and teenage swagger resulted in excellent music. We all came to understand the meaning of Satisfaction and the importance of music, organization, practice, and teamwork in our lives. And, hearing your own band on the radio with Mel’s amazing voice as you traveled home as a senior in high school was way cool! Almost as cool as going on a road trip band gig with my son.
Johnny, thanks for putting this together. It has been fun for me to reminisce.
Sumner
Special thanks to Johnny Johnston for his help with this page, to Jimmy Finnegan for the clipping about the record release, and to Jeff Paul for the video link.
The EP these songs are taken from feature singer S. Jamelah backed by Sapta Dahlia on side one, but I prefer side two, which is the band by itself playing two very cool organ-driven rockers.
“Pesanan Ku” (My Message) is the band’s message to young men and woman to make the right choices in their lives and to not leave it until it’s too late.
“Si Tanggang” tells the legendary story of Tanggang, the son of a poor family who gets a job on a trading ship and eventually becomes a wealthy trader himself and marries a sultan’s daughter. One day, with his wife aboard, his ship comes alongside his old village and his mother comes out to trade with the ship. She recognises her son, but he is ashamed of her poverty and refuses to acknowledge her. She then calls on God to make her son recognise her and a great storm breaks loose and Tanggang, his wife and their ship are all turned to stone. This legend, or variants of it, are popular in many coastal areas of Malaysia and Indonesia and are used to explain the existence of many offshore rock formations.
Sapta Dahlia could be translated as The Dahlia Seven. The liner notes say the band was formed on 29 April 1967 with Wahab Hamid on lead guitar, Ali Soud on organ, Wahid Hamid on drums and Rahman Hamid on bass. The band leader was Rahim Ghani, but it is unclear what role he actually played in the band.
Basic Things from left: Herman Bennett, Gerald Pierce, Charles Jayroe, Larry Quinn, Ronnie Cooper and David Neel. Taken by the Holiday Inn, Beaumont, April 1967, for a KA fraternity Old South Dance
Port Arthur, Texas group the Basic Things made their only 45 at Jones Recording in Houston. The A-side is a good version of “Ninety-Nine and a Half”, but the original on the flip, “You’re Still Dreaming”, gets more attention nowadays. The group puts in a great performance with a marching rhythm, sharp guitar solo, organ flourishes and strong bass runs towards the end of the song.
Vocalist Herman Bennett describes his role as “screaming in public”! Herman sent me his CD Pay Attention, which included both Basic Things songs transferred from the original master tape!
My band, The Basic Things, was locally popular in the late ’60s in Port Arthur and the Golden Triangle. The Basic Things were: Tom Arrington on rhythm guitar (later David Neel would replace Tom), Charles Jayroe on lead guitar, Larry Quinn on Farfisa organ, Gerald Pierce on Hofner bass, Ronnie Cooper on drums, and me trying to sound as British as a Jewish Texan can.
We cut a 45 in 1967 at Jones Recording Studio in Houston, a cover of Wilson Pickett’s “99 ½” b/w an original “You’re Still Dreaming”. Recording at Jones was funny, more than remarkable in any way — we showed up late, not realizing that (duh) they charge by the hour and had a schedule for a reason, we weren’t even prepared to do both sides. The guy was forgiving and precise — I remember he buzzed in on the first take and said, “Guitar player, your fourth string is out of tune” and, because I was screaming a lot in those days, positioned Gerald (our bass player) to keep me away from the mic with an extended hand in front of me. He made a move as if to karate chop me in the Adam’s apple, made me sort of laugh, and we decided to keep that take because it was an inside joke.
“99 ½ (Won’t Do)” was The Basic Things piece ‘de resistance. We were pretty sure that this song would put us on the map because of the reaction it got at gigs. I guess we ignored the fact that you can’t do the song too badly because it’s so wonderful and every band of that era had it on their playlist.
Tom and Larry wrote “You’re Still Dreaming” on the spot in the recording studio because it hadn’t occurred to us that we’d do more than one song that day. But, the engineer pointed out, “If you are going to release a record, you’ll probably want something on the other side.” It’s a pretty good snapshot of what we were doing. I was screaming in public and they were playing excellent garage band rock and roll.
The whole thing cost us less than $200 bucks, I think, including pressing 100 copies, maybe more. Purple Can, if memory serves, was sort of a play on the notion that red might, but purple can … following the Moby Grape and Strawberry Alarm Clock model … thought provoking, but ultimately meaningless.
I think we sold all of ten records but somehow the rest of them disappeared over the years. Fortunately, Tom Arrington had the 1/4 inch master tape and thirty five years later a friend of mine discovered that there was actually a tape recorder in town that was the same model as the one the song was originally recorded on. I had it dubbed into a digital format for posterity. Neither song is exactly remastered but the sound is enhanced by virtue of the fact that the original 45 release version of “99 ½” was ramped down to shorten the song for radio play – too bad we didn’t get any – and “Wish That You Were Here” [“You’re Still Dreaming”] had some sort of tape anomaly on it at the very beginning that, for some reason, now sounds like it not only belongs there but leads you back, back, back in time.
I’d like to thank Ruth Hall, my friend gone but not forgotten, for ponying up the entire $180 to record and press those records.
Herman Bennett
Herman’s site has much more information on the Basic Things and his music career, check it out at hermanbennett.com. Gerald Pierce has two other photos of the band and more at www.unclestick.com/music (site defunct).
Five musicians from Madrid formed Los Buitres (The Vultures) in July 1964:
Enrique Martinez (Quique) – lead vocals Juan (Jeannot) – lead guitar and vocals Santiago Villaseñor – rhythm guitar, harmonica and vocals Michel Minguez – bass guitar and vocals Antonio Casado – drums
The band landed a contract with Columbia in November and cut four songs released in February of 1965. The EP included two fine original songs: the excellent “Sensacion” and more formulaic “Ritmo y movimiento”, but failed to sell. The band was disappointed with the sound of the EP, which they though lacked proper reverb, as well as the lack of promotion on Columbia’s part.
They lost their singer Quique to Los Continentales and for a time Santiago took over on lead vocals. By coincidence, they were soon able to recruit the former lead singer of Los Continentales, Boris (Salvador Benzo), who was born in Ceuta, the tip of North Africa across from Gibraltar. Calling themselves Boris y Los Buitres, they entered a band competition in León. They didn’t make the finals, but Boris was a sensation due to his shoulder-length hair. Boris soon went solo and the group broke up, members scattering to other bands.
At the end of 1968, Santiago Villaseñor formed a new version of Los Buitres with the drummer Pancho from Los Comperos, but, according to the liner notes to a 1985 Spanish LP Historia de la musica pop española no. 32 on Alligator Records soon they dropped the name “Los Buitres” and had a working name of the “New Group”. Bassist Ramón Morán provided many photos and a history of the group, so I have moved that part of this article to its own page.
Thanks to Bård for the transfers of “Sensacion” and “Ritmo y moviemiento” and for pointing me to viejopickup.blogspot.com for a scan of the EP cover. Special thanks to Borja for turning me on to these songs by giving me a copy of the Cefe y Los Gigantes / Los Buitres split LP. This article is based on the liner notes to that LP – if anyone has more information or corrections please contact me.
The Nite Walkers, 1965. From left: Rich Hernandez, Joe Stoddard, Ray Almonza and Robert Stoddard, with go-go dancer Linda Hernandez
The Nite Walkers cut two 45s at Russell Recording, a studio located (according to the liner notes to Teenage Shutdown vol. 6) above an air conditioning store in Downey, CA. Mop Top Mike tells me the studio basically disappeared when the owner skipped out without paying back rent.
All four songs they released are originals. Their first 45 has a cool guitar instrumental on the A-side, “Florence Ave”. The group yells an intro “Let’s meet at Al’s on Florence Avenue!”. It was backed with a dirge-like ballad “My Girl” (not the Miracles song by a long shot).
The second 45 has “High Class”, the singer alternates between a menacing spoken mumble and an intense shouting, sometimes within the same line of verse. The band creates a gloomy background through a droning riff and rolling drums for most of the song’s three minutes. The backing vocals are straight out of “Gloria” but the verse seems to have some awareness of “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, with the line “you’re gonna wake up one morning, you’re gonna start to cry, you’re gonna wonder why”.
The flip “You’ve Got Me” is another moody number, something similar to “My Girl” but it works better. I spent a lot of time with audio software taking out clicks from a bad scratch on the 45, but the result is excellent.
With no names or publishing on the label, it was nearly impossible to trace these guys so I thought we may never know the story of this group until Robert Stoddard contacted me:
The band was formed in 1964 I believe. Members are Richard Hernandez (bass), Ray Almonza (rhythm guitar), Joe Stoddard (lead guitar), and Robert Stoddard (drums). We were indeed from Bell Gardens and all songs are originals. What made this band unique at the time was their ages. I was 12 and the other three were 13.
My drumming was a direct result of the music scene of the time. I beat on couch pillows with sticks for two years to “Pretty Woman” and Beatle tunes. Christmas of ’64 brought me a cocktail drum and Joe a cheap electric guitar and super small amp. Richard and Ray were aquaintances of Joe’s from Bell Gardens Junior High.
The slicked back look in the hair was Mom’s idea, you know how Moms are. The mop cut was about a year later with the British Invasion in full swing and all. The girl in the one pic is Richard’s little sister, she was our occasional go-go dancer, her name was Linda.
We played mostly for school assemblies, grand openings of businesses, weddings. We used to play at a place in Hollywood called Pandora’s Box on Sunset and La Brea. Made a TV commercial in a topless bar. Came in 2nd place in the famous “Countdown ’65” battle of the bands at the Olympic Auditorium which was televised. It was sponsored by “the Royals” a British family of con artists who just ripped everybody off and never had any intention of awarding any prizes.
Other bands were the Cosmictones and the Velvetones. The Cosmictones tried to compete. The velvetones were a surf band and they were older and really good. their drummer Al Stigler taught me alot. Lead guitarist Gary Stovall went on to make a name for himself in the biz.
There was definitely a music scene in town. we played at the City Parks Dept. dances often, and every summer there was a Battle of the Bands at the yearly amusement park also held at the Parks Department.
The songs were written basically by all of us, we used to rehearse in the Toler Ave. garage next to my house.
Both [records] were done at the same time. Don’t remember much about the studio but I know I was behind a glass wall, no plexiglass yet. Music tracks were done first and vocals were done second with all of us circling one auditorium type microphone.
Russell recording I believe was affiliated somehow with Downey Music Center where we purchased all our equipment. I remember the man’s name was Nate. They were pressed somewhere on Melrose in West Hollywood, I remember because we all went there in the band car, a 1948 Cadillac candy apple red hearse. I believe we got it because the Monkees had a candy apple red dune buggy kind a thing.
I don’t really know much about those transactions, my Dad handled all that stuff. But I do know that only 300 copies were pressed due to the cost at the time. My Dad sent them everywhere, radio stations, etc, but to no avail.
Q. Is it Joe who yells “Let’s meet at Al’s on Florence Avenue”?
It was indeed Joe who yelled but he was just closest to the mike, we all had a hand in that. To this day I still think that was cheesy. Al’s however was a real place we used to hang out at. It was like a really good Greek hamburger stand built on the lot on the north west corner of Florence Ave. and Garfield. It was kitty corner from Toler Ave where we were based. I believe it’s a donut shop now, I don’t know.
I had to quit due to the war in Vietnam. Joe stayed in music and is still performing, check him out at joestoddardshow.com. Richard lives up north somewhere, and I haven’t heard from Ray since the 60’s. I returned to playing live and touring with several bands from ’76 through the 80’s and still occaisionally dabble in it.
Robert Stoddard
Russell RRC-43106: Florence Ave / My Girl Russell RRC-43107: High Class / You’ve Got Me
The Nite Walkers, 1966. From left: Rich Hernandez, Joe Stoddard, Rob Stoddard and Ray Almonza
This record from Hong Kong was recorded on 26 September 1969. In the liner notes it says that news of the Phantoms’ plan to record a few originals had everybody excited. This is a bit misleading as at least one of these songs was not written by any member of the Phantoms.The song “Oh La La” is credited as Copyright Controlled, but there are scores of songs with this title and I have been unable to determine if this is a Phantoms’ original.
The better song in my opinion is “Love Love Love”, which we are told in no uncertain terms was created by Paul Leung; it says so on the label and on both sides of the cover. Paul Leung, however, was not a member of the Phantoms, but rather a record producer and owner of the Amo label, on which this record was released. So it seems that Leung got the Phantoms to cut a record and provided them with the song. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I quite like “Love Love Love”, which sounds much like the Nightcrawlers’ “Little Black Egg” with different lyrics. Oddly, although “Love Love Love” is listed as the A side on the cover, it appears as the B side on the record.
But who were the Phantoms? The only clue in the liner notes is that it mentions them having only been in Hong Kong for a certain time, so they weren’t a local group. My guess is they were from Singapore as there were many bands from there which tried their luck in Hong Kong in the second half of the 1960s. There was a band from Singapore called the Phantoms who supported the singer Valentine to produce a hit with the ballad Roselyn earlier in the sixties. Looking at the cover of the Valentine record, I think this could be the same band, but I could be totally wrong.
The two photos below come from Joseph C. Pereira, who points out the band was known as the Flying Phantoms!
Joseph writes:
Band started in 1963. Appeared on Istana Pesta (a local television program) in that year.
1964 – Winston Koh came in second to Kenneth Gomes in a Cliff Richard singing competition to promote the movie Finders Keepers. The heats were held at Capitol Cinema and the finals at Lido Cinema. Winston’s winning song in the finals was “It’s All Over”.
Inactive between 1964 and 1966. William Chan (rhythm), Sam Toh (bass), Patrick Khong (bass), Victor Lam (drums). Victor and Patrick left at the end of 1964 to join Mysterians.
September 1966 – Group revived by Dennis Chan, a 16 year old guitarist. Elder brother William Chan (rhythm guitar) was an original Flying Phantom as was Sam Toh (bass player). Rest of line up was Hudson Ng (drums) and Winston Koh (vocals). Sam Toh did not stay in the band long and joined a short lived line up of D’Aquarians. He then joined Bee Jays for two months and after that in April 1967 he joined The Quests.
12-4-1967 – Appeared on Muzik Muda Mudi (another local TV program).
May 1967 – Appeared on another TV program.
Style of the band was towards Shadows and Ventures for instrumentals and Cliff Richard for vocal numbers.
Appeared on a TV program performing “House Of The Rising Sun” with Winston decked out in a prisoner styled outfit.
1969 – They were contracted to play for a year in Hongkong at the World of Suzie Wong Night Club. They appeared on Hongkong TV, did two stage shows and were guests at the Teddy Robins Tavern tea dance on Sundays.
The Young Men at Audio Recorders, from left: Frank Lacey, Tony Boynton, Rich Adams, Pete Axtell, and John Herwehe
Updated February 2011
The Young Men were from Phoenix, Arizona. Members included:
Frank Lacey – lead vocals Richard Adams – lead guitar Pete Axtell – rhythm guitar John Herwehe – bass Dave Killingsworth – bass Tony Boynton – drums
They were originally called the Metronomes and most were students at West Phoenix High School, playing the prom there in 1966. The Metronomes were Frank Lacey, guitar and vocals; Larry Edmonds, guitar; George Matthews, drums; and John Hesterman on bass, piano and vocals. A friend of the band remembered Frank Lacey being one of the first students at their high school to be sent home for having long hair.
The Young Men’s first 45, released on United World #6947 in January ’67 has a minor pop song “Too Many Times” on the A-side, written by ‘Howie’ and produced by Forest Higginbotham. It charted on KRUX 1360 AM, reaching #16 on March 16.
Much cooler is the catchy, upbeat “Go!”. The song writing credits list Axtell and Lacey, but as Mop Top Mike pointed out to me, it’s really a very close version of the Dave Clark Five’s “I’m Thinking”, the b-side of a ’65 single “Reelin’ and Rockin'”. The Dave Clark Five original has a great shout of “Oh!” before the first verse. The Young Men change this to a reverb-laden “Go!” and dub it in before each verse. They also speed up the tempo, drop the organ part and substitute an excellent dry guitar solo for the bridge in the DC5 version.
The label lists the time for “Go!” as 2:33, but when played the song clocks at 1:33. I’ve seen a second version of the label that lists the time correctly.
The Young Men had a second 45 United World #0001 in April of ’67, a very competent rendition of the Hollies’ “Baby That’s All” backed with “Love’s Time”, a good original by Axtell, Lacey and Froste.
As Dan Nowicki points out in his comment below, Frank Lacey and Dave Killingsworth later were in Thackeray Rocke, and that both records were recorded at Audio Recorders of Arizona.
Thanks also to Mop Top Mike for the dates of the 45s, to Richard Adams & John Hesterman for the photo at top and info on the Metronomes, to John L. for info on the group, and to Brian Kirschenbaum for the scans of “Baby That’s All” and “Love’s Time”.
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
By 1969 the band was going by an abbreviated name, the Tree, and cut one last 45 for Michael Addario’s Canland Records label, a loose, catchy version of the Electric Flag’s “See to Your Neighbor” with Mike Weaver’s drums and the rough vocals standing out. It was backed with a Creedence-style version of Suzie Q.
The Regents Featuring Mel Gaines was a popular soul band established in Portsmouth, Virginia around 1968. The first memory I have of the group is my audition for the band as a drummer in the spring of 1967.Rusty Gibbs, an old high school buddy of mine, told me the group was auditioning drummers at Jeff Paul’s house in the Churchland area of Portsmouth. Jeff played bass with the group and actually liked how I played, and to my surprise the group asked me to join them. I was a junior at Cradock High School in 1967 and was trying to determine if I should continue to play sports or follow my heart’s desire and become a drummer in a dance band.
I had taught myself how to play drums by watching all of the local bands. I especially studied and copied Fat Ammon of Bill Deal and the Rhondels and also The Swinging Machine’s Dickie Bocock. I loved their styles and really became accustomed to the beat and timing they both had. This was when dancing at teen clubs, dances halls, high school dances such as the Ambassadors Club (or AB Club as we called to it) and The Lighthouse in Portsmouth were both at their all time high.
Special thanks to Johnny Johnston for his help with this page, to Jimmy Finnegan for the clipping about the record release, and to Jeff Paul for the video link.
The Young Men had a second 45 United World #0001 in April of ’67, a very competent rendition of the Hollies’ “Baby That’s All” backed with “Love’s Time”, a good original by Axtell, Lacey and Froste.