The Sonics of Needville, from left to right: Vance Charles, Ralph McCauley, Frankie Teykl, Richard Schwettmann and Glenn Tate
I took a snapshot of this poster of the Sonics of Needville off the wall at the apartment of Norton Records co-honcho Billy Miller, it really looks much better in person. Billy said he has another Sonics poster from the same time.
Needville is a small town southwest of Houston. This band is known on record as Vance Charles and the Sonics, but often appear in news notices as the Sonics of Needville.
Expanded lineup with horn players, ad for a show at the Freeport Community House, July 23, 1964The Sonics of Needville at Schroeder Hall, outside of Victoria, September 19, 1964
The first Vance Charles and the Sonics single was “Let’s Fall in Love” (R. Whitefield, C. Snattiger) b/w “Closer To Me” (C. Booth, R. Gean) on Lori 9553, both songs produced by Charles Booth and published by Kaboo Music BMI. Charlie Booth’s production address is listed at 7626 Carothers or 1738 Viking in Houston.
From about 1965 is a release on Spinner Records, “Mr. Train”, a good if unexciting blues with horn section. The flip of this is an absurd version of “Suzy Q” sung in a duck voice and listed under the ridiculous pseudonym Yakkity Quack and the Sonics.
In 1965, Vance Charles and the Sonics released the first of two singles on the Golden Eagle label: “Put the Shoes on Willie” (an Earl Hooker song) and “All for the Love of a Girl”.
In 1966, the band cut a great fuzz stomper, “My Soul” backed by an average version of “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”, and released in June of ’66 on the Golden Eagle label of Houston.
Although it sounds like an original song, the top side is actually an adaption of Clifton Chenier’s “My Soul”, a very fine, pre-zydeco r&b song with accordion and even Little Richard “wooh”s, released on the Checker label in the late ’50s:
Why do I, sit and cry, without a reason? I don’t know why, it’s my soul … If I, should jump up and holler, without a reason, stab you in the collar, it’s my soul …
Golden Eagle is a label more known for its blues releases, but a pop-garage 45 by Reed Williams “There’s A Girl” / “I’m Free” preceded this Vance Charles disc and the label did release an album of mostly cover songs by the El Campo Jades titled “The 13th Song”.
The Spinner 45 was recorded at Gold Star Studios with Doyle Jones engineering. Doyle worked at Gold Star from December 1964 to January 1966, recording the Sir Douglas Quintet, Roy Head and Gaylan Ladd. He left Gold Star to start Jones Sound Studios with Mickey Gilley as part-owner, at 1523 Blair St. in the Heights neighborhood of Houston. This is the studio where the Golden Eagle discs were recorded.
Other garage bands who recorded at Jones Sound include Chaz & the Classics (“Girl of the 13th Hour”), the Glass Kans (“Stick With Her”), and, of course, the Outcasts’ “1523 Blair”. Even better known are Neal Ford and the Fanatics great “Shame on You”, and the Moving Sidewalks LP Flashback, also cut at Jones. Doyle Jones kept the studio going until 1973, then converted it to a duplication house, until he passed away in 2006.
All of Vance Charles’ records were produced by Charlie Booth. Booth also produced a 45 by the Weavils from El Campo, Texas on the Lori label, “Here I Am in Love Again” / “We’re the Weavils”.
A reader wrote in that Vance Charles, Frank Sebesta and Ralph McCauley played in the Barons who were active around Houston in the early 1970s. The Barons had two LPs on Solar label, as well as two 45s, “Mellow Moonlight” / “Strung Out On You” and “Wounds Of Love” / “Put Me In Jail”, but I’ve heard none of these. Other Barons members and associates include Luke “CC” Davis, Morris A. Bosak and Billy Wade McKnight.
Doyle Jones info from the SugarHill Studios site (now defunct) and Bluesworld.com.
Thank you to Jack Swenson for information on the Barons.
The Top Shelf were from Wanganui, a port town on the southwestern coast of the North Island of New Zealand, about a three hour drive from Wellington where they based their career. The Cresendos also came from Wanganui.
“Time Beyond (Can’t We Still Be Friends)” takes inspiration from “White Room” with some fantastic wah wah playing.
“Time Beyond” was left to the b-side behind a pop song with the very unwieldy title “Baby the World Really Turns (Many a Slip Twixt Cup and Lip)”. Although relatively lightweight, the opening is arresting and performance solid.
Production was by Peter Dawkins. A radio station card that accompanies my copy shows it was received on July 24, 1969, and played a paltry four times over the next two months, despite being a “Golden Disc Entry” for the year.
The band reunited for the Third Official Wellington 1960s Rock Band Reunion on Sunday, October 12, 1996 in the Lower Hutt Horticultural Hall. I can’t find any reviews of the show, but an article promoting the reunion in the New Zealand weekly the Sunday Star-Times gave a description of the band:
Wanganui’s Top Shelf are best remembered for their 1969 residency at Ali Baba’s in Wellington’s Willis Street, where they played soul and harmony based pop for the popular club’s post-teen regulars. They emerged in the strong Wanganui 1960s scene in mid 1968, made up of members from the popular Nusonics (Murray Barnes and John Harrison), and The Sect and Downbeats (Martin Berryman [on drums], Kevin Furey, and Doug Bonner) to play local dances, and save enough money to break into the Australian scene.
When kingpin promoter Ken Cooper offered them the Ali Baba’s gig, they headed south instead, leaving behind bassist Doug Bonner, who was replaced by Dave Berryman.
On-stage, they played up to nine hours a night on weekends, cutting a dash with their two piece horn section, and later in 1969, cutting a single for HMV Records, the bubblegum pop “Baby, The World Really Turns” backed with the psychedelic “Time Beyond”, penned by Wanganui duo Dick Le Fort and Martin Hadlow. They disbanded in late 1969.
Can’t find any info on the Freed, or even the year of this 45, though it’s almost certainly from 1970-72.
From the scarves and pink hat, and the a-side “Ruby Lips” you might not expect the heavy guitars and raving gibberish of the b-side, “Bad, Bad, Baby”. It was written by Stanley Allen and Joe Acim and released in stereo on the Rex label out of Munich.
The Roadside Playboys in 1967: Wally Moyers, Charlene Condray, Dick Barnett, Tommy Hancock and Willie Lightfoot.
Charlene Condray has been singing professionally since the 1940’s in Lubbock, Texas. Her first recordings were made in 1952 and she is still active today. At age twelve she was a regular on the Circle 13 Dude Ranch Show on Lubbock TV. She joined Tommy Hancock’s band, the Roadside Cowboys and they eventually married, touring and recording under a variety of lineups and names, including the Supernatural Family Band.
On this 1970 single they each take a side to feature very different styles of music.
You may know Tommy Hancock from his look at Mexican cuisine, “Tacos for Two”, compiled on The Big Itch vol. 2: “Tacos for two, tacos for me and tacos for you,” and “hey Señor Waiter these tacos look great, put some clothes on the stripper so I can eat!”
On this 45 he covers the environmental manifesto, “I Am the Grass”, written by Mira Smith and Margaret Lewis. In case you didn’t know, grass doesn’t like to be stepped on, hates human hypocrisy and will have the last laugh in the end: “I am the grass – someday I’ll cover you green!”
On the other side, Charlene Condray and the Bitter End adapt the Louie Louie changes for good swing at soulful pop.
This is just a sample of a varied catalog from these two maverick artists, some of which is available on CD. Tommy X Hancock has a major part in the 2005 documentary Lubbock Lights which I recommend highly – the kind of portrait every good music scene should have.
The photo above is taken from their family website, much more information and photos are there.
A band from Madrid, the Arlequines released only this one 45 in 1967.The a-side is “Tomando Cafe”, which seems to be an adaption of a traditional song by Maximo Baratas. It rides the line between rock and soul in that peculiar Spanish style.
Even better is the flip, the tense punker “No Hay Amor Para Mi” (“There Isn’t Love for Me”). The guitarist throws out fuzzed lines over a steady drum beat, while the organ player’s emergency siren-like pulsations fade in and out. The singer spits out lyrics in english that’s barely decipherable, while still managing to sound soulful. Plenty of attitude here, even the short bridge comes off drugged and ends abruptly.
As this was the b-side, it may be a band original; it was written by Juan Bona and Jose M. Panizo.
Info on the group is scant, but from what I can gather, their singer was Pepe Robles (José Robles Rodríguez). Pepe went on to join the established group Los Ángeles before forming Los Módulos, one of Spain’s most successful bands in the ’70s.
OK, it’s not as heavy as the Shandells, but I can’t believe no one ever mentions this version of “Go Gorilla”. The original of the song was done by Chicago r&b group the Ideals in 1963, who had a #3 regional hit with it on KQV in Pittsburgh.
The Dynastys version come out of Wisconsin in September of ’64, followed by the Shandells a few months later. The instrumental flip, “Birmingham”, shows how accomplished a band they were as it really swings. Neither song has been comped before to my knowledge.
The Coulee label was out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, owned by Bill Grafft, who also ran the Boom, Knight and Transaction labels. The Dynasty’s 45 (Coulee 108) comes just before Dee Jay and the Runaways’ “Love Bug Crawl” / “The Pickup” (Coulee 109).
The Dynasty’s definitely honed their skills pre-British Invasion, with large helpings of rockabilly, r&b and even surf and folk music in their sound. They originally came from Oskaloosa, Iowa. Their first 45 came out on the Fan, Jr label in 1964, a cover of the Eldorados’ “I’ll Be Forever Loving You” backed with another cover, Harold Dorman’s “Mountain of Love”, which Johnny Rivers made a hit not long after the Dynasty’s version came out. Production by Orlie Breunig.
As Gary Myers wrote in a comment below, the band came from Milwaukee. Band members were George Shaput (guitar), Duane Schallitz (guitar), Mark Ladish (organ), Dave Maciolek (bass), Jim Serrano (lead guitar) and Kenny Arnold (drums).
At the band’s request to play on the West Coast, their manager Lindy Shannon booked them into the Longhorn in Portland, Oregon. Jerry Dennon of Jerden Records saw them there and heard their demos, leading to their final 45 in 1966, “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” / “Forever and a Day”.
On “Forever and a Day” the band manages to create a memorable harmony pop ballad without sacrificing their strong rhythm and drumming.
Not long after this release George Shaput joined the Shades of Blue and then played with Conway Twitty. The band reunited at a La Crosse show to honor Lindy Shannon in 1994.
The Individuals, from left: Tommy Redd, Ronnie Vaughan, Ronnie Couch, Ben Vaughan and Sammy Moser
Revised February/March 2010
The Individuals cut their only 45 at the House of Sound in Danville, Virginia on July 11, 1967, both songs written by Tommy Redd. On “I Want Love” the band runs through standard blues changes as Tommy delivers snotty, half-strangled lyrics “I want my love, baby!” A slow fuzz riff and gloomy organ anchor “I Really Do” for Tom’s garbled vocals and fake Cockney-accented recitation.
The group was from rural Halifax and South Boston, Virginia. The group had started in 1965 as the Rhythm Makers, changing to the Individuals in 1966. Members were Ben Vaughan lead guitar, Ronnie Vaughan rhythm guitar, Sammy Moser organ, Ronnie Couch drums and Tommy Redd on bass and vocals. Someone told me Ray Ferrell took over on keyboards later on, but Ronnie says Ray wasn’t in the band and that Mike Oakes was their second keyboard player.
As the article below states, 500 copies were pressed, of which 300 were mailed to radio stations across the country. The 45 received some play on WHLF in South Boston and also in Danville. Someone told me that some of the leftover copies were used for target practice, a not-uncommon occurrence at the time, but Ronnie Couch wrote to me:
Not true on the left over Raven 45s. They were put in local stores such as Leggett’s Deptartment Store, Roses, J.J. Newberry’s and some others. We sold them and put in another order for more copies. I still have a few left.
I have copies of a radio station playlist in Brookneal, Virginia that we were on the local charts. We also played live many times on our local radio station WHLF on a radio show ran by a DJ named Al Mapes.
The article announces the group planned to cut a second record, “The Fire Is Out”, but Ronnie Couch tells me it was never recorded.
Contrary to what I’ve read elsewhere, the Individuals’ Tommy Redd was not the same person who went on to play with Stax of Gold in Jacksonville, North Carolina, a band which later became Nantucket, with releases on Epic Records.
The Individuals – Nashville Record Productions Acetate for Raven 2018 (detail). Flip has the songs for the IV Pak’s Hippie single.
Special thanks to Marty Key for loaning the 45 for me to scan and transfer, check out his site Funky Virginia. Thanks to Ben Brown of Raleigh for info on the Ralph Viar 45.
Thanks also to Ronnie Couch for providing the scan of the article, and to Jack Garrett for the scan of the acetate and many of the photos seen here.
Article in the Gazette-Virginian, September 3, 1967House of Sound/Raven, Hoss and Piedmont Records Danville Register, October 19, 1968Show with the Soulmasters at the T-Bird Country, Danville Register, November 19, 1967
The Sedate Sunshine Colony, 1966, l-r: Woody Bell, Jeff Anderson, Pat Erickson, Craig Anderson, Jonnie Sue Bartel and Chuck Zendner
The Sedate Sunshine Colony came from Kingsburg, just southeast of Fresno. Their time together is documented in these photos and a tape of a fascinating live show from April, 1968. The band chose some very unusual songs to cover live, including the Grass Roots’ “Where Are You”, the Byrds’ “Thoughts and Words” and the Peanut Butter Conspiracy’s “Dark On You Now”, making for a portrait of the underground side of pop music during that time. They could really rock out on songs like “Slow Down” and “Evil Hearted You”, or play very delicate pieces like “Summertime”.
The most noteworthy songs on the tape are the originals, all written by guitarist and vocalist Craig Anderson: “Change Yourself for the World”, “Visionary Pumpkin”, and “Bentley Road”. They show Craig to be a distinctive and creative songwriter, and the band capable of a range of textures and styles to suit each composition.
Bassist and vocalist Jeff Anderson gives the history of the group in his own words:
One of the greatest joys of my life was playing in a rock ‘n roll band in the 60’s. Music was just exploding and influences were coming from all over the world. People were only then learning how to play guitar and structure songs and the evolution was quite remarkable. Anyone in a band had grandiose visions of becoming the next Beatles.
My brother Craig and I started our first group, I think in 1962, as ‘the Schillings’. It was an instrumental group that did mainly the usual stuff from the Ventures, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, etc. We had Craig and I on guitars, a bass player that was so bad we actually had him bring in his tuba and play the bass part on that, drums and sax. We then morphed into ‘the Eccentrics’ and later ‘the Essence Reality’ where I took over on bass and we brought in another guitar player, Harvey Adair. The drummer, Russ Zakarian, is now the drummer for the Sedate Sunshine Colony’s current project and was the drummer for our 2004 reunion concert.
The Sedate Sunshine Colony was comprised of Pat Erickson (vocals & flute), Craig Anderson (vocals & guitar), Woody Bell (vocals), Jeff Anderson (vocals & bass), Jonnie Sue Bartell (keyboard & vocals), and Chuck Zendner (drums). We played in the Fresno area, but all of us came from the small town of Kingsburg, California. The band was together from 1965-1969.
l-r: Pat Erickson, Jeff Anderson, Chuck Zendner, Craig Anderson, Jonnie Sue Bartel and Woody Bell.
The Sedate Sunshine Colony was the first band for Pat Erickson, Jonnie Sue Bartell, and Chuck Zendner. I think Woody Bell may have been in a sort of band prior to SSC. Pat was actually in a folk group with my brother, called the Four-tells.
We were a folk-rock band with psychedelic overtones. Folkadelic, I would call it. Above all, we had vocals. Five out of the six of us could sing and harmony was what we did best. We were learning to play our instruments, just like everyone else, and we did ok with one guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and flute. We mostly covered other music, but my brother Craig was a good writer, and we ended up doing quite a few original songs.
We played at dances, proms, picnics and just about everywhere including local fairs. We usually got paid about $100 for the whole band, while performing for about 3-4 hours. When the songs were only 2-3 minutes long, we had to know lots of music.
We were good friends, had a lot of fun, and somehow, almost all of us avoided the booze and drugs that were starting to happen with the music scene.
We continued to increase our fan base over the years and in the summer of 1967 the band caught the eye of a local TV producer. The group appeared on the ‘Dick Carr Show’ in 1967, making their first and only TV appearance. The Dick Carr TV show was a local Fresno show with viewers from Bakersfield to Sacramento (San Joaquin Valley). I would have loved to get my hands on the tape of that show. It was a 30 minute segement where SSC performed three songs totally live. We played two cover songs and one original. It was written by Craig, called ‘Visionary Pumpkin’ and featured a flute solo by Pat. The drummer, Chuck, borrowed the timpani drums from the high school band, and let it rip.
The Sedate Sunshine Colony competed in a number of ‘battle of the bands’ against a wide variety of local groups around Fresno, including rock, soul, psychedelic, & folk-rock. Other bands that we competed with or were friends with were local bands, such as the Accents, Twelve Miles Out, and Jim K and the Vibradors. Our best outing was a 3rd place finish in a large competition in Visalia in 1968. We decided to play four songs, without a break, with transitions that Craig designed. The winning group was a soul band that had about ten members, including a full horn and brass section and Hammond organ.
l-r: Jeff Anderson, Pat Erickson, Craig Anderson and Woody Bell.
The cassette recording date was April 25th, 1968 at the Dinuba Memorial Auditorium, Dinuba, California. A reel to reel recorder was set up with two mics out on the dance floor, about 20 feet from the band. About 15 years after the recording was made, I copied it onto cassette and that sat around getting old for a long time. No wonder it sounds so bad.
The complete song list on the tape is as follows: Dark On You Now, Thoughts and Words, As Tears Go By, Evil Hearted You, Visionary Pumpkin, Where Were You, Change Yourself for the World, Whittier Blvd, Bentley Road, Summertime, Different Drum, Run for Your Life, Slow Down, Whiskey Man, Break on Through, My Back Pages, Soul Kitchen, and Morning Dew.
I asked Jeff to comment on individual tracks on the live tape:
“Dark On You Now” has always been one of my favorite songs to do, simply because I can selfishly wail on bass. If I had my way, I would be Jack Cassidy from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna on every song. I always felt that SSC could really rock if it just let itself go, but it didn’t happen as often as I wanted. I was thinking of sending a copy of Dark On You Now to the Peanut Butter Conspiracy for a laugh. I’m sure nobody covered their song. We changed it quite a bit as well.
“Thoughts and Words” … This recording was a bit experimental, as I tried to make up and sing the counter melody you can hear…I wasn’t even sure of the words.
“Where Were You” was done by the Grassroots in mid-60’s. Our band was infamous for choosing obscure songs on an album that never got any air time. So, a lot of it sounded original.
“Visionary Pumpkin” … My brother Craig, used to set his alarm at about 3 AM so he could wake up and remember whatever he was dreaming about. Then he would turn on the light and write a song about it. I was upset and amazed by this. I think “Visionary Pumpkin” came from one of those nights. He tried to come up with words, but in the end, the melody was good enough. We had a fine flute player in Pat and he was looking for a showcase for it and this was it. We did this song on the Dick Carr TV show in 1966 or 67. Chuck, our drummer, borrowed the tampani drums from high school band and dragged them in to get more dramatic. I wished I had a stand up bass with a bow to play the bass part. On the tape, the bass lines sustain without hearing individual picking, as I used a felt pick and played very fast, back and forth like on the lead guitar on surf music (Pipeline).
Q. Because of the flute “Visionary Pumpkin” vaguely reminds me of California Dreaming, but there seems to be other inspirations – Gabor Szabo or Charles Lloyd Quartet, or Sandy Bull maybe?
I don’t think any of us had any jazz influence for this song. Pat was just good on flute and later graduated with a music degree in flute performance. You should have heard her senior recital.
“Whittier Blvd.” It was lots of fun to really rock. The organ was never loud enough, as Jonnie Sue was a concert pianist and had very little interest in rock music. She sort of hung in the background. Craig was always having trouble with his fuzztone.
“Bentley Road” is another original of Craig’s, which became the name of his band that recorded those 2 songs [the 45 for Forward Records]. It’s a very dark number about an aging maid that gets in a car with seven men and never comes back. The song is not complete as the tape ended in the middle and had to be flipped over. That’s why the quality of the sound improves briefly. Craig redid the song a couple of years ago.
The group broke up in 1968 and most of us continued in music. Craig got his college degree in music composition at Fresno State College. You couldn’t believe his senior recital. It was 1969 and he got most of us in the band to do a short film with weird images. Pat was in a wedding dress rolling down a sand dune. I was in a suit and tie running from something chasing me and end up falling into a huge mud puddle! Craig then composed four songs with differing moods. He took each scene in the movie and made it a different color…red for anger, blue for joy or whatever. He then showed the film while directing the college choir singing the songs. It sounded a little like the choir on 2001 (A Space Odyssey). He says he still has the film and I plan to borrow it and use it for some kind of music video for one of our new songs.
Craig formed a new band with Pat (vocalist) and Jonnie Sue (keyboard) and moved to LA to make it big. Dave Nyberg also went along for the event. They asked me to go along, but I was getting married and needed to finish college. I knew it was the end of the music road for me and I sold both my 1964 Fender Precision Bass and my 1967 ‘blackface’ Fender Bassman for about what I had paid for them. I have kicked myself so many times about this over the years.
Anderson, l-r: Pat Erickson, David Nyberg, Craig Anderson and Jonnie Sue Bartel.
The band, called Anderson, played in many clubs, such as the Wine Cellar in Westwood. They changed their name to ‘Bentley Road’ and signed a recording contract and a management contract with Nick St. Nicholas, the bass player for Steppenwolf.
They recorded two songs, the first, written by the producer, was called “Michael, Michael”. It was a pop song and the label chose this song to push. The flip side was written by Craig, called “Kill the Cobra” and showed what the band could do creatively. It also demonstrated their expertise playing their instruments. Because the first song failed to gain any traction, “Kill the Cobra” didn’t have a chance.
The band became very disenchanted with the label and recorded no more songs. They continued writing and performing for several years, while Craig produced and recorded their songs in his own studio. They broke up in 1975.
The lead singer, Pat, stayed in LA and has been quite successful over the years. She sang back-up vocals for Pat & Debbie Boone, Tony Orlando, and Charlie Rich. Pat appeared many times on TV shows, such as the ‘Johnny Carson Show’ and was a consistent studio back-up vocalist on many records. She continues to make her living through music.
After SSC broke up, the drummer and I started a new SSC with four new members. We had some ability and talent, but didn’t take it as seriously as we should have. We played at a few college dances and broke up in 1971.
Since then, I have played little music, but have dabbled in it for years. I would pick up a bass here, and an amp a few years later and play with friends a couple times a year. I still wanted to play.
[The band reunited for the first time in August, 2004 for a concert at the city park in Kingsburg, producing a CD and DVD of the event.]
In 2007 our high school class of ’67 had its 40th reunion and the Sedate Sunshine Colony was the entertainment for the evening. The concert went very well and the highlight was the debut of a song I wrote just for the event, called “Summer of ‘67”. It was well received.
Partly due to the excitement of performing an original tune, the band has decided to enter the studio in May of 2008 and record an album of 12 original songs. It was quite a job deciding on the songs, as 4 of us have been writing songs for a long time. We are excited and hopeful for the result, but the joy of playing together again after so many years is the real pay-off. Stay tuned for a studio update…
Jeff Anderson
The 2004 reunion, Kingsburg, l-r: Jeff Anderson, Pat Erickson, Woody Bell and Craig Anderson
The best track I’ve heard from Os Baobás is undoubtedly “Down Down”, an original by guitarist Ricardo Contins. It was the b-side of their second single, a cover of “Happy Together”.
Another fine track by them is their first 45, “Bye Bye My Darling”. The band was named by Ronnie Von, who is also credited with naming Os Mutantes.
Os Baobás formed in 1966 in São Paulo, SP, by Ricardo Contins (rhythm guitar), Jorge Pagura (drums), Carlos (bass), Renato (lead guitar) and Arquimedes (percussion), first under The Rubber Souls name, then adopting the name Baobás (from “baobab”, an African tree whose trunk is the thickest in the world).
The group distinguished themselves because of his repertoire, almost entirely made of USA and UK pop rock covers, but not the most obvious songs, by such artists as The Kinks, Love and Turtles, whose originals had not been released in Brazil at the time (or ever!).
They participated in the first Jovem Guarda festival in April 1966, playing “Pintada de Preto”, their own version of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black”. Backed Ronnie Von and Caetano Veloso on TV and stage all over Brazil. In 1968, with singer Raí (not the same artist who recorded a LP named A Máquina in 1971), they participated in the Festival Universitário, on TV Tupi, with the song “O Tigre” (not the homonymous rock song played by Os Mutantes in the As Amorosas movie), which got second prize (after “Que Bacana” by Suely & Os Kantikus).
Os Baobás released four singles and one LP, all for the Rozenblit record company. Other members were guitar players Raphael Villardi (ex-O’Seis and Os Tremendões) and Tuca (ex-Lunáticos, then Beatniks, Galaxies, Watt’s 69 and Sunday – and who is sometimes confused with the female singer-songwriter-guitarist of the same alias who later relocated to France and wrote & recorded with Françoise Hardy), Nescau, Tico Terpins (later of Joelho de Porco) and Liminha (later of Os Mutantes and who can be seen on the cover of the single of “Light My Fire”, their cover of the Doors song, released in Brazil ahead of the original).
Thanks to Ayrton for the history, and to Borja for playing this track for me when I was in Valencia.
The Mystics came from either Valhalla or White Plains. Members were Jimmy Carpenito vocals and guitar, Charlie Sinerate guitar, Bob Fresta organ, Dan Liberati bass and Mike Mruz on drums.
Their first 45 from April, 1966 has two original songs by Jimmy Carpenito on their own Mystic label, the excellent jangling-guitar “Orphan” backed with “Bad to Me”, which I haven’t yet heard. These were recorded at White Plains Recording Studio. The group played on the Zacherle show at some point.
They cut a decent cover of the Peppermint Trolley Company’s “Lollipop Train” on the Ren-Vell Battle of the Bands album.
For their next single in August 1967, they recorded an original called “Ride My Pony (Come)”, featuring calliope organ playing, and written by James Carpenito and Bob Fresta.
The flip is an excellent cover of the P.F. Sloan & Steve Barri song “This Is What I Was Made For”, which had been previously been done by the Grass Roots (on Dunhill records) and Wild Life (on Columbia). All copies of the Mystics’ version have a short audible glitch that comes in about 45 seconds into the song, probably dirt or damage to the master stamper.
Jimmy Carpenito stayed active in music. I’m sorry to hear that Charlie Sinerate passed away in October 2018.
Interestingly in late 2018 I found a 45 I hadn’t known about credited to the Mystics, “Mystic” / “Laryngitis”. Both songs are instrumentals and would seem to be from about 1963 from the sound of them. The B-side, “Laryngitis” is especially good, with a menacing opening riff and good playing throughout.
Louis Viscusi wrote both songs, and arrangements are given to G. Arbach, B. Fresta, F. McConville. Besides the Westchester origin, Bob or Robert Fresta is the only name that connects this to the Mystics who played on their Ren-Vell records.
These were released on SD Records SD-16, which stood for Sön-Deane Records, with an address in a residential neighborhood at 25 Jennifer Lane, Hartsdale, NY. I found a Library of Congress listing for “Laryngitis” credited to Louis Robert Viscusi in February, 1965.
SD Records had a range of releases, including religious, school band and theater productions, and funk, most of these from the 1970s. There is an early single with a different label design by the Galaxies, “Ad Lib” / ” Laurie” on Son-Deane Records, RB-105. Jeffrey Baker wrote these Galaxies songs, copyrighted in January, 1964, and there are two others copyrighted in September, 1964, “Tranquility” and “E to G” but I don’t know if these were recorded or released.
Sön-Deane was listed as an ASCAP publisher in Cash Box in 1967 and ’68, as a mastering and reference cutter in DB Sound Engineering Magazine in 1968.
Thanks to Ron for the label shots of “Orphan” / “Bad to Me”.
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
In 1966, the band cut a great fuzz stomper, “My Soul” backed by an average version of “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”, and released in June of ’66 on the Golden Eagle label of Houston.
OK, it’s not as heavy as the Shandells, but I can’t believe no one ever mentions this version of “Go Gorilla”. The original of the song was done by Chicago r&b group the Ideals in 1963, who had a #3 regional hit with it on KQV in Pittsburgh.
At the band’s request to play on the West Coast, their manager Lindy Shannon booked them into the Longhorn in Portland, Oregon. Jerry Dennon of Jerden Records saw them there and heard their demos, leading to their final 45 in 1966, “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” / “Forever and a Day”.
