Category Archives: Label

Categories: California, Forward, Kingsburg

The Sedate Sunshine Colony

July 7, 2008 Chris Bishop 13 Comments

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

Categories: Brazil, Mocambo

Os Baobás

July 4, 2008 Chris Bishop 2 Comments

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.

Garage Hangover’s Brazilian correspondent Ayrton Mugnaini Jr. wrote this history of the band for the Arquivo do Rock Brasleiro:

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.

Categories: Mystic, New York, Ren-Vell, Valhalla, Westchester, White Plains

The Mystics (Westchester, NY)

June 23, 2008 Chris Bishop 8 Comments

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”.

Categories: Boise, Garland, Idaho, Oregon, Salem

The Ultimate

June 12, 2008 Chris Bishop 24 Comments

Ultimate photo Garland Records — Clockwise from top left: Jim Hemenway, Bill Walker, Dwight Fenski and Ken (Wimpy) Mitchell. Photo courtesy of Jim Hemenway

Bill Walker – organ, vocals
Jim Hemenway – guitar and vocals
Dwight Fenski – bass
Ken Mitchell – drums and vocals

The strong vocals and organ playing distinguish “Keep on Looking”, written and sung by Bill Walker. It’s backed with a cover of Los Bravos’ “Black Is Black”.

It was released on the Garland label of Salem, which also released fine 45s by the Zero End and the Morning Reign.

There was some confusion as to whether or not the Ultimate (singular) were related to an earlier group The Ultimates (plural) until Bill Walker and Jim Hemenway contacted me and left the comments below. Since there was a connection between the two, let’s go back and first talk about the Ultimates.

After touring as part of the Champs of “Tequila” fame, drummer Gary Nieland and lead guitarist Leon Sanders formed the Ultimates in 1963 in Boise, Idaho with bassist Allen Crawford and keyboardist Gary Sullivan. They eventually relocated to Salem, Oregon, where they recorded a 45 on Lavender, “My Babe” / “Little Girl”, then changed their name to Prince Charles and the Crusaders.

Bill Walker picks up the story from here:

Gary Neiland was owner of Garland Records. He was also a talent booking agency. When Gary left Prince Charles and the Crusaders his wife and he started a group called Fatt Twice Together.
He still booked them [the Crusaders], they changed their name to the Dart. Our group was called The Last Resort. A club owner in Salem, Oregon liked our group, but not the name. So Gary suggested we change it to The Ultimate.
“Keep on Looking” was recorded January of 1969 in Salem, Oregon. The record made number one in the top forty in Great Falls, Montana. We could never get our record played in the Portland, Oregon radio market. It’s all about marketing and we were just working musicians.
After we left Gary’s booking agency, we added a horn player. Jim and I also played horns and changed our name to Five Straight Up. The members were all lead vocalists. The band became a rock show band, it was a great group. Jim Hemenway and I have worked together off and on for the past forty years.
Bill Walker
Scappoose, Oregon

Thanks to Bill and Jim for the information and the photo of the group. As an aside, Dart recorded a great 45 on Garland, “Genevieve”, written by Earl Chipley.

Categories: Bismark, Denton

The Chessmen (TX) – photos of the original band

June 11, 2008 Chris Bishop 17 Comments

This page only contains photos and info on the first lineup of the Chessmen – see the main entry on the Chessmen for the full story (so far) of this important band.

Ron DiIulio: "This is a group photo of the founding members of the Chessmen. Robert Patton on guitar, Tommy Carter on bass, Tommy Carrigan on drums, and me on piano. — Ron DiIulio: “This is a group photo of the founding members of the Chessmen. Robert Patton on guitar, Tommy Carter on bass, Tommy Carrigan on drums, and me on piano. This was taken by a professional photographer on the stage at the Campus Theater in Denton when George Rickrich was managing the band.

Ron DiIulio sent these incredibly rare photos of the initial lineup of the Chessmen. Ron enrolled at North Texas State University in Denton in the fall of 1964, where he met Tommy Carter in the dorms. Together they started the Chessmen along with Robert Patton and Tommy Carrigan.

They started by playing at basketball games and football pre-game rallies. At the start of 1965 they signed a management contract with George Rickrich, owner of the Fine Arts Theatre in Denton. George had them play between movie screenings, hired a photographer to take promotional photos, immediately brought them into a studio for their first record and began booking them for shows outside of Denton.

Ron left the Chessmen around May, 1965, but joined two other bands at NTSU, The Rejects and The New Sound. In 1966 Ron left NTSU and transferred to Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, to study piano with Van Cliburn, a Shreveport native. Ron joined The Group (who recorded as Noel Odom & the Group) and later the Bad Habits, among other bands – quite a musical resume!

The photos below link or expand to higher resolution versions, click if you want to see more detail.

Another from the Chessmen's first photo session, January 1965 — Another from the Chessmen’s first photo session, January 1965

Denton Record-Chronicle, February 7, 1965 Tommy Gayle is listed as featured singer with the Chessmen

Fine Arts Theatre in 1977 photo from the University of North Texas library

"first Denton public appearance", February 8, 1965 — “first Denton public appearance”, February 8, 1965

Denton Record-Chronicle, February 12, 1965

"fresh from Frankie Avalon tour", April 1965 — “fresh from Frankie Avalon tour”, April 1965

At Louann’s in Dallas, April 1965. “This was a popular SMU hangout during the mid-sixties. We were the house band there for a year!”

“A large advertising board went with us for every gig! George Rickrich, our manager, really did promote. In fact we had both a Continental and a hearse to go to the shows in.”

"Taken before an engagement at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas." — “Taken before an engagement at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas.”

Announcement for the Chessmen at the Fine Arts Theatre, Denton, between movie shows. Denton Chronicle-Record, February 12, 1965

IRI Studios, February 1965: “Our first recording session, which was completed at International Recording Inc., in Dallas. We recorded our first 2 single (45rpm’s!) at this studio.” These songs are “Dreams and Wishes” and “Save the Last Dance for Me”, released on Bismark 1010.

"Tommy Carter and me working out parts during one of our recording sessions at IRI studios." — “Tommy Carter and me working out parts during one of our recording sessions at IRI studios.”

"From IRI recording studio in Dallas, taken from behind the matching tan Fender guitar amps. (Our manager wanted us to have the latest gear! so he bought it for us!)." — “From IRI recording studio in Dallas, taken from behind the matching tan Fender guitar amps. (Our manager wanted us to have the latest gear! so he bought it for us!).”

Thank you to Ron DiIulio for sharing his unique photo collection.

Categories: Cosdel, RCA Victor, Singapore

The Trailers

June 9, 2008 Steven Farram Leave a comment

The Trailers was one of the most versatile and talented bands to emerge from Singapore in the 1960s. Formed sometime in 1964 by Victor Woo (lead guitar) and Eric Tan (bass), the band had a number of line-up changes before they released their first 45 in mid 1966 with Benny Koh (vocals), Edmund Tan (rhythm guitar), Tony Zee (drums) and Michael Teo (keyboards).

That first single contained the group’s original composition “Do It Right” backed with the instrumental “Thunderball” (Cosdel CSP-1007). The single went on to be a number one seller in Singapore. Check out the fans at a Trailers dance shown on the single’s cover. Sunglasses were pretty hip in Singapore in 1966!

Later in 1966 the Trailers had another hit with their second single, another original, the excellent “Don’t Laugh (You’ll Cry)”, backed with a great version of Little Richard’s “Lucille” (Cosdel CSP-1008).

This was followed in early 1967 by an all instrumental EP, O.B. a Go Go (Cosdel CEP-3001) with new keyboardist Jimmy Chan, that yielded one of their most evergreen tunes, “Phoenix’s Theme”, which apparently is still a feature of many Singaporean Chinese New Year celebrations. Another standout tune is “Alisan”, based on a Taiwanese folk-song that praises the beauty of the Taiwanese maidens from the island’s highest peak. “Ding Ding Song” is also based on a Chinese tune and “Lara’s Theme”, from the film Dr Zhivago, is the odd one out. My copy of this EP is a bit rough, but it has a slightly different cover to all the other copies I have seen.

In late 1967 the Trailers released two more EPs which I haven’t heard yet, but in 1968 they had another line-up change when Patrick Foo replaced Jimmy Chan on keyboards.

In late 1968 they released what I believe is their last recording, the fine Big 4 EP (Cosdel CEP-3003) with the original “I’m Ready Now”, the instrumental “Peter Gunn” and two covers, “Raise Your Hand” and “Gimme Little Sign”. Eric and Victor provide saxophone on some of the tracks on this EP and all are handled very well, although “Gimme Little Sign” is not really my cup of tea.

The liner notes on this last EP claim it appeared four years after the band’s debut, which would date it at 1970, but this is almost certainly wrong. All the Trailers recordings appeared on the Cosdel label, but starting in early 1968 a number of Cosdel artists received international release through an arrangement with RCA. The catalogue number SGE 0005 would place this EP as one of the first such releases. Actually, the Trailers appeared on the first recording that appeared as part of this deal when they backed three young girl singers called the Tidbits, who got to make a record as part of their prize for winning a talent contest. The tunes the girls tackle on that EP are not really the sort of thing the Trailers would go for I imagine. The Trailers, did however, provide the backing on at least three EPs for a pretty cool Singapore singer called Lara Tan, who may or may not have been related to Eric or Edmund Tan.

The band reunited to appear at a couple of 60s nostalgia concerts in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

For more information about the Trailers check out the article by Joseph Pereira that appeared in Fancy Mag a few years back.

Their second, and arguably best 45, Don't Laugh (You'll Cry) — Their second, and arguably best 45, Don’t Laugh (You’ll Cry)

Trailers Cosdel 45 Don't Laugh (You'll Cry)

Categories: California, Highland, Unknown

The Runaways

June 3, 2008 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

I don’t know anything about the Runaways, there’s just this one fine 45 from 1966. From the opening melody played on a twelve string and bass in unison, the band moves through “It Don’t Mean a Thing” in all of 1:45. Vocals and drumming are solid, and the guitarist lays down a solo that barely strays from repeating the melody line!

Terry Johnson wrote both songs on the 45, the flip being the weeper “Please Do”. This was released as Highland 1170, with production by Phonic Arts.

The Highland label was owned by Sid Talmadge, releasing 45s from 1958 through 1980. Sonny Bono was doing A&R for Highland at this time and had a 45 on Highland 1160 as ‘Sonny’ – “I’ll Change” / “Try It Out on Me”. Perhaps he was involved in bringing them to the label.

Other garage 45s on Highland include the Insects’ “Girl That Sits There” / “Then You Came My Way” and Harry Hellings & the Radials’ “Tale of a Crystal Ship”.

Categories: Belgium, Disc AZ

Delizia

May 30, 2008 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

Delizia is the sister of Salvatore Adamo, who wrote all the songs on this EP from about 1966. By this time Adamo was a major pop star singing primarily ballads in French. Their parents were Sicilian, and the family emigrated to Belgium in 1947.

I’m not sure how much success Delizia had. She seems to have recorded occasionally into the 1970s.

“J’ai rendez-vous” is the garage track on this one, upbeat ye-ye with horns, Hammond and blasts of fuzz! I wouldn’t overlook the delicate “Laissons passer les annees,” though that is a whole other kind of music. My copy is Spanish, hence the translated song titles listed on the cover.

Categories: Florida, Orlando, Pine Hills, Tener

The Malemen

May 29, 2008 Chris Bishop 12 Comments

Updated April 2011

I really like this 45. “My Little Girl” has rockabilly-style guitar with a light touch and drumming to match. “She Means All the World to Me” is the ballad side, and a great one if you can dig the slowness.

The T4KM- prefix in the coding signifies a RCA custom press from the first half of 1966. This predates other 45s I know of on the Pine Hills (PH) label. Don Gore ran the studio in the Pine Hills neighborhood, just west of downtown Orlando. H.F. Gore may have been the same person, or a relative, but he’s credited with producing this 45. H.F. Gore also had a country 45 backed by the Undertakers.

Jeff Lemlich’s Savage Lost mentions that the Malemen backed Sue Pennie on her Dunmar 45 “Ghost Town” / “He’s Everything I Need”, which I’ve never heard or seen. They also covered “Norweigan Wood” for the rare Bee Jay Booking Agency LP 12 Groovy Hits, 12 Florida Bands on Tener.

I couldn’t find much concrete info on the Malemen until guitarist Randy Bushee contacted me.

I played in a couple of good bands in Orlando during the ’60s … The Malemen and Oxford Blue. Also the Brass Opera at the Citizen’s Nation Bank building, downtown Orlando.
The Malemen during my time was Bill Avera on guitar, Ed Bacon on bass, his brother Larry Bacon on drums. Larry and I would switch off sets, I’d play drums a set while Larry played guitar, then we’d switch off. We played Beatles, James Brown tunes and I did a few ballads too.
I just met up with the drummer from Covington Tower (another group from Orlando). He gave me an old newspaper clipping about Don Gore. It has a picture of The Malemen while I was in the band. I don’t remember recording but the picture is of me and them and the story is about his recording place in Pine Hills. I was with the Malemen before or after those recordings.
Oxford Blue was a “soul band,” we had a horn section. We did several of the Blood Sweat & Tears hits as well as the James Brown type of stuff. I was pleased to see that old Orlando Youth Center Schedule with our name on it [see the State of Mind entry].
I wrote “Alice in Wonderland” in 12th grade. It was about my then girlfriend, Alice. I sang it at my 12th grade talent show, I won it too. The other side of the record was a cover of Carole King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”. We were a band with horn section and put our own touch to it. I did a lot of work with Eric Schaubacher at BeeJay in Oxford Blue. Eric went on to a successful career. You can see him at Winter Wood studios in the Ozark mountains where he has a resort style recording studio with many gold records hanging on the wall. Oxford Blue got together a while back for a reunion.
Larry is a retired sheriff now playing music with Patty Mann in Colorado. Eddie, Larry’s brother is a retired US Marine. Not sure what Bill is doing yet. I am trying to find those guys. My emails to them keep bouncing so they must have new ones. I just moved back to FL after being gone almost 30 years. I am still pretty active playing in bands even at the young age of 62!
Randy Bushee

Randy sent this profile of Don Gore and the Malemen from, I believe, the Orlando Evening-Star. It discusses the start of Pine Hills Recording in detail, saying that Don Gore put over $12,000 into buying Ampex decks, a Gates mixing board, a Fisher Eco-Reverb and a Rekokut dub cutter. He started the studio as much out of interest in recording engineering as in turning a profit. “‘Kids used to use my place to practice,’ he said. ‘There wasn’t any place in the area to record.'” Pine Hills had only a few small hits around the Orlando area, but Don’s legacy will include all the good music he recorded.

The article also mentions upcoming releases – a country disc by Jerry Morris & John Lindy’s String Band and a rock group called the Thunders. I’m not sure if these ever saw release. Jeff Lemlich tells me “The Thunders were probably the Fabulous Thunder. They were from the Orlando area, and were booked by Bee Jay (the guys behind the Tener label). The only 45 of theirs I know is ‘So Hold Me Tight’/’Jealous Of You’, on Tight 3606 from January 1966”.

Profile of Pine HIlls Recording Company’s Don Gore and the Malemen, Orlando Evening-Star

Categories: Louisiana, Paula, Shreveport

The Bad Habits

May 26, 2008 Chris Bishop 24 Comments

There were two almost completely unrelated groups that released records on the Paula label as the Bad Habits. The first group were originally known as Debbie and the Lads, and members included Debbie Folse on vocals, Pershing Wells on guitar and Ronnie Plaisance on keyboards. They had one 45 that I know of under this name, “Dear Lord Above” / The Man Who Comes Around” on the Ladd label out of Raceland, though the label spells her name Debbie Falls.

An oft-repeated rumor has it that Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett were the Bad Habits under a different name, but this is wrong. There are two likely reasons for the rumor: the first lineup of the Bad Habits covered two Delaney and Bonnie songs, and a there is some similarity in vocal style between Debbie Folse and Bonnie Bramlett.

You can read about the first lineup of the Bad Habits at Funky 16 Corners.

After three singles with some light chart action this group disbanded and their producer Gene Kent handed the name to the remaining members of the Group (Noel Odom and the Group), who had recorded three 45s for the Tower and Uptown labels.

Noel Odom was no longer in the band by the time they became the Bad Habits, but their first 45 included one of his compositions, “Thank You for the Love”. Vocals were now handled by Ron DiIulio, who also took over as principal songwriter and producer for the band. Ron wrote “Images: The City”, the b-side to their second record and co-wrote “Touch the Sun” with Jack Russell.

Fred Engelke talked to me about their time as the second lineup of the Bad Habits:

After Noel left and joined the Navy we became an 8 then 7 piece band called The Bad Habits and recorded three records on the Paula/Jewel label. We picked up the name when Gene Kent began managing us.
The Bad Habits were anchored by members of the old Group: Bob Fell on guitar, Ron DiIulio on keyboard, I on drums, and Sonny Williams on bass. Later Sonny left the band and was replaced by Nick Pratt on bass. We added horns; sax, trombone, and two trumpets and later went to trombone and two trumpets. The sax player was Rick Folse (I don’t know if there is a relation). Rick was actually a member of the original Bad Habits. He stayed with the group for maybe a year and then moved back to Cutoff, La. and became a disk jockey.
You may have noticed the high pitch of the lead singer on The Bad Habit’s “Bad Wind” and “Thank You For The Love”. The same person (Ron DiIulio) sang the lead on both sides of each record. We got the higher pitch by recording the track in one key and the slowing the tape down to a lower key to record the vocals and the returning the tape to the original speed to master the record. On “Bad Wind” the drums (at least the fills) were recorded in an echo chamber at the studio to get the “big” sound. On “Images: The City” there are so many changes that during the session I would forget what came next. So after SEVERAL attempts at getting all the way through it, we would just start somewhere before the place I screwed up and continue on. Later we spliced everything together.
Touch the Sun was the b-side of our last record “Louie Louie”. We (at least I) were pretty frustrated with the music business because we kept trying to put out what we thought were good songs but they were going nowhere. So we did Louie Louie (we had our own take on it) because it was always a big hit when we played at dances. I actually liked “Touch the Sun” better.

Thank you to Fred Engelke for his help with this article.

Bad Habits 45s on Paula

1st group (with Debbie Folse):
Paula 327 – Night Owl / It’s Been A Long Time Coming (1970)
Paula 333 – My Baby Specializes / Born On The Bayou (1970)
Paula 342 – I Don’t Wanna Discuss It / If The Whole World Stopped Loving (1971)

2nd group:
Paula 353 – Thank You For The Love / My Days Are Numbered (1971)
Paula 370 – Bad Wind / Images: The City (1972)
Paula 374 – Touch the Sun / Louie, Louie (1972)

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