The Dagenites, late 1965. l-r: Julian Bardi, Jimmy Musgrove, Roger Fallin, Jon Rowzie and John Bardi
The Dagenites were a great band from Oxon Hill, Maryland who formed in 1964 and cut two crucial garage 45s in their short time together. Original members were John Bardi lead guitar, Bruce Kennett rhythm guitar, Geoff Robinson bass and Roger Fallin drums. Their name came from Dagenham, a working class suburb of London where John Bardi’s mother grew up.
They shared a manager with Link Wray, leading to weekly bookings with Wray at the 1023 Club.Because of a connection Bruce’s father had with the owner of Pixie records, the band traveled to Megacity Studio in Dayton, Ohio in the early spring of 1965 to record their first 45, “I Don’t Want to Try It Again,” an original by Geoff Robinson. John Bardi’s guitar drives the verses and before his wild lead break you can hear someone shout “Play it J.B.!” Lyrics are hard to make out, though it’s clear the singer is trying to get out of an entanglement with a girl.
The flip side is Bruce Kennett’s original “Now That Summer’s Gone,” which the band would re-record for their second record. The Pixie label also released also released 45s by Bittervetch and Dave and the Stone Hearts.
Record collector Mike Markesich told an interesting story about this 45:
The initial pressing run for promo copies of The Dagenites 45 printed the name of the group on the label incorrectly as the Joy Boys, and the label name as Fencoe. I own a copy of this 45. Someone at the record company affixed corrected labels by pasting them over the errant labels (I also have the detached corrected labels for both sides). There were probably a few hundred that went out this way. The rest were correct, as are the yellow label stock copies.
After the band members graduated from high school in 1965, the lineup changed. Geoff Robinson and Bruce Kennett left to be replaced by Bardi’s brother Julian on bass and Jon Rowzie on guitar. Jimmy Musgrove was added as vocalist.
John Bardi describes the next phase of the band’s career:
Ron Barnett got us the contract with Heigh Ho records. There was what we were told was a nationwide talent search. My brother and I applied, Ron (a beatnik looking character probably in his mid-20’s, maybe a few years older) auditioned us and we won! He wanted to call us the “Howling Wolves” and have a trained wolf appear with us when we performed. We of course mocked the idea, but he had such an air of certainty about him, and he DID have this recording contract, that we went along. He had big ideas. I once heard that he had become a successful producer (I can believe it), but apart from that, I never heard anything about him after our short time together.
The band traveled to New York City to record their next 45 “I’m Gone Slide” released on Heigh-Ho in September, 1965. The song is credited to Barnett, who supplied the words and idea for the song, though John Bardi arranged the music. John says, “A studio musician was hired to record an organ part for ‘I’m Gone Slide.’ He had played on the Wilson Pickett ‘Mustang Sally’ sessions (which at the time had not yet been released) and during breaks regaled the band with stories about those recently completed sessions. He played a rough cut of ‘Mustang Sally’ in order to try to influence the band in their approach to ‘I’m Gone Slide.'” For the flip they included a new version of “Now That Summer’s Gone.”
Two other tracks were recorded at the New York sessions, “The Fugitive” and “Poison Ivy,”. These songs were pressed with a Heigh Ho label and released in early 1966, though perhaps on a promotion-only basis as copies are extremely rare now. “The Fugitive” earned a pick hit review in Record World Magazine.
“The Fugitive” (“Once I was a respected man, but then they said I killed with my hands….”) was going to be offered as the theme song for the TV show the Fugitive, but the show was cancelled that summer. John believes it would have been the first rock style TV theme song.
There was also a second version of “I Don’t Want to Try It Again” recorded. This one had smooth vocal harmonies and a wild guitar break, and it was also released on the Heigh-Ho label. Like “The Fugitive” it was not released widely, and in fact only one copy is rumored to exist.
John wrote to me, “I still play, but the innocent immediacy of those days is long gone” – as fine a summary of the appeal of this music as I’ve ever seen.
Gina C. writes, “On June 28, 2008 Jimmy Musgrove threw a party in Benedict, Maryland reuniting all of the members of the Dagenites. They were tighter then ever and brought the house down of close to 200 class mates and friends of Oxon Hill High School.”
l to r: Roger Fallin, Bruce Kennett, John Bardi, Geoff Robinson, Jimmy Musgrove, Julian (Lenny) Bardi, and Gus Perrotta; and in front Kenny McConkey
I’m sorry to report that Jimmy Musgrove passed away on September 9, 2010.
The Distant Sounds at Killdeer Island Club, Webster, MA. From left: Jimmy Duszlak, Ben Bembenek, Billy Meagher, Dennis Casaubon, and Bob Stockdale.
The Distant Sounds came out of Bartlett High School in Webster, Massachusetts, about 15 miles south of Worcester.
“It Reminds Me”, written by drummer Dennis Casaubon, is a fine example of New England garage. The band’s name is appropriate given the somewhat murky recording quality, but I think it all adds up to a great record. The guitarist picking notes off chords combines well with the keyboards in the background. The vocal harmonies are great and I like the crude guitar solo.
The flip is a slow surf instrumental called “Dreamin'”, written by Ben Bembenek. The record was pressed at the Rite plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, a low-cost plant used by many bands at the time, and released on the Citation label.
Rhythm guitarist Bob Stockdale wrote to me about the Distant Sounds:
Billy Meagher was the lead singer and Jimmy Duszlak played bass guitar. I played rhythm guitar and Ben Benbebek played lead guitar. Ed Catteau later joined the group on keyboard. I think Ed was from Charlton MA.
We played a lot of dances at the Killdeer Island Club in Webster Ma. We also played at many places in the surrounding towns. It was nice money for school kids. On some weekends we made $50 plus each, if we had 2 gigs. We once played in Connecticut as an opening act to the Turtles. Dennis Casaubon’s dad set us up to play in New York City. His brother was a priest and provided a place to sleep a couple nights in the Big Apple.
Ben, Jimmy and I graduated from Bartlett High School in the ’60s in Webster MA. Dennis was a summer resident of Webster but went to High School in Southbridge MA, his hometown. Billy went to St.Louis High in Webster and was tragically hit by a car and killed in the late sixties … early ’70s?
Ben went to Berkley School of Music and still plays. I actually saw Ben a few months ago. I believe Dennis stuck with music as well. I never continued with the guitar playing and found other interests.
I’ve seen a signed copy of the record that has Denis Casaubon’s first name spelled with one “n” in Denis.
Thank you to Bob Stockdale for adding information about the group, and for the photo and business card.
Something of a mystery, my understanding is that although their second 45 has a Brooklyn, NY address on the label, the band was actually from Springfield, NJ.
The misspelled “Your Gona Break My Heart” has some cool slide effects on the intro, a fine guitar break and lots of echo. It was released with the band listed as the Abstrack Sound, on the CBM label in 1966, with a moody “Judge Him If You Can” on the flip.
On their second record, the stomping “I’m Trying” backed with the wild “Blacked Out Mind”, they’re called the Abstract Sound. This one was released twice in 1967, on the Gray Sounds and Sound of Soul labels, and was produced by E. M. Gray.
Bill Monetti and C. Catena wrote their songs, along with Denis Dreher on the second 45. However, the Gray Sounds release lists Dreher as co-writing “I’m Trying” while the Sound of Soul release gives him co-credit on “Blacked Out Mind”. BMI lists him on both songs along with Monetti, and drops Catena altogether! Obviously someone screwed up the credits somewhere along the way. To make things still more confusing, the labels are reversed on my copy!
Anyone have a photo of the group or scans of the CBM or Sound of Soul labels?
The Oxfords came out of Louisville, Kentucky in 1964, led by drummer Jim Guest. At some point they were calling themselves the Rugbys, as a photo has turned up that features the early Oxfords lineup with Guest, but all in rugby shirts. That band continued as the Rugbys, but without Guest.
Eventually Guest formed a whole new Oxfords band with members of the Spectres: Jay Petach on guitar and keyboards, Bill Tullis and Danny Marshall on guitars and Bill Turner on bass, and continued as the Oxfords.
Marshall and Turner left before this 45, to be replaced by Ronnie Brooks and Ray Barrickman on guitar and bass respectively. This lineup recorded the excellent song “Time and Place”, written by Tullis, Petach and Guest. The a-side was a cover of the Bacharach/David song “There’s Always Something There to Remind Me”.
Buzz Cason produced the record – he also produced the Us Four and ran the Rising Sons label.
It was originally released on the Our Bag label in December, 1966, and soon picked up for national release by Mala. Their next 45 showed the band going in a totally different direction, making light pop influenced by psychedelia. “Sun Flower Sun” features flute and sitar while “Chicago Woman” is slightly bluesy, but the concessions to trends of the day didn’t result in any chart action.
Jim Guest left while the band continued in the pop vein, releasing an lp Flying Up Through the Sky with Jill DeMarco on vocals in 1970, and a novelty song Come On Back to Beer on the Paula label before breaking up in 1972.
Jerry Lister sent this history of the band written by Jay Petach:
In 1964 I was a sophomore in high school, and like everyone else, was in awe of the Beatles. I had been playing guitar for a year or so and was having the usual problems keeping a band together for more than a week. I somehow managed to steal the best players from several groups that I had been practicing with.
I finally had a band that was good enough to actually play gigs. The group was called “The Spectres”. I played lead guitar, my high school classmates Bill Tullis and Bill Turner were lead singer and bass guitar respectively. Danny Marshall, a friend from another school, played rhythm, and Glenn Howerton played drums. That same year, a band known as “The Oxfords” was getting a lot of attention in Louisville.
In 1965 a rift between the Oxfords’ leader and drummer Jim Guest and the other four members caused that group to split up. Because we had all seen each other’s bands, Jim asked us if we’d like to play with him and become the Oxfords. This worked well, since the other guys in Jim’s group liked our drummer better. The two bands swapped drummers and we became the Oxfords. The other guys with Glenn became the Rugbys. They chose this name because they wore rugby shirts when they played.
In 1966 the Oxfords entered a recording studio for the first time. Bill Turner had been replaced by bassist Ray Barrickman, and Danny Marshall had been replaced by guitarist Ronnie Brooks. The first thing we recorded was the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me”. Gene Synder, our booking agent sent a rough mix to Nashville producer Buzz Cason. Buzz liked it, came to Louisville to help us finish it, and most importantly, got us a record deal with Bell Records.
Ray Barrickman sang the lead vocal on this song, but in the fall of 1966 he left the band to attend college out of town. Ronnie Brooks then switched to playing bass, and Bill Tullis started playing rhythm guitar. So when the song was finally released, we had to try to cover the record on gigs with Bill Tullis singing the lead vocal. This worked (more or less), since PA systems weren’t all that good in those days. However, shortly after the record’s release, the song was quickly recorded by another group and our air play all but stopped.
We recorded our second record “Sun Flower Sun”, which was also released on Bell records in 1967. This record made an appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in the “Rate the Record” segment. With a score of only 65, the single was effectively doomed.
Later in 1967 Ronnie left the band and was replaced by bassist Garry Johnson. Garry then left after several months to play bass in the newly-formed Louisville group Elysian Field, with guitarist Frank Bugby and drummer Marvin Maxwell.
A few years ago Ronnie Brooks wrote several songs for Hank Williams, Jr. Ronnie was invited to the recording session, and as he was talking with Hank he heard someone call out his name. It was Ray Barrickman, who was playing bass in Hank Williams, Jr.’s band. Ronnie is now a music producer in Nashville and was the voice of the middle Budweiser Frog in the TV commercials.
Ronnie’s older brother Randy, was a high school classmate and good friend of mine. A few years ago Randy wrote the timeless Christmas classic “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”.
Meanwhile back in the 60’s, there was an all-girl band in Louisville known as The Hearby. Jim Guest and I liked their sound and helped them make their first and only record. I was particularly interested in their lead singer Jill DeMarco.
In 1968 our group evolved again. This time, drummer Jim Guest was replaced by Donnie Hale, Dill Asher became the bass player, and most significantly, I asked Jill to join the group.
This was the group that recorded the bulk of the LP material. Donnie’s friend Keith Spring was a brilliant musician and orchestrator. Keith agreed to do the orchestrations for the album cuts and played on the recording sessions. Keith, also played in the group for a short time in 1968. However, the musical direction we were going with Keith was far too esoteric for the gigs we were playing (we actually played regularly at Fort Knox during the Viet Nam War). Keith later went on to work with actor/musician Martin Mull and legendary rock group NRBQ. That year we got to open for Frank Zappa and the Mothers at a Louisville rock club and for The Grateful Dead at Bellarmine College.
In 1969, Dill Asher was replaced by bassist Larry Holt, and Donnie Hale was replaced by drummer Paul Hoerni (brother of the Rugby’s bass player Mike Hoerni). We recorded several more album cuts and the group’s last single “Come On Back To Beer”, which was inspired by our contact with Frank Zappa. This single was released on Paula Records and made it to number one on rock radio in Louisville.
In 1970 the album was finally finished. Although we had offers from two record labels, we were uncomfortable with both deals. The labels wanted total control, along with buy-outs of all materials and rights. We decided to release and promote the record ourselves.
In 1971, out of the frustration of not being able to play enough original songs on our gigs, I got heavily involved with a theatrical production that I had written. My show was a rock musical called “Grease”. It happed simultaneously with another more-famous production by the same name that was just starting in Chicago. The Oxfords got all greased up and became the pit band for the show. It ran for several weeks on the University of Louisville campus and was also performed in Atlanta and at the University of Kansas.
At that same time, I had gotten a notice from Selective Service to report for a draft physical. I fasted for two weeks and weighed only 117 pounds (10 pounds underweight for my 5′-11″ height) at the time of the physical. Because of this, however, I didn’t have enough strength to support the weight of my guitar and also sing. I decided I’d switch to playing flute and we added keyboardest Jerry Lister to the group. We recorded “The City” with this group, but it was never released on vinyl.
Finally in 1972, Paul, Larry, and Jerry all left the band. Quentin Sharpenstein, became the bass player. Quentin had played tuba on the orchestra overdub session for our album four years earlier. Guitarist Tony Williamson, a good friend of Larry, and jazz drummer Bobbie Jones also joined the group. Jill played both guitar and clavinet at various times, and I played a Hammond organ and Rhodes piano.
That same year, Danny King, a friend of mine, opened a recording studio. I volunteered the band’s services in trade for stud io time, and soon became the studio’s engineer. I wasn’t paid, but I used this opportunity to record most of the later cuts on the CD.
By this time, it was becoming obvious (even to me) that the Oxfords were not on the road to rock stardom. Jill was especially tired of the situation, the other musicians had opportunities to play with other groups, and I had discovered that my passion was working in a recording studio.
The group disbanded for good in the summer of ’72. But hey, that’s the cool thing about recording…the music lives on!
The Blue Birds formed in the port town of Piraeus, near Athens. They were one of the first Greek garage bands, releasing a national hit “Julie” in 1965 on Philips. The flip, “Way to Heaven” is supposed to be a good, moody song, but I haven’t heard it because I have the ROL release, in which Julie is backed with an instrumental number by different band. The ROL label 45s were given away to promote ROL laundry detergent!
Their next 45 was also released on both Philips and ROL, both sides included this time. Sweet “Polly” / “Just Remember” are both excellent garage numbers, with fantastic farfisa organ playing and good harmonies.
Two other early singles are highly rated, but with a change in lineup in 1967, their music developed with psychedelic and folk influences. They stopped singing in English and wrote songs with Christian themes to the lyrics. In total the Bluebirds released thirteen 45s and one fine album, Xylinos Stavros (Wooden Cross).
Magic Mushrooms publicity photo taken by Ted Cahill in Philadelphia, Fall, 1966
Five students at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia formed the Magic Mushrooms. Original members were Stu Freeman vocals and guitar, Ted Cahill lead guitar and autoharp, Dick Richardson keyboards, Charles Ingersol on bass and Joe LaCavera on drums.
Allen Ginsberg gave them the Magic Mushrooms name after a campus lecture in late 1965. In early 1966, Josh Rice joined the band on vocals, flute and harmonica.
Sonny Casella heard the band playing at Drexel University and became their manager. Contrary to previous reports, he did not sing or play in the band, but he was responsible for mixing, arranging and producing their records.
They recorded their first 45 in New York, “It’s A-Happening”, an original credited to Casella and Rice, but perhaps really written by Stu Freeman and Josh Rice. A bizarre psychedelic montage, it was released on A&M in September, 1966 and reached as high as #93 on the Billboard charts in November, backed with another original, “Never More”.
A close comparison could be made to the Electric Prunes, but unfortunately we’ll never know how far a record this strange could go – when Herb Alpert of A&M realized the drug reference in the band’s name, he pulled the record from the shops and ended their relationship with the label.
Item in Billboard, August 19, 1967.
Despite this setback the band hooked up with Philips for their second record, “Look in My Face”, which didn’t chart. However, it was backed with the intense “Never Let Go”, an original by Stu Freeman and Josh Rice and my favorite track by the band.
Their final release is the corny “Municipal Water Maintenance Man” on the East Coast label, hiding a very fine hippie-ish track on the b-side, “Let the Rain Be Me”, another Freeman/Rice song.
Magic Mushrooms on stage, from left: Chris Barbieri, Stu Freeman, Joe LaCavera and Josh Rice. Out of frame: Bob Grady and Ted Cahill.Manager Sonny Cassella, Ted Cahill, Stu Freeman, Chris Barbieri and Josh Rice taking a break from recording
Lead guitarist Ted Cahill and vocalist and guitarist Stu Freeman have filled in some details on the band:
Ted Cahill:
I was the lead guitar playing for The Magic Mushrooms. I am still in touch with Stu Freeman, and Joe Lacavera, the drummer.
The original bass and keyboard players were replaced, I think, in the Spring of 1966. Those guys were replaced by Chris Barbieri (bass) and Bon Grady (keyboards). They had both been in a band with Stu in Westchester County, NY before Stu came to Penn.
That summer we played the Jersey shore at a place called Tony Mart’s in Somers Point. We had a dispute with the owner later in the summer and quit. One of our lead singers had been sick and the guy docked us some money. Little did we know it was a mafia bar; our days of playing that part of the Jersey Shore was over. If you have ever seen the movie Eddie and the Cruisers, Tony Mart’s is the club where a lot of the action in the movie happens.
Chris Barbieri and Bob Grady
We played a lot around Philly, the Hy Lit show on TV, some bars around the city and lots of frat parties at Penn. We also were supposedly in a movie the Andy Warhol shot at Penn’s Mask and Wig Theater in Center City Philly, whether that really happened I don’t know, but we were asked to play the party there and there was filming going on.
We saw no reward for the Nuggets appearance, all the money we made was from the gigs we played.
Stu Freeman:
I grew up in New Rochelle and presently live in White Plains. The band I had in high school was called the “Foremost” and later the “Fiendish Thingies”. The other members were Barbieri, Grady and a guitar player named Lloyd McCool. All from Pelham Manor.
Barbieri and Grady replaced Charlie Ingersol and Dick Richardson in the Mushrooms after about a year. After about another year, Cahill, Josh Rice and drummer Joe LaCavera were out and the Mushrooms was composed of myself, a guitar player named Steve Rundle, bassist Pete Gries (both from Penn) and a couple of different drummers from around Philly.
“It’s a Happening” was recorded in Sigma Sound studios on Broad Street in Philly, NOT in New York. Engineer was Joe Tarsia, who worked with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff on all those great “Philly sound” records (Harold Melvin, MFSB, Ojays, Archie Bell, Jerry Butler, Soul Survivors, etc). Tarsia expanded and opened up a studio in NY after the huge success of the Philly studios.
Stu Freeman
Also, Allen Ginsberg did indeed provide the name “Magic Mushrooms” (he was speaking at a Penn function and Josh caught up with him and asked him for a suggestion). And, there was never any “David Rice” on guitar. BTW, Josh Rice is nephew of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Elmer Rice.Q. Did you ever see much in the way of royalties from It’s a Happening?
We all received some royalties from the original sales (eons ago), but interesting you should ask that, because one of my erstwhile Penn roommates and current good friend asked me a while ago, after noting the success of the “Nuggets” albums, if any royalties had been received from them. I told him no and he suggested that I investigate, but I never did. I have no idea where Josh Rice is so I never contacted him about it either. Casella owned much of the original publishing so he may have received something from “Nuggets” but it’s also possible the publishing had expired and he got nada.
I got involved with “Stars On 45” in 1981 with my current partner Ed Garr and we still play regularly (everything from weddings to CBS News holiday parties to Vegas conventions).
I believe Joey Gennetti was a later keyboard player for the group.
In 2011, acetates of two songs, “Pain” and “I’m All Ears”, turned up from a later version of the group that included only Stu Freeman and Josh Rice from the original six that had cut “It’s-A-Happening”.
Sonny Casella also helped produce the first record by The Snaps (later known as the Underground Balloon Corps) “You Don’t Want Me”/ “You’re All Mine”.
These Magic Mushrooms shouldn’t be confused with the California group the Magic Mushroom (singular) who recorded “I’m Gone” / “Cry Baby” on Warner Bros.
Photos from the collection of Ted Cahill. I am sorry to report that Ted passed away on March 16th, 2020.
Chris Barbieri and Ted Cahill, with Stu Freeman in backgroundJoe Lacavera of the Magic MushroomsJosh Rice of the Magic Mushrooms on harmonica“Joey Gennetti, our last keyboardist when I was with the band. He had an awsome Hammond B3 organ and Leslie cabinet. I piped some of my leads through the Leslie” quote by Ted CahillTed Cahill with his Gretsch Country Gentleman, Stu Freeman and Chris Barbieri during a practice
The Briks, left-right: Mike Meroney, Cecil Cotten, Richard Borgens, Lee Hardesty and Steve Martin
The Briks came from a band called the Embers who formed at Texas Tech in Lubbock in 1965, with Richard Borgens on vocals and lead guitar, Lee Hardesty on guitar, Bobby Daniels, and Steve Martin on drums. The band relocated to Denton, outside Dallas, and Gainesville, TX, where some of them attended Cooke County Junior College, a “home for the academically ill” as one teacher put it. There they met Cecil Cotten, who became their lead singer, and bassist Mike Meroney and changed their name to the Briks.
An early photo of the Briks, l-r: Lee Hardesty, Richard Borgens, Cecil Cotten, Steve Martin on drums, and Mike Meroney
Lee Hardesty wrote on the BigD60s site:
Some of the Briks lived at the Stella St. apartments for a while. Cecil, Steve, Reggie Lang (manager) and I had a place there and Tommy Carter was just down a few doors. Across the courtyard is where Bob Story and Johnny Hale lived and they were some wild and crazy guys! Just around the corner at the next complex is where “The Four Speeds” lived (later they became “Felicity”). That was a fun time for the most part but I think our apt. was a mess. Some of us were driving back and forth to CCJC in Gainesville at the time.
The Briks signed with the Bismark agency, run by George Rickrich, who also managed the Chessmen. Whit Snell of the Beefeaters remembers Rickrich this way:
George was the Godfather of the music scene in Denton. He and Charlie Hatchet from Austin controlled everything north of San Antonio all the way to the Oklahoma border. His so-called real job was Manager of the Campus Theater on the Denton square. Here, at the back and above the large dimly lit balcony, was George’s office, Bismark Agency, filled with movie posters, black and white photos of bands, food wrappers and heaps of clutter, scribbled phone numbers, scratched out and circled dollar figures. There, on his desk, were two or three black telephones, their rotary dials worn shinny silver from thousands of calls made by George’s stubby fingers.
Cecil Cotten at CCJC in 1966.Lee Hardesty adds: “George Rickrich started that laser light show in Forth Worth at the planetarium in the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. At one point I helped him with some of the electronics and got a bunch of free passes to the movie theater as payment.”
Their first recordings were distributed on acetates only. Both “I’m Losing” and “It’s Your Choice” are classic garage numbers and it’s a shame these weren’t released on 45.
There are two versions of “It’s Your Choice”. One features a twelve-string guitar, and the band takes the song at a fast pace. The other has an altogether tougher sound. On this version Cecil’s vocals are nothing less than menacing. The band generates an ominous, intense sound with Mike Meroney’s repetitive bass line, the jangling guitar, drum fills and occasional harmonies. There’s a good, trebly guitar solo and a neat break with just bass, drums and handclaps.
Steve Martin slams out the beat on “I’m Losing,” which also features their first use of a distortion pedal on the guitar. The band’s harmonies add to Cecil’s lead vocal but his voice still cuts through. It’s a great sound.
The Briks at Cook County Junior College, clockwise from bottom left: Mike Meroney, Reggie Lang (manager), Cecil Cotten, Richard Borgens, Lee Hardesty and Steve Martin
Lee Hardesty: I can’t speak for the differing versions. I remember recording them only once at Sellers (downtown Dallas). It was our first trip to the studio and I remember the engineer running out of the control room saying “There’s something wrong here! I’m hearing horrible distortion!!” We laughed because he had never heard a fuzztone before and didn’t know it was intentional. Actually he was probably right about the sound though. That was my original (homemade) fuzz box, built into a wooden English Leather box, and I imagine it probably did sound pretty horrible.
When we had finished recording we asked for a 45 and they cut us one right there on the spot (cutting lathe). We drove out to KBOX on flagpole hill (about midnight) and went around to the back of the building. I think the DJ was the only one there so we knocked on the window and he opened it to talk to us. We gave him the 45 and went back to our car and listened to it on the radio! What a thrill! Seems a little more difficult to get things on the radio these days.
At the Studio Club, 1966
The Briks released their first 45, the poppy “Can You See Me?” on Bismark in ’66, though garage fans love the flip side, “Foolish Baby”. Both sides are originals by Richard Borgens and Cecil Cotten. Dot label picked it up for national distribution and to promote the record the Briks traveled to Houston for shows at the Catacombs, around November of 1966.
Lee Hardesty: It was a big thrill the first time we played there. We were given some real star treatment, ads on the radio stations, radio station interviews, a dinner I believe. I think they might have been a little underwhelmed though because that stuff ended after our first night. It was a cool place (glad we didn’t use pyrotechnics back then!!) but I liked the parties and other dance halls better where it wasn’t so much of a show thing. I liked playing when people were dancing more.
Mike Meroney: I also recall that the Dot record rep showed up and threw records to the audience. I also recall that we changed outfits between each set and broke a guitar or two. How nutty was that? We appeared on the Larry Kane show during one of those trips to Houston. I remember listening to the Catacombs promos on the radio as we approached Houston – that would pump us up.
Lyrics to Foolish BabyOn one trip to the Catacombs they were overshadowed by the professionalism of Baton Rouge’s Greek Fountains.
Mike Meroney: We went back there several times with various versions of the band. The last gig there that I remember was a bit humbling. We were the headliners but they had another band that played during our breaks. All I remember was they were awesome, kind’a kicked our butts, and it was hard to get back up there and do a second set. They were some band from Louisiana and had real good players, PA, etc.
As I recall their name was the Greek Fountains or something like that. They were good. It seems like the most common technical challenges in those days were with PA systems. They never could seem to catch up with the rest of the stuff. As a bass player I felt techno disadvantaged as well. It was hard to keep up with the Hardesty. It was never loud enough or clear enough or punchy enough. The first set up that I felt even reasonably satisfied with was dual Kustom towers. This Louisiana band did have a good equipment setup including an awesome PA.
Another venue for the Briks was the legendary Louanns.
Cecil Cotten: We had to audition in order to play. The audition was done while Mrs. Bovis and her family were eating dinner. This was in 1966. There were two stages one on each end and another completely different room on the other side and yes a beer garden.
The Briks also played Sump N Else [local TV show hosted by Ron Chapman] and played two songs. “I’m A Man” (Yardbirds) and “Baby Let Me Take You Home” (Animals). I remember the window that allowed people to look in on the show while they were at the North Park Mall. It was like being in Hollywood for us. We were still in our late teens or early 20’s and felt invincible.
In a comment below which I’ll repeat here, Bud Buschardt writes:
The Briks appeared on the Sump’n Else show on October 10, 1966. The music log lists them playing a song called “Keep Down.” When a group appeared on the show, they also performed live for the pre-show warm up. Perhaps that is when they played the cover songs mentioned in the bio. Our music lists were often made out in a hurry before the show, so there could have possibly been a misunderstanding of the song title, especially if no one in the group remembers “Keep Down.”
What sounds like a studio version of “Baby Let Me Take You Home” exists, and it’s a great version with an intro that’s reminiscent of the riff to the Gentlemen’s “It’s a Cry’n’ Shame”, fine drumming, 12-string guitar and a rave-up ending. It’s likely the Briks recording came first – could it have influenced the Gentlemen’s legendary guitarist Seab Meador? In any case, I believe it was Animals’ guitarist Hilton Valentine who came up with that riff for “Baby Let Me Take You Home” in 1964.
At Taylor Ranch from left: Mike Meroney, Lee Hardesty, Cecil CottenIn August ’66 Cecil Cotten, Steve Martin, the band’s manager Reggie Lang, and Mike Neal of the Jackals all joined the Air Force together, drafted after they’d left Cooke County Junior College. Chris Vanderkolk replaced Steve Martin on drums. Paul Ray replaced Cecil on vocals, singing on a version of “Keep Down” recorded at IRL. It’s an interesting original with organ and descending bass line, and appeared years later with other Briks material on the old vinyl compilation Texas Punk vol. 7.
March 17-18, 1967 the Briks play at the Box in Fort Worth.
Paul Ray soon left to join the Cobras. Cecil was out of the service and back in the band by January, 1967, and Jamie Herndon came in on lead guitar, replacing Richard Borgens, who wanted to try production work and folk-oriented music.
Later that year the Briks released a second 45, a cover of Cream’s “NSU” b/w “From a Small Room”, an original by Borgens. Part of a show at the Northwood Country Club was recorded, the set list full of songs made famous by British bands: “Til the End of the Day”, “NSU”, “The Nazz Are Blue”, “Heart Full of Soul”, and “I’m a Man”. There’s also a live version of “Everybody Needs Someone to Love” that, to my ears, comes from an earlier live performance show. All of these are collected on Texas Punk vol. 8.
Lee Hardesty: I think that one of those unissued songs was actually recorded at Mike Meroney’s house using his father’s tape deck. The song “Over You” was an original by Jamie Herndon and the real title was “Green Green” if I’m thinking of the same thing here.
“Over You” has a lot of potential as a song, with moody, churning verses going into a brief ooh-ing “over you” and a short fast break. On the version I heard, the sounds of a guitar and bass doing some practice runs intrudes on the recording briefly about 35 seconds in.
The lyrics are hard to make out, but I can hear some snippets like “the sky is blue the night is black the sea is green …” The song finishes with an intense 12-string guitar solo that lasts a full minute over a bass line reminiscent of Cream’s “”Tales of Brave Ulysses”.
I’ve read they also cut a version of “It Won’t Be Wrong” but if so, I haven’t heard it.
The Briks after Cecil Cotten returned to the band Rear l-r: Mike Meroney, Chris Vanderkolk, Cecil Cotten. Front l-r: Lee Hardesty and Jamie Herndon
The Briks broke up by 1968 and Cecil joined a band with some members of the Chessmen, who had also just split. Cecil told me “Jimmy Rabbit managed a band called Texas which included Jimmy Vaughn guitar, Cecil Cotten vocalist, Tommy Carter bass, Billy Etheridge keyboards and on drums Sammy Piazza. We did some recording at Robin Hood Brians studio in Tyler (I would really like to have a copy of those tapes). We played only a few times and one of those times was opening for The Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart at Louanns in Dallas.”
In 1969, Cotten moved out to San Francisco with Benny Rowe of the Wig, Steve Karnavas of the Chaparrals, and Keith Ferguson, where they gigged as Benny, Cecil and the Snakes.
Richard Borgens sang on The Truth’s 45, “Chimes on 42nd Street” / “When Was Then”.
The Briks reunited once, in 1996 at White Rock Lake.
Lee Hardesty: It was really a pretty short run for the original Briks, just a year and a half or so, then another year or so with Paul and Chris and Jamie I would guess. A lot happened in a fairly short time and it was quite a while ago. If we’d only had a clue we should have been writing and recording a lot more. Richard had more talent in that area than we realized at the time, and so did Mike for that matter. Somehow I just don’t think I had any idea what we were doing or what the potential was. It was mostly just fun and a way to make some money. And it was a lot of fun sometimes.
I’m very sad to report that Cecil Cotten passed away on Friday, April 4, 2008 in Winnsboro, TX, at the age of 62. In recent years Cecil and former Briks bandmate Mike Neal recorded a CD of blues-inspired songs as The Pickin’ Cotten Band. I greatly regret I never met Cecil in person, and his music will always mean a great deal to me.
Update February 2020: I’m very sorry to write that Richard Borgens passed away on November 25, 2019. He was a faculty member at Purdue University and founded the Center for Paralysis Research “to develop clinical therapies for injury and disease of the human nervous system” and that he was “regarded as a preeminent researcher in spinal cord neuronal regeneration.”
Thank you to the BigD60’s site for the history and photos of the band, and to Andrew B. for contributing the transfer of the incredible acetate of “It’s Your Choice”.
Later photo of the BriksCecil Cotten of the Briks performing live on the train to Waco Denton Record Chronicle, December 8, 1965
The Raymarks formed in 1962 in Bremerton, Washington, across the Puget Sound from Seattle. They began as the Orbits, changing their name twice, first to the Galaxies, and in 1964 to the Raymarks. They embody the Pacific Northwest sound – playing tough organ-based r&b numbers with a heavy rhythm section with little or no British Invasion influences.
Their first 45 is a stomping version of “Work Song”, my favorite cut by the band. The flip, “Backfire” is a good instrumental. Mike Spotts wrote most of the band originals, including their second 45, the pounding “Louise”, which was mistakenly released under the name the Paymarks.
Their last 45 is another fine garage number, “I Believed”, again written by Spotts. The Raymarks also had several good songs that went unreleased at the time, including “Walking Down the Street”, “Feelin’ No Good”, “Hard Times” (which uses the same rhythm as “I Believed”) and an untitled piece.
Members included Mike Spotts on keyboards, Ken Huff and Chuck Snyder on guitars, Greg Pettit and Terry Carter on saxophone, Larry Trudeau bass, and Terry Selvidge on drums. Like the Wailers (whose live album At the Castle features singer Gail Harris), the Raymarks’ live shows included a female vocalist, Gail Davies, who is not on their studio recordings.
Chuck Snyder went to the Tacoma group the Noblemen in 1964. Ken Huff and Terry Selvidge were drafted in 1966 which spelled the end for the band.
The JuJus started as a trio doing a parody of the Beatles at Godwin high school in Grand Rapids in 1963. Members were Rod Shepard on guitar, Max “Junior” Colley on sax; and Bill Gorski drums, their name came from Max’s little brother’s pronunciation of “Junior”.
In 1964 the band added Ray Hummel III on vocals and guitar and Rod moved to the bass. Hummel had a distinctive voice, and his talent for folk-influenced songwriting changed the band’s sound. Later on Rick Stevens of the Paeans (who had an unreleased 45 recorded at Fenton) came in to play guitar.
The band played live shows at the Ponytail in Grand Rapids and nearby towns like Holland and Saugatuck. In 1965 worked out a deal with Dave Kalmbach of Great Lakes Recording to do their live act between films at the Hour Theater in exchange for recording time when the theater was closed.
Great Lakes was a vanity label: the bands had to cover all recording and pressing costs and do their own promotion. Studios were originally in Dave Kalmbach’s basement, then moved to the Hour Theater, and later to the nearby town of Sparta. Bands would chose whatever label name they wanted for their 45, Fenton being the most common choice. The records were pressed at the American Record Co. in Owosso, MI, later destroyed by fire in October, 1972. Rod Shepard says, “those records sold for about ninety-eight cents of which we ended up with about a dime.”
The Ju Jus first 45 had two Hummel originals, the amazingly powerful “You Treat Me Bad” and the fifties-sounding “Hey Little Girl”. The record did well locally, supposedly reaching #2 on a chart in western Michigan in October, 1965. The future looked good and Drummond Records of Detroit offered Ray Hummel a contract based on his songwriting. The band couldn’t sign because a newly-married Ray refused to tour out of state, and Ray soon left the band. He recorded a few solo pop 45s over the years, including “Gentle Rain” / “Fine Day” on Fenton with Max Colley playing sax and Bill Gorski on drums.
The JuJu’s had several personnel changes before making their next record. Brett Wells came in on vocals, and Bruce Essex, who had played guitar with Rick Stevens in the Paeans joined for part of 1966. Then Max Colley left and Bill Gorski was drafted, so the band found guitarist Ron Burke and drummer Ron Homrich. Before long Brett left and Ron Burke took over on vocals. Rick Stevens now became the primary songwriter for the band.
Though missing Ray’s unique vocals, their second 45, from 1966, is just as good as their first. “I’m Really Sorry” has been one of my favorite garage songs since I first heard it, and “Do You Understand Me” is a strong Stones-influenced punker with sharp guitar, buzzing sounds and broken glass. The United label is another band-financed record recorded through Fenton.
In the summer of ’67 their manager Jim Geeting opened The Island, a teen club in Ludington, in which the Ju Ju’s played regularly and supported touring national acts like the Kingsmen and the Electric Prunes. By this time the band had a tougher rock sound.
In late 1967 the band broke up as Rod Shepard and Rick Stevens went into the military. Rick Stevens joined the Air Force and later died in a plane crash in New Mexico. A number of unreleased songs recorded over the years at the Hope, Chess, and Phil Robert studios have yet to see commercial release. Until recently they were distributed on tape and CDR, but they are currently unavailable, and I haven’t heard them yet.
The Spectres formed at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, and then based themselves in Monroe, which is about halfway between Shreveport, LA and Jackson, Mississippi. Band members included Daniel Gilbert on lead guitar, Jim Steele on vocals, Sidney Boone on keyboards and vocals and Woodie Bardin on keyboards.
Their repertoire leaned heavily on soul songs, and they often played at the Dynasty in West Monroe.
Monroe was also the base for the N-Joy label, run by Rocky Robbins. Both sides of the Spectres 45 were written by Ron Gray and J.L. Carraway. Gray did A&R for the label and had his own group, the Countdowns, with whom he released three earlier 45s on the N-Joy label, some of which I hope to feature soon. I’d be interested to know why he had the Spectres record these songs instead of his own group.
“No Good, No Where World” has a neat keyboard riff, and a heavy beat. It’s well produced with a nice pop sensibility, while “High Stepper” is a bit of a throwaway, maybe closer to their live sound. My copy of the record has some serious Katrina/Rita water damage on the labels.
Jim Steele contacted me and also sent in the two songs from the later 45:
The writers Ron & Jerry were disc jockeys in Sherveport where we cut those two sides on N-joy at Sound on Sound Studios, which burned down many years ago. Other band members besides Daniel, Sidney, and Woodard were Terry Montgomery on bass – his brother the late Vince Mongomery played bass in the very popular band from Mississippi, The Gants, and our crazy drummer Billy Bass…he’s still crazy after all these years.
You’re right about “High Stepper” it should have been thrown away! The lyrics were handed to me as I was singing them. Sidney did the harmony. He did all the soul stuff. The band even changed to gold jackets for that part of the show. I sang on the Brit Invasion and pop stuff. Unfortuately Sidney died years ago..a very talented man. We all miss him.
For some reason Daniel didn’t play guitar on Stepper, Bobby Stampley, who played in The Uniques with his brother Joe played on it. We cut two more sides in the the fall of 66.
I got drafted in the Army in Aug of that year, but came home on leave and we went to Robin Hood Brians studio in Texas to record two songs that Daniel had written. “I Cried” and “Psychodelic Situation”. Their new singer also sang, but I forgot his name. They came out on Paula, Stan Lewis’ label in Shreveport. I recently found “I Cried” on an Aussie compilation, Wyld Sydes Vol5. Did you get your royalities Daniel? Since I got out of the Army, I’ve played in a few bands and worked in radio. I currently DJ at Classic Hits LA105.3 in Monroe, Louisiana.
“Psychodelic Situation” is not very mind-bending, but it’s a solid song, and “I Cried” is even better. Both sides were produced by Rocky Robin. Thank you Jim for your comments and for sending in these two songs.
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
The Dagenites were a great band from Oxon Hill, Maryland who formed in 1964 and cut two crucial garage 45s in their short time together. Original members were John Bardi lead guitar, Bruce Kennett rhythm guitar, Geoff Robinson bass and Roger Fallin drums. Their name came from Dagenham, a working class suburb of London where John Bardi’s mother grew up.
John Bardi describes the next phase of the band’s career:
The band traveled to New York City to record their next 45 “I’m Gone Slide” released on Heigh-Ho in September, 1965. The song is credited to Barnett, who supplied the words and idea for the song, though John Bardi arranged the music. John says, “A studio musician was hired to record an organ part for ‘I’m Gone Slide.’ He had played on the Wilson Pickett ‘Mustang Sally’ sessions (which at the time had not yet been released) and during breaks regaled the band with stories about those recently completed sessions. He played a rough cut of ‘Mustang Sally’ in order to try to influence the band in their approach to ‘I’m Gone Slide.'” For the flip they included a new version of “Now That Summer’s Gone.”
“The Fugitive” (“Once I was a respected man, but then they said I killed with my hands….”) was going to be offered as the theme song for the TV show the Fugitive, but the show was cancelled that summer. John believes it would have been the first rock style TV theme song.
The Distant Sounds came out of Bartlett High School in Webster, Massachusetts, about 15 miles south of Worcester.
The Oxfords came out of Louisville, Kentucky in 1964, led by drummer Jim Guest. At some point they were calling themselves 
Buzz Cason produced the record – he also produced 
The Spectres formed at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, and then based themselves in Monroe, which is about halfway between Shreveport, LA and Jackson, Mississippi. Band members included Daniel Gilbert on lead guitar, Jim Steele on vocals, Sidney Boone on keyboards and vocals and Woodie Bardin on keyboards.
“No Good, No Where World” has a neat keyboard riff, and a heavy beat. It’s well produced with a nice pop sensibility, while “High Stepper” is a bit of a throwaway, maybe closer to their live sound. My copy of the record has some serious Katrina/Rita water damage on the labels.