The Regents were house band at Jack Martin’s A.M-P.M. on La Cienega Blvd., one of the many discos that opened up to compete with the Whisky a Go Go.

In 1964 Capitol recorded the band at the club for an LP of standard songs of the day. I really dig their cover of James Booker’s instrumental, “Gonzo”.

Despite having a gatefold cover to fill with photos and notes, Live at the A.M./P.M. Discotheque doesn’t bother to list a single member of the band. I’ve read some members were originally from Bakersfield. Craig Boyd and Tom Baker had started in a group called the Raiders, then Tom joined the Midnight Flyers. Jerry Rosa had been in a band called the Defiant Ones.

Band members were:

Jerry Rosa – vocals and tambourine
Mike McDonald – vocals and lead guitar
Tom Baker – 12-string and rhythm guitar, replaced by Johnny Mann, then Marilyn Read
John Harris – bass
Craig Boyd – drums

David Axelrod produced the album. Domenic Priore’s book Riot on the Sunset Strip quotes Axelrod saying “Jack Martin’s AM-PM was the kind of place where you could order steak sandwiches, and a fistfight would break out every ten minutes. A lot of tough guys went there, so it didn’t last long.” Two songs from the album, “Sugaree” / “Mojo Workout” were released in Germany.

After the A.M./P.M. club closed, the band became the house band at It’s Boss. Following the LP they cut four singles for four different labels. First up was “She’s Got Her Own Way of Lovin'”, a good original by Mike McDonald backed with “When I Die, Don’t You Cry”, released on Reprise 0430 in November, 1965 and produced by Jack Nitzsche.

Tom Baker left in 1965 and the band hired Johnny Mann to replace him.

Next came “Summer Time Blues” / “You Don’t Love Me” on Peoria 008 in March of 1966, produced by John Harris.

Their third single has the original version of the very catchy Boyce/Hart song “Words”, later done by the Leaves, the Boston Tea Party and the Monkees, usually with a slower opening tempo than the Regents arrangement. I have a promotional copy that has “Words” on both sides of the record, but stock copies have the excellent b-side, “Worryin’ Kind” another fine original by McDonald.

This disk was produced by Norm Ratner and engineered by John Haeny and released in July 1966 on Penthouse 502, distributed by Mira. It was also released in the UK on CBS.

Their last 45 was “Russian Spy and I” written by Jackie Javellin (aka Casper Koelman) and originally done by the Dutch group the Hunters. The Regents version is probably the most well-known, at least here in the U.S. Though the Regents lift the opening riff directly from Hunters guitarist Jan Akkerman, the solo is much more intense, the tempo of the song quicker and the harmonies much more effective than the Hunters version. I bet they could have done a killer version of this live. Produced by Norm Ratner for Dot 16970 in November, 1966, the flip was a cover of “Bald Headed Woman”.

Marilyn Read joined on guitar at some point in 1966 and stayed about a year. She was also in the Ladybirds.

When the band ended, Craig Boyd joined The Hook after Dale Loyola and Dennis Provisor had left the band. Recording as a trio with Bobby Arlin and Buddy Sklar, Craig plays drums on The Hook’s second album Will Grab You. The Hook appeared on the Ironside episode “Trip to Hashbury” miming to both sides of their single “Son of Fantasy” / “Plug Your Head In”.

Michael McDonald, Craig Boyd and John Harris formed McDonald’s Farm, releasing “Excited” / “Deep Feeling” on Vital Records 2369, produced by Ron Shannon.

I’ve also read that they were the band for The Dating Game in the early seasons of that show. Tom Baker wrote to me last summer, but I haven’t had a response to the last two emails I sent. A friend of the band confirmed that they were on The Dating Game, and added that they were UCLA students who played often at Chuck Druet’s club Barnacle Bills on E. Huntington in Duarte.

There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not these are the same Regents who recorded the original version of “Barbara Ann”, but that was an entirely different band, whose members were Sal Cuomo, Chuck Fassert, Tony Gravagna, Don Jacobucci, and Guy Villari.

Nor is the Michael McDonald of this Regents the same guy who was in the Doobie Brothers (but see the Implicits entry on this site for Tom Johnston’s early band).

There are other records by groups called Regents that aren’t related to this group, including: “Cape Fear” (T. Foley) / “Summertime” (produced by J. Choate for the Ohio label Prix); and “No Hard Feelilngs” / “That’s What I Call a Good Time” on the Kayo label. The Regents with “Me and You” / “Playmates” on Blue Cat was a Canadian group who also recorded the LP Going Places with the Regents on Quality.

Some info from a phone interview with Craig Boyd.