The Twilighters came from Kirksville, Missouri, a small city about 165 miles from Kansas City and 200 miles from St. Louis. In 1967 they cut two originals, “Spellbound” / “My Little Angel” at Technisonic Studios in St. Louis.

“Spellbound” is a fast-paced rocker, driven by Dave Daniels’s fantastic drumming. There’s a great guitar break and a double-time ending, and it’s over in less than two minutes.

The chant of “Spellbound” has a distinctive sound that may come from some other song but if so, I can’t think of it. It reminds me of a later cut, Steve Miller Band’s “Living in the U.S.A.” where the group chants “Stand Back”. I’d be interested if anyone has heard something very similar in another song from the era.

The B-side, “My Little Angel” is a ballad with fine vocals, and good recording production.

Released on Red Flame Records 45-1005, the labels show a 1966 copyright date, but the U4KM indicates a pressing date in the first half of 1967.

David Daniels wrote to me:

The Twilighters band began in 1963 with Gary Blurton (rhythm guitar and vocals), David Daniels (drums), Everett Cassidy (bass), and Bob Harbur (lead guitar). Randy Elmore joined the band in 1964 because Gary was leaving to join the National Guard and the band would be needing a lead vocalist. Randy played lead guitar as well.

Eventually Bob moved to the St Louis area and Everett also moved away from the Kirksville area. At that point Richard Hudson, also a local boy and friend of Randy and David, came on to play rhythm guitar.

This configuration of The Twilighters (Randy, David, and Richard) placed an ad in the local paper seeking a keyboard player, to which Carl Foultz responded and that was the group that made the record “Spellbound” / “My Little Angel”. Carl Foultz was the song writer and organ player, and the bass was covered by the bass pedals on the organ.

Randy Elmore – lead guitar and lead vocal
Richard Hudson – rhythm guitar
Carl Foultz – organ (and bass pedals)
David Daniels – drums (background vocals for “My Little Angel”)

There were no headphones to monitor in the recording room and “Spellbound” was recorded in one live take. The band could not hear the vocal work at all until listening to the playback in the control room. Likewise for “My Little Angel.” It was the first recording the band had made and their first experience in a recording studio.

Randy, Richard, and David were local boys, born and raised in the Kirksville area. Carl was from Pennsylvania and came to Kirksville to attend university at Northeast Missouri Teachers College (now Truman State University).

The band members changed off and on over subsequent years with a total of about 20 different players having done some time with The Twilighters during their run (1963 – 1971).

Randy and David continued to play in many other bands in the NE Missouri area from 1971 – 2011, often times together, other times not, under the names: Country Flavor, Fox, Survival, Loose Louie, Twilighter’s Rockin’ Reunion, BJ Allen Band, and Blue Voodoo.

These photos are of the original players. There are no pics with Richard or Carl, so neither of these are the exact group of players that were on the recording.

David went on to buy Circle M Music in Kirksville in 1974 and operated the music store and built his own recording studio where he recorded many local musicians and vocal groups. David mentored many young kids over the years, sharing his love of music and recording. He retired in 2014 after serving the NE Missouri music community for 42 years. As an honor to his Grandpa David, Black Daniels & The Bears did a cover of “Spellbound” live at David’s retirement party in 2014, the 3rd generation of musicians in the Daniels family, carrying on the tradition.

Randy retired from SW Bell and now lives in Columbia, MO.

Richard did not continue with music but went on to other employment, was a private business owner, and has retired to Lake of the Ozarks.

Carl graduated from NE Missouri Teachers College and moved away, the other band members having lost touch with him.

Gary is retired from local employment in the Kirksville area.

Bob and Everett are now both deceased.

Dick Lawrence (deceased) was owner of Red Flame Records and was an avid music promoter throughout the NE Missouri area his entire life.

Carl Foultz was also a member of an r&b group called the Del-Fis or Del-Phis with Ed Corte, Frank Gantt, T.J. Jackson, Mac Pendelton, Nick Romanetz and Gary Smyth, some of whom were students at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now known as Truman State University).

After Carl Foultz left the Twilighters, Bill Daniels joined on guitar and Ray Beets on bass, as Ray states in his comment below.

Bob Harbur moved to St. Charles, just outside of St. Louis, where he formed a new band called the Twilighters with his brother John.

Dick Lowrance owned Red Flame Records which released three singles by the group he was a member of, the Red Blazers, usually with Ike Haley as leader.

In 1966 Lowrance released a single by Friar Tuck and the Merrymen’s “Peanut Butter” / “Try Me” (Mike Barger) on his Sherwood Forest Records subsidiary. That band may have been from western Illinois though I’m not sure which town. I’ve found newspaper ads for a “new Friar Tuck and the Merrymen” playing at the Wayside Inn in Moberly, Missouri, about an hour south of Kirksville; not sure if this is the same group.

Sources: A research paper by Dylan Pyles has more info and a couple small photos of the group: download the Word doc, and Sweatshirts and Rock ‘n’ Roll by Nicholas Romanetz in the Truman Review.