Category Archives: Reprise

Categories: California, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Miramar, Reprise, US

Miramar Records discography

March 3, 2012 Chris Bishop 10 Comments

See Miramar 127 for a repeat of this song

Miramar Records of Hollywood, famous for its releases by the Road Runners and the Dovers.

Tony Cary produced all the Dovers 45s as well as the Road Runners, Jimmy Burton, Nick Hoffman and Fellowship records. He went on to produce the Alexander’s Timeless Bloozband LP on UNI, released 1968 and Charles Lamont’s solo LP from 1969, A Legend In His Own Time. Mike Markesich tells me Tony’s real name was Tony Luton, whose family was involved in radio or TV in Santa Barbara.

Tony Cary had two singles on Miramar. The first, “Dream World” / “One of These Days” was from August, 1965 (Monarch delta # 55804). Both songs are by Jones-Osborn and published by Alborn Music. The label reads “Produced by Miramar Prod.”

As far as Tony’s vocal talents go, I think he eventually took his own song’s advice to “stop living in a dream world”! Still, one can’t help but admire the impressive series of singles he produced on this label. His second is a countrified version of “She Belongs to Me” that was only released as a one-sided white label promo.

Alborn is the other producer name on many of these 45s. Alborn seems to be a mix of Alton Leo Jones (Al Jones) and Joe Osborn. They wrote a number of songs together, the most notable of which may be “Johnny Come Lately” for Billie Jean Horton. Joe Osborn also wrote with Dorsey Burnette and Dale Hawkins.

Other Miramar records have “a C/A production” on the label. The publishing info is usually on of these three: Alborn Music BMI, Carjone Music BMI, Fabyan Music ASCAP. Labels read “Miramar Records of Hollywood” up through the Dovers’ “The Third Eye”.

Jimmy Burton is of course James Burton, and Jimmy’s Blues” is an excellent piece of fuzzy riffing. It’s possible that’s him playing the lead guitar on Tony Cary’s “One of These Days”.

The Spellbinders version of “Casting My Spell” features a rough lead vocal with clipped lead guitar lines. I haven’t heard “To Take a Heart” yet. That 45 was produced by Joe Osborn, and this is not the same Spellbinders who recorded for Columbia (“Chain Reaction”).

Incomplete discography
(any help would be appreciated!)

45s:

Note that releases 101 and 103 come from the end of Miramar’s run, in 1967 or later.

Miramar 107 – Tony Cary – “Dream World” / “One of These Days” (August 1965)
Miramar 108 – Jimmy Burton – “Jimmy’s Blues” (J. Burton, M. Jones, J. Osborn) / “Love Lost” (James Burton) (a Cary-Alborn Production)
Miramar 109 – Memphis Men – “Act Naturally” / “Oh What A Night” (Jones-Osborn) (Produced by AFC Enterprises Inc.)
Miramar 110 – Glenn and the Good Guys – “Party a Go Go” (Burton, Jones, Osborn) / “Only In My Heart” (J. Seals, G. Adams)

Miramar 112 – Tony Cary – “She Belongs To Me” (one-sided promo)

Miramar 115 – The Spellbinders – “Casting My Spell” / “To Take a Heart” (produced by Joe Osborn)

The following have the guitar label design:

Miramar 116 – Road Runners – “I’ll Make It Up To You” / “Take Me” (released in Aug. ’65, also released on Reprise 0418, Sept. ’65)
Miramar 117 – ?
Miramar 118 – Dovers – “She’s Gone” / “What Am I Going To Do?” (Sept. 1965)
Miramar 119 – Nick Hoffman – “King of The Moon” / “Blind and Leaving Blues” (Nov. 1965)
Miramar 120 – ?
Miramar 121 – Dovers – “I Could Be Happy” / “People Ask Me Why” (Nov, 1965, also released on Reprise 0439)
Miramar 122 – ?
Miramar 123 – Dovers – “The Third Eye” / “Your Love” (April 1966)

Miramar 124 – Dovers – “She’s Not Just Anybody” / “About Me” (May 1966) (plain label without guitar logo)
I’ve seen an acetate demo of this 45 from Western Recorders, 6000 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood 28

The following have the winged angel type logo:

Miramar 125 – Fellowship – “Just Like A Woman” / “Palace of the King” (Sept. 1966), also released in stock copy with older guitar logo
Miramar 126 – ?
Miramar 127 – Miramar Soul Band – “Mr. Tambourine Man” / Friends of the Miramar Soul Band – “Party a Go Go” (this side has master #111-B)
Miramar 128 – Sonny Firmature – “Love Lost” / “Mr. Tambourine Man” (could this be the same version of Mr. Tambourine Man as above by the Miramar Soul Band?)
Miramar 129 – ?
Miramar 130 – Zebra – “Helter-Skelter” / “Wasted” (produced by Fabyan Enterprises, 1969 or later)

Miramar 101 – Alexander’s Timeless Bloozband – “Horn Song” / “Love So Strong (Guitar Song)” (Charles Lamont, A&R by Tony Cary & Fritz Ashauer) 1967
Max Waller writes, “This is the same pairing that would appear on their 1st 45 for UNI (in December 1967) so, despite the number, came after the other Miramar 45s.”

Miramar 103 – Charles Lamont – “Poems of Carole Ann” / “Maybe Baby” (soul, also a later release)

LPs:

Miramar 1002 – Sonny Firmature – Love Lost (blue winged logo)

Sonny Firmature was a tenor saxophonist from Omaha, NE, who played with Harry James.

Nick Hoffman had another 45 produced by Tony Cary, “Santa Claus Is Back in Town” / “Christmas Party” on Roman Records 101, issued on half-green half-red vinyl. There also seems to be a connection to a 45 on Shindigogo Records 777 by Ron Roman and the Livin’ End with a song written by Steve Hoffman (any relation to Nick Hoffman?) “Won’t Have a Merry Little Xmas” b/w “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”. The address on this one is 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. I don’t know of any other releases on Shindigogo. I’d like to know more about Ron Roman, he had a 1963 release on Daani “Tell Me” (Kenny Williams) / “Love of My Life” (Dave Aerni and Frank Zappa).

See the page on the Fellowship and the one on Zebra for more info on those bands.

“Party a Go Go” by Glenn & the Good Guys shows up again (or a part B, I’m not sure yet) on the Friends of the Miramar Soul Band on Miramar 127. More on that release including sound clips can be found on this page of my site.

I still need good scans and transfers of the 45s by the Memphis Men, Tony Cary’s “She Belongs to Me”, Nick Hoffman’s “Blind and Leaving Blues” and Glenn & the Good Guys “Only In My Heart”. I also need scans of the Sonny Firmature and Alexander’s Timeless Bloozband 45s. If you can help with any of these, please contact me.

I notice as of September 2012 the Spellbinders has been bootlegged in a nearly identical reproduction.

Thank you to Jason Sweitzer for help with the discography and Tony Cary info. Thanks to Todd, Dudley, Mike Markesich and Max Waller for additions to the discography. Thanks to John Hagelston and Mikael for transfers of the Tony Cary and Jimmy Burton 45s, respectively.

Categories: Bakersfield, California, Capitol, Dot, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Penthouse, Peoria, Reprise

The Regents on Capitol, Reprise, Peoria, Penthouse and Dot Records

January 11, 2011 Chris Bishop 25 Comments

The Regents, 1966, Jerry Rosa, John Harris, Craig Boyd, Johnny Mann, Mike McDonald — The Regents, 1966, from left: Jerry Rosa, John Harris (sitting, holding his knee), Craig Boyd (sitting in front looking down), Johnny Mann and Mike McDonald (far right)
Scan courtesy of Joni Bartley

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.

The Regents on stage 1965, from left: Jerry Rosa, Tom Baker, Mike McDonald and John Baker. Not pictured: Craig Boyd on drums.

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.

Regents Capitol LP Live at the A.M.-P.M. Discotheque gatefold

The Regents opening for the Lovin' Spoonful at It's Boss, 1965 — The Regents opening for the Lovin’ Spoonful at It’s Boss, 1965
Photo from the collection of Nancy Kuehl

McDonald's Farm: John Harris, Mike McDonald and Craig Boyd — McDonald’s Farm: John Harris, Mike McDonald and Craig Boyd
Scan courtesy of Joni Bartley

Categories: California, Miramar, Morocco, Reprise

The Road Runners

January 12, 2007 Chris Bishop 126 Comments

Updated 2014

The Road Runners were a great band from Fresno, California who released seven songs on four singles in a short period between August of 1965 and April of 1966.

Band members on the 45s were Denver Cross guitar, Dale Samuelian keyboards, Bob Trippell sax, Randy Hall lead vocals and bass, and Steve Heitkotter drums. Other members of the band at various times included Ozzie Georgener, Larry Karagozian, and Dave Mendoza and Bruce Conte on guitars.

Their first single is my favorite, “I’ll Make It Up to You” / “Take Me” on Miramar from August of 1965 (released nationally on Reprise in September).

Randy Hall’s original song “Goodbye” was released in Jan. 1966 with red labels on yellow vinyl with “Tell Her You Love Her” on the flip side. I’ve seen one copy with beautiful flaming yellow and red vinyl, also with red labels, and one with almost all red vinyl. Second pressings were on black vinyl.

“Pretty Me” was released twice in 1966, once with a slow, bluesy cover of “Baby Please Don’t Go”, and later as the b-side to another Randy Hall original, “Sleepy Friend”.

The Morocco label was located at 1415 W. Scott in Fresno, and judging by label numbers seems to have put out 20 or so records, but I don’t know of any other releases. Dig the different spelling of Morocco between the first release and the later!

“Pretty Me” was written by the band’s drummer, Steven Heitkotter, who a few years later recorded a free-form psychedelic jam LP that has been reissued first by Time-Lag and then by Now-Again. Steven was institutionalized by 1972 and remains so today. See Greg Youngman’s blog for the full story on Steve Heitkotter’s album.

There are also a few unreleased studio recordings, and a well-recorded live set. Randy Hall had a solo 45 on a purple Morocco Records label, his original song “Don’t Stop Now” b/w “Baby Please Don’t Go” also from 1966. Judging from the release numbers (M-124/M-121), “Baby Please Don’t Go” is probably the same take as the Road Runners release. If anyone has clips of this release please let me know.