The Rubber Maze released one excellent double-sided single on Tower 351 in July 1967, featuring two different styles. The A-side is “Mrs. Griffith”, typical of the soft psychedelia of the era, written by Marty Cooper, who co-produced the single with Ray Ruff.
Ray Ruff and Marty Cooper ran the Ruff and Sully labels, based out of Amarillo, Texas. Their publishing companies Little Darlin’ Music Co. and Checkmate Music BMI published both songs. I’ve read this single came out on the Ruff label but haven’t yet seen a copy.
I really dig the flip, a straight-up garage song “Won’t See Me Down”, written by Rubber Maze member Dennis Swinden.
Bassist Ronnie Verge commented on a video of “Mrs. Griffith”:
The Rubber Maze formed in 1965 in San Francisco and moved to Orange County, CA. They started up as The Young Men From Boston, shortly there after change to The Maze, and in 1967 changed to The Rubber Maze. They disbanded in late 1968.
Lead vocals and drums: Reggie Boyd Vocals, lead guitar and keyboard: Dennis Swinden Vocals, rhythm guitar: Brian Blanchard Vocals, bass and cello: Ronnie Verge
Alternate Member on vocals and lead guitar: Chad Blanchard
The Rubber Maze toured a substantial part of the U.S. with the Yellow Payges as part of Happening ’67, a tour organized by Dick Clark. Each show had local acts in the opening slots, and received a fair amount of press. There were shows in Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin during July and August 1967.
The clipping at the top comes from Mike Dugo of 60sgaragebands.com, part of a two-page write up on a Dick Clark tour with The Split Ends and Yellow Payges in 1968 in Teen Screen.
The Rubber Maze had no connection to the Maze who had the LP Armageddon on the MTA label.
rare Tower picture sleeve for the Rubber Maze singleRubber Maze on the first stop of the Happening ’67 tour in Tucson, July 15The “Flower Child” of the Rubber Maze in Corpus Christi, TX on July 25, 1967
Josh Pettibone sent in the photo of the Henchmen above in response to my post looking for info on some mystery Texas bands. It came from the collection of a DJ from Hobbs, New Mexico, just over the state line from Texas. I couldn’t find any information about the band until member Ben Boyett contacted me in January 2014.
Ben writes:
We were from Hobbs, New Mexico, and played gigs throughout eastern New Mexico and west Texas. The (original) Henchmen pictured are, left to right, Dennis Spillman, lead guitarist; Kirk Smith, bass (sitting on floor); Danny Spivey, drums; and, me, Ben Boyett, second guitar and vocals. We played in this configuration during the 1964-65 era, recording some pretty forgettable singles [unreleased], “Put That Phone Back On The Hook,” “Two Lives,” and “Animal Crackers.”
After a year, we reformed, with Robert Pampell on keyboard replacing Spillman. In that lineup, we recorded with the late Ray Ruff in Amarillo, TX. Ray Ruff’s studio in Amarillo was a tiny thing in an old shopping center. Just after the Henchmen recorded there, a fire pretty well gutted the place. In the last years of his life, Ray Ruff was a very successful country record promoter. He had a great memory, and even recalled several events about me when I ran into him almost twenty years after recording with him.
Somewhere, recordings exist, including the Ray Ruff session, but I’ll have to do some looking through many boxes of memorabilia.
I re-entered the music business about 20 years after the photo, and recorded a single with the late Norman Petty that was released. I think it sold about ten copies, and most of those to relatives. But, getting to work with the legendary Norman Petty was like getting to work with Mozart or da Vinci.
Danny Spivey is still playing on sessions and in church, after having toured with Up With People back in the late sixties. (He’s the only one of us who actually read music.) Dennis Spillman, the lead guitarist, writes oil and gas leases in Oklahoma. Kirk Smith, the bassist, came to an ignominious end during the seventies.
Q. Did the Henchmen make it as far as Dallas? I came across a band called the Henchmen in a list of bands at the 1967 Texas State Fair.
No, my version of the Henchmen did not make it to Dallas. We were strictly an area phenomenon.
The Trolls, left to right: Richard “Speedy” Gonzales, Phil Head, Monty “Denny” Baker in back, and Doug “Digger” Rymerson
Of the three (or more) ‘Trolls’ who recorded in the ’60s, my favorite is this group from Pueblo, Colorado. They had an interesting history I’d like to know more about, releasing two excellent 45s. Their first was “That’s the Way My Love Is” a great original with a tough sound typical of Ray Ruff’s productions of the time. The flip is a ballad, “Into My Arms”.
Their second record came out on Chan Romero’s Warrior label and features an energetic but tinny cover of the Stones’ “Stupid Girl”. Much better is the flip, Rich Gonzales’ original “I Don’t Recall”, a wild and very catchy song with repetitive tweeting organ notes, great fuzz guitar and bass, wonderful drumming and excellent vocals. Plus, it was released with a bizarre and goofy picture sleeve. For more info on the Warrior label see my entry here.
Members at the time of recording were:
Richard Gonzales – lead vocals, guitar Doug Rymerson – lead guitar Fred Brescher – Farfisa organ Monty Baker – bass, vocals Phil Head – drums
A now-defunct website on Colorado groups, mountainmusic.net had the fullest description of the group I could find:
A very “English” band from Pueblo they covered Stones and Kinks songs. They started with Gonzales, Head, Brescher and one/two additional players in 1964 and made what proved to be a worthless trip to Los Angeles in the winter of that year.
They retooled the band with the addition of Rymerson and Baker from the visiting Radiants from southern Minnesota. Unhappy with the Radiants the pair jumped ship and into the “New” Trolls. This lineup traveled to Amarillo, Texas to record for Ray Ruff and his new Ruff record label, already having regional (KOMA radio) success with the Blue Things.
The first single “That’s The Way My Love Is” / “Into My Arms” featured both sides penned by the organist, Fred Breschler and while anywhere from four to ten additional tracks may have been recorded. All masters where lost when Ruff’s facility in Amarillo burned in 1968. This includes an unreleased track with the interesting title: “Trash Talk”.
The next recording session was in Clovis, New Mexico with Norman Petty in late 1965 or early in 1966. The resulting single “Stupid Girl” / “I Don’t Recall” was packaged in a picture sleeve which omitted a member (Fred B.?) because he was in the hospital. It was released on the Warrior label (see this post for more info on that label).
One additional local recording session produced what Richard described as “all cymbals!” and resulting unhappiness with the master scuttled plans to release it as a disc.
The departure of Monty Baker in the fall of 1966 was the end of band, he left to join the Colorado Springs band, The New World Blues Dictionary [a major fixture on the area’s live scene]. Richard stopped performing and moved to Orange County in Southern California for a few years, only to join in his drummer brother Leroy in White Lightning in 1968. During 1967 I believe Doug Rymerson and Phil Head worked with bands called The Chosen Few and the Rubber Band. Fred Breschers’s post-Trolls work is unknown.
In addition to this description, there is more info from the liner notes of the Big Beat CD Now Hear This! Garage and Beat from the Norman Petty Vaults: after returning from L.A. the band was managed by Tony Spicola who brought them down to Clovis to record at Petty’s studio. Also, Fred Brescher does not appear on the sleeve photo due to having just been fired for excessive drug use. He was, however, impossible to replace and the band broke up in 1967.
Tom from The Denver Eye tells me of a rumor that one fan would record their shows on reel-to-reel tape. If true, I’d love to hear them.
John Grove wrote in with the following remembrance of the band and identified the members in the photos:
My name is John Grove, also from Pueblo. Have been through about 30 bands locally, started playing in 1964, now of the classic rock band “Dr. Fine”. For bio and pictures, go to bobyeazel.com.
There were three hot semi-pro [Pueblo] bands in the mid-sixties. The Teardrops who did great top 40, the Chandells who did great R&B, and the Trolls….They were the “guy’s” band, and they were bad-asses – super cool, very English! As you stated they did Beatles, “Run for Your Life” I remember. Lots of Stones, Kinks, they even did “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck.
They all had nicknames, Richard Gonzales was “Speedy”, Fred Brescher was “Brush”, Phil Head was “Flip”, Monty Baker was “Denny”, Doug Rymerson was “Digger”.
Phil had played earlier with a band called the Cobras which featured Donny and Richard Bussey. Donny was the one who gave me my first guitar lessons. I believe Speedy, Phil Head and Fred Brescher were in a band called The Pueblo Beatles. They joined forces with Digger and Denny and formed The Trolls. Denny was the brains and the organizer and business guy of the band.
left to right, Fred, Speedy, Digger, Phil, and DennyThey were in fact managed by the Southern Colorado legend Tony Spicola, originally from Trinidad, Colorado. Tony also managed Chan Romero who wrote “The Hippy Hippy Shake”. Tony was a close friend of Ray Ruff, thus the connection on Ruff Records. Tony was also a major concert promoter in Southern Colorado, and did acts such as the Young Rascals, Buffalo Springfield, Everly Brothers and many many more. His story is another whole book by itself. A true legend.
Denny and Digger used real English Vox AC 50 amps (“Super Beatle” style that were tube. Not the solid state Thomas organ American made stuff), Speedy used a “black face” Fender Super Reverb, Fred had a red Farfisa Combo Compact organ, Phil used Premier Drums. Guitars consisted of Digger using a Fender Jazzmaster, Denny used a Fender Jazz Bass, Speedy used a “dot neck” Gibson 335.
All of their equiptment was hauled around in a Corvair van painted a custom metal flake mustard yellow with “Troll Rock n’ Roll” painted on the side, on the front, it said “Here comes Troll”. In Pueblo, they were big time. Beatle boots, vests, blazes, in other words no matching uniforms.
Fred did leave, don’t remember or know why, and they continued as four-piece. The rest of the stuff about where the members went to after The Trolls is as far as I can remember is accurate. Digger did join another cool band called Century Fox which evolved into Justice. I stay in contact with Denny, he is back in his native Iowa and retired as a registered respiratory therapist which he had made his career since the early 70’s. Speedy is in Pueblo, and the last I heard was a barber, Phil is in Los Angeles, Fred passed in the late eighties or early nineties. He was a great guy, as was all of them. They were a tremendous influence on all of young musicians. Hope this helps.
John Grove
Doug Rymerson and Phil Head played with Baby Magic during ’67 and ’68., and Phil Head drummed with a group called the Frantics, that had relocated from Billings, Montana and Santa Fe.
I’ve read Fred Brescher passed away in February, 2003.
Thank you to Jeff Lemlich for supplying the scan of the Trolls PS.
The Page Boys, back row, from left: Ronnie Hill, Tom McCarty, Richard Van Vliet front center: Mark Kay
The Page Boys cut one of the killer Texas 45s of the ’60s, “All I Want”, an original by Tom McCarty and Mark Kay. From the opening fuzztone guitar and drum beats you know this record is going to deliver, and it does, with solid rhythm, good harmonies and a wild scream followed by Mark Kay’s amped-up guitar solo. Tom McCarty wrote to me about his time with the group and working with Ray Ruff and Them in Amarillo in the summer of ’67:
Richard Van Vliet (drummer), Ronnie Hill (our bassman), Mark Kay (lead guitar), and myself made up the Pageboys.
Richard and Mark were part of a group call the Trespassers, which broke up. We started jamming together and got along well, so we started a group, originally called The Others.
The Others master tape for All I Want and Silver and Gold We heard a song written by Val Stecklein called “Silver and Gold” that was on one of their albums and liked it so we went down to Tommy Allsup’s studio in Odessa in 1966 and recorded it again, along with one Mark and I wrote, “All I Want”. Tommy was the bass player for Buddy Holly and the Crickets. He’s still in the business I think, in Nashville. I’ve got a mono master and an unmastered 4 track tape from the Tommy Allsup session, but I bet they would disintegrate if anyone tried to play them. They’re 43 years old.
We tried to get Liberty Records and several other labels interested to no avail, and then went to talk to Ray Ruff one day to see if he would be interested in us. Ray Ruff (given name: Ray Ruffin) had a recording studio in Amarillo at the Trades Fair shopping center at N.E. 24th and Grand. Ray was a Buddy Holly look-alike/wannabe who toured the mid-west with the Checkmates. If memory serves me right, The Checkmates had pretty well disbanded by 1966 which is about the time I met Ray Ruff. They were really a good group. Larry Marcum, their lead guitarist, was a good musician and a nice fellow. Galen Ray (full name was Galen Ray Englebrick) was the bass player for the Checkmates.
He didn’t want us “covering” other groups so we ditched it and started writing our own songs and recording them at the Checkmate Studio here in Amarillo. Unfortunately, I do not have any of the tapes or demos from those sessions, but am going to try to find them. I found some demos of groups that I think I did some backup work on with Ray.
Ray brought the group Them over from Ireland around that time. They actually lived in Amarillo for the better part of a year and we were all running mates during that time. I did a cello track on the song “Square Room” that was on the Sully record and the “Now and Them” album that was released in 1968 on the Tower label. Marty Cooper was involved with Ray on the production of that album. That was the beginning of what turned out to be a wild summer with all these guys. Alan Henderson (he and Van started Them) and I are starting a search for the tapes of all the recording sessions Them did with Ruff, but we’re just getting started.
Ray Ruff and Marty Cooper decided to try out concert promotions back in the summer of 1967 and booked bands like the Yardbirds, Beau Brummels, Turtles, Everly Brothers, Castaways, Tommy Roe, Them, and a bunch of others. My band got to be the opening act for all of them. We played 6-7 nights weekly and toured all over the mid-west and as far down as El Paso with them.
Of all the bands we toured with, The Turtles were the most fun! The Yardbirds were not fun at all. Jeff Beck was on bad behavior every night we played with him, and he was really into destroying every piece of equipment on the stage. He was a wild man. Beck didn’t like us much as we would not let him use our Vox Super Beatle amps when he would tear up his own equipment. We had brand new amps and were not about to let him tear them up. We had to pay for our equipment, Vox paid for the Yardbirds’ equipment. He was really PO’d about that and we didn’t care.
The Everly Bros. didn’t like each other, so they weren’t much fun to tour with. Ray also signed us up to be J. Frank Wilson’s backup group. J. Frank had a little problem with whiskey and we spent most of our time trying to keep him sober enough to go onstage. His one hit was “Last Kiss”, Ray Ruff recorded that for him.
The Beau Brummels had a drummer whose name I cannot remember, but one night while we were on tour with them, their equipment didn’t make it in so they had to borrow guitars and bass from a music store that was good enough to loan them to them. Our drummer (Richard Van Vliet) told theirs he could use his set since they didn’t have a reputation for destroying equipment. The Beau Brummels’ drummer de-tuned Richard’s floor tom and snare without asking permission or telling him ahead of time (that was part of their sound on most of their songs). When Richard sat down at his drums right before we went onstage, he was pissed to find out that their guy had messed with his tuning. Richard re-tuned his heads, so our set worked out fine. When the Beau Brummels went onstage and started playing, their sound was almost comical.
That’s when all of us in the rock ‘n roll business would have to pack up by ourselves after each concert, and then immediately drive to the next city and be there in time to set up for the next night’s concert. Fortunately, Wolfman Jack, broadcasting from station XERF in Del Rio, TX, was always there on the radio to keep us awake. Back then, KOMA was the big radio station (Oklahoma City) that all the Midwest bands like the Checkmates, Blue Things, etc. advertised their upcoming appearances on, as it had a HUGE broadcast area. So did WLS out of Chicago. But we ALL wanted to be sure to hear the “Wolfman”.
It was a great experience and a lot of fun, but I was still in college at the time and decided to quit the band and go back to school in September 1967.
Tom McCarty
Special thanks to bosshoss for the transfers of both songs.
Page Boys poster, courtesy of Tom McCarty“To the Paige Boys” (courtesy of Tom McCarty of the Page Boys)
Ray Ruff (Ray Ruffin) of Amarillo owned the Ruff label, and was also a partner in the Sully label, eventually taking it over from Gene Sullivan, who had started Sully Records in Oklahoma City in 1959.
Ruff also had the Storme label, with one release I know of “I’m Gonna Love You Too” / “Ummm Oh Yeah” as Storme #101 in 1964.
Any help with these discographies would be appreciated.
Ruff Records
The Ruff discography is fairly straightforward, though there are some weird jumps in the numbering after #1020, maybe because of distribution deals with Tower Records. Interestingly, Mop Top Mike pointed out that numbers 1010-1020 were all released between March and April, 1966.
1000 – Blue Things – Mary Lou / Your Turn To Cry (Feb. 1965) 1001 – Buddy Knox – Jo Ann / Don’t Make a Ripple (December 1964) 1002 – Blue Things – Pretty Thing, Oh / Just Two Days Ago (May 1965) 1003 – Checkmates – Hey Girl / All the Time Now 1004 – Henson Cargill – Joe, Jesse and I / Pickin’ White Gold 1005 – ? 1006 – Charming Checkmates – Just to Make Me Cry / So Hard To Find 1007 – Bob Finn – Existing In City Stone / Why 1008 – ? 1009 – Arcades – She’s My Girl / Stay Away (Kent Tooms) arr. by Ruff and Paul Mathis 1010 – Trolls – That’s The Way My Love Is (Fred Brescher) / Into My Arms 1011 – Finnicum – Come On Over / On the Road Again 1012 – ? 1013 – ? 1014 – Robin Hoods – My Love Has Gone Away / Love a Game (both by Robin Harris) 1015 – BC’s – Oh Yeow! / Comin’ On Home 1016 – Y’Alls – Please Come Back / Run For Your Life 1017 – Burch Ray – Love Question 1018 – Troy Watson & the Del Troys – Sherry / Girl I Love And Adore (both by Troy Watson & M. Boyking, April ’66) 1019 – Tiaras – Sticks And Stones / Southern Love 1020 – Page Boys – All I Want / Sweet Love — 1088 – Them – I Happen to Love You / Walking in the Queens Garden (1967) (with picture sleeve) 1098 – Rubber Maze – Mrs. Griffith / Won’t See Me Down (with picture sleeve)
Sully Records
Begun by Gene Sullivan in Oklahoma City, Sully also operated out of Amarillo, Texas under Ray Ruff’s supervision. The 100 and 200 series are Oklahoma City productions, while the 900 and 1000 series are Amarillo, TX productions.
Generally the 100 series have “Oklahoma City, Okla” under the logo, while all the ones in the 900s (along with #100), have “Checkmate Productions” under the logo, indicating Ruff’s production company.
Also, some records (#929, #931 and #933 for example) have the label name spelled “Sölly” instead of “Sully”, why I’m not sure.
100 – Ray Ruff and the Checkmates – Long Long Pony Tail / Pretty Blue Eyes 101 – The Serenaders – Hymn-Time with the Serenaders (EP)- Whispering Hope / Beyond The Sunset (Should You Go First) / What Will You Say / The Twenty – Third Psalm (Oklahoma City) 102 – Gene Sullivan – Sleepin At tHe foot Of The Bed / Paul Revere O’ Malley 103 – Danny Williams – All American Girl / Fidel Castro Rock (Al Good – Danny Williams) 104 – The Plainsmen Chorale – Dream / Herb Jimmerson- Poinciana 105 – The Plainsmen Chorale – September Song / Herb Jimmerson- Goofus 106 – Bob Starr – Blue Train / Walls of Love (July 1959) 107 – Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan – When My Blue moon Turns To Gold Again / Live And Let Live 108 – Charles Jones and the Stardusters – Whoo-oee and Oh So Fine / Natalie (1959-60) 109 – Danny Williams – Deck Of Cards / If Jesus Came To Your House 110 – Hyatt Stamper – Life You’re Living Now / Wild Side Of Life 111 – Shadows Five – Gary’s Boogie (Gary Sullivan) / Dynamic Drums (1960) 112 – Bill Snow & Sonny Woodring – Cry For Me Darling / Timber Wolf 113 – Dub Snow – Greyhound Talkin Blues / Yuma Pen 114 – Jo Kiser – True Love Is Hard / Lovey Dovey 115 – Bill Snow & Sonny Woodring – Golden River / Hands You’re Holding 116 – ? 117 – ? 118 – ? 119 – ? 120 – Jim Fitzgerald – Day On The Highway Patrol / Cryin Time (1966) 121 – Decades – I’m Lovin’ You / Thinking of You (1966) (also issued as Sully 921) 122 – ? 123 – ? 124 – Those Ellis Bros. – That Girl / Heaven 125 – George Peterson – Time Will Change Everything / I Could Have Been A Doctor (both by Peterson) 126 – Terry Canady – Hollywood Hotel / Scotch and Soda (1968) 127 – Bobby Caldwell – This House / Bronc-Buster 128 – Jerry Abbott – Big River / It’s Better Than I Got At Home 129 – Bobby Kent – When You Hear Me Call / I Fell In Love With An Angel 130 – B Bros. – Call Me Anything / Just Blue Memories 131 – ? 132 – Jay Hamilton – Somebody Anybody / Walkin & Talkin
201 – Jody Bennett – Heartland U.S.A. / Katy Is Now a Lady
—– 910 – Techniques – Short ride / Can’t Be Wrong To Be In Love (1965) 911 – Fantom – Baby Come on Home / Time Seems to Fly 912 – Rising Suns – Land of a Thousand Dances / Concentration 913 – ? 914 – Dinks – Nina-Kocka-Nina / Penny a Tear Drop 915 – Burch Ray – Love Questions / Blues Stay Away From Me (Oct 1965) * “Note – different version of ‘Love Questions’ than the one recorded and released later on Ruff. Discog also shows it as Sully 913, but I think this is a mistake” – (MTM) 916 – Bob Baker – Short Fat Texan / Suzurak 917 – Drivin’ Dynamics – So Fine /Hurt Me 918 – ? 919 – Gaylen & Royce – I Can’t Stay / Modern Day Fools 920 – ? 921 – Lanny Madden – My Only Son / Pressure Pains 922 – ? 923 – Danny Ferguson – Revengers / Long Neck Bottle 924 – Mike – I’ll Set Her Free / You Won’t Have Nothing 925 – Dinks – Kocka-Mow-Mow / Ugly Girl 926 – Carolyn Bennett – So Bad So Bad / I Wonder 927 – J. Frank Wilson – Me and My Tear Drops / Unmarked and Uncovered with Sand 928 – Tracers – She Said Yeah / Watch Me (1966) 929 – Patti Seymour – The Silencer / This Feeling He Left (produced by Nick Yazbek) 930 – Rick West – Crackin Up / What I’m Lookin For 931 – Patti Jo – I’ll Sleep Tonight / Heading for A Heartbreak (Il Suffirait d’un Rien) 932 – Carolyn Bennett – You’ll Always Be A Part of Me / Give Me Your Love 933 – Knu Castles – Bulldog (George Tomsco) / Boy Blue (Mike Reinheart) both songs Dundee Music BMI
—– 1004 – Epic Five – Don’t Need Your Lovin’ (Richard Ramiraz) / “I’ve Got That Feeling” (John Gatica) (October 1967)
1021 – Them – Dirty Old Man / Square Room (August, 1967)
Mop Top Mike writes: “There is also a 200 Sully series starting at 201 which followed the 100 series. Looks to be mostly or all country-western sounds.”
LP: Al Good “A Good Time For Music” Sully S-SLP-100
This discography was compiled from many sources, of which Rhett Lake & Ted Blackwell’s Oklahoma Guide to 45rpm Records and Bands ~ 1955~1975., Rockin’ Country Style and members of the G45 Central forum were the most helpful. Thanks also to Rich Strauss, Patrick, Mop Top Mike, Jim, Bob Garrett, Lisa Wheeler, Pete Adams, Keith, and eleelandc for their help.
For every fuzz-driven garage screamer, there are a dozen records like this one by the Checkmates: competent and upbeat but uncompromised pop music. I didn’t know much about the group until people commented and wrote to me, so I’m adding some of the comments into this article.
Ray Ruff was an Amarillo impresario, owning the Checkmate night club, a recording studio and Ruff Records. He was also a partner in Sully Records, eventually taking it over from Gene Sullivan, who had started it in Oklahoma City in 1959.
A paragraph from Ruff’s obituary gives some background on his early music career:
Ray Ruff befriended Buddy Holly’s record producer Norman Petty and, after Holly’s death, he made several soundalike recordings, deliberately wearing spectacles like Holly’s when he recorded. Ruff often worked with his group the Checkmates, but they became the Executioners and wore hooded masks on stage.
There are at least eight different 45s by Ruff with the Checkmates, mostly on Norman Records, from between 1959 to the early ’60s.
Bobby Hacker commented below:
I was his first drummer and I recorded several records with the Checkmates under the Norman label. Ray was the vocalist along with Chuck Tharp. Tharp was the original vocalist for the Fireballs. Charles McClure was the lead guitarist, Tharp was rhythm guitarist and Tom Beck was bass guitarist. We toured the mid-west U.S., along with two provinces in western Canada. Most of our recordings were done in Clovis, N.M. at Norman Petty studios. While on the road, we. the Checkmates, recorded in St. Louis, Mo. backing a singer, trumpet player named Gabriel.
The year was 1961 and I am the only living survivor of the original Checkmates mentioned here. Ray Ruff went through several musicians during the 1960’s and he passed away a couple of years ago in L.A. He was very sucessful as a record producer but not that good a singer when I worked with him. He supposedly along with Norman Petty, formed the Checkmates.
Tom McCarty of the Page Boys wrote to me:
Ray Ruff had a recording studio in Amarillo at the Trades Fair shopping center at N.E. 24th and Grand. Ray was a Buddy Holly look-alike/wannabe who toured the mid-west with the Checkmates from Scotts Bluff, Nebraska – Minot, Minnesota, etc. If memory serves me right, The Checkmates had pretty well disbanded by 1966 which is about the time I met Ray Ruff. They were really a good group. Larry Marcum, their lead guitarist, was a good musician and a nice fellow.
Jerry Hodges commented:
I played with Bob and Larry Marcum with the Checkmates. I remember a tour to North Dakota with with Ray Ruff. I think we traveled in a Nash Rambler. I can also remember going into the Norman Petty studio and Larry wanted to play bass, so we switched as I was the bass player.
The band’s lineup had changed considerably since Ruff fronted the group, and by the time of the 45 I’m featuring here the band included Galen Ray (Galen Ray Englebrick) on bass. Galen Ray wrote both sides of this 45. There’s another 45 on Ruff by the Charming Checkmates – Just to Make Me Cry, that I haven’t heard.
Also see the Ruff and Sully discographies I’ve posted here.
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
Bassist Ronnie Verge commented on a video of “Mrs. Griffith”:
