Categories: Canada, Columbia, Ontario, Toronto

Bobby Kris and the Imperials

July 7, 2011 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

Matt Faulkner spoke to Bob Burrows, vocalist and leader of Bobby Kris and the Imperials, and writes this article about the group:

Bobby Kris and the Imperials stood at the front of Toronto’s fruitful R&B scene in the mid-60s, alongside other notable acts like Richie Knight and The Mid-Knights, Mandala and Little Caesar and the Consuls. The group was one of the fourteen groups to take stage at the legendary “Toronto Sound” show at Maple Leaf Gardens, where they shared the stage with Toronto garage and psych greats such as Luke and the Apostles, The Ugly Ducklings, and the Paupers.

Originally titled J.S. and the Imperials, with Jimmy Snowden on vocals, the group had a number of lineup changes and recruitments from other bands. In early 1965, Bobby Kris joined the line up, and shortly after the key recording line up of the band was formed.

Bobby Kris (Bob Burrows) – vocals
Jerry Mann (aka Jerry Shymanski) – tenor sax
Rick Loth – tenor sax
Marty Fisher – piano
Gene Martynec – guitar
Dave Konvalinka – bass
Gordon MacBain – drums

The band fashioned themselves primarily an R&B outfit, having a hit with the Dionne Warwick classic “Walk On By”, and boasting a seven part line up, including two saxophones and keyboards. However, their recorded output does little to reflect this side of their sound, as the bulk of the songs on their two singles are more on the folky garage side of things. “Walk on By” was in fact the B-side of their first single, with the Bobby Kris/Gene Martynec penned “Travellin’ Bag” on the top side.

Their second single was fronted with a cover of Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me”, and a Byrds-like Kris/Martynec original, “A Year from Today” on the flip. It only took a lone three hour recording session for all four tracks to be laid down by the group, whom at the time consisted of Bobby Kris on lead vocals, Marty Fisher on keyboard, Gord MacBain on drums, Dave Konvalinka on bass, Gene Martynec on guitar, and Jerry Mann and Rick Loth sharing saxophone duties. Despite the recordings being a departure from their regular material, these singles hold up as worth while listening today, with “Travellin’ Bag” being one of my personal favourite recordings to come from the mid-60s “Toronto Sound”.

“We wrote the two songs as you know. To the best of my recollection we never played either one of them ever again,” said Kris, in one of our many online conversations. “For our normal fan base in Toronto, those songs were, well… an embarrassment, which explains why we never played them live. People who were into James Brown and Ray Charles didn’t want to hear Herman’s Hermits. If we played ‘Travellin’ Bag’ at one of those dances people would have thrown stuff at us.”

“The powers that be behind the recording session – including that wizard in the control room Stan and our supposed manager at the time, Fred White – determined that rhythm and blues was dead meat and that the only way for us to be successful was to make British style recordings. It didn’t occur to them that a lot of those British bands were in fact listening to American R&B. They didn’t want us to record ‘Walk On By’ at all. Not sure how we got away with that. In fact it was the B-side to ‘Travellin’ Bag’. Thankfully some DJ in Toronto turned it over! For some reason or other Eugene and I got commandeered or volunteered to write some songs, although we had never written any songs before. Somebody stumbled across a Dylan song that nobody had covered yet that we all liked. Not sure who did the arrangement on ‘She Belongs to Me.’ Likely Konvalinka.”

“We continued to be an R&B band after the session. We ended up trying some rather extreme experiments with some really fundamental blues songs by Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters and such that was somewhat imitative of The Hawk’s recording with John Hammond Jr. – So Many Roads. But even then we were still fundamentally in the same musical neighbourhood. Unfortunately the pressure from all these supposed wise men to change our evil ways led to us throwing out the horns. No more three-piece silk and wool suits. Now we had flowery shirts or polka dots. Talk about not cutting your own path. Everyone in the world was doing that. Chances of being ‘discovered’ in that environment were about the same as winning the lottery. They say Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil. We sold ours to a bunch of dorks on Yonge St.”

“By the way, not long after that, along came Paul Butterfield and others who showed there was still a great market for that approach and style. We did have lots of fun eventually covering a new kind of material. We tried to be selective about it, and still leaned towards the bluesier stuff. That was the most fundamental problem Bobby Kris and The Imperials always had: We were exclusively a cover band. That’s mostly because we were playing teen dances and, later, bars where people expected to hear certain tunes, and you either played them or you didn’t play there. There was very little if any interest in original material in those venues.”

When doing some research on the group, I stumbled upon an interesting ad for one of the band’s shows later in their career. It was in 1968 at the Brass Rail Tavern, and the ad boasted that the show would feature “4 Topless Psychedelic Go-Go Dancers”. “We drank our brains out to get through the night there,” was Kris’s only remark.

During their tenure, the group managed to share the stage with an impressive list of bands, including The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Beach Boys, Jose Feliciano, and Wilson Pickett, who at the time boasted Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Hendrix actually joined The Imperials on stage during one of their sets at the Night Owl. However, by late 1967, enough band members had gone on to other projects, that the group decided to call it quits.

Gene Martynec went on to form Kensington Market in May, and in September Marty Fisher and Gord MacBaingot recruited for Bruce Cockburn’s Flying Circus. Kris auditioned for the vocal position in Flying Circus with a favourable outcome, until, as Kris puts it “they decided that no one could sing Bruce’s songs better than Bruce, which was true.” Kris went on to front Livingstone’s Journey for a brief period before reforming an altered line up of The Imperials in mid-1968. A year later Gord MacBain left the reformed Imperials to go to England and join Mapleoak with Marty Fisher and original Kinks bassist, Pete Quaife, and thus Bobby Kris and the Imperials were done for good.

Special thanks to Nick Warburton and Bob Burrows (aka Bobby Kris). You can check out Nick’s article for a more detailed history of the band here.

Thanks also to Ivan Amirault for the RPM article scans.

Bobby Kris also put out an EP in 1995 titled “Now” which you can check out on iTunes.

Nick Warburton assembled this list of advertised live shows:

Advertised gigs

June 18 1965 – Mimicombo, Mimico, Ontario
July 9 1965 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario
July 17 1965 – Purple Candle Club, Wasaga Beach, Ontario
August 7 1965 – Purple Candle Club, Wasaga Beach, Ontario (new line up with Wayne and Loth)
August 27 1965 – Dunn’s Pavilion, Bala, Ontario
August 28 1965 – Club 888, Toronto
September 4 1965 – Club 888, Toronto
September 24 1965 – Mimacombo A Go-Go, Mimacombo, Ontario
November 5 1965 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario (not sure about date)
November 28 1965 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
December 18 1965 – Club 888, Toronto
December 25 1965 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Sparrows and The Twilights
December 26 1965 – Hop in the park, Toronto
January 28 1966 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario
January 29 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
March 19 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto
April 13 1966 – O’Keefe Centre, Toronto with National Ballet Company and Susan Taylor
April 15 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto
May 8 1966 – Massey Hall, Toronto with The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Big Town Boys and Little Caesar & The Consuls
May 14 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto (one of Wayne and Loth’s final dates)
June 12 1966 – Modern Age Teen Lounge, Toronto (one of Davis’ first dates)
June 26 1966 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough with The Five Rogues
July 8 1966 – Balmy Beach Club, Scarborough, Ontario
July 9 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
July 13 1966 – Whitby Arena, Whitby, Ontario with The Five Rogues, The Ugly Ducklings and Jon and Lee & The Checkmates
July 20 1966 – Don Mills Curling Club, Don Mills, Ontario with Jon and Lee & The Checkmates, The British Modbeats and Dunc & The Deacons
July 22 1966 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario
July 23 1966 – Hunter’s Beach Pavilion, Lake Simcoe, Ontario
July 26 1966 – Balmy Beach Club, Scarborough, Ontario
July 30 1966 – Purple Candle Club, Wasaga Beach, Ontario
July 30-31 1966 – Purple Candle Club, Wasaga Beach, Ontario with R K & The Associates
August 2 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena with The Stitch In Tyme and Luke & The Apostles (one of Shymanski’s final dates?)
August 20 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
August 21 1966 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario
August 30 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena with The Five Rogues and The Fiends
September 3 1966 – Port Carling Surf Club, Port Carling, Ontario
September 9 1966 – Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
September 16 1966 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario
September 24 1966 – Maple Leaf Gardens with The Last Words, Luke & The Apostles, The Ugly Ducklings, The Tripp, The Paupers, The Big Town Boys, The Stitch In Tyme, The Spasstiks, Roy Kenner & The Associates, Little Caesar & The Consuls and others
September 30 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto (blue room)
October 8 1966 – Club 888, Toronto with The Tripp
October 22 1966 – Club Kingsway, Toronto with Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, The Ugly Ducklings and The Ardels
November 27 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
December 18 1966 – Boris’, Toronto
December 23 1966 – Horseshoe Valley, Barrie, Ontario
January 6 1967 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with A Passing Fancy and The Dana
January 27 1967 – Shelburne Arena, Shelburne, Ontario
March 1967 – The Syndicate Club, Toronto
March 24 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto with Franklin Sheppard and The Good Sheppards and R K and The Associates
May 13 1967 – Whitby Arena, Whitby, Ontario with Shawne Jackson, Jay Jackson & The Majestics, The Last Words, E G Smith & The Power, Jack Hardin & The Silhouettes, Roy Kenner & The Associates, The Tripp, The Ugly Ducklings and others (possibly one of Martynec’s final dates)
May 27 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
June 9 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
June 10 1967 – Scarborough Arena Gardens, Scarborough, Ontario with Eddie Spencer & The Mission, The Magic Circus, The Tripp, Roy Kenner & The Associates, The Lords of London and others
June 16 1967 – Bramalea Arena, Bramalea, Ontario with James and Bobby Purify with The Mission
June 17 1967 – Don Mills Curling Club, Toronto with The Symbol
July 29 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough with BTB 4 and The Dynamics
June 13-14 1968 – The Night Owl, Toronto
July 19 1968 – Brass Rail Tavern, Toronto
October 5 1968 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
June 19-21 1969 – The Night Owl, Toronto

Dates taken from the Toronto Telegram’s After Four section, Globe and Mail and Toronto Star.

Bobby Kris & the Imperials reviewed in RPM, November 15, 1965 — RPM, November 15, 1965

Bobby Kris & the Imperials, Columbia Records ad, April 18, 1966 — April 18, 1966

Bobby Kris & the Imperials, Columbia Records ad, RPM, May 16, 1966 — RPM, May 16, 1966

Bobby Kris, the Associates, Ron Scribner ad, RPM, June 6, 1966 — RPM, June 6, 1966

Bobby Kris & the Imperials, Columbia Records ad, RPM, June 6, 1966 — RPM, June 6, 1966

Categories: Angleton, Brazosport, Freeport, Texas, US, Van

Van Recording discography

July 6, 2011 Chris Bishop 21 Comments

Raiders Van 45: Stick Shift, Gone — Above, the original limited pressing of Van V-00262, with extra track “Gone”

Van V-00262, as released to the public “Stick Shift” moved to the A-side

The Van Recording label was owned by Bobby Van Meter, his brother Charles Van Meter and Lonny Roberts, who sang on at least two 45s of his own on the label. They ran the label and studio out of a music shop in Lake Jackson or Clute, Texas, though the label shows different addresses, first Angleton and later Brazosport and Freeport.

Any help with this discography would be appreciated.

The numbering is systematic – the first three digits are the release # and last two are the year, so the Raiders “Stick Shift” (Van 00262) is the label’s second release (002) and dates to 1962 (62).

45s:

00162 – Lawrence Flippo & the Futuras – Let’s Do It / Cry, Cry, Cry
00262 ¹– Raiders – (It’s a) Stick Shift (J. Caster, T. Simpson) / Skipping Around (also released on Vee Jay 504)
00362 – Lonny Roberts and the Futuras – Don’t You Know / One More Try
004 – ?
00563 – The Futuras – The Hum / The Walk
00663 – Raiders – It’s Motivation (J. Castor, T. Simpson, B. Pitcock) / On a Straight Away
00763 – Raiders – Supercharged / Cruising Low
00864 – Walter Crane with the Raiders – Everyday I Have the Blues / My Chances
00964 – Bobby Clanton – Angel / I Needed Love
01064 – Raiders – Raisin’ Cane / Repetition
01164 – Larry Dallas – The Two Step / I Forgot To Remember To Forget (also on Dallas DS 1)
01264 – Bobby Reed – Twistin’ Petition / Girl Of My Dreams
01364 – Lonny Roberts and the Raiders – Rugged But Right / Room Full of Roses
01464 – Originals – Scatter-Shot / Lucille
01564 – Melody-Aires – Surely I Will (A.E. Brumley) / River Of Jordan (H. Houser)
01664 – Bobby Clanton – The Way That You Are (M. Angel) / Was It Wrong Loving You
01764 – Herb Torres – Dalia / Tribute to J.F.K.
01864 – Ronnie Ellis and the Originals – Honey Blonde / One Little Raindrop (prod. by Wallace Schlemmer)
01964 – (The) Drag Rags – Judy / An Empty Cup (and a Broken Date)
020 – ?
02165 – Originals – Stick Shift ’65 / Blast-Off!
022 – ?
02365 – Larry Dallas – Cheatin’ Woman (Louis Hobbs) / Have I Waited Too Long (also on Majestic 1001)
024 – ?
025 – ?
02665 – Bobby Clanton and the Plateaus – You Can Have Her / An Adventure To You
02765 – The Gudell Brothers featuring the Melody Makers – Heart Full of Country Music / E-String Boogie Rock “recorded live on stage”
02865 – Ronnie Ellis – Goodnight Little Sweetheart / The Right Way of Doing Things Wrong
02965 – Marvin Paul – None of Your Business (Marvin Laqua) / Help Me, Mister Blues
03065 – Originals – Night Flight / Comanche!
03165 – The Hi-Rollers – Slave Chain / Runaway
03265 – The Dinos – Baby, Come On In (Bobby Lira) / This is My Story
033 – ?
034 – ?
03565 – Originals – Searching for Love / How Much of Your Heart (dir. by Lonny Roberts, rec. by Billy Snow)
03665* – Rex Eaton – Lying Lips, Cheating Arms / Shackles and Chains (Taylorville, IL)
03765 – White Twins (Ronnie and Tommy) – I Can Dream / Just Another Face
03865* – Dave & the Detomics – Detomic Orbit (Dave Bethard) / Shatter (issued Jan. 1966)
039 – ?
04066 – Originals – Hop, Skip and Jump / No Love For Me
04166 – Originals – I Can’t Forget / Old Enough to Break a Heart (D. McBride)
04266* – Dave & the Detomics feat. Jeanne Eickhoff – Soft White Gloves (Lillie Bethard) / Why Can’t I
04266 ²– Lonny Roberts & the Originals – Each Night At Nine / Only Want a Buddy (Not a Sweetheart)

Majestic issue of Van V-02365 – which came first?

04366* – Oglethorp & Othelow – I’ll Still Love You / Please Don’t Go Away (both by Donnie Bearup)
04466* – Embalmers – You’re a Better Man / Somewhere Land
04567* – Stingrays – In the Midnight Hour / Girl You Said It Again (Butch Ramelow)
04669 – Bobby Sanders & the Psychlones – Come Over to My World / I Can’t Take It
70-46 – Red Mann And The Country Continentals ‎– Heartaches And Honky Tonks / The One Who Changed Is Me
70-47 ³– Lynn Hendrix and the Country Blue Boys – I Don’t Need Anything / I Let You Go (Freeport TX, prod. by Lonny Roberts)
70-48- Lonny Roberts with music by the Raiders – My Sweet Love Ain’t Around / Guys Like Me
70-49 – Walter Crane & Exposition – Someone Special (P. Pennington) / A Place! (prod.: B.J. VanMeter, dir.: James Henry, eng.: Ray Doggett)
V-70-50 – Larry Weathers and the Raiders – The Crying Man / Driving Wheel, produced by L. Roberts, eng. by Ray Doggett, with pressing numbers LH-7384 and LH-7385
70-51 – ?
70-52 – ?
70-53 – Moonlighters – I Destroyed Myself / My Possessive Love (described as a country ballad, Pee Wee Kubon vocals on both sides)
70-54 – Larry Weathers – Believe In Me / Please Tell Me
V-7201 – The Western Four ‎– Butter Beans / Blueberry Hill
V-73-02 – Mike Pepper, music by: “Pepper & Spice” – Let Me Be The Judge (C. Twitty) / A thing Called Sadness (C. Howard) (Mgr. Bob Geer, Producer: Lonnie Roberts, Director: Mike Pepper, Engineer: Ray Doggell)
V-73-03 – Russell Davis and the Country Alibis ‎– The Devil Made Me Lie / Down On Skid-Row
V-73-06 – Mike Pepper – Seasons of the Past (C. Phillips – C. Kirk) / Take A Look Into Your Mind (M. Pepper) (Producer: L. Roberts, Director B. Sanders, Engineer C. Kirk)

LPs:

1-69 – Lonny Roberts – Presenting … the Sage of the West
(The Bottle Is My Jailer; Loving You; The Devil & Me; Road To Your Heart; I Don’t Love You Anymore; Old Heartaches; Old Mountain Dew; Lonely, Lonely Man; False Impressions; Too Much Wine From The Bottle; You’re Just A Memory; What About Your Mistakes)

* denotes a Van record produced by Oscar Wells in Taylorville, Illinois.

In the mid-’60s Van released at least six 45s produced by Oscar J. Wells: two by Dave & the Detomics, one each by Rex Eaton, the Embalmers and Oglethorp & Othelow, and one or two by the Sting Rays. I’d like to hear those and learn the story behind them. Dave and the Detomics came from Morrisonville, Illinois. Mike Markesich tells me the Embalmers came from Mason City, IL, and the Sting Rays from Springfield, IL. If anyone has good scans or transfers of these 45s, please contact me.

Notes:
¹ Very rare three-song EPs of Van V-00262 were pressed prior to the two-song issue, probably as demonstration copies to decide which of the three songs to release. The A-side had “Skipping Around” and the B-side “Stick Shift” and “Gone”. Confusingly, “Gone” was actually the Raiders’ version of the Duals song “Stick Shift” but mislabeled. On the EP scans, publishing and song writing info is written in pen (Jessie Caster and Terry Simpson, Glad Music BMI), along with the prefix “(It’s A)” before “Stick Shift”. “Gone” also has “-Gone” written next to it, which I think means to not include this song in the finished two-track 45. I still haven’t heard “Gone”.

² Two 45s issued given the 04266 catalog #, the Lonny Roberts & the Originals was a Texas recording, Dave & the Detomics were from Illinois.

³ In 1970, the numbering changes, so the first two digits are the year recorded, and the second two seem to indicate release # (a Walter Crane disc has LH-7281 which indicates a May, 1970 pressing).

Thank you to Mike, Brian Kirschenbaum, DrunkenHobo, Jim, Laurent Bigot, Barry Wickham, Billy Gibbons, porcupine, eleelandc, Chris Harpe, Eric Lelet, Jeff Brant, Jason Chronis, Dennis Wilson and Bob of Dead Wax for their help with this discography.

For more on Ronnie Ellis and the Originals see the article I’ve posted here.

Demo pressing of Van V-00262, “Skipping Around” listed as A-side

Another rare copy of the Raiders’ 3-song EP, sent to me by Jessie Caster

Categories: Reviews

Rob Chapman – Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head

July 3, 2011 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head by Rob Chapman
(Faber and Faber [UK]; Da Capo Press [US], 2010 hardcover/2011 paperback)

Review by Rebecca Jansen

I’ve managed to avoid reading much about Syd Barrett, other than Nick Mason’s lavish Floyd book of a few years ago, and one chapter of Richie Unterberger’s Unknown Legends. Which isn’t to say I haven’t admired and enjoyed his music many times. Unlike some of the people quoted in this book, however, neither he or his work have come close to changing my life or becoming a major obsession. Here is my outsider’s take then, which seems appropriate as in many ways Syd was an outsider to the commercial pop music scene he functioned within for awhile.

Unlike Syd’s own prose, at 400+ pages the biography is not economical; it is full of details and cross-references pertaining to poets and painters mostly outside the commercial arts, and of eras beyond Syd’s own. How necessary this is may depend on how much the reader wants to see Barrett’s work as singular and fueled by intangible outer realms of mental mystery. The author argues for the influence of his peers and surroundings rather than chemical inspiration, such as the often overlooked influence of Mike Leonard’s light show on the music of Pink Floyd. Personally, I like my non-fiction cluttered with details and tangents, so encountering John Clare, Bob Cobbing, Chaim Soutine and Edward Lear in these pages heightens my interest and appreciation.

Another way in which this book seems very unlike its subject, and my only real criticism of it, is in the sharply dismissive criticisms of music made by the author and other fans of Syd Barrett. I suppose that in their zeal to impress their love of Syd’s best work they think savaging such things as later Rolling Stones and Lennon & McCartney music will make Barrett’s work shine the brighter. There is even the opinion that all pop or rock music since the late sixties is retrograde or simply not trying in the least. This in a book about the virtual poster boy for retreat, inactivity and regression? These sorts of harsh judgements are only aimed at Syd’s work in so far as the author castigates the 1965 demo “Lucy Leave” as unworthy of much notice. The first original recording by the book’s subject and Pink Floyd not worth much attention? Only for somebody overly fixed on one style and time period of music. Many people have found that recording genuinely awe inspiring. Syd’s surly proto-punk vocals are startlingly on a par with Mick Jagger, Sky Saxon and Iggy Pop here, making it seem a shame that a “Lucy Leave” b/w “King Bee” single couldn’t have materialised at the time. I wonder what might have followed such a single.

The author is probably right in it ultimately being a good thing that nothing came of the recording and that Bob Klose the lead guitarist left soon after. The breakthrough psychedelic Pink Floyd sound might never have happened otherwise, and the pop music business would have forced Syd into retreat that much earlier. The opinions about other musical artists here are all about their authors and nothing really about Syd himself. If something wasn’t interesting to him it seems he simply opted out and gave it no attention or effort to the point of seeming rude. Having no opinion, or suspending closure to use the psychological jargon, did have a lot to do with his creativity. The reader is regularly shown how during the height of production Syd created stream-of-consciousness style without editing or censoring, or closing off from what was current in his surroundings. The few times he does voice an opinion in the few interviews he gave it is always amenable to being altered with any pressure. His facile mindset is part and parcel of the creator and his human condition.

That aspect aside, anybody interested in further exploring Syd the artist will find a lot in this book to think about and follow up on. If your interest is more for a good read storywise, as many music bios are, you will probably find this pretty bumpy and a bit dry. Chapman spends a fair amount of the time debunking and questioning the scale of the purported negative influence from drug use, and I think does a good job of untangling that layer of sensationalist hype from what the reality was. Other factors to do with the restrictions and demands of commerce and the stultifying influence of some people literally surrounding him are as or more likely to have caused the gradual backing away and undoing as the taking of too much acid. A number of friends, family and associates were interviewed for the book who have not been heard from before.

Rebecca Jansen is the one of the English-speaking world’s foremost authorities on Los Machucambos. Her writing and artwork can be seen at Hippies stole my blog! *.

Garage Hangover accepts recently-released LPs, CDs, books and DVDs for review. Please contact us for a mailing address.

Categories: India, Madras

The Frustrations Amalgamated from Madras

June 23, 2011 Chris Bishop 8 Comments

Frustrations Amalgamated at the 1972 Simla Beat Contest in Bombay

Previously I’ve written about Simla Beat in regards to the 1970 and 1971 contests and the records released at that time. Shyam Sunder Damoda of the Frustrations Amalgamated wrote to me about the group’s participation in the 1972 Simla Beat Contest, and sent the photos seen here.

I was the lead singer from the Frustrations Amalgamated from Madras, which won the All India Simla Beat Contest Award in 1972 at Shanmukhananda Hall, Bombay. We won the Best Group Award, the Best Singer Award and the Best Own Composition Award that year! Jaya Bhaduri gave the awards to us. On winning the Simla Beat Contest we did do a recording at the Royal Gems studio, but nothing came out of it.
Manu (Manohar Roberts, our lead guitarist) is in Chennai and still plays a mean lead guitar and is still in music. Ramji, our drummer was with the Abhaswaram and is in Chennai, still very much into music. Dumbu, our bass guitarist is in the U.S.A. and we are trying to get into contact again. Lawrence, our rhythm guitarist, is in Singapore and I believe, still in music.
I am presently in Bangalore and very much in music. I had a group called the West Wind here but am presently singing with my keyboard accompaniments and MIDIs, along with a good guitarist Dominic.
Shyam Sunder

Frustrations Amalgamated at the Bristol Beat Contest in Madras

Jaya Bhaduri presents an award at Simla Beat '72 — Jaya Bhaduri presents an award at Simla Beat ’72

The Purple Flower from Ahmedabad and the Crimson Fire of Bombay. Vispi was judged best drummer, and Clifford from Crimson Fire voted best lead guitarist. Other groups included the Rolling Beat from Goa, the Gauls from Delhi, and the Living Dead from Gauhati — The article above has additional info about that years contest:
The Purple Flower from Ahmedabad and the Crimson Fire of Bombay were sensational.
The Purple Flower’s drummer Vispi (sp?) was judged best drummer, and Clifford from Crimson Fire voted best lead guitarist.
Other groups included the Rolling Beat from Goa, the Guals (sp?) from Delhi, and the Living Dead from Gauhati.

Categories: Buena Park, California, Los Angeles, US

Mojo Men at the Retail Clerks Auditorium, 1965

June 22, 2011 Chris Bishop 1 Comment

Gary Myers sent in this great poster of his band the Mojo Men playing the Retail Clerks Auditorium in a “Retail a Go Go” with the Things, the Stymees and the Little Rascals on October 1, 1965. A news clipping from Gary dated September 29 lists the Only Ones instead of the Little Rascals, and names the Things as winners of a recent Battle of the Bands.

These Mojo Men were not the San Francisco band that hit with “Dance With Me” and “She’s My Baby” on Autumn Records.

Gary and his group had some lineup changes, signed with Mike Curb in 1967 and became the Portraits. I don’t believe any of the other bands mentioned recorded – has anyone ever heard of these groups?

The Retail Clerks Auditorium in Buena Park, Los Angeles had been a famous venue for surf bands in the early ’60s. By 1965 this had changed, and beat groups such as the Heathens did shows there.

If anyone has more info or clippings about the Retail Clerks Auditorium, it would be appreciated!

Thanks again to Gary E. Myers for his help. For more on Gary’s career see his website www.music-gem.com.

Categories: Reviews

A Song For You: The Quest of The Myddle Class by Kathy West

June 21, 2011 Chris Bishop 10 Comments

A Song For You: The Quest of The Myddle Class by Kathy West (Xlibris)
Review by Chris Bishop

Myke Rosa, Rick Philp, Dave Palmer, Dan Mansolino and Charles Larkey

The Myddle Class were a sensation in New Jersey, in Greenwich Village and even in Albany, but none of their singles made the national charts and the band faded away as members went off to college and found other musical avenues to pursue. This was a common story in the 1960s, and one that usually would not be worth writing a book about, but the Myddle Class was not an ordinary band, and their story is far more intricate and compelling than most. It’s welcome to read Kathy West’s A Song For You: The Quest of The Myddle Class, a personal history of her experiences with the group, especially with their guitarist Rick Philp and one of their producers, Carole King.

Kathy started dating Rick when the band was known as the King Bees. Al Aronowitz became the band’s manager and introduced them to Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and Kathy became good friends with Carole as a result.

Rick and Kathy maintained their relationship for the next several years despite long separations at different colleges, she in Virginia, he first at Gettysburg and later Emerson College in Boston. They wrote frequent letters to each other while away, and reunited during vacations. Kathy portrays Rick as a talented musician and loyal friend who was sometimes withdrawn or occupied by conflicts such as his father’s disapproval of his musical pursuits. Kathy has not just her own memory to draw on, but letters from Rick, Carole and other friends to round out the picture.

Rick and Kathy spent the summer of ’68 together in Los Angeles for Rick to record with Carole King on early sessions of The City album. Kathy briefly enrolled in school at U. Mass in Boston to be closer to Rick, but she returned to Virginia after less than a month in order to give Rick room to work out the personal and academic pressures he faced. One of Rick’s problems was his Emerson roommate “Dog”, a closeted homosexual who purposely worked to undermine Rick’s friendships (including his relationship with Kathy), stole his mail and guitars and tried to exert control over Rick.

Despite the obstacles Rick faced, there were promising developments happening in his life. He was on his way to finishing college, an important personal goal. He was also writing songs with Gerry Goffin and Myddle Class vocalist Dave Palmer, cutting demos and planning to form a new group with all the members of the Myddle Class plus pianist Lloyd Baskin.

Kathy last saw him on a visit home in early May, 1969. A few weeks later she heard the terrible news that Rick was dead, murdered by the former roommate who was jealous that Rick was exerting his independence. It’s a tragedy that clearly still hurts all the people who knew Rick. This loss of a lover, good friend and promising musician lies at the heart of A Song For You and makes it a very touching story to read, even if, like me, you only know the band through their music.

Kathy published this book herself through Xlibris. Like many self-published books, it has idiosyncrasies: over-large type, a cover illustration that fits the subject but is somewhat generic, and occasional repetition or digression that a good editor would have corrected. Kathy provides a number of yearbook photos, news clippings and shots of locations around Boston, but I would have liked to see some candid photos to accompany the fine account she has written (Kathy sent me additional photos of the band to add to this review, including a striking shot of Dave Palmer on stage with Charlie and Dan, below.) Ultimately these are minor quibbles that do not lessen the book’s importance.

Kathy West’s A Song For You is a rare portrait of the Myddle Class that I find invaluable and recommend highly.

A Song For You is available in printed and digital editions through Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Kathy also has signed hardcovers editions for sale; email her directly at kklew99@optonline.net.

On stage: Charles Larkey, Dave Palmer and Dan Mansolino

Categories: Brownsville, F Empire, Graves Recording Service (Eugene), Oregon, US

The Barber Green “Gliding Ride” on F-Empire

June 18, 2011 Chris Bishop 15 Comments

The Barber Green, circa 1968 Top left to right: Doug Collver, Don Harding, Mike McNeil, bottom left to right: Don Hurb and David Harding — The Barber Green, circa 1968, left to right top: Doug Collver, Don Harding, Mike McNeil; bottom: Don Hurb and David Harding

The Barber Green came out of Brownsville, Oregon, about a half hour north of Eugene. Like the Moguls, the Dominions, and other acts in the area around that college town, the band recorded at Alan Graves studio. They released one excellent 45 in 1968 on the F-Empire label, which is most well-known for the Beauregarde LP.

One side of the Barber Green single is “Life”, a gentle musing on a search for love and family, with harmonies and nice guitar picking. The flip “Gliding Ride” is more energetic. The guitar plays some excellent repetitive riffs as well as a good, short solo and the bass and drums are clear and well-played.

The lyrics are worth quoting:

Do you want to take a ride
A gliding ride, oh yeah, a gliding ride
We can see our city,
Yeah, our pretty city
We can see our city,
From a perch, it’s so pretty
We can see the lights all through the night
We’ll be in a daze until the break of day
Then tomorrow will come
We will go downtown
You’ll be wearing a frown
As you go downtown
The people will stare
As if they don’t care
Then you say, what is this (?)
Do you want to take a ride
A gliding ride, oh yeah, a gliding ride
We can see our city,
Yeah, our pretty city
We can see our city,
From a perch, it’s so pretty

Besides the polished songs on the single, there are four unreleased songs also cut at Graves which are much rougher. One is a cover of “Proud Mary”, but for me the other three are much more exciting, all single takes recorded live, with distorted guitar and vocals that peak in the red.

First comes “Destruction”, with a four-minute long repetitive section featuring guitar chords clipped by turns of the volume knob, a marching drum beat, and a long monologue. Halfway through the song, everything breaks loose for one of the wildest minutes of feedback since “Sister Ray”, then it’s back to the guitar motif and monologue for another three minutes to the close.

“(Thinking About The) Good Times” vaguely reminds me of the Pretty Things song of the same name in the way the lead guitar sustains distorted, wailing notes while the drummer cuts loose. Last is “Toe Jam (That Song)”, fourteen and a half minutes that build and extend into one of the more interesting jams I’ve heard from the time.

The band has plenty of attitude on these tracks, with even the vocalist willing to improvise with abandon for extended periods. Although it sounds excessive at times, I liked hearing this session because it shows a side of bands you don’t usually hear: creating music only for themselves without thinking of how it would come across to an audience, either live or listening to their record.

The Barber Green’s guitarists Mike McNeil and Doug Collver wrote the following history of the group:

We were a Pacific Northwest Rock and Roll band, playing in Oregon from 1966 until 1970. We played rock, pop, R&B and a few country & western tunes. We had a number of original songs and recorded a hit single 45 rpm record. The “A” side was the hit song “Gliding Ride”, the “B” side was a song simply called “Life”, recorded by Graves Recording Service in Eugene, Oregon, circa 1968.
The recording was not generally distributed, but was on the top ten list of a number of radio stations, and went to #1 on some West Coast stations, including KGO 810 AM, in Seattle, WA and KSFO 560 AM in San Francisco.
Band members included the late David Lee Harding, (lead singer), Donald Harding (bass guitar and vocals), Douglas Collver (lead guitar and vocals), Michael McNeil (rhythm guitar, harmonica and vocals) and Donald Herb (drums and other percussion). The band’s manager was the late Jack Richardson.
All the band members were students at Central Linn High School except for Doug Collver who attended Harrisburg Union High. We called Brownsville home and rehearsed in the old Brownsville Theater.
We played all over Oregon from Medford to Salem and from the Oregon coast to Oregon’s eastern border. In Eugene we were the opening act for the premier showing of the Beatles Yellow Submarine movie. Other memorable moments included more than one gig at the U of O student union which translated into frat parties. Crazy!
Our manager, Jack Richardson connected with country star Dottie West and she had us lined up for a USO tour in Viet Nam but the Tet offensive of 1968 prompted the cancellation of that tour.
40 years later The Barber Green reunited and that’s another story all together.
As well as our memories will allow this information was provided by:
Mike McNeil of Portland, OR and Doug Collver of Bend, OR

I followed up with some questions for Doug Collver:

Q. How did the band get that unusual name?

If you google “Barber Green” you will find a company that once manufactured a paving machine. Some one in the band came across one of these pavers one day and we became The Barber Green.

Q. How did the band break out of the Brownsville area to start playing shows around Oregon?

We were just kids who wanted to play our music. Jack Richardson was the one who did all the leg work and all the booking.

Q. Who did the song writing for the group?

I’m sure that David come up with the lyrics for “Gliding Ride” and “Life”. The music and orchestration was a collaboration that involved all of us.

Q. How did you find Alan Graves and his studio?

We purchased all of our equipment from Graves Music (Vox Super Beatle amps & Gibson guitars). Again the credit for the connection must go to Jack Richardson. He did all that stuff.

Q. Can you tell me about the four unreleased songs the band recorded?

We only had one recording session that resulted in the two releases mentioned above. With the rest of the studio time that was paid for we jammed. David made up the lyrics as we played. When the band reunited in March of ’09 we all brought whatever memorabilia we had saved over the years including copies of the LP that was cut from that session. I was able play it one time – one take, scratches and all and capture it forever.

Q. Did you or any of the other members stay in music after the Barber Green?

Don Hurb still plays a little. I put it down after the band broke up then started to play again in 1996. For the last 11 years I’ve been in a band called Blues Quarter playing clubs, resorts & special events in and around Central Oregon.

Categories: Detroit, Michigan, Reviews, US

The Pleasure Seekers – What a Way to Die (CD)

June 17, 2011 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

The Pleasure Seekers – What A Way To Die (2011 Cradle Rocks Music)
Review by Rebecca Jansen

Following an entertaining intro (by DJ The Lord, of Shangrlaradio.com), the Quatro sisters original composition “Gotta Get Away” comes on heavy with a wall of organ and guitar likes a snarly Detroit version of an Avalon ballroom mainstay! This is the first taste of seven previously unreleased ’60s recordings by Michigan’s Pleasure Seekers. It was long rumored the girls had laid down more in the studio than the three singles well known to serious rock & roll fanatics, but now the wait is over.

The first thing that becomes clear is how Arlene Quatro’s organ work is impeccable throughout, providing a solid foundation to the tracks she performed on. The second track “Never Thought You’d Leave Me” is of an earlier vintage however, when the Ball sisters, Nan and Mary Lou were in the group, and Arlene, the eldest Quatro had yet to join. Not yet out of their teens, Patti Quatro’s lead guitar and Suzi’s vocals are already solid on their 1966 debut on the Hideout record label, from the people who gave Detroit it’s Hideout club. Suzi’s bass is a real highlight here. On the title track from the same single you can hear how the Pleasure Seekers held their own on the same stages as The Rationals and Bob Seger & The Last Heard. In fact Suzi Q’s vocals are pretty much as strong they would be later at the height of her solo ’70s fame.

From the Mercury era the standout track here is “Light Of Love”, an upbeat rocker that equals the best sides by labelmates The New Colony Six. There is a cool chant aspect to the chorus here making me wonder why some glam group didn’t cover this in the ealry-mid ’70s, it would’ve outshone much of the repertoire from the period! Stax/Booker T style organ with soul harmonies tend to dominate the remaining cuts, but Patti’s guitar licks get elastic and really shine making possibly average material something more engaging. There is one great vocal performance, by drummer Darline Arnone apparently, on “Good Kind Of Hurt” also worth mentioning. The set closes with a slower experimental freak-out song called “Mr. Power” which comes over like Joe Meek, a great surprise and a cool note to end on definitely leaving me still wanting to hear more.

A pre-Hideout recording titled “White Line” for the Golden World label is missing or in that label’s archives. The CD also doesn’t include the song “Shame”, the b-side of one Mercury single. With the addition of Nancy Quatro The Pleasure Seekers evolved into the group Cradle, and there is an album’s worth of this material also available for the first time on CD.

Disc ordering info at: www.quatrorock.com.

Garage Hangover accepts recently-released LPs, CDs, books and DVDs for review. Please contact us for a mailing address.

Categories: Atco Records, California, Los Angeles, US

Blue Mountain Eagle gigs

June 15, 2011 Nick Warburton 1 Comment

Joey Newman (lead guitar, keyboards, vocals)
Bob ‘B.J’ Jones (lead guitar, vocals)
David Price (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Randy Fuller (bass, guitar, vocals)
Don Poncher (drums, vocals)

1968

September Price (b. September 23, 1944, Ballinger, Texas, US) and Poncher (b. July 29, 1947, Chicago, Illinois, US) are recruited by former Buffalo Springfield drummer/vocalist Dewey Martin for his new group named The New Buffalo Springfield, alongside horn player Jim Price, bass player Bob Apperson and lead guitarist Gary Rowles. Apperson, Poncher, Jim Price and Rowles have been playing together in a club in Arizona, which is where Martin spots them, while David Price has previously worked with Austin blues group, The Chelsea, done TV work with the Monkees and played one gig with the L.A based-band, Armadillo. The band rehearses at a diner in Boulder, Colorado and performs at the club with The Everly Brothers for a week.
November (16) The group makes its official public debut at the HIC, Honolulu, Hawaii with The Turtles. Shortly afterwards, the band returns to the mainland and performs a date at the Exhibit Hall, the Community Concourse in San Diego.
(23) Billed as The Buffalo Springfield, Martin’s group plays at the Sound Factory in Sacramento, California with Mad River and Sanpaku.
(30) Once again billed as The Buffalo Springfield, the band performs at the Terrace Ballroom, Salt Lake City, Utah with The Sir Douglas Quintet. The set list includes a song by Spirit.

Buffalo Springfield, Portland, Dec. 22, 1968 Poster image thanks to Jerry Fuentes

December (6) They play at the Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California with Eric Burdon & The Animals.
(7) Martin’s new version of The Buffalo Springfield appears at the Earl Warren Showgrounds, Santa Barbara, California with Three Dog Night.
(14) The band travels to Texas for a show at the Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls.
(20) Billed as The Buffalo Springfield they play at the Civic Center in Bakersfield, California with Gary Lewis & The Playboys.
(21) Travelling up to the Northwest, they appear at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with The Chambers Brothers and The Buddy Miles Express.
(22) Billed as The Buffalo Springfield, they play at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon with The Chambers Brothers and The Buddy Miles Express.
(23) Martin’s band is supported by White Hearts at the Evergreen Ballroom in Olympia, Washington, where it is billed as The Buffalo Springfield.
(26) Billed as New Buffalo Springfield, Martin’s band makes its Bay area debut at the Holiday Rock Festival, Cow Palace, San Francisco alongside Canned Heat, Steppenwolf, The Electric Prunes and others.
(27) Martin’s band appears at San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton, California. Gary Lewis & The Playboys cancel due to illness.

Listing in Billboard for the Buffalo Springfield, November 1968

Now listed in Billboard as the New Buffalo Springfield, December 1968

1969

January (11) Martin’s band appears at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California billed as The Buffalo Springfield.
(31) Billed again as The Buffalo Springfield, the band appears at the Mother Duck in Chicago with Hot Fudge in support.
February (8) Martin’s version of The Buffalo Springfield plays at the Civic Auditorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Iron Butterfly and Lincoln Street Exit.
(22) Billboard announces that an album is imminent on Atco but nothing transpires. Rowles leaves soon afterwards and takes some time out of playing before later in the year replacing Jay Donellan in Love, a position he was originally offered in September 1968. Apperson also departs for session work and is replaced by former Bobby Fuller Four member and solo artist Randy Fuller (b. January 29, 1944, Hobbs, New Mexico, US), while Jim Price quits to join Delaney & Bonnie. Don Poncher joins the exodus to do session work and Dewey Martin takes over the drum stool. Martin brings in lead guitarist Bob “B J” Jones (b. November 9, 1942, Woodbury, New Jersey) who has previously worked with Little Richard and the band Danny & The Saints.
March The new line up records some tentative tracks in a Hollywood studio down the hall from Neil Young who is working with Crazy Horse, but they are never released. Producer Tom Dowd oversees one session.
(31) – April (2) Martin returns with The New Buffalo Springfield name, and a line up now comprising Randy Fuller, Dave Price and Bob “B J” Jones is one of the headliners at the Teen Expo, Santa Clare Fairgrounds, San Jose with Santana, Iron Butterfly and others. The group then changes name briefly to Blue Buffalo.
April (31) Martin’s group, billed as New Buffalo Springfield, plays at the Eureka Municipal Auditorium in Eureka, California with Mixed Company Coffee and Devine Madness.
June The band is expanded with the addition of lead guitarist Joey Newman (b. Vern Kjellberg, August 29, 1947, Seattle, Washington), formerly a member of Don & The Goodtimes, The Liberty Party and Touch.
(7) Billed as The Buffalo Springfield, they play at the Dunes in Westport in Washington.
(21) Again billed as The Buffalo Springfield, the band appears at Chehalis Civic Auditorium, Chehalis, Washington with Slugg.
(28) Billed as New Buffalo Springfield, they perform at Casey’s in Lewiston, Idaho.
July (3) Billed as The Buffalo Springfield, they perform at the Armory in Astoria, Oregon.
(5) Martin’s outfit appears at the Evergeen Ballroom, Olympia, Washington.
(8-9) New Buffalo Springfield appear at the Seattle Center Arena with Paul Revere & The Raiders.
(11) The band plays at the Breakthru, Tacoma, Washington.
(19) The New Buffalo Springfield appear at the Happening, Seattle, Washington. While on the Northwest tour, the group drives along Highway 395 and comes across a town in Grant County, Oregon with a newspaper called The Blue Mountain Eagle. The band fires Dewey Martin and returns to Los Angeles to sign a deal with Atlantic Records subsidiary label, Atco Records. Ahmet Ertegun signs the band personally.

Spring 1969 lineup, clockwise from top: Dewey Martin, Bob Jones, Dave Price and Randy Fuller Buffalo Springfield at the Astoria Armory, July 3, 1969 Poster image thanks to Jerry Fuentes — Spring 1969 lineup, clockwise from top: Dewey Martin, Bob Jones, Dave Price and Randy Fuller. Buffalo Springfield at the Astoria Armory, July 3, 1969. Poster image thanks to Jerry Fuentes

Blue Mountain Eagle, late 1969, from left: Dave Price, Randy Fuller, Bob Jones, Joey Newman and Don Poncher

August Back in Los Angeles, the group adds Don Poncher from the original New Buffalo Springfield line up on drums in place of Martin and takes on the name Blue Mountain Eagle after the newspaper the group has seen on the road.
(24) Studio session logs suggest they record some demo tracks at Wally Heider’s studio in Los Angeles. The tracks include “Trivial Sum” (which the band will complete at a later date) and songs which may have been completed and later released under a different name. The tracks are: “Rock & Roll Please”, “Fourth Time Around”, “Road’s End”, “David’s Song”, “B.J. #1”, “¾ Thing” and “Joey’s Song”.
September (13) Having debuted at the HIC in Honolulu (where it is billed by manager Mike Zalk as New Buffalo Springfield), Blue Mountain Eagle support Santana at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California.
December (1) Blue Mountain Eagle record their debut album in one day at Wally Heider’s studio in Los Angeles.
(27-29) The band appears at the Pozo, San Luis Obispo on a bill featuring The Byrds, Eric Mercury, Spirit, Vanilla Fudge and others.

Clockwise from top left: Bob Jones, Dave Johnson, Dave Price, Don Poncher and Joey Newman. Photo courtesy Henry Diltz

1970

February The group supports Love and Eric Burdon & War at the Ice Palace, Las Vegas.
(3-8) Blue Mountain Eagle play at the Brass Ring, Sherman Oaks, California with Blue Rose.
(10-15) They return to the Brass Ring for a second set of shows with Blue Rose.
March (21) The band performs at the Salem Armory Auditorium, Salem, Oregon.
(26-28) The group participates in the Southwest ’70 Peace Festival near Lubbock, Texas, with Vanilla Fudge, Muddy Waters, Canned Heat, The Flock, Truth, Joe Kelley’s Blues Band, Johnny Winter and many others.

At the Salem Armory with Everyday Hudson (formerly the New Yorkers) and Fatt Twice Together

Left to right: Joey Newman, Bob Jones, Don Poncher, Dave Johnson and Dave Price. Photo dated March 4, 1970, but it might be later

with Manfred Mann at the Whisky a Go Go, April, 1970

Atco ad in the LA Free Press, April 1970

April (8-12) Blue Mountain Eagle support Manfred Mann Chapter 3 at West Hollywood’s Whisky A Go Go. Randy Fuller leaves and joins Dewey Martin & Medicine Ball, appearing on its lone album. He is replaced by Dave Johnson (b. October 21, 1945, Burbank, California, US), who has previously worked with Dr John and Alice & The Wonderland Band alongside singer Joanne Vent and future Redbone guitarist Tony Bellamy. The group write and arrange material for a second album over the next few months but none of the tracks are recorded.
(24) The new line up plays at the Pusi-Kat, San Antonio, Texas.
(26) Blue Mountain Eagle support Jimi Hendrix and The Buddy Miles Express at the ‘Cal Expo’, Sacramento, California.

at the Beach House in Santa Monica, May 1970

(28) – May (3) Blue Mountain Eagle plays at the Beach House, Cheetah Pier, Santa Monica.
May Their eponymous debut album is released, highlighting a mixture of acoustic and hard rock styles that is reminiscent of The Buffalo Springfield.
(2) Blue Mountain Eagle support Country Joe & The Fish and Spirit at San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego.
(9) The band opens for Pink Floyd at the Terrace Ballroom, Salt Lake City, Utah.
(15) Blue Mountain Eagle appear at Fresno Convention Hall, California with Canned Heat and Sweetwater.
June (2-7) The group appears at the Beach House, Cheetah Pier, Santa Monica.
(5) Billboard magazine reports that the band appears at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.
(8) Blue Mountain Eagle record a lone track, a cover of Stephen Stills’s “Marianne”.

July (11) The band appears at Bullock’s Department Store in downtown L.A. with Poco, Blues Image and Southwind.
(18) The group replaces Blue Cheer at Terrace Ballroom, Salt Lake City, Utah on a bill that also features Love and Fever Tree.
August The band releases the double A-side single “Marianne”, which is given favourable reviews. Studio logs also suggest the group records a track called “Rest” but it is never released.
October Blue Mountain Eagle’s final gig is at a ballroom in Dave Price’s hometown, San Antonio, Texas.
NovemberPoncher leaves to join Love for live work and the band splinters. Johnson briefly works with Lee Michaels before reuniting with Jones in Sweathog, while Price does sessions for ex-Sir Douglas Quintet keyboard player Augie Meyer.

1972

January Sweathog’s eponymous debut album is released, but is not a success. Having appeared on sessions for a Love album that is eventually released in the 2000s by Sundazed as Love Lost, Poncher stays with Arthur Lee and his next project, Band Aid, helping him record the Vindicator album. Poncher then joins Blue Rose with Terry Furlong (who wrote songs for Blue Mountain Eagle) and ex-Illinois Speed Press member John Uribe.
June Blue Rose’s sole eponymous album appears on Epic Records. Poncher continues to do session work throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, working with people like Augie Meyer, Joe Cocker, Jim Price, Genya Raven and Chris Jagger. He currently plays with Balonius Bunk in the San Fernando Valley.

1975

September Newman emerges with new outfit, Bandit, who release an album for ABC Records. Having recorded a second album with Sweathog without Jones, Johnson puts together a new band with radio legend Jimmy Rabbit called Rabbit and Renegade, which records an album for Capitol Records, produced by Waylon Jennings.

1977

Newman forms Stepson, who release an album for ABC Records, before later recording two gospel albums. Newman later works with Michael Lloyd, the Osmonds, Bryan MacLean, Shaune Cassidy and with Jimmy Johnson on his Sheena Easton tour. Jones meanwhile, surfaces with The Demons, who issue an eponymous album on Mercury.

Sources:

Einarson, John and Furay, Richie. For What It’s Worth – The Story Of Buffalo Springfield, Quarry Press Inc, 1997, pages 279-280.
Hounsome, Terry. Rock Record #6, Record Researchers Publications, 1994.
Housden, David Peter. The Castle – Love #9, 1995, page86.
Housden, David Peter. The Castle – Love #10, 1996, page 27.
Joynson, Vernon. Fuzz, Acid & Flowers, Supplement, September 1997, page 419.
Povey, Glen and Russell, Ian. Pink Floyd In The Flesh – A Complete Performance History, Bloomsbury, 1997, page 94.
Ruppli, Michel. Atlantic Records – A Discgraphy, volume 2, Greenwood Press, 1979, pages 320 and 366 and volume 3, page 53.
Shapiro, Harry and Glebbeek, Caesar. Electric Gypsy, Mandarin, 1995, page 738.
Billboard, November 16, 1968, page 67; December 28, 1968, page 43; February 22, 1969, page 3 and August 15, 1970, page 28.
Los Angeles Free Press, February 6, 1970; May 1, 1970; May 27, 1970 and June 5, 1970.
Variety, August 19, 1970, page 46.

Thanks to Dave Price, Joey Newman, Bob Jones, Randy Fuller, Don Poncher and Dave Johnson for contributing to the band’s story. Thanks to Jerry Fuentes and Neil Skok for help with some of the New Buffalo Springfield dates. Huge thanks to Steve Finger at the LA Free Press for help with concert posters.

I have tried to ensure that this article is as accurate as possible, but some data is difficult to verify. If anyone is able to supply any additional information or correct any errors, please contact me at Warchive@aol.com

Categories: Beverly Hills, California, Impression, Los Angeles, US

The Sloths “Makin’ Love” on Impression

June 12, 2011 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

Early photo of the Sloths, from left: Hank Daniels, Michael Rummans, Jeff Briskin, Steve Dibner and Sam Kamarass

Hank Daniels – vocals
Michael Rummans – rhythm guitar
Jeff Briskin – lead guitar
Don Silverman – lead guitar
Steve Dibner – bass
Mick Galper – bass
Sam Kamarass – drums

The Sloths cut the great “Makin’ Love” in September 1965. The sliding guitar rhythm doesn’t quite mesh with the other guitar part. The production is so muddled the drummer’s Bo Diddley beat on the toms produces a constant hum that drowns out most of the bass notes. The sound is a turgid, dense r&b, like the Stones’ take on “Not Fade Away” turned inside-out. Hank Daniels shouts his lyrics in a hoarse, slobbering voice: “I wanna be with you all night, makin’ love, good good good lovin’ baby, makin’ love”!

Sloths logo on drumhead hand painted by Hank Daniels

This was not commercial music, but Impression’s owners actually had another group re-record “Makin’ Love” in the hopes of a hit the second time around. Long before I’d heard the Sloths, I knew this song from the version by the Dirty Shames, cut a year later, also for Impression. The Shames’ singer doesn’t have Hank Daniels’ wild incoherence, but the band actually plays together and in tune. Both releases credit Hank with song writing, and publishing listed with Vendo (BMI) on the Sloths and Vendo-Ramhorn (BMI) on the Dirty Shames.

Marty Wons of the Dirty Shames told me there was no connection between his band and the Sloths, and Michael Rummans of the Sloths confirmed this: “I was the rhythm guitarist for the Sloths. Your information is correct – no shared members between Sloths and Dirty Shames.”

The flip, “You Mean Everything to Me” is much tamer but also very good, with twelve string guitar, accomplished playing and clear production. (Thank you to Mike D. and Freddy Fortune for sending clips of this in). It’s another original by Hank Daniels.

This was the first rock release on Al and Sonny Jones’ Impression label, just before they relaunched it with a new design (there had been two or three soul singles before the Sloths). It’s a rare 45 now, with one copy recently selling for over $2,200, and that was without the even rarer picture sleeve!

Sleeve to their Impression single, with original lineup of the Sloths From left: Michael Rummans, Hank Daniels, Steve Dibner, Sam Kamarass and Jeff Briskin

Michael Rummans with his first Gibson, Hank Daniels with Electro Voice microphone

Michael Rummans wrote the following account of the band, aided by Steve Dibner’s recollections:

This was my first band and, like many other firsts, has its origins among my high school friends & associates. I attended Beverly Hills High School, ’62 to ’66. During that time, there were many creative individuals including Richard Dreyfuss, Albert Brooks and Michael Lloyd who contributed to an atmosphere of artistic creativity. I first started practicing with Jeff Briskin, a surfer and guitarist. Fun for awhile, but I wanted more – a full band.
Sam Kamarass on drums. Smaller b&w photos originally taken by Julie Olen
I saw my chance when I met Hank Daniels, a transfer student who was attracting a lot of attention. Hair too long, often barefoot with a 12 string Gibson acoustic strapped on his back, he was drawing a lot of attention, both good & bad (there were a lot of preppie types). We started hangin’ out, both of us now hiding from the boy’s Vice Principal and sharing a common interest in music. Soon we decided to start a band, and it wasn’t long before we found Steve Dibner to play bass and Sam Kamarass for drums. We found our name in an American history textbook from a 19th century political cartoon (as did another BHHS band, The Mugwumps).Once the band was formed, the next step was to learn songs and find somewhere to perform them. Even though the Sloths were by all definitions a garage band, we avoided that actual type of structure when one of Dibner’s parents foolishly agreed to let us rehearse in their living room. We also rehearsed in Hank’s pool house, grudgingly tolerated by his parents. Joking aside I must point out that the band was able to gain invaluable early momentum because most of our families supported and contributed to our effort (most, not all).

Early photo of the Sloths, from left: Hank Daniels, Jeff Briskin, Steve Dibner, Michael Rummans and Sam Kamarass

What we needed next was material. Hank had some background in acoustic folk music; me and Jeff with surf music but, just like most of the kids of that time, we were all enamored with the music of the British invasion. One of the things that distinguished our group from many others was a realization that we had to develop originality to have success.
Wallach’s Music City
This was largely because of a chance meeting I had had with James Brown backstage at the TAMI show. I was with my dad, and when we met JB, he told him I was getting in to music & wanted to know if he had any advice. James said, “Don’t take any lessons, develop your own style – otherwise you’ll never be more than second rate”. That has stayed with me my whole life. So, instead of learning a set of cover songs, we would go to Wallach’s Music City on Sunset & Vine and spend hours in the listening booths looking for songs to cover that no one else was doing, and arrange them in our own style. One of my favorites was “Messin’ With The Kid” by Junior Wells (just stumbled on to it).
Michael Rummans at Pandora’s Box, 16 years old
Bandmaster amp stood on side, Vox style
Hank also wrote originals, as exemplified by the record. Having an artistic background, he designed the logo as well (you can see it on Sam’s bass drum).

Sloths at Pandora's Box, Friday January 21, 1966

The Clubs

Don’t misunderstand me, playing for our friend’s pool parties was fun, but we wanted more. There was the Teenage Fair at the Palladium and all those cool clubs on the Sunset Strip. To this day it amazes me that we got hired – not that we weren’t entertaining, but we were all so obviously underage. The thing is, nobody had told us how impossible it would be, so we were undeterred.
Michael Rummans, Hank Daniels and Don Silverman
One of the first venues we performed at was called Stratford on Sunset (now the House of Blues). The owner was Jerry Lambert and his nephew’s group, The East Side Kids, was the house band. At that time, they had another name, the Sound of the Seventh Son, I think (no wonder they changed it). They were older, very professional and served as mentors to us. Despite our lack of experience, I think Jerry must of liked our youthful enthusiasm and originality. Anyway, Stratford was great while it lasted (I also got picked up for the first time there). And it was Jerry Lambert again who got me the audition for the Yellow Payges a year later – small world.Other Strip clubs we played at: The Sea Witch, Pandora’s Box, Hullabaloo – but more about that later …

Michael will be adding more about the band at a later date. He left the Sloths and joined the Yellow Payges for a time in 1968. In the ’70s he played with the Hollywood Stars and then the King Bees, among other groups.Michael kindly responded to some of my questions about the Sloths and their record:

Hank Daniels with Don Silverman (?) to his left

Q. How did the record on Impression happen? Did the label sign the band?

We were approached by the brothers at one of our shows. At first I thought they were kidding. I don’t remember signing an official recording contract, but I’m pretty sure we signed an agreement. I do remember them bringing in a copyist to write down lyrics and melody.

Q. Do you remember specifics of the recording session?

Regarding the actual session, I remember the studio quite well. It was an old-fashioned large room, similar to the one used in “The Buddy Holly Story”. It was located on E. Sunset Blvd near Western. The brothers let us do pretty much what they heard on stage, with one exception. One of them suggested the repeating high E on the guitar near the end of the song. I asked why, and he referred to it as a “sensation note”. He was right – it works.

Q. I was watching a film on October Country in a studio in ’67, and noticed graffiti: “Sloths” and “Jeff”. The studio may have belonged to CBS Records at Sunset and Gower in Hollywood, California.

I see my name below Jeff’s as well. It may well be the one we recorded the single in.

Q. Did the label do any promotion for the record?

Don Silverman on Gretsch Country Gentleman, Mick Galper on bass

I don’t remember much promotion, other than what we did ourselves. One thing we accomplished was getting it played on KRLA and KFWB, just by having our friends call the station a lot. Some of us even went to KFWB on Argyle & Selma and banged on the door!

As for the record, I only know of three copies; mine, Steve Dibner’s (original bass player) and my sister’s (which she gave to Hank’s son). Jeff Briskin had a box of 100 records in his garage and threw them out a few years ago. However, he’s going to check and see if he can find any other memorabilia-pics, articles, etc. I must have given away most of mine for promotional purposes, which is what they were intended for. We’re going to collaborate and finish the story I started, so I’ll be able to give you more info on Impression and the recording.

Q. Any chance of a Kingbees reunion?

The Kingbees still get together and perform from time to time, but Jamie doesn’t want to hustle gigs any more. Maybe we can find an agent in the future, because the band still sounds great. Unlike the Sloths, I still have a large supply of Kingbees memorabilia.

Friends of the Sloths, the East Side Kids, from left: Joe Madrid, Jimmy Greenspoon, Dennis Lambert, Dave Doud, Mike Doud and Danny Belsky

Below, photos of the Sloths playing Hollywood au Go Go, October 28, 2011
This was their 3rd show since reuniting.

Photos taken by Angel Jason Peralta. Thanks to Elva for sending the photos in.

October Country with Sloths graffiti in the background - is this CBS studios at Columbia Square? — October Country with Sloths graffiti in the background – is this CBS studios at Columbia Square?

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