The Stereo Shoestring, from left: John Coco, James Noe, Richard Lalor, Steve Schultz and Jim Howard Photo from Not Fade Away #3
John Coco (vocals) Jim Howard (lead guitar) Richard Lalor (guitar) James Noe (bass) Steve Schultz (drums)
with the Buckle at the Coral Room, January 12, 1968The Stereo Shoestring were a Corpus Christi band, apparently only together for a short time during 1968. They cut one of the monster singles out of Texas in April of that year, a total reworking of the Pretty Things’ “Defecting Grey” titled “On the Road South”. On the other side was a version of the Zombies “Tell Her No”. The “English Records” labels give the band credit for writing both songs. They recorded in Houston, possibly at Doyle Jones’ studio.
The Clockwork Orange, Richard Lalor at far left, Ashley Johnson on bass. Photo from Not Fade Away #3[/caption]
Rich Lalor had played in the Clockwork Orange with Ashley Johnson, a hip record collector who owned the original of “Defecting Grey”. The fact that this song was covered by a Texas band is all the more remarkable, as it was one of the more obscure Pretty Things records of the ’60s.
Management by Vicki Jones Scanned from Not Fade Away #3They are mentioned in an article from the Corpus Christi Times in July, 1968:
“Sensitivity sessions” are scheduled with a general airing of problems and exchange of ideas. After today’s discussion groups and an “in” at 4:30 p.m. in the Hemisphere Room, a dance featuring “The Stereo Shoestring,” a local rock band, is scheduled.
For some reason, Lalor left the band, followed by Schultz and Howard. Coco and Noe found new musicians and reformed the Shoestring in 1969, but soon changed the name to the Hendrix-inspired The Red House.
Thank you to bosshoss and Gyro1966 for the 45 transfers.
Two songs by the reformed Shoestring, 1969 These would be released as by The Red House Scan from the collection of Andrew Brown
Update: I’ve changed references to James Coco to John Coco, as more than one person who knew him has commented that is his correct name.
Harban Singh & the Swallows, credited as Harban Singn on the cover.
I have three versions of this tune. Malaysia’s Geevi Lee recorded it in English as ‘Confession’; Indonesia’s Rifa Hadija recorded it as ‘Pentjuri Hati’ (Heart Stealer) and there is this version sung in Chinese by a Malaysian Sikh as ‘The Person Who Steals My Heart’. I have no idea what the original was, but it must have been popular.
There’s an earlier release on Golden Horse, credited to Harban Singh and Friends.
Backed by prolific rockers The Melodians, Patrina is another young, young singer.The classic ‘Shakin’ All Over’ is given here as ‘Shakes All Over’. The quirky guitar in this version is what appeals most to me. She had about nine releases on the interestingly-named Cortersions label.
The State of Mind, from left: Tommy Devore, Gary Redwine, Mike Darby, Glenn Coleman and Bobby Corley This photo and the one of the band van from Bobby’s blog Diary of a Drummer
Last year Bobby Corley of the State of Mind sent me a copy of their cool single for the Tener label. I sent him a couple emails to thank him and ask for more information on the band, but haven’t heard back yet. Bobby has a blog Diary of a Drummer with many good photos, but he hasn’t updated it in a couple years.
The members of the State of Mind were Tom Devore (vocals), Glenn Coleman (lead guitar), Mike Darby (rhythm guitar), John Dumas (bass) and Bob Corley (drums). Their original drummer was Leo Gates, replaced by Corley in 1967 when Gates went to college. Gary Redwine also played bass with the group, though I’m not sure if he came before or after John Dumas.
The band was from Winter Park, by Orlando, often appearing on bills at the Orlando Youth Center and The Place, but other than that I don’t know much about them.
Their first release was probably this very fine version of “My Back Pages” on the Bee Jay Demo Volume II compilation from 1967 (Tener TC 1014). I hadn’t heard this until recently.
Their single came out in late ’67 or ’68. “City Life” is really unusual, with static noise layered over the music throughout the song, giving it an apocalyptic feel. It was written by Mike Darby, Tom Devor and Glenn Coleman. The flip “Time Will Tell” is also good, written by Devor and Darby.
Glenn Coleman and Tom Devore, and later Mark Darby, played with a later group called the Orange Wedge (not the Michigan group who recorded “From the Tomb to the Womb” or the Baltimore group with two LPs in the ’70s).
Thank you to Jeff Lemlich for the transfer of “My Back Pages”.
Orlando Youth Center, Fall 1968 schedule, featuring the State of Mind, Ron & the Starfires, the Marshmellow Steamshovel, Plant Life, Magic Circle and more.Orlando Youth Center, Fall 1968 schedule From the collection of Rootbound at the Limestone Lounge.
Joey B. and the Silhouettes, January, 1963, from left: “Peewee” Lavoisier (only played with us for one or two gigs), Joe Barron (Joey B), Gonzalo Gonzales, Felipe Garza, Luis Maza, Joe “Papucho” Garcia and Jesse Guerrero
My name is Gonzalo Gonzales (GG for short) and I was a band member with Noe Pro and the Semitones together with Jesse Salinas during the early 60’s. Another band from the area that I had played with. This would be Joey B and the Silhouettes. Let me lay out a bit of history that maybe ties some things together.I had played in my high school band and had always been interested in playing with or forming a group. After graduating in 1961, I left Brownsville to attend college close to Dallas. After one semester, I returned to Brownsville and attended a junior college here. A friend of mine, another band member from high school, informed me that there was a group looking to expand their sound with horns (both of us played clarinet and saxophone). He introduced me to the group and I joined up. This group was called the Blue Valiants – this is the same group that Noe Pro joined as a drummer later on. The Blue Valiants were led by a guitar player named Marcos Rodriguez.
After playing with the Blue Valiants for about a year, the group broke up and several of the members, including myself, left to form a new group. This new group was called Joey B and the Silhouettes. This group consisted of the following members: Joe Barron (Joey B) (lead singer and rhythm guitar), Joe Garcia (nicknamed Papucho and who happened to be a cousin of Marcos Rodriguez – bass guitar), Jesse Guerrero (drums), Luis Maza (my friend from high school – alto sax), and myself (tenor sax). Later on we added a lead guitar player who also sang from time to time – Felipe Garza.
We played gigs all over for high school dances, birthdays, weddings, etc. but we also put on our own dances from time to time. We would rent a salon, hire a cop for security, and then put up posters all over town. We then had our girl friends or family members charge admission at the front door. Other local bands started doing this same thing.
The Silhouettes did make an unreleased tape but I don’t remember with who or what ever happened to it. I wish I did – would be great to dig that up.
Eventually, of course, group members started leaving for different reasons and the group disbanded. Luis Maza left and joined another group that was getting popular during this period – Lenny and the Bellaires. Lenny was the stage name for Leo Silva. I hooked up with a couple of brothers that had started a group. This group was called The Staffs. This is the same group that Jesse played with later on after he played with Noe.
Meanwhile, Marcos Rodriguez brought on new members to the Blue Valiants including Noe Pro as a drummer. Noe tells me that he only lasted with the Blue Valiants for about 6 months or so before he decided to leave and form his own band which, of course, would be the Semitones.
Noe Pro and the Semitones started to make a big splash in Brownsville and, really, all over the Rio Grande Valley. The gigs that the Staffs were getting were getting less and less. So I got dissuaded with them and decided to join up with Noe. I then played with Noe and the core group until I had to leave for the service in mid 1966. I played with the Staffs way before they ever made that recording on the Pa-Go-Go label. In fact, I was surprised that they had recorded – I kind of lost track of them once I went into the service.
When I joined the Air Force, I ended up in San Antonio based at Lackland AFB. While there, I looked around for a band to play with. I got a hold of Rudy “Tee” Gonzales (from Rudy and the Reno Bops) and his brother to see if they could hook me up with someone and they did. They introduced me to Danny Martinez from Danny & the Tejanos and I ended up playing with them for a couple of years. In fact, I was on the recording of “Mustard Greens” which was recorded with Tear Drop.
John B. Ford – lead guitar, lead and background vocals Gary Francis – bass (“black” album) and rhythm guitar (“red album”) Tomm Ballew – bass (only on the “red” album) Jim Valice – drums and backing vocals
First LP, the “black” albumFrom the Grosse Pointe suburb east of Detroit, Michigan, the Index released two of the rarest LPs of the late ’60s on their own DC Records label, the “black” and “red” albums (so named because of their black and red labels as neither had a title).1967’s “black” album is a murky recording drowned in natural reverb, but that doesn’t blunt the impact of the playing: if anything it enhances it. While one reviewer I’ve read prefers the cover songs like “Eight Miles High”, “John Riley” and “You Keep Me Hanging On”, I like the original vocals “Fire Eyes” and “Rainy Starless Night” and the incredible instrumentals: “Feedback”, “Shock Wave”, “Israeli Blues” and “Turquoise Feline”. This record has recently been issued on vinyl on DC/Valor records, I’m not positive if that’s a legitimate reissue or not.
In 1968 they made a cleaner recording for their second LP, the “red” album. In 1997 it was issued on CD with some tracks from the first LP and some 1969 recordings, titled Index Anthology 1967-68.
As Index broke up due to members going to college, Jim Valice and John Ford formed Just Us, recording another rare LP from 1969 on the Valord label, The U.S.A. from the Air. That album, more tracks from their first and a 1969 live recording were released on CD on Index Anthology II.
Lion Productions put out a comprehensive reissue of both albums and additional recordings on a 2 CD set in 2010. Lion should be reissuing both LPs on vinyl in 2015-2016.
If anyone has quality photos or scans of the second album covers or labels or either record, please get in touch.
Dan Nielsén conducted this interview with John Ford about the band:
Q. Can you give us some background information: where were you born and how did you start playing the guitar? Was there any time in your life when you thought, “Music is what I’m going to the for the rest of my life” or has it always been a hobby?
Back of first LPJohn Ford: I was born in Detroit, Michigan on May 25, 1949. I learned to play the guitar in 1960 from my uncle who was a skilled guitarist. He was a fan of folk music, and I learned playing the songs of the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, and The New Christy Minstrels.
Q. Was INDEX the first band that you was in? Also, how did you all meet? Was it through school, mutual friends or just by coincidence?
John Ford: I put together my first band in 1964. It was more of a Beatles type of group with vocals and guitars, but no real drummer or bass player. That band evolved into a group called TRB (“The Rubber Band”), which was more of a summer band that played up in Northern Michigan for the summers. The sounds was based heavily on Beatles, Stones, Animals, Yardbirds and the Who. The Index band was established when Gary Francis and I got together and asked one of Gary’s friends, a drummer named Jim Valice to join us. The music that influenced me most at that time was Buffalo Springfield, Yardbirds (with Jeff Beck and not Eric Clapton) and the Rolling Stones. The three of us were Index and started playing at gigs in the area in 1965. We later added the bass player, Tom Ballew, who was a great addition. On the black album I had played bass and lead guitar and sang lead vocals and backing vocals, Gary had played rhythm guitar and Jim played drums and sang backing vocals. Gary and I went to the same high school, and Jim was a friend of Gary’s. Tom was a friend of Jim’s. The four of us were on the Red Album, and after we disbanded (since we were all at different colleges), Jim and I recorded as Just Us and played all of the instruments and backing vocals ourselves.
Q. Could you tell something about the recording process, the album has a unique sound, which i think many bands have tried to re-create, but haven’t been able to, so what are the “secrets”?
1983 Voxx reissue of the first LPJohn Ford: The first album was recorded in my parents’ basement where we would rehearse. The sound was created due to the stark condition of the basement with tiled floors and concrete walls. We recorded on a Sony reel-to-reel recorder that belonged to my father, and we recorded at 3 ¾ speed. It was a unique sound, and on the first album we had it engineered by a specialist at GM Records in Detroit. We had only a small number of albums pressed (150-200), and we passed them to friends as we started, but later we sold them all through the Harmony House music store in Grosse Point Woods, Michigan.
Q. What gear (guitar, pedals, and amps) were you using back in the late ’60s? What gear were you using on the albums (I haven’t heard “The Red Album” and the Just Us album)? Moreover on the first album who’s on the cover? It looks like an old picture, not like anything you’ve staged, gives an kinda feeling, but it fits in just perfectly with the music.
John Ford: I played two electrics and an electrified Martin acoustic D-45 (built in 1945 with a terrific mellow sound). The electrics were a Gibson six-string red body 1965 ES-335, and my favorite was a 1966 Gibson black Les Paul that had humbucking pickups. I used a fuzz pedal for some of the effects and a wahwah pedal for others. The amps that we used were Fender, and the microphones were Shure. Gary used a black Gretsch guitar, and Tom Ballew played a Fender bass. Jim had a great set of black Ludwig drums. The picture for the black album cover was one that Jim found in an old magazine. The red album featured a drawing of us by Jim on the cover.
Q. Do think you have any particular moment on the album? Any song that you feel strong about? My personal favorites are “Shock Wave” and “Fire Eyes”, could you give some background on them? “Shock Wave” is an instrumental, but I think you express feeling through your playing in that song.
Unlicensed reissue of the second LP on the bootleg Sears label, 1991. Originals have a black cover with white lettering and drawing.John Ford: “Shock Wave” was our tribute to Jimmy Hendrix, and it featured particularly my Les Paul with the fuzz pedal. These pieces came out of jam sessions that really reflected original contributions from the three of us that fit together, but Jim and I were the creative directors of the music. “Fire Eyes” reflected personal issues that I had faced, and I wrote the song.
Q. How about the live INDEX? Did you perform much or was you just and studio band? I’ve know that one of the anthology albums has some live cuts on it, but i seems to be covers mostly. Did you ever play “Shock Wave”, “Feedback” etc, on stage or was it too difficult?
John Ford: We played all of our music including our original works and the covers. We played at many high school dances and college parties and neighborhood parties throughout Detroit. We played in some of the same venues as Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels who had just released “Devil with the Blue Dress”. It was a dynamic time for music in Detroit as groups like SRC (Scot Richard Case), Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, the Underdogs, the Pleasure Seekers and Alice Cooper were all playing regularly in the area. The live sessions featured our album prominently so “Fire Eyes” and “Shockwave” were regularly performed along with “Rainy Starless Night” and “Israeli Blues” and other originals. One of the best gigs that we had was playing for the farewell party for the Detroit Piston Basketball player, Dave Debuscher who was leaving to go to the New York Knicks. We played for many of the pro athletes from the Pistons and the Detroit Lions. Mostly we were asked to play covers of Stones songs and Cream and the Who and the Beatles, but they liked our original music as well.
Q. Of the three albums; which one to you feel most is connected to you? How was the album taken? Was there many who likes it, etc. Also, how do you feel about the album selling on eBay for such big bucks now? Could you ever imagine that when you recorded it?
John Ford: We did it for the fun of it and to have a permanent record of our songs. The best album from a recording standpoint was the red album as we had the ability to use better vocal controls and we could double and triple track the guitars and voices for greater effect. Many of those songs were recorded in my parent’s den with vocal amplification and reverb, and with carpeting and drapes, the sound was cleaner and clearer. We never expected the albums to become so popular, but we have heard that they were somewhat influential for other artists that were getting started in the Detroit area after us.
Q. Was there any main reason that you guys called it quits?
John Ford: Our schedules and workloads became difficult to balance when we went to college. I was at Yale, Jim was at University of Detroit, and Tom was still in high school. We played for mixers at Yale and schools in the Detroit area, but it was hard to do other than in the summers when we were all back home again.
Q. What have you been doing are you layed the music carrer aside? Do you still have any contact with the others from the band? Do you still play?
John Ford: I still play and sing, but I am more focused on classical solo vocal work in the Norfolk, Virginia area as I have lived there since 1985 as a professor at Old Dominion University. Music is still very much a hobby with me, and I love to sing, but my guitar work has suffered a bit over the years. Jim and I were still in contact up until a few years ago, but he changed jobs, and I have not heard from him for some time. He was located in Beverly Hills, California, and he was working for a TV station there selling advertising time slots. He also was involved with a radio station, but I am not sure where he is these days.
Q. Some fun story or anecdote from the time in INDEX?
John Ford: The most ridiculous thing was me playing lead licks with gloves, which was a challenge! The album cover from the black album showed us wearing three piece suits and me playing with the gloves and wearing a ridiculous mustache, which was not what we normally looked like. I was heavily influenced by Steve Stills and Neil Young, and I wore boots and buckskin jackets often when we played. I loved the sound of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills and Nash and the intricate harmonies and tried to bring them in when I could into our music. In the beginning we wore Nehru jackets and head bands from the mid 1960s and played a lot of the Doors music. Ridiculous appearances, but right in style at the time.
Story of how Cameo acquired “96 Tears”, Billboard, October 1, 1966 note “Bago Records” (sic)
Any help with the discography or info on Pa-Go-Go in general would be appreciated!
Lillian Gonzales and her husband Joe “Pato” Gonzales owned the El Pato grocery store in Saginaw, Michigan, and also ran the Gonzales & Gonzales artist management company. Joe, whose name I’ve seen in print as Jose Gonzales or Victor Gonzales, owned half of Bego Records with Paulino Bernal, which had been releasing conjunto records in McAllen, Texas since the early ’60s.
Joe started the Pa-Go-Go record with brothers Rudy “Tee” Gonzales and Manuel Gonzales (apparently no relation to Joe – see comment from Cisco below), basing the label out of San Antonio where Rudy Gonzales had his group, Rudy & the Reno Bops. Pa-Go-Go’s focus would be less specialized than Bego’s, with rock, soul and r&b releases.
Lillie Gonzales brought ? & the Mysterians to Art Schiell’s Recording Studio in Bay City, Michigan in April, 1966 to record a version of “Midnight Hour” and their original song, “96 Tears”, with Rudy Gonzales producing. The first pressing was 750 copies, but there were additional pressings as the single broke out on stations in Saginaw, Flint, Windsor and Detroit.
According to Billboard, Neil Bogart, a twenty-three year old sales manager at Cameo-Parkway flew to McAllen, Texas to purchase the master of “96 Tears” from Bego, winning out over a verbal agreement with Roulette’s Morris Levy.
Although Pa-Go-Go’s address of 408 Hazel St. San Antonio, Texas was on the labels of every release, about half the acts were from Michigan. A Billboard item from October, 1967 even mentions the label being headquartered in Saginaw. Pa-Go-Go only existed for about a year and a half, but released some fine music in that time, with the last single I can find mention of, Count & the Colony’s “Say What You Think” being sold to SSS International.
Pa-Go-Go Discography:
101 – Danny & the Tejanos – “Mi otra movida” (Polka) / “Con esta copa” (Ranchera) 102 – Question Mark & the Mysterians – “96 Tears” / “Midnight Hour” (April, 1966) 103 – Sir David & His Knights – “Shotgun” / “All My Love” (David Camarillo, published by Ed Arguello Pub.) 104 – Fernando Y Juan – “Se te llego tu dia” / “Vuela vuela Palomita” 105 – Chavez & the Chevelles – “Buscando Una Estrella” / “El Trenesito (The Train)” (D.A.R.) 106 – Danny & The Tejanos – “Confecion” / “Mundo raro” 107 – Little Henry & His Band – “No soy tu arroz con pollo” (Isidrio Lopez) / “Amor sin medida” (Jose A. Jimenez) 108 – Sonny Ace- “Ya volvio la Palomia” (Lonnie Guerrero) / “Sandra” (Martin Linan) 109 – ? 110 – Al Pinckney & the Exclusives – “Coasting” / “La-Hai” 111 – Chavez & the Chevelles – “Pido” / “Angelitos Negros” 112 – Danny & the Tejanos – “Listen, Sweet Thing” / “What’s the Word” (Danny Martinez) 113 – Conjunto Los Galantes de Manuel Gutierrez – “Contestaction a ‘Me Voy Lejos'” / “Ellas” 114 – ? 115 – Freddie Fender & His All Stars – “Cool Mary Lou” / “You Are My Sunshine” 116 – ? 117 – ? 118 – Staffs – “Another Love” / “I Just Can’t Go to Sleep” 119 – ? 120 – ? 121 – Count and the Colony – “Can’t You See” (Dick Brown, Butch Burden) / “That’s the Way” (Larry Wheatley, Butch Burden) 201 – Count and the Colony – “Say What You Think” / “Symptoms of Love” (October, 1967)
Billboard, July 1, 1967#101 shows only “Go-Go” on the label.
At this point I’m not sure if the missing numbers were actually issued, as I haven’t found any evidence of them, nor has Davie Gordon (see his comment below) or Mike Markesich.
? & the Mysterians, Sir David and His Knights, and Count and the Colony were all Michigan acts. Danny & the Tejanos, the Staffs and Al Pinckney & the Exclusives were from Texas (see comment from Robert Villarreal below).
Sources: background on Bego from Wikipedia, most complete account of the early days of ? & the Mysterians I could find was at MichiganRockandRollLegends.com, with further background from the ChicagoReader.com, Fredric Dannen’s Hit Men, and info on Danny & the Tejanos and Sir David & His Knights from I’m Shakin’.
Thank you to Martin Hancock for info on the Little Henry 45 and to Antonio of La Plebe for his contributions to the discography. Thanks also to Francisco Candia, Shane, Alfonso, and Josh (jollyrarestuff) for their help with the discography.
The Staffs, from left: David Ceballos, Jesse Salinas, Raul Altamirano, Emilo Reyna and Ruben Ceballos
Raul Altamirano (vocals and bass) David Ceballos (guitar) Jesse Salinas (bass) Ruben Ceballos (keyboards and harmonica) Emilio Reyna (drums)
Jesse Salinas joined the Staffs on bass, after playing rhythm guitar for Noe Pro & the Semi-tones. Although the band did not record while Jesse was in the group, they did cut one excellent 45 in October 1966 for the Pa-Go-Go label out of San Antonio. One side is “Another Love”, an excellent original by singer Raul Altamirano, backed with a Kinks song, “I Just Can’t Go To Sleep” that I haven’t heard yet.
Thank you to Jesse Salinas for the photos and to Mike Markesich for the label scan and information on the Pa-Go-Go release.
The Staffs get with the timesYearbook photo with Raul playing bass
In the mid-’60s, Fort Worth, Texas had an almost ideal teen band scene. The city was large enough to support dozens of semi-professional bands, it had several clubs that catered specifically to teens and even a few small studios and record labels. Most of all, it had a lot of musical talent, aware of the city’s own rhythm and blues heritage but soaking up the edgy sound of the English bands on the charts in ’64-’65.
Fort Worth bands cut incredible covers of British Invasion bands: the Cynic’s take on the Yardbirds’ version of “Train Kept a Rollin'”, the Mods’ version of “Evil Hearted You”, the Jades take on Van Morrison and Them’s “Little Girl”. They recorded great original songs as well. As a guitarist I can tell you how much fun it is to play Larry & the Blue Notes’ “In and Out”, with its bent-string breaks between every line of lyric. Other classics that come to mind: “Alibis” by the Bards, “My Confusion” by the Elite, “Don’t Burn It” by the Barons, “Be Nice” by the Nomads.
The records these bands cut were sold to the local teens and played on local radio. Few of the bands made it out of Fort Worth, and only a handful of Fort Worth records broke out to limited national exposure, such as “One Potato” by the Elite or “Night of the Phantom” by Larry & the Blue Notes.
Despite the lack of national recognition at the time, these records have made the Fort Worth Teen Scene legendary among garage fans in the years since. Now there is a DVD release to document it in detail, Teen a Go Go, a film by Melissa Kirkendall, Mark Nobles and James Sterling Johnson.
The filmmakers have done a spectacular job of interviewing many participants in the scene, including members of most of the important bands along with DJ Mark E. Baby (Mark Stevens), studio engineer Phil York, and Sump’n’Else producer/director Bud Buschardt. The interviews are casual and in-depth, with high quality audio and video. With so many interviews, it helps that the editing breaks them up so we return to the participants throughout the film, making the faces familiar to viewers who might not know the different bands.
Teen a Go Go starts with a general overview of the mid-60’s band phenomena, which surprised me by featuring a number of interviews with members of non-Fort Worth bands like the Novas from Dallas, the Excels of McKinney, the Vipers from Henderson, Arkansas and Eric & the Norsemen of Lawrence, Kansas. However, these interviews do a good job of showing the similarities between the teen band scenes throughout the United States.
After this introduction, the movie focuses on Fort Worth, briskly moving through discussions of the teen clubs, go-go girls, TV appearances by the bands and more. There’s a good segment on Major Bill Smith with footage of him in the studio from the ’70s. It’s fun to watch the Elite describe the making of their “One Potato” / “Two Potato” single – I could only wish there was more on about the making of records, the studios and the labels. There is a short discussion of the rivalries between different sections of Fort Worth which I’m sure is enough for most viewers, but I would like to have seen explored in more depth.
The film brings up the complicated shadow of Dallas, a larger city with more resources and commercial possibilities than Fort Worth. Ron Chapman’s Sump’n’Else TV show was influential throughout the region, and since footage of any Fort Worth bands on the show is lost, the film shows clips of the Five Americans (an Oklahoma band signed to the Abnak label of Dallas) lip-synching to “Western Union Man” and “I See the Light” and the Kingsmen doing “Louie, Louie”.
Returning the focus to Fort Worth, the film gives good background on some important Fort Worth acts that influenced the teen bands, notably Ray Sharpe and Bruce Channel, who cut “Hey Baby” with Delbert McClinton for Maj. Bill Smith.
Although the filmmakers have gathered a huge collection of photos and clippings, I found there to be too much panning across photos and not enough use of the little surviving film footage from the time. We see all-too-brief glimpses of the Cynics, the Elite and The Bluecoats. There are a few seconds of the Jades and the Sundown Collection from the Panther Hall, but I would like to have seen more of the fragmentary footage that survives – such as a ferocious half minute of the Phaze V performing “7 and 7 Is”. This is a minor quibble and after all, we can turn to the internet for that kind of video.
I highly recommend Teen a Go Go. For more information on the film, or to order a DVD, check out Teen-a-Go-Go.com.
Garage Hangover accepts recently-released LPs, CDs, books and DVDs for review. Please email me for a mailing address.
The Noblemen, January 1965. Left to right: Mike Turnill, Bernie Smith, Bryan Stevens, Mick Ketley and Chuck Fryers
Chuck Fryers (guitar, vocals) Mick Ketley (keyboards, vocals) Bryan Stevens (bass) Bob Pettit (sax) Bernie Smith (drums)
1964
December The group evolves out of Bognor Regis group, The Detours, which was formed in early 1960 by bass player Bryan Stevens (b. 14 November 1943, Laha Datu, North Borneo). The Detours have gone through numerous personnel changes over the years with singer Johnny Devlin (real name: Johnny Hobbs, not the New Zealand singer) joining in early 1962. His arrival prompts a name change to Johnny Devlin & The Detours. Shortly afterwards, Stevens recruits former Soundtracks keyboard player Mick Ketley (b. 1 October 1947, Balham, London). Later that year, he also brings in former Cruisers guitarist Alan Paul “Chuck” Fryers (b. 24 May 1945, Bognor Regis, West Sussex) and adds sax player Bob Pettit from a Chichester abattoir. In 1963, Bernie Smith, another former Soundtracks member, takes over the drum stool. Johnny Devlin & The Detours sign to Pye in November and record two tracks – “Sometimes” and “If You Want Someone”, which are coupled for a single, released in January 1964. Despite a group appearance on TV show Thank Your Lucky Stars, the single fails to chart and Devlin leaves. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle see Devlin’s band on the TV show and decided to change their band’s name from The Detours to The High Numbers, which will subsequently become The Who. The group carries on with singer John Read and plays venues on the south coast like Littlehampton’s Top Hat and Worthing’s Mexican Hat. Bob Gaitley, who runs both clubs, invites The Detours to back a new singer, South African Mike Bush, who is launching himself as Beau Brummell. The group accepts and changes name to The Noblemen. EMI producer Bob Barrett signs Beau Brummell and The Noblemen and takes them into Abbey Road to record a single – Beau Brummell Esquire and His Noblemen’s “I Know, Know, Know” backed by a version of “Shopping Around” from Elvis’ film GI Blues.
1965
January Mike Turnill briefly joins on sax taking over from Pettit, who returns to work in an abattoir and plays with Johnny Devlin in Act IV.
Photo: Evening Argus, 9 January 1965
(4) The new line up appears on Granada Television in Manchester. Despite an appearance by Brummell on TV show Ready Steady Go, his debut single, released on Columbia, does not chart.
Brighton Crescent, spring 1965, from left: Bryan Stevens, Chuck Fryers, Mick Ketley, Bob Lomas, Malcolm Randall and Bernie Smith
February Bob Lomas replaces Turnill. The group also takes on a second sax player Malcolm Randall, who has placed an advert in Melody Maker after playing with Jeff Curtis & The Flames, and joins The Noblemen in time for a short trip to West Germany, where they play at the Storyville Jazz Club in Cologne before returning to the UK that spring. The Noblemen are photographed in Brighton wearing regency clothes.
April(25) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen perform at the Whitehall, East Grinstead, West Sussex with The Dagoes.
Bob Lomas and Malcolm Randall, West Germany, spring 1965
May(1) Beau Brummell and His Noblemen appear at the California Ballroom in Dunstable with The Downsiders and The Richochets.
(9) The band appears at the Majestic Ballroom in Luton, Bedfordshire with Randall’s former group, Jeff Curtis & The Flames.
(14) Beau Brummell is listed appearing at the Carlton Ballroom in Erdington, West Midlands with The Chucks.
(22) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen perform Malborough Hall, in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
(29) The band plays at the Assembly Hall, Mold, Flintshire, Wales with The Denims.
May (16) Billed as Beau Brummell with his Exclusive Noblemen Orchestra, the group appears at Cubiklub in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
June (13) The Noblemen plays at the Downs, Hassocks, West Sussex.
(19) The group appears at the New Cornish Riveria Lido in St Austell, Cornwall with The Guild.
July (2) Billed as Beau Brummell & The Nobles, they perform at the Guildhall, Axminster in Devon.
(3) The Noblemen appear at Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon with Johnny Carr and The Cadilacs and The Vicarage Five.
(9-11) With a new sax player called John replacing Bob Lomas, Beau Brummell & The Noblemen play at the Star Club in Hamburg. Immediately afterwards, the band plays at the Storyville Jazz Club in Duisberg (most likely from 12-15 July) and Randall jumps ship to join The Manchester Playboys back in England.
(16) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen play a double-nighter in Greater Manchester, starting off with a show at the Domino Club in Openshaw with Lulu & The Luvvers and then the Princess Club, Chorlton with Julie Grant.
(19) The group plays at the Manor Lounge, Stockport, Greater Manchester. This may have been Randall’s final gig as The Manchester Playboys are performing in nearby Bolton this evening and are based in the Greater Manchester area.
(24) The group, billed as The Beau Brummell Band, appears at Shefford Hardwicke in Bedfordshire.
(30) Billed as Beau Brummell & his exclusive Noblemen Orchestra, the musicians perform at the New Embassy Club, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
August (14) The band appears at the New Cornish Riviera Lido, St Austell, Cornwall with The Road Runners. Immediately afterwards, John, the temporary sax player, also departs. Back in England, The Noblemen take on new sax players Keith Gemmell (b. 15 February 1948, Hackney, London) and former Gene Vincent sideman, Jeremy “Jem” Field.
(20) Beau Brummell and His Noblemen Orchestra appear at Cheltenham Town Hall in what is one of the first shows by the new formation.
(21) Beau Brummell and The Noble Men play at the Galaxy Club in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
(22) The band appears at the Mexican Hat in Worthing with The Beat Merchants.
(23) The group plays at the Majestic Ballroom, Newport, south Wales with The Cellar Set.
Oslo National Park, Norway, 1965: Chuck Fryers, Mick Ketley, Bryan Stevens, Bernie Smith, Keith Gemmell and Jem Field
September The band travels to Scandinavia to play some gigs in Norway and Sweden.
(18) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen arrive in Oslo. According to Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, the band opens at the city’s Rondo Club, possibly for a week’s residency, with The Dukes, featuring singer Ingerid Marie.
Photo: Aftenposten. Thanks to Christopher Hjort for the photo
(26) Returning from Norway, The Noblemen join The Beat Merchants for another show at the Mexican Hat in Worthing. The Worthing Gazette advert notes that this is the band’s final British appearance for six weeks. Immediately afterwards, the band head to Rome, Italy to play at the Piper Club.
The Noblemen at the Piper Club, Rome in October 1965 Left to right: Chuck Fryers, Mick Ketley, Keith Gemmell and Jem Field
October(1) Beau Brummell and The Noblemen start working at the Piper club for a six-week stand, travelling through the city in an open carriage drawn by four white horses. During their stint at the club, the band meets actor Vincent Price and George Harrison’s parents who have won a holiday to Rome. While playing at the Piper club, the band is invited to play at the coming-out dance of the daughter of the millionaire, Prince Ruspoli. They also meet a female American singer called Kathy, who sets up a gig for the band at the Big Apple Club in Munich (where she lives) for the following May.
November After completing a six-week season, Beau Brummell and The Noblemen perform in Milan for 10 days and record four tracks in a studio that was formerly a church. These include the powerful sax-driven “Jezebel” and the Brummell composed, “I’m In Love”, a slow lilting number, neither of which are released. The group then heads south to Naples to play further dates before returning to Rome where The Noblemen sans Brummell record the tracks “Jump Back Baby” and “Ecstasy” with Chuck Fryers on lead vocals. Columbia releases Brummell’s third single (and second with the band) – “A Better Man Than I”, a spoken number, backed by “Teardrops”, which is credited to Brummell’s “Noblemen Orchestra” but it does not chart.
December Beau Brummell and The Noblemen play in Ostend in Belgium before returning to the UK.
(12) The Noblemen appear at the Mexican Hat in Worthing with The Look.
(17) The group returns to the continent to play in Turin. An engagement in St. Moritz is announced but the band do not play there.
(25-31) Beau Brummell and The Noblemen play at a club in Turin through to the new year and share the bill with Mussolini’s son Romano who plays piano with his jazz group. During January 1966, Brummell briefly splits from The Noblemen to return to Rome and tries to get into the film industry.
The Noblemen, early 1966. Clockwise from centre: Bryan Stevens, Bernie Smith, Keith Gemmell, Jem Field, Chuck Fryers and Mick Ketley
1966
January Columbia releases a final Brummell single, a cover of Ray Donner’s “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got” backed by “Take Me Like I Am”, but it fails to chart.
Photo: Worthing Gazette
(7) Back in England, The Noblemen appear at the Top Hat in Littlehampton, West Sussex. The advert in the Worthing Gazette notes that they have just returned from Italy.
(8) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen play at the Shoreline Club in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.
February(27) The Noblemen are a late addition to an all-nighter show at the original Cavern in Liverpool, which closes after tonight’s performance. Also included on the bill are Rory Storm and The Hurricanes and The Big Three among many others. The Cavern will officially reopen on 23 July.
March The Noblemen perform at the Storyville Jazz Club in Duisberg before moving on to Cologne.
(7-10) Beau Brummell rejoins The Noblemen briefly to share a week-long residency at the Storyville Jazz Club in Cologne with The Clayton Squares. The Squares’ singer Denny Alexander will reunite with Ketley and Stevens in The Motivation in June 1967. While in Cologne (this may have been spring 1965 trip instead), the group meets English group The Loving Kind featuring guitarist Noel Redding, who will join The Jimi Hendrix Experience in September. After playing at the Storyville Jazz Club in Cologne, the band holds down a residency at Frankfurt’s Storyville Jazz Club with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes and Johnny Guitar Watson.
(19) The Noblemen appear at the Flamingo Ballroom in Redruth, Cornwall with The Misfits.
The Noblemen in Pisa, Italy, April 1966, left to right: Mick Ketley, Bryan Stevens, Jem Field, Keith Gemmell and Chuck Fryers
April The Noblemen split from Brummell who returns to South Africa and records further singles (and later owns a naturist valley in the Northern Transvaal). The Noblemen accept a short residency at the Livorno Club in Pisa, Italy.
May(20) Thanks to the American singer they met in Rome last October, the group opens for The Spencer Davis Group at the Big Apple Club in Munich and both performances are recorded for German TV. Fryers has to borrow Spencer Davis’s guitar as his own was stolen while playing in Italy.
with the Spencer Davis Group, Big Apple Club
(21) Field leaves the band and returns home by train. Stripped down to a quintet, The Noblemen play some US air bases in West Germany with singing group, The New Faces. Gemmell does not stay long and returns home with The New Faces a few weeks later. Gemmell will find success in the late 1960s/early 1970s with the progressive rock outfit, Audience and also plays with Sammy.
June On the way home, the remaining members back country and western singer/comedian Don Bowman, who invites Fryers to return to Nashville as his guitarist. The Noblemen then play at the Star Club in Hamburg before arriving back in the UK. Fryers, Ketley, Smith and Stevens decide to carry on as The Noblemen and bring in a new singer, Jimmy Marsh (b. 9 April 1941, Carmarthen, Wales). Marsh first met the group members in 1964 at the Top Hat in Littlehampton when they were The Detours and he was fronting The Del Mar Trio. When Bernie Smith opts to take up a more regular job, Marsh suggests his former colleague Malcolm Tomlinson (b. 16 June 1946, Isleworth, Middlesex) as drummer. Tomlinson has worked with Marsh since 1964 in The Del Mar Trio and James Deane and The London Cats. Before that, he was a member of Jeff Curtis and The Flames. Bernie Smith will later reunite with Mick Ketley in Bognor Regis group, The Concords in 1969.
July (3) The Noblemen are billed to play at the Royal Ballrooms in Boscombe, Dorset with Karl & The Rapiers. This might be one of the last gigs with Bernie Smith or one of the first with Jimmy Marsh and Malcolm Tomlinson.
(16) Stevens advertises for a new sax player in the 23 July issue of Melody Maker, which hits the newsstands on this day. Former Moonrakers members, Chris Rodger (b. 16 October 1946, Solihull, Warwickshire) and Martin Barre (b. 17 November 1946, Kings Heath, Birmingham) respond to the advert after Rodger misses out on a job with Screaming Lord Sutch. Rodger has joined Syndicate 1 in 1963 after leaving school in Dorset but meets Barre in Midlands band The Moonrakers in January 1965.
(22) Barre buys a saxophone at Sound City in London’s Shaftsbury Avenue for the audition three days later. On the same day, the band is billed to perform at the Cricketers Inn in Southend, Essex but it’s not clear if the current five-piece (sans saxes) perform.
(23) The Noblemen are advertised to appear at the Waterfront in Southampton, Hampshire for an evening show followed by a second gig at Le Disque A Go Go in Bournemouth, Dorset with a midnight performance leading into the 24th.
(24) Both Rodger and Barre are hired for the new line up as sax players, with Rodger doubling up on trumpet. Rodger recalls that their debut takes place at a US service club (most likely Douglas House) in Lancaster Gate at 4pm this afternoon. After the gig, they all return to Bognor Regis to rehearse at the Shoreline Club but Fryers leaves before the week is out.
After leaving The Noblemen in late July 1966, Fryers joins Bognor Regis group, The Warren J Five with Colin Madeley (trumpet) and Geoff Prior (bass), formerly of The Treatment. The new group is completed with former Untamed/John Lee’s Groundhogs’ drummer Terry Slade and singer John Read from The Hustlers. The Warren J Five travel to Hamburg, Germany and play at the Top Ten Club with singer Tony Sheridan. During 1967, The Warren J. 5 travel to Rome and perform regularly at the Piper club. The band records an album in Italy entitled Rhythm & Blues for the Vedette label and a single, “Sto Con Te (Tell It to the Rain)” c/w “Se Hai Qualcosa Da Dire (Tell Me)” before splitting with Read. After a brief period as The Reflections, Fryers and Prior return to the UK and join Coventry group, The Sorrows.
The Noblemen, Bognor Regis Beach, summer 1966. Left to right: Mick Ketley, Martin Barre, Jimmy Marsh, Chris Rodger, Malcolm Tomlinson, Bryan Stevens
(30) Without Fryers, The Noblemen are billed to play at the Lion Hotel in Warrington, Cheshire with The Atlantics and The Atlanta Roots.
August (6) The group travels to the southwest and performs at the Budleigh Salterton Public Hall, Budleigh Salterton, Devon. They may well have played at the 400 Club in Torquay the day before.
(7) The Noblemen appear at the Royal Ballrooms, Boscombe, Dorset with Teak & The Smokey.
(13) The Noblemen start a weekly residency at the 400 Ballroom in Torquay, Devon.
(15-19) After taking the Sunday off, The Noblemen continue their weekly residency at the 400 Ballroom in Torquay, Devon.
(20) The group travels back to the southwest for a show at the Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, Cornwall with The Blaizes.
(21) The next day, they play at the Park Ballroom’s Beat Centre in Plymouth, Devon.
(25) The Noblemen take part in the Big Beat Boat at Bournemouth, Dorset with The Mozzeletoft.
(27) Back in the southwest, they perform at the Blue Lagoon in Newquay, Cornwall with The Nite People.
(28) On the way up to London, The Noblemen perform at the Stoke Hole at the Stoke Hotel in Guidford, Surrey.
(29) The group appears to have seen out the month playing at the 2 ‘B’s’ Club in Ashford, Kent with The End.
September The new Noblemen move up to London and share a flat in Chelsea (and later Gloucester Road).
(2) The band appears at the Fiesta Hall in Andover, Hampshire.
(3) The Noblemen play at the Steering Wheel in Weymouth, Dorset. They sign to the Roy Tempest Agency and start backing up visiting US soul acts.
(10) The Noblemen back The Vibrations at the Starlight Room at the Boston Gliderdrome in Lincolnshire on a bill that also includes Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band and The Little People.
(11) The Vibrations (most likely supported by The Noblemen) appear at Toft’s in Folkestone, Kent.
(13) The Vibrations (most likely with The Noblemen backing) play at the Club Cedar in Birmingham.
(16) The Vibrations appear at the Domino club in Openshaw and the Princess Theatre in Chorlton, Greater Manchester with seven other acts (most likely with The Noblemen backing them).
(17) The Noblemen back The Vibrations at the new Cavern club in Liverpool. Also on the bill are Sooner or Later, Intent and Purpose, The Klubs, The Signs, The Times, The Tremas, The Dark Ages and Jimmy James and The Vagabonds.
(18) The Vibrations appear at Kirklevington Country Club in Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (most likely with The Noblemen backing them).
(18-19) Around this time, The Vibrations (backed by The Noblemen) appear at the Scotch of St James in Mayfair, central London. American soul legend Otis Redding, who has been touring the UK for the first time, turns up as does Mick Jagger. (On 18 September, Redding played a show at the Ram Jam Club in Brixton, south London. He played at Tiles in Oxford Street on 16 September; his only West End show).
(21) The Vibrations play at the Orchid Ballroom in Purley, Surrey but the support band is not listed.
(22) The Noblemen back The Vibrations at the Carlton Club in Erdington, West Midlands and also play another set at the Cedar Club. Later that evening, they play at the Cue Club in Paddington.
(23) The group backs The Vibrations at Toft’s in Folkestone, Kent. Former Loving Kind guitarist Noel Redding joins the musicians backstage after the show. Little does he know but his future band leader Jimi Hendrix is flying out from the USA tonight on route for London. (Redding will audition unsuccessfully for The Animals on 29 September but is picked up by Chas Chandler for The Jimi Hendrix Experience the same day.)
(25) The Vibrations are advertised to play at the Club West Indies in Stonebridge Park, northwest London but no backing band is listed. The previous evening the soul singers appeared at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester but the support group weren’t advertised.
(29) The Vibrations are booked to appear at the King Mojo Club in Sheffield for an All-nighter with London’s Ravers (who could well be The Noblemen). Also on the bill are The Amboy Dukes Big Band.
October Around early October The Noblemen back The Drifters (possibly for a one-off gig in London). The most likely date is at Tiles in Oxford Street on 7 October.
(15) Billed as (The) Motivation (a name they will change to next month), The Noblemen are billed to play at the Orford Cellar in Norwich. However, Rodger recalls The Noblemen went to play US air bases in West Germany for a week, travelling on German railway and were away on his birthday on 16 October. This means this gig didn’t happen. It seems most likely they left for West Germany around Sunday, 9 October.
(16) Around this time, the group starts to work with Edwin Starr. They are advertised to back him at the Beachcomber club in Nottingham with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers also on the bill. However, Alan Chamberlain, singer with The Guests, says it was his group that did the honours. Rodger confrims that the group played in West Germany on his birthday which is today.
(17) Rodger says that The Noblemen backed Lee Dorsey at Tiles on Oxford Street, central London. This is the date that Dorsey is advertised for that gig in Melody Maker. The group does work with Lee Dorsey around this time who also plays at the Saddle Room in London on 19 October. However, the advert does not list a support group for the Saddle Room date.
(21) The Noblemen play at De Montfort in Leicester backing Edwin Starr on a bill that also features The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Alvin Robinson, Family and others. On the same day, Edwin Starr appears at Sleaford Mabern Club, Sleaford, Lincolnshire (backed by The Senate), Midnight City in Birmingham (with The Night People) and the New All-Star Club near Liverpool Street. However, it’s not clear if The Noblemen backed him at either of the latter two shows.
(22) Edwin Starr appears at Reading University but no backing group is listed. It is more likely that the group backs Alvin Robinson at the Blue Moon in Cheltenham as they start working with him around now.
(23) Edwin Starr is billed to play at the Starlite Ballroom in Greenford, west London. However, it’s not clear whether The Noblemen backed the singer. It’s possible they may have backed Lee Dorsey instead at the Club West Indies in northwest London today. Alvin Robinson appears at Kirklevington Country Club in Kirklevington, North Yorkshire on this date but he’s backed by another band (The Ziggy Turner Combo). However, Tomlinson remembers backing Robinson at Newcastle University which is not far away so it’s possible this gig is in a few days’ time. (28) The Noblemen works with Alvin Robinson, performing with the singer at the Dungeon club in Nottingham.
(29) The Noblemen back Alvin Robinson at the Starlight Room at the Boston Gliderdrome in Lincolnshire on a bill that also features The Alan Bown Set, John McCoy’s Crawdaddies and Listen (with a young Robert Plant on vocals). On the same day Alvin Robinson performs at the Burlesque in Leicester (most likely with The Noblemen).
(30) Alvin Robinson plays at the Jigsaw in Manchester.
(31) Robinson is billed to appear at the Whisky A Go Go in Wardour Street, Soho, central London. While it cannot be confirmed with any certainty that The Noblemen are the backing band for the 29-31 October dates, it is likely as they support Alvin Robinson for two shows in Birmingham on 1-2 November billed as The Motivations. However, Ketley has no recollections of ever playing at the Whisky A Go Go.
November(4) The Noblemen back The Coasters (and appear in their own right) at the King Mojo Club in Sheffield with Sonny Childe & The TNT.
(5) The Coasters (most likely backed by The Noblemen) appear at Rawmarsh Baths in Rawmarsh near Rotherham, West Yorkshire. Also on the bill are Brian Poole & The Tremeloes and The Dawley Crews Amblers. Around this time, they change name to The Motivation but are often billed as The Motivations (and sometimes still The Noblemen).
(9) Advertised as The Noblemen, the group supports The Coasters at the Mecca Ballroom on the Royal Pier, Southampton, Hampshire.
(10) Chris Rodger says the group supported Ben E King at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, which took place today.
(19) Billed as The Noblemen, the musicians back The Coasters at the Cavern in Liverpool. Also on the bill are The Hideaways, The Kids, The Love Trade and The Escorts. After an all-nighter show, The Coasters perform (presumably backed by The Noblemen) at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester.
(25) The Noblemen support The (Original) Coasters at the New Yorker Discotheque, Swindon. They continue as (The) Motivation throughout the rest of 1966 and into 1967 before evolving (through various line up changes) into The Penny Peep Show, The Penny Peeps and Gethsemane. Martin Barre will join Jethro Tull in December 1968. Malcolm Tomlinson will move to Canada in January/February 1969 and form Milkwood. Ketley will join The Concords on bass, reuniting with former Noblemen drummer Bernie Smith. Smith later opens a music shop and drum school in Chichester.
1968
Former Noblemen guitarist, Chuck Fryers records an album with The Sorrows in Italy entitled Old Songs New Songs for the Miura label. After a handful of singles on the Pye and Miura label, Fryers joins Electric Heart. In 1969, he marries his girlfriend in Chichester and returns to Italy. Over the next few years, he plays with Treves Blues Band. During the 1970s, Fryers performs with The Baker Street Band and then forms his own group, which records a CD Fryers and Friends First. He currently lives in Milan and has released a solo CD That’s It?
Sources:
Bognor Regis Post, 9 January 1965 and 18 December 1965. Flying Colours by Greg Russo, Crossfire Publications, 2009. Music Echo – Liverpool, week ending 12 March 1966. The Best of Cellars – The Story of The Cavern Club by Phil Thompson, Bluecoat Press, 2007. The South Coast Beat Scene of the 1960s by Mike Read, Woodfield Publishing, 2001. The Tapestry of Delights Revisited by Vernon Joynson, Borderline Productions, 2006.
Many thanks to Bryan Stevens, Chuck Fryers, Mick Ketley, Bernie Smith, Jim Marsh, Malcolm Tomlinson, Keith Gemmell, Chris Rodger, Nigel Norman and Sylvia Stephen.
Live dates sourced from Melody Maker, New Musical Express, Nottingham Evening Post, the Liverpool Echo, the Manchester Evening News, Sheffield Star. Other newspaper sources are listed in the comments below.
I have tried to ensure the accuracy of this article but I appreciate that there are likely to be errors and omissions. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who can provide any additions or corrections. Email: Warchive@aol.com
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
The Clockwork Orange, Richard Lalor at far left, Ashley Johnson on bass. Photo from Not Fade Away #3[/caption]
Lillian Gonzales and her husband Joe “Pato” Gonzales owned the El Pato grocery store in Saginaw, Michigan, and also ran the Gonzales & Gonzales artist management company. Joe, whose name I’ve seen in print as Jose Gonzales or Victor Gonzales, owned half of Bego Records with Paulino Bernal, which had been releasing conjunto records in McAllen, Texas since the early ’60s.
According to Billboard, Neil Bogart, a twenty-three year old sales manager at Cameo-Parkway flew to McAllen, Texas to purchase the master of “96 Tears” from Bego, winning out over a verbal agreement with Roulette’s Morris Levy.
