Gonks Go Beat

March 16, 2011 Chris Bishop 14 Comments

I haven’t been able to afford an original Decca pressing of the soundtrack LP to Gonk’s Go Beat, so I’m making do with this weird Taiwan (I think) issue instead. Condition isn’t the best, so you’ll have to put up with one couple skip and some surface noise. It’s worth any trouble to hear the Graham Bond Organisation’s “Harmonica”. If you watch the film you’ll see Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and even John McLaughlin in that scene besides Bond.

The album is only half good. The first side is almost solid, but the second side is weak, and I’m not going to put all the tracks up here, they’re just not worth your time. There are too many light pop songs by Alan David, Barbara Brown, Perry Ford and Dougie Robinson. The ‘Titan Studio Orchestra’ under Robert Richards transcends ordinary big-band material only on the excellent “Burn Up”.

Lulu and the Luvers have a couple good songs, especially “Choc Ice”.

The Long and the Short’s “Take This Train” is also excellent – that was a band I wanted to know more about and Michael Lynch filled me in:

Bob McKinlay: vocals, guitar
Bob Taylor: bass
Les Saint Stuart: guitar
Gerry Watt: piano
Alan Grindley: drums…and one of the drummers in the big drumming scene.
They were from Ashton and had two minor UK hits (like the 30s or 40s) in 1964: “The Letter” (obviously not the Box Tops song) and “Choc Ice” (the song Lulu does in the film). But they’re probably best know for having Bob McKinlay who later made a name for himself as a British country singer.

The “Drum Battle” is crucial. In the movie there are nine players, (eight of which shown on the cover here), but for some reason this studio recording only seems to credit Alan Grinley, Ronnie Verrell (later drummed as Animal in the Muppets), Andy White (session drummer on “Love Me Do”), and Ronnie Stephenson (pop and jazz drummer). The others were Ginger Baker, Bobby Graham (top UK session drummer), John Kearns (“drummer of the Vaqueros of Lancaster – they had an instrumental single called ‘Echo’ in I think 1964” – Michael Lynch), and Bobby Richards plus one other I don’t have a name for yet. Besides the two groups of four drummers that are facing each other, there’s a ninth in the background in some of the shots in the clip from the film.

I mistakenly thought Arthur Mullard was the ninth drummer, but reader Geoff S. pointed out to me that “he was a comic actor renowned for playing dumb heavies and he is the guy wearing the uniform and white headphones who is giving the orders in this scene”.

Drum Battle Musical Director for the soundtrack is Mike Leander. I kind of like the country-folk song “Broken Pieces” by Elaine and Derek (written by the film’s director, Robert Hartford-Davis). This duo were twins, Elaine and Derek Thompson.

Overall I liked the movie despite the inane plot. The musical finale at the end was visually cool but sonically disappointing except for the Nashville Teens doing “Poor Boy”.

Categories: Greece, Popular

The Persons “Drive My Mustang”

March 15, 2011 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

The Persons band, photo from Greek Garage Bands of the 60s — Photo from Greek Garage Bands of the 60s

Ilias Asvestopoulos – vocals
Yannis (John) Spathas – lead guitar
Antonis Tourkogiortis – rhythm guitar (and bass after 1966)
Antonis Pitsolantis – bass (only for the first single?)
Ilias Boukouvalas – drums

Ηλίας Ασβεστόπουλος: Τραγούδι (-1969)
Γιάννης Σπάθας: Κιθάρα
Αντώνης Πιτσολάντης: Μπάσο (-1966, +Αντώνης Τουρκογιώργης)
Ηλίας Μπουκουβάλας: Ντραμς

The Persons formed in Piraeus, a port city by Athens in 1966. They released three singles, but I’ve only ever heard this, their first, from 1966.

“Drive My Mustang” is a kind of incoherent take on Wilson Pickett. Some listeners consider “Drive My Mustang” to be the best or among the best of all Greek garage singles. I don’t disagree with that assessment, but I prefer the flip side even more.

The Persons – All the World Is Mine

“All the World Is Mine” would make my top ten of all garage songs from any country, any year. From the moment the chiming distorted guitar begins this song is perfect to me. The jumping bass line and fleet drum work, falsetto background vocals and nasal lead vocal are all great, but most of all I love the dissonance of the slightly out of tune lead guitar against the bass and rhythm guitars. The high mark comes during the excellent guitar break after singer Ilias Asvestopoulos shouts “all the world is mine” a couple times when the band really hits a groove.

“Drive My Mustang” was written by Ilias Asvestopoulous and rhythm guitarist Antonis Tourkogiortis (rendered on the label as E. Asvestopoulos and A. Tourkogeorgis). “All the World Is Mine” was written by bassist Antonis Pitsolantis and lead guitarist John Spathas.

The Persons last 45, a cover of "Time of the Season" — Last 45, a cover of “Time of the Season”

Their second release, in 1968, has “John’s Flight” / “Young Girl” (Olympic OE74 004), while their last record covered two Zombies’ songs: “Time of the Season” (titled “Eisai to koritsi p’agapo”) and “Friends of Mine” titled (“Mono mia fora”) (PAN VOX 6146), released in 1969. Anyone have good scans of these 45s?

After their third single, the Persons evolved into Socrates Drank the Conium, one of the major Greek progressive bands of the ’70s.

Sources include: Greek listing of members from Music Heaven.

Was there an original pressing with a center piece, or is this a reissue?

Categories: Sayan, Turkey

Optikler (Robert Kolej) “Köylü Kizi” / “Wer Last Day” on Sayan, 1967 Milliyet

March 4, 2011 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

Optikler, 1967 Milliyet pop music contest, March 12, 1967: Gökhan Cansen, Jan Kurban, Kemal Ebcioğlu, Rüçhan Çamay (one of the judges), Bülent Terem, and Osman Kermen — Optikler announced as winners of the 1967 Milliyet pop music contest, March 12, 1967 From left: Gökhan Cansen, Jan Kurban, Kemal Ebcioğlu, Rüçhan Çamay (one of the judges), Bülent Terem, and Osman Kermen Click to see full article

Optikler with Selcuk Alagoz and Vasfi Ucaroglu Milliyet, April 5, 1967 — Optikler with Selcuk Alagoz and Vasfi Ucaroglu
Milliyet, April 5, 1967

Kemal Ebcioğlu – lead guitar
Jan Kurban – rhythm guitar
Osman Kermen – organ
Bülent Terem – bass guitar
Gökhan Cansen – drums

The band is Optikler. Although the 45 labels list the artist as Robert Kolej, that was their school, not the band name. “Robert Kolej” refers to the Robert Academy in Istanbul, more of a high school than a college. Lead guitarist Kemal Ebcioğlu was 16 while the rest of the group was 19 years old. Optikler translates as The Optics, a reference to the glasses all the band wore.

Optikler won the Milliyet newspaper’s second annual contest of high school pop bands in March, 1967, an event that was televised to an audience of over 20,000. and announced in the paper under the headline “future stars are born”. Their set list at the finals consisted of “I’m a Believer” and two originals, “Köylü Kizi” and “Show Me A Way”.

Optikler sleeve: Jan Kurban, Osman Kermen, Bülent Terem, Gökhan Cansen and Kemal Ebcioğlu — Picture sleeve for their only single
From left: Jan Kurban, Osman Kermen, Bülent Terem, Gökhan Cansen and Kemal Ebcioğlu

One of the prizes for winning was this recording, released on the Sayan label. The A-side was Kemal’s composition “Köylü Kizi” (translates to “Country Girl” or “Farmer’s Daughter”), a great instrumental with baroque influences to the hypnotic introduction.The flip is a cover of Peter Paul & Mary’s “Very Last Day” (though possibly known through the Hollies version), and for the most part it’s instrumental and also pretty good.

After the contest the band played occasional live shows and did some radio and TV work, with the last mention I can find announcing their performance during the 1968 contest festivities. After Optikler, Kemal Ebcioğlu started composing classical music, then worked in computer science in the U.S.

Mr. Ebcioğlu wrote to me about his career in Turkish pop music:

Thanks for noticing the fugal introduction to “Köylü Kizi”. I had just started studying counterpoint and harmony books at the time. The instrumental version of “Very Last Day” on the B side was adapted from the Peter-Paul-Mary version, if I remember correctly.
Speaking of Turkish popular music in the 60’s and 70’s, FYI, in 1974, I composed the song “Seninle Bir Dakika” (“A Minute With You”) that represented Turkey in the 1975 Eurovision Contest.
My late father Hikmet Munir Ebcioglu wrote the lyrics. Turkey came last in that contest! It was a difficult year for Turkey politically, right after the Cyprus events in 1974; and in hindsight, our song was slow and not sufficiently catchy for Eurovision (the Netherlands song won the Eurovision competition that year). However, “Seninle Bir Dakika” has remained popular in Turkey and is considered a classic nostalgic song now.

The fans go wild... Milliyet, February 22, 1967 — The fans go wild… Milliyet, February 22, 1967

Optikler on Radyolar at 11:55 Milliyet, June 6, 1967 — Optikler on Radyolar at 11:55
Milliyet, June 6, 1967

Cem Karaca, Apaslar and Optikler in Milliyet, October 23, 1967

Optikler Sayan Milliyet 1967 PS back — Flip of the record sleeve

Categories: Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ultra-City, US

Love’s Alchemy

March 3, 2011 Chris Bishop 5 Comments

Love’s Alchemy had this one release on Ultra-City out of Saginaw, Michigan in 1970. The band named themselves after the poem by John Donne – the label spelling “Love’s Alchmey” is a simple typo.

“I Never Said Forever” is a Doors-influenced song written by Ray Love and Damon Hyde. The lyrics include “Jesus” at least twice.

I’m not as much a fan of “Ophelia” written by Nelson Bogart, though the guitar solo has a fine, sludgy distortion to it. My copy is very scratchy. Both were published through Luzar Publications, BMI. Song writing credits list Ray Love, Damon Hyde, and Nelson Bogart.

I couldn’t find much specific on the band until Charlie, a friend of the band wrote to me:

I went to high school with a couple of the guys in the band. They went to the University of Michigan and ended up as fraternity brothers and formed the band in the late ’60s in Ann Arbor. The members were Nelson Bogart on guitar and occasional trumpet, Myron Grant doing lead vocals, Damon Hyde on keyboards, mostly Hammond B3, Rob Martens on bass and Ray Love on drums.
I was at the recording sessions in Saginaw for the record. When we met Choker Chapbell, he had to tell us that he was the guy on Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips Part 2” that shouts out “What key, what key?” about 3/4 of the way through the tune when Stevie starts ad-libbing and changes the key!
They are all still playing music, to the best of my knowledge.

Damon Hyde’s wife Pamela sent in the photos seen here and wrote:

Damon passed away in 1999 from a high fever after 9 days in the hospital. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1971 with a B.A. in Literature.
Damon was a honey-voiced singr who travelled extensively before settling down with his wife Pamela in 1978. He turned his musical talent into a lifelong career as a pop/rock singer and published songwriter. His band backed up Lou Rawls, The Drifters in Puerto Rico, Tiny Tim in Miami, Chief James Billie of the Seminole tribe of Florida and many others.
Damon’s unique ability to sing and play a wide spectrum of music made him a sought after musician for many of South Florida’s most popular bands. A double CD was released in his honor by his wife, Pamela called Unfinished Business.

Pamela added these notes from Myron:

The studio that did that recording was Tri City Recording, which I think was in Saginaw, although it might have been Midland. The marketing guy was “Bill McCune, Man from the Moon,” and one of the owners was a previous member of the Motown horn section.
Actually, all three of us [Damon, Nelson & Myron] played trumpet (I played coronet), depending on the tune and arrangement. Nelson and Damon played solos, I played as part of the horn section in tunes such as “Hold on I’m Comin'”. I don’t recall ever having all three horns on the same tune.
[The photos] were taken shortly after Rick joined the group. We later changed the name to Ramblecrow. There was another band in A2 at the same time who’s name came from literature, Leaves of Grass.

Walter “Choker” Campbell owned or worked with a number of labels in Saginaw including Tri-City, Moonville USA, Gospel Train and Ultra-City, with releases around 1970-’71. Almost all of these were soul sides, making this 45 by Love’s Alchmey a big exception. Choker was a tenor saxophonist who started recording in 1950 for the Lucky-7, Fortune and Atlantic labels, among others. He hired on at Motown in 1960 to form the live band for their revue shows and had a 1964 album on Motown with his band playing the label’s hits. He produced records by Carla Whitney and Albert Jones in Toronto, Canada during the 1970s, and passed away in 1993.

Background on Choker Campbell from the Soulful Detroit forum. Thank you to Pamela Hyde for the photos and quote from Myron Grant.

from left: Myron Grant, Damon Hyde, Rick Dannely, Nelson Bogart, Ray Love and Rob Martens

Categories: Columbia County, Hudson, Kennett Sound (Kinderhook NY), Mo-Foag, New York, Schenectady, Troy, Upstate New York, US

The Kynds – “So If Someone Sends You Flowers Babe” / “Find Me Gone” on Mo-Foag

February 26, 2011 Chris Bishop 12 Comments

The Kynds, from the Schenectady Gazette, September 16, 1966

The Kynds were a Capital region trio with members from Hudson, Troy and Schenectady, New York, and bookings throughout the area. They recorded their only single “So If Someone Sends You Flowers Babe” / “Find Me Gone” at Kennett Sound Studio in Kinderhook, NY.

Members included Joseph Cirincione, Jerry Porreca and Dan Wood. They were a trio of organ, bass and drums, which may explain why the organ is loud in the mix on both of these songs.

Jerry Porreca wrote to me “the band actually formed in Hudson. It evolved from the Del Tones to the Kynds and then Bits & Pieces.”

A short article in the September 16, 1966 Schenectady Gazette promoted one of their engagements. It gave a different bass player’s name, along with a different spelling of Joe Cirincione’s name:

The Kynds, featuring (from left) Jerry Porreca on drums, Denny Connolly, bass and Joe Cerincione, organ, are appearing nightly at Loreno’s Restaurant, 2235 Broadway. The group has worked at the College Inn, Saratoga Srpings, Excelsior House, West Sand Lake, and the Rose Garden, Amsterdam. They will be appearing with a second band, “The Four Most.”

In a comment below, Rick Piester states that he “was the original bass player in The Kynds. Had worked with Jerry Porreca earlier in the Del-Tones”.

The Kynds released this great 45 on what must be their own Mo-Foag label in the second half of 1966 (RCA custom pressing number TK4M-5296).

“So, If Someone Sends You Flowers, Babe” has become a favorite of mine, with its repetitive organ lick and quiet vocals. As far as I can make out, some of the lyrics are:

Kynds, Good Times Troy Record 1966 April 9 — The Kynds at the Excelsior House, ad from the Troy Record, April 9, 1966

It really makes no difference if you like what you see in me
Not a chance babe,
‘Cause I’m happy,
That we are free (?)
What you say girl,
It don’t have no effect on me
So, if someone sends you flowers, babe,
You know it wasn’t me.

It was written by Dan Wood and Joe Cirincione, Jr.

The b-side is the fast “Find Me Gone”, with its famous shout near the end of the song, written by Joseph Cirincione, published by Upstate Music BMI.

Thanks to Brian Kirschenbaum, and to Jonas Carlsson for help finding the clipping from the Gazette.

Categories: Corpus Christi, English, Texas, US

The Stereo Shoestring

February 22, 2011 Chris Bishop 16 Comments

John Coco (vocals)
Jim Howard (lead guitar)
Richard Lalor (guitar)
James Noe (bass)
Steve Schultz (drums)

with the Buckle at the Coral Room, Corpus Christi Times, January 12, 1968 — with the Buckle at the Coral Room, January 12, 1968

The 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.

Stereo Shoestring business card — Management by Vicki Jones Scanned from Not Fade Away #3

They 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.

Shoestring - Sun Flower / Mary Ann tape box — 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.

Categories: Golden Horse, Malaysia

Harban Singh & The Swallows

February 20, 2011 Steven Farram Leave a comment

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.

Categories: Cortersions, Singapore

Patrina with Maurice Patton & The Melodians

February 20, 2011 Steven Farram Leave a comment

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.

Hear her version of “Love Is Blue” at Mod-ified Music.

Categories: Florida, Tener, Winter Park

The State of Mind (Florida)

February 15, 2011 Chris Bishop 14 Comments

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.

The State of Mind – My Back Pages

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.

Categories: Brownsville, Rio Grande Valley, Texas, US

Joey B. & the Silhouettes

February 15, 2011 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

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.
Gonzalo Gonzales

Garage Hangover