Five musicians from Madrid formed Los Buitres (The Vultures) in July 1964:
Enrique Martinez (Quique) – lead vocals Juan (Jeannot) – lead guitar and vocals Santiago Villaseñor – rhythm guitar, harmonica and vocals Michel Minguez – bass guitar and vocals Antonio Casado – drums
The band landed a contract with Columbia in November and cut four songs released in February of 1965. The EP included two fine original songs: the excellent “Sensacion” and more formulaic “Ritmo y movimiento”, but failed to sell. The band was disappointed with the sound of the EP, which they though lacked proper reverb, as well as the lack of promotion on Columbia’s part.
They lost their singer Quique to Los Continentales and for a time Santiago took over on lead vocals. By coincidence, they were soon able to recruit the former lead singer of Los Continentales, Boris (Salvador Benzo), who was born in Ceuta, the tip of North Africa across from Gibraltar. Calling themselves Boris y Los Buitres, they entered a band competition in León. They didn’t make the finals, but Boris was a sensation due to his shoulder-length hair. Boris soon went solo and the group broke up, members scattering to other bands.
At the end of 1968, Santiago Villaseñor formed a new version of Los Buitres with the drummer Pancho from Los Comperos, but, according to the liner notes to a 1985 Spanish LP Historia de la musica pop española no. 32 on Alligator Records soon they dropped the name “Los Buitres” and had a working name of the “New Group”. Bassist Ramón Morán provided many photos and a history of the group, so I have moved that part of this article to its own page.
Thanks to Bård for the transfers of “Sensacion” and “Ritmo y moviemiento” and for pointing me to viejopickup.blogspot.com for a scan of the EP cover. Special thanks to Borja for turning me on to these songs by giving me a copy of the Cefe y Los Gigantes / Los Buitres split LP. This article is based on the liner notes to that LP – if anyone has more information or corrections please contact me.
The Nite Walkers, 1965. From left: Rich Hernandez, Joe Stoddard, Ray Almonza and Robert Stoddard, with go-go dancer Linda Hernandez
The Nite Walkers cut two 45s at Russell Recording, a studio located (according to the liner notes to Teenage Shutdown vol. 6) above an air conditioning store in Downey, CA. Mop Top Mike tells me the studio basically disappeared when the owner skipped out without paying back rent.
All four songs they released are originals. Their first 45 has a cool guitar instrumental on the A-side, “Florence Ave”. The group yells an intro “Let’s meet at Al’s on Florence Avenue!”. It was backed with a dirge-like ballad “My Girl” (not the Miracles song by a long shot).
The second 45 has “High Class”, the singer alternates between a menacing spoken mumble and an intense shouting, sometimes within the same line of verse. The band creates a gloomy background through a droning riff and rolling drums for most of the song’s three minutes. The backing vocals are straight out of “Gloria” but the verse seems to have some awareness of “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, with the line “you’re gonna wake up one morning, you’re gonna start to cry, you’re gonna wonder why”.
The flip “You’ve Got Me” is another moody number, something similar to “My Girl” but it works better. I spent a lot of time with audio software taking out clicks from a bad scratch on the 45, but the result is excellent.
With no names or publishing on the label, it was nearly impossible to trace these guys so I thought we may never know the story of this group until Robert Stoddard contacted me:
The band was formed in 1964 I believe. Members are Richard Hernandez (bass), Ray Almonza (rhythm guitar), Joe Stoddard (lead guitar), and Robert Stoddard (drums). We were indeed from Bell Gardens and all songs are originals. What made this band unique at the time was their ages. I was 12 and the other three were 13.
My drumming was a direct result of the music scene of the time. I beat on couch pillows with sticks for two years to “Pretty Woman” and Beatle tunes. Christmas of ’64 brought me a cocktail drum and Joe a cheap electric guitar and super small amp. Richard and Ray were aquaintances of Joe’s from Bell Gardens Junior High.
The slicked back look in the hair was Mom’s idea, you know how Moms are. The mop cut was about a year later with the British Invasion in full swing and all. The girl in the one pic is Richard’s little sister, she was our occasional go-go dancer, her name was Linda.
We played mostly for school assemblies, grand openings of businesses, weddings. We used to play at a place in Hollywood called Pandora’s Box on Sunset and La Brea. Made a TV commercial in a topless bar. Came in 2nd place in the famous “Countdown ’65” battle of the bands at the Olympic Auditorium which was televised. It was sponsored by “the Royals” a British family of con artists who just ripped everybody off and never had any intention of awarding any prizes.
Other bands were the Cosmictones and the Velvetones. The Cosmictones tried to compete. The velvetones were a surf band and they were older and really good. their drummer Al Stigler taught me alot. Lead guitarist Gary Stovall went on to make a name for himself in the biz.
There was definitely a music scene in town. we played at the City Parks Dept. dances often, and every summer there was a Battle of the Bands at the yearly amusement park also held at the Parks Department.
The songs were written basically by all of us, we used to rehearse in the Toler Ave. garage next to my house.
Both [records] were done at the same time. Don’t remember much about the studio but I know I was behind a glass wall, no plexiglass yet. Music tracks were done first and vocals were done second with all of us circling one auditorium type microphone.
Russell recording I believe was affiliated somehow with Downey Music Center where we purchased all our equipment. I remember the man’s name was Nate. They were pressed somewhere on Melrose in West Hollywood, I remember because we all went there in the band car, a 1948 Cadillac candy apple red hearse. I believe we got it because the Monkees had a candy apple red dune buggy kind a thing.
I don’t really know much about those transactions, my Dad handled all that stuff. But I do know that only 300 copies were pressed due to the cost at the time. My Dad sent them everywhere, radio stations, etc, but to no avail.
Q. Is it Joe who yells “Let’s meet at Al’s on Florence Avenue”?
It was indeed Joe who yelled but he was just closest to the mike, we all had a hand in that. To this day I still think that was cheesy. Al’s however was a real place we used to hang out at. It was like a really good Greek hamburger stand built on the lot on the north west corner of Florence Ave. and Garfield. It was kitty corner from Toler Ave where we were based. I believe it’s a donut shop now, I don’t know.
I had to quit due to the war in Vietnam. Joe stayed in music and is still performing, check him out at joestoddardshow.com. Richard lives up north somewhere, and I haven’t heard from Ray since the 60’s. I returned to playing live and touring with several bands from ’76 through the 80’s and still occaisionally dabble in it.
Robert Stoddard
Russell RRC-43106: Florence Ave / My Girl Russell RRC-43107: High Class / You’ve Got Me
The Nite Walkers, 1966. From left: Rich Hernandez, Joe Stoddard, Rob Stoddard and Ray Almonza
This record from Hong Kong was recorded on 26 September 1969. In the liner notes it says that news of the Phantoms’ plan to record a few originals had everybody excited. This is a bit misleading as at least one of these songs was not written by any member of the Phantoms.The song “Oh La La” is credited as Copyright Controlled, but there are scores of songs with this title and I have been unable to determine if this is a Phantoms’ original.
The better song in my opinion is “Love Love Love”, which we are told in no uncertain terms was created by Paul Leung; it says so on the label and on both sides of the cover. Paul Leung, however, was not a member of the Phantoms, but rather a record producer and owner of the Amo label, on which this record was released. So it seems that Leung got the Phantoms to cut a record and provided them with the song. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I quite like “Love Love Love”, which sounds much like the Nightcrawlers’ “Little Black Egg” with different lyrics. Oddly, although “Love Love Love” is listed as the A side on the cover, it appears as the B side on the record.
But who were the Phantoms? The only clue in the liner notes is that it mentions them having only been in Hong Kong for a certain time, so they weren’t a local group. My guess is they were from Singapore as there were many bands from there which tried their luck in Hong Kong in the second half of the 1960s. There was a band from Singapore called the Phantoms who supported the singer Valentine to produce a hit with the ballad Roselyn earlier in the sixties. Looking at the cover of the Valentine record, I think this could be the same band, but I could be totally wrong.
The two photos below come from Joseph C. Pereira, who points out the band was known as the Flying Phantoms!
Joseph writes:
Band started in 1963. Appeared on Istana Pesta (a local television program) in that year.
1964 – Winston Koh came in second to Kenneth Gomes in a Cliff Richard singing competition to promote the movie Finders Keepers. The heats were held at Capitol Cinema and the finals at Lido Cinema. Winston’s winning song in the finals was “It’s All Over”.
Inactive between 1964 and 1966. William Chan (rhythm), Sam Toh (bass), Patrick Khong (bass), Victor Lam (drums). Victor and Patrick left at the end of 1964 to join Mysterians.
September 1966 – Group revived by Dennis Chan, a 16 year old guitarist. Elder brother William Chan (rhythm guitar) was an original Flying Phantom as was Sam Toh (bass player). Rest of line up was Hudson Ng (drums) and Winston Koh (vocals). Sam Toh did not stay in the band long and joined a short lived line up of D’Aquarians. He then joined Bee Jays for two months and after that in April 1967 he joined The Quests.
12-4-1967 – Appeared on Muzik Muda Mudi (another local TV program).
May 1967 – Appeared on another TV program.
Style of the band was towards Shadows and Ventures for instrumentals and Cliff Richard for vocal numbers.
Appeared on a TV program performing “House Of The Rising Sun” with Winston decked out in a prisoner styled outfit.
1969 – They were contracted to play for a year in Hongkong at the World of Suzie Wong Night Club. They appeared on Hongkong TV, did two stage shows and were guests at the Teddy Robins Tavern tea dance on Sundays.
The Young Men at Audio Recorders, from left: Frank Lacey, Tony Boynton, Rich Adams, Pete Axtell, and John Herwehe
Updated February 2011
The Young Men were from Phoenix, Arizona. Members included:
Frank Lacey – lead vocals Richard Adams – lead guitar Pete Axtell – rhythm guitar John Herwehe – bass Dave Killingsworth – bass Tony Boynton – drums
They were originally called the Metronomes and most were students at West Phoenix High School, playing the prom there in 1966. The Metronomes were Frank Lacey, guitar and vocals; Larry Edmonds, guitar; George Matthews, drums; and John Hesterman on bass, piano and vocals. A friend of the band remembered Frank Lacey being one of the first students at their high school to be sent home for having long hair.
The Young Men’s first 45, released on United World #6947 in January ’67 has a minor pop song “Too Many Times” on the A-side, written by ‘Howie’ and produced by Forest Higginbotham. It charted on KRUX 1360 AM, reaching #16 on March 16.
Much cooler is the catchy, upbeat “Go!”. The song writing credits list Axtell and Lacey, but as Mop Top Mike pointed out to me, it’s really a very close version of the Dave Clark Five’s “I’m Thinking”, the b-side of a ’65 single “Reelin’ and Rockin'”. The Dave Clark Five original has a great shout of “Oh!” before the first verse. The Young Men change this to a reverb-laden “Go!” and dub it in before each verse. They also speed up the tempo, drop the organ part and substitute an excellent dry guitar solo for the bridge in the DC5 version.
The label lists the time for “Go!” as 2:33, but when played the song clocks at 1:33. I’ve seen a second version of the label that lists the time correctly.
The Young Men had a second 45 United World #0001 in April of ’67, a very competent rendition of the Hollies’ “Baby That’s All” backed with “Love’s Time”, a good original by Axtell, Lacey and Froste.
As Dan Nowicki points out in his comment below, Frank Lacey and Dave Killingsworth later were in Thackeray Rocke, and that both records were recorded at Audio Recorders of Arizona.
Thanks also to Mop Top Mike for the dates of the 45s, to Richard Adams & John Hesterman for the photo at top and info on the Metronomes, to John L. for info on the group, and to Brian Kirschenbaum for the scans of “Baby That’s All” and “Love’s Time”.
Raunch live at the Cellar in Ossining, 1966. From left: Tommy Walker (on drums), Jay Manning, Sandy Katz (playing the Vox Mark VI “Teardrop”) and Frank Taxiera on bass
Sandy Katz – rhythm guitar and vocals Jay Manning – lead guitar Frank Taxiera – bass Tommy Walker – drums
Raunch were from Ossining with the exception of Sandy Katz, their lead vocalist and songwriter, who was from Briarcliff Manor. Raunch’s great cover of Paul Revere & the Raiders’ “Hungry” leads off the fabulous Ren-Vell Records Presents Battle of the Bands Vol. 1 LP.
Raunch recording at Ren-Vell Studio 317 N. Central Ave, White Plains Even better is a 45 they cut for Bazaar Records, “A Little While Back” / “I Say You’re Wrong”. The A-side is a great song featuring heavy fuzz guitar and a blistering solo by Jay Manning. Jay kindly provided the photos here, including the first I’ve seen of Ren-Vell’s studio, and the story behind the band:
The Synners was the first band I had, while still in high school. It was myself (lead guitar) and my two best friends David Perugini (rhythm guitar) and Alan Raycraft (drums), and later another high school friend, Curt Mienel(bass guitar). We played at our high school a couple of times and parties. I don’t think we ever got paid, but in those days the motivation was impressing girls, not financial rewards.
I have a recording from 1965 of us playing at an Ossining High School Spanish Club banquet. Dave’s dad got a hold of an old Wollensak reel to reel and, unbeknownst to me, recorded three songs.
We graduated in 1965 and in the fall David went to college, in New Paltz, New York, so the band evolved. Alan and Curt stayed, I think we called ourselves the Invaders. I don’t really remember all the iterations of the bands. I do remember that Alan was still playing drums when we met Sandy Katz. I don’t remember how we found him, but he and I clicked. He had a great voice and wrote decent songs. His dad was in business for himself so was very savvy about copyright and publishing rights, so all of Sandy’s songs were copyrighted.
Alan finally quit, we replaced him with another Sandy, whose last name I don’t remember. Curt left and eventually we added Frank Taxiera as bass player. He couldn’t play and didn’t have equipment, he was just cool and he fit. He became a really good bassist and now plays some great blues lead, in Colorado, with some renowned bluesmen.
That’s when Raunch was born. Sandy’s dad wanted us to be The Four Seasons (clean cut, stylish), I had very long hair for 1966 and was not interested in being clean cut.
Raunch played all over Westchester County. Ossining, of course, Tarrytown, Yonkers, White Plains, Armonk, Briarcliffe Manor (that’s where Sandy lived). “The Cellar”, the Ossining Recreation Department’s teen hangout had live music almost every weekend. I can’t remember all the places we played, but it was a lot. Just about every weekend and some weeknights all over the place. I don’t remember playing any bars at that point, but we did banquets and lots of dances and teen clubs.
We were very egocentric. We considered ourselves the best band in the area and thought of all the others as pretenders to the throne, at least I did.
There were a lot of “battle of the bands”, at high schools. recreation departments, clubs, all over the place. We won most of the ones we were in, so didn’t really pay attention to second place.
The two I remember not winning was one for all of Westchester County, NY in the summer of 1966, at the base of Kensico Dam, in Valhalla, NY, we came in 4th. Not really a “battle of the band” but a tryout to open for the Beach Boys, at Iona College in New Rochelle. The best bands in Westchester, New York City and from Connecticut were there. We lost out to a band called The Young Savages, really great band and they lost out, in a second round of tryouts, to a band called Chain Reaction. The lead singer was Steven Tallarico (later Steven Tyler – Aerosmith). I remember them playing “I’m Not Talking”, by the Yardbirds.
Marty Katz, Sandy’s dad, really got into it. He knew his kid was good, but he had never been in a really good band before that could showcase his music. Marty Katz owned a corporation already, so he just created a record label, Bazaar Records, he paid for everything. The actual name of the band was Raunch Inc. and we really were part of a small corporation.
Raunch at Ren-Vell StudioWe recorded everything at Ren-Vell. We were, I believe, Joe Renda’s first project. I really don’t remember the other bands on the album, there were so many bands at that time and so many places to play.
Sandy Katz wrote “A Little While Back”, and on the record, sang the harmonies. I sang the harmony when we played it live.
Sandy is playing the Vox [in the photos], he also had the 12-string model. I had a Phantom, the odd, irregular hexagon shaped guitar, but it was a real pig. Thick neck, weak pickups, tinny sounding. Unfortunately that’s what I played at the battle of the bands, because it was “cooler” than my Hagstom, which was a much better guitar.
I was a terrific guitarist, for the time, if I do say so myself. That was really all I lived for, that and girls of course. I learned everything by ear and watching better players, never had any lessons, still haven’t and I still play quite a bit. Now it’s classical and fingerstyle jazz.
Jay Manning
Update April 2016: Jay Manning reports that Tommy Walker died in 2014, and that recently Sandy Katz’s father Morris “Marty” Katz also passed away.
Thank you to Jay for his help with this article. Scan of the Raunch 45 from David Perugini. Thanks to Patrick Lundborg for his help.
left to right, top row: Scotty Celsur and Mike Farr bottom row: Johnny Holbert (standing in for Randy Ridell), Jimmy Holbert and Sammy Simmons
Scotty Celsur, lead guitarist and vocalist with the Chesea Five gives the story behind this Dallas group that recorded for Zero Records, the legendary label originally based in Austin that released the Spades 45s:
My first band, the Exclusives, was made up of my brother and my two best friends who liked to play for fun and entertainment of others on occasion. Sure was not the money at that point. However, after a couple of years of that I got down to business and started to put together a band that would go somewhere. I was in it for the big go.
My best friend, Mike Farr, was my guitar backup rhythm player starting out but finding a bass player was a challenge so after finding a good guitar player of rhythm Mike said he would change to bass to get this thing going. He wanted this bad like myself.
After a couple of months of searching out talent we started to put a show together and we put ourselves out there. After a few months of playing local gigs we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Oddly enough we were at McCords Music Co. in downtown Dallas one Friday afternoon picking up a new PA system when a guy [Gary McCaskill of Zero Records] asked me if we were a working band and if so he wanted to talk. So we did and told him of a sock hop we were playing that night at a local school.
He said he would attend and about halfway thru the second set he and his wife showed up. He loved our version of “Play With Fire”, why I don’t know and he liked the “Leave Me Alone” song that I had written two years prior to that date. In two days he had us playing dates for a month on weekends. I liked this and then he wanted to start a recording company and he did, with us being his main band. He was a booking agent at the time for a couple of groups in Austin and did some with Kenny and the Kasuals. His mainstream focus was on us.
First he wanted to change the name to an English sort to go along with the fad of the times and that’s when The Chelsea Five brand came to be.
Jimmy Holbert – lead singer except on “Leave Me Alone” Scotty Celsur – lead guitar, vocals and lead singer on “Leave Me Alone” Randy Ridell – rhythm guitar Mike Farr – bass Sammy Simmons – drums
Funny thing, when we went to the Sherwood Forest complex over by Love Field airport to have pictures taken, Randy Ridell didn’t get there in time so with the evening darkness coming we opted to use Jimmy’s younger brother Bobby [sic – should be John Holbert] as the fifth person stand-in. By the way that is the only picture I have of our band. I have some slides somewhere or I think I do but I not sure where they have been stored at the present.
We were practicing four nights a week then playing on the weekends, mostly in Austin, he had contacts there and at the time bands from Dallas were a good draw for attendance. Pay was good and we were happy. Never considered us to be anything but a rock & roll band with a little edge.
Back then it seemed that everybody and their brother had a band of some kind so that in itself set up competition. Getting a gig could be a hard thing to do if you were looking in your own backyard. Many gigs would get canceled at the last minute just because someone knew someone that was a friend or whatever. That was the trick bag for us. Each one of us had a different group of friends. Strange in a way, but it worked and after we took on an out of town manager who was really in the loop of clubs around it made the whole world bigger.
Two weeks after we signed with Gary the Beach Boys were coming to town for a concert along with the Buckinghams and he asked if we would like to be the warm up band. Being in our home town I said no way. We had never played a venue of that size so the setup it self would be a guess and I didn’t want to take a chance and kill our sound and business by doing something stupid. As things happened Kenny and the Kasuals took the spot and in my opinion it was not good. Best decision I ever made because they suffered from what I feared for us. Poor sound quality but even the headliner bands didn’t sound good in that building [the Memorial Auditorium]. I went to a lot of concerts there and the building was perfectly round so the sound would bounce everywhere. I saw the Beatles there in ’64 and it was the worst concert ever, could not hear anything.
We were friends with a couple of other bands and in fact the Vaughan brothers dropped by for a couple of afternoon jams. Stevie Ray was very young, around 14 I think, but the kid was amazing and could play as good as his brother Jimmie.
One day in early May of ’67 Gary called me and said he had booked studio time at Sellers Recording in downtown Dallas for Saturday to cut a record. When we got there and after we set up he said he wanted to cut the “Play With Fire” song on the A side and my song, “Leave Me Alone” on the B side. I argued to cut the Otis Redding song “Respect”. We had a killer version of it and had request to play it a number of times a night at our gigs but he was paying and I lost the battle with him. This was two weeks before Aretha Franklin cut her song “Respect”, the rest is history and so are we.
5,000 copies were pressed but during the that time we added an organ player thus changing the name to the end result of Jimmy C and The Chelsea Five. There was no Jimmy C. it was actually Jimmy H. but that sounded bad so we used my last name letter C to fix that. We didn’t care we just wanted to play music, cut records and get paid. My manager gave me 500 and I don’t know what happened to the rest, now I only have around 25 left.
Didn’t work out to my way of thinking. I was the only one, other than Gary, who had a car that would go down the road every time. I was killing my car and not getting much in the money end of things for it. Sure, everyone would buy gas but tires and repairs, did those myself, were an expense for me and the others didn’t see it that way. I told them we need to rent a truck for all this, after all the organ was a Hammond with a Leslie speaker so it was no small item.
Other things started get in the way like girlfriends and some members smoking grass, I said no to that from the start. That was a sure way to ruin all we had worked for. I bid farewell to the band I put together and quit. Didn’t play for almost two years. They disbanded two months after I left and so goes the death of a rock and roll band. Gary asked me to form up an R&B group a few months after I had left and the band had vanished. I considered it just because Gary was such an up right guy and I had trust in him. I really liked to play blues more anyway but it just didn’t work in our area of play. Mike, my best friend and bass player soon surfaced and we set up a small band to play local and not very often at that.
I got married and started my family so I still think I did the right thing at the time. After all I did embark upon a career of auto racing for twenty five years and I traveled all over the USA, Canada, and a couple of trips to Mexico seeing things I would have never seen on my own so I don’t have any regrets.
I started the band when I was 14 and I was 17 when I recorded. I’m 60 now and have written over 200 songs of all kinds but they are in a box in my house along with the guitar and amp I bought new and used on the record, 1964 Fender Jaguar and Fender Bandmaster amp. I still play for my self satisfaction and friends on a rare occasion. I have not been in contact with any of the guys since 1973. Don’t have a clue where they are. I still miss them though.
Scotty Celsur
Zero discography:
10001 – The Spades – “I Need a Girl” / “Do You Want to Dance” 10002 – The Spades – “You’re Gonna Miss Me” / “We Sell Soul” 1003 – Jimmy C. & the Chelsea Five – “Play With Fire” / “Leave Me Alone” 1004 – Sammy Julian – “Lead Guitar Man” / “Is It True” (both by S. Julian and C. Kirk) 1005 – Curtis D. Hall and Cactus Café – “Diggin’ On Country Music”/ “I’ll Be Here Awhile” (1975)
Thanks to Gregor Kessler for sending the scan of the “Leave Me Alone” label, and for suggesting I contact Scotty.
“Sitting on the drums is lead singer Bubba Busceme; Brian, lead guitar is kneeling to his right (left in the picture) in front of me holding the bass. Holding the other end of the bass is rhythm guitarist Joe Priddy; his hand in resting on the shoulder of keyboardist Tom Laughlin and in the center is drummer Dale Bond.”
Glen Moyer provides details about his time with three Beaumont, TX groups, the Past Tymes, S. J. & the Crossroads and the Kidds:
I was the last and probably most insignificant addition to SJ & the Crossroads’ lineup. I played bass guitar and replaced Phil Battaglia after he was drafted/joined the armed forces (I don’t recall which). As such I was the youngest member of the group – I recall Sal Serio (SJ and Johnny’s Dad) telling my parents that he and Mar (Mary Serio – his wife) would look after me if they would let me join the band.
Sometime earlier one of my school buddies Gerry Mouton had joined the band partly upon my recommendation. I knew Sal (Mr. Serio) as he owned a Beaumont drive-in grocery and trailer park (Circle Grocery on 11th St) where he later opened SalMar record shop next door. When the band was looking for a lead singer I knew Gerry was pretty good and suggested the band talk to him. I told Gerry to go see Sal and the rest is history.
The SalMar label the Crossroads recorded on was also named for he and his wife. They were great people and I’ve got many fond memories of playing gigs throughout southeast Texas. By the time I joined the band it had moved away from its earlier rock roots and we played a lot of pop and soul tunes – Sam and Dave, Archie Bell and the Drells, etc. Sadly, for me anyway, I’m seldom noted as a member of the band because I came along after they did all of their records.
At the time I joined the group we were practicing in the Serio’s garage of their home on Major Drive in west Beaumont. I vividly recall the song we were learning at my first practice with the guys was “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” by BS&T.
After the Crossroads broke up – thanks to the Vietnam war and fears of being drafted, etc. I joined another Beaumont group in their last throes – the Kidds – where I replaced a friend of mine, John Schmidt, on bass. Johnny Serio also joined the band with me for a short time but we too soon broke up. Both groups were originally all from Kelly HS (the Catholic HS) as I recall. Gerry Mouton and I were in the South Park school system – having gone to Fehl elementary, MacArthur Jr. Hi, and later South Park HS.
Prior to the Crossroads I was with a less well known band called The Past Tymes. Myself and Bubba Busceme – both from South Park – and later Joe Priddy combined with Tommy Laughlin, Dale Bond and Brian Kalinec from French HS. We played gigs in Vidor, Beaumont, Silsbee, and elsewhere in southeast Texas. This band is never mentioned in 60’s reviews I guess because we never recorded nor did we ever reach the level of playing gigs like the Rose Room, Crown Room, etc. Brian continues to play and has won a few recent texas Songwriters awards and has a debut CD out, Last Man Standing.
Over the years I’ve lost my entire collection of SJ and the Crossroads vinyl 45s and a lot of personal photos of the band. I didn’t appear in any of their “press photos”. If anyone ever comes across any photos of the band performing, I’d love to see them in case I might be there.
clockwise from left: Doug Lubahn, Bob Seal, Dallas Taylor, Michael Ney, Cliff De Young and Robbie Robisoncounter-clockwise from bottom left: Robbie Robison, Doug Lubahn, Bob Seal, Michael Ney and Dallas Taylor
Cliff De Young (vocals) Bob Seal (lead guitar, vocals) Doug Lubahn (bass) Ralph Schuckett (keyboards) Dallas Taylor (drums) Michael Ney (drums) Robbie Robison (guitar)1966
Georgia-born guitarist Bob Seal teams up with Dallas Taylor (b. 1948, Denver, Colorado, US) during the summer when they meet in Phoenix, Arizona as Seal is heading to California. Taylor has already tasted the Sunset Strip scene while drumming with Lowell George’s Factory some months earlier.
They arrive in Los Angeles and set up camp in Manhattan Beach where they meet up with Robbie Robison (real name: Clyde Edgar Robison) and Michael Ney at a Peanut Butter Conspiracy gig. Robison is the husband of Barbara Robison (aka Sandi Peanut Butter), the Peanut Butter Conspiracy’s lead singer – and had recorded an album in 1964 as Robbie the Werwolf – Live at the Waleback Club.
Deciding to make a go of forming a group with two drummers they recruit Wanda Watkins as an additional vocalist and name themselves The Garnerfield Sanitarium.
In late 1966, Doug Lubahn (b. Colorado, US), who has spotted Seal and Taylor on Fairfax Avenue wearing signs reading “Seeking singing, writing bass player” joins on bass. Lubahn had moved to Los Angeles a few months earlier from Aspen, Colorado where he was working as a ski instructor and playing with several local groups. He is spotted by Mama Cass of The Mamas & The Papas and she encourages him to relocate to the West Coast.
They acquire Bud Mathis as manager and change name to the Brain Train – a name given to them by the Peanut Butter Conspiracy’s Alan Brackett. In the process they lose Watkins, who will turn up in another Bud Mathis outfit, The Joint Effort. Mathis finances a recording session at the Electro Vox Studios and takes the resulting demo recordings of Wolfang Dios’ “Black Roses” and Lubahn and Mathis’s “Me” to Elektra Records.
1967
Elektra snaps the band up but persuades them to ditch Mathis and be taken under the wing of producer Paul Rothchild. The Brain Train moves into a large house on Franklin Avenue in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, which has previously been the home of WC Fields and begin reheasing material for their proposed album. March (26) Renamed Clear Light, the band plays at Los Angeles’ first “Love-In” at Griffith Park on the same bill as The Steve Miller Band, The Grateful Dead and The Other Half. April The recording sessions for the band’s debut album begins. Two of the first tracks completed are a reworking of “Black Roses” and a Robbie Robison composition titled, “She’s Ready To Be Free”. Around the same time, the group lands a cameo role in the movie, The President’s Analyst starring James Coburn. Soon after filming, Clear Light adds lead singer Cliff De Young (b. 12 February 1945, Los Angeles, California, US).
Scene from The President’s Analyst
Barry McGuire cast as their singer, for some reason.
from left to right, back row: Ralph Schuckett, Dallas Taylor, Michael Ney and Doug Lubahn front row from left: Bob Seal and Cliff De Young
(30) The group performs at the “Freedom of Expression Concert” at the Hullabaloo, Hollywood, alongside The Doors, Canned Heat, The Poor and many others. May Despite having put down most of the tracks for the album, Elektra decides that Robison’s acoustic approach is incompatible with the group’s new electric direction and he is dropped from the group, although he remains part of the entourage, operating his own light show, set up at the group’s live appearances. After auditioning many guitarists as possible replacements, including Doug Hastings (ex-Daily Flash and soon-to-be Buffalo Springfield) they eventually decide to go with keyboard wunderkind Ralph Schuckett. Schuckett overdubs keys to several of the tracks already in the can as well as collaborating with fellow newbie Cliff De Young. June (11) The new line up performs at Cheetah, Venice, California with Kaleidoscope. (30) The band performs at the Oracle Benefit at the Valley Music Theatre, Los Angeles with Kaleidoscope and The Fraternity of Man (the Byrds cancel – McGuinn was sick). After this Clear Light embark on a cross country tour driving non-stop to Philadelphia where the band goes on strike, forcing Elektra to fly them to New York. The group is met by Danny Fields, who checks the musicians into Albert’s Hotel. The band initially plays at Steve Paul’s Scene East in the Delmonico Hotel but on the first night Schuckett lambasts the crowd for not paying attention to the group’s performance and it is fired. The next day, Steve Paul places the group at his main club, The Scene. July (6-23) Clear Light play at Steve Paul’s Scene, New York. While there, the group jams with various guests including Tiny Tim, Howlin’ Wolf and The Candy Men, formerly members of The McCoys. The band plays further dates in Boston before returning to Los Angeles. August (31) – September (3) Clear Light performs at the Magic Mushroom, Los Angeles with Kaleidoscope. Soon afterwards, the band’s debut single, “Black Roses” c/w “She’s Ready To Be Free” is released. (25) Lubahn participates in the sessions for The Doors’ Strange Days album. (30) Clear Light appears at the Earl Warren Showgrounds, Santa Barbara with The Quicksilver Messenger Service, Van Morrison and Blue Cheer. October (20-22) The band plays at the Cheetah, Venice, California with The Electric Flag. (26-28) The group supports Lee Michaels and Pink Floyd at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco. November The group’s eponymous debut album is released climbing to US #126. The band’s second single, “They Who Have Nothing” c/w “Ballad of Freddie & Larry” is issued to support the album. The debut longplayer is subsequently released in the UK, and although it is not a hit, it is greeted with interest, particularly on the underground scene. (Clear Light’s records are regularly featured on John Peel’s Top Gear). Bud Mathis licences The Brain Train demos to Titan Records in order to cash in on the release of the Elektra album. (8) Clear Light appears on Pat Boone’s weekly show Pat Boone in Hollywood. (17-19) They play at the Cheetah in Venice, California with The Nazz. (22) Clear Light performs at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California with The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, The Merry Go Round, The Hour Glass and others. (25) They appear at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, California with The Youngbloods, Canned Heat and The Merry Go Round. (30) – December (2) The band is joined by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for a series of shows at the Fillmore Auditorium. (8-9) They play at the Boston Tea Party, Boston with The Street Choir. (19-31) Clear Light perform at the Café Au Go Go in New York where they are joined by Tim Buckley on the 28th and 30th. After much behind the scenes manipulation and Svengali–ism by Rothchild, the band starts auditioning guitarists, including Kenny Pine and Jeff Jacobs, on the club’s stage to replace Bob Seal, who has come to blows with the producer. Danny Kortchmar, who has previously played with New York groups, The King Bees and The Flying Machine and recently returned from Los Angeles where he had tried out for Elektra’s project supergroup (later Rhinoceros) takes over lead guitar. Seal meanwhile relocates to the Bay area and, disillusioned with playing six string takes up the bass – gigging but not recording with Gale Garnett & The Gentle Reign. He later takes up the six string again, replacing the original guitarist in the Transatlantic Railroad. He subsequently teams up with former Salvation member Joe Tate in Redlegs, a popular Bay Area group.
1968
January (5-6) With Kortchmar on guitar, Clear Light play at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit with Gypsy and Children. February A third single, “Night Sounds Loud”, is only released in the UK, but is not a hit. (23-24) Clear Light support Jefferson Airplane at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles with the Ceyleib People. (26 & 28) Kortchmar, Schuckett, Lubahn and Ney appear on the recording of The Monkees’ “The Porpoise Song”, produced by Russ Titelman and Gerry Goffin. Also on the session are Leon Russell and British jazz pianist, Victor Feldman. March (17) Clear Light plays at Pasadena Exhibition Hall, Pasadena, California with The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Procol Harum and many others. (24) The group joins The Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane, H.P. Lovecraft, The Quicksilver Messenger Service and various others at a benefit for the Radio Strike Fund for disc jockeys at KPPC Pasadena and KMPX San Francisco. (29-30) The band appears at the Kaleidoscope with Bo Diddley and The Peanut Butter Conspiracy. April (13) Clear Light appears at the Salt Lake Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah with Blue Cheer and Jerry Abrams. (18-23) Clear Light plays at the Cheetah, New York with Harvey and The 7 Sounds. (26-28) The band appears at the Trauma in Philadelphia with The Mandrake Memorial. May (3-4) The group performs at the Boston Tea Party with Butter and Tim Rose. The group then returns to New York and plays some shows at the Electric Circus with The Chambers Brothers and Circus Maximus where they are a huge hit. (25) Clear Light plays at the “McCarthy Happening” in Santa Clara County Showgrounds, San Jose, California with H.P Lovecraft, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Flamin’ Groovies, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, Crystal Syphon, Womb and others. (30) Kortchmar takes part in the recording of The Monkees’ “As We Go Along”. June (14-16) The band appears at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom with Frumius Bandersnatch and Buddy Guy. Sessions for a second album begin but after a few recordings Cliff De Young quits to return to college. He later pursues an acting career. Two tracks from the sessions survive – “Darkness of Day” (a Schuckett/De Young collaboration) and Kortchmar’s “What A Difference Love Makes”. August Kortchmar appears on The Fugs’ album, It Crawled Into My Hand Honest. September Clear Light unofficially splinters. Lubahn briefly becomes The Doors’ studio bassist, appearing on albums Waiting For The Sun and The Soft Parade before forming jazz/rock band, Dreams with ex-Blood, Sweat & Tears member Randy Brecker, while Schuckett and Ney (in the guise of Mike Stevens) join The Peanut Butter Conspiracy for a summer and winter tour of the Pacific Northwest. Schuckett also does session work for people like James Cotton. Dallas Taylor, who initially works with ex-Lovin’ Spoonful singer/guitarist John Sebastian is subsequently introduced to Stephen Stills. Around this time, Taylor, Lubahn and Schuckett do a recording session with Stills at TTG studio in Hollywood. Taylor strikes up a rapport with Stills and is chosen as drummer for Crosby, Stills & Nash. November Kortchmar and Ney join Carole King’s City, although the latter will soon be replaced by Jim Gordon.
1969
January Elektra’s news letter, Revelation announces that Clear Light have split up. February The City’s sole album, Now That Everything Has Been Said is released on Lou Adler’s Ode label. December Taylor appears on Essra Mohawk’s album, Primordial Lovers, released on Reprise Records.
1970
May (12) Taylor is sacked by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young after a gig in Denver and rejoins John Sebastian’s backing band. September Schuckett and Kortchmar reunite in Jo Mama, which signs to Atlantic Records. November Lubahn’s group Dreams release their eponymous debut album.
1971
March Debut Jo Mama album, O Sole Mio is released. Schuckett also appears on Carole King’s Tapestry album and follows this with two US and one UK tour with James Taylor in support. September Taylor appears on John Sebastian’s Four Of Us, before joining Stephen Stills’s Manassas. November Second Jo Mama album J Is For Jump is released, but is not a success and the band splinters. Kortchmar works for David Crosby and Graham Nash, while Schuckett does sessions for Todd Rundgren amongst others.
1972
Lubahn appears on the Everly Brothers album Stories We Could Tell. May Manassass’ eponymous debut double album is released. October After doing a multitude of sessions for people like Crosby & Nash, Kortchmar forms The Section, who release their eponymous debut album on Warner Brothers.
1973
Cliff De Young stars in the TV film Sunshine and subsequently releases a soundtrack album featuring songs by John Denver on MCA. September A second Section album, Forward Motion is released but is not a success. Kortchmar leaves to record a solo set Kootch. May A second Manassas album Down The Road is issued, but the group splinters soon after and Taylor moves into session work, appearing on albums by people like Bill Wyman and Sammy Hagar, before rejoining Stephen Stills’s backing group.
1974
Cliff De Young releases an eponymously titled solo album on MCA. He continues to be in demand as a film and TV actor. December After doing various sessions for people like David Blue, Carole King and Todd Rundgren, Schuckett becomes part of the latter’s Utopia. He will remain with the band for two years appearing on the albums Todd Rungren’s Utopia, Initiation and Another Live.
1975
September Kortchmar joins Crosby & Nash’s backing band, The Mighty Jitters, and subsequently appears on their albums Wind On The Water, Whistle Down The Wire and Crosby/Nash Live.
1976
June Schuckett appears on a recording by Free Beer, who release the album Highway Robbery on RCA. July Kortchmar forms The Attitudes, releasing an eponymous debut on George Harrison’s Dark Horse label.
1977
March Schuckett appears on a second Free Beer album, Nouveau Chapeau. Lubahn forms new a group, Pierce Arrow, with ex-Dreams member Jeff Kent and ex-Compton & Batteau guitarist/vocalist Robin Batteau. Schuckett fills in for Jeff Kent when he recouperates from a serious injury in 1978. October Pierce Arrow issue an eponymous debut for CBS. A second Attitudes’ album Good News is also released, but is not a success and Kortchmar returns to session work.
1978
July A second Pierce Arrow album Pity The Rich is released, but is not a success and Lubahn leaves to pursue other projects.
1980
Schuckett joins Ellen Shipley’s backing group and continues to do session work for such notable artists as Cher. Lubahn writes Treat Me Right for Pat Benatar, which appears on her album, Crimes of Passion. August Kortchmar meanwhile, releases second solo album, Innuendo, on Asylum Records.
1981
Lubahn forms Riff Raff who release the album Vinyl Future for Atlantic. He subsequently joins the Billy Squier band.
1982
Lubahn appears on Billy Squiers’ Emotions in Motion. October Kortchmar appears on ex-Eagle Don Henley’s debut solo album I Can’t Stand Still, which he also co-produces and co-writes several songs on. The pair will strike up a rapport and Kortchmar will become an integral part of Henley’s backing band for the next ten years.
1984
Schuckett produces an album for Clarence Clemons for Columbia Records. He also co-produces two tracks with Bruce Springsteen. Lubahn apears on Ted Nugent’s Penetrator and Billy Squiers’ Signs of Life. He also writes Talk To Me – recorded by Patty Smyth and Scandal on their album Warrior (which features Schuckett).
1987
September British indie label, Edsel issues Clear Light’s album with the bonus cut “She’s Ready To Be Free”. In 1991, Lubahn sings background vocals on Billy Squier’s album, Creatures of Habit.
Sources:
Einarson, John and Furay, Richie. For What It’s Worth – The Story Of Buffalo Springfield. Quarry Press Inc, 1997. Grushkin, Paul D. Art Of Rock – Posters From Presley To Punk, Artabras, Cross River Press Ltd, 1987. Hogg, Brian. Sleeve notes to Edsel’s reissue of Clear Light, 1987. Hounsome, Terry. Rock Record #6, Record Researchers Publications, 1994. David Peter Housden. The Castle – Love #9, page 63. Joynson, Vernon. Fuzz, Acid & Flowers, 1993. Long, Pete. Ghosts On The Road – Neil Young In Concert, Old Homestead Press, 1996. Sandoval Andrew. Sleeve notes to Rhino’s reissue of The Monkees’ album Head, 1994. Shaw, Greg. The Doors On The Road, Omnibus Press, 1997, pages 35 and 64. Village Voice, July 6, 1967, page 26, December 14, 1967, page 52 and December 28, 1967, page 39.
Thanks to Gray Newell for his extensive help in piecing this story together. Many thanks too to Marc Skobac for research on some of the live dates. Huge thanks also to Ralph Schuckett for filling in many of the gaps and Doug Lubahn for his input. Thanks to Marc Skobac for his corrections.
The Page Boys, back row, from left: Ronnie Hill, Tom McCarty, Richard Van Vliet front center: Mark Kay
The Page Boys cut one of the killer Texas 45s of the ’60s, “All I Want”, an original by Tom McCarty and Mark Kay. From the opening fuzztone guitar and drum beats you know this record is going to deliver, and it does, with solid rhythm, good harmonies and a wild scream followed by Mark Kay’s amped-up guitar solo. Tom McCarty wrote to me about his time with the group and working with Ray Ruff and Them in Amarillo in the summer of ’67:
Richard Van Vliet (drummer), Ronnie Hill (our bassman), Mark Kay (lead guitar), and myself made up the Pageboys.
Richard and Mark were part of a group call the Trespassers, which broke up. We started jamming together and got along well, so we started a group, originally called The Others.
The Others master tape for All I Want and Silver and Gold We heard a song written by Val Stecklein called “Silver and Gold” that was on one of their albums and liked it so we went down to Tommy Allsup’s studio in Odessa in 1966 and recorded it again, along with one Mark and I wrote, “All I Want”. Tommy was the bass player for Buddy Holly and the Crickets. He’s still in the business I think, in Nashville. I’ve got a mono master and an unmastered 4 track tape from the Tommy Allsup session, but I bet they would disintegrate if anyone tried to play them. They’re 43 years old.
We tried to get Liberty Records and several other labels interested to no avail, and then went to talk to Ray Ruff one day to see if he would be interested in us. Ray Ruff (given name: Ray Ruffin) had a recording studio in Amarillo at the Trades Fair shopping center at N.E. 24th and Grand. Ray was a Buddy Holly look-alike/wannabe who toured the mid-west with the Checkmates. If memory serves me right, The Checkmates had pretty well disbanded by 1966 which is about the time I met Ray Ruff. They were really a good group. Larry Marcum, their lead guitarist, was a good musician and a nice fellow. Galen Ray (full name was Galen Ray Englebrick) was the bass player for the Checkmates.
He didn’t want us “covering” other groups so we ditched it and started writing our own songs and recording them at the Checkmate Studio here in Amarillo. Unfortunately, I do not have any of the tapes or demos from those sessions, but am going to try to find them. I found some demos of groups that I think I did some backup work on with Ray.
Ray brought the group Them over from Ireland around that time. They actually lived in Amarillo for the better part of a year and we were all running mates during that time. I did a cello track on the song “Square Room” that was on the Sully record and the “Now and Them” album that was released in 1968 on the Tower label. Marty Cooper was involved with Ray on the production of that album. That was the beginning of what turned out to be a wild summer with all these guys. Alan Henderson (he and Van started Them) and I are starting a search for the tapes of all the recording sessions Them did with Ruff, but we’re just getting started.
Ray Ruff and Marty Cooper decided to try out concert promotions back in the summer of 1967 and booked bands like the Yardbirds, Beau Brummels, Turtles, Everly Brothers, Castaways, Tommy Roe, Them, and a bunch of others. My band got to be the opening act for all of them. We played 6-7 nights weekly and toured all over the mid-west and as far down as El Paso with them.
Of all the bands we toured with, The Turtles were the most fun! The Yardbirds were not fun at all. Jeff Beck was on bad behavior every night we played with him, and he was really into destroying every piece of equipment on the stage. He was a wild man. Beck didn’t like us much as we would not let him use our Vox Super Beatle amps when he would tear up his own equipment. We had brand new amps and were not about to let him tear them up. We had to pay for our equipment, Vox paid for the Yardbirds’ equipment. He was really PO’d about that and we didn’t care.
The Everly Bros. didn’t like each other, so they weren’t much fun to tour with. Ray also signed us up to be J. Frank Wilson’s backup group. J. Frank had a little problem with whiskey and we spent most of our time trying to keep him sober enough to go onstage. His one hit was “Last Kiss”, Ray Ruff recorded that for him.
The Beau Brummels had a drummer whose name I cannot remember, but one night while we were on tour with them, their equipment didn’t make it in so they had to borrow guitars and bass from a music store that was good enough to loan them to them. Our drummer (Richard Van Vliet) told theirs he could use his set since they didn’t have a reputation for destroying equipment. The Beau Brummels’ drummer de-tuned Richard’s floor tom and snare without asking permission or telling him ahead of time (that was part of their sound on most of their songs). When Richard sat down at his drums right before we went onstage, he was pissed to find out that their guy had messed with his tuning. Richard re-tuned his heads, so our set worked out fine. When the Beau Brummels went onstage and started playing, their sound was almost comical.
That’s when all of us in the rock ‘n roll business would have to pack up by ourselves after each concert, and then immediately drive to the next city and be there in time to set up for the next night’s concert. Fortunately, Wolfman Jack, broadcasting from station XERF in Del Rio, TX, was always there on the radio to keep us awake. Back then, KOMA was the big radio station (Oklahoma City) that all the Midwest bands like the Checkmates, Blue Things, etc. advertised their upcoming appearances on, as it had a HUGE broadcast area. So did WLS out of Chicago. But we ALL wanted to be sure to hear the “Wolfman”.
It was a great experience and a lot of fun, but I was still in college at the time and decided to quit the band and go back to school in September 1967.
Tom McCarty
Special thanks to bosshoss for the transfers of both songs.
Page Boys poster, courtesy of Tom McCarty“To the Paige Boys” (courtesy of Tom McCarty of the Page Boys)
At the Chatter Box in Allen Park, from left: Tom Lojewski, Rick Rawson, Danny Balas (on drums), Mike Mac and Tom Madigan
The Lower Deck first got together in 1965 or 66, I really can’t remember. We played the same places the Satellites did, school Homecomings, college frat parties, teen clubs, you name it. The Lower Deck’s bass and drummer went to the same school as the Satellites; Mike Mac and I went to St. Frances Cabrini in Allen Park, Tom Lojewski went to UD High. There was something about Allen Park in those days, seemed like everyone was in a band and most of them were really good.
Here’s a breakdown of personnel:
Mike Mac: keyboards and lead vocals Tom Lojewski: rhythm guitar and vocals Rick Rawson: bass Danny Balas: drums and vocals Tom Madigan: lead guitar and vocals
We did a show at a place in Indiana called “The Swinging Gate” which touted itself as the first teenage country club in the US. Both the Lower Deck and Satellites played and we also were televised live the next day on a local TV show.
Both bands were managed by Ann Marston. It mentions in her biography in “Shooting Star” that the Satellites were her bad boys and the Lower Deck were her good boys. We did as she asked and the Satellites did as they saw fit. We did some recording but I believe Ann Marston had the tapes and when she died they were either given away or pitched. I was in the Air Force by then and really have no idea where they would be.
The Satellites were together for a very long time. I remember them being an opening act for the MC5 at Weaver’s Music at the corner of Allen Rd and Southfield, now Marshall’s Music. They were a great band in every respect, singing, playing, showmanship, they were a blast to go and see. So were we. We did costume changes every set, going from shark skinned suits to hippie garb to herringbone walking suits.
I remember we did a party for one of the guys we went to high school with, he had a pool and we played on the roof of his house. We all had Vox Super Beatles and dragging them up was tough. The guy’s dad nailed in 2x4s so the equipment wouldn’t slide off. I wish I could remember his name, oh well.
Equipment: Rhythm player had a Mosrite and Vox Royal Guardsman. I had a Fender Jazzmaster and Vox Super Beatle. Bass player had a Gibson bass and Vox Super Beatle. Though the picture doesn’t show it the lead singer had a Vox Continental organ played thru a Bogan per-amp and Leslie. Drummer had a Ludwig set.
PA was a Vox Superbeatle head and two Vox Grenadier columns with 4 12’s each.
I’ve included a pic of the band from 1967 I believe, this was taken at The Chatter Box which was a teen nightclub in Allen Park. It’s now an ACO. That is Tom Lojewski with the Mosrite, I’m in the upper right corner, playing a 1964 Jazzmaster. Bought it for $100 from Dave Fero.
In ’69 I got my draft notice and joined the Air Force, didn’t want to go to Nam, spent 5 1/2 years in London instead.
Danny Balas was the best drummer I ever played with, not sure what he is doing now.
Tom Lojewski still dabbles in music, last I heard he was in California writing software.
Mike Mac is in either Denver or Portland, he’s a marine biologist, he still plays.
Rick Rawson still lives in Allen Park, not sure what he’s doing.
I’m still playing, currently in a band called The Calcutta Rugs. We’re a 6 piece group, keyboards, horns, two guitarists, bass and drums. We play 6-7 times a year, working on a CD and Facebook site.
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 Young Men had a second 45 United World #0001 in April of ’67, a very competent rendition of the Hollies’ “Baby That’s All” backed with “Love’s Time”, a good original by Axtell, Lacey and Froste.
