The 5 Rising Sons at Burlington Central H.S. circa 1965
The 5 Rising Sons came from Burlington, Ontario. Members were:
Ron Canning lead guitar Mike Kotur guitar Pete Davidson organ and vocals Dave Best on bass Robin McMillan on drums.
Bruce Ley later joined the group on organ and bass.
“Annie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” is the catchy pop A-side. I like the flip even more, the fine downer ballad “She Just Likes Me” was written by John Sharpe. It’s the ultimate teen complaint – I love her but … she just likes me! This was released in 1966.
They have a second on Columbia (“Land of 1,000 Dances” / “Don’t Look Away”) that I haven’t heard and another as the Willapus Wallapus on Yorkville, the interesting psychedelic pop number “To Jone”.
They played the Toronto Sound Show at Maple Leaf Gardens sponsored by CHUM in ’66 and toured with Terry Black in ’67.
The 5 Rising Sons at Canada’s largest Ford dealership on Bay Street, 1965
Robin McMillan of the Rising SonsDrummer Robin McMillan sent photos and wrote to me about the band:
We all went to different schools in Burlington and played the Hamilton and Burlington areas for approx. one year. My dad was the sales manager of Elgin Ford on Bay Street in Toronto and he had a three day extravaganza at the dealership in Toronto for the new Mustang, hot rods, dragsters and lots of other fast cars from Ford. He hired us to play all the music in the afternoons for the Friday, Saturday and special Sunday shows as well and bought a lot of commercial time on CHUM, CFRB and all the major newspapers and included us in all the ads.
5 Rising Sons at CHUM’s Toronto Sound Show, 1966Before you knew it there were over 30,000 people at the shows and of course to see the cars and we didn’t look back. We got bookings from all over.
With all the hype we were invited to make a couple of records which helped up quickly up the ladder from a local Burlington group to huge jobs in Toronto … the Hawks Nest, Club 888 and many others, and one of the thirteen bands CHUM picked to play at Maple Leaf Gardens.
“Annie” was in the top ten in Winnipeg, the Maritimes and CFOX in Montreal as well as CKOC, CKPC and tons more stations in Canada and played although not charted on CHUM.
Bruce joined the group the day after the Toronto Sound Show in Sept 1966. Peter on organ left to go to college in London but still kept in touch with us.
We recorded under the name of Willapuss Wallapuss just for the fun of it. Yorkville’s idea because we were a very young group and they thought it was cute I guess but it got play. “To Jone” written by Bruce Lee, who actually has done quite well writing songs for kids TV shows. Actually her name is Joan but spelled Jone don’t ask me why.
Another 45 by the Five Rising Sons on Amy (“Talk to Me Baby” / “Try to Be a Man”) is a different band, being a Shel Talmy production. The US Columbia 45 of “Candy Man” / “The Devil’s Got My Woman” by the Rising Sons is no relation to this band. Robin McMillan and Ron Canning of the 5 Rising Sons with Mick Jagger
Update: Robin McMillan writes in to say that on Friday, August 21, 2015 the 5 Rising Sons will have a reunion for one night only. For more information check out the Facebook page for the group.
Sources: Thank you to Ivan Amirault for the sleeve scan, promo sheet and photos of the band on the van and at the Toronto Sound Show, and also for correcting the mistakes in another source, The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia. Special thanks to Robin McMillan for the photos and info about the group, and the Willapus Wallapus 45 scan and transfer.
The 5 Rising Sons at Elgin Ford on Bay Street, 1965 in foreground with glasses: Brenda Gordon from Burlington who became the successful singer Brenda Russell
Part of a 3 page article written in a Canada-wide Ford MagazineCHUM Toronto Sound Show, Billboard, Octobe 15, 1967RPM, June 6, 1966
I can’t find much info on this Greek band. The Hippy’s had two 45s. “Perigiali”, their first on the Astron label, is supposed to be their best. They’re actually only on one side of this record, the other is a dire pop song by some other artist.
I presume their name is derived from “hip” and not “hippies.”
The Balladeers were from Woonsockett, Rhode Island. In the summer of 1965 they traveled twenty miles north to Framingham, Massachusetts to record this 45 at Continental Recording Studios. It appears to have been the first record released on studio owner Tom Flynn’s Cori label.
“Words I Want to Hear” is an original by Robert Allen, who may have been in the group. The song starts with a subdued atmosphere of just acoustic guitar, percussion and solo voice. Bass and harmonies add momentum until the cathartic moment when the guitarist breaks into the chorded solo.
“High Flying Bird” is one of those songs that bridged the transition from folk to rock, like “House of the Rising Sun” and “Hey Joe”. Written by Billy Ed Wheeler and originally recorded by Judy Henske, it was covered by many groups, including We Five, the Jefferson Airplane and the Canadian band the Plague, who do a great psychedelicized version. The Balladeers take is as excellent as any of these.
Roland ‘Skip’ Boucher wrote to me about how he built Continental Recordings with Dan Flynn and his brother John Flynn. Skip also told me about a release I hadn’t known about – the Balladeers first 45 on the one-off E.P. Scroggs label, also recorded at Continental:
We built the studio in 1962. We were just out of high school and rented space on the second floor of a building in Framingham. We made the walls out of plywood and filled them with sand to soundproof them. In the picture you can see a door, which is also plywood and filled with sand and there is a small interlock and another plywood door leading to the control room.
The Balladeers first 45, also recorded at Continental
I met the Balladeers in the spring of 1964 and that’s when we recorded “Cape Cod Here We Come” and it was released in early summer of 1964.
They were a very good group. Really national level in their talent. “Cape Cod Here We Come” was not in their usual repertoire. They normally did pieces that were similar to the Kingston Trio. They were almost too polished for the ’60’s. If they had been a little rougher, I think they would have fit better with the times. Their style was more of a late ’50’s style.
They had a great sound though and it was great to work with them in the studio, because they were so good.
Dan, John and I worked at WBZ in the summer of 1963 and 1964. In the fall of 1964 I went to work full time for Channel 38 in Boston and that reduced the amount of time that I could spend at Continental. I signed up the Harvard Lampoon to do an album that parodied folk and rock groups. They arranged for musicians from the Berkley school of music and they funded the upgrade of an 8 track recorder for us [Continental].
I also worked on the electronics, building a power supply for the main mixer, because the original one had never worked properly and Dan had been running it from a pair of 12 volt batteries. I did a number of radio and television commercials at Continental with people I knew at Boston TV and radio stations.
I also designed and laid out several of the album covers, including the Rising Storm and others, but I was not involved in the recordings anymore and Dan brought in a new partner at some point in the late sixties. I think this partner’s focus was on bands, so he may have been involved with the groups you mentioned. Later, Dan became more involved with radio station jingle packages.
Dan still has what remains of Continental at his home. He has a small studio and recording equipment and has a large collection of old master tapes. However, I did go through them a couple of years ago and they didn’t seem to go back to the early days.
“Cape Cod Here We Come” was written by J. Martone. In March 1967, the Balladeers released one additional 45 on the Seven Seas label, “Used to Be” / “Goin’ Out of My Head”, which I haven’t heard, but is considered light vocal pop.
Gary Stites was a pop idol in the ’50s but is best known as the first manager of the Birdwatchers. He started the Living Legend and Legend labels, the “Legend” refering to himself, naturally!
The Birdwatchers at this point were Dave Chiodo guitar, Bobby Puccetti keys, Jim Tolliver bass, and Eddie Martinez drums and were based near Ft. Lauderdale. They had already released three 45s on the Tara label, the second and third of which list Stites as producer.
For some reason Gary decided to try his hand at singing again, with the Birdwatchers backing him up. “Real Appeal” is good uptempo ’50s-ish rock, with an uncredited girl chorus. The flip, “While I’m Gone” is kind of a poor man’s Roy Orbison. This 45 did better than any of the early Birdwatchers records, peaking at #22 on WQAM in August ’65.
In early ’66 the Birdwatchers dramatically changed their lineup and relocated to Miami. Chiodo and Tolliver left, to be replaced by Joey Murcia on guitar and Jerry Schils (formerly of the Canadian Legends) on bass. Sammy Hall, vocalist with the Mor-Loks, who were also managed by Stites early on, completed this second phase of the Birdwatchers. This lineup went on to some national success with “Girl I’ve Got News For You” and “I’m Gonna Love You Anyway”.
A year later, Tommy Strand & the Upper Hand remade “Real Appeal” for their 45 on Living Legend. Stites also reused the flip, “While I’m Gone” for the b-side of a 45 by the Legendary Street Singers (actually the Gents Five).
l-r: John Spratto, Gordon MacDonald, Mike Cleary (seated), and Warren MacDonald.
The French Church were a band from Marquette, Michigan, a small town on Lake Superior about 180 miles north of Green Bay. Members were Mike Cleary singing lead vocals, John Spratto on guitar, Gordon MacDonald on bass, and his brother Warren MacDonald on drums.
I asked John Spratto how the band was named: “A good friend of the band, Floyd Maki, suggested we name it the French Church which is what St. John’s Catholic Church in Marquette was known as amongst the old timers. We were a little rebellious and figured that might get a rise out of certain people which would bring notoriety to the band. Some people, my mother actually, didn’t care for the name at first, but it was OK after a while, didn’t cause too much consternation.”
A sign for Slapneck inspired Gordon MacDonald and John to write a song imagining life in a small community in the woods. The band paid Princeton label owner Fred Krook to release the song, recorded in a studio located in the basement of a Marquette lumber company in early 1968.
Harry Walker, he’s the milkman there, No bills are paid, ah, he’s not well Slapneck, come on along with me yeah, Come on along with me, Yeah if you want to be free
Mrs. R.J. Green, she runs a restaurant there The tables they’re clean and the manners they’re clear Slapneck, come on along with me, Come on along with me, Yeah if you want to be free
The lyrics are quaint, but the playing is ferocious. From the sliding chords that open the song, John Spratto lays down some of the heaviest distortion ever put to vinyl.
The flip is a more conventional number, Without Crying, written by MacDonald and Mike Cleary.
John Spratto: “I am all grown up now and a Managing Partner in a CPA firm. Gordon recently retired as a music teacher and his brother Warren still owns MacDonald’s Music Store in Marquette.
“We got together about 5 years ago and recorded a dozen original songs that we wrote together and individually over the last 42 years. We got together again a couple of years ago with our boys who also play and recorded another 6 original songs. They are all very good songs. (My opinion anyway). One of the ones with our boys was a remake of Slapneck 1943.”
Sources: My correspondence with John Spratto, and Steve Seymour’s blog on Upper Peninsula music, Rock n Roll Graffiti.
The Vikings started at Oscar Smith High School in South Norfolk. Members were Vernon Michael and Donnie Stowe on vocals, Eddie Swindell lead guitar, Frank Jackson rhythm guitar, Wesley Harris organ, Huey Gates bass guitar, and Don Havice drums. Mike Ruggles and Tom Burlage were in the band about a year until they went to college.
They won a Battle of the Bands in Feb. 1967 at the Ponie Teen Club on Godwin Ave, then known as the Portlock Au Go Go. They also participated in WNOR’s Battle of the Bands on Sept. 22, 1967, at the Dome in Virginia Beach, competing against the Aliens, American Shags, Beechnuts, Denis & the Times, Regents with Mel Gaines, the Sound Effects, and the Stingrays.
Although an article in the Chesapeake Post on Aug. 23, ’67 states that the band will soon be recording their first song, “Why Did You Lie,” an original by Eddie Swindell and Donnie Stowe, the band never did record. Their set list included dozens of songs, both rock and soul.
Eddie Swindell says “Donnie and Vern sang both rock and soul and harmonized together like Sam & Dave. I knew members of the Swinging Machine, Barracudas, Bill Deal and the Rhondels most of the bands in the area. Some of us are still performing. I also played in a band in the 70’s with Dickey Harrell the drummer from Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps I see him around occasionally. I have a scrap book with articles and pictures of local bands listing dates and places they were gigging.”
The Vikings reunited in 1989, and again in 2007 for a benefit concert.
1st row sitting Eddie Swindell. 2nd row left to right: Hue Gates, Mike Ruggles, Tom Burlage, Frank Jackson, Donnie Stowe. Back row: Marty Rogers, Vern Michaels, Wes Harris.
Out of Little Rock, Arkansaas, the Romans were Gary Hall lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Phil Miller lead guitar, Rocky Hestes keyboards and vocals, Charles Wycott bass, and Greg Kempner on drums.
Earl Fox began the E&M Recording studios in 1959, and started the My label in early 1966. The Romans were one of the first bands featured on the label.
“You Do Something to Me” uses one of the earliest recorded examples of phasing to create a hypnotic effect. I wonder if the phasing was intentional or if it happened by accident and the group went with it. The flip is an excellent folky ballad, “I’ll Find a Way”. This was released in a sleeve with a photo of the band in Roman legionnaire costumes in May of 1966. As far as I know it was the only 45 on My issued with a picture sleeve.
Jerry Blacklaw wrote “You Do Something to Me”, “I’ll Find a Way” and the flip of their second 45, “I Just Had to Fall (in Love)”. Jerry was a student at Central High in Little Rock who was brought in specifically to write songs for the Romans. In later years he composed religious songs.
In October of ’65 they released their second 45, choosing to do a cover of Levon and the Hawks’ “He Don’t Love You”, written by Robbie Robertson. (Did the group know Levon Helm was from Marvell, Arkansas, east of Little Rock?)
The Romans, 1966
In 1967 the band was moving in a soul-oriented direction, adding a two man horn section of Bob Younts on sax and Bobby Lincoln on trumpet. Richard Shook replaced Charles Wycott on bass, and Jim Matthews took over on drums for Greg Kempner. These Romans cut a third record, “Think It Over” / “You Won Your Victory”, the latter song, written by new bassist Richard Shook, sounding very much like Wilson Pickett’s “Ninety Nine and a Half”.
They soon changed their name to Merging Traffic and released their last 45 on “My, Ain’t No Need (In Me Fooling Myself)” / “Something Special”. Decca signed the band for one 45, “Bit by Bit” / “Deep in Kentucky”, which had some local chart success, notably in Connecticut and Rochester, NY.
Some members reunited for a show of Little Rock bands in 1999.
Update: I recently spoke to Rick Harrington, who gave this history of his work as manager of the Romans and another act, the Groovin’ Kind:
I was working at Tommy’s clothing store in Little Rock and managing the college men’s area. Gary Hall and Richard Shook came in the store and I stopped them to tell them I had just heard them the day before playing at Lake Nixon I believe it was. The group’s name was the Playboys. I praised their harmonies and loved the tightness of the group. They did a lot of Beatle tunes that blew me away. Like Nowhere Man … sooooooo good.
They kind of blew me off and I said hey wait a minute, I know what I’m talking about. I’m a drummer and had the first rock and roll band in Rochester, New York. The group I started out with in Rochester was the Easy Rockers and then after a couple of years I ended up with the Crazy Crickets. This was back in the mid fifties. (By the way this is why we had the success we had in Rochester with the record. I promoted it there with some friends on the radio and record stores).
Well they were losing their drummer for some reason and asked me to audition. Long story short the group broke up at my audition. I may not have been what they were looking for as I see it now.
They came back a couple of weeks later and asked me to join the group. I was elated and then they told me they wanted me as their manager and not their drummer. I took the challenge and excelled at it. They were changing some of the members and the name to the Romans.
My involvement was 24/7 with those boys. I booked all of their gigs. Set their prices high enough where those high school boys were making excellent money at the time. I drove them to their gigs in my ’65 Pontiac Catalina pulling a horse trailer converted to look like a chariot for the Romans. I even had my mother-in-law at the time design and make their roman togas for their shows.
The record deal with My Records was on a handshake really. No contract. Earl Fox and John Hannon (I believe that was his last name) were partners in the studio. We all produced everything that was recorded there by the Romans. I’m not really sure who found who. Whether someone in the band like Gary Hall or myself got the studio involved. Then again maybe Earl Fox heard the band somewhere and sought us out.
I do know that I talked Earl and John into letting me use the studio for rehearsals every day after school for about 3 hours. No charge. They were really good to us. I had them rehearsing every single day after school at E&M studios to get the show presentable enough to demand the high prices I was able to demand for them.
My car logged over 100,000 miles in one year and never left the State of Arkansas. I was somewhat older so I acted as a chaperone when we had to spend the night out of town. They were just teenagers and I was about 25 or 26 years old.
I also took them to Nashville, got them hooked up with Bobby Goldsboro’s producer at the time (Tony Moon) who suggested changing the name to the Merging Traffic because every time people got on the Interstate we would get free advertising. We had their publicity photos done in front of one of those signs.
When the Romans asked me to be their personal manager (that’s when the Beatles had Brian Epstein and all bands wanted a manager), I ended up quitting my job at Tommy’s Clothing Store and went full time managing, booking, promoting and producing. I had a great run for many years doing that. Mostly small time but a wonderful life of great music and great friends.
At first it was an exclusive thing with me and the Romans but after a couple of years and other bands always asking me to book them or manage them, I was lured by becoming so much in need. And besides that, Gary Hall’s mother wanted to manage the Romans and was squeezing me out. That ended up getting them nowhere of course.
[Later there was] the first inter-racial group in Arkansas called The Groovin’ Kind. It wasn’t easy traveling with three black guys and four whites in Arkansas. We had a hell of a time in several truck stops and restaurants. But that group was exceptional also.
Joe Mike Hammond was the lead singer and was absolutely dynamite. Andy MacMahon played a mean Hammond B3 organ with that group. I remember begging his parents to let him play on the road weekends. They gave in. He later went on to play with Jimmy Buffet, Tracy Nelson and many others in the studio and on the road. A very talented guy.
The Groovin’ Kind had three black guys singing mostly backup. They had some choreography also. They were in the Air Force out at Little Rock Air Force Base and one of them was transferred so we ended up with just two. But they were great.
I asked Tommy Riggs (Rock Robbins) the night time DJ on KAAY radio a 100,000 [actually 50,000] watt station in Little Rock to allow us to do some intro promos for him and other DJs. So all day and all night long we had promos playing for all the DJs on that station. The lyrics went like this, “Groovin’ … oh we’re the Groovin’ Kind. Groovin’ … and now it’s Rock Robbins Tiiiiiiimmmme.”
This was to the tune of Groovin’ by the Young Rascals. It was hokey but very effective in getting us some name recognition in about three or four states. So booking was no problem.
Rick Harrington, August 2009 Past Manager of the Romans/Merging Traffic Also Manager of “The Groovin’ Kind”, “House”, “Wildwood” and “Medicine Wheel”. http://www.RickHarringtonsArt.ning.com
Sonny Day and the Sundowners came together in Auckland around 1960. The band had numerous changes in lineup, but long-time members included Sonny Day on rhythm guitar, Bob Wynyard on lead, Teddy Toi on bass, Max Purdy on piano, Lloyd Tangaio on sax, and Graeme ‘Trixie’ Willoughby and Lionel Kennedy on drums.They had a number of releases on the Viking and Zodiac labels. Although I haven’t yet heard the Viking releases, I’m familiar with all of their Zodiac work except the one 45 released as by Dave Henry and the Sundowners.
“Baby Jane” was written for the UK group the Applejacks by Pete Dello and Ray Cane, some years before they formed Honeybus. It seems to have made its mark in the Antipodes, as the Pleazers also covered it.
Sundowners 45 releases:
on Viking: Wolverton Mountain / Minimum Wage How Many Times / Ta Ta Hullo Out There / More and More and More Limbo Party EP
on Zodiac: Baby Jane / Keep A Knocking – Zodiac 1007 Hawaiian Wedding Song / Little Lovely One (as Sonny Day and the Sundowners) – Zodiac 1135 Tell Me Why / Johnny B Goode – Zodiac 1158 The Nitty Gritty / Things Will Be Different – Zodiac 1173 Ain’t Got No Home / Raindrops (as Dave Henry and the Sundowners)
Recently I had the pleasure of hearing from Lionel Kennedy, drummer for the Sundowners and the Maori Kavaliers. Following are his recollections of the Sundowners:
I was the Sundowners’ drummer from ’63 to ’65. I am originally from Sydney and on a whim left home early March ’63, took my drums and went off to New Zealand and have not lived in Australia since. I joined the Sundowners days after I arrived in Auckland and at our first rehearsal we did the advance pre-release of the Beatles’ Please Please Me and life as I knew it immediately changed.
In very early 1962 I remember watching Brian Henderson’s “Bandstand” when the Sundowners came on and did a spot. I clearly remember them saying that they had adopted the name Sundowners from the movie that was current at that time called the Sundowners with I believe Robert Mitchum and Ann Baxter. Little did I realize that I would be part of the band about nine months later. Their lineup on Bandstand was Bob Wynyard lead [guitar], Sonny Day rhythm, Ted Toi bass and Trixie Willoughby drums. If memory serves I think they came to Sydney as part of a Johhny Devlin show but I could be mistaken.
Prior to their Sydney trip they had done a stint I believe for a couple of years at a coffee shop cafe in Auckland called the Tijuana. Yuk Harrison was on bass and a drummer I don’t remember. The drummer was replaced with Trixie, and Yuk left and was replaced by Teddy Toi. With that line up they went to Sydney.
Upon returning to Auckland still early ’62 they took up residency at the Trades Hall and were being managed by Dave Duningham (you can see his name on that record label as producer).
By the time I arrived in Auckland at the end of March 1963 they had recorded all the Viking tracks and Trixie had left and was replaced with a young drummer named Tiger Murphy. He was not with them long and I replaced him at the beginning of April ’63.
Also there were a couple of additions – Max Purdy on piano, Lloyd Tangaio on tenor sax and Dave Henry as vocalist. Because of the Beatles turning point Bob, Sonny, Ted and I did separate quartet gigs in and around Auckland and just did Beatle stuff but our main gig was at the Trades Hall.
The Sundowners at Mount Maunganui, Xmas of ’63, left-right: Sonny Day, Max Purdie, Teddy Toi, Cheryl Allison, Lloyd Te Ngaio, Lionel Kennedy and Bob Wynyard.
When I first arrived in New Zealand I was offered a try out with Ray Columbus and the Invaders but before that could happen I tried out with the Sundowners and loved it from the start. They were just great people and I loved their approach to music. Ray and all the Invaders became close friends but I never regretted joining the Sundowners. I suppose it was that particular showband style that I enjoyed so much.
Towards the end of 1963 we added a female vocalist Cheryl Allison and in early ’64 added Marsh Cook on tenor, formally of the Quinn Tikis and other great Maori groups at that time. At one time including Cheryl and Dave we were a nine piece group, quite unusual for that time.
The band was doing very well and we were getting huge crowds at the Trade. We did some TV spots at that time. I don’t remember the shows but one was hosted by Pete Sinclair. I also during that time doubled on trumpet so with the two tenors plus a trumpet we had a great sound. I had played trumpet many years earlier, in a Dixieland group in Sydney from 1955 (I was 14) until around 1960 when I started to play drums.
Recording
I was not on the Viking tracks. They were recorded with Trixie Willoughby, but I was on all the others including Dave Henry’s single. The Sundowners also recorded an E.P with Trixie on drums at Viking called “Limbo Party.” All of these I believe were recorded after their return from Sydney. All in all I recorded five singles with the group.
“Tell Me” (flip side of “Johnny B. Goode”) and “Things Will Be Different” (flip side of “The Nitty Gritty”) I co-authored with Bob Wynard, the lead guitarist and band leader. We also may have written the one on the flip side of Sonny’s Hawaiian Wedding Song, “Little Lovely One” but am not sure. Bob and I wrote a whole bunch of songs during that time so forgive me if I’m a little hazy.
Although Sonny Day was the lead band vocalist the front man vocalist was Dave Henry and we recorded “Ain’t Got No Home” and “Raindrops” with him on Zodiac.
The Sundowners at the Trades Hall Jive Centre, April 1963. The only photo with Dave Henry.
Breakup and the Maori Kavaliers
Around mid 1964 for reasons still inexplicable Sonny left the group. He had been such a mainstay that it was difficult to think we could have gone on without him. But we did and we added a male vocalist who was really good and I only remember his name was Alan.
So we got thru the rest of ’64 and returned to Mount Maunganui for another Xmas season and Dave Dunningham all of a sudden fired us. At that time Bob Wynard and I were doing side work with Peter Posa and right at that moment he called us and Bob and I went over to Rotarua and did a show with Peter at the farewell concert for the Howard Morrison quartet at the Rotarua Sound Shell. After, Bob and I returned to the Mount, joined everyone else and came back to Auckland. Ted Toi joined Max Merritt and went off to Sydney.
Although Sonny had left the group earlier he and I were both staying at a boarding house so around mid-January we were hanging out at the Shiralee when we bumped into Gilbert Tong who had been looking for us around town. He made us a proposition to go up to Noumea and play in his night club the ‘Tahiti Cabaret’ and replace the band who was leaving, the Kavaliers without Freddy Kiel. They went on to Sydney and Sonny and I set up shop in their place at the club. A few months later Gilbert our boss set up a deal here in Tahiti to do a grand opening of the big new hotel in Tahiti the Hotel Taaone. He brought the boys (the remainder of the Kavaliers) back from Sydney and we put together a showband and came to Tahiti.
The Maori Kavaliers at the Cabaret Noumea, Hotel Taaone, April ’65
The band was called the Maori Kavaliers:
Sonny Day Lionel Kennedy Toko Pompey – tenor and all round singer/showman Gerry Gerard – vocalist Brian (Tuffy) Smith (Kavaliers) Bill Peters lead guitar (Kavaliers)
The Maori Kavaliers – our first trip to Tahiti
The band was a tremendous success in Tahiti. We returned to Noumea and immediately took off with the same show and did a tour of the New Hebrides. Came back to Noumea, the band broke up and Sonny and I returned to Tahiti and the Hotel Taaone. During the late sixties at the Hotel Taaone it was almost like old home week. Every month we had a new floor show and they were all without exception the old friends from NZ, i.e Peter Posa, Dinah Lee, Howard Morrison, Eliza Keil, Tony Williams just to name a few.
Sonny went back to NZ I believe early 1967 and I stayed on in Tahiti and am still here. I continued to play but because of things out of my control I decided to stop playing and got work in the hotel business and am still doing that. I have a son and a daughter both in their thirties and two grandchildren. I am now 67 and am doing fine. At the hotel that I manage I started a jazz night on Wednesdays and it has become quite popular but it gives me the opportunity to play again.
I had no contact at all with any of the band members until August of last year when Max Purdie finding my email let me know that Sonny had passed away. And just last week he emailed me to tell me that there would be a big memorial to Sonny this coming August so in short after confirming that everyone will be there all of us will reunite after 44 years for a jam session at the Kings Arms in Auckland, August 17th, 2008.
I am really excited about the memorial. It will my first time back in 43 years. I believe Ted and Bob both now live in Australia but have confirmed that they will be there. With any luck I may bump into Eldred Stebbing of Zodiac so I will see if any of the singles are available, I sure hope so. I had lost all my photo albums and copies of the recordings over thirty years ago. I haven’t heard those songs for over forty years.
Lionel Kennedy
Lionel, 2008The Sonny Day Tribute Concert, August 17, 2008, Auckland
More infomation on the Sundowners is available at the New Zealand Music of the 60’s site. Thank you to Lionel for his in-depth story and for the photo scans.
Gene Ricky and the Swingers cut “What You Wanted Most” for Huey Meaux’s Pic 1 label of Pasadena, just SE of Houston. Gene sounds to me like a rockabilly singer adapting to the new style, but if so he does it well. I’d like to know who the Swingers were, they have that spare Texas sound down.
The plug side “If All Goes Well” (both sides written by Lynn Boudreaux) is milder music.
Gene Ricky had an earlier single with The Ravens that I haven’t heard yet, “There’s More for You” / “Without True Love” on Shane Records in 1964.
Another Texas band on Pic 1 is the Argyles with “Farmer John” / “White Lightnin'” released shortly after the Gene Ricky record.
The Fab Four are a long-active group from Kansas City, Missouri. They evolved out of the Midknighters, formed in 1959 by Bob Theen and Alex Love. After a name change to the Fabulous Four Jacks, they shortened it to the Fabulous Four in 1961 and to the Fab Four by the time of their second record.
In 1963 Theen and Love added two new members to form a unit that would be together for fifteen years. Jeff Mann joined after original guitarist Dick Wilson was drafted and Mike Myers of Kansas City’s Silvertones replaced keyboardist Bill Bryant. Their first show with this lineup was at the Combo Club.
An EP from August, 1964 may be their earliest recordings. This was not given a full release; it seems AGL Enterprises pressed only a few copies for either booking or publishing promotion. The recordings are basic, and filled with reverb.
The songs included are “And Now You Cry”, a ballad; the mid-tempo “Dah Dah Dai” which has a stinging guitar solo buried in the mix; “All You Gotta Do” with strong doo-wop vocals; and a piano-driven rocker, “Miss Brown”. All four songs were originals by the group, written by Alex Love, Jeffrey Mann, Michael Meyers and Robert Theen, published by Happiness Music Corp.
I asked Bob Theen about this EP and he wrote:
Probably the the first thing we ever recorded. Some little studio that used to be at a place called the Blue Ridge Mall in Independence, MO. Don’t even remember the name of the studio, it wasn’t there very long. I remember we wrote all four of the songs. Didn’t know they were ever copyrighted. I still have one of those old 45’s.
I found four additional songs in the Library of Congress copyright registrations from January, 1965, but recordings of these have not yet turned up. Again, all are originals credited to the full band: “But You Don’t Love Me”, “She’ll Be Hurtin'”, “Sun Dog”, and “Who Could It Be”, and published by Happiness Music Corp.
The band wrote the melancholy “Now You Cry” for their first single, b/w the folky pop song “Got To Get Her Back”. George Hodes, owner of Prior Brass Co. recorded the group in his living room, and issued it on the Brass label in 1964. Coral soon picked it up for national distribution, but it missed the charts.
Guitarist Bob Theen wrote to me about the band:
This first 45 was released in 1966 on a local Kansas City label (Brass) and then picked up by Decca Records and re-released on the Coral label.
I’m sure you figured it out but we really were The Fabulous Four all those years, it was just the record companies that wanted to change our name on the records. I’m not really sure when everyone started calling the Beatles The Fab Four. That probably had something to do with it. But, we were the Fab Four long before the Beatles.
In our nightly performances we all sang lead and background vocals. That’s why our songs all sound so different.
I like their second 45 even more, “Happy”, with its shrill organ, harmonies, sharp guitar lines, also produced by George Hodes, and written by Theen and Mann.
Both sides of the third 45 are also good. “I’m Always Doing Something Wrong” was written by J. Coffin (a member of In Black and White with Hal Pierce, and later The Wizards From Kansas), and once again the harmonies really come through. The flip is a cover of “Youngblood” with distortion on the guitar. Don Price produced this one.
From left: Bob Theen, Mike Myers, Alex Love and Jeff Mann
In 1967 the group landed a great opportunity to travel New York to record “I’m the Only One” and “Break Away” as the Next Exit for Warner Bros, produced by the Tokens. “Break Away” was written by Stephen Friedland (aka Brute Force) and Paul Kahan, and is well-crafted psychedelic pop.
Bob Theen: This song was recorded in NY in 1967, produced by The Tokens. It was supposed to be the title song for a movie that was released that next year in 1968 called “Butterflies Are Free’ The movie did come out it ‘68 but for some reason unknown to us our recording was not chosen. The song “I’m The Only One” was in the movie but only one short verse was sung by one of the stars on an acoustic. Darn the luck!! The other side of this is “Breakaway”.
Our version of the song was released in the spring of 1968 and got some air play here in K.C. MO. Don’t know about anywhere else. But evidently it wasn’t a smash hit.
I still have a letter from Hank and Jay asking us to return to NY for some more recordings but for some reason at the time the trip was too far. I still wonder to this day why we didn’t go. I think it had something to do with our families, wives, babies and that sort of thing.
They recorded their last record as the Fabulous Four in 1969, “River Days” / “I Got A Feeling In My Body” on Pearce, cut at Cavern Studios in Independence.
The Fab Four as The Pretty: Mike Myers, Jeff Mann, Alex Love and Bob Theen
Also at Cavern they cut two songs written and produced by Michael Weakley (“Quint” Weakley, drummer for the Electric Prunes) that got a rare release on Squeakly Records with the band listed as ‘Pretty’. Both songs show the band tackling heavy psychedelic sounds, a completely different style of music than they’d done on record before.
Bob Theen gave me the background on these recordings:
During the years 1969 to 1971 we did a lot of recording at a local studio by the name of Cavern Recording Studios located in Independence, MO on Truman Road. It was a very unique studio because it was actually located in a huge cave in the hillside, hence the name Cavern. Talk about quiet!
We recorded a lot of songs there. Some we wrote, some we co-wrote, some other people wrote. We also had some of our friends set in on some of the sessions. Two of the songs recorded there were titled “Mustache In Your Face” and “The Electric Hand” produced by a guy named Michael Quinton Weekly. Michael was also the drummer for The Electric Prunes. We wrote and recorded a lot of other songs there, most we thought were pretty good, just couldn’t get them off the ground on our own.
From top: Mike Myers (with sunglasses), Bob Theen, Alex Love and Jeff Mann
Q. Was that 45 all the members of the Fab Four? Why the change of name?
Bob: The “Pretty” record was all the members of the Fab Four band plus a couple of other friends that sat in with us. I think maybe Weekly [sic] even played the drums. It was completely different from what we had been recording, but not so different from what we were used to playing live at the clubs every night, we were pretty versatile. Weekly just sparked a different side of us.As far as the name change, it was Weekly again. He was a little far out on ideas during that time, I have some pictures of us to prove it. Don’t laugh! As for myself, I never was real sure about four macho guys trying to be Pretty!
Q. Was it difficult adapting to that heavier style? Were you playing those songs in your live sets?
Bob: As I mentioned before, the style change was not really a change for us because we played that kind of stuff every night at the clubs.
Q. How did Quint Weakley wind up producing records at Cavern?
Bob: A couple of us knew Weekly from way back in our kid days. As I remember he showed up at Cavern Studios one day, said he had some ideas for some songs and it just took off from there.
Q. That record seems to be very rare now, was it distributed at all?
Bob: To my knowledge the record was not distributed at all. After the sessions, Weekly took off for California to try and sell them to someone. Don’t think he had any luck, and we didn’t see much of him after that.
Q. Also, are there unreleased tracks from those sessions?
Bob: There are some other recordings from that time, but they only exist on tape.
At the Cavern studio: Bob Theen, Jeff Mann and Mike MyersKansas City, 1970, L-R: Jeff Mann – bass, Mike Myers – keyboards, Alex Love – drums and Bob Theen – guitar
When they recorded a 45 for Capitol in 1970 the band’s name was changed to Kansas City, but they continued as the Fab Four for live shows, including extended stays at the Attic. The band broke up in 1976 and have reunited since.
Bob Theen: The song “Linda Was A Lady” was recorded in Memphis in 1970 on the Trump label, a Subsidiary of Capitol. The back side was “Red Tower Road”. To our knowledge, and from the amount of the royalties, it did the best of the three we released. Our producer was Tommy Cogbill along with Chips Moman, a couple of very talented guys in Memphis. I think Tommy has since passed away, don’t know about Chips.
We continued playing professionally till about 1974 when we decided to hang it up. I think the disappointment of our last recording not going big time got us down.
Twenty three years later we got the itch to do it again, but soon it was evident that our original drummer was not physically able to play again. We had another drummer friend by the name of Mark Higbee that hooked up with us and would be our drummer for another ten year run. We played parties, clubs and all kinds of events around the Midwest and had a great time doing it.
We did our last Hoorah in the fall of 2007 for a Parkinson’s Fund Raiser called Rock Around The Block featuring us and several well know bands from our era in the K.C. area. The event was held at the new H&R Block headquarters in K.C. MO.
On March 22, 2008, The Fabulous Four Band (Bob Theen – Jeff Mann – Mike Myers – Mark Higbee & original drummer Alex Love) was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame.
Jeff Mann passed away in 2012.
Sources include:Rockkansas.com (http://rockkansas.com/columns/billlee/021804-fabfour.shtml – link now defunct).
Special thanks to Keith Brawley, who found the AGL EP and sent me scans & recordings.
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Bruce Ley later joined the group on organ and bass.
“Annie” was in the top ten in Winnipeg, the Maritimes and CFOX in Montreal as well as CKOC, CKPC and tons more stations in Canada and played although not charted on CHUM.
The Balladeers were from Woonsockett, Rhode Island. In the summer of 1965 they traveled twenty miles north to Framingham, Massachusetts to record this 45 at Continental Recording Studios. It appears to have been the first record released on studio owner Tom Flynn’s Cori label.
When I first arrived in New Zealand I was offered a try out with Ray Columbus and the Invaders but before that could happen I tried out with the Sundowners and loved it from the start. They were just great people and I loved their approach to music. Ray and all the Invaders became close friends but I never regretted joining the Sundowners. I suppose it was that particular showband style that I enjoyed so much.
I was not on the Viking tracks. They were recorded with Trixie Willoughby, but I was on all the others including Dave Henry’s single. The Sundowners also recorded an E.P with Trixie on drums at Viking called “Limbo Party.” All of these I believe were recorded after their return from Sydney. All in all I recorded five singles with the group.
Sonny went back to NZ I believe early 1967 and I stayed on in Tahiti and am still here. I continued to play but because of things out of my control I decided to stop playing and got work in the hotel business and am still doing that. I have a son and a daughter both in their thirties and two grandchildren. I am now 67 and am doing fine. At the hotel that I manage I started a jazz night on Wednesdays and it has become quite popular but it gives me the opportunity to play again.
Gene Ricky and the Swingers cut “What You Wanted Most” for Huey Meaux’s Pic 1 label of Pasadena, just SE of Houston. Gene sounds to me like a rockabilly singer adapting to the new style, but if so he does it well. I’d like to know who the Swingers were, they have that spare Texas sound down.
The band wrote the melancholy “Now You Cry” for their first single, b/w the folky pop song “Got To Get Her Back”. George Hodes, owner of Prior Brass Co. recorded the group in his living room, and issued it on the Brass label in 1964. Coral soon picked it up for national distribution, but it missed the charts.
Guitarist Bob Theen wrote to me about the band:
I like their second 45 even more, “Happy”, with its shrill organ, harmonies, sharp guitar lines, also produced by George Hodes, and written by Theen and Mann.
In 1967 the group landed a great opportunity to travel New York to record “I’m the Only One” and “Break Away” as the Next Exit for Warner Bros, produced by the Tokens. “Break Away” was written by Stephen Friedland (aka Brute Force) and Paul Kahan, and is well-crafted psychedelic pop.
Our version of the song was released in the spring of 1968 and got some air play here in K.C. MO. Don’t know about anywhere else. But evidently it wasn’t a smash hit.
When they recorded a 45 for Capitol in 1970 the band’s name was changed to Kansas City, but they continued as the Fab Four for live shows, including extended stays at the Attic. The band broke up in 1976 and have reunited since.
Twenty three years later we got the itch to do it again, but soon it was evident that our original drummer was not physically able to play again. We had another drummer friend by the name of Mark Higbee that hooked up with us and would be our drummer for another ten year run. We played parties, clubs and all kinds of events around the Midwest and had a great time doing it.