Fans of amateur garage albums will want to head over to the WFMU blog site to check out the greater part of this very obscure New Jersey LP.
It’s Happening Here
The State of Mind on Chavis
Updated October 2011
The State of Mind were from Wilmington, Delaware. “Move”, the first of their two 45s on the Chavis label, is their best, though “Make You Cry” isn’t far behind. Both have good guitar breaks, but while the solo on “Move” uses lots of echo, “Make You Cry” has a tougher attack. They sound almost like different bands, and I guessed the two 45s were recorded at least a year apart. “Goin’ Away” is a mellower song with good vocal harmonies.
“Move” was written by B. Sayers and James Booth, its flip “If He Comes Back” was written by Paul Murtagh, who played guitar, keyboards and did vocals for the group. “Goin’ Away” and “Make You Cry” were both written by James Booth. Both 45s were produced by James Chavis who owned the Chavis, Candi and Barvis labels.
If anyone has photos, please contact me at chas_kit@hotmail.com
I didn’t know much of anything about the band until Paul Murtagh contacted me:
The original band was formed in 1965 by Paul Murtagh (rhythm guitar, keyboards and vocals), Jim Booth (lead guitar and vocals), Bill Smallbrook (drums) and Al Borgnis (bass guitar). All of them were sophomores at William Penn High School in New Castle, Delaware. During that first year of their existence, they played only a few venues including the 1965 Talent show at Wm. Penn and a couple of dances.
In 1966, they replaced Al Borgnis with Bill Sayers on bass and Bill became the new lead singer as well. Al continued to support the group as a sort of manager, equipment support, etc for several years and remained always a good friend to the group. With the addition of Sayers, the band’s sound began to mature and we began to write their own songs. They also started playing other venues, school functions, local dances, Battle of the Bands, etc.
In the summer of 1966, the groups then business manager, Jim Booth’s mother, placed a call to a local Wilmington record company, Chavis Records and its president, James Chavis, agreed to audition the band based on a poor quality tape submitted to him. He called a few days later and asked if he could hear the band live so he was invited to one of their practices, held in the drummer’s basement. Chavis was impressed and several weeks later the State of Mind signed a contract to record 6 record sides over a 2 year period.
The band recorded its first single at Virtue Studios on Broad Street in Philadelphia. The A side, “Move”, was credited as written by Jim Booth but it was truly a group effort with everyone contributing something to the song. The flip side, “If He Comes Back”, was written by Paul Murtagh – his homage to the Byrds. The band’s key musical influences at the time were the Beatles, Stones, Kinks and other “British Invasion” groups. The Kinks and Beatles influence is very obvious on “Move”.
The first week following the record’s release in Wilmington, the main local rock station, WAMS, picked “Move” as the “WAMS Wax to Watch”. Over the next 10 weeks, the record slowly climbed the WAMS Top 40 charts topping out at number 10. In addition to WAMS, the record also got play on WIBG and WFIL in Philadelphia.
The success of the first record opened up numerous opportunities for the group. In addition to the WAMS promotional concerts held weekly at local Wilmington area fire halls (Elsmere, Prices Corner, Minquidale, etc.), the band also played larger venue concerts, one in particular where a number of national acts also played, Bunny Sigler, Tim Rose and others. This was also the era of large dance venues such as the weekly affair at the Wilmington Manor Lion’s Club where literally hundreds of kids attended – these venues also helped to get the band’s name around. In June of 1967, the band was the featured opening act at the new Brown Derby Night Club in Chadd’s Ford, PA, along with the Five Penny’s, a well-known local R&B group.
In the fall of 1967, the State of Mind returned to Virtue Studios to cut their second record. Both the A and B sides of this record were written by Jim Booth. For this record, the band added some more complex harmonies and a piano part, played by Murtagh. The band was very excited about the A side of this record, “Make You Cry”, feeling that, musically, it was superior to “Move” and should prove to be an even bigger seller. Even the B side, “Goin’ Away”, was a strong piece. Unfortunately, the band was destined not to see the success they hoped for on the release of this second record. WAMS continued to provide very strong support to the band and invited them to premiere the new song at the next concert at the Elsmere Fire Hall.
One of the band’s on-going struggles internally was how each member perceived their individual futures and the future of the group. Three of the four members planned to attend college upon graduation but Sayers was committed to remaining a professional musician and was concerned about his future once the band members graduated from Wm. Penn. About a week before the Elsmere concert, Sayers announce to the group that he was leaving to join the Phabulous Pharaohs, another local band on the rise. Without the band’s lead singer and bass player, a shuffling of personnel took place and another local musician Bob McCall was invited to join the band for the Elsmere gig. Unfortunately, the band was unable to reproduce the sound of their second record live for the concert so had to lip-synch the record. Following this concert, the band essentially broke up and, unable to play additional promotional events, record sales were not strong and so the second record did not get the attention that the band thought it should have gotten.
In 1968, Murtagh, Booth, Smallbrook and Borgnis all enrolled at the University of Delaware and, although they remained friends, the group never got together again. Other than Sayers, who, as of a number of years later, was still performing, the remaining members of the band went on to careers outside the music industry. Sadly, Jim Booth passed away several years ago – a huge talent, gone way too soon.
Paul R. Murtagh, October 2011
Paul added in an email to me:
As I relate all of this from memory, it seemed like our musical career lasted for many years but, in reality, it was less than 2 years, start to finish. I still compose and play in my basement studio, often with my brother in law and nephews, all talented musicians, but rarely does anyone but family hear me play anymore. I do enjoy your website and reading about other local Delaware bands from that era. I haven’t heard any mention yet of another band from New Castle called the A-rabs. This band was around at the same time as the State of Mind and were very good (great at covering Beatles songs) although don’t believe they ever recorded anything. Band members were (as I recall), Jerry Mills, Bob Schrundalo (sp?), Jim Lynch and Warren Pratt. We also knew and were friendly competitors of Johnny Neal and the Shapes of Soul and The Enfields. Keep up the good work – I hope to see more from Delawareans who lived through that era and remember more about the music scene.
The Jagged Edge “Midnight to Six Man” / “How Many Times” on Twirl Records
Supposedly recorded in California, but released on a NY label, with the band maybe from Ohio? That’s how different versions of the story go, which has to make the Jagged Edge one of the best ’60’s bands whose history was a mystery until recently.
Their fantastic double-sider on the Twirl Records label features a cover of the Pretty Things’ “Midnight to Six Man” that surpasses any other I’ve heard. The b-side “How Many Times” is an original by D. Brown (which could stand for Donner Brown). It was released in February, 1966.
Band members were:
Shelly Leder – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Don Brown – lead guitar, vocals
Freddie Ebner – bass
Peter Gretch – drums
Lenny Matlin (Leni) – organ
As Alan points out in a comment below, the Twirl label was started in Detroit. Harry Balk had formed Twirl and the publishing company Vicki Music and had a business partner, Irving Micahnik. They released about twenty singles on Twirl before Balk sold his share in Twirl and Vicki to Irving and formed the Impact label, which released some great 45s by the Human Beings and others. It seems that Irving Micahnik relocated the Twirl label to New York, where he resided, in 1965.
When I originally made this page in March, 2007, I gave an edge to Detroit as the most likely origin for the band, but I finally heard from the band’s manager, Mike Glasser and their vocalist Shel Stewart, and have confirmed the band was from New York City.
This was their only release, but a couple of unreleased acetates turned up that I’m fairly sure is the same band, but I would like confirmation of this from one of the members. The demos feature an excellent original (?) song “Gonna Find My Way”, and a frantic version of “I’m a Man”. The other songs on the acetate are a decent version of “Big City” and a slower take on “I’m a Man”. Who has the acetate – where was it recorded?
I wonder if any photos of the group exist? If anyone knows of one please contact me.
To make clear another confusing matter, this band was not the Jagged Edge from Brooklyn that released “You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” / “How She’s Hurting Me” on Gallant in April of ’66, and then became the Off-Set, recording “Xanthia (Lisa)” for Jubilee in July of ’66. That band also did a version of “A Change Is Gonna Come” that went unreleased at the time.
Shel Stewart wrote to me:
Shel Stewart, known as Shelly Leder at the time. I formed the group with Don Brown in NYC in 1965. I played rhythm guitar and sang lead with Don Brown on this record. Don Brown played lead. Lenny from Brooklyn played Vox organ, Mike Glasser at the time was our manager. Peter a friend of Don played drums.
Don Brown is a childhood friend of mine that goes way back when we were both in high school together. We played together before the Jagged Edge, which I named the band. It was a high school band called the Continentals and we played many of the NYC synagogues and some churches.
Because of my brief but exciting past with this band I will recall most of what I can remember in a future memoir/historical document.
I kept in touch with Don sporadically till about 1973/1974, then we drifted into different lifestyles I presume.
Most of my life I played in various original bands after the Jagged Edge still looking for the dream. I have been in glitter rock projects (Dorian Zero) during the pre-punk days, Poptronix a new wave band, Fahrenheit 451 a gothic band, Orange Midnight a garage retro band, The Lucifer Scale, an industrial band. To listen to some of my other projects after that just google my name Shel Stewart. I’m featured on bigmusic.org and reverbnation.
The band’s producer Michael Glasser also produced The Soup Greens’ “Like a Rolling Stone” / “That’s Too Bad” at Dick Charles Studio in 1965. Lenny Matlin was part of the Soup Greens. I’ve read that Lenny played on Harumi’s 2LP album on Verve Forecast and also toured with Harumi.
I believe Mike also recorded for LHI (Lee Hazelwood) under the name Michael Gram, but I haven’t confirmed this with him yet. Mike Glasser commented below, “I was the manager/producer, and a Long Island, NY band took the name when the original band dismantled. Joe Mara of the Night Owl Cafe loved this band and if Joe is still with us I know he can verify the origin of the Jagged Edge and so many other bands and artists that the Night Owl Cafe showcased back in the early 60s.”
Tsutsumi Hiroshi and All Stars Wagon
These are unusual instrumentals with surf influences, titled “Mirage” and “Senjō no Hoshi (Stars Above the Battlefield)”.
Thanks to Bård’s research, I can identify this as Tsutsumi Hiroshi and All Stars Wagon.
The Inmates
Long Branch, New Jersey’s Inmates won a battle of the bands in 1966, leading to just one 45 on Columbia, the horrible novelty song “Local Town Drunk”. Columbia should have promoted the b-side instead, “You Tell Lies”, written by guitarist Ron Flannery.
A few unreleased numbers turned up later on. There’s a psychedelic edge to “Fakirs & Thieves” and “More Than I Have”, unlike the clean garage sound of “You Tell Lies”.
The other members of the band were Bobby Nolan lead vocals, Gordon Rhoades, Al Aschettino on bass, and Sammy Falvo on drums.
I recently received photos of an acetate credited to the Electric Carnival with “Fakirs and Thieves” and “More Than I Have”. Tommy Falcone is listed as producer. Thanks Joe for sending this in.
Anyone have a photo of the group?
I Tremendi
Great band from Florence with two 45s. Other than that, I don’t know a thing about them. They have a real garage sound, with no attempts at ‘pop’. Unlike most other Italian bands, they sang all their songs in English, with a good accent at that!
Their first 45 has “Where’s My Baby” (written by Ursillo-Iandelli) on the top side, with the even better “Together We’re Strong” (written by Pini-Mazoni) on the flip.
Both sides of the second are also good, the uptempo “If You Don’t Come Around” and the ballad “I Knew I’d Get You”.
Anyone have a photo of the group?
Italian releases from this time usually have picture sleeves, but it’s my understanding that 45s on the NET label never do.
The New Generation
“That’s the Sun” is a fine garage song with a touch of psych. All copies of the record suffer from a warble in the tape created in recording or mastering. 
From Spartanburg, South Carolina, the New Generation had Tommy Caldwell on bass and Doug Gray on vocals – these two would soon become part of the Marshall Tucker Band. Other members were Randy Foster on rhythm guitar, Ross Hannah on drums, Dan Powell on organ, and Keith Wood on lead guitar.
Anyone have a photo of the group?
“That’s The Sun” was written by Tommy Caldwell and Randy Foster. The flip side is a conventional pop song called “Because of Love (It’s All Over)”. Released April of 1968 on the Sonic label.
I’ve read they had one other 45, but I think that may be a mistake. They were not the same New Generation with a 45 on Kapp, “If You’re Lookin’ for Love” / “Never Let the Right Hand Know (What the Left Hand’s Doin'”.
John and Paul
I wonder how many Beatles fans this one confused? If they dropped the needle on the record before purchasing, the answer would be zero, I’m sure, as this sounds nothing like the Fab Four, and is obviously a very American production.
This was released on a California label, TIP, then picked up by London for release in the UK, unusual for 1965 when records were more likely to be traveling the other direction.
The band delivers a tough sound for “I’m Walkin'” even though it’s not much more than a mediocre love song. “People Say (Love Is Blind)” is of less interest but it still shows the competence of the band and has nice reverb on the guitar.
Who is behind this 45 is definitely a mystery. The songwriting credits for both sides are S. Szigeti and P. Lichterman. The band sounds like more than a studio conglomeration so they were probably a professional group working under an alias just for this release.
The Gentlemen Wild
The Gentlemen Wild had a lively career based out of Portland, Oregon starting in 1965. The band went through several personnel changes, but early members include Craig Cathey vocals and keyboards, Jay Zilka lead guitar, Page McCallum keyboards, Bill Whitcomb bass, Tom Phelps guitar and David Vermilya on drums.
In 1966 Bob Hart joined from the Beaverton group, the Nightraiders, and his father Ross Hart took over management of the band. Both additions immediately improved their prospects, and they became a house band at a teen club in Portland, the Tork Club.
In May of 1967 they won the state Battle of the Bands, enabling them to travel to the Ridge Arena in Braintree, Massachusetts (just outside Boston) to compete nationally. Their version of “Nowhere Man” from that competition is on a rare two record album released at the time. The photo just below is taken from the program for the Battle of the Bands.
They appeared on local and national television shows, including the Paul Revere & Mark Lindsay hosted show, Happening ’68. In the episode I’ve seen, the Gentlemen Wild lip synch to their version of “Keep On Running”, easily beating out a California band, the Good Friends and Merry Fellows, who did “Heat Wave”. Judges for that show included Bobby Vee and Sal Mineo, who says “have beads will travel” during the introductions! All the photos below are from the Happening ’68 show.
They released just one 45, recorded at the local NWI (Northwestern Incorporated) Studios and pressed on its vanity label. This is a label I’d definitely like to know more about! “You Gotta Leave” became a big hit on the west coast, reaching #2 in Portland. It was written by the guitarist, Jay Zilka.
The flip side, “I Believe”, wasn’t written by any of the band members. It’s not garage, more like the last slow song at a dance, the kind to get you to leave! Other members of the Gentlemen Wild at one time or another included Dave Cookson drums, John Crowe drums, and Steve Joslin keyboards. The band broke up in 1969.
Thanks to Mike for the Gentlemen Wild appearance on Happening ’68, and to Paul for the scan of the Braintree Battle of the Bands program.
All the screen shots above from the Happening ’68 TV show
The Villains (aka The Villians on Bullet)
left to right Steve Hacker (bass), Larry Mattingly (rhythm guitar, vocals), Alan Hoover (lead guitar, backup vocals), Roger Walker (drums, vocals), Bob Ledbetter (lead vocalist)
The Villains first 45, “Don’t Ever Leave Me” is a classic, featuring some of the most savage screams in garage music.
The Villains were long thought to be from Tennessee because their records were on the Bullet label from Nashville, but after hearing from lead guitarist and co-founder Alan Hoover, I can confirm they were from Evansville, Indiana, just 150 miles north of Nashville. Their records were produced by Leon Beaver (a country singer himself) and Jack Bulleit (the son of Jim Bulleit).
Here’s their story as told to me by Alan:
Actually, we spelled Villains correctly (after looking it up!), but many people put the a/i in the wrong order, including the guys at Bullet Records. Jim Bulleit (“pronounced Bullet”) of Nashville was the producer/owner of Bullet. He attempted to revive the label with our record, but I don’t know if he ever did get it going.
Anyway, the folk classic “Shortenin’ Bread” was the “A” side of our first record, not “Don’t Ever Leave Me”. Shortenin’ Bread acheived number one in Evansville, IN, for a good run, and also other towns in the area. We had to play it 2 or 3 times a gig or they wouldn’t let us leave. Really! Don’t Ever Leave Me was also locally popular, but much less so than Shortenin’ Bread. Also, Shortenin’ Bread was a 4-star pick hit in Cashbox Magazine, and (we were told by Bulleit) “broke” in the Tallahassee, Florida market and some other markets. I have also been told by several people over the years that the Bullwinkle cartoon show featured it in an episode, but I have never personally verified that. We actually heard it on an Astronauts (Boulder CO) record as a rock song in ’63, and thought we could improve on it.
Here is some history of the band:
Bob Ledbetter (Led) and I started the Villains in our hometown of Evansville, Indiana, in summer of 1963 (after we graduated from high school), with Roger Walker, a local drummer (we had no bass yet). I was lead guitar, taught Led some rhythm. Led was also our lead singer. We started playing beer parties, dances, etc. I went to college that fall, and Bob met Larry Mattingly (Midget), a local E’ville guitar player who sang good backup. They continued the band during the ’63/’64 school year, adding Bob’s girlfriend Julia Hadad for backup harmony and sex appeal. Still no bass guitar. Then, I quit college, came back in the summer of ’64.
We practiced all day all summer and fall in Bob’s basement, improving our chops. In the fall of ’64, we picked up Steve Hacker, a local bass player. We played loud, solid rock, and crowds were attracted to the atmosphere that we created. Our reputation kept increasing, and we became the top local band. We had lots of fans/friends around the area. We were known for inciting rowdy behavior with our music, particularly if beer was running freely. The “Villains” name fit, although we chose it largly because we were from “the ‘ville”. We were definitely one of the party bands of all time, I’m not exaggerating either. Larry and Led had a natural comedic talent, which added to the showy aspects of the band. (They formed a “Led and Larry” duo for about 10 years after the Villains broke up, also known for inciting rowdiness.)
In ’65, we got a new drummer, Pat Ziemer, from another local band (The Aragons). Also, we picked up Bruce Blythe, a local keyboard player, from the same band. Bruce and my brother Mike Hoover (now a doctor in Evansville) wrote “Don’t Ever Leave Me”. We actually recorded Shortnin’ Bread/Don’t Ever Leave me in late summer of ’65 in Nashville, after Jim Bulleit saw us and liked what we were doing. He personally auditioned us in Evansville, and had us to his house for a cookout immediately after we recorded Shortenin’ Bread etc. He mentioned that he was reviving the label after being out of the business for some years.
It quickly became #1 in E’ville. A local DJ started managing our bookings, and we were playing all over the southern Indiana/Illinois, northern Kentucky area, with Shortenin’ Bread boosting our visibility in the area. We also regularly played fraternity parties in Evansville, IU (Bloomington IN) and Vanderbilt (Nashville), as well as numerous Louisville and Indinapolis gigs. Fraternities always asked us back, for obvious reasons.
Bruce Blythe had other ambitions, and left later in ’65. We picked up Danny Brown, another local keyboard player, to replace Bruce. In ’66, we recorded a Gary Bugg song called “Love is the Treasure”, our second record, and we put “Midnight Hour” on there too (actually the “A” side). Danny and Garry Bugg both came from another Evansville band, The Circles. We recorded that in the basement of a funeral home in Evansville!
The Passions (l-r): Althea Mitchell, Sandy King, Cynthia Bennet
In 1967, a local Supremes tribute group called “The Passions” joined us, as we started playing more and more soul. They were Cynthia Bennett (lead singer), Althea Mitchell, and Sandy King. These girls danced, sang, looked great in short dresses, and the crowds loved them. They liked our white soul, and sat in on a couple gigs. They were sweethearts. Everybody liked them, so we made them part of the band. About that time, we joined Triangle Talent of Louisville, KY, who put us into many venues that we didn’t previously have access to.We pretty much split up in ’67 or ’68, with Larry and me quitting. Led, Dan, a new drummer (Tommy Thompson), and Steve Hacker teamed up with super guitar player Denny Browder (who is said to have refused a membership with Chicago because of fear of flying), along with Cynthia of the Passions and formed a touring band. They might have called themselves The Villains, but no one can recall.
In 1984, we decided to do a 20-year reunion in Evansville, with Led, me, Larry, Pat, Danny, and Steve (our serious party lineup). It went over big, with all the original members showing up to jam. We continued this every year until 1997 with good crowds. The rowdiness would always recur, even though many of the audience were entirely too old to be behaving in such a manner. But, they couldn’t help themselves! Then, Led had a stroke Christmas Eve of 1997 at the young age of 52. The stroke damaged Led’s speech, and he can no longer sing. So, that sadly ended the Villains. He can still make me fall over laughing though, he is such a natural comic.
Everybody went on to have families, etc., some in professional fields. I became an engineer, designed, patented, and now make and sell a guitar invention called the Sustainiac, that produces infinite sustain for guitar. (Sustainiac.com) Larry Mattingly and Pat Ziemer are in sales, Danny Brown a counselor, Roger Walker a hairdresser, Steve Hacker still playing bass I think, Bruce is doing well as a nationally recognized consultant with business on dealing with catastrophic events. Cynthia Bennet became a nurse, but I don’t know about Althea Mitchell or Sandy King. I hope I got all the facts right.
Thank you Alan for your input and the great photos.
“Photo taken at the Surf Club (a regular Friday gig for us for a couple of years): Danny Brown (right, keyboards) and Pat Ziemer (our main drummer for most of our run) are shown in this picture.
We would pack the place with 400-500 people, and it got loud and rowdy without fail. Most of our old fans recall the Surf Club as some of the most fun of their youth years. By the way, Pat would usually stand on his drums during Shortnin’ Bread, and never fell off that I can remember!” – Alan Hoover