The Changing Tymes were based out of their own Club Moss in Gate City, Virginia, located in the far western part of the state just across the state line from Kingsport, Tennessee. Four of the band were from Hiltons, VA, with another from Johnson City, TN.
Members were:
Buzzy Jones – lead vocals, guitar Jimmy Harris – lead guitar, vocals Lenny Gillenwater – organ Allan McMurray – bass Buddy Babb – drums, vocals
The group released two seven-inch records on their own Moss label, featuring good original songs by the band. “The Only Girl I Love” (McMurray – Jones) / “Parody of a Love” (McMurray, Gillenwater) came out on Moss 000-001/002 in August 1967, followed by “Go Your Way” (Gillenwater – Jones) / “She Laughed at Me” (Gillenwater) on Moss 000-003/004 in December.
Chronos Music published all four songs.
The Clinch Valley College in Wise, Virginia newspaper, the Highland Cavalier, profiled the group on November 1, 1967, for their upcoming show at the Cotillion Club Harvest Dance on November 4:
They were called NUTHIN then … after a while they figured The Changing Tymes fit better’n anything else.
Last New Year’s Eve … the Changing Tymes opened a place of their own and they called it Club Moss …
Every Saturday night since, Moss has been open from 8:30 – 11:30 … Sometimes the crowds have been huge with hardly room to dance, and at other times there wasn’t more than 50, but the music goes on and the quality is good … the best sound around. “Big Daddy Harris” and “General Jones” are always around somewhere in the shadows, but they never give the feeling that they’re watching for you to do something wrong.
Club Moss ad with the Changing Tymes, in the Kingsport Times, February 3, 1967
In August the Changing Tymes went to Nashville for their first recording session. Allan McMurray, Bass player had written some words for which Buzzy Jones and Lenny Gillenwater had written some music … they called the two songs “Parody of a Love” and “The Only Girl I Love”, sung by Buddy Babb, drummer, and Buzzy Jones.
… Last week “Parody of a Love” made the “Top Forty” at WNVA …
… four of them are from Hilton, Virginia: Buzzy (Rhea Wilbur Jones, Jr.), Larry (Larry Wayne Gillenwater), Jimmy (James Oscar Harris, Jr.), and Alan (Alan Rhea McMurray).
Buddy (James Howard Babb, Jr.) lives at Weber City, but during school he lives in Johnson City while studying at East Tennessee State University.
According to the article, Jimmy Harris was the youngest of the group, a junior at Gate City High School. Larry Gillenwater attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Viginia Tech), while Alan McMurray and Buzzy Jones were at Clinch Valley College.
Discussing Club Moss, February 2, 1968
The Kingsport Times ran a feature about Club Moss on February 2, 1968:
… a basement in the old Craft Motor Company Building … could hardly be described as swank …
“It has the best band in the Tri-Cities,” Steve McMurray said, “except maybe the Scat-Cats. They drew the largest crowd we’ve ever had, about 450, but there was still room to dance.”
“If you like to dance,” Lester Spivey said, “it’s a good place to go. They have a good sound system and the band is good.
“The walls have a black background with op art designs on them,” he said, “and they use colored lights. It looks real nice.”
“And you get bored just staying at home,” Chuck Quillen said. “You get tired of your parents, could even start to hate them …”
The last annoucement I can find for the group comes from the Kinsport Times on September 18, 1968, announcing a band competition at the Scott County Tobacco Festival in Weber City.
Club Moss continued for some time. Kingsport Times articles from January 17 and 29, 1969 discuss the re-opening of the club:
Last summer, its previous managers (teenage members of the Changing Thymes [sic] band) decided to close the club because of questionable legality of their license and a growing problem with teenage activity outside the club …
The new managers were Tommy Francisco and Eric Darnell [Eric Darnel in the other article], and Jack Francisco was a chaperone:
Gate City Sheriff Ernest Culbertson said that he hadn’t endorsed the re-opening of the club. “I do not approve of the re-opening of the Club Moss … Whenever teenagers get together, there’s going to be trouble.”
The article mentions a group the Seventh Dawn performing at the club and a bank Christmas party.
Club Moss did not last long, however, because in April 1970 another article mentioned several spots that closed: Club Moss, the Barn in Rogersville and the Purple Penguin in Kingsport; and discussed whether a new teen club could open.
Anyone have a photo of Club Moss, or pics of the Changing Tymes or other local bands?
The Kingsport Times ran this photo on April 24, 1970, but didn’t specify if it was one of the local clubs or a stock photo.
The Limeys were Andrea Gennard and Stephen Gennard, a sister and brother duo who arrived in Miami, Florida from London about 1962. While students at Rockway Junior High, they made this great single “Come Back” / “Green and Blue” with the London Sounds.
Released on Sherwood 1715, a Miami News notice gave the exact release date, Monday, April 25, 1966. Printed sleeves included a small photo of the duo.
An February 25, 1966 ad for the Palmetto Bandstand featured the Limey’s backed by the Outcasts, on a bill with the Dirt Merchants. (The following night featured the Invaders, the Impacts and the Hares.)
The Miami News profiled the band on March 15, 1966, including:
Here are two down-to-earth teens with an out-of-this-world singing talent. They have no set style, but their music lends itself mostly to folk-rock …
Stephen and Andrea, together with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Gennard, of 1715 SW 97th Pl., arrived from London almost four years ago …
Usually they are coupled with a five-member band, the Outcasts.
With the Outcasts, the Limeys have appeared on Florida Bandstand, the Miami-Dade Junior College campus, on Chuck Zinc’s TV program and at the Cloverleaf Center.
The entire Gennard family has become involved: Dad is business manager, Mom a critic and booster.
They also appeared on the Rick Shaw show on May 27.
On the single, the backing band is called the London Sounds, and includes horn players and strings. I’m not sure if the Outcasts were involved, or even who was in the Outcasts – if anyone knows please contact me.
Stephen and Andrea wrote “Come Back”, and co-wrote “Green and Blue” with Pat Tallis, publishing by Chalfont Music Publishing.
Copyright registration from February 1966 shows three other songs: “Take It Easy”, “I Love You”, and “Melonie”, the last two co-written with Pat Tallis.
In June both the Miami News and the Herald mentioned the duo signing to Scepter Records, I wonder if anything came of that.
They must have been unaware of the English group the Limeys, releasing singles on Amcan in the U.S. and Decca and Pye in the UK.
Back in England, Record Mirror profiled the duo on May 11, 1968, providing different last names, Andrea Gerome and Steve Gerome.
The article mentions they did work in America “but, as ever, work permits for artistes so young (Anna is 17, Steve 16) proved difficult. Anna used to be apprenticed to hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, abandoning haircutting for disc-cutting.”
Anna and Steve made two singles for Fontana under the artist name Too Much, “Wonderland of Love” / “Mr. Money” (written by Gerome) in 1967, then “It’s a Hip Hip Hippy World” / “Stay in My World” in February 1968.
As Anna Hamilton with Stephen they made another single on Fontana in April 1968, “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven (But Nobody Wants To Die)” / “You Laughed When I Cried” (b-side writing credited to Gerome). Their version competed with the Karlins, (triplets Linda Wilson, Elaine Wilson and Evelyn Wilson) who released their 45 on Columbia (UK) about the same time.
Thank you to Ansgar for pointing me to the Record Mirror article (which I never would have found considering they had changed their name!).
Andrea and Steve Gerome in Record Mirror, May 11, 1968
West End promo photo, left to right: Frank Mielke (vest), Mike Durette, Terry Worden, Johnny Heaton, and Jeff Deeks (poncho).
The West End is remembered as the teenage-start of lead guitarist Johnny Heaton, later of Tantrum, which opened Bob Seger’s 1974 U.S. tour in support of his album, Seven. After the West End, and prior to Tantrum, Johnny Heaton fronted White Heat, which featured Dale Kath of the Ascots.
The West End, which won the 1969 Farmington Hill Founders Festival band competition, also featured Mike Johns on lead vocals, Terry Worden on rhythm guitar, Mike Durette on bass, and Frank Mielke on drums. According to Frank Mielke, the members of the West End were all around 16 or 17 years old. The Farmington Hills event took place during their summer break between their junior and senior years in high school.
“I was playing in Old Friends,” says Johnny Heaton, “an all-acoustic group with Dave Anderson, Ken Crawford, and Mike Marsac. Mike left to play with his brothers Rick and Joe Stockwell in Coloradus [an outgrowth of the Coronadoes] while I went through a short list of local bands, including the West End. I also worked with Dave Anderson and Ken Crawford in various incarnations of White Heat [one which featured drummer Ron Course of Coloradus]. I eventually moved onto Tantrum. Dave Edwards from Tantrum had later success on MTV with his band, the Look.” [Signed to the Canadian division of A&M Records, the Look was the first Detroit band to air on the channel in 1981/82 with the singles “We’re Gonna Rock” and “You Can’t Sit Down.”]
White Heat, Mk 1: Front Row, Left to Right: Johnny Heaton, Mike Sneed, and Dale Kath (the Ascots), Back Row: Ron Course, Charlie Verno, Dave Anderson.White Heat at the Firebird, 1972. Courtesy of Ron Course.
“By 1970,” continues Frank Mielke, “the West End broke up when our bass player and lead singer who, at the time, was Jeff Deeks [replaced Mike Johns], left. He was recruited to join Harpo Jets and they opened for [Suzi Quatro and] the Pleasure Seekers at the Birmingham Palladium, which trumped the West End’s accomplishments, thus far.
Ultra Structure, Mk. I. Courtesy of George Wallace via Jerry Zubal of the Kwintels.Ultra Structure, Mk. II, 1969. Courtesy of Mayo Heger.Image Left: Harpo Jets headline a CSA Hall show; Image Right: Flash Cadillac headlines a benefit concert with Harpo Jets for the WTSD (Waterford Township School District) campus radio station. Courtesy of Mike Delbusso of Splatt Gallery Art Gallery via Mayo Heger.Harpo Jets opens for Capitol’s SRC. Courtesy Mayo Heger.
“At the time, Harpo Jets, which also come to include Mike Durette from the West End, was known under a different name when they did the Palladium gig; I can’t recall the name [The Ultra Structure]. They changed their name to Harpo Jets because of Jeff Deeks’s similar looks and actions to Harpo Marx. I’d also have to note that guitarist Tony Combs [part of the management staff at Pontiac Music], who was the leader of Harpo Jets: he was the lead guitar player in my first band, the Patriots. We were twelve or thirteen years old and in junior high school at the time, of course, that’s before the West End. Our first professional gig outside of Mason Junior High in Waterford was playing my Aunt Kay and Uncle John’s wedding. Tony’s younger brother, Andy, was a drummer in another popular Detroit band, Orange Lake Drive. Later on, Tony founded Feather Canyon.”
Tony Combs, far right, of the Harpo Jets on the staff of Pontiac Music.Feather Canyon: Tony Combs, sitting center. Courtesy of Ron Course.
“By 1969,” recalls band roadie Mayo Heger, “Randy Arnold had left the band and Mike Durette [from the West End] joined on bass. By late 1970, George Wallace and Jeff Deeks were gone; Mike Durrette switched to guitar, and Gerry Christie joined in on bass. At that point the band became the Harpo Jets, then Isengard, then Pitch Blende, and ultimately [country-rock] Feather Canyon.” [Feather Canyon also featured guitarist Bryan Barnes, formerly of Tea/1776 with Jerry Zubal of the Kwintels.]
Flash Cadillac with Frank Mielke, bottom far right, to promote their appearance at the “Walk for Mankind Festival.” Courtesy of Frank Mielke.
“Later, I was asked to play drums for a newly-forming Waterford area, seven-member band known as Flash Cadillac [not to be confused with oldies retro-rockers Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids from Boulder, Colorado],” continues Frank Mielke. “I was the last member to join for what I believed would be a one-time performance at a Battle of the Bands — and an opportunity to do battle with Harpo Jets. Flash Cadillac was an overwhelming hit with the audience and we walked away with a victory over the favored-to-win Harpo Jets!
“The Flash Cadillac project kept me busy and in gas money for the next year and a half playing all the available teen venues — including headlining Waterford’s first ‘Walk for Mankind’ rally [which was held annually from 1969 to 1971]. The out-of-state Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids hadn’t yet been nationally recognized; however, after it became clear that we might be doing this for a while, we, Flash Cadillac, changed our name to David and the Diamonds.”
Tantrum tours in support of Bob Seger’s Seven (1974). Tantrum earned the opening slot after Phantom, aka Walpurgis, the band originally booked to promote the Phantom’s Divine Comedy album (1974), dissolved.White Heat, Mk II: Left to Right: Johnny Heaton, Mike Sneed, Dave Anderson, Charlie Verno, Ken Crawford, and Steve Dalton.White Heat, backstage at the Firebird in the early ‘70s: Left to Right: Charlie Verno, Mike Sneed, Dale Kath, Johnny Heaton , Dave Anderson, and Ron Course (part of the Coronadoes/Coloradus axis).
You can enjoy a playlist of the music of Johnny Heaton with White Heat, Tantrum, and Powerplay on You Tube:
In the uploaded playlist: White Heat — “Sympathy for the Devil” — 1972 Tantrum — “Way Back to the Bone” — 1974 Tantrum — “I Need to Know” — 1975 Tantrum — “Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown)” — 1975 Powerplay — “Dragon Attack — 1981
Through the ’90s and 2000s, Jerry Zubal, formerly of the Kwintels, and Johnny Heaton, formed the bands Roxius, Catching Fire, Seize, and Rock Anthem. You can enjoy an 18-song playlist of those bands on You Tube.
All recordings/uploads courtesy of Jerry Zubal and Johnny Heaton.
Original Transfusion line up, 1968. Photo courtesy of Danny McBride
Simon Caine (Vocals)
Danny McBride (Guitar, Vocals)
Rick Shuckster (Bass)
Tom Sheret (Keyboards)
Pat Little (Drums)
Later members included:
Andy Kaye (Guitar)
Louis Yacknin (Bass)
Ray Arkenstaul (Keyboards)
Stan Endersby (Guitar, Vocals)
Brother of Lighthouse singer Bob McBride, Danny McBride (b. 1951, Toronto) had started out playing in The Shades alongside his brother in 1965. The group was the house band at Charlie Brown’s coffeehouse.
Danny McBride later helped Don Walsh start The Downchild Blues Band and also did stints with The Diplomats and Bob McBride and The Breath.
Danny McBride formed the original line up of Transfusion around July 1968 with former Georgian People (later Chimo!) drummer Pat Little (b. 10 March 1947, North Bay, Ontario), who had recently rehearsed with McKenna Mendelson. With the help of John Brower, who was looking for a house band to play at the Rock Pile, they completed the line up with former Simon Caine & The Catch members, Simon Caine, Tom Sheret and Rick Shuckster.
The first line up played together for most of the year before Caine, Shuckster and Sherett moved on and McBride and Little brought in Andy Kaye from Peter & The Pipers and Louis Yacknin from The Carnival Connection.
Former Livingston’s Journey member Stan Endersby replaced McBride in January 1969 after briefly working in England in late 1968 with Horace Faith and the house band at Hatchetts Playground in Piccadilly, London and then returning home to play a few shows with Leather.
Transfusion then changed name to Crazy Horse and opened for The Mothers of Invention in February. The band successfully auditioned for a show at Toronto’s Electric Circus during February 1969 but Endersby left soon afterwards and flew to England to form Mapleoak with Peter Quaife of The Kinks.
The rest of the band, still under the Crazy Horse name, began a show at the Electric Circus on 21 April 1969.
Yacknin left later that year to join Lighthouse and the band broke up soon afterwards. Little traveled to New York and played with Van Morrison.
Danny McBride rejoined Pat Little in January 1970 in a revamped Luke & The Apostles. McBride established a solo career and worked as a session player, subsequently joining Chris de Burgh among others.
Advertised gigs
20 September 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Blood, Sweat & Tears
22 September 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Blood, Sweat & Tears
27-28 September 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with The Silver Apples
4 October 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Fever Tree
5 October 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Procol Harum and Fever Tree
6 October 1968 – Massey Hall, Toronto with The Fugs and McKenna Mendelson Mainline
27 October 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Jeff Beck Group
30 November 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with McKenna Mendelson Mainline
27 December 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Mandala and The Paupers
31 December 1968 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Kensington Market and Sherman and Peaboby
15 February 1969 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Witness Inc (billed as New Transfusion)
Venue poster. Thanks to Stan Endersby for sharing
22 February 1969 – Unknown venue, Toronto with Leather (billed as Transfusion)
23 February 1969 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (billed as Crazy Horse)
27-28 February 1969 – The Garage, Toronto (billed as Crazy Horse)
3-6 March 1969 – El Patio, Toronto (billed as Crazy Horse)
21 March 1969 – Rock Pile, Toronto with Mary Lou Horner (billed as Crazy Horse)
The group in August 1967. Left to right: Chuck Slater, Rick Berkett, Glen Higgins, Franklin Sheppard, Wulf Stelling, Gordon Baxter and Sonnie Bernardi. Photo: Gord Baxter
Franklin ‘Zeke’ Sheppard (Vocals)
Ed Patterson (Guitar)
Robbie King (Organ)
Ronnie Banks (Bass)
Gordon Eves (Drums)
Wulf Stelling (B-3 organ)
Gordon Baxter (Guitar)
Glen Higgins (Saxophone)
Rick Berkett (Bass)
Frank De Felice (Drums)
Sonnie Bernardi (Drums)
Chuck Slater (Drums)
Singer Franklin Sheppard had started out with The Dovermen in the early 1960s before putting together Franklin Sheppard & The A-Go-Gos around 1965 with the first line up. Guitarist Ed Patterson may have been the same musician who was in Brantford, Ontario band, Jaye’s Rayders, but this needs confirmation.
This band subsequently became The Good Sheppards and gigged extensively in Toronto before travelling to Vancouver in September 1966 for a show at Dirty Sal’s Cellar. On their return, the musicians went their separate ways and the singer looked around for a new band to become the second version of The Good Sheppards.
In October 1966, he found a Brantford, Ontario band led by Wulf Stelling and took over from the original singer Larry Lewellan. He then took the band back to Toronto.
Group leader Wulf Stelling had worked with The Marques Royales in the early 1960s alongside several future Grant Smith & The Power members.
During the spring of 1966, he began to put together a new soul/RnB group with former Jaye’s Rayders members Rick Berkett, Glen Higgins and Frank De Felice. To complete the formation, he brought in singer Larry Lewellan plus (from Kitchener group The Counts Royale) guitarist Gordon Baxter.
Photo: Gord Baxter
The new band rehearsed intensively for three months before Franklin Sheppard turned up and took over the lead singer position. Through their Toronto-based manager Gary Salter, they began to pick up work on the southern Ontario club circuit.
The new version also appeared on CTV’s It’s Happening and played tonnes of soul tunes. One of Sheppard’s popular numbers was Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’.
During mid-1967 Sheppard and Stelling decided to add a second drummer and brought in Sonnie Bernardi from Marianne Brown & The Good Things.
However, when the group was offered a US tour in August 1967, Frank De Felice decided to leave and later worked with the band Jericho. Chuck Slater took his place.
The following month, Franklin Sheppard & The Good Sheppards embarked on a US tour that lasted until May 1968, kicking off with a residency at Tony Mart’s in Ocean City, New Jersey on 3 September, playing alongside The Coachmen.
Photo: Gord Baxter
Through their US booking agent Jack Fisher from Hillside, New Jersey, the band performed seven nights a week on the US ‘nightclub circuit’.
Through him, Gord Baxter remembers that they got to perform at #3 Lounge in Boston from early October 1967 and then worked a number of nightclubs in Boston, including the Intermission, before moving on to New York to play at Trude Heller’s in Greenwich Village, starting in mid-November. After playing in the Big Apple, Chuck Slater departed in December and later joined Ocean.
Photo: Gord Baxter. Castaways Club, Chicago
Reverting to a single drummer, the musicians next travelled to Chicago to perform at the Castaways Club before moving to Nashville. From there they headed to Miami, Florida and worked at Wayne Cochran’s club, the Barn during February 1968 alongside Wayne Cochran and The CC Riders and Freddie Scott & His Kinfolk.
Photo: Gord Baxter
Baxter remembers that after they finished up in Miami, the group headed north again and performed in Newport, Rhode Island, around Cape Cod and back to Boston.
In May 1968, the group was playing at the Inferno in Buffalo, New York when Sheppard decided he had had enough. With the rest of the musicians exhausted, everyone returned to Ontario where Baxter started to put together a new group in Kitchener.
Then, in January 1969, Stelling contacted him to join a new version of Grant Smith & The Power alongside Berkett and Bernardi.
Stelling left in May that year while the others remained with The Power until August when Grant Smith paired the band down. Baxter then reunited with Stelling in The Wulf Pack.
Sheppard joined Mainline in the spring of 1970 and later played with Blackstone. During the ‘70s he may have played with The Dutch Mason Band before moving to Nashville to work as a studio musician. After working in Florida he died of cancer.
Selected gigs
1 October 1965 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario with The Morticians (billed as Franklin Sheppard & The A Go Gos)
3-4 December 1965 – Devil’s Den, Toronto
10-11 December 1965 – Devil’s Den, Toronto
24-25 December 1965 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
14 January 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Counts
15 January 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with Jaye’s Rayders and Hamilton and His Teejays
18-19 February 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
25-26 February 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
1 April 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto with Jon and Lee & The Checkmates
2 April 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
22-23 April 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto with G Lawson Knight & The Chancellors
14 May 1966 – Inn Crowd, Toronto
20-21 May 1966 – Inn Crowd, Toronto
22 May 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto with Jon and Lee & The Checkmates
31 July 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
26-27 August 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
2-4 September 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
23 September 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with Soul Searchers featuring Dianne Brooks and Eric Mercury, George Lawson Knight and & The Chancellors, Greg Winkfield and Al Lalonde
24 September 1966 – Dirty Sal’s Cellar, Vancouver, British Columbia with The Villains (Vancouver Sun)
The second version began here
18 February 1967 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with E G Smith & The Power and The Wyldfyre
24 February 1967 – The Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Five Good Reasons, The Dana and Sunny and Peter
3 March 1967 – The Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Lords of London, The New Breed and Murray McLaughlan
17 March 1967 – The Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Stampeders, The Dana and Doug Brown
24 March 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto with Bobby Kris & The Imperials and R K & The Associates
31 March 1967 – Weston Legion Hall, Toronto with The Ugly Ducklings
15 April 1967 – The Gogue Inn, Toronto With G Lawson Knight & The Paytons
26 May 1967 – Don Mills Curling Club, Toronto with The People
27 May 1967 – Club 888, Toronto
24 June 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with Luv-Lites and Act IV
27 June 1967 – Balmy Beach Club, Scarborough, Ontario
15 July 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
2-3 September 1967 – Sauble Beach Pavilion, Owen Sound, Ontario (The Sun Times)
1 October 1967 – #3 Lounge, Boston, Massachusetts, USA with The Coachmen (start of three-week engagement)
22 October 1967 – Intermission, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (start of week-long engagement)
12 November 1967 – Trude Heller’s, NYC, USA (start of four-week engagement at this club)
10 December 1967 – West Dance, New Jersey, USA (start of two-week engagement) The band returns to NYC after this to play at Trude Heller’s again
Photo: Gord Baxter. Castaways Club, Chicago
January 1968 – Castaways Club, Chicago, Illinois, USA
February 1968 – The Barn, Miami, Florida, USA with Wayne Cochran and The CC Riders and Freddie Scott & His Kinfolk
May 1968 – Inferno, Buffalo, New York
All Toronto area gigs are from The Toronto Telegram’s After Four section. RPM Music Weekly was also very helpful for background information.
Huge thanks to Gord Baxter for the group photos and providing details about the second version
Pat Godfrey (Piano) replaced by John Goadsby (aka Goldy McJohn) (Keyboards)
Jeff Smith (Drums) replaced by Richie Grand (Drums)
The Diplomats were an interesting mid-late ‘60s outfit, which featured future Lighthouse singer Bob McBride and top session player Pat Godfrey.
John Brower later became a top rock promoter and was instrumental in setting up Canada’s first outdoor rock festival. He was also involved in organising the Toronto Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival concert with The Plastic Ono Band.
Peter McGraw later led Diamond Back in the mid-‘70s, while original drummer, Jeff Smith, later started his own recording studio.
The original line up, with the exception of McBride, had previously played together as Little John & The Friars and changed name sometime in early 1965 after Grand and Goadsby had joined The Mynah Birds a few months earlier.
According to Toronto Telegram‘s After Four section, McBride formed his own band Bob McBride & The Breath in late 1967 and played at the Purple Peanut Club in Toronto on 26-27 December.
McGraw sang with Dave Nicols & The Coins when the band broke up while Godfrey went on to Simon Caine in late 1969.
Richie Grand, who had come in from The Mynah Birds in May 1965 ended up with The Stormy Clovers. John Goadsby, who also came in from The Mynah Birds that same month, only stayed a few months and ended up joining The Sparrows, changing his name to Goldy McJohn. The band sometimes gigged as Little John & The Diplomats.
Advertised gigs
21 May 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto with The Five Rogues, The Big Town Boys, J B & The Playboys and Dee & The Yeomen
1 October 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto
16 September 1967 – Peggy’s Pavillion, Stroud, Ontario
28-30 December 1967 – The Purple Peanut, Toronto with The New Breed
All of these gigs were advertised in the Toronto Telegram‘s After Four section. Thanks to Peter McGraw for providing some of the band information.
We’d love to hear from anyone who has any photos or can add any more information.
John Goadsby (aka Goldy McJohn) (Keyboards) replaced by Pat Godfrey (Keyboards)
Ricky Capreol (Guitar)
John Brower (Bass)
Richie Grand (Drums)
Little John & The Friars were an early R&B band formed in Toronto in 1962 by singer Peter McGraw (b. 23 December 1943, Toronto, Ontario).
The group is perhaps best known for containing Goldy McJohn and Richie Grand (b. 11 June 1945, Toronto, Ontario) who went onto play with The Mynah Birds with Rick James 1964-1965.
Brower and Godfrey had started out playing in The Omegas. In early 1965 the group added second vocalist Bob McBride and changed name to The Diplomats.
Advertised gigs:
8 October 1966 – Hawk’s Nest, Toronto (billed as Little John & The Diplomats) (Toronto Telegram’s After Four section)
We’d love to hear from anyone who has any photos of the band and can add more information
I don’t know if Thee Society were a working band or a studio group. They released only one single, “That Girl” / “Determined Mind” on Revolvo RV-45-217, probably in 1968 or 1969, out of Hollywood, CA.
The A-side is pop, the flip a stomping dance number. E. Nagatoshi wrote both sides, published by Earthquake Music, like other later Revolvo releases.
Not much to go on, but I found a copyright registration to Edward Nagatoshi for a song “We’ll Live On” from February 1966. I’m not sure if this was recorded or if Ed Nagatoshi had any other involvement in music.
Revolvo released a good psychedelic 45 by the Glass Managerie [sic] “End of the Line” / “Troubled Mind” that I’d like to know more about. Dennis Hardy wrote both songs.
Grayson Izumi of Beaudry Express, who commented below, added in a message to me that Thee Society had three vocalists including John Hubbard, and David Akiyama on keyboards. He also recommends the book Chronicles of a Sansei Rocker by Harry Manaka.
Heavyn featured in the Detroit News, September 1, 1971Heavyn opening for Frigid Pink at the Lincoln Park Theatre, September 29, 1971
Heavyn:
Bob Gilbert — lead guitar Greg Joseph — bass guitar Dave Ellefson — keyboards Rick Moll — drums
Producer — Mike Finnin Engineer — Jerry Cell
There’s not much in the way of ephemera on Detroit’s Heavyn, in fact, everything we’ve discovered regarding the band is included in this overview.
Heaven with SRC at the Lincoln Park Theatre, January 1972
According to The Detroit News in their September 1, 1971 issue, the band appeared at the Dearborn Youth Center’s “Battle of the Bands” in July. In the article, Heavyn’s manager, Mike Finnin, states the band was together for three months at that point — which places their formation around May 1971.
In addition to winning the Dearborn contest, the band opened shows for the earliest stage of Frijid Pink (formerly known as the Detroit Vibrations). Two of the band’s other known shows were opening a January 30, 1972, appearance by Capitol Records’ SRC, and a February 13, 1972, appearance by Tee Garden and Van Winkle, both at the Lincoln Park Theatre in Lincoln Park, Michigan.
W.J’s Club, Walker Lake Road, Mansfield, Ohio
During the month of April 1972, ads placed in Ohio’s Mansfield News Journal (available at Newspapers.com), indicate Heavyn booked dates at W.J’s Club in Mansfield.
The single mentioned by Mike Finnin in The Detroit News, “Two Man Blues” b/w “Children of the Wood” was, in fact, released on his vanity-press, Long Knight Records. It was recorded at PRSD/Pioneer Recording Studios in Detroit owned and operated by Gary Rubin and Alan Sussman. Through the studio, the duo ran their own imprints: Pioneer, Gold, and Tru-Soul. Pioneer recorded several sides with Ann Arbor-based jazz trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, the Detroit Vibrations — on their way to coming Frijid Pink — as well as the Rationals (released on their manager Jeep Holland’s own A-Square).
While Heavyn’s lone single carries Pioneer’s catalog number of PRSD-2188 and Long Knight’s LK-101, the runout codes “A4KS-3959” and “A4KS-3960” indicate it’s an RCA custom pressing (A = 1971, 4= band supplied tapes to RCA, who then cut the lacquers, K= 45 rpm, S= Stereo).
It is rumored Heavyn broke up sometime in 1972, as the bands’ Bob Gilbert, Greg Joseph, and Dave Ellefson were (temporarily) absorbed into the ranks of Frijid Pink. This roster rehearsed, as well as possibly toured, between the release of the Rick Stevers-led band’s second album, Defrosted (1970) — when lead guitarist Gary Ray Thompson and lead singer Tom Beaudry (aka Kelly Green) left the band — and their third album, Earth Omen (1972).
However, based on the March 1974 Heavyn flyer we’ve discovered, the band most likely absorbed into Frijid Pink in late 1974, after their fourth and final album released in March 1974, All Pink Inside, on Fantasy Records. (On Frijid Pink’s Wikipedia, page, only Bob “Bobby G” Gilbert is noted as a one-time member; it doesn’t state the time frame of his membership.)
Heavyn and Fantasy Hill at the Lincoln Park Theatre, March 28, 1974
If anyone knows anything about Heavyn’s fellow Dearborn-based bands Shelter, Stockton, Sanch Panza, Internal Combustion, Menagerie, and Iliad (mentioned in the press clipping) — or can offer more information on the career of Heavyn and their connections to Frijid Pink — let us know.
Pioneer Recording Studio Detroit
Our thanks to Mike Delbusso of the Splatt Gallery Rock Art Gallery of Walled Lake, Michigan, for the images. 45 rpm and Pioneer Recording Studio advertisement images courtesy of Discogs.
You can learn more about Frijid Pink with an exclusive interview as founder-drummer Rick Stevers sat down with R.D Francis at It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine.
The Truths made this one fine Byrds-influenced 45, “Pending” / “Why” on Circle Records 45-953, in August 1965.
Roy Harris wrote “Pending”, and co-wrote “Why” with James Pettey, with publishing by Chu-Fin Music, Inc.
I can find almost no info on the group online. I’ve read the band came from Riverside, California. However, the Playground Recording Studio site notes:
Playground Studios originally built and completed in 1969 by Finley Duncan is located in the heart of old downtown Valparaiso, Florida.
It was the home of Minaret Records, Turrett Records, Choctaw and Circle Records.
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
