The Tierdrops

August 13, 2017 Chris Bishop 1 Comment

The Tierdrops performing at the Pine Grove in Portsmouth, NH

Steve Hill sent in the cool photos and news clippings about the Tierdrops, a fellow band to the Devil’s Own, and one of several groups from Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the mid-60s. Steve gives info on the band:

The Tierdrops were a Portsmouth top 40 rock band. We were the house band for the EM club at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and frequently played at the Pine Grove Pavillion as well as the PAL club in Lewiston, ME and the PAL club in Rockland, ME.
Joey Wilbur – lead singer
Rick Shelton – lead guitar
George “Spike” Browning – organ
Steve Hill – bass guitar
Wendell “Pete” Peterson – drummer
“Spike” Browning managed the Devil’s Own and us. Joey played guitar with the Devil’s Own and later became our lead singer and Spike wanted to play so he came to us and became our organist. We did not record a record. Spike did record us on many occasions with his Akai reel to reel, however, the tapes are lost.
We had tried out to become a “surf” band along with bands such as the Rockin’ Ramrods, the Pilgrims, the Techniques, and several others and were accepted, however, I was drafted before we had our first gig as a surf band.
Thank you for keeping the bands of that era alive.
Steve Hill

Tierdrops, Devil's Own, & Cobras, Lewiston P.A.L. Dance, February — Awesome lineup: Tierdrops, Devil’s Own, & the Cobras!

Categories: Florida, Horne, Tampa

The Alan Franklin Explosion – The Blues Climax

August 4, 2017 Chris Bishop 1 Comment

The Alan Franklin Explosion have received some attention from collectors of private underground albums, but this 45 is worth discussing. Both “Piece of My Heart” and “Bye Bye Baby” were taken from Alan Franklin’s second LP, the one that has his b&w photo and both “The Alan Franklin Explosion” and “The Blues Climax” on the front cover, on the Horne label, J.C. 888-L.

Franklin was from Tampa, Florida, but recorded at Bee Jay Recording Studio in Orlando. The musicians were:

Alan Franklin – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Chris Russel – lead guitar
Buzzy Meekins – bass
Dave Dix – drums

Apparently this was not an actual band but consisted of some teenage musicians invited to play with Alan in the studio. David Dix would go on to join the Outlaws.

“Piece of My Heart” is a wild, weird come-on. “Bye Bye Baby” more conventional blues-based rock. The label was Horne, with a release # J.C. 888-4. These two songs were included on the first side of the album, Alan Franklin Explosion – The Blues Climax cut in 1969 and 1970. Alan Franklin produced and Bill Vermillion engineered. Alan Franklin wrote all the songs, published by Penetraion Sound Publishing Company.

The notes on the back cover of the LP are worth quoting in full for their hype:

This is a wild savage approach to hard rock blues combining vicious jungle rock rhythm with very tight and lightening fast rhythm and lead progressions with a base that goes right inside of you. The vocals are wild and insane yet loving and caressing. The sound that these four cats put out is so fantastic that you won’t be able to turn it off. This is a new sound, a sound as wild and free as the Climax itself. For the Climax is made up of four rebellious wild fanatical musicians who literally go insane on stage, causing riots at every performance. People are going all the way with the Blues Climax. If you like hard rock music then you will love the Blues Climax.
– Albert Freeman ~ Penetration Publishing Company

The LP was chosen as Album of the Week in a small ad featuring “Brite Star’s Pick Hits”, run by a Nashville promotion company that was probably paid for the endorsement.

Alan Franklin’s first LP was called simply Blues Climax, recorded about 1968. The musicians are only Alan Franklin on guitar and vocals and Ray Vaughn on drums. It was released with red Horne labels, J.C. 333-7. Three of songs on this first would appear on the second LP in somewhat more polished versions. This earlier version of “Piece of My Heart” is so amazingly raw and crude, with great Bo Diddley type rhythm guitar playing:

His next LP seems to be titled Alan Roy Franklin released sometime in the 1970s. I haven’t heard any of it, nor his 1980 LP, Come Home Baby, credited to The Alan Franklin Explosion. This last one has a cover that has to be seen to be believed: Alan reclines on a bed, long-haired and shirtless, a jug of wine, copy of High Times, some cash and what looks to be a bong next to him on the red velour sheet.

Unfortunately I cannot recommend a google search for “Alan Roy Franklin”. I can only hope this is not the same Alan Franklin as turns up in the results.

Categories: JB Leeander, Missouri, St. Louis

The Statics

August 3, 2017 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

The Statics are an obscure band from the St. Louis, Missouri area. In the spring of 1968 they cut their only single. “Again and Again” veers from a slow start to a hurried pace and back again, with some very gloomy organ playing and frantic drumming.

The Library of Congress catalog shows it was copyrighted in April, 1968 as simply “Again”, featuring words by Lanny McCormick and music by Bob Gleitze, who seems to have signed my copy of the 45.

The designated A-side was “I Can’t Hold It Back”, a sedate ballad also written by McCormick and Gleitze, but this side suffers from a constant high-pitched sound throughout the song.

Produced by Albert Gleitze, and with a credit to Leeander Productions at 2335 Weaton in the Hanley Hills section of St. Louis, a little north of Washington University. Seems to be the only release on the JB Leeander label.

The band had one further copyright for a song called “You Didn’t Believe Me”, again by McCormick and Gleitze, and submitted by Mark Schieferle in November 1968.

Categories: Connecticut, Discotech, New Haven

The Original Sinners

July 30, 2017 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

The Original Sinners formed at Yale University in New Haven. Robert Brentson Smith wrote “You’ll Never Know (What Love Is All About)”, which borrows the opening riff of the Stones’ “Empty Heart” for an archetypal garage single, with put-down lyrics, good harmony vocals, harp and a guitar break.

Brent Smith and Stew Metz wrote the stomping, bluesy “(Any Time You Need Me) I’ll Be Home”, freshened like the flip by good harmonies and balance in rhythm & lead guitar.

Both songs were copyrighted in April of 1966 with Cowardly Lion Music BMI. Produced by Bass & Reiser, it was released in May, 1966 on Discotech DTR-1001 (stamped Columbia custom pressing code ZTSP 122156/7 – 1A).

There’s no link between this Discotech label and the Ohio label that had cool releases by the Nomads and others.

Categories: Audio Dynamics, Massachusetts, Worcester

The Bristols on Audio Dynamics

July 30, 2017 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

The Bristols have a 45 well-known among soul collectors, “(Go Away) With a Girl Like Her” / “Where Am I Going”. Cash Box gave it a positive review in August, 1967.

According to a youtube comment from band member Dale Monette:

The black label was the first issue of the recording. After Audio Dynamics re-released it on the white label. It was engineered by Don Carmody who owned the studio, and Dick Booth who was a great guy and helped us get airplay on WHYN is Springfield MA and other stations around the western New England area in the summer of 1967. It rose to number 11 on the WHYN top 40. It stayed on the chart 8 weeks.

The band was from Worcester, Massachusetts, and included Dave Rivers on vocals and Dale Monette on drums. Judging from song writing credits on their first 45, other members may have been Gabrenas and Strom.

Much more obscure is their second single, also on Audio Dynamics. “Cross Your Heart” has some of the soulfulness of their first single, but I like the slow dreamy quality of the flip, “I Need Only You”. Both sides lack the commercial production of the “(Go Away) With a Girl Like Her” / “Where Am I Going”.

Like their first single, there’s a credit to Dick Booth for arrangment and production, but no song writing credits, only the Audyn Music BMI publishing.

The Audio Dynamics discography is a jumble of different codes, making an exact release chronology difficult. Some releases have numbers ending three digits beginning with 6: the Pentagons is 671, the first Bristols 45 672, and the second Bristols single has 673 on one side and 674 on the other. The Chain Reaction single has 682 in the code.

Categories: Discotech, Ohio, Sylvania, Toledo

The Nomads on Discotech

July 29, 2017 Chris Bishop 5 Comments

The Nomads were from the Toledo and Sylvania, Ohio area.

Members were:

John Radabaugh – lead vocals
Carter Rae – lead guitar
Jerry NcNutt – bass
Jim Smith – drums

They released their only single in June, 1967, it was actually recorded at Motown Studios in Detroit.

“I Need Your Love” is stellar 12-string harmony rock, with an interesting middle section. It was written by Carter Rae and John Radabaugh and published by B-W Music, Inc. BMI.

“Willow Wind” is a Kingston Trio cover; the Nomads version is a favorite of some teen doo-wop fans.

The Nomads opened for the Byrds. Johnny Paris of Johnny and the Hurricanes used to sit in with them sometimes. Chip Davis, later of Mannheim Steamroller, was a drummer with the Nomads for a time.

The band broke up when members entered college.

Gary Rhamy produced the 45. Discotech was his label and also released the Last Exit’s “It’s The Same The Whole World Over” and the Sands ov Tyme.

Credited as a WilMat-Rhamy Production, his partners were Willis Parker and engineer Bob Matthews.

Gary Rhamy became chief engineer of United Audio in Youngstown, which he renamed Peppermint Productions Recording Studio in the early ’70s.

Categories: Not garage, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

The Bacchantes & the Bacchanalia label of Kit Haaland

July 26, 2017 Chris Bishop 2 Comments

The Bacchantes were a studio creation of producer Carsten “Kit” Haaland. Kit Haaland ran the Bacchanalia label and production company in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with enough of a presence to get a listing in the Billboard Buyer’s Guide for five years running from 1968-1972, once with Tom McBryde and DanTaylor listed as Vice Presidents.

Beginning in 1967, Haaland registered a number of songs with the Library of Congress copyright office, including such intriguing titles as “Sun Machine Goddess”, “Bad Dream”, “Focus Your Love Lamp Baby”, “Get Off Your Rock” and “I Want You, Big Man”. I’d like to see the lyrics for these as Haaland seems to have had some message he was trying to deliver.

This single also appears to be from 1967. “Child of the Morning Sun (Bacchanalia #9)” was one of the first songs Haaland copyrighted. The production is upbeat baroque-psychedelic with female vocals. “I’m Leaving You (Bacchanalia #3)” has complicated shifts in tempo and melody.

A second single has “I’m Leaving You (Bacchanalia #3)” done in a soul style with a different arrangement and vocalists. This exists on a white label with blue print, No. G-1219. The A-side has a vocal version credited to the Bacchantes, the flip is an instrumental track credited to Daddy Bacchus Basic.

As far as I can tell, these were the only releases on the Bacchanalia label.

If music was a dead-end for Haaland, he received much more attention for his next venture as an expert on UFO sightings. A 1975 profile in the Kingsport Times-News states “Dr. Kit Haaland is a physicist in the Oak Ridge National Laboratories, currently working on a study of how the nation might survive a hypothetical nuclear war. In his spare time, he directs a group of about 40 scientists who are establishing a tracking network for aerial phenomena [UFOs].”

I believe Carsten Haaland passed away in December 2010.

Categories: Kentucky, Louisville, Perfection

Conception “Babylon” / “The Game”

June 30, 2017 Chris Bishop 2 Comments

The Conception came from Louisville, Kentucky, releasing only one single circa 1969 when the band were in their teens.

“Babylon” is an excellent cover of the Blue Cheer song from Outsideinside, featuring a heavily phased guitar break. “The Game” is an original by lead guitarist Charlie Day: a very different sound featuring acoustic guitar and harmonies.

Charlie Day listed the band members in a comment on youtube:

Bill Tullis – rhythm guitar and low harmony vocals
Charlie Day – lead guitar and high harmony vocals
Mark Zurlage – bass
Jim Dant – drums

Mike Siebold was also in the group at some point.

Stuart Paine produced the single and also played Fender Rhodes on “The Game”. Paine released it on Perfection P-1001, and published “The Game” through Stuart Paine Music BMI.

Paine also co-produced the Waters “Mother Samwell” with Fred Baker as “A Paine-Baker Production”.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

Categories: Coast, Nevada, Reno, Sparks

The Dystraction

May 27, 2017 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

The Dystraction came from Reno, Nevada, its members were juniors in high school when they recorded their single in 1969:

Rick Yancey – lead guitar
Rob Hanna – rhythm guitar
Danny Herring – bass
Scott Monroe – drums

Though young, they cut a great single of original hard rock on Coast Records 6969. Their connection to the Coast label out of Hollywood was Rob Hanna’s father, Bob Hanna, a member of the lounge trio the Esquires who had two releases on Coast. “Where Are We Now” is available on youtube, but I prefer the A-side, the slower and heavier “Wonder What Ya Feel”.

I’ve included the first two minutes of “Wonder What Ya Feel” in this link.

I’ve read the single had two pressings because the labels had songwriter Hanna listed before the band name, leading to confusion as to the group’s name. I haven’t seen the other version of this label, if you have a copy please contact me.

The Dystraction receive notices in the Reno Gazette-Journal, first on March 22, 1969.

Dystraction Releases Disk
The All-Reno youngster Dystraction hard-rock group has released its first record on the Coast label. Both sides of the single were written by the four-member group. “Wonder What you Feel” is the most popular song on the recording and the flipside is “Where Are We Now?”
The three Wooster High School and one Sparks High School students represented Nevada in Atlantic City last year after winning the state-side competition in the “Battle of the Bands.” Danny Herring plays bass, Rick Yancey plays lead guitar, Rob Hanna (son of Bob Hanna of the popular Esquires) plays rhythm and Scott Monroe plays drums for Dystraction. Terming themselves “Hard-rock” musicians, the youths will tour teen-age nightclubs in California and Oregon this summer with a probable engagement at the popular Sound Factory in Sacramento.

Then again on May 17:

For teen-agers only … a dance set to coincide with the Annual Custom Car and Boat Show at the Centennilal Coliseum May 16018. The Reno-formed, Reno-based Dystraction, featuring Danny Herring on bass, Rob Hanna on rhythm, Rich Yancey on guitar and Scot Monroe on drums, will feature new tunes of its own creation like “Where Are We Now,” “Wonder What You Feel” and “Nassar Blues.” The group should grow in prominence this summer with scheduled northwest tour.

On June 22, 1969 the Nevada State Journal covered the finals of the Reno area Battle of the Bands, with four winners going on to the state competition in Las Vegas the following week. The Dystraction was one of the winners, along with the Town Squires, Frog Rock and Jonathan Goodlife. The article included a couple of quotes from Danny Herring and a photo of the Jonathan Goodlife band, whose members were Jerry Werms, James Stipech, Steve Dunwoodie, James Mask and Terry Peterson.

Other bands in the competition included Chipped Beef on Toast, Wheet Straw Blew Grass, Chalk, Mr. Enzyme & the Electric Bean, Snow, and the Hellenic Invasions.

Anyone have a photo of the Dystraction?

Categories: Bell Gardens, California, Discovery, Los Angeles

The Cosmic Tones “Gonna Build Me a Woman” on Discovery

May 7, 2017 Chris Bishop 5 Comments

The Cosmic Tones photo: Morris Ochoa, Vincent Hernandez, David Silva, Terry Williams and (kneeling) Alex Hernandez — The Cosmic Tones, from left: Morris Ochoa, Vincent Hernandez, David Silva, Terry Williams and (kneeling) Alex Hernandez

The Cosmic Tones came out of Bell Gardens, CA, the same town as the Nite Walkers. They cut one single for the Discovery Records label, “Gonna Build Me a Woman” / “Hold It”. Discovery Records later released a cool single by the Missing Links. Like the Missing Links, publishing was through Jarhill Pub. Co, (an amalgam R. Jarrard and James Hilton, who are credited on the Missing Links single).

Members of the Cosmic Tones were:

David Silva – lead guitar
Morris Ochoa – rhythm guitar
Terry Williams – rhythm guitar
Alex Hernandez – bass guitar
Vincent Hernandez Jr. – drums

Bass player Alex Hernandez sent me a photo of the group and told me about the Cosmic Tones:

My name is Alex Hernandez and I played bass in the Cosmic Tones in Bell Gardens, CA. I had wanted to play the guitar since I was about 5 years old. My uncle Chris asked me what song I wanted him to teach me and I said “La Bamba” by Richie Valens. He taught me this song and it was the start of my playing.
When I was 13 I wanted to start a band so I started asking around and my friend Terry Williams was interested. He was 13 also and played rhythm guitar for us. My brother Vincent wanted to play drums, he was 14 years old.
We found David Silva who played lead guitar for us. He was a little older, he was 17 years old. We had a 5th addition in the band, Morris Ochoa and he was 14 then. He only stayed with us for about two months.
We all styled our hair back after ratting it up. We all used about a 1/2 can of Aqua Net hairspray before each play. After being together for about a month we had our first gig on Channel 34, a Mexican channel. We played an instrumental of “La Bamba” and it seemed to be a big hit.
We played songs such as “Whittier Blvd”, “My Girl”, “Land Of a Thousand Dances”. What a great time the ‘60s were. “Twist and Shout” was a favorite. We used to practice at any park that would let us, City of Commerce Park, Bell Gardens Park, Ford Park, and also at a park in Watts. We played at the junior high assemblies.
We also played in many battle of the bands and came in second at Ford Park out of around 12 groups. We played at the Cinnamon Cinder in Hollywood & at the Bob Hope telethon in Hollywood. We played at the Watts Festival and had a great time. We played at the White Front store in L.A. for two weeks after school to promote cerebal palsy research. We played at a teen club the Diamond Horseshoe in La Puenta, & for a CB club in Hidden Valley.
My dad Vincent Hernandez had us cut one 45 record, side A was sung by my brother, “I’m Gonna Build Me A Woman” and side B was an original instrumental.
Our rival band in Bell Gardens was the Nite Walkers. They were a real good group and we all went to school together. We always tried to be better than them and they wanted to be better than us.
The group broke up after about two years and I started playing the upright bass in high school. I joined the Army for 8 years in 1971, My brother joined the Army in 1969 and went to Viet Nam.
We lost sight of David Silva, and Terry Williams holds a jam session up towards San Diego weekly. I don’t know where Morris Ochoa went, My brother retired with the railroad and now manages a trailer park. We are all in our mid ‘60s now but I do know we still enjoy music every day. I retired with FedEx freight in 2013.
The last play I had was with my brother’s group the TCB Flash which is one of the best Elvis groups in southern CA. I sang and played four songs for New Years in 2016 at the Grove Theater in Upland CA. My songs were “House of the Rising Sun”, “Hang On Sloopy”, “Gloria” and “Wooly Bully”. Had a blast from the past and the audience seemed to really enjoy the show.
– Alex Hernandez, 2017

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