The Souldiers

Souldiers Boss 45 Would You Love Me

Here’s an obscure single on Tampa, Florida’s Boss label, the Souldiers with a great harmony song “Would You Kiss Me” b/w an underrated ballad, “Lemon Sun”. Release date was approximately January 1967 on Boss BOS 007 (BSKM-1119/20)

Randy Lewis and Swilley wrote “Would You Kiss Me” for Fulprod Music Pub ASCAP, while Ed Hillert wrote “Lemon Sun” published by Fuller Music Pub. BMI.

Despite the obscurity of the band, the other two names on the labels are famiilar, John Brummage and Charles Fuller.

John Brummage had a hand in the production of the Royal Guardsmen’s “Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron”. He produced the Split Ends “Rich with Nothin'”, the Noah’s Ark “Love In”, several for the Rovin’ Flames including “I Can’t” (which he wrote) on Boss, “Gloria” on Fuller and “How Many Times” on Decca, and many for the Boss label including the Berkley Five’s “You’re Gonna Cry” and the Ravens who I’ll feature soon.

Charles Fuller headed the CFP, Fuller, Tigertown and Boss labels, among others, with Brummage most often listed as producer.

There’s a possibility this Souldiers band is connected to another local group called the Soljers aka Blues Syndicate, with Bob Conn as either member or manager, but otherwise I can’t find any definite info on who was in the band or any photos of the group.

Souldiers Boss 45 Lemon Sun

The Denny and Kenny Duo

The Denny & Kenny Duo at GG's in Davis, CA, from left: Kenny Whitcombe on organ and Dennis Sacco on drums
The Denny & Kenny Duo at GG’s in Davis, CA, from left: Kenny Whitcombe on organ and Dennis Sacco on drums

Denny and Kenny Duo Ikon 45 Meet My Little Sweety In the Night TimeThe Denny and Kenny Duo were Kenny Whitcombe on organ and Dennis Sacco on drums. They came from Davis, California, where they played regularly at Gi-Gi’s night club.

“Meet My Little Sweety In the Night Time” immediately grabs the listener with its speed and echo. I find Sacco’s drum fills endlessly entertaining. The flip “I Love You So” is also good, if not as original. Kenny Whitcombe wrote both songs. Released on Sacramento’s legendary Ikon Records IER 179/180 in 1965.

I’ve always loved this single since hearing it on Crypt Records’s fantastic “The Ikon Records Story”. I finally found a copy, signed by Dennis Sacco! For two people they raise a huge racket.

Whitcombe came from the Carpetbaggers with Dehner Patten who would go into the Oxford Circle and Kak. I’m not sure if this was the same Carpetbaggers from Sausalito who had the single “Let Yourself Go” / “Just a Friend” on the LTD International label in mid-1966. Sausalito is an hour and a half from Davis, but it’s not inconceivable.

Whitcombe opened another Davis club, Mousey’s, and eventually the duo split up. Sacco played with the Daytrippers, then with the Sacramento’s Burgundy Express, and now is pursing a writing career.

Dennis Sacco wrote to me a little about the group, and added more history to the notes for a CD of later, jazzy recordings that he and Kenny did either together or separately.

As a drummer I grew up listening to Gene Krupa, then Joe Morillo and then Louie Bellson.

Back in 1965, Denny and Kenny started playing at GG’s, a little beer bar in Davis, California. Soon, their reputation and fans out grew GG’s. Kenny built a bigger night spot in Davis called Mousie’s. Between GG’s and Mousie’s, Denny and Kenny played in Northern Caliornia and Nevada. During this period, Denny and Kenny cut a record at Ikon Records in Sacramento, California.

Denny and Kenny were a great match. Denny used a Ludwig double bass drum setup and Kenny used a Hammond organ kicking bass pedals. They both did vocals and backup. Many people thought that they were listening to at least four players. They don’t perform as a duo anymore. But each of them, separately or together, have made a few recordings. Included in this album are Kenny’s beautiful and “original” songs (ala 40s style) and some of Denny’s earlier big band recordings for you to listen and enjoy.

There’s a small but interesting genre of organ and drum duo records that include the Me and Him Duo and the Chancellors b-side “5 Minus 3”.

Denny and Kenny Duo Ikon 45 I Love You So

The Me and Him Duo

Me And Him Duo Paza 45 On the MoneyThe Me and Him Duo were organ player Phil Long and (I believe) drummer John Hill, from Pottstown and Reading, Pennsylvania. They have a good instrumental on Paza Records, “On the Money” backed with a vocal by Phil Long “Stay With Me”.

Songwriting is credtied to Philip Long and John C. Hill for Mamy Music Corp. and Mary Hill Music BMI.

Phil Long’s real name was Philip Charles Peter Vagnoni. He was related to country songwriter Shorty Long (Emedio Vagnoni). Phil continued playing organ in the Pottstown area with other drummers including Scot Raugh. Phil passed away in July 2008 in Reading, PA.

This is a mid-late ’60s record, not ‘garage’ by most people’s definition, but I’m posting partly to compare it to other organ and drum duos such as the Denny & Kenny Duo, and the Chancellors (usually a quintet but one of their Fenton singles has the instrumental “5 Minus 3” by organist Jim Ovaitt and drummer Rick Garfield):

I shouldn’t leave out the Cosmic Rock Show whose fabulous “Psiship” / “Rising Sun” takes the duo concept into new experimental territory, released in 1968 on Blitz Records 469 from the Minneapolis area.

The Sounds, Ltd. featuring Phil Jackson

Sounds, Ltd. Peak 45 Slimy Sue“Slimy Sue” by the Sounds, Ltd. featuring Phil Jackson is the kind of odd, non-commercial record of the ’60s garage era that I love.

These lyrics are bizarre, with plenty of humor in the masochism of the second and third verses.

I got me a woman, buddy, she’s got purple hair
Ain’t no other woman, buddy, that can compare, that can compare
To my girl, true blue, back alley Sue
Slimy Sue, yeah, well alright now

When I want some lovin,’ buddy, Sue knows what to do
She can kiss so gently, buddy, turns me black and blue
My girl, true blue, back alley Sue
Slimy Sue, yeah, well alright now

Hit it [guitar break]

When I get in trouble, buddy, with someone tough like you
Me, I never worry, buddy, I call on Sue, I call on Sue
My girl, black belt, weight lifting, Sue
Slimy Sue, yeah, well alright now

Philip W. Jackson wrote this song as well as the flip, “Fly Away”, for Cookie Crumb Music, BMI.

The Sounds, Ltd. recorded at Midwestern Recording Studios at 3140 The Paseo, Kansas City, Missouri. The studio’s own Peak label released the single on P-108 in October 1966. I’d like to know more about the band, who maintain a rough but great sound throughout “Slimy Sue”.

The band was from St. Joseph, Missouri, about 45 miles north of Kansas City. “Fly Away” was the ostensible A-side at the time, a kind of folky almost hippie-sounding song featuring lead vocalist Kathy Helmick.

Midwestern Recorders operated a studio since at least 1952 if not earlier, originally releasing records on the Central label. I assume other garage bands must have used Midwestern but haven’t found evidence of that yet.

Sounds, Ltd. Peak 45 Fly Away

The Organized Confusion “Tell Me Why” / “Makes Me Sad” on Golden Records

Organized Confusion Promo Photo

Organized Confusion Golden 45 Tell Me WhyI wrote about Alva Starr, who had two interesting garage releases on Golden Records of La., based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This single by the Organized Confusion is the other garage single on that label. It features two good original songs by Bill Richards, “Tell Me Why” b/w “Makes Me Sad”. Production credited to Ebb Tide and Randy Darnell, published by Darn-L. Copyrights for these two songs plus one called “Bad Girl” were registered with the Library of Congress in May 1968.

Ebb-Tide Golden Records Billboard February 3, 1968
One of Ebb-Tide ‘s ads in Billboard looking for songs and master tapes.

Interestingly, the band was from the Detroit, Michigan area. Ebb-Tide (Ebb Harrison or Ebb Harris) of Golden Records ran classified ads in Billboard in 1967 and 1968 looking for songs and finished songs. Randy Darnell of “The Darnell Sound” may have seen these ads and responded, or A&R man Bob Balog may have brought the band to Golden.

A promotional photo from the old G45 Central forum shows the band in a tree, and the songs for the single list “Hang On, He’s Not Coming” instead of “Tell Me Why”. Contact info is given both for the label, Golden Records and the production company, Darnell Sound Production, which has an address of 13079 Northline, Southgate, MI, south of downtown Detroit. Darnell and Balog also placed the Liquid-Candy “Hold On-I’m Coming” on Golden.

The Organized Confusion, from left: Joe Grabowski, Mark Bruce (friend of band filling in for Matt Sclafani), Dave Thibert, Bill Richards and Al Consiglio
The Organized Confusion, from left: Joe Grabowski, Mark Bruce (friend of band filling in for Matt Sclafani), Dave Thibert, Bill Richards and Al Consiglio

Update, February 2017:

Joe Grabowski and Al Consiglio sent in the photo of the group standing in front of trees and gave me more info about the band:

Dave Thibert – lead vocals
Bill Richards – lead guitar
Joe Grabowski- rhythm guitar
Matt Sclafani – bass guitar
Al Consiglio – drums

In the mid 60’s two Wyandotte friends and neighbors, Al Consiglio and Joe Grabowski joined Al’s cousin Matt Sclafani, living in Southgate, who knew Bill Richards and Dave Thibert. The five put together a play list, rehearsed the tunes and played local venues. Bill wrote the two recorded songs and pursued the necessary contacts to find the recording studio of Randy Darnell at 13079 Northline Road in Southgate, MI and produce the record. The building now is a beauty salon.

The band stayed together for a short time after making the record as the members focused their attention on finishing school, girls, cars and careers (in no particular order). To my knowledge no one was in a band prior to or went on to join other bands after the Organized Confusion.

Venues:

Knights of Columbus – downtown Wyandotte, MI
Knights of Columbus – Southgate, MI
Southgate Anderson High School – Southgate, MI
Davidson Jr High School – Southgate, MI
ALSAC Benefit with many other local bands including Little Carl Carlton – River Rouge, MI
Lawrence Technological University (Lawrence Institute of Technologies) – Southfield, MI
Southgate Shopping Center (in front of Montgomery Ward) – Southgate, MI
Aquinas High School – Southgate, MI

Organized Confusion Golden 45 Makes Me Sad

Alva Starr “Clock on the Wall” and “Light of 1000 Years” on Golden Records

Alva Starr ad in Billboard, September 9, 1967
Alva Starr ad in Billboard, September 9, 1967
Alva Starr Golden 45 Clock on the WallAlva Starr Golden 45 Light of 1000 YearsAlva Starr was a character in the Tennessee Williams play This Property Is Condemned. Natalie Wood portrayed Alva Starr in the 1966 flim of the same name, with a screenplay written in part by Francis Ford Coppola.

Alva is not a common name now, but you may recall it was phonograph inventor Thomas Edison’s middle name. Alva Starr became the stage name for Alva Snelling, a songwriter and singer from, possibly, Denham Springs, Louisiana, a few miles east of Baton Rouge.

Snelling recorded two singles in August and September 1967 for the Baton Rouge label Golden Records, owned by Ebb-Tide, short for Ebenezer K. Harris.

The first, on Golden 102 is the psychedelic-garage classic “Clock on the Wall”, where Alva intones lyrics like “time has made slaves of us all … the clock ticks away at our destiny … the hands they move with such a pace as to control the lives of the human race” while the band vamps with a monotonous drum beat in the background.

The flip side is the bizarre and cool patriotic ode “Space Race to the Moon” which includes lyrics like “the moon must be free, because that’s the way God meant it to be”. Alva Snelling wrote both songs, published by Sano Pub. Co BMI.

His second single is another fine original “Light of 1000 Years” played with a defter touch than the first, and backed with a cover of Arthur Alexander’s “Anna”. Snelling registered “Light of 1000 Years” with the Library of Congress in March of 1966.

As to who was backing Alva Starr, one commentator on youtube suggests the band was named the Luvrakers. I couldn’t find info on the Luvrakers other than they had a guitarist named Susan Owens probably at a later date than these recordings. However John Herring of the Lost Generation  doesn’t recall Susan Owens, but provided me with the names of the Luvrakers:

Rodney White – lead guitar and vocals
L.J. DeMaio (DeMiah? – how should this be spelled? – now calls himself L.J. Copas of the Copas Brothers) – rhythm guitar and vocals
Alva Snelling – bass and lead vocals
Alva’s brother – keyboard
David Cook – drums

Alva Starr Golden 45 AnnaAlva Starr and Ebb Tide produced both of these singles on “Golden-Records of La.” Golden Records had an address of PO Box 2544 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Both singles were released with gold-colored labels, though some copies of “Light of 1000 Years” have blue labels.

In 1986 Alva’s current band the Luv-Rakers recorded a heavy version of “Clock on the Wall” on Angel Records 1006, b/w “Lost Things and Changes” (written by Susan Owens).

Alva Snellling seems to have died in 1995, but I can’t find confirmation of this.

Other than Alva Starr and an interesting release by a Detroit group, Organized Confusion, most releases on Golden Records were country or soul music. 45 Cat has a nearly complete discography.

Blue label version scan taken from Mojama Records. Tip of the hat to Chaim O’Brien-Blumenthal for finding the Billboard ad at top.

Alva Starr Golden 45 Light of 1000 Years
Unusual blue label version of “Light of 1000 Years”

The Johnnys

Warner Bros Buys Valiant, Billboard April 22, 1967
Warner Bros Buys Valiant, April 22, 1967

The Johnnys Warner Bros 45 Nothing Sacred“Nothing Sacred” blends mournful sustained guitar with bright harmony vocals for a captivating song. Unfortunately it was relegated to the B-side of the only release by the Johnnys.

The Johnnys get a mention in an April 22, 1967 article in Billboard as one of the artist contracts transferred to Warner Bros when it purchased the Valiant Records label. Song writer Bodie Chandler is also named in the article. He and Edward McKendry wrote “Nothing Sacred”, and Chandler arranged the song. Chandler had been part of Barry & The Tamerlanes and has an extensive writing catalog.

The ostensible A-side is the more conventional “I Remember” written and arranged by Jack Walker. Both sides were published by Tamerlane Music, BMI

This single had release in July of 1967 on Warner Bros 7057. I can’t find any other mention of the Johnnys or who was in the group. I assume they were from California but that is only a guess. If anyone has more info please contact me.

The Johnnys Warner Bros 45 I Remember

The Phantoms – unknown band

The Phantoms, Concord Camera Club photo
The Phantoms, Concord Camera Club photo

Here’s a good photo of a band that would be anonymous but luckily the photo was mounted to a backing board which names the band as the Phantoms, and the photographer as Newell Wood of Ulfinian Way in Martinez, CA. It also tells that the photo placed second in the Concord California Club miniprints competition in June of 1966.

Martinez is about 8 miles from Concord, and the band could be from anywhere around the East Bay, Vallejo or Walnut Creek. I’m not aware of any group named the Phantoms from that area, or if they made any recordings.

The Phantoms photo detail
The Phantoms photo detail

The Phantoms, Concord Camera Club Photo Contest

Lord Douglas and the Serfs

Lord Douglas and the Serfs HR 45 Your Turn to CryLord Douglas and the Serfs were students at Hiram College, about 40 miles Southeast of Cleveland. Producer Howard Russell brought them to Cleveland radio station WSLR to record two originals for their only single on HR Records 606.

Gerald Johnson and Robert Kopp wrote “Your Turn to Cry” which features harmony vocals and a great bass line in the break. Kopp, Alexander and Smith wrote the flip side, “The Way of a Man” which has a catchy chorus and a brief subdued solo that reminds me of something on the Velvet Underground’s third LP.

The band registered “Your Turn to Cry” with the Library of Congress on August 29, 1966 but the single’s release date is approximately February 1967.

Lord Douglas and the Serfs HR 45 The Ways Of A Man

Freddie Mack’s bands March 1968-February 1969

Cover of Freddy Mack's Live album, re-released by Acid Jazz
Cover of Freddy Mack’s Live album, re-released by Acid Jazz

Retired American light-heavyweight boxer Freddie Mack, sometimes spelt Freddy Mack and also known as Mr Superbad, relocated to the UK in 1965 and established a second career as a soul singer and disc jockey.

Between late 1965 and the mid-1970s, Mack fronted a succession of bands featuring a staggering number of notable British R&B and soul musicians. Originally called The Mack Sound, the singer’s bands also worked under the names The Freddie Mack Sound, The Fantastic Freddie Mack Show and the Freddie Mack Extravaganza.

Thanks to tenor sax player Geoff Driscoll, it’s possible to pin down the line-up for Freddie Mack’s band from about early March 1968 through to around February 1969.

According to Driscoll, drummer Colin Davy left shortly before he joined (later playing with Joe Cocker among many others). The band, he adds, had just returned from playing the Blow Up Club in Munich (from mid-to-late March) which Davy’s replacement Pete Hunt had played.

When Driscoll hooked up with Freddie Mack around early April, the band comprised:

Freddie Mack – lead vocals

Tony Morgan – lead vocals

Sonny Gibbons – lead vocals

Tony St Clair (Sinclair) – lead guitar

Roy Davies – organ

Alan Cartwright – bass

Sonny Corbett – trumpet

Phil Kenzie – tenor saxophone

Dave Potter – tenor saxophone

Geoff Driscoll – tenor saxophone 

Dave Coxhill – baritone saxophone

Pete Hunt – drums (took over from Colin Davy in mid-to-late March in time for Munich trip)

Of the new line-up, Pete Hunt came from the Southampton area and had worked with a number of bands, most notably The Quik, The Meddyevils and The Soul Agents.

Tony St Clair, who came from Hackney, had joined Phil Wainman’s band literally a few weeks after they’d played the Christmas/New Year show with Freddie Mack in 1965. He would remain with Wainman’s band as it became The New Generation and backed Jimmy Cliff during 1966. The formation then joined forces with Gary Hamilton and became The Hamilton Movement. When St Clair left in late 1967, it’s reported that he played with Lace.

Phil Kenzie of course had worked with Freddie Mack in 1966 and had gone on to play with Sonny Childe & The TNT, Tuesday’s Children and PP Arnold & TNT in the interim.

Dave Coxhill had played with Tony Knight’s Chessmen and would also spend time with The Cat Soul Packet in late 1967 (and possibly early 1968).

According to the band’s roadie Martin James Lumley, Nigerian conga player Jimmy Scott was also a member during this period.

Geoff Driscoll recalls that the new line-up soon returned to the Blow Up Club in Munich via a gig in Belgium and then travelled to Rome to play at the famous Piper Club for three weeks. Some of the band met an RCA record executive who informed the musicians that the label was about to release a single by an actor that was going to be an enormous hit – it was Richard Harris’ “MacArthur Park”.

However, after nearly a year of playing with Mack and moaning about not getting paid, the band split from the singer (around February 1969) whereupon they were approached by Dave Hadfield to work as the house band (The Breed) at his Maximum Sound Studio on the Old Kent Road. The Breed backed a few reggae singers on Hadfield’s label before Manfred Mann got involved and lured the horn section away for Manfred Mann Chapter 3.

While Dave Coxhill and Sonny Corbett remained with Manfred Mann Chapter 3, Geoff Driscoll and Phil Kenzie reunited with Roy Davies and Alan Cartwright in Sweet Water Canal. Pete Hunt later worked with The Jess Roden Band among many others.

Selected gigs:

Melody Maker notes in its 2 March issue that the group was playing in Salisbury (not Alex’s Disco unless they replaced the advertised act) and Tony Morgan was taken to hospital with a knife wound.

8 March 1968 – Bradford University, Student Union with The Attack, The Quick Selection and The Collection

15 March 1968 – 400 Club, Torquay, Devon

16 March 1968 – Impsella Club, Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire

16 March 1968 – Loughborough University, Loughborough with The Nice (The Pretty Things don’t show)

It was around now that Pete Hunt replaced Colin Davy on drums (not clear if it was before or after the Munich gigs below). Davy would reunite with former member Dave Tedstone in Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band in mid-August 1968.

Del Paramor says his group The Warren Davis Monday Band finished at the Blow Up Club in Munich (see Driscoll’s comment above) on 17 March and that Freddie Mack took over. The residency was probably for two weeks, starting on 18 March.

22 March 1968 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (unlikely considering Munich gig)

Norwich newspaper The Eastern Evening News notes that the group is in Germany the week that they are due to play a show on 27 March at the University of East Anglia (which is rearranged for 15 June). 

31 March 1968 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands (may not have happened if they were still in Germany)

Geoff Driscoll would have joined The Mack Sound around the first week of April.

5 April 1968 – Grand Ballroom, Leicester with Chalky & The Decoys

6 April 1968 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts

9 April 1968 – Maidstone Corn Exchange, Maidstone, Kent

12 April 1968 – Flamingo Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall (listed as 7-piece Mac Sounds)

13 April 1968 – Winter Gardens Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall

14 April 1968 – Flamingo Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall (listed as 15-piece)

15 April 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with The Vigilantes (listed as 15-piece)

19 April 1968 – Top Rank Suite, Leicester with Johnny Wollaston and His Band

 

25 April 1968 – Flying Fox Club, Cottesmore, Rutland with Symbolin and A Mystery Group

It’s probably around late April that the band plays in Belgium on its way to a second residency at the Blow Up Club in Munich.

The group would probably have started its three-week residency at the Piper Club in Rome around 6 May, heading back to the UK around the last week of May.

7 June 1968 – Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Dual Purpose

8 June 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands

9 June 1968 – Cosmo, Carlisle, Cumbria with Jasper Stubbs Gloryland Band

10 June 1968 – Quaintways, Chester, Cheshire with Shady Lane

15 June 1968 – East Anglia Rag, University of East Anglia’s Student Union, Norwich, Norfolk (originally booked for 27 March but rearranged as they were in Germany)

16 June 1968 – Mothers, Erdington, West Midlands

17 June 1968 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Barmy Barry

19 June 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham, London

25 June 1968 – Droitwich Winter Gardens, Droitwich, Worcestershire with Breakdown

26 June 1968 – Top Rank Birmingham Suite, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)

30 June 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham, south London

30 June 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Keef Hartley

 

4 July 1968 – Concorde, Basset Hotel, Southampton, Hampshire

6 July 1968 – The Swan, Yardley, West Midlands with Soul Express

19 July 1968 – Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon with The Emotions

20 July 1968 – Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, Cornwall (the group may have played gigs in Europe immediately after this date)

Melody Maker‘s 27 July issue, page 20,  says that the band is back after a series of continental gigs. 

28 July 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London

 

8 August 1968 – Fishmonger’s Arms, Wood Green, London

14 August 1968 – Winter Gardens Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall

15 August 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with Fire and Sons and Lovers

16 August 1968 – Pavilion Ballroom, Bournemouth, Dorset with Jamies Jyg Saw

17 August 1968 – New King’s Bay, Herne Bay, Kent

23 August 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham, West Midlands

24 August 1968 – Tin Hat, Kettering, Northamptonshire

25 August 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London

31 August 1968 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire

 

2 September 1968 – Bluesology Festival, Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire with Fleetwood Mac, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds, Family, The Move and others

7 September 1968 – Princess Pavilion, Falmouth, Cornwall with The Mood

10 September 1968 – Black Horse, Kidderminster, Worcestershire

23 September 1968 – Quaintways, Chester, Cheshire with Cleo’s Mood and Systems Five

25 September 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London (cancelled due to illness)

26 September 1968 – Blue Pacific, Bristol Hotel, Gloucester

28 September 1968 – Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey

Around this time, the band was joined by Jamaican singer Owen Grey.

Photo: Melody Maker October 1968

3 October 1968 – Samantha’s, New Burlington Street, London

5 October 1968 – Walsall Town Hall, Walsall, West Midlands with John McFlare Band

6 October 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands

6 October 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London (this was pushed back to 13 October)

13 October 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London (this was pushed back from 6 October and marks the group’s third anniversary)

19 October 1968 – Shrewsbury Music Hall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

24 October 1968 – Concorde, Basset Hotel, Southampton, Hampshire

25 October 1968 – Spinning Wheel Discotheque, Great Hall, Isle o Ely College, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

25 October 1968 – Victoriana, Liverpool (9.30pm) and then Mardi Gras Club, Liverpool (11.30pm)

26 October 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham, West Midlands

30 October 1968 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands

 

1 November 1968 – Queen Mary’s College, Mile End Road, London with Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Fairport Convention, Blossom Toes, The Web and Black Cat Bones

2 November 1968 – Chelmsford Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex

4-6 November 1968 – Hatchettes Playground, Piccadilly, London

9 November 1968 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Sweetshop

15 November 1968 – Shrubbery Hotel, Ilminster, Somerset with Fascination

16 November 1968 – Elms Court, Botley, Oxford

22 November 1968 – Co-op Hall, Nuneaton, Warwickshire with Legay

 

13 December 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham, West Midlands with The Gun

14 December 1968 – Glastonbury Town Hall, Glastonbury, Somerset with Sandy’s People

16 December 1968 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Barmy Barry

21 December 1968 – The Swan, Yardley, West Midlands

By January 1969, the band was starting to be billed as The Freddy Mack Extravaganza.

17-18 January 1969 – Birmingham’s First 1969 Extravaganza, Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham, West Midlands with The Locomotive, The Fantastics, The Flirtations, The Californians, Ivan Chin Steel Band, Liz Christian and The Ebonites

23 January 1969 – Club Cedar, Birmingham with ‘Fat Boy’ Billy Stewart

23 January 1969 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London

27 January 1969 – Shipley Boat, Shipley, Eastwood Nottinghamshire with Fatboy Billy Stewart (this is probably one of the final gigs by the current formation)

Melody Maker‘s 8 March issue notes that Freddie Mack is forming a new 11-piece band to debut on 11 April in Bristol at the New Market Hotel.

GARAGE HANGOVER WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM ANYONE THAT CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE 1969-1970 PERIOD.

I would personally like to thank Geoff Driscoll for helping to piece together this part of the band’s story. Thanks also to Greg Russo and Bruce Welsh.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS BELOW TO ADD/CORRECT INFORMATION

Live gig sources:

During my research on Freddie Mack from 1965-1969, I have found gigs from the sources that include:

The Cornish Guardian, Derby Evening Telegraph, Evening Sentinel, Melody Maker, Gloucester Citizen, West Briton & Royal Cornwall Gazette, Lincolnshire Guardian, Birmingham Evening Mail, NME, Northwich Chronicle, Sheffield Star, Warrington Guardian, Wrexham Leader, Express & Star, Nottingham Evening Post

Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author. To contact the author, email: Warchive@aol.com or nick_warburton@hotmail.com

 

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