Johnny Eaton – lead vocals Dave Thompson – lead guitar Louis McKelvey – rhythm guitar Dave Wigginton – bass Alan Worrell – drums
Johnny & The Pursuers was a short-lived R&B outfit from Twickenham, Middlesex, formed around 1961. Drummer Alan Worrell had gone to Spring Grove Grammar School in Isleworth and was classmates with future Small Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan. They had previously worked together in a skiffle group with Terry Munro.
According to Worrell, Ian McLagan designed and produced the group’s business cards in black and silver (see bottom).
On 28 April 1962, the band took part in the Twickenham Rhythm contest alongside local rivals Colin Shane & The Shannons and The Bullets. They also played at Wimbledon Theatre for a week in the Tommy Trinder variety show.
In early 1963, Dave Wigginton and Louis McKelvey departed to join Jeff Curtis & The Flames while Worrell went on to play with Colin Shane & The Shannons.
Garage Hangover would be interested to hear more about this band and what happened to its members.
Thanks to Alan Worrell for the information and images.
E Biggs – vocals P Ravenill – lead guitar B Brown – rhythm guitar J Bennett – bass Keith McGregor – drums
The Bullets were a little known West London R&B band who participated in the 1962 Borough of Twickenham Rhythm contest on 28 April 1962 alongside Johnny & The Pursuers and Colin Shane & The Shannons.
Keith McGregor later played with Nightshift who had featured Jeff Beck on guitar before he had joined.
Garage Hangover would be interested to hear more about this band and what happened to its members.
Here’s a great single by the Skeptics, whom I’ve read were from Dayton, Ohio. The urgency and scuzzy burning distortion on the guitar on “Wondering” scream out 1968 to me, a date confirmed by the QCA # 80330, specifically March 1968. The flip is a slow recitative called “I’m Lonely Again” that I find less essential.
This band of Skeptics is not related to the Oklahoma group who cut “Apple Candy”, “Stripes”, and “Turn It On” among other classics.
There’s very little info on the label, even the publishing is limited to simply BMI. No trace seems to exist in BMI’s databases, but I found a Library of Congress copyright record listing Michael Downing (Michael Joseph Downing) and John Hoskins as co-composers of both songs, plus Donald Ray Parrett on “Wondering”, published by Lamar Music in May of 1968. Presumably Downing, Hoskins and Don Parrett were members of the band.
Spring Records was part of O’Brien’s Recording Service in Springfield, Ohio, 24 miles north east of Dayton. There were at least a few releases on the Spring label, but this may be the only one in a rock style. The 45s were pressed at Queen City Albums in Cincinnati.
O’Brien’s Recording Service did register copyrights for a few of song-poem composer Irene Dollar Heffner’s songs, including one, “Vietnam Sweetheart” that was sung by Rodd Keith (under the alias of John Dough). The flip of that was arranged by Jeanne O’Brien.
The New Generations came from St Marys, a rural town in NW Pennsylvania. They had one single on the amazingly-named Bomb Records, “It’s Alright” written by Victor St. John b/w “I Told You Once” by Blake Haberberger. Both songs were produced by Larry Fairchild and published by Magnetic Reproductions, BMI
I’m partial to the b-side, “I Told You Once” which has a perfectly moody, low-key atmosphere.
The RCA custom pressing code SK4M 3110/1 indicates the second half of 1965, the labels also have other codes: 885-2, YZ 2154/5 whose meaning I don’t know.
I’ve read two members were with the St. Marys band the Cyclones, who had their own excellent single, “She’s No Good” / “Time for Me to Leave” both written by Hampton for Lee Music BMI in December 1965.
If anyone knows the names of other members of either band, or has a photo of either group, please contact me.
Denny Murphy – lead vocals Terry Murphy – lead guitar, lead vocals Kenneth Sigler – bass John Sebring – rhythm guitar Ronnie Cooper – drums
The great majority of the information in this post is from Andrew Brown’s Brown Paper Sack.
Terry Murphy started playing with school friends when he was in 7th grade in 1964 in Tyler, Texas. The group was dubbed Murphy and the Mob by an adult as a joke but it stuck. A year later Terry found a more serious group of musicians, kept the band name and started practicing regularly in the Murphy family living room.
The group played live at a local teen club called The Plum, at the Bergfeld Park ampitheatre, at the YMCA and at their Catholic high school. At the Bergfeld Park battle of the bands produced by Rodney Kamel, Murphy & the Mob would compete with The Marauders (from Troup, TX), the Hobos from Jacksonville, and the Indifferents from Tyler, featuing Terry’s friend Sam Blanchard. (The Indifferents had a 45 on Valor, “Cindy” / “She’ll Be Back”).
In October 1966, the band went to Steve Wright Studios in Tyler to cut their only single, hoping for some success with “Because You Love Me” an original by Terry and featuring his lead vocal. Funds for the recording came from the father of Terry’s girlfriend, Diane Whitten. For a B-side, the band tried “Born Loser”, a song co-written by Terry, Denny and the group’s manager, Steve Brewerton, who was attending Tyler Junior College that year.
Dennis and Terry Murphy and Steve Brewerton (and their moms!) signed publishing contracts with Steve Wright’s Thunderball Music Co. for “Born Loser” in October 1966. Interestingly the three also signed a contract on July 14, 1966 for an unrecorded song called “Don’t Let It Blow Your Mind”.
The band pressed 500 copies to be sold at Anton’s Records in the Weingarten Shopping Center, and reached #11 on KDOK’s charts in November 1966. The band continued until the summer of 1967. Terry Murphy stayed in music while Denny Murphy and Ronnie Cooper left music. Sadly, Kenneth Sigler and John Sebring passed away many years ago.
Stephen Brewerton, in the 1966 Tyler Junior College yearbook
I was a nerd going to junior college trying to avoid the draft. I began making fur vest out of old fur coats discarded behind a local high end department store. I began selling these fur vests to rock bands. Some were sold to bands that recorded at Robinhood Bryan’s recording studio and Steve Wright’s recording studio. I met Terry and Dennis Murphy and somehow became their manager. I wrote the lyrics to “Born Loser.” I managed them for two months. After I quit managing them, Terry and Dennis put music to my lyrics and recorded the songs at Steve Wright’s recording studio. The “A” side made it to the top 10 on KDOK radio station, the local rock station. “Born Loser” made it into the top 40 on KZEY, the local R & B station. After that I joined the Navy and went to war and became an alcoholic. I am a hell of a lot more proud of my small volume of poetry, “Ramblings Of An Alcoholic Mind” than I am the lyrics of “Born Loser.”
Stephen added to Oktay Gürbüz:
I have lost touch with all persons involved in [the] Mob and don’t know where to find them. As I stated before, I am not interested in an MOB projects. I cant remember even one word of “Born Loser”. Terry and Dennis probably consider this infatuation with Murphy and the Mob as I do as a mere childhood juvenile frivolity.
Thank you to Andrew Brown, Morgan Young, Terry Murphy and Stephen Brewerton, and to Oktay Gürbüz who prodded me to do this article for a long time!
I am a loner baby, I swing alone I’ve got my own pad and an unlisted phone A steady job, that’s all I need One pocket to fill, baby, just one mouth to feed
I got no pals, but look who’s got the gals They come to my pad because they want me so bad I sleep all day and I swing all night I’m so cool, baby, I’m just out of sight
(spoken) All these people. I mean, people they just don’t understand. They see me coming, they shake their head and say, “Look at him. He’s the born loser. Well, look at him. Born loser.” All right.
– Born Loser by Murphy, Murphy and Brewerton
Murphy and the Mob and Thunderball Music contract for “Born Loser”, courtesy of Stephen Brewerton
Murphy and the Mob and Thunderball Music contract for “Don’t Let It Blow Your Mind”, courtesy of Stephen Brewerton
Stark Records in Mount Airy, North Carolina is famous for the single by the Nomads, “Not For Me” / “How Many Times” as well as a good rockabilly 45 by David Southerland and the Southerns. I don’t have the Nomads, but I’ve picked up this oddity, a soulful and very crude single by the Happy Hoss, which seems to be a pseudonym for song writer Alan Westmoreland.
The top side is “Call Me Baby”, the vocalist shouting out the repetitive lyrics in a hoarse voice (ha ha) answered by high-pitched backing vocals. The flip “You’re The One (I Love)” is a ballad with saxophone.
Years later I found a copy that had white labels pasted over what appear to be maroon Stark labels. Most of the info was identical, except a 1972 date and “Prod. by Paul E. Johnson” have been added, and the release number changed to PBR-100. Whatever the second label name was, it has been pasted over again, so it reads “HELLO RECORDS”! This may be a second pressing, as the shape of the vinyl under the labels is different.
White labels are pasted over what look to be maroon Stark labels, then “HELLO” pasted over the label name!Mount Airy is a small town very close to the Virginia border, 37 miles northwest of Winston-Salem. Stark Records had at least fourteen singles and a couple albums. The label seems to have been run by Thomas Paul Stark, as every release has Tom Paul Music Co. BMI in the publishing.
The Nomads single is their first, and they recalled the studio being in a basement when they cut their 45 and demos. Their next 45 “Thoughts of a Madman” / “From Zero Down” was released on the Tornado Records label (Tornado 159 in April of 1967), which also featured a release by Joe Stone and Bobby Atkins (Tornado T-136, “Mister Bluegrass”) who have a 45 on Stark. Tornado Records was similarly dominated by country releases.
Stark Records Discography(any help with this would be appreciated):
Stark S-001 – Cara Stewart with Lee Hudson Orchestra – “My Darling” / “Be Sure That You Mean It” (both by Jerry Thomas, W-300/W-301) Stark SR-002 – Joe Stone and Bobby Atkins & the Dixie Mountaineers – “Love Is A Lot To Understand” / “Bob’s Special” Stark SR-003 – Bobby Atkins & the Farm Hands – “Lonesome Banjo” / “My Darling And Me” Stark SR-004 – The Country Cousins – “Wrong Side Of Town” / “Bought Me A Farm” Stark SR-005 – David Sutherland and the Southerns – “You Better Leave My Baby Alone” (Sutherland) / “Whispering Bill” (“A Product of Pilot Record Co.”) Stark SR-006 – Randy Scott – “If Seeing Is Believing” (David Sutherland) / “You’ve Lost Too Much” Stark SR-006 EP – Siney Ann Wooten – “Darling You Don’t Love Me Anymore” (Paul Johnson, Johnny Long) / “Crazy Mixed Up Town” (David Sutherland) I believe the A-side of the EP repeats the two songs from the Randy Scott SR-006 single, but I need confirmation of that. Stark SR-007 – Randy Scott – “So Welcome to the Club” / “Back Up Troubles” Stark SR-008 – Bob Hastings – “Crazy Mixed Up Town” (David Sutherland) / “Two Kings and One Kingdom” (Johnny Long) Stark SR-009 – The Nomads – “How Many Times” / “Not For Me” (Bruce Evans, Larry Deatherage, Tom Paul Music Co. BMI, July 1966) Stark SR-0010 – Intellectuals Combo – “Our True Love” / “That Ain’t Nice” (instrumental, written by Mike Dee Love) Stark SR-0011 – Siney Ann – “I’m So Lonesome (I Could Cry)” / “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You)” Stark SR-0012 – Jimmy and Wesley and the Twin County Pardners – “Make Me A Pallet On The Floor” / “The World Is Still Waiting For The Sunrise” (Jimmy Arnold and Wesley Golden) Stark SR-0013 – Hank Riley – “Record Of Heartbreak” / “Consolated Egotated Love” Stark SR-0014 – Deep Valley Boys – “Please Don’t Honey, Please” / “Some Dark Hollow” Stark SR-0015 – The Happy Hoss – “Call Me Baby” / “You’re The One (I Love)” both by Alan Westmoreland, Tompaul Music Co. Stark SR-0016 – Four Souls – “Freedom Bound” / “Louise” (both by Paul Cain, Dennis Inman) Stark SR-0017 – Tony Zito – “Hide Away Moments in Prayer” / ? Stark SR-0018 – Bobby Atkins – “Memories Of President John F. Kennedy” (Paul Johnson) / “Love Valley” (1968, recorded by Lookabill’s Studio, Greensboro) Stark SR-0019 – Don Sawyers and the Grangers – “My Favorite Way to Cry” (Larry D. Alderman – Don Sawyers, vocal by Larry D. Alderman and Don Sawyers) / “Imagination Trapped Within My Mind” (Don Sawyers, vocal by Don Sawyers) 1970 Stark SR-0020 – Carl P. Tolbert – “Liquor By the Drink” / “Changing of the Time” (1974) Stark 100 – Pete Holden & the Baux Mountain Boys – “Truck Driver’s Vow” / “Legend Of Charlie Monroe”
LPs:
Stark SR-200-1 – Easter Brothers & the Green Valley Quartet – Bluegrass & Country Hymns (1967) Stark SR-0001 – The Carolina Gospel Singers (1969)
Most of Stark’s output was country music, but as Bob pointed out in a comment below, the first release on Stark seems to be a lush arrangement of song-poems: see The Wonderful and the Obscure for more info. This single has light blue labels and a 1301 Park Drive address.
Other early singles have deep red labels and give the address as 1312 Summit Drive, Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Later ones read 628 South Street, Mount Airy, N.C. Later singles were produced by Paul Johnson.
Max Waller writes: “The Intellectuals had at least one further 45, “I Don’t Want To Cry” (as Mike Watson & the Intellectuals) / Danny Boy (as Glenn Wall & the Intellectuals) on M.K.B. 120 from Jan 1968 (SO 4898)”. MKB Recording was located in Tobaccoville, NC, just northwest of Winston-Salem.
Thank you to Max Waller, Lightnin’ Wells and Franz Kunst for help with this discography.
The X-Terminators came from Oakridge, Oregon, a small town about 40 miles southeast of Eugene, OR. I don’t have this 45 yet (if anyone has a copy please write to me) but came across this article and thought I’d write about the band.
Members were:
Craig Sorseth – lead guitar Doug Bates – rhythm guitar, electric piano Frank Worth – bass guitar Jerry Westling – drums
The group formed in high school in January 1964. About six months later they went to Century Custom Recording Service in Eugene and cut two great original instrumentals, “X-Termination” and “Wild Hare” You can find both on Youtube, but for some reason slowed down by roughly 10%.
An article in the Register-Guard from July 1964 says “the selections are two of ten [original songs] the X-terminators composed by ear, since none of the boys read music for the instruments they play.”
With two of the members going to college in the fall, it’s unlikely the band stayed together much longer.
Joe Rodie sent the excellent scans seen here of rare singles by an unknown Detroit area band, Sean and the Sheas, who released two 45s in 1966. Joe is looking for information on the group, but unfortunately I couldn’t provide any yet.
Sean and the Sheas first release is the upbeat soul-influenced “Come to the Party” backed with an adaption of the nursery rhyme, “Hi Diddle”.
This was Yorkshire Y-001-A/Y-001-X, with “Come to the Party” written by John Rankin and “Hi Diddle” credited to B. Cozad – J. Rankin. The writers must have been aware a new arrangement of a traditional song could be copyrighted. The label reads recorded in Detroit, Mich., but I don’t know which studio. The producer was John Rankin, and executive producer Henry Cozad.
second release of “Hi Diddle”For the second single, “Hi Diddle” repeated this time as Yorkshire Y-004-X while “Spiders” which I haven’t heard is listed as Yorkshire Y-004-XX. Terry Mohr wrote “Spiders” and he also appears as arranger on this 45, produced by Bill Cozad and John Rankin and this time oddly “Recorded in America”.
All songs published by Bico Music BMI, 1966.
The 45s have Nashville Matrix stamps and “95” etched into them. The “95” means they were pressed by Norman Archer at Archer Record Pressing, at 7401 E. Davidson in Detroit, as that was his account number at Matrix of Nashville. Archer handled many smaller Detroit labels, so despite the resemblance to the font used for Wheel’s 4 Records, Yorkshire was probably an unrelated label. There were several Yorkshire Records labels around the country at the time, but I can’t find any other release by this Detroit company.
With all the names on these singles I would think there would be some information on the group out there, but I can’t find any yet.
Thank you to Joe Rodie for the scans and motivating me to write about this group.
Despite the band members’ names on the label, this group is still something of a mystery. Members were Doug Dehart, Ron Riddle, Jim Frizell, Don Jones, and Ray Reade.
“You’re My Woman” has a murky, dirty sound to the rhythm guitar that flashes throughout the song. It has a dim, psychedelic aura from the last days of 1967. The flip side, “Our Love Was Strong” is a strange number alternating long harmony aahs with a plain, almost recited vocal.
The Buckeye Beat site states it was recorded at Commercial Recorders in Dayton, Ohio. This is a Rite pressing, with account # 1190 in the dead wax of both sides.
Bobby Simms was born Robert Siemiaskzo. While still in high school in 1961 he joined the Mus-Twangs as lead vocalist. The Mus-Twangs were based out of Harvey, Illinois, about 20 miles south of central Chicago and just west of Hammond, Indiana. The Mus-Twangs had two instrumental singles on Smash, including the very first single ever released by that label, “Marie” / “Roch Lomond”.
Simms left the Mustangs in 1962 and started the Bobby Simms Trio with Mus-Twangs bassist Keith Anderson, recording a good Mersey-influenced single in 1964 on New Breed “And Your Mine” / “Do Things Right” featuring the drumming and harmonica of Verne Johnson (later of Illinois Speed Press).
In 1965 Simms had his own single on Smash, “The World Is Funny” / “You’re My Everything” which I haven’t heard yet.
The following year he released a 45 as Bobby Simms and the Simmers, featuring two of his original songs, the raucous “Big Mama” backed with a much gentler harmony sound in “Please Please Believe”.
This seems to be the only release on WM & RC Records, though there were two different labels, one featuring a key and distribution by Summit. WM standing for Walter Melnyk, the manager of Simms and owner of the M.B. Club in the Burnside neighborhood of Chicago. The “C” in RC stands for Cox, co-producer of the sinle with Melnyk. Publishing was by M.B. Key BMI.
Musicians on the Simmers single included Keith Anderson and Verne Johnson from the Trio, plus guitarist Paul Cotton from the Mus-Twangs.
In 1967 Simms became one of the founding members of the Rotary Connection. Keith Anderson and Paul Cotton formed the Rovin’ Kind, which evolved into Illinois Speed Press.
I’m sorry to report that while researching this post I saw a comment from Keith Anderson that Bobby Simms passed away on May 29, 2015.
Information for this post came from Paul Cotton’s excellent site, especially this page on Bobby Simms.
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
On 28 April 1962, the band took part in the Twickenham Rhythm contest alongside local rivals Colin Shane & The Shannons and The Bullets. They also played at Wimbledon Theatre for a week in the Tommy Trinder variety show.
