Considering the names on the labels of this 45 and the quality of single, it’s amazing how obscure this group called the Buffaloes seems to be. I knew nothing about the group except for their last names and first initial until Mike Kuzmin contacted me with additional copyright information.
The A-side is the jangly blaster, “She Wants Me”, written by George Schwartzkopf, Jr of Old Bridge, New Jersey. It’s a catchy song and I could imagine it being a hit, but seems to have missed. The flip is a ballad written by Arthur V. Walker of Sea Cliff, NY, on Long Island, “You Told Me Lies”. The copyright name for correspondence or refund is listed as Joel E. Shenton of Glen Cove, NY. Both songs published by Impression Music, BMI.
The Buffaloes may have had the first release on the GMC label. Gene Moretti founded the label; he had been director of international sales for MGM-Verve in 1964 after starting in the mail room of ABC-Paramount (according to Billboard).
Joel Shenton contacted me in July 2021 and kindly provided info about the band, GMC and Mayfair Studio.
The band:
Arthur Walker – lead singer / rhythm guitar George Schwartzkopf – bass James (Jimmy) Wolf – drummer Joel Shenton – lead guitar, vocals, keyboard
I met Jimmy during high school years, late 50’s, through a mutual friend who got me interested in guitars. We fooled around as a 3-piece instrumental group until college interfered. I met George, a guitarist, at college. We formed a 4-piece group and played frat parties pretty much every weekend using various drummers including Jimmy, who was at school a few miles away. George decided to play bass, and we recruited a classmate to play rhythm and sing leads. That began our addition of vocals to our group.
After college and eventual return to Glen Cove, Jimmy introduced me to Arthur (“Artie”), and George, although living in New Jersey, joined up and we became the Buffaloes and played a few local clubs.
Gene Moretti lived near Jimmy, got interested, and that was the link to GMC. Gene had a few other musical groups as well, including the “Gumdrops 2”, a girl duet. We backed them up for a few gigs, and Jimmy eventually married one of the pair (Joan) who later became a vocalist for some Buffaloes numbers.
The link to Mayfair came from George. He got married while in college, and his wife was Clair Krepps’ daughter. Clair, at that time, had his own mixing studio (Knickerbocker Sound) on E47th Street in NYC, where he did subcontract mixing and overdubbing for several major NY studios. George and I had access to Knickerbocker and fooled around there on weekends during our summers off from college. Clair eventually formed the Mayfair organization in the theater building of the same name, adding multiple live recording and mixing rooms.
Mayfair was unique when it came to equipment. The control room was designed and built by Clair’s brother (I think) who had an electronics manufacturing company in Chicago. Nothing was conventional, and it became a testing ground for Ampex and Sennheiser. I recall Clair showing us one of the first 8 track and 16 track tape machines he used for recording, provided by Ampex for evaluation. The wall in the main control room was autographed by many well-known artists with comments like, “Fantastic sound,” “Wonderful experience”, etc. I think Sinatra, Streisand, the Stones, and even Hendrix were among the signers.
After the release of our first & only 45, and doing some club work, it became clear to us that our musical future was going to be more for fun than for a career path. We all had decent day jobs, and there was no economic security at our level of dedication and talent. We continued to play for fun, made several demo discs for posterity, but peddling them was rather futile even though we had contacts at UA and Decca.
We went our separate ways in the early 70’s. Jimmy and Artie wound up in Florida, George stayed in NJ working as a chemical engineer, and I moved to upstate western NY to run a plastics factory.
Although it has little to do with the Buffaloes, my interest in guitars and playing continues to this day, although my focus changed from R&R to country music…mostly due to the interests of the local population…and I currently enjoy playing lead guitar for several local bands.
[editor’s note: I’ve changed the spelling of Krepps’ name to Clair from Clare.]
Gene Moretti’s GMC Records announced in Billboard, April 2, 1966
Gene Moretti and GMC Records “a Division of Go-Go Music Corp”
The April 22, 1966 issue of Billboard noted how Gene Moretti would be managing and recording six acts for his new label: “Moretti’s approach is to rely exclusively on the copyrights owned by Impression and draw talent primarily from the three million population Long Island area. All six acts, in their teen and early 20’s, are local boys and girls.”
Billboard announced the Gumdrop 2 would have the first issue on GMC, “Getting Over You” / “So I Try”, numbered GM 10001, However, the Buffaloes single, dated to October ’66 in Teen Beat Mayham, is numbered GM 10000. GMC had about fifteen releases in total, featuring a dozen artists including Priscilla Price, Tony Kaye, Johnny D., Doreen Rose, the Miller Sisters, the Islanders, the Spoilers, Frankie ‘Slim’ Summerville, and Frankie Gracie & the Plastics.
Mayfair Studios
Another interesting connection is the studio, listed as Mayfair Studios (8 Track). Clair Krepps had been a recording engineer for Capitol, MGM and Atlantic Records and also did a lot of stereo percussion albums for Audio Fidelity. About the same time Moretti started GMC, Krepps began Mayfair Recording Studios at 701 Seventh Ave in Manhattan. Other clients would include the Velvet Underground, Al Caiola’s Caiola Combo All Strung Out LP on United Artists, Nico, the Chameleon Church, the Ultimate Spinach, the Beacon Street Union, Puff, Galt MacDermot, Ricardo Ray, Jimi Hendrix, the Mothers of Invention, etc.
Thank you to Joel Shenton and Mike Kuzmin for their help with this article.
If anyone has a photo of the Buffaloes, please contact me!
The Atlanta Vibrations have the first single on the short-lived Sim-Cor label out of Atlanta, Georgia. “If You Let Me Love You” / “My Hometown”.
Members included:
Woody Turner – lead vocals, guitar Spencer Kirkpatrick – guitar Bob Giannoni – bass Charles Lunsford – guitar Ricky Wafford – drums, replaced by Tom Sims
Both songs of their 45 are good but I find “If You Let Me Love You” the most catchy and well done. Woody Turner wrote both songs, published, as all on Sim-Cor by Bold Lad Music, BMI.
I haven’t found out much about the band yet, except that they had a spot opening for the Beatles during their 1965 tour. The band continued with a different lineup into the late ’60s.
After leaving the Atlanta Vibrations, Woody Turner joined the Apolloes for a period, but I don’t believe he’s singing on their singles. Spencer Kirkpatrick would later join Hydra, who had two LPs on Capricorn and one on Polydor in the ’70s.
Photos and much of the info on the Atlanta Vibrations came from the Atlanta Bands Facebook page.
Sim-Cor discography (any help with this would be appreciated)
Sim-Cor 101 – The Atlanta Vibrations – “If You Let Me Love You” / “My Hometown” (NRC #385, April 1966) Sim-Cor 45-102 – Robby – “People Ain’t Going Nowhere” / “I Don’t Want to Leave” (both by Robby Barnes for Bold Ladd, BMI, NRC #405, 1966) Sim-Cor 492 – Ann & Anne – “I Met a Man” (Ann Ford) / “Beyond the Sea” (NRC #492, 1966) Sim-Cor 45-003 – Imposters – When You Say (Kenneth Gowan) / Please Please (NRC #543, 1967)
The NRC numbers at the top of each label indicate Sim-Cor was one of the many Georgia labels that pressed at the National Recording Corporation’s pressing plant.
The Atlanta Vibrations, notice Sounds Incorporated drum head in the background
London Beats in Poland, 1965. Left to right: John Carroll, Jimmy Smith, Peter Carney and Mick Tucker
The London Beats were the first Western rock band to tour behind the Iron Curtain, releasing an ultra-rare LP in Poland and three Polish-only EPs.
Significantly, its members also went on to such notable bands as Geno Washington’s Ram Jam Band, Fortes Mentum, Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement, The Flower Pot Men, The Nashville Teens, Aquila, Cressida and Tranquility.
Moonriders, left to right: Mick Godfrey, Simon Coaffee, Tony Terry, Mick Tucker and Tony Jones
Lead guitarist/singer Mick Tucker, rhythm guitarist/singer Tony Terry and bass player Simon Coaffee (aka Sam Clifton) first came together in Horley, Surrey outfit, The Moonriders, in early 1963, alongside singer Tony Jones and drummer Mick Godfrey. Not long after, the band changed name to The Pete Chester Combo after Chester took over the drum stool.
“For a while [Pete] became the band leader, because to us he was nationally famous,” explains Tucker. “His dad was a big radio star. Charlie Chester was a household name in the 1960s.”
Tony Jones, however, didn’t stay long and Mick Tucker poached lead singer Frank Bennett from local rivals, The Rockatones. Paired with producer Mickie Most, who introduced South African singer Jackie Frisco (later Gene Vincent’s wife) and his brother Dave Hayes as guest singers, The Pete Chester Combo recorded “Love Comes Only Once”, which was subsequently shelved.
Pete Chester Combo, 1963. Left to right: Tony Jones, Mick Tucker, Simon Coaffee, Pete Chester and Tony Terry
When Pete Chester retired that autumn, original sticks man Mick Godfrey briefly re-joined, just in time for an aborted six-day tour of Israel.
Reverting to The Moonriders, the quintet cut a private demo disc comprising five songs – “Da Doo Ron Ron”, “Every Day”, “Love Potion No 9”, “Memphis Tennessee” and “Talk About You”, and this landed the band a contract with Johnnie Jones’s London City Agency. The agent suggested a new name.
“The London Beats was his [Johnnie Jones’s] idea, particularly in Europe because it said where we were from and what sort of music we played,” explains Tucker.
London Beats, early 1964, left to right: Mick Tucker, Tony Terry, Frank Bennett, Jimmy Smith, Simon Coaffee
Jones arranged a six-month deal with a promoter in West Germany, kicking off in January 1964, but Mick Godfrey bailed. Shuffling the pack, Frank Bennett recommended drummer Jimmy Smith from Lewes band, The Shades.
The London Beats shortly after James Smith joined. Photo: Mid Sussex Times
“Frank used to turn up to quite a few late ’63 gigs; he’d come up on stage and do a few numbers with us,” says Smith. “I remember being really impressed by his R&B voice.”
Departing for Frankfurt in March 1964, The London Beats worked the German club scene and American bases until mid-December, by which point Tony Terry had returned home (later forming The Pack).
In London, Mickie Most played the musicians a pre-release master tape of The Animals’ “House of The Rising Sun”. “We knew straight away that it would be a hit record,” remembers Coaffee.
That December, the quartet recorded a cover of Ian Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds” with producer Terry Kennedy, possibly credited as Bennett Tucker.
According to Tucker, Kennedy was putting the final touches to ‘Funny How Love Can Be’ by The Ivy League, and ‘Catch The Wind’ by Donovan,” around the same time. He hired Simon Coaffee to play bass on The Ivy League’s “Tossin’ and Turnin’”.
Then, in January 1965, it was back to Germany for two months to play at the Funny Crow and Top Ten in Hamburg, the latter alongside Howie Casey’s band, Beryl Marsden and Paddy, Klaus & Gibson.
“We did some recordings at the Top Ten, which became a studio during the day,” remembers Tucker.
“Frank Bennett and I did some backing vocals for Isabelle Bond, the resident singer at the Top Ten club – German versions of ‘Bread and Butter’ and also ‘Downtown’. Klaus [Voorman] was also one of the backing singers.”
Back home, Jones offered them a three-month contract in Poland as part of a musician union exchange with the Polish Modern Jazz Quartet. However, Frank Bennett and Simon Coaffee weren’t interested.
“The Polish national agency wanted us because they’d heard through a third party at some trade fair in Poznan in Poland that we were making shed loads of money for our manager in Germany and so the Poles thought we’d like to get in on this,” explains Tucker. “They asked specifically for us even though they’d never heard of us.”
“My father wouldn’t let me go,” explains Bennett on his decision to bail out. “You couldn’t bring the money out, which was a problem. That was the reason. Also, I went back to Germany and joined The Statesmen, an American five-piece harmony band.”
In 1967, Bennett joined Fortes Mentum. The band later released three singles for Parlophone and enough material for an album, which has recently been issued on a CD with Pussy.
Keen to see behind the Iron Curtain, Tucker and Smith recruited an organist and bass player who would join them alongside a female vocalist, a specification in the Polish contract.
Through Melody Maker, they hired Hammond organist John Carroll, who recommended his band mate from Ealing group, The Flexmen – bass player Peter Carney.
Later on, Johnny Jones also recruited a female vocalist – Birmingham-based club singer Linda Crabtree (Linda Fortune) as a solo artist with her own contract.
The musicians headed to Poland in March 1965 and soon after recorded an ultra-rare LP for the Polskie Nagrania Muza label in a church hall in Wroclaw.
“The record company had trucked in a twin-track mobile studio from Warsaw because our itinerary was full and they didn’t want to wait,” says Smith.
“The equipment was pretty old and they didn’t seem to have any experience of recording rock/pop music, resulting in the sound quality and balance leaving a lot to be desired.”
Something of a collector’s item, the album features a fascinating choice of covers, including Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me”, Buddy Holly’s “Maybe Baby” and Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Walk On By”.
The London Beats in Poland, 1965. Left to right: John Carroll, Jimmy Smith, Peter Carney and Mick Tucker
With the initial contract nearing its end, Pagart (the Polish agency) offered to extend the group’s stay.
“We negotiated our own contract with the Polish authorities because we were fed up with the London City Agency, which had done nothing really to help us,” confesses Tucker.
“In the whole three months we were there [initially] we didn’t hear from them once. We were a bit pissed off with that, so we negotiated the next thing, which is why the name slightly changed to The Original London Beat. That was just for legal reasons.”
Left to right: John Carroll, Peter Carney and Mick Tucker
The quartet returned to Poland in late June but after about two months, John Carroll and Pete Carney returned to home, both joining Tony Knight’s Chessmen.
Carney would subsequently become a long-standing member of Geno Washington’s Ram Jam Band while Carroll would hook up with Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers and later join The Flowerpot Men.
Also back in the UK, Mick Tucker recruited bass player Kevin McCarthy from Tolworth, Surrey outfits The Trends (later The 4 Degrees) and The Peasants, and Australian rhythm guitarist Tony Stanton.
“Mick Tucker contacted me, came over and told me about The London Beats,” remembers McCarthy. “I played him a recording of the 4 Degrees, which must have been good enough for him to consider me for the job. We got together at his house in Horley to rehearse, where I met the new singer Sterry Moore.”
New line up. Left to right: Mick Tucker, Tony Stanton, Kevin McCarthy and Jimmy Smith
The female singer (no relation to actor Roger Moore) was brought in to take over from Linda Crabtree on both the recording and touring front. However, as McCarthy points out, Tucker’s decision to bring in another guitarist was a last minute decision.
“He found [a keyboardist] in Melody Maker and we went to meet him. He had a brand new Vox Continental organ and he could really play it. This was Eddie Hardin, who later joined Spencer Davis. Alas, he did not want to go to Poland with The London Beats for six months.”
On 25 October 1965, the musicians flew to Warsaw where they were reunited with Jimmy Smith.
“We began rehearsals and the agency organised photos and posters,” continues McCarthy. “They took our names straight off our passports and printed them on the posters…
“Mick was a tall guy, well-built with very long hair. I’m 5 ‘2” and was still suffering from a butchered haircut I’d gotten for The Peasants so we must have looked very strange together. However, we were treated like VIPs.”
That winter, the reconfigured line up recorded 12 tracks on four-track at Polskie Nagrania Muza’s studio in Warsaw Old Town, which were released over the next six months over three EPs. In recording terms and quality they were far superior to the earlier recordings.
With singer Sterry Moore
The first EP, entitled The Original London Beat, and featuring Mick Tucker on all lead vocals, came out in late 1965 and comprised the tracks, “Walking The Dog”, “Wanna Walk In The Sunshine”, “Hang on Sloopy” and Scarlet Ribbons”.
This was followed in early 1966 by I’ll Go Crazy, which featured Mick Tucker on lead vocals on two tracks – “I’ll Go Crazy” and “If You Gotta Go, Go Now” and Polish singer Mira Kubansinka on the remaining tracks, “Walking In The Sand” and “You’re No Good”.
The final EP, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, also released in 1966, featured Sterry Moore on lead vocals on all four tracks – “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, “I Had a Talk With My Man”, “The Biggest Players” and “Won’t Be Long”.
Joined by Mira Kubansinka (third left)
Joined by Mira Kubansinka for a nationwide tour, the musicians traversed the country in a bus, right in the dead of winter.
“Snow was often piled high on the side of the road,” remembers McCarthy. “In the country, there were horse-drawn carts everywhere and people working very hard to survive. Cities were stark, cold and old-fashioned with foreboding-looking statues and shrapnel damage still visible on the walls of buildings leftover from the war.”
McCarthy adds that while The London Beats were touring in Poland, other UK groups like The Hollies and Lulu & The Luvvers started arriving.
However, with the extended contract coming to an end in late January 1966, and the opportunities to work in Poland exhausted, the musicians lost interest.
On 15 March 1966, most of the band flew to London. No longer celebrities the musicians had to start from scratch.
“I was fed up with living out of a suitcase by then and we had no feeling of going forward,” admits Tucker.
“We’d been for want of a better word, big stars in Poland and wherever else we’d play from there on, we’d have to work from the bottom up again. After five or six years at it, I thought I’d quit and have some happy memories.”
Tony Terry and Mick Tucker
Tucker reunited with former member Tony Terry and worked the folk club circuit from 1967-1968.
The pair then set up a travel business driving mini buses all over Europe and North Africa. Tucker was offered the opportunity to return to Poland but declined.
Four Ovus, August 1966. Photo: Mid Sussex Times
Jimmy Smith, Sterry Moore and Kevin McCarthy formed Forovus with guitarist Ken Ali. Having started calling herself Mary McCarthy, Moore then recorded the single “People Like You” with singer Mickey Clarke, which was released on CBS in January 1967. She recorded two solo singles – “The Folk I Love” and “Happy Days and Lonely Nights”– that same year.
Jimmy Smith, who nearly joined The New Pirates (alongside John Carroll), replaced Phil Wainman in Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement. After a brief reunion with Carroll in Germany, a short spell with The Nashville Teens and The Fantastics, he recorded an album with Aquila in 1970.
Kevin McCarthy hooked up with R&B outfit, Ivan St Clair & System Soul Band, before landing on his feet: “Sometime in 1968 I answered an ad in Melody Maker and met John Heyworth and Angus Cullen; we would eventually become Cressida and record two albums for Vertigo with producer/manager Ossie Byrne.”
When Cressida split in November 1970, McCarthy joined Tranquility and appeared on two albums and some unreleased tracks before moving to Los Angeles in 1976. He has participated in several Cressida reunions and continues to play guitar and write songs.
“Interestingly, one of my songs recorded by another artist was ‘One Way Ticket’, which appeared on The Hollies’ Then, Now, Always, album released in 2010.”
The first reunion on 21 March 2015. Left to right: Mick Tucker, Simon Coaffee, Jimmy Smith and Tony Terry. Photo credit: Pam Terry
As for the original London Beats, Mick Tucker, Jimmy Smith, Simon Coaffee and Tony Terry reunited on 21 March this year with plans for a second reunion with Frank Bennett on 11 July.
Huge thanks to Mick Tucker, Jimmy Smith, Frank Bennett, Peter Carney, Simon Coaffee, John Carroll and Kevin McCarthy.
Here are two obscure singles that seem to have been recorded in one session on the same day, apparently March 12, 1965. Both feature the Mockers, and each was released on the Monte-Vista label and numbered 3-12-65.
The first features two surf instrumentals: the atmospheric “Children of the Sun” backed by a first-rate surf-rocker “Madalena” with crunching wet guitar. Both songs were written by David Norgord for Monte-Vista Music BMI.
Dave Norgord of the Mockers, photo courtesy of John Morgan
The Mockers were obviously a very competent group, and may have come from Glendora High School. If anyone knows the names of the other members of the Mockers, please contact me or leave a comment below.
The second single has them backing what sounds like a prepubescent lead singer, Chris Parry, on another single written by Dave Norgord, “I Need You Now”. The flip is a cover of “Angela Jones”, written by John Loudermilk (composer of “Tobacco Road”).
The producer was Dale Smallin who in 1963 managed the Surfaris’ and brought them to Paul Buff’s PAL studio in Cucamonga to record “Surfer Joe” / “Wipe Out” (Smallin also contributed the maniacal laughter to the opening). Smallin may have lost the Safaris when he and Dot Records brought in the Challengers to record tracks to fill out the album. In any case, the Mockers may have been the only records after the Safaris to feature his name as producer. If there are others, I haven’t found them yet.
Monte Vista Street runs in Highland Park in Los Angeles, not far from the Glendale origin of the Safaris. Smallin would name his film production company Monte-Vista and produced a 28 minute movie show in West Covina, The Day That Sang and Cried in 1968, featuring another band, The West Coast Blues Company. Dave Smallin died on March 1, 2011.
The Rocking Continentals, with Bill Doyle on drums. Photo courtesy of Bill’s daughter Tracy.
The Rockin’ Continentals made two 45s for the Casino label in 1962 or 1963. The group came from Topeka, Kansas.
The original group were:
Johnny Thompson – lead guitar and vocals Melvin Ralston – rhythm guitar Chuck Dumerous – bass Bill Doyle – drums
Rockin’ Continentals and the Fabulous Concepts at Township Hall in Valley Falls, August 10, 1963.The Rockin’ Continentals’ first release was a great rockabilly song with fierce drumming and scorching guitar and piano breaks called “The ‘309’”, written by Johnny Thompson. The singer has a strong southern accent that doesn’t appear on their other songs. The original A-side was “2-3-4”, written by Melvin Ralston, which in comparison is simple riffing on blues changes.
Bill Doyle was 17 when he joined the group, and left the group near the end of 1963, when he married. Chuck Dumerous seems to have left the group around this same time.
The second version of group were:
Johnny Thompson – lead guitar and vocals Melvin Ralston – rhythm guitar Chuck Smith – bass Bob Stanley – drums
The Rockin’ Continentals second and last single was “Cobra 289” written by Ralph Sandmeyer in tribute to the Ford/Shelby AC Cobra sports car first manufactured in 1962. Bob says that “Ralph Sandmeyer was a songwriter and close friend of Johnny Thompson”.
“Count Dracula” is mainly instrumental with a spooky reverbed riff. Like “The ‘309’” it was written by Johnny Thompson.
Bob Stanley wrote to me:
I was the drummer for the Empalas band back in the early 60s. Melvin Ralston, the rhythm guitar player, wanted to know if I would drum for the Rockin’ Continentals. We began playing throughout Kansas for VanT car shows during the day and in the night we would play in their parks or auditoriums. From there we played the Municipal Auditorium in Topeka, Kansas City auditoriums and various other cities.
I am playing drums on “Cobra 289” and “Count Dracula”. My stepfather financed the record and was repaid with the sales. Bob Bobo was the piano player on the record. Bob Bobo was not a member of the band but did guest appearances on the records on piano and recorded the records in his studio. Johnny Thompson played lead guitar and is the vocalist on both songs, Chuck Smith was the bass player. Melvin Ralston is the rhythm guitar player and is the laughing voice on “Count Dracula”.
The girls screaming in the background were girlfriends of the band members. The girls later bleached the band member’s hair. Mine turned out platinum because I was blonde, but Johnny’s turned out orange red, which made him extremely unhappy. It was comical, but not to him.
I did know the Jerms and their lead singer Bill Senogles who was a classmate of mine and later took on my guitar player, Russ Wilcox, from the Empalas when I went to the Rockin’ Continentals.
Bob Stanley left the group for Vietnam. In later years, the Continentals had regular gigs on cruise ships.
The Good Time Trio: Kenny Stone, Johnny Thompson and Bob Stanley
Bob added:
Later on country became popular and Johnny started switching over and we became the Good Time Trio (Johnny Thompson, Kenny Stone on bass and me on drums). I also drummed for Dickie Lee (“Patches”) in Kansas City.
I still have the snare, sticks and drummer’s throne that I played when we recorded the records. At the end of “Cobra 289”, you will hear a drum run and fade out done with single stroke roll with rim shots.
Special thanks to Bob Stanley for contacting me with information on the Rockin’ Continentals.
Both Rockin’ Continental releases have been bootlegged, along with another Casino release, the Argons’ “Do the Dog”.
See my article for more information on the Casino record label. Thank you to Volker Houghton for contributing the Valley Falls show ad.
comparison of original pressing to bootleg reproduction of Casino 1010, the Rockin’ Continentals “Cobra 289”
Gerald Dyche (aka Jerry Dyke) in the Emporia Gazette, February, 1958
The Casino Records label started in 1957 with a single of Jerry Dyke singing two songs written by Bob Bobo and Carl Lewis for Southern Belle, BMI, “Deep Within My Heart” and “My Empty Heart”. That release, Casino 1001/1002 had a gothic style font for Casino and an address on McGavock St. in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a comment on the Rockin’ Continentals page, Jerry Dyke notes that he designed the original Casino label.
An article in the Emporia Gazette from February 1958 discusses how Jerry Dyke was the stage name for Gerald Dyche, a student from Topeka who was singing songs written by Topekan disc jockey Bob Bobo for demos to be sent to Southern Belle publishing in Nashville, which led to the Casino single, presumably recorded in Nashville. Although the article makes something of the Casino Recording Corporation of Nashville, Bob Bobo and Carl Lewis were at least part owners of Casino. They produced the Jerry Dyke single on their own hoping for attention for their song writing.
Bobo seems to have recorded all the Casino records in the basement of his house on SE Ohio Street.
Dyke does not seem to have worked with Bobo after this single. Bobo started working with Ronnie Pearson of Osage City. Pearson’s first single on the Herald Label in April of ’57 included Bob Bobo’s song “Hot Shot”.
Bobo would place other songs in the late ’50s, including “I Close My Eyes” (co-written with Lewis) for the Wilburn Brothers on Decca in August of ’57, “The Answer” and “Warm as Toast” (co-written by Lewis) for Russ Veers on the Trend label, and “Let Me Go to the Hop” (co-written by Russ Veers) by the Sweethearts on Power.
By the early 1960s, Bobo seems to have stopped pursuing a career as a song writer, but kept the Casino label active. I don’t know what Casino 1003/1004 is, but 1005/1006 is the Nubbins doing two standards, “The King’s Highway” / “Stormy Weather” with a different font for the logo and no address.
The Rockin’ Continentals “The ‘309’” from 1962 is numbered 1007/1008. This and all future release feature Kansan artists; there is no longer any Nashville connection that I know of.
Casino 1001/1002 – Jerry Dyke – “Deep Within My Heart” / “My Empty Heart” Casino 1003/1004 – no release (?) Casino 1005/1006 – The Nubbins – “The King’s Highway” / “Stormy Weather” Casino 1007/1008 – The Rockin’ Continentals – “The ‘309’” / “2-3-4” Casino 1009/1010 – The Rockin’ Continentals – “Cobra 284” / “Count Dracula” Casino 1011/1012 – The Argons “Spiked” (Bryson, Myers) / “Do The Dog” (Mikkelsen, Wilcox) 1964 Casino 1321/1322 – The Jerms – “That Word” (G. Senogles) / “Love Light” (Sept. 1965) Casino 2305/2306 – The Thingies – “It’s a Long Way Down” (L. Miller, Dalton) / “Merry Go Round of Life” (August 1966)
One interesting oddity about the Casino discography is that the RCA code for the Jerry Dyke single, HO8W-0066/67 would be adapted for later releases, even though most later releases were not pressed at RCA but at Wakefield Manufacturing in Phoenix, AZ. Another code on the 45s, 2 AFM also increases with each release, though I’m not sure the meaning of that code.
Bobo also owned a restaurant called Bobo’s Drive In in Topeka from 1948 until he passed away sometime in the 1980s. Bobo’s Drive In remained open under that name until recently.
Buddy’s Buddies came from Macon, Georgia, home to Otis Redding and Little Richard, but a town that had relatively little ’60s band action. The Malibus who cut “I Want You to Know” / “I’ve Gotta Go” on PJ came from nearby Fort Valley, GA but that’s about it.
Buddy’s Buddies included:
Buddy Greene – lead vocals David Gory – lead guitar Phillip Parker – rhythm guitar Andy Waits – bass guitar Steve Kent – drums
Early version of the group with Starlight Swingsters drumheadThe Flying Beatles?! An early version of Buddy’s Buddies, from left: Buddy, Steve Kent, Andy Waits and Phillip Parker
Phillip Parker kindly sent in the photos seen here and wrote to me about the group:
Buddy and I began to play ukes together around 1962 or ’63. I remember Buddy calling me one Saturday morning and telling me to come listen to a record his older sister had brought home. We must have played the grooves off Meet the Beatles trying to learn the songs. We began by playing at a local drugstore off Riverside Dr. in Macon.
We then got Steve to play bongos. Andy was a friend of mine who had a guitar so joined and brought with him David Gory who played lead. He had a great sunburst Gibson. Andy wound up playing bass and I played rhythm guitar.
We played at the Macon Auditorium with Herman’s Hermits, the Beau Brummels, Freddie and the Dreamers and the McCoys. We were young, about 10-13 years old.
The article about getting a traffic ticket with Cassius Clay came from the Macon Telegraph. We were on our way to play at the Big Ape radio show in Jacksonville. My family moved to SC in 1966 and I did not return till 1967. I’m not sure how long they played together after I left.
Of course Buddy went on to be a great musician and song writer and I did hear somewhere that Steve played drums. He was a great drummer.
Phillip Parker May 2017
Buddy Greene wrote both sides of their only single. I really like “Tell Me What I See” with its solid back beat and bass line, repetitive piano and Buddy’s shouts of “mercy me!” The flip “I Love My Baby” is a ballad, with a plaintive vocal from Buddy.
The Macon label released Buddy’s Buddies single in July, 1965, published by Macon Music BMI. The only other release on Macon that I know of is Phil Gandy singing “Hula Baby” / “Rainbows End” both by Phil Skelton for Cedarwood Music BMI from circa 1964.
Buddy Greene went on to a long career in music. See his website, www.buddygreene.com for extensive information about his career, including additional photos of Buddy’s Buddies.
Thank you to Phillip Parker for the information and photos on the group. I’m sorry it took me over two years to add these to the post.
Harley Bowers time out…. column had this amazing story:
What A Way To Meet Clay
A group of Maconites, nine to be exact, have something in common with Cassius Clay. They were all stopped by the same Florida highway patrolman at the same time and place last Saturday, and for the same reason – speeding.
It all started as the Maconites, traveling in two cars, were en route to Jacksonville. Five of those riding in the two automobiles were youngsteres 11 to 13 who make up the local singing group known as “Buddy’s Buddies. They were being driven to Jacksonville by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Parker (in one car) and Mr. and Mrs. Junior Waits (in the other car) for a radio appearance.
The young singers included Steve Kent, Buddy Greene, David Gory, Andy Waits and Phillip Parker. As they crossed into Florida, this side of Jasper, the two cars passed a pair of Cadillacs stopped along the side of I-75.
One of hte boys, Any Waits, called out to his father, who was driving the car in which he was riding, that he was sure he had recognized Cassius Clay among the four people standing around the Cadillacs. The elder Waits dismissed the idea and drove on.
A few minutes later the two Cadillacs came flying by the Maconites and young Andy again declared that one of the occupants was the heavyweight champion. Upon the urging of the boy the father set out to catch the speeding Cadillacs just to satisfy everyone’s curiousity as to who was inside.
Patrolman Nabs ‘Em All
Waits flew past the Parker auto and Parker, not knowing what was going on, took out after him. They eventually caught up with the Cadillacs, pulled alongside, and sure enough, there was Clay. About the same time Waits noted in his rear view mirror that a highway patrolman was chasing the whole group.
The patrolman flashed ahead of all four autos, then flagged them down one at a time. He told each driver he could either pay a $25 fine, Waits said, or come back to court. Ali preferred to pay but as Waits started to hand the patrolman his money he made the remark that he was going to have to blame his son for wanting to catch up with Cassius.
Clay, overhearing this, was so impressed he paid half the fines of the Maconites. Then he signed autographs for everybody while one of the men accompanying him took a series of pictures. “I assumed it was one of his press agents,” Waits explained.
Cassius reported to the patrolman that he was en route to Miami to begin training for the Floyd Patterson fight and thank the officer for being so nice. “He was real proud of those Cadillacs,” Waits said.
“In fact, he explained to us that they were the same type of automobiles that President Johnson drives and cost $16,000 each. They were even equipped with telephones. We found Cassius to be real nice and there was none of this loud bragging that you read so much about and see so much of on television.”
mistaken first label with studio owner Vincent Oddo’s name as artist
Bill DeFalco – lead guitar Frank DeFalco – rhythm guitar Jimmy DiGiacomo – bass Joey Erico – drums
Brothers Bill and Frank DeFalco had a previous group called the Rock Monacles with a different drummer, Henry Bauman and vocalist George Malin. In the summer of 1967 the Pebble Episode went to O.D.O. Sound Studio on West 54th Street in Manhattan to record two songs, “Tripsey” (by William DeFalco, Frank DeFalco) and “The Plum Song” (by William DeFalco, Frank DeFalco and James DiGiacomo). Publishing by Mozella Music BMI, and produced by S. & J.
Juggy Murray of Sue Records signed the group to J-2 Records, his new label as Sue was sliding into bankruptcy to be sold to United Artists around 1968.
Artist name corrected, song now spelled “Tripsy”
To compound the problems Murray had with Sue at the time, the first pressing of this 45 was mistakenly labelled with Vincent Oddo’s name, the engineer and owner of the ODO studio where the band recorded, but most definitely not the artist! New labels were printed up with the correct band name, though this time the A-side was spelled “Tripsy”.
“Tripsy” is an apt name for this wild instrumental loaded with echo and repeating riffs that wouldn’t be out of place on The Inner Mystique. By comparison, “The Plum Song” is much more conventional in sound, dominated by Bill DeFalco on organ and Joe Erico’s fine drum fills.
This was the first release on J-2 Records followed by Baby Washington doing “Like a Rolling Stone” (I’d like to hear that version!) b/w “The New Yorker” (J2-1301) and the Poets in-demand soul classic “Wrapped Around Your Finger” / “Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow” (J2-1302).
The Pebble Episode continued until 1972, with home recordings I haven’t heard but no further releases.
More info is in the comments to the Discogs page for the single.
Sorry for the atrocious condition of the labels for this post, but if you have a better high-resolution scan of Tripsy, please send it in.
Early lineup of the King Pins, 1962, showing piano and saxophone
94 Second Surf – first version with girl chorusThe King Pins came from Sandia High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Though they recorded in 1965, they were an instrumental group, not at all ‘garage’ but I dig this record.
Members were:
Steve Maase – lead guitar Gary Shouse – rhythm guitar Rob Cardin – bass Larry Kuck -drums
In August 1965 they released a 45 “Rod Hot Rod” / “94 Second Surf” on Larse 101, recorded at Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis, NM. The group’s manager Bill Sego, a DJ on KCLV in Clovis, wrote the top side “Rod Hot Rod”. This song has its fans but Steve Maase’s original “94 Second Surf” commands the most attention nowadays.
MGM picked up the single for a national release in November 1965. “94 Second Surf” is retitled “Door Banger” on the MGM 45, but there is a difference. The Larse single features a female vocal chorus on both sides, while the MGM leaves it off completely on “Door Banger” and cuts the vocal intro on “Rod Hot Rod” but keeps the rest of the vocals.
Larse was Bill Sego’s label but I don’t know of any other releases on it. Prior to managing he had his own single on the Nor-Va-Jak label “Down From The Clouds” / “Come Along Dolly”. When he ran for the New Mexico Senate he reissued “Doorbanger” on the flip side of a campaign message with the motto “We Go Sego” on the labels and sleeves.
Steve Maase joined Lindy Blaskey and the LaVells, playing the wicked lead on their Space single “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” (on the flip, “Would You Believe” Lindy shouts out “Hey Steve, would you believe …” after the guitar break), and on “You Ain’t Tuff” / “Let It Be”. In the early ’70s, Steve formed a band called Tala, and then played with Linda Cotton and Sparxx, among others, while composing his own music and becoming a well-respected music teacher. Steve Maase passed away on October 1, 2016.
Thank you to Lily Maase for sending in the photo of the King Pins and for informing me about her father’s career after the King Pins.
King Pins, January 1964Announcement of King Pins signing with MGM, November 23 1965
Eric & the Chessmen Kama picture sleeve L-R; Freddie Faccioli, Eric Thorngren, Dale Rider and Slivers Matrassi
Eric and the Chessmen were a well-known group from Utica, New York. They toured throughout upstate New York and into Vermont, and even had a stand at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. They released only one single: the original song “You Don’t Want My Loving” by the band’s leader, Eric Thorngren, backed with a rocked-up version of “Blue Skies”, on Kama Records 777.
The band’s membership changed many times, so I’ll list some of the lineups below to the best of what I can gather:
Eric and the Chessmen at the Evening Inn, Colliersville, June, 1965
As simply the Chessmen, the original lineup consisted of:
Eric Thorngren – guitar Tony Frontera – saxophone Jon Hynes – bass Butch DeAngelo – drums
By March 1965 the band consisted of:
Eric Thorngren – guitar & vocals Norm Knapp – guitar Dale Rider – bass Wayne Bohling – drums
Eric and the Chessmen Five Flys Club, Bennington, October 1966
When Norm Knapp took a leave of absence in 1965, Chuck Schoenley became the band’s first keyboardist:
Eric Thorngren – guitar & vocals Chuck Schoenley – organ Dale Rider – bass Wayne Bohling – drums
After Chuck Schoenley left the group to join the Rogues, Frankie Convertino became the keyboard player, then Fred Faccioli.
Slivers Matrassi replaced Wayne Bowling on drums by early or mid-1966.
The band featured on the picture sleeve to their 45 and probably on the recording is:
Freddie Faccioli – organ Eric Thorngren – guitar & vocals Dale Rider – bass Slivers Matrassi – drums
The sleeve at the top of this post seems to be very rare. The labels note “Recorded at Chadwicks Recording Studio, Chadwicks, NY”. For more on the Kama and related labels like Krishna and Sutra, see the final section of my post on the Roosters.
The band had other recordings that weren’t released at the time. An atmospheric instrumental featuring organ and a reserved guitar solo called “Too Much” appeared on The Best of Twist-a-Rama: Crude 1965 Garage Sounds from the Mohawk Valley. There are also demos of “Wooly Bully”, “New Orleans” and “Heat Wave”.
The Chessmen continued in different forms into the late 1960s, eventually without any original members. Sometime in 1967 or 1968 Ted Alexander replaced Freddie Faccioli. Dale Rider left to join the Rochester group the Oxford Watchband – a group by that name had a 45 in 1969 on the Hand label, “Diagnosis (One Way Empty and Down)” / “Welcome to the World”.
Eric Thorngren joined the Brass Buttons and went on to a long career as a recording and mixing engineer.
I found this info on the band at the forum After Bebop a Lula: Utica Bands 50s 60s. There are many photos of the band in that thread, see these pages for some of them:
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
Considering the names on the labels of this 45 and the quality of single, it’s amazing how obscure this group called the Buffaloes seems to be. I knew nothing about the group except for their last names and first initial until Mike Kuzmin contacted me with additional copyright information.
