Early photo of the Staunchmen with Silvertone Bobkat guitars, from left: Paul Nagle, Don Cox, George Harvey (drums), Paul Beecher (with tambourine), Barry McLean, and Doug Smith (sax)
P.B. & the Staunchmen cut this rare 45 on Lee, the same label as the Ascendors “I Won’t Be Home” in 1966. The label was located out of Hornell, New York, 40 miles south of Rochester but the band was from Dansville, another 20 miles south/southeast.
P.B. is Paul Beecher, credited along with the Staunchmen for writing both sides of the 45. Members were:
Paul Beecher – lead vocals Doug Smith – sax Paul Nagle – lead guitar Barry McLean – rhythm guitar Eric Young – organ Don Cox – rhythm and bass guitar George Harvey – drums
“Mean Willy” is a driving track with some wild guitar breaks and screams between repetitive lyrics and droning saxophone.
All the girls they can’t sympathize, They know that he goes around telling ’em lies, When he looks into their big brown eyes.
The flip, “Lost Generation”, sounds like it has roots in “Eve of Destruction” (though it actually came out earlier – see Don Cox’s comment below). The lyrics are defeatist and downright depressing, if I am reading them right:
This poor war is here to say, There’s nothing you can do to keep it away, My brother’s dead, there’s no denying, This lost generation has me cryin’. ‘Cause it’s lost, this generation, it’s gone away, It’s lost no matter what you say.
The kids are turnin’, their cards are burnin’, Trying to escape this war, The game they’ve lost and now they’ve found, It doesn’t matter anymore.
Left to right: Barry McLean, Paul Nagle, Paul Beecher, Eric Young, Don Cox, and George Harvey. Not pictured: Doug Smith. Photo courtesy of George Harvey.
Thanks to Don Cox for the lyric correction. Band photos courtesy of George Harvey, and Don Cox (top photo).
If anyone has more photos of the group, please contact me.
from left: Paul Beecher, Paul Nagle, George Harvey, Barry McLean, Don Cox, and Doug Smith. Eric Young absent.
60 thoughts on “P.B. & the Staunchmen”
Hey Chaz and Don, i was very surprised to come across this website, it has been over 30 years since i’ve heard “Lost Generation” I lost the record somewhere along the way. I have to agree with Chaz, it was and is a depressing song although an echo of the times, within a year and a half of signing with ABC Paramount out of New York City and recording a song called “Doing Good” everyone in the band was serving their country representing all five branches of the Armed Forces, such were the 60’s. Side B was never recorded and the band was eventually dropped by the record label. if my memory is correct we also recorded “Mean Willy/Lost Generation” in New York city, not Hornell. I prefer the upbeat, butt kickin’ tempo of Mean Willy, until a few years ago i hadn’t known that it had taken on a life of it’s own over the years and had been released on an LP by Crypt records in the 90’s called “Garage Punks Unknown” volume eight and then again on a CD named “Psychedelic States, New York in the 60’s” volume two by Gear Fab records out of Florida. I have very fond memories of those days with the band, especially appearing on TV and also as one of the opening bands for The Standells who had a huge hit with “Dirty Water” Donnie’s dad, Phil Cox was a super guy and good business manager, other local bands sought him out but he remained loyal to only one. on a sad note, Doug Smith, the Sax player, passed away last year, he had long since ditched the Sax and had become an excellent guitar player while playing in several bands. as for myself, i have lived in North Carolina for the past 9 years and have played in a couple bands since my Staunchmen days, playing guitar is “my passion” second only to my grand kids, I play mostly original material and hope to lay down some tracks on a CD eventually either solo or with a band. Don, good to hear from you, would like to hear from other members of the band and anyone who remembers those days.
My brother Bill is the “Mean Willy”on the B side of the 45 he was quite a guy in the day…still is…We still live in Dansville NY all thee guys were friends with my brother especially the singer Paul Beecher and the drummer George Harvey.I hope your family doesn’t toss all your good stuff when your gone…
Henry this is Sarah, Barry McLean’s daughter. If your kids ever want to part with it, please let them know we would be very interested in it. Me and my nephew have been on the hunt for that 45 for year’s. Awesome to know there’s still a few around either way. đ
Thanks much for this site. I’ve been going nuts trying to find a copy of “Lost Generation”. It gave me the chills hearing it again after 40 years.
A few facts: Band members were: Paul “Beech” Beecher, lead vocals. Eric “Skunk” Young, organ. Doug “Bones” Smith, sax. George “Rat” Harvey, drums. Paul “Nag” Nagle, lead guitar. Barry “Mort” McLean, rhythm guitar. Don Cox, rhythm/bass guitar.
Word correction to “Lost Generation”: “This lost generation has me cryin'”
This 45 was cut in a studio in Hornell owned by Bruce Porter, a Country Western singer.
Actually “Lost Generation”, the A side, was supposed to be the hit, and came out months before “Eve of Destruction”. It got considerable air time on an AM Buffalo radio station, WKBW. Joey Reynolds, a DJ at WKBW, liked it and had us appear on his TV show. The lyrics were meant to be depressing. We were all in our late teens, with the draft staring us in the face. Paul does have a younger brother, but as far as I know never went into the service.
My Dad, Phil Cox, became our manager and got us gigs throughout Upstate New York. An exec at ABC Paramount heard us and signed us to a 1 year contract with ABC. Unfortunately this was at the height of the Viet Nam war, and Uncle Sam slowly grabbed each of us.
As far as I know evreyone in the band is alive and well.
I came across this site by accident. Good to hear from a couple of Dansvillites. My brother Paul was the guitar player in the band. He is living in Georgia these days with his wife and family. I will let him know about this site and I’m sure he will respond. I also played in a band with “Smitty” for about ten years and was greatly saddened by his death.
Ditch sent me this link! I’m so excited to see it and actually hear Lost Generation. I found Mean Willy on a garage band CD a couple years ago but have never been able to track down Lost Generation. I posted this link on Facebook as I’m sure many of our Dansville friends will want to check it out. I personally have 3 boys all serving in the military… one who happens to turn 21 tomorrow is in Afghanistan, another is in Iraq and the third is in nuclear training in Charleston, SC. They will be thrilled to be able to link to these songs. Doug Smith taught my son that is in Afghanisan to play bass guitar and yes, he had his guitar shipped over to him.
Great site!!! It brought back a lot of memories reading Don and Barry’s comments. I remember losing the heal off my shoe while playing “Gloria” on TV. Sure was embarrassing, but we all got a good laugh out of it. As mentioned in the other comments, we all went our seperate ways and joined the different branches of the military service. In fact, I just recently retired from the Navy after a tour in Kuwait. I am presently working as a Deputy Warden in a prison in Southwest Georgia, where I’ve been since moving South in 1995. I’ve been married 37 years to my lovely wife Sheila and have 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson. I am still playing guitar on a regular basis, being part of the Praise and Worship group at our Church. I love to cut loose every once in a while. I put together a Christmas CD a few years ago and look forward to laying down some tracks with my wife in the near future.
i am the younger brother of paul and was never very musical, but i always enjoyed the staunchmens gigs, the ones i could sneek into, because i wasnt old enough , but anyway i bought a peice of property next to phil cox,s house and when i go up and mow he always comes out and talks to me , alot of times about the band, and everytime he wants to know what paul nagle is doing, he always makes me laugh when i go up there
Hi Barry and Don, We did go to Hornell to meet up with Bruce Porter and his band and from there we went to New York City to record the record. If I remember correctly, when we recorded “Doing Good”, they wanted to change the name of our band to Puff and the Magic Dragons. I wonder if there is any way to see if there is a copy of it in the archives of the recording studio. The only thing I remeber about the song is the last note when “Skunk” turned off his keyboard and it made that strange elevating noise. I’m still playing guitar at church, but my singing voice is all but gone. Good to hear from you both and I hope some of the other guys get on and make a comment. Kind of like a reunion.
Wow is it good to “hear” from you guys. As far as “Doing Good” (I actually forgot the name of it), my Dad thought they sent him a master copy at one time but he can’t find it. BTW… he just turned 87 a few days ago. Time flies. He gave me what he had for documents on the band, and I’ve scanned them and put them on my website (http://donvicleah.com) for your viewing pleasure. It should bring back some memories, especially the agreement to play at the #1 Club. Check out Don Costa’s website – http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/don_costa.htm. We were with some pretty impressive company: Frank Sanatra, and according the website, “Other names that Costa has worked with include The Ames Brothers, Vic Damone, Marv Johnson, Eddy Arnold, Perry Como, James Darren, Kenny Rankin, Bobby Sherman and Robert Goulet.” I’m doing very well. Retired, not by choice, it was Kodak’s decision after 25 years. I’ve been married 26 years to my beautiful wife Vicki Sapetko. She has fond memories of us playing in her Mom & Dad’s restaurant, The Sugar Bowl, even though she was only 12 at the time. I’ve kidded her and told her she probably was dreaming about me way back then. She said that she actually had a crush on Barry. She thought he looked like one of the Bee Gees. I’ve been blessed throughout my life. I lost my left arm to cancer 16 years ago and was given a <10% to live, but here I am. We adopted a beautiful girl from Korea, who's 21 now and a Junior at the University of Buffalo. Keep in touch, & God bless.
Hey Don I’ve been in a wheelchair since 1977 so were in the same club sort of speak.Think my brother Bill said your over at the Bath VA…I been in bed the last entire month actually at bit more…Try to keep those good times in your head as I do it seems to help a bit…
Hey How Are You? Remember me? My better half is Mike Nagle. Small world huh! I had this record but some where along the way it disappeared! Good to hear you are doing well! Never knew where you went to! Mike & I have been together for 7 years and is the love of my life, makes me laugh everyday! He has such a great family!!!!! The best to you and your family! Donna Hynes Smyder
Hello All. I was quite surprised to see all your comments on this site. Aside from Paul and Smitty, it’s been years and years since I heard anything from you guys. Paul has kept me up to date with some of the PB and the Staunchmen activity and I must say, it has brought back many great memories. I think we were all fortunate to have grown up in a great town where we had the opportunity to express ourselves through the band. It was good fun. Doug’s passing was very sad. He went on to be a great guitarist and inspired many of the young people who followed us. Good to hear about all you guys. Don, please say hello to your dad for me. Barry and Paul N. keep up the guitar playing as long as you can.
Donna, of course I remember my “Sparta neighbor”. Remember Clarence Price & bus # 22? I remember working with your Mom also. Fun times. :=) All the best to you and yours as well!!
Hi guys, I feel a little like Pete Best. You guys went “professional” after I went in the Navy đ I did enjoy being a part of the band. I do remember coming home on leave once and playing with you all while Barry and Skunk were home from the Marine Corps (found pics the other day). I have been married to Maggie for 41 years and we now live in Arizona in order to be close to the grandchildren. I retired from the Navy back in ’87, spent about 10 years each in Virginia and Florida as a computer guy and then moved out here. I still enjoy playing music even though I have not improved much. If you look around our office there’s a couple of guitars hanging on the wall, a set of electronic drums and a keyboard. I have been finally cleaning out some old boxes and think I remember finding a Staunchmen business card with Pep Chappee? as a manager. Doug
Man, I used to have this 45…bought it at the 5&10 in Dansville for about 75 cents! Rick Nagle and I were good friends back then, and I always loved going to their house on a sleep-over because there was so much music going on there! I thought Paul was a celebrity or something! I wanted to be in a band so bad then…the music was timeless then…still is…We finally put together a band when we were in 6th grade (1966)…Rick and I sang (sort of), Lynn Hemmer on drums, Jim Goodell and Mike Derrenbacher on guitar..we only knew Steppin’ Stone and I’m A Believer…lol…
It is to bad Doug Smith is not alive anymore to appreciate this site. Doug was a talented guy who could sure play. He continued to play almost to the end. I am sure you know his widow Betsy. I remember Doug would encourage his daughter with golf and baseball. PB and the Staunchmen, certainly were an inspiration to the development of other bands in Dansville and the area. Just look at all the guys still playing today: Brent Mehlenbacher, Toby Standish, John Bovee just to name a few. The times were better back in the day-St. Mary’s, Town hall dances. Rock on guys-Jerry
Kay (Gridley) Young sent me this website and WOW…the memories come flooding back. My brother Bear had told me about the cd and website that he had come across a while back but Mean Willy was the only song playing. This is so great because, instead of telling my girls about their Uncle Barry, they can now read and listen for themselves. I plan on showing this website to my mom when she comes down for coffee tomorrow. She has always felt bad because we lost the recording of Lost Generation and Mean Willy. Now, thanks to this site, we can listen to it once again. As for myself, I married Mike Allen 37 years ago and we have 2 daughters. Stacy is 24 and a 1st lieutenant in the Marine Corps stationed at MCAS Yuma, AZ. She served in Afghanistan this past year. In May she will be stationed by 8th and I in Washington, D.C. as Exec. Officer. My younger daughter, Karen, is 21 and will have a daughter of her own in July. Karen resides in Hornell and is looking forward to being a mom. I am the guidance secretary at the High School. The same school we all couldn’t wait to get away from. How ironic! Don Munson lives down the street from us and Mike and I see him often when he walks by the house. It is great to hear the band once again…and also great to see the comments.
Hello again, I have to be honest and say that I haven’t been back on this website but once since I submitted a few words back in Feb of 2009. My sister sent me an email and mentioned “garage hangover” and I checked it out again only to be floored by some of the messages. Hearing from Paul and George and Doug Young and everyone else brought back a flood of memories. Paul, Doug and I go way back to a pre Staunchmen band called the Invaders, a childhood friend of mine, Steve Williams was the drummer. Paul always use to keep me laughing and could kick a can and tell you what key it was in. Donnie, I didn’t know about the loss of your arm, Vicki’s mom and dad and the Sugar Bowl were a major part of our teenage years, like a second home. I just recently took an early retirement after a work force reduction so now I’ll be twangin’ up a storm, you all take care.
Remember seeing all those guys around town. Saw them play at the old GC Murphy store when that record released. Spent a lot of time at the Beecher house and the Nagle house.
Years later, someone told me that “Mean Willy” was based on another Dansville guy…Bill Faulds. Apparently he was considered quite the ladies man. At least that’s the story I heard. Who really knows…it was the 60’s!
Yes Mike my brother Bill at that time he was quite the ladies man…I was only about 10 but girls were always coming over to our house crying to him about how much they loved him and if he didn’t go out with him they didn’t know what they would do…My Oldest brother Tom and Bill and myself all slept in the same room in those days. I would quite often hear them talking about the female anatomy and what they discovered….
Yes my brother is Bill Faulds “Mean Willy” and being ten years old at the Time idk for sure but that’s the story in Dansville still to this day lol.I myself had been in bands since 1968 inspired somewhat by The Staunchman Have the living room of my house as a makeshift studio and is trying to get my brother Bill and his lovely wife Nancy to play those two locally famous songs just for the hell of it…I think it will be fun…I see some of the vintage 45s sold for over $400.00 dollars omg…
don , what can you tell me about Clarence price bus #22 . i am married to his youngest daughter . i’m really interested in knowing the man i never knew. thank you ,ron
I remember Mr. Price only as my very favorite bus driver. In elementary school, his route went all the way up Morey Ave. There was a bump in the road somewhere before the bottom of the hill, and on some days, if we were “good”, we would yell “do the bump” and he would gun the engine (my memory!) and go fast enough that we’d rise a couple inches in the air when the bus hit the bump. Other than that, I remember him as a very quiet man!
I am Sheila, the wife of Paul Nagle. It is wonderful that there is a sight for these talented guys and a way for the songs they released to be heard, again, and the guys and their friends to reconnect. Paul plays his guitar all the time. He has not lost interest in doing that and he is just as talented as he ever was, although he had lost his voice, for a good number of years, it is starting to come back, somewhat. He was extremely ill in Dec. 2013 and just started to get his health back in June 2014 from a blood infection. I saw him at Skateland in Dansville with the band when I was 16 and went to a dance there. Of course I thought the band was awesome. It was not until five years later, that I met him in person as he was performing with his brothers. I have never seen so much talent as I have in my husband. Living with him and listening to him play for years, never gets tiring to me. God bless you all. Keep at your music as you were given such a great talent!
When I was a newspaper reporter in Dover, N.H., one of the people I had the pleasure of covering and getting to know was Paul Beecher, who had mentioned being in this band. (I think he also mentioned the Turtles had covered one of the songs?). He was city manager of Dover — this was back in the mid-1990s, and my newspaper didn’t even have e-mail, much less Internet access. At any rate, I had forgotten about this band until today, when I was listening to some tunes from The Olympics, one of which — “Good Lovin'” — was covered by the Rascals, reminding me this band (via the aforementioned “cover” question).
At any rate, he was a real character and a wonderful source. I think he went to Kingman (?), Ariz., eventually, to become city manager there.
I check on this website about once a year and feel compelled to add my 3 cents worth to it while it’s still OK in the USA, enough politics, this is a music site. Between my first band the Invaders and joining up with the Staunchmen I had the pleasure of playing with Paul Nagle and his talented brothers, Bob and Dave, I hope I got the names right, a very musical family. I recently connected with Paul (PB) Beecher and George Harvey, cool. As we’re all approaching 70 I still feel fortunate to have had the chance and the memories of playing with these guys and the rest of the band, it truly was a time I’ll always cherish and never forget nor will I ever forget the people and friends from that era. Music is still a major part of my life and always will be, it’s timeless, open your minds to this generation’s sounds, it’s good to go back but there is also some amazing talent out there today, my grand kids help keep me in touch with it. Time often has a strange way of feeling like long ago and yesterday all at once, everyone take care, Barry.
Recently stumbled on to this website and it brought back a lot of great memories about being a teen in the 60’s growing up in Dansville. Having played in bands like the Herd and the Migration from ’66 through ’69 with John Bovee, Dave Werth, Pete Laforce, Ken Gilbert, John Amico and several other friends, we often early on talked about playing like the Staunchmen. I know they had a big influence on us. At one time Doug Smith played in one of our bands. We thought it was a privilege to have him play with us, even though only for a short period. Every once in a while he would sit in when we played at St. Mary’s school auditorium when we played there, an old Staunchmen favorite place to play. A lot of great memories.
Barry, I will never forget sitting on your front porch, playing Venture songs with our Harmony guitars that we bought at Randall’s music store. We would turn up the volume when somebody was walking by. Wow!!!! Love those memories. I never could get that double picking on Pipeline. You had that down pat.
Now that Iâm a 70 year old youngster I feel itâs time to say a few things that have been rolling around in my mind since reading all the comments from people, most of whom I havenât seen since those band days in 1965 and 1966. Paul, I remember twanginâ away on 41 Main Street like it was yesterday, we had the harmony guitars and whatever amps or amp we were playing through smoking, at that time I never dreamed weâd eventually end up in NY City with a recording contract, unfortunately, given the times, Uncle Sam had other ideas for us and the rest of the band, I think other bands of that era suffered the same fate. I do remember the âShowstoppersâ I still play everyday, like breathing, it comes natural, to all of you who have contributed to this site, a hello and thanks for the memories, maybe weâll all meet again someday on our next journey.
Dana Q. Randall is what it said in the phone book.My friends and myself would buy musical instruments and the like from them on time for like two dollars a month or something like that.His wife who’s name I can’t remember was very nice to.The shop was on Jefferson Street in there home.The brand they mostly sold was Harmony good stuff bought lots of things from them…I think Paul Van derme said Mister Randall was his grandfather…Paul played organ in bands I was in back in the day…Ah what memories…
It was a real pleasure growing up in Dansville in the 60s and knowing all of you guys and the talent that you had at that time for coming from a small town like Dansville. I went to school with all of you and had most of you in some of my classes, Your talent was really great! I knew Doug Smith very well growing up and he surely is missed very much. After the Staunchmen he played for a long time with Brandy. Those were the good ole days and I sure miss those those local bands that we used to follow all over to see play, the Furys, The Brass Buttons and numerous other groups!
Don, can you please share that good black-and-white photo. This record means a lot to me. I am 53 years old and grew up in Perry, NY, just 1/2 hour away from Dansville. My Dad was from Mt. Morris and my Mom is from Perry. Mom had this record and I remember listening to it all the time probably from the time I was around 8 years old. Do you have any other recordings beside the 2 songs on this 45? I like both songs but like Lost Generation better. I just uploaded both songs to my YouTube Account! Both songs are in great quality. Enjoy…. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUhSQzMG3pLJ9C-ZZGfuGEIFCpVbEboCO
The black and white photo. is already on the website, and I just uploaded a Color one. Thanks for listening as a kid. Yes, we did make one other one called âDoinâ Goodâ. Unfortunately we were all drafted before it was released
My brother Bill is Mean Willy We grew up on Clay street where I still am Bill lives on upper Main street with his lovely Wife Nancy and his son Frank lives next door…
hello is anybody out there I noticed the last entree was 2020. Came by this site because I was looking up to see if there was any reference to Myles and the Puritans on google. I remember as a child I was probably about 10 or so ,The Stauchmen were playing in the basement of the Methodist Church. My brother and I George “Toby” Standish and Andy Pickard played during one of your breaks. We went on to become Myles and the Puritans. I have so many fond memories of playing my drums in Dansville and the people I played with. Still playing and loving every minute of it. Thank you Scott Standish
Cleaning out my garage the other day, I came across a copy of Mean Willy that appears to have been signed by the whole band. If you know of anyone would like to see a pic, Iâll pin it to my twitter for a while @chuckhubbard73 as it doesnât appear I can post pics here.
Hey Scott…was just checking this site once again for the hell of it I and saw your post.Liked what you had to say.I use to jam with Andy on my front porch also played on the K of C with him in little league…Been stuck in bed for the last month going to be getting up sometime next week if everything works out…Say hi to Darla…later…
I came into Dansville just after PB and the Staunchmen.Well there was an explosion of bands ,it was amazing for a town of 6,000 people to have so many great bands ,I remember there was a battle of the bands in the high school which featured, The Migration, Myles and the Puritians ,The Low Rent District (all from Dansville, and the Sun? ( a Nunda band) there was a band to listen to every weekend!!!
I know this isnât THAT Mike Wilcox! F-2, Wilcox? Anyway, cleaning out my garage the other day, I came across a copy of Mean Willy that appears to have been signed by the whole band. If you know of anyone would like to see a pic, Iâll pin it to my twitter for a while @chuckhubbard73
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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
P.B. & the Staunchmen cut this rare 45 on Lee, the same label as the Ascendors “I Won’t Be Home” in 1966. The label was located out of Hornell, New York, 40 miles south of Rochester but the band was from Dansville, another 20 miles south/southeast.
Hey Chaz and Don, i was very surprised to come across this website, it has been over 30 years since i’ve heard “Lost Generation” I lost the record somewhere along the way. I have to agree with Chaz, it was and is a depressing song although an echo of the times, within a year and a half of signing with ABC Paramount out of New York City and recording a song called “Doing Good” everyone in the band was serving their country representing all five branches of the Armed Forces, such were the 60’s. Side B was never recorded and the band was eventually dropped by the record label. if my memory is correct we also recorded “Mean Willy/Lost Generation” in New York city, not Hornell. I prefer the upbeat, butt kickin’ tempo of Mean Willy, until a few years ago i hadn’t known that it had taken on a life of it’s own over the years and had been released on an LP by Crypt records in the 90’s called “Garage Punks Unknown” volume eight and then again on a CD named “Psychedelic States, New York in the 60’s” volume two by Gear Fab records out of Florida. I have very fond memories of those days with the band, especially appearing on TV and also as one of the opening bands for The Standells who had a huge hit with “Dirty Water” Donnie’s dad, Phil Cox was a super guy and good business manager, other local bands sought him out but he remained loyal to only one. on a sad note, Doug Smith, the Sax player, passed away last year, he had long since ditched the Sax and had become an excellent guitar player while playing in several bands. as for myself, i have lived in North Carolina for the past 9 years and have played in a couple bands since my Staunchmen days, playing guitar is “my passion” second only to my grand kids, I play mostly original material and hope to lay down some tracks on a CD eventually either solo or with a band. Don, good to hear from you, would like to hear from other members of the band and anyone who remembers those days.
Hey grandpa its colin
Great story of times gone by…ah the mist of time…
Take me back.
I still have that 45.
When I die..my kids will probably toss it along with the 300 other 45s I have.
My brother Bill is the “Mean Willy”on the B side of the 45 he was quite a guy in the day…still is…We still live in Dansville NY all thee guys were friends with my brother especially the singer Paul Beecher and the drummer George Harvey.I hope your family doesn’t toss all your good stuff when your gone…
PS. where you from…
Henry this is Sarah, Barry McLean’s daughter. If your kids ever want to part with it, please let them know we would be very interested in it. Me and my nephew have been on the hunt for that 45 for year’s. Awesome to know there’s still a few around either way. đ
Here are both songs in great quality! I uploaded them to my YouTube account
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUhSQzMG3pLJ9C-ZZGfuGEIFCpVbEboCO
Thanks much for this site. I’ve been going nuts trying to find a copy of “Lost Generation”. It gave me the chills hearing it again after 40 years.
A few facts:
Band members were: Paul “Beech” Beecher, lead vocals. Eric “Skunk” Young, organ. Doug “Bones” Smith, sax. George “Rat” Harvey, drums. Paul “Nag” Nagle, lead guitar. Barry “Mort” McLean, rhythm guitar. Don Cox, rhythm/bass guitar.
Word correction to “Lost Generation”:
“This lost generation has me cryin'”
This 45 was cut in a studio in Hornell owned by Bruce Porter, a Country Western singer.
Actually “Lost Generation”, the A side, was supposed to be the hit, and came out months before “Eve of Destruction”. It got considerable air time on an AM Buffalo radio station, WKBW. Joey Reynolds, a DJ at WKBW, liked it and had us appear on his TV show. The lyrics were meant to be depressing. We were all in our late teens, with the draft staring us in the face. Paul does have a younger brother, but as far as I know never went into the service.
My Dad, Phil Cox, became our manager and got us gigs throughout Upstate New York. An exec at ABC Paramount heard us and signed us to a 1 year contract with ABC. Unfortunately this was at the height of the Viet Nam war, and Uncle Sam slowly grabbed each of us.
As far as I know evreyone in the band is alive and well.
I came across this site by accident. Good to hear from a couple of Dansvillites. My brother Paul was the guitar player in the band. He is living in Georgia these days with his wife and family. I will let him know about this site and I’m sure he will respond. I also played in a band with “Smitty” for about ten years and was greatly saddened by his death.
Ditch sent me this link! I’m so excited to see it and actually hear Lost Generation. I found Mean Willy on a garage band CD a couple years ago but have never been able to track down Lost Generation. I posted this link on Facebook as I’m sure many of our Dansville friends will want to check it out. I personally have 3 boys all serving in the military… one who happens to turn 21 tomorrow is in Afghanistan, another is in Iraq and the third is in nuclear training in Charleston, SC. They will be thrilled to be able to link to these songs. Doug Smith taught my son that is in Afghanisan to play bass guitar and yes, he had his guitar shipped over to him.
Great site!!! It brought back a lot of memories reading Don and Barry’s comments. I remember losing the heal off my shoe while playing “Gloria” on TV. Sure was embarrassing, but we all got a good laugh out of it. As mentioned in the other comments, we all went our seperate ways and joined the different branches of the military service. In fact, I just recently retired from the Navy after a tour in Kuwait. I am presently working as a Deputy Warden in a prison in Southwest Georgia, where I’ve been since moving South in 1995. I’ve been married 37 years to my lovely wife Sheila and have 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson. I am still playing guitar on a regular basis, being part of the Praise and Worship group at our Church. I love to cut loose every once in a while. I put together a Christmas CD a few years ago and look forward to laying down some tracks with my wife in the near future.
i am the younger brother of paul and was never very musical, but i always enjoyed the staunchmens gigs, the ones i could sneek into, because i wasnt old enough , but anyway i bought a peice of property next to phil cox,s house and when i go up and mow he always comes out and talks to me , alot of times about the band, and everytime he wants to know what paul nagle is doing, he always makes me laugh when i go up there
Hi Barry and Don,
We did go to Hornell to meet up with Bruce Porter and his band and from there we went to New York City to record the record. If I remember correctly, when we recorded “Doing Good”, they wanted to change the name of our band to Puff and the Magic Dragons. I wonder if there is any way to see if there is a copy of it in the archives of the recording studio. The only thing I remeber about the song is the last note when “Skunk” turned off his keyboard and it made that strange elevating noise. I’m still playing guitar at church, but my singing voice is all but gone. Good to hear from you both and I hope some of the other guys get on and make a comment. Kind of like a reunion.
Wow is it good to “hear” from you guys. As far as “Doing Good” (I actually forgot the name of it), my Dad thought they sent him a master copy at one time but he can’t find it. BTW… he just turned 87 a few days ago. Time flies. He gave me what he had for documents on the band, and I’ve scanned them and put them on my website (http://donvicleah.com) for your viewing pleasure. It should bring back some memories, especially the agreement to play at the #1 Club. Check out Don Costa’s website – http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/don_costa.htm. We were with some pretty impressive company: Frank Sanatra, and according the website, “Other names that Costa has worked with include The Ames Brothers, Vic Damone, Marv Johnson, Eddy Arnold, Perry Como, James Darren, Kenny Rankin, Bobby Sherman and Robert Goulet.”
I’m doing very well. Retired, not by choice, it was Kodak’s decision after 25 years. I’ve been married 26 years to my beautiful wife Vicki Sapetko. She has fond memories of us playing in her Mom & Dad’s restaurant, The Sugar Bowl, even though she was only 12 at the time. I’ve kidded her and told her she probably was dreaming about me way back then. She said that she actually had a crush on Barry. She thought he looked like one of the Bee Gees.
I’ve been blessed throughout my life. I lost my left arm to cancer 16 years ago and was given a <10% to live, but here I am. We adopted a beautiful girl from Korea, who's 21 now and a Junior at the University of Buffalo.
Keep in touch, & God bless.
Are you the Don Cox and Vicki Sapetko that I knew in Rochester? We used to play Atari 400 games all night?
Sorry for the very late reply Bob, but yes, that was us!
Hey Don I’ve been in a wheelchair since 1977 so were in the same club sort of speak.Think my brother Bill said your over at the Bath VA…I been in bed the last entire month actually at bit more…Try to keep those good times in your head as I do it seems to help a bit…
Hey How Are You?
Remember me?
My better half is Mike Nagle. Small world huh! I had this record but some where along the way it disappeared! Good to hear you are doing well! Never knew where you went to! Mike & I have been together for 7 years and is the love of my life, makes me laugh everyday! He has such a great family!!!!!
The best to you and your family!
Donna Hynes Smyder
Hello All. I was quite surprised to see all your comments on this site. Aside from Paul and Smitty, it’s been years and years since I heard anything from you guys. Paul has kept me up to date with some of the PB and the Staunchmen activity and I must say, it has brought back many great memories. I think we were all fortunate to have grown up in a great town where we had the opportunity to express ourselves through the band. It was good fun. Doug’s passing was very sad. He went on to be a great guitarist and inspired many of the young people who followed us. Good to hear about all you guys. Don, please say hello to your dad for me. Barry and Paul N. keep up the guitar playing as long as you can.
Donna, of course I remember my “Sparta neighbor”. Remember Clarence Price & bus # 22?
I remember working with your Mom also. Fun times. :=)
All the best to you and yours as well!!
Hi guys,
I feel a little like Pete Best. You guys went “professional” after I went in the Navy đ I did enjoy being a part of the band. I do remember coming home on leave once and playing with you all while Barry and Skunk were home from the Marine Corps (found pics the other day). I have been married to Maggie for 41 years and we now live in Arizona in order to be close to the grandchildren. I retired from the Navy back in ’87, spent about 10 years each in Virginia and Florida as a computer guy and then moved out here. I still enjoy playing music even though I have not improved much. If you look around our office there’s a couple of guitars hanging on the wall, a set of electronic drums and a keyboard. I have been finally cleaning out some old boxes and think I remember finding a Staunchmen business card with Pep Chappee? as a manager.
Doug
On second thought I think Pep was a manager for “The Invaders” (a pre-Staunchmen group).
Man, I used to have this 45…bought it at the 5&10 in Dansville for about 75 cents! Rick Nagle and I were good friends back then, and I always loved going to their house on a sleep-over because there was so much music going on there! I thought Paul was a celebrity or something! I wanted to be in a band so bad then…the music was timeless then…still is…We finally put together a band when we were in 6th grade (1966)…Rick and I sang (sort of), Lynn Hemmer on drums, Jim Goodell and Mike Derrenbacher on guitar..we only knew Steppin’ Stone and I’m A Believer…lol…
This is a great site!!
It is to bad Doug Smith is not alive anymore to appreciate this site.
Doug was a talented guy who could sure play. He continued to play almost to the end.
I am sure you know his widow Betsy. I remember Doug would encourage his daughter with golf and baseball.
PB and the Staunchmen, certainly were an inspiration to the development of other bands in Dansville and the area. Just look at all the guys still playing today: Brent Mehlenbacher, Toby Standish, John Bovee just to name a few.
The times were better back in the day-St. Mary’s, Town hall dances.
Rock on guys-Jerry
John Bivee d I sent play drums anymore.
He doesn’t play drums. Sorry
Hit wrong keys
I sure remember the Staunchmen and those days…such fun!!!
Kay (Gridley) Young sent me this website and WOW…the memories come flooding back. My brother Bear had told me about the cd and website that he had come across a while back but Mean Willy was the only song playing.
This is so great because, instead of telling my girls about their Uncle Barry, they can now read and listen for themselves.
I plan on showing this website to my mom when she comes down for coffee tomorrow. She has always felt bad because we lost the recording of Lost Generation and Mean Willy. Now, thanks to this site, we can listen to it once again.
As for myself, I married Mike Allen 37 years ago and we have 2 daughters. Stacy is 24 and a 1st lieutenant in the Marine Corps stationed at MCAS Yuma, AZ. She served in Afghanistan this past year. In May she will be stationed by 8th and I in Washington, D.C. as Exec. Officer. My younger daughter, Karen, is 21 and will have a daughter of her own in July. Karen resides in Hornell and is looking forward to being a mom.
I am the guidance secretary at the High School. The same school we all couldn’t wait to get away from. How ironic! Don Munson lives down the street from us and Mike and I see him often when he walks by the house.
It is great to hear the band once again…and also great to see the comments.
Hello again, I have to be honest and say that I haven’t been back on this website but once since I submitted a few words back in Feb of 2009. My sister sent me an email and mentioned “garage hangover” and I checked it out again only to be floored by some of the messages. Hearing from Paul and George and Doug Young and everyone else brought back a flood of memories. Paul, Doug and I go way back to a pre Staunchmen band called the Invaders, a childhood friend of mine, Steve Williams was the drummer. Paul always use to keep me laughing and could kick a can and tell you what key it was in. Donnie, I didn’t know about the loss of your arm, Vicki’s mom and dad and the Sugar Bowl were a major part of our teenage years, like a second home. I just recently took an early retirement after a work force reduction so now I’ll be twangin’ up a storm, you all take care.
Remember seeing all those guys around town. Saw them play at the old GC Murphy store when that record released. Spent a lot of time at the Beecher house and the Nagle house.
Years later, someone told me that “Mean Willy” was based on another Dansville guy…Bill Faulds. Apparently he was considered quite the ladies man. At least that’s the story I heard. Who really knows…it was the 60’s!
Yes Mike my brother Bill at that time he was quite the ladies man…I was only about 10 but girls were always coming over to our house crying to him about how much they loved him and if he didn’t go out with him they didn’t know what they would do…My Oldest brother Tom and Bill and myself all slept in the same room in those days. I would quite often hear them talking about the female anatomy and what they discovered….
Yes my brother is Bill Faulds “Mean Willy” and being ten years old at the Time idk for sure but that’s the story in Dansville still to this day lol.I myself had been in bands since 1968 inspired somewhat by The Staunchman Have the living room of my house as a makeshift studio and is trying to get my brother Bill and his lovely wife Nancy to play those two locally famous songs just for the hell of it…I think it will be fun…I see some of the vintage 45s sold for over $400.00 dollars omg…
don , what can you tell me about Clarence price bus #22 . i am married to his youngest daughter . i’m really interested in knowing the man i never knew. thank you ,ron
I remember Mr. Price only as my very favorite bus driver. In elementary school, his route went all the way up Morey Ave. There was a bump in the road somewhere before the bottom of the hill, and on some days, if we were “good”, we would yell “do the bump” and he would gun the engine (my memory!) and go fast enough that we’d rise a couple inches in the air when the bus hit the bump. Other than that, I remember him as a very quiet man!
Awesome story Nancy
Someone mentioned Pep Shappee as the manager. What ever happened to him? We used to hang at Conesus lake in the 60’s
I can not read the amount of 45s to be made on the contract. Does anyone know how many copies were pressed?
I am Sheila, the wife of Paul Nagle. It is wonderful that there is a sight for these talented guys and a way for the songs they released to be heard, again, and the guys and their friends to reconnect.
Paul plays his guitar all the time. He has not lost interest in doing that and he is just as talented as he ever was, although he had lost his voice, for a good number of years, it is starting to come back, somewhat. He was extremely ill in Dec. 2013 and just started to get his health back in June 2014 from a blood infection. I saw him at Skateland in Dansville with the band when I was 16 and went to a dance there. Of course I thought the band was awesome. It was not until five years later, that I met him in person as he was performing with his brothers. I have never seen so much talent as I have in my husband. Living with him and listening to him play for years, never gets tiring to me. God bless you all. Keep at your music as you were given such a great talent!
Pretty rare . 500 copies of I’m not mistaken.
When I was a newspaper reporter in Dover, N.H., one of the people I had the pleasure of covering and getting to know was Paul Beecher, who had mentioned being in this band. (I think he also mentioned the Turtles had covered one of the songs?). He was city manager of Dover — this was back in the mid-1990s, and my newspaper didn’t even have e-mail, much less Internet access. At any rate, I had forgotten about this band until today, when I was listening to some tunes from The Olympics, one of which — “Good Lovin'” — was covered by the Rascals, reminding me this band (via the aforementioned “cover” question).
At any rate, he was a real character and a wonderful source. I think he went to Kingman (?), Ariz., eventually, to become city manager there.
I check on this website about once a year and feel compelled to add my 3 cents worth to it while it’s still OK in the USA, enough politics, this is a music site. Between my first band the Invaders and joining up with the Staunchmen I had the pleasure of playing with Paul Nagle and his talented brothers, Bob and Dave, I hope I got the names right, a very musical family. I recently connected with Paul (PB) Beecher and George Harvey, cool. As we’re all approaching 70 I still feel fortunate to have had the chance and the memories of playing with these guys and the rest of the band, it truly was a time I’ll always cherish and never forget nor will I ever forget the people and friends from that era. Music is still a major part of my life and always will be, it’s timeless, open your minds to this generation’s sounds, it’s good to go back but there is also some amazing talent out there today, my grand kids help keep me in touch with it. Time often has a strange way of feeling like long ago and yesterday all at once, everyone take care, Barry.
Recently stumbled on to this website and it brought back a lot of great memories about being a teen in the 60’s growing up in Dansville. Having played in bands like the Herd and the Migration from ’66 through ’69 with John Bovee, Dave Werth, Pete Laforce, Ken Gilbert, John Amico and several other friends, we often early on talked about playing like the Staunchmen. I know they had a big influence on us. At one time Doug Smith played in one of our bands. We thought it was a privilege to have him play with us, even though only for a short period. Every once in a while he would sit in when we played at St. Mary’s school auditorium when we played there, an old Staunchmen favorite place to play. A lot of great memories.
Barry, I will never forget sitting on your front porch, playing Venture songs with our Harmony guitars that we bought at Randall’s music store. We would turn up the volume when somebody was walking by. Wow!!!! Love those memories. I never could get that double picking on Pipeline. You had that down pat.
Now that Iâm a 70 year old youngster I feel itâs time to say a few things that have been rolling around in my mind since reading all the comments from people, most of whom I havenât seen since those band days in 1965 and 1966. Paul, I remember twanginâ away on 41 Main Street like it was yesterday, we had the harmony guitars and whatever amps or amp we were playing through smoking, at that time I never dreamed weâd eventually end up in NY City with a recording contract, unfortunately, given the times, Uncle Sam had other ideas for us and the rest of the band, I think other bands of that era suffered the same fate. I do remember the âShowstoppersâ I still play everyday, like breathing, it comes natural, to all of you who have contributed to this site, a hello and thanks for the memories, maybe weâll all meet again someday on our next journey.
Dana Q. Randall is what it said in the phone book.My friends and myself would buy musical instruments and the like from them on time for like two dollars a month or something like that.His wife who’s name I can’t remember was very nice to.The shop was on Jefferson Street in there home.The brand they mostly sold was Harmony good stuff bought lots of things from them…I think Paul Van derme said Mister Randall was his grandfather…Paul played organ in bands I was in back in the day…Ah what memories…
I don’t know how I got it, but I have one of the original 45s . Still sounds wonderful.
It was a real pleasure growing up in Dansville in the 60s and knowing all of you guys and the talent that you had at that time for coming from a small town like Dansville. I went to school with all of you and had most of you in some of my classes, Your talent was really great! I knew Doug Smith very well growing up and he surely is missed very much. After the Staunchmen he played for a long time with Brandy. Those were the good ole days and I sure miss those those local bands that we used to follow all over to see play, the Furys, The Brass Buttons and numerous other groups!
Remember the Show Stoppers?
I remember going to every dance they playef at.
I still have the 45 records they made.
Miss them all. The good ole days
R.I.P. Doug Smith
I have a good black-and-white photo of the band without Eric a Young unfortunately if youâre interested
Don, can you please share that good black-and-white photo. This record means a lot to me. I am 53 years old and grew up in Perry, NY, just 1/2 hour away from Dansville. My Dad was from Mt. Morris and my Mom is from Perry. Mom had this record and I remember listening to it all the time probably from the time I was around 8 years old. Do you have any other recordings beside the 2 songs on this 45? I like both songs but like Lost Generation better. I just uploaded both songs to my YouTube Account! Both songs are in great quality. Enjoy….
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUhSQzMG3pLJ9C-ZZGfuGEIFCpVbEboCO
The black and white photo. is already on the website, and I just uploaded a Color one. Thanks for listening as a kid. Yes, we did make one other one called âDoinâ Goodâ. Unfortunately we were all drafted before it was released
I did already see the Black & White Pic. Thanks for uploading the color pic. Do you have that other song in a file to listen to?
thank you for the photo
My brother Bill is Mean Willy We grew up on Clay street where I still am Bill lives on upper Main street with his lovely Wife Nancy and his son Frank lives next door…
hello is anybody out there I noticed the last entree was 2020. Came by this site because I was looking up to see if there was any reference to Myles and the Puritans on google. I remember as a child I was probably about 10 or so ,The Stauchmen were playing in the basement of the Methodist Church. My brother and I George “Toby” Standish and Andy Pickard played during one of your breaks. We went on to become Myles and the Puritans. I have so many fond memories of playing my drums in Dansville and the people I played with. Still playing and loving every minute of it. Thank you Scott Standish
Colin is here Barry is my grandpa ill tell him bout this and see if he will hop on here and check it out again im sure he remembers it
Cleaning out my garage the other day, I came across a copy of Mean Willy that appears to have been signed by the whole band. If you know of anyone would like to see a pic, Iâll pin it to my twitter for a while @chuckhubbard73 as it doesnât appear I can post pics here.
Hey Scott…was just checking this site once again for the hell of it I and saw your post.Liked what you had to say.I use to jam with Andy on my front porch also played on the K of C with him in little league…Been stuck in bed for the last month going to be getting up sometime next week if everything works out…Say hi to Darla…later…
I came into Dansville just after PB and the Staunchmen.Well there was an explosion of bands ,it was amazing for a town of 6,000 people to have so many great bands ,I remember there was a battle of the bands in the high school which featured, The Migration, Myles and the Puritians ,The Low Rent District (all from Dansville, and the Sun? ( a Nunda band) there was a band to listen to every weekend!!!
I know this isnât THAT Mike Wilcox! F-2, Wilcox? Anyway, cleaning out my garage the other day, I came across a copy of Mean Willy that appears to have been signed by the whole band. If you know of anyone would like to see a pic, Iâll pin it to my twitter for a while @chuckhubbard73