The Psychedelic Sound, January 1968, front left: Linda Lizzi and Tina Bauer, back from left: Jim Schelley, Ronnie Amato and Tom Berger. Not pictured: bassist Kevin Kerr.
The Psychedelic Sound were one of the bands who recorded at Earl Kennett’s studio in Kinderhook, New York.
Lacquer with both songs of the Psychedelic Sound 45The band released two original songs, “Sorry Baby – Goodbye” / “Stars Cease to Shine” on Sunny-Side Records 0014, Sunnyside being the name of the Kennett family’s horse farm where the studio was located.
Members included:
Linda Rizzi – vocals Tina Bauer – drums Jim Schelley – guitar Ronnie Amato – vocals and keyboards(?) Tom Berger – guitar Kevin Kerr – bass
plans include making another recordThe Kingston Daily Freeman reported on January 22, 1968 that: “the Psychedelic Sound would take part in the annual March of Dimes benefit show Jan. 28 at municipal auditorium. They recently cut two successful platters, Sorry Baby – Goodbye and Stars Cease to Shine.”
A Daily Freeman notice from July, 1968 remarks:
The Psychedelic Sound, a five-piece musical group consisting of teenagers from Kingston and Lake Katrine, won the Battle of the Bands, sponsored by the Saugerties JayCees, which was held July 3 at Cantine Field.
The group has played for many benefits including the American Legion, Band Battles and Cerebral Palsy, and are under the direction of Mary Rizzi, Lake Katrine.
Mary Rizzi, presumably Linda’s mother, is also credited as producer of the 45, as M. Lizzi. The band probably broke up as Linda Rizzi and presumably others were attending college in the fall.
After the Psychedelic Sound, Kevin Kerr is mentioned as the bassist for the Contemporary Souls, in a photo that ran in the Daily Freeman showing guitarists Jim Kluepfel and Guy Walker with drummer Ted Blankschan for a YMCA/YWCA/Kingston Recreation dance on Dedrick Street in August, 1968.
Ronnie Amato played organ at the Cedar Grove Inn in Saugerties and Liguori’s Restaurant in Rosendale.
Tina Bauer had previously been in another local group called 3 Hits and a Miss with a photo that ran in the Daily Freeman in September, 1966 for a dance at Ulster Park Grange Hall.
3 Hits And A Miss, from left: Sal Greco, lead guitar; Tony Greco, vocalist, Tina Bauer, drummer and Al Pace, rhythm guitar
Thank you to Achille Brunet for tracking down the news clips seen here. Achille has his own site, Strange Lights to cover other bands of this period.
There used to be a dozen such blogs and sites going to cover ’60s ‘garage’ music, but the number of active ones has dwindled in recent years. I hope more start up, because there are too many bands from this era whose history is still undocumented.
Members of the Grapes of Wrath group play music worthy of putting on a record. The SPHS students are (left to right) Brian Magnan, Bill Lichty, Ralph Sias, Danny Morrow and William Doheny., San Pedro News-Pilot, May 17, 1967.
The Grapes of Wrath cut one 45, “For Every Year” / “Cause it Was Her”, both written by Ralph Sias.
The group came from San Pedro, California, in the South Bay of Los Angeles.
Members were:
Brian Magnan – lead vocals Bill Lichty – drums Ralph Sias – guitar Danny Morrow – bass William Doheny – keyboards
H. Eugene MacDonald produced their record, released on Vita Records V-005/V-006 with an address of 301 S. Western Ave, San Pedro, CA.
The San Pedro News-Pilot profiled the group twice, first on May 17, 1967 with an article written by the group’s bassist!
Grapes of Wrath band makes recording noise
By Danny Morrow
“This is it, boys. What’s it going to be next year.- trucks or Cadillacs?” With these words of encouragement from producer, Mr. Roth, and “unknown” teenage band called, hauntedly … “The Grapes of Wrath,” began its first recording session at American Recording Studios in Studio City.
The band is made up of five “crazy” individuals named Ralph Sias, Brian Magnan, Bill Lichty, William Doheney and myself, Danny Morrow.
Ralph writes the songs, plays lead guitar and gets nervous. Brian sings lead vocal and smiles at girls. Bill plays organ and wears leather boots. Williams plays drums and loves drums. I play bass and get in and out of trouble.
At the session, two songs written and arranged by Ralph, were taped in a stretch of nervous sweaty work that lasted five hours. The two songs, “For Every Year,” and “Cause It Was Here,” can presently be heard on the local rock station with a little patience and luck.
With the number of teenage bands easily numbering in the tens of hundreds in California alone, how did this group … manage to talk the Sunburst Record Company into backing a recording session?
First, a few months before the session a rough “demo” (45 RPM recording on a six-inch disk) was recorded at a small recording studio, and the manager, U.L. McDonald took the demo to different recording stations.
The vice-president of Sunburst, Mr. Roth [sic – Adam Ross], was impressed both with the band and the recording …
The next step is up to the “hippies” who buy the records.
The record did not come out on Sunburst, the label that released the E-Types “She Moves Me” and the Zoo’s LP The Zoo Presents Chocolate Moose, as well as a number of pop singles produced by Ed Cobb, but instead saw a release financed by the band under the auspices of H. Eugene MacDonald (the U.L McDonald cited in the article, presumably).
The second article came on September 4, 1967:
Folk-rock group wins popularity
By Rita Pedersen
A San Pedro rock ’n’ roll band has proved long hair and unconventional clothing are not necessary to become popular.
The band, the Grapes of Wrath, is a “short hair” outfit, and wears burgundy-cherry dinner jackets.
Despite their neat appearance, the group leaves Saturday for a week-long tour of Northern California.
The five-member band will appear on a Fresno television show and play in Redding, Red Bluff and North Sacramento Valley.
Members of the band are Ralph Sias, Bill Doheney, Danny Morrow, Brian Mangan and William Lichty, all of San Pedro. They are all San Pedro High School graduates, except for Lichty who will graduate next year.
The tour was arranged when a recording by the band, “Cause It Was Her,” became popular in the Redding area.
Doheney, an amateur radio operator, began talking to a Redding disc jockey Ian Evans, and he offered to play the group’s recording for a trial period.
Listener reaction was good, according to Doheney, and the band was signed for personal appearances.
The group was organized last summer when the youths were on the high school gymnastics team. Only Lichty was not on the team.
Doheney described their style as folk-rock and said Sias and Mangan write many of their songs, including “Cause It Was Her.”
There was a great profile of the band and interview with Bill Doheney, that didn’t include these news clippings, at www.westcoastfog.com/the-grapes-of-wrath/index.html, but unfortunately that site is now defunct. A version of that article was also in print in Ugly Things issue #39.
I see that Achille Brunet has just added a profile of the band at his site, Strange Lights, with more info than I have here. I’m sorry for the duplication, Achille, but glad to see someone else working the ’60s garage beat! It’s been quiet for a long time.
Richie’s Renegades in the Daily Item, April 17, 1966
Richie’s Renegades came from Lynn, Massachusetts. After winning a state-wide battle of the bands in May, 1966, the group cut a fine single on the Polaris Records label, “Don’t Cry” / “Baby It’s Me” released in August.
Members included:
Richie Reynolds – lead vocals William Dunn – guitar Robert Leger – guitar Robert Peck – organ Brian Michaels – bass Kevin Robichaud – drums
Erik Lindgren’s notes to The Polaris Story CD note that they cut the single at Fleetwood, while alternate versions of the single and a Pepsi commercial “Come Alive” featured on the CD were done at Ace.
The Lynn Daily Item ran photos of the group on April 26 and May 13, 1966:
Richie’s Renegades, a Lynn band, will be one of 18 competing for sate-wide honors tomorrow at Boston Gardens. They are on of a group of winners selected from more than 600 band taking part in local and regional contests, sponsored by the Jaycees.
The accompanying article noted that “Plans are now underway for a national competition next year, the Jaycees said.”
May 16, 1966 notice of their win
The May 16 Daily Item noted that the band won the final competition “which brings with it a $500 cash award, new musical instruments, recording contracts and other awards.
Inscribed to Edlita Adams (Miss Essex County and a Jaycee finals judge) by Billy Dunn, Bob Leger, Bob Reader (?) and Kevin Robichaud.
I found a copy of their record inscribed to Edlita, with four signatures: Bob Leger, Bob Reader [surname correct?], Ken Robichaud, and Billy Duran. Bob Reader isn’t in the lineups I’ve found online, and I read Robichaud’s as Kevin instead of Kenneth.
Kevin Robichaud is the correct spelling, as Lou Ames Music Store ran ads in September and October, 1968 with Kevin’s photo as a drum instructor, “featured with ‘The Playn Jane” and formerly with ‘Richie’s Renegades.'”
I found a notice in the Daily Item on August 25, 1966:
Richie and the Renegades of Lynn … will give two performances at the Pepsi booth as a highlight of the Family Day program at Topsfield Fair on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
The group will autograph their just released recordings “Baby, It’s Me” and “Don’t Cry” and, in addition, will offer autographed photographs.
One of the judges of [the Boston Garden battle] was Miss Edlita Adams, 19, of Lynn, reigning “Miss Essex County.”
That notice, and a couple others I found, list Robert Teck instead of Robert Peck.
The Boston Globe ran a brief item in April, 1967 about the group going to Worcester for the national competition with the same lineup listed as in 1966.
November 24, 1967 notice in Greenville, New Hampshire with William the Wild One, Tall Paul Floyd, and the Young Adults.
A December 20, 1966 notice in the Daily Item ran:
The Lynn Young Democrats held a Christmas party for needy children, highlighted by the appearance of a local band, Richie’s Renegades …
Members of the Renegades, donating their services for the occasion, were Brian Michaels, Bob Leger, Bill Dunn, Bob Peck, Kevin Robichaud, Dick Tarnborini, Bill Barry and Richie Reynolds.
The inclusion of Bill Barry is interesting, as he is also known as William the Wild One, who cut a great 45 on Festival in 1966, supposedly with Richie’s Renegades providing backing. A Fitchburg Sentinal notice mentions the Renegades playing a show with William the Wild One at Appleton Academy in December, 1966, noting that William “toured the country with the Dave Clark Five. He and Reynolds are cousins of Dave Barry, a student at the academy.”
By 1968, Richie’s Renegades became Playn Jane, mentioned in the February 29, 1968 Daily Item:
The third annual Battle of the Bands sponsored by the Lynn Jaycees will be held Saturday night at Classical High.
The competing teenage bands are Danny and the Dreamers, Passing Times, Playn Jane, Psychedelic Innovation, Satisfaction and the Sinders …
Dancing will be allowed during the competition.
Robert Leger passed away on January 7, 2020.
September, 1968 ad for Kevin Robichaud of Lou Ames Music Studio
Froggy and the Gremlins from left: Mike Shields (organ), John McClusky (drums), Bill Thomason (lead vocals), Pat [surname?] (lead guitar), and Craig Gardner (bass) Our band started one Friday night in late 1964 literally in a garage in Vestavia, Alabama when I (Froggy) was singing while two friends were playing the drums and the guitar. The three of us attended Berry High School. The drummer’s cousin, Craig Gardner stopped by to show off his new Oldsmobile 442 and he listened to us perform a tune or two. The next day Craig called me and said that he and a few guys from Shades Valley High School were starting a band and asked if I was interested in being the lead singer. Of course, I said yes.
My neighbor was Ray Edwards, the lead singer with The Knights and the first time I saw them perform I resolved to one day do the same. This was my chance! So, the following weekend, Froggy and the Gremlins band was born in Mike Shields living room and the first song we learned was a cover of the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There”.
Members in the photo at top:
Mike Shields – electric organ John McClusky – drums Bill Thomason – lead singer Pat ? – lead guitar Craig Gardner – bass
Before long, Pat dropped out and was replaced by lead guitarist Jerry Meadows.
After learning a set list of about 25 songs we hit the road and were very popular locally in Birmingham and North Alabama. Venues consisted of many fraternity parties at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and in Birmingham, and teenage dances and sock-hops at local National Guard Armories around northern Alabama. We were invited to a Battle of the Bands at the Huntsville coliseum and placed third. WBRC-TV in Birmingham televised a weekly Battle of the Bands and we were matched against the late, great Rooster Gallagher and the Townsmen who I believe eventually won the entire competition later that year.
Pizitz Department Store in downtown Birmingham would hold regular dances and Go-Go demonstrations in the teen clothing section which was a brilliant marketing idea since it drew hundreds of teens (and their mothers) to the store. We played these events several times and once opened for The Swingin’ Medallions there.
Over time as all the other bands were adding horns and reeds, we added:
Bill Roberts – alto sax Mark Stevens – trumpet
I was also a trumpet player so we had a full, solid sound and were consistent with what was popular at the time. Also, we dropped the “Froggy” and were just “The Gremlins” to project a more contemporary and professional image.
Jerry Meadows was a song writer so like practically every other band on this site, the time came for our rite of passage in Ed Boutwell’s studio at an old church on 2nd Avenue North in Avondale. We created an eight-song demo tape of six cover songs and two songs that Jerry had composed. One was titled “Summer Girl” and the other one I do not remember. We had no money to afford a record press so we hawked the reel-to-reel demo tape around to several radio stations with favorable results but of course there was no air time since there was no vinyl to play.
Finally, in the fall of 1966 most everyone was leaving for various colleges around the state. I, on the other hand having primarily been interested in dedicating most of my time to The Gremlins rather than to high school academics, was shipped off to military school at Lyman Ward Military Academy in south Alabama. Thus, The Gremlins band officially came to an end.
Over the years, I saw Mike Shields occasionally at church and later heard he moved to Carmel, California and became an artist. I also occasionally saw Bill Roberts at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa when we were both students there. Ironically, John McClusky was the drummer for String and the Beans when they played at my High School senior military ball. He eventually became a lawyer in the Birmingham area. I lost touch with Jerry Meadows, Craig Gardner and Mark Stevens after our last gig in the late summer of 1966.
Regrettably, as the years passed and my focus turned to college, kids and careers, my copy of the demo tape disappeared. Several years ago, I reached out to Mark Harrelson at Boutwell Studios right after they moved to their beautiful new facility on Central Avenue in Homewood. He told me that had I been a year earlier they probably would have had the master tape but that after all those years they had finally purged the old archives in the latest move.
What an exciting time it was to be a teenager and part of the incredible ‘60’s music scene. Music has remained a big part of my family and these days even one of my college-aged grandsons is carrying on the tradition with a country music solo act.
Dave and the Squires cut this moody original song “The Girl of My Dreams” in late 1965, released on Radex R65121. The flip is a slow version of “Ferry Cross the Merscy” [sic].
I know nothing about the group except one member’s name, Dave Lamoreux who wrote the A-side and sang lead on both sides.
Radex Recording Studio was in business in Freeport, Illinois into the 1980s. Its most notable production may be the Nomadds who cut an album there, Nomads Originals Plus. Owner Dexter Witt passed away in January 2023.
The Modulation Corporation made one 45 on Atom 1001 in November, 1967: the tough garage song “What to Do” b/w the bluesy “Worms”, both written by Francis W. Wilson II, and cut at Texas Sound Studios in San Antonio.
I don’t know the names of other members in the group. Francis Wilson seems to have been known as Billy Wilson. Covering the wedding of Jane Ellent Grant and William Eilers Jr. in Luling, TX, the Shiner Gazette on December 7, 1967 mentioned “An orchestra, Billy Wilson and the Modulation Corporation, provided music during the reception.”
The Modulation Corporation seem to have been together only during the fall of 1967. I’ve read the group was from San Marcos, about halfway between Austin and San Antonio, but most of the notices I’ve found are from two Austin venues, the Lake Austin Inn and the Pleasure Dome.
They had regular gigs at the Lake Austin Inn in September and October, 1967
On December 29-30, 1967 the Modulation Corporation played two nights with the South Canadian Overflow at the Pleasure Dome, and may have been included in the New Year’s Eve show with the Golden Dawn, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and the Afro-Caravan.
Anyone have a photo of the group?
The Pleasure Dome
The Pleasure Dome opened on December 15, 1967 with the Thingies and underground films like Scorpio Rising. It was located at 222 E. 6th Street in what had been the Yank Theater building. Bill Simonson managed the club, with lighting by an unnamed person who had done lighting at the Electric Circus and the Cheetah in New York City. In progress off the lobby was the Sacred Mushroom Bar.
From notices in the American-Statesmen, the Pleasure Dome seems to have lasted only one month.
The first week of January the Pleasure Dome had the Thingies and South Canadian Overflow on Friday, the Strawberry Shoemaker and the Golden Dawn on Saturday, and the Golden Dawn and the Thingies on Sunday.
The following week featured the Thingies, the Starvation Army Band and the Vines. I have found no further notices after that.
The Socialites at the Unicorn Lansing, MIThe Socialites were four women who made two 45s in 1968. I don’t know the names of the band members, or where they came from, except for a show listing in Lansing, Michigan.
I believe the Socialites first single was a version of “Bye Bye Love” b/w the neat bubblegum rocker “Phooey Phooey on You”, released on Scott Records FM-324. Artyfacts in Wax has a short write-up and good scans of the labels.
Scott Records had 45s by the Merrie Motor Company who were from Olivet, MI; and the Jay Walker Effort who seem to have come from Grand Rapids.
The Socialites recorded (and/or mastered) “Looking Out My Window” at Tera Shirma Sound Studio in Detroit, with a cover of “Boat that I Row” on the flip. Garry Holton, credited for writing “Looking Out My Window” seems to have lived in Jackson, Michigan.
Released as National Electric Signalling And Commercial Company 6483142, the label has finely drawn illustration, and the obscure sub-text “A Michigan Corporation Division of Audio Records”.
“Looking Out My Window” reached #31 on WILS 1320 AM Sound Survey 33 on December 18, 1968.
R.D. Francis sent me the flyer at top, one of a half-dozen ads for the short-lived Unicorn club made by Mike Delbusso of Splatt Gallery in Walled Lake.
The Unicorn opened at 4122 N. East, in Lansing on May 18, 1970, and featured the Socialites for its first two weekends.
If anyone knows the names of members of the Socialites please contact me!
The Rogues in the South Omaha Sun, September 9, 1965
The Rogues came from Omaha, Nebraska, and made one record in 1966, “Anything You Say” / “Summertime” on Action 100. The deadwax etching shows it was recorded and mastered at Sears Recording Studio in Omaha and pressed at Kaybank in Minneapolis.
James G. Churchill wrote “Anything You Say” published by Peter Jan.
Members on the single were:
Ed Hoke – lead guitar Jim Churchill – drums Joe DeRozza – lead vocals Mike Hoke – bass Mike Chapman – rhythm guitar
Early lineup of the Rogues in a Hospe’s ad, May 2, 1965
On May 2, 1965, Hospe’s music store on 1512 Douglas ran an ad in the Omaha World-Herald featuring an earlier lineup that included the Hoke brothers along with Bill Nassarallah and Greg Mutz. The photo shows the Rogues with some awesome equipment:
They’re Fender-equipped, and they’re great!
Bill Nassarallah, rhythm with a Fender Stratocaster Guitar and Fender Bandmaster Amplifier and Echophonic echo-chamger; Greg Mutz with a 4-piece Gretch [sic] Drum Set and Zildjian Cymbals. Eddie Hoke, leader of the group, has a Custom Guitar which he plays through his Fender Showman amp; and Mike Hoke with a Fender Jazz Bass and Fender Bassman Amp.
By September, 1965 the lineup had changed to the group that would record the 45, as the South Omaha Sun profiled the group with a photo, noting that the groups favorite bands were “‘The Kinks,’ ‘The Birds’ [sic] and ‘Them'”:
Chuck Hoke, night manager at Mickey’s No. 1, invited us to a rehearsal … of his sons’ rock ‘n roll band, “The Rogues” …
The combo held its rehearsal on a stage, complete with risers, which they built themselves in the Hoke’s recreation room. The array of mikes and amplifiers made us feel like we were in a major network studio. Vocalist Joe hugged the mike at the front of the stage and pounded out ryhthm [sic] on a tambourine while he bounced to and fro with his vocal routines. Jim, like Gary Lewis, had a mike hanging over his drum set and harmonized with Joe on many numbers. The whole group sang in unison occasionally. They bounced, rocked and shook in unison no so occasionally.
Finally came their rendition of “End of the World,” and many oldsters might view it as just that.
The group continued until 1967, with a “Combo Catch-All” article in the World-Hearld on March 3, 1967 titled “Rogues Aim for Originality, Prefer to Be Called ‘Group'”
By this time the group included a sixth member, Mike Riehle, and the article mentions that Joe Derroza was “from San Francisco”.
They play mostly in Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, and get to and from these states in a painted bakery truck …
They used to have a go-go dancer but let her go because more and more combos were adding go-go girls.
The “Combo Catch-All” article mentioned other groups: the Exiles combo with Red Toll, the Ashes with own song “I Don’t Need Your Love”, and the Bushmen with Bob Geeny, Kent Bellows, Doug Fackler, Bob Drickery and Larry Minthorn. An adjacent ad for Sandy’s Escape lists various groups that weekend: the 6 Fortunes and 6 Misfits on Friday, the Wonders and 7 Legends on Saturday, and the Coachmen and 6 Impacts on Sunday.
Heavyn featured in the Detroit News, September 1, 1971Heavyn opening for Frigid Pink at the Lincoln Park Theatre, September 29, 1971
Heavyn:
Bob Gilbert — lead guitar Greg Joseph — bass guitar Dave Ellefson — keyboards Rick Moll — drums
Producer — Mike Finnin Engineer — Jerry Cell
There’s not much in the way of ephemera on Detroit’s Heavyn, in fact, everything we’ve discovered regarding the band is included in this overview.
Heaven with SRC at the Lincoln Park Theatre, January 1972
According to The Detroit News in their September 1, 1971 issue, the band appeared at the Dearborn Youth Center’s “Battle of the Bands” in July. In the article, Heavyn’s manager, Mike Finnin, states the band was together for three months at that point — which places their formation around May 1971.
In addition to winning the Dearborn contest, the band opened shows for the earliest stage of Frijid Pink (formerly known as the Detroit Vibrations). Two of the band’s other known shows were opening a January 30, 1972, appearance by Capitol Records’ SRC, and a February 13, 1972, appearance by Tee Garden and Van Winkle, both at the Lincoln Park Theatre in Lincoln Park, Michigan.
W.J’s Club, Walker Lake Road, Mansfield, Ohio
During the month of April 1972, ads placed in Ohio’s Mansfield News Journal (available at Newspapers.com), indicate Heavyn booked dates at W.J’s Club in Mansfield.
The single mentioned by Mike Finnin in The Detroit News, “Two Man Blues” b/w “Children of the Wood” was, in fact, released on his vanity-press, Long Knight Records. It was recorded at PRSD/Pioneer Recording Studios in Detroit owned and operated by Gary Rubin and Alan Sussman. Through the studio, the duo ran their own imprints: Pioneer, Gold, and Tru-Soul. Pioneer recorded several sides with Ann Arbor-based jazz trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, the Detroit Vibrations — on their way to coming Frijid Pink — as well as the Rationals (released on their manager Jeep Holland’s own A-Square).
While Heavyn’s lone single carries Pioneer’s catalog number of PRSD-2188 and Long Knight’s LK-101, the runout codes “A4KS-3959” and “A4KS-3960” indicate it’s an RCA custom pressing (A = 1971, 4= band supplied tapes to RCA, who then cut the lacquers, K= 45 rpm, S= Stereo).
It is rumored Heavyn broke up sometime in 1972, as the bands’ Bob Gilbert, Greg Joseph, and Dave Ellefson were (temporarily) absorbed into the ranks of Frijid Pink. This roster rehearsed, as well as possibly toured, between the release of the Rick Stevers-led band’s second album, Defrosted (1970) — when lead guitarist Gary Ray Thompson and lead singer Tom Beaudry (aka Kelly Green) left the band — and their third album, Earth Omen (1972).
However, based on the March 1974 Heavyn flyer we’ve discovered, the band most likely absorbed into Frijid Pink in late 1974, after their fourth and final album released in March 1974, All Pink Inside, on Fantasy Records. (On Frijid Pink’s Wikipedia, page, only Bob “Bobby G” Gilbert is noted as a one-time member; it doesn’t state the time frame of his membership.)
Heavyn and Fantasy Hill at the Lincoln Park Theatre, March 28, 1974
If anyone knows anything about Heavyn’s fellow Dearborn-based bands Shelter, Stockton, Sanch Panza, Internal Combustion, Menagerie, and Iliad (mentioned in the press clipping) — or can offer more information on the career of Heavyn and their connections to Frijid Pink — let us know.
Pioneer Recording Studio Detroit
Our thanks to Mike Delbusso of the Splatt Gallery Rock Art Gallery of Walled Lake, Michigan, for the images. 45 rpm and Pioneer Recording Studio advertisement images courtesy of Discogs.
You can learn more about Frijid Pink with an exclusive interview as founder-drummer Rick Stevers sat down with R.D Francis at It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine.
Claud Stuard [sic] – Claude Stewart, or Claude Steward?Bands and musicians from Schenectady, Albany, Poughkeepsie, and other areas traveled to Kinderhook to record at Earl Kennett’s studio.
A number of lacquer demos (commonly called acetates) of various sizes remained when Kennett Sound Studio closed and the property sold. Many of these demos are of the Cleaners (later known as the East Coast Clique), the group Kennett worked with the most. Others duplicate the recordings that would be released on 45 rpm records.
Below is a list of demos by unknown artists, in approximate chronological order. Because Earl was blind, many were unlabeled, though Earl’s young daughters sometimes added names or titles. Many song titles below are my guesses based on the lyrics.
Please take a listen to the audio excerpts and contact me if you know any of these artists.
8″ acetate by James Morse, not the same song as the Claude Steward, above. Another 8″ acetate has his name as Jimmy Morse8″ lacquer acetates
Folk singer Greg (surname?), associated with Hudson River Clearwater Sloop, circa 1969. Five songs, may not have been recorded at Kennett as it sounds like a radio broadcast. Hear “My Dirty Stream” with discussion of Sloop restoration
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
