Category Archives: Studio

Categories: Cleveland Recording, Fremont, Ohio

The Vandaliers

August 25, 2007 Chris Bishop 14 Comments

Vandaliers at Friendly Corners in Norwalk, OH, May '66: Harry Kerr, Wayne Van Doren, Whitey Gwinup, Garry Coleman and Tony Kowalski — The Vandaliers at Friendly Corners in Norwalk, OH, May ’66
from left: Harry Kerr, Wayne Van Doren, Whitey Gwinup, Garry Coleman and Tony Kowalski

The Vandaliers were a major live act in the northern Ohio region between Toledo and Cleveland. Although the band did not release any records at the time, they did record on three separate occasions. Their guitarist Whitey Gwinup later joined the Turfits, who recorded one song, “If It’s Love You Want”, that was originally a Vandaliers demo. Drummer Wayne Van Doren and second bassist Harry Kerr eventually formed Mail Order and recorded two more excellent demo songs. The following history, photos and recordings of the Vandaliers come from Wayne Van Doren, who was with the group from start to finish:

Vandaliers March '63, from left: Walt Harkness, Wayne Van Doren, Herman Cesniros, Whitey Gwinup — March ’63, from left: Walt Harkness, Wayne Van Doren, Herman Cesniros, Whitey Gwinup
This is the lineup that recorded the Feb. ’64 demos

In August of 1962, The Vandaliers came together as a four piece garage band. The name Vandaliers came from the name VAN that was painted on Wayne’s base drum head. The original band members were Whitey Gwinup of Fremont, lead guitar, Walt Harkness of Fremont, bass guitar, Herman Cesniros of Hessville, saxophone and Wayne Van Doren of Clyde, drums. We spent many months practicing in Whitey’s one-car garage. The band played teen dances and at one dance in Tiffin, Ghoulardi (Ernie Anderson) was also there to entertain. Ernie was a very popular late night movie host from Cleveland.
On February 2, 1964, the band made a demo record at Courier studios in Fremont. The band was one of the first to record for Bob Brown at the new studio. On the record were two songs: “She’s Mine” written by Whitey Gwinup and “Office Party”, an instrumental written by Herman Cesniros.
The Vandaliers – Office Party
The Vandaliers – She’s Mine
In May of 1964, Herman left the band to travel with a road band. Garry Coleman of Fremont took Herman’s place on saxophone. In June of 1964, Walt also left the band and was replaced by Harry Kerr of Bowling Green on electric bass. The band continued to play as a four piece for a short time but wanted to add more fill to the sound. In late July of 1964, Tony Kowalski of Sandusky, B-3 organ, was asked to become the fifth Vandalier. With the addition of Tony, the band started playing much larger clubs.

Vandaliers outside Club 20 June '64, Bellevue, Ohio: Harry Kerr, Wayne Van Doren, Whitey Gwinup and Garry Coleman — Vandaliers outside Club 20 June ’64, Bellevue, Ohio
from left: Harry Kerr, Wayne Van Doren, Whitey Gwinup and Garry Coleman
Just before Tony Kowalski joined on organ

We played ten weeks at Club 224 in Tiffin to large college crowds and fans from the area. We played 12 week shows at Friendly Corners in Norwalk and had fans from Toledo, Cleveland and Columbus coming to Norwalk to see the show. The band also played 6 week shows at the Peppermint Club in Toledo and 8 week shows at The Circus Club in Bowling Green. The band played that four club circuit for over 2 years, playing 3, 4 and 5 nights a week plus other 1 night shows, and because Whitey, Harry, Garry and Wayne had families; they also worked 40 hour weekly day jobs.

Vandaliers at Friendly Corners, Nov '64: Wayne Van Doren, Whitey Gwinup, Harry Kerr, Tony Kowalski, Garry Coleman — Vandaliers at Friendly Corners, Nov ’64
from left: Wayne Van Doren, Whitey Gwinup, Harry Kerr, Tony Kowalski, Garry Coleman
This lineup recorded the June and Sept. 1965 demos

On May 20, 1965, The Vandaliers opened a show for the Beach Boys at the Sports Arena in Toledo. They also played back-up for Glen Campbell who came on after our show and sang a few of his own songs. At that time, Glen was an up-and-coming star on the TV show, Shindig and was traveling with the Beach Boys to get more public exposure. Over 6,000 teenagers were there to enjoy the show.

Vandaliers: Harry Kerr, Garry Coleman, Whitey Gwinup, Wayne Van Doren, Tony Kolawski, opening for the Beach Boys at Toledo Sports Arena, May 20, 1965 — Vandaliers from left: Harry Kerr, Garry Coleman, Whitey Gwinup, Wayne Van Doren, Tony Kolawski
Opening for the Beach Boys at Toledo Sports Arena, May 20, 1965

In June of 1965, Bob Brown took the band to Audio Recording in Cleveland to back up 2 songs for Sandy Chapin, a young girl singer he was trying to promote. That same night, The Vandaliers recorded 4 demo songs of their own for Bob, with Don White engineering. The first 2 songs “Need Your Lovin” and “You Talk Too Much” were copy songs. The last 2 songs were originals “True Love I Found” by Whitey Gwinup and “If It’s Love You Want” by Whitey Gwinup and Harry Kerr.
The Vandaliers – I Need Your Lovin’
The Vandaliers – You Talk Too Much
The Vandaliers – If It’s Love You Want (1st version)
The Vandaliers – True Love I’ve Found (1st version)
The 4 songs were put on two 45 demo disks. The band did not receive copies of the two 45’s and after re-recording in September, the songs were forgotten about. On February 24, 2007, (42 years later), one of the demo disks was found in Issaquah, Washington. It was given to a collector of Ohio bands by a friend who bought it from a dealer in New York City who had bought it from Bob Brown in the late 1970’s. Also, in June of 2007, the second demo disk was found in Toledo, Ohio but it is now in San Clemente, California.

On September 2, 1965, Al Tolan, a businessman from Cleveland who was trying to become a promoter took the band to Cleveland Recording to cut another demo record. This time, the band recorded three songs, an instrumental, and then re-recorded “True Love I Found” and “If’ It’s Love You Want”, with new arrangements. Record companies were not interested in Cleveland music until the Outsiders hit with “Time Won’t Let Me”. By that time, the band had started to change and Al had given up the idea of being a band and record promoter.
The Vandaliers – If It’s Love You Want (2nd version)
The Vandaliers – True Love I’ve Found (2nd version)

Vandaliers at the Mixer in Bucyrus, Ohio, Oct. 1966: Harry Kerr, J.J. Reinhart, Wayne Van Doren, Garry Coleman and Tony Kowalski — Vandaliers at the Mixer in Bucyrus, Ohio, Oct. 1966
from left: Harry Kerr, J.J. Reinhart, Wayne Van Doren, Garry Coleman and Tony Kowalski

On July 9, 1966, Whitey Gwinup left the band to go on the road with a band called The Other Ones (later changing their name to The Turfits – see their entry). Whitey was replaced with J.J. Reinhart from Toledo.
On September 16, 1966, the band played the grand opening of a new teen club in Bucyrus, Ohio. It was called “The Mixer” and was billed as Ohio’s Largest Young Adult Nite Spot, and had an 11,000 square foot dance floor. The band was advertised on WKYC, Cleveland and WCOL, Columbus. The band returned to The Mixer for several lengthy engagements.
In March, 1967, Tony Kowalski left the band to enlist in the Coast Guard. Tony was replaced by George “Butch” Kelly, an organ player from Toledo. In May of 1967, Garry Coleman also had to leave the band. Garry was replaced by Larry Mann, a sax player from Toledo. Larry only stayed a short time, he had been playing on the road for over five years and was burned out.
On June 30, 1967, The Vandaliers, now back to a four piece band, played the grand opening for a new teen dance center in Danbury, Ohio. It was called “Harbor Lites” and would accommodate 2,000 people. With the loss of Whitey, Tony and Garry, the band lost that great sound that made it so popular. In October of 1967, The Vandaliers, one of northern Ohio’s best known bands through the 1960’s broke up.
A month later, Wayne and Harry put together a four piece band called Male Order. However, the band thought it would be too controversial and changed the spelling to Mail Order. For the full story on Mail Order click here.
Whitey went on to play with The Other Ones and other bands in the Fremont area. As of July, 2007, Whitey owns “Whitey’s Custom and Collision” (an auto body shop) in Clyde. He also plays dobro in a church band called “In Spirit”, and is working on recording a CD of gospel music.
After the Vandaliers, Wayne played in Mail Order, Mod Country Trio, The Sleek Brothers Band and Last Shot Country Rock Band. As of July, 2007 he owns a painting business in Clyde. He also works stage crew at The Ritz Theatre in Tiffin and The State Theatre in Sandusky. He still plays a few shows each year with musician friends.
Garry Coleman went on to play with Mixed Company and Night Watch. He also played in a band from Fremont called Robbie and the Ramblers. That band went on to play The Peppermint Lounge in New York City. On September 6, 2003, Garry was inducted into The Music Hall of Fame in Fremont, Ohio. As of July, 2007, he lives in Titusville, Florida and is a development manager for Allstate Insurance.
Harry Herr played in Mail Order and then put his electric bass in storage. He was promoted to sales manager for Brush Wellman and transferred to California. As of July 2007, he lives in San Clemente, California and is retired from Brush. He owns a DJ mobile music service called Music Ala Cart, and has started playing the electric keyboard.
After his discharge from the Coast Guard, Tony Kowalski taught music at the high school in Sandusky. He also played in We Three, New Pastels and other area show bands. As of July 2007, he lives in Sandusky and has retired from teaching. He is writing and recording his own songs and hopes to be published soon. The band stays in touch with each other and whenever possible they will meet, go to dinner and talk about the music.

At the Vandaliers June ’65 session, they also backed Sandy Chapin on two songs for a 45 that was released on the Empire label. Wayne writes, “Sandy Chapin lived in Fremont at the time and asked Bob Brown to produce this cut for her. Side 2 was guitar and voice only. Breath Taking Guy got air play in Toledo, Cleveland and Columbus, and also on a few out of state stations. Shortly after doing this recording, Sandy moved and Bob lost track of her, so we do not know how far her singing career went.”

Sandy Chapin (with the Vandaliers) – Breath Taking Guy

Interview with Wayne Van Doren

I asked Wayne a few questions to expand on his history of the band:

Q. The Vandaliers were performing live before the Beatles hit in the U.S., and by the time you formed Mail Order, popular music was totally different. How did you adapt with the times?
Wayne: For the most part we were a copy band. Each week we would pick up a Top 10 list from the record shop and make sure we could play at least the top 6 or 7 songs. I don’t remember thinking the music was changing or we were adapting, we were just keeping up with the Top 10. I enjoyed playing pop music more than Motown, although the band played both. I was more aware of the big change in clothes. I liked the bellbottoms but could not find them in our area. I would buy oversized bib overalls and have them tailored into hip hugging bellbottoms.
Q: Who were the other bands you were in competition with?
Wayne: In 1962 there were not that many bands in the Fremont area. The band explosion happened after the British invasion but even then there were enough clubs in and around Fremont to accommodate all the good bands.
I never felt we were in competition with other bands for jobs. After our first year, we didn’t even have to audition. We were always working and most of the time the club owners came looking for us. We had a reputation of being on time, not drinking on the job, no smoking on stage and taking short breaks. The club owner got his money’s worth and he knew it. Besides, we just loved to play the music. The owner didn’t know this but we probably would have done it for free. When the five of us played together we were all in the same pocket or groove, it felt good.
Q. Were you friends with any other bands?
Wayne: We were playing every weekend and sometimes during the week so we didn’t have much time to make friends with other bands. Although when we were practicing in Whitey’s garage, Robbie Missler of Robbie and the Ramblers would stop by to visit. His band had played the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. Sometimes we would switch clubs with his band.
Q: What effect did the Beatles and other British Invasion acts have on your sound?
Wayne: I don’t think the British bands influenced our sound because we were copying so many different bands on the top 10. I always did play a heavy 2-4 rim shot with matched grip and would get looks from other drummers but when I saw the Brits playing the same thing, all was right with the world.
Q: It’s interesting to compare the June, ’65 recordings and the ones you made in September. The second version of If It’s Love You Want is at least as good as the Turfits version. I’d also say the Cleveland Recording studio did a better job of recording you in September than Audio Recording did in June. There’s better balance between the instruments and vocals, and crisper sound.
Wayne: Whitey would agree, he thinks the 2nd version is much better. Audio Recording was in the basement of WKYC radio station. It closed in the early 70’s. The head engineer was Don White. Cleveland Recording was on the 4th. floor of an office building on Euclid Ave. The owner was Ken Hammond, he invented the first version of Surround Sound in that studio. He called in Quadra Phonic Sound. He left Cleveland Recording and he and his son started Suma Recording outside Cleveland.
Q: What is the strange echo effect on the early version of True Love I’ve Found?
Wayne: That was a bark note Garry did on his sax and the engineer put the echo on it. Today we do not know why we did that. We did not play it that way in public.
Q: How was working with Ghoulardi?
Wayne: I watched Ghoulardi on a regular basis. He was a character. The night we worked with Ghoulardi he was about one hour late, so we had to keep playing. The crowd was all teenagers and after awhile they were getting restless and we were about out of songs. When he arrived he came on stage dressed in a long white meat-cutter’s coat with a rag hanging out of one pocket, a goofie looking hat, sun glasses with one lens missing and one red shoe and one yellow shoe. He had Max the Wonder Dog with him. Poor Max was terrified of the screeming kids and sat in the middle of the stage and wet himself each time Ghoulardi would point to him and scream “look kids, Max is going to do a trick”. He also had a squirt gun and knew how to use it. His favorite target was the back of my head. After the show we shook hands and I said “good show Ernie” he looked at me as if he should know me but quickly dismissed that and moved on. As fast as he arrived, he was gone. It was a fun night !!
Q. How did audiences change over the years?
Wayne: When we played the Beach Boys concert the crowd remained seated and did not rush the stage for the entire show. The kids were very reserved and polite, that all changed in a very short time.
Q: How did the band react when Whitey left?
Wayne: When Whitey announced he was leaving, our first reaction was,”yea right”, but after awhile we knew he meant it. We were all very disappointed but he wanted to go on the road, so we parted as friends. I feel that was the beginning of the end.
Q: As a drummer, how did you come to start writing songs?
Wayne: I didn’t start writing till close to the end of the Vandaliers. As a drummer it was difficult to write. I didn’t play any guitar or piano so I kept a small tape recorder with me and if I had an idea I would either sing, hum, or whistle it into the recorder. “The Things Before Me” [one of Wayne’s songs with the Mail Order] came to me one evening while riding to a club job. I was staring out the window watching the sun go down and the words and music came to me in about 15 minutes. I didn’t have my recorder with me and was surprised that after the show I still had that song in my head. Nothing was changed and no words were added. The more I went over it, the more a voice filter made sense and the wine glass and wind chimes made the fade out. The Beatles had one song with a wine glass ending. I can’t remember what it was or if it came out after I sent the tape to Apple.
The guitar player that helped me most was Jerry Pynckel. We wrote several songs together but after the Mail Order broke up he moved away and I stopped playing for several years. Jerry and I have reconnected by email. He is still doing some studio work and has talked me into getting a handheld recorder again. We’ll see what happens.

For more photos and memorabilia of the Vandaliers see their entry on Buckeye Beat.

Update: I am sorry to report that Garry Coleman, sax player for the Vandaliers, died on July 1, 2021. All my condolences to his family and friends.

Categories: Beaumont, De-Lynn, Robin Hood Studios (Tyler), Texas

The Six Deep

August 16, 2007 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

July 1966, Crown Room, King Edward Hotel, Beaumont
Beaumont’s Six Deep formed in 1966, combining local country and r&b influences with contemporary folk and British Invasion sounds. Their only 45 on the De-Lynn label is one of my favorite Texas records of all time. “Girl It’s Over” has a cutting quality to the vocals and guitars that epitomizes the best in garage music. “I Must Go” is a gentle song with a fine harmonies and a succinct, Byrds-like solo. Original members were guitarist Ken Hitchcock, bassist Bob Welch, David Bishop on lead guitar, Roger Koshkin on keyboards, and Bill Donley on drums. Soon after forming, Dave Everett replaced Bishop and Paul Box replaced Roger Koshkin. Jim Keriotis joined, playing guitar and sharing vocal duties with Ken Hitchcock. In Beaumont the band played gigs at the Rose Room in the Hotel Beaumont, the King Edward Hotel’s Crown Room, and the Red Carpet Lounge on Gladys St. and opened for bigger acts like the Moving Sidewalks, SJ & the Crossroads, the Cambridge Lads, the Basic Things, the Barons, the Critters and the Clique. They toured around east Texas and across the state line, playing teen clubs like the Box in Tyler and the Puppy Pen in Louisiana. On Thanksgiving, 1966, their manager, Jack Crossley, set up a recording session at Robin Hood Brians Studio. One source for this story, Mike Dugo’s long interview with David Everett and Ken Hitchcock, contains a detailed account of their recording session that I recommend. Ken Hitchcock wrote “Girl It’s Over” and co-wrote “I Must Go” with Bob Welch.

When I spoke to Bob Welch about his later band, the Mourning Reign, I asked him about his time with the Six Deep: As to my reflections on Six Deep. Now, that was something. As the interview with Ken and David states, Southeast Texas has always been particularly rich in musical talent and somewhat unique – it was/is oil country, Beaumont being the site of the Spindletop gusher in the early 1900’s that – the area of interest lies along the Gulf Coasts of Texas and Louisiana and is populated by an interesting and often dangerous mix of southern rednecks, dirt poor blacks, a small but growing number of Mexicans, and Cajuns of various ethnic blends. The Cajun influence on the music in that area is stronger than you might imagine, primarily because anyone who could manage to lay a dollar bill on the bar without using a stool to do so could get a drink in Louisiana. Hence, just across the river were bars and nightclubs that were like flames on a candle for Texas teens eager to explore those mysteries. Several of those clubs, LouAnn’s, the Big Oaks, and others became meccas for the big name R&B acts of that time and so the music was always hot. If you’re at all familiar with Cajun cuisine, you know that a staple of that diet is gumbo – a rich stew made by browning flour in oil until it reaches the color of deep walnut, using that to saute’ aromatic vegetables (onion, garlic, celery, bell pepper) and adding lots of water to form the base – then throwing anything and everything else available into the pot to give it character – fish, fowl, sausages, roadkill, whatever – then fortifying it with spices designed to clear the sinuses and thickening it with okra and filet, a fine powder made from grinding dried sassafrass leaves. Gumbo is often ladled over rice and best washed down with liberal amounts of beer. This dish along with jambalaya, or dirty rice, is soul food at its finest and is not a bad metaphor for the music in the region. So, we had heavy influences of swing, hillbilly country, blues, zydeco (which at that time was just called coon-ass), swirling all around us. We spiced all that up with folk music lyricism and rocking backbeats and got Six Deep.
Bob Welch
Ken and David are still two of my dearest friends.. our time as bandmates was too brief, but the friendships have endured, in part due to the intensity of the experience we had together and the joy we shared performing and drafting on the magic that was the mid-60’s. We were average musicians at best, but more than adequate to do respectable covers of a wide range of styles that were popular plus creative enough to put our own mark on tunes in a way that pleased the audiences wherever we played. Not many bands at the time were confident in or capable of doing original material worth beans… we’d often announce them as being cuts off a new album from so and so (name your favorite band)… just to see what would happen… more often than not… we’d get requests for replays…Looking back on it, and even comparing to today’s bands, the Six Deep was blessed with strong vocalists and performers that could get a crowd on its feet. Ken was just out there, way ahead of the times in terms of freneticism. He really shone on material from the Stones, Yardbirds, or the uptempo Beatles songs. The other thing a little off-beat he would do was male-sung adaptations of female tunes… Dusty Springfield, Skeeter Davis, etc…, no one else was doing that. Jim Keriotis was our R&B singer… holy moly was he a monster on Otis Redding, Mitch Ryder, James Brown, anything of that ilk… the women all loved Jimmy… he was typically the most busy after the shows. Together we were able to do all the harmonies, so Byrds, Hollies, Springfield, etc., were all in the repertoire. We had it all… it was a great little band. Probably the high point for the band was getting to play at a small festival in Houston on same venue as Mothers of Invention, Canned Heat, Country Joe and the Fish, and other name acts of that time. While we were just a fill-in act, it was an incredible opportunity for a bunch of fresh punks from Beaumont.
Jack Crossley made tapes of the band live and in rehearsal, but no one knows his whereabouts. After the band broke up in 1967 Bob Welch and David Everett formed Mourning Sun, while Ken Hitchcock went on to the short-lived 1984 Revolutionary War Band.Read more about the Mourning Sun on Garage Hangover here. Also check out Six Deep’s website and the aforementioned interview by Mike Dugo. Thanks to Ken Hitchcock for the scan of the band’s business card, and to Bob Welch for his time in talking about the band. Thanks also to Gyro1966 for the transfer of “I Must Go”.
January, 1967, top: Jim Keriotis, bottom from left to right: Bobby Welch, David Everett, Bill Donley, Ken Hitchcock, Roger Koshkin

Categories: Beaumont, Lowland Studios (TX), National General, Robin Hood Studios (Tyler), Salmar, Texas

The Mourning Sun (aka Morning Sun)

August 2, 2007 Chris Bishop 12 Comments

The Mourning Sun: David Everett, Bill Donley, Don Lackey and Bob Welch — “David Everett in foreground, Bill Donley behind him, Lackey against the tree… and me with the ginger hair” – Bob Welch

The Morning Sun formed when the Beaumont, Texas group the Six Deep broke up in 1967. From the Six Deep were Bob Welch bass, David Everett guitar and Bill Donley drums, and with them were Don Lackey lead guitar and Jeff Griffin on keyboards.

One reason this 45 is interesting is each side was recorded by separate groups with no members in common! The a-side, an excellent hippie pop-psych song “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods”, was written by Bob Welch, and produced by the lead guitarist Don Lackey at Lowland Studios.

The harder-edged “Dark Hair” was written by Jack Grochmal and produced by Freddie Piro at Valley Recording Studios. Both Grochmal and Piro were based in California, where they ran Mama Jo’s Studio (Jack was an engineer there). I feel that both sides compliment each other and sound like they could almost be the same band.

The first release was on the Salmar label from Beaumont, listing Lowland Studios on both sides. The National General release is supposed to have better fidelity than the Salmar, but I don’t have the Salmar to compare.

I recently spoke to bassist Bob Welch, who provided me with the photo of the band and a fascinating history of the band:

The band was actually named “Mourning Sun” – when the 45 was pressed by National General, they screwed it up, but oh well, at least we got a release outside of our region.
The lineup of the band was myself on bass, Don Lackey and David Everett on guitars, and Bill Donley on drums. Everett, Donley, and I were remnants of Six Deep. Lackey joined us after returning to Beaumont from a year’s gigging out in LA where he and Jack Grochmal worked in clubs in the South Bay area and also did session work with Freddie Piro at National General, the then nascent label of Universal. Jack followed Don back to Beaumont, sat in on a few gigs and recording sessions with us and was instrumental in getting Piro to release the song.
Unlike Six Deep which was a showy, high-energy, no-holds-barred band, Mourning Sun was much more sedate and serious on stage. We did a lot of covers but not verbatim… sort of like a Vanilla Fudge… in a way, we were a bit more experimental and a lot more into the LA sound… that was the Lackey influence. Six Deep would have never done a song like “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods”. The song came about from the title of a poem written by another good friend of mine, Bob Hanson – the title is the only thing in common, but that’s where it originated.
We originally recorded a cut of “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods” at Robin Hood Bryan’s in Tyler (where Six Deep recorded)… that cut was much nicer in terms of sonic quality. However, the guy that funded that session absconded with the master as well as another tune titled “Tuesday Woman”… and we never saw or found him again. So, when the opportunity came up with Freddie Piro, we quickly re-cut the song at Lowland. That’s the one you have… “Dark Hair”, the B side, was written and performed by Jack Grochmal in LA… in the haste to get the deal done with Piro, Jack agreed to put his tune (which Freddie had produced) on the flip.
Lowland Studios was in Pt. Neches, Texas – a small community located between Beaumont and Pt. Arthur. It was owned by Mickey Rouse, who played bass in several R&B (i.e., soul with horn sections) bands – bands with names like The Boogie Kings, Counts of Soul, The Rhythm Aces, etc.. It was just down the street from another important landmark, that being Volpi Music – an old line musical instruments store, it’s where everyone went to get their guitars, amps, etc. – the Volpi’s were an elderly couple who “adopted” all us misfits and gave us better deals than we deserved on our gear.
The studio business was primarily for jingles and demo recording but the space was also large enough for rental as a rehearsal hall. Mickey had 2, 4, and 8 track machines with a 24 channel board that he’d cobbled together, a full set of Neumann mics, a drum isolation booth, a vocal room, some old spring reverb units, nothing fancy… it hissed and sputtered along… wasn’t the quietest room you’d hope for, but it gave us a great place to try stuff out while lending him a hand on jingle production. He was good about doing that for local musicians and bands… allowing us to cut tracks there in exchange for services on jingles and as session players on more serious stuff he was doing with the R&B crowd.
We were very fortunate to have access to the facility and the comraderie and mentoring with Mickey. On occasion, one or both of the Winters brothers or members of their bands would drop in for a jam when they were in town… that was always a treat. We recorded quite a few songs and demos there, nothing though that was ever released other than locally. Mickey closed the studio and went on to have a nice career in accounting, owned his own firm, sold it a few years back and went sailing with his wife. Incredibly nice guy that always treated musicians right, but didn’t tolerate nonsense.
The tune “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods” charted mostly in the Southeast, it was a big hit in the Ft. Lauderdale market and got some air play up and down the Florida coast and into the Carolinas. We had several additional tunes in the can as they say. The label wanted us to go on tour to promote “Walk in the Woods” but we were in no position to do so at the time as we all needed to maintain student status to stay out of the draft. So, they dropped it and us, and the record sank into obscurity and the band broke up shortly afterwards.
We had several follow up songs recorded, including one titled “Where’s Love Gone Today” – a very Hollies-like tune – but as I related earlier, it fell by the wayside when we opted out of any touring/promo commitments. Things sort of went their way then as folks were moving out of the area and heading off in different directions. I stayed around for another year, gigging with a local band called Kirk Williams and the Daytrippers, a nice cover band, but with little of the innovation and creative spirit of Six Deep, et.al. I graduated from college and moved to Houston where I started a career in the semiconductor industry. Fast-forwarding a lot, I recently “retired” from Intel Corporation and live in the Sacramento area.
Jack went on to have a successful 25+ yr career in the recording industry as an engineer/session player/vocal arranger in Nashville. He’s really about the only guy I know from that time in our circle who managed to stay the course and make a living in the music biz.

We can only hope those early recordings of “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods” and “Tuesday Woman” from Robin Hood Brians studio turn up eventually.

In 2010, the Lowland recording of “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods” was reissued from an original tape on the LP and CD Local Customs: Lone Star Lowlands, a compilation of various acts that recorded at Lowland Studios. Also included are an unreleased Mourning Sun song, “Where’s Love Gone Today” and three by Bobby Welch, “Benshaw Glenn”, “Yellow River” and “Laughing Girl”.

Thank you to Bob Welch for the detailed history and photo of the band.

Thanks also to Borja for the scans of the Salmar 45.

Categories: Beachcomber, D'Arcy Sound Studios (Norfolk), Norfolk, Virginia

The Proverbial Knee Hi’s “Watch Out”

August 1, 2007 Chris Bishop 10 Comments

The Proverbial Knee Hi’s were Charles Smith guitar, Dale Pate electric piano and organ, Butch Powell bass and Eddie Hall drums. They had a vocalist, Willie T., who was out of the band by the time they recorded their only 45.

They group started in 1966, and played the chain of Beachcomber clubs along the east coast which were owned by their manager, Buddy Eisen. They even had a fan club based in New Jersey.

The band went into D’Arcy Sound Studios in Norfolk and recorded two original songs, released on Eisen’s Beachcomber label in the fall of 1967.

“Watchout” is a great upbeat number with some garbled singing. There’s a neat instrumental break before a short recited verse. Eddie Hall really pounds the drums, and I like how Dale Pate moves between Wurlitzer and electric piano.

“Crying For Her” is an epic ballad, really dramatic, but I dig both the intro and the closing moments of the song.

The 45 was produced by Warren Miller and arranged by Wayne Butler. D’Arcy Studio also was where The Regents featuring Mel Gaines recorded their great 45 on M.A.D. “What’cha Gonna Do” / “I Tried With Her”.

Categories: Alabama, Birmingham, Ed Boutwell Studios, Lowery, Viking

The Vikings

July 29, 2007 Chris Bishop 21 Comments

The Vikings of Birmingham, Alabama recorded two quite different 45s. The first was produced by Ed Boutwell, at whose studio the Hard Times recorded their 45. Band members were Gary Smith, Phil Whitley, Lee Lowery, Randy Carmichael, Steve Vainrib and Charles Nettles. Vikings Viking 45 Come On and Love Me

“Come On and Love Me” is fantastic, an upbeat song with double-tracked vocals and a nice balance between Phil Whitley’s lead guitar and the strummed rhythm. As exciting a single as any released during the summer of 1966.

“I Will Never Go” is a ballad, and while not exceptional, it builds to a strong ending. Both sides were co-written by Charles Nettles and C. Putnam.

Over a year later they made a second record on the Lowery label, but the change in their sound is enormous. The a-side is another Charles Nettles original, “Cherish the Love You Feel”, with lavish orchestration and an arrangement influenced by English pop from the time. The flip is a cover of Tommy Roe’s “Golden Girl” – chosen probably because the Lowery booking agency was handling both bands.

Randy Carmichael became a studio musician for Neil Hemphill’s Sound of Birmingham studio in the Midfield section of the city, playing for Fredrick Knight and Bobby Womack among others. Phil Whitely went on to play with the Hard Times after their guitarist Ron Parr died in Vietnam.

Wayne Perkins joined as guitarist after the 45s were recorded. He wrote an extensive remembrance of his days in music. Of his time with the Vikings, he says this:

When I hit sixteen, I had enough of school and a string of teachers that didn’t like my long hair. They said I would “never get anywhere playing’ that guitar.” So I said, “Oh yeah? Well you just watch me!” At that point, I left school, left home and moved in with a fellow band member of the Vikings named Charles Nettles and his Mom. I sort of “kept house” to pay rent, ya know, cut the yard and that sort of thing.
In this time period Charlie was learning to, and teaching me how to write songs. He said his Mom was on a diet and was taking these little pills called “obadrine” or something, and if he took one it made him concentrate better and the songs turned out better. And I’ll be damned if he wasn’t right. It also made me sing and play better…at least I thought I could. So I stayed with Charlie and his Mom, Dot (short for Dorothy) for about a year and a half until one of Charlie’s girlfriends took an interest in me and I just couldn’t help myself…
The last time I played with Charlie and the Vikings was in the Fall of ‘68 and when the gig was over, we came off stage only to run headlong into Stephanie Brown, Charlie’s future ex-girlfriend. She looked at Charlie and then looked at me. I looked at Charlie and said, “I can’t do this anymore.” Then I looked at Stephanie and said, “What’s it gonna be? You going with him or coming with me?”
She said, “I’m coming with you Baby.” As we walked off, Charlie looked at me and said, “You’ll never do anything without me in the business!” I said, “Oh yeah? Just watch me!” So we walked around the side of the stage and ran right into a drummer friend of mine by the name of Jasper Guarino, and he said, “Man, you are playing your ass off, I saw what just went down with Charlie…what the hell you gonna do?! I said, “Man, I don’t know.” And he said, “Well, if you’re interested, there’s an opening for a guitar player in a studio called “Quinvy’s” in Muscle Shoals. He said, “That’s where I’m working. The hours are easy, it’s from 10 a.m. to four or five depending on what’s going on and it pays $100.00 a week.” I said, “When are you going back?” He said, “Tonight, you got anything better to do?” I said, “Hell no. That’s the best idea I heard in a long time.” So I said to Stephanie, “I’ll see you later, I’m going to Muscle Shoals.” So Jasper and I swung by Charlie’s house, dumped all of my shit into a garbage bag, and got the hell out of Birmingham.

To see if he proved Charlie wrong, read more here.

Thanks to David Hill for the photos, and Mike Pair for his help on this story.

Wayne Perkins and Eddie Hinton — Wayne Perkins (left) and Eddie Hinton

Categories: Arthur Smith Studios, Okay, Rock Hill, South Carolina

The Scribes

July 25, 2007 Chris Bishop 22 Comments

Updated June 1, 2010

I knew hardly anything about The Scribes until I was put in touch with their lead guitarist Danny Brewer. Danny kindly answered my questions over the phone this last Sunday.

As it turns out, the band was from Rock Hill, South Carolina. Besides Danny, their members were Ray Howison guitar and keyboards, Darryl Whitington bass and Steve White on drums.

Danny and Ray formed the band in 10th grade in high school, initially playing local skating rinks, private parties and a bowling alley. Their main competition was a group called the Open Roads.

The Scribes recorded this 45 at Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina, just 25 miles from Rock Hill. The band was about 16 years old at the time. This studio, owned by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith, was also the one used by the Paragons on their classic punker “Abba”, not to mention where James Brown recorded “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”.

Lively guitar work and good singing distinguish “Just Last Night”, written by Danny Brewer and Steve White. Danny told me he used a different guitar tuning for this song, tuning the high E string down to a B.

The A-side “Wishes” is more conventional, but enjoyable nonetheless, it was written by Brewer and Howison.

The Okay label was named after the OKay Boys and Mens shop, whose owners helped the band get their record produced. The band pressed up several hundred copies which they sold to friends in high school. The photo was taken with a friend’s car on the campus of Winthrop University.

For decades this record was unknown outside the area, but a number of unplayed copies with the sleeve turned up a few years ago and started trading for a lot of money. I saved myself close to $200 by buying a used copy of the 45 without the sleeve.

After high school the band added horns, becoming the Scribes Revue, specializing in soul music and playing clubs and colleges around the area. Eventually Danny was the only original member left in the group.

After the Scribes Revue, Danny joined Billy Scott and the Georgia Prophets. Danny played guitar on the Three Prophets’ modern soul 45 from 1971, “I Think I Really Love You” on the Together label.

Thanks to Danny Brewer and to Mike Cobb for putting us in touch.

Categories: Alabama, Birmingham, Ed Boutwell Studios, Parkway, Ultimate

The Hard Times / The Rites of Spring

July 18, 2007 Chris Bishop 72 Comments

The Hard Times photo, l-r.: Daily Vandergrif drums, Mike Melton bass, Ronnie Melton keyboards, Mike Pair guitar, Ron Parr guitar, and Mike Gunnels vocals — The Hard Times, l-r.: Daily Vandergrif drums, Mike Melton bass, Ronnie Melton keyboards, Mike Pair guitar, Ron Parr guitar, and Mike Gunnels vocals

I wrote about the Rites of Spring a few months ago, but now I can bring you the whole story of this Birmingham, Alabama group. As the Hard Times they recorded one 45 on the Ultimate label, “Losing You” backed with the excellent “You Couldn’t Love Me”.

By winning a WVOK battle-of-the-bands, the band attracted the attention of Cameo-Parkway Records, which had just hired Michigan singer Terry Knight as a staff producer after his 45 “I (Who Have Nothing)” on Lucky Eleven (distributed nationally by Cameo-Parkway) had become a sizeable hit. The Hard Times would be his first project for the label, but first they had to change their name to the Rites of Spring to avoid conflict with the San Diego/LA group of the same name who had records out on World Pacific.

The folky “Why (?)” was released in October, 1966, with the much harder edged “Comin’ On Back To Me” on the flip. Both songs were written by Michael Gunnels and Ronald Parr. The band promoted the record on the national TV show, Where the Action Is.

I recently spoke to Mike Pair, guitarist with the Hard Times and the Rites of Spring, and he gave me the full story about the band.

WVOK Talent Search

Q. How did the Hard Times form? Were you friends in school or in other bands?
Mike Pair: I played with Mike Gunnels in another band which lasted about 3 months. He then met the rest of the group who were trying to form a band, and when they needed another guitar, he suggested me. They all went to Woodlawn High School together – except me.
The Hard Times’ “Losing You” was produced and recorded here in Birmingham at Boutwell Studies. Ed Boutwell shot all the civil rights footage from Birmingham with the fire hoses and dogs that you still see on the TV. Steve Norris, a local DJ, produced it. “You Couldn’t Love Me” was a one take song just to fill the other side of the record. “Losing You” got to #1 on the top local charts in Birmingham. We also did a lot of work for the WSGN DJs. WSGN was a great radio station.
We were busy every weekend throughout the south. We booked from Lowery Talent in Atlanta. They also had Tommy Roe, Joe South, Bobby Goldsboro, and the Tams. They picked us up because we won a 300 band “Battle of the Bands” There were so many bands, it lasted 2 days and we won.

The Hard Times at WSGN event, Eastwood Mall, 1967

Q. How did the Hard Times come to the attention of Cameo Parkway?
Mike: The Cameo Parkway record and Where the Action Is came through Lowery Talent. We were still the Hard Times, [but the California group] the Hard Times band was a regular on that show, so that was the reason for the name change to the Rites of Spring. If we had turned down the Action deal, we could have kept the name.
Q. Tell me about recording the Rites of Spring record.
Mike: We recorded both sides in Philly. Chubby Checker was there too.
Q. One website says that Terry Knight took your demo and re-recorded the vocals and some tracks, and improved it. Is that how you see it?
Mike: No, that part is not correct. The cut for the record company was the first one and we had not recorded that song before. Terry was a little weird even in those days. After we would do a cut, he would just sit there and stare into space not saying anything for long periods of time. We would just stand in the studio and wait until he came out of his “zone”. When Chubby Checker came in and sat in on some of the session, things were a little better and he acted more normal.
Q. Did you ever see any money from Cameo for the Rites of Spring 45?
Mike: Not a dime!!! They never pushed the record, and the only reason we can figure out was “96 Tears” came out about the same time and it was more of an instant hit that our record was, so it got all the promo money. We had one more record in our contract, but if I remember correctly, Cameo Parkway went south and out of existence not too long after we recorded, and the second record never got made.
We were on ‘Where the Action Is’ about two weeks before the show ended: #444, March 16th, 1967, and the show ended with #455, March 31, 1967. We were the first Alabama band on national TV.
We went to LA to film and went to a disco (can’t remember the name). It was during the riots on Sunset strip that year. The hotel would not give us a room because with our long hair (long for those days, you wouldn’t look twice now): they thought we were there for the riots. Dick Clark Productions had to call the hotel to tell them who we were and that it was ok to give us a room. Filmed with Neil Diamond, and the Royal Guardsman from Florida who did all those Snoopy and the Red Baron songs.
Q. That’s interesting you filmed with the Royal Guardsmen and Neil Diamond, because the episode you’re on features Keith Allison and Paul Revere and the Raiders – did they use footage from different times for the show?
Mike: Yes, they filmed all over the country and then picked which date they would show what. There might be 5 bands on a show filmed in 5 different places. We actually filmed the show several months before it aired. Keith Allison introduced us as a band from one of his favorite towns, Birmingham, Alabama. The Action crew had actually filmed some in Birmingham, and our keyboard player had a date with one of the Action dancers. That was pretty cool at that time.
[If anyone has a copy of the Rites of Spring on Where the Action Is, please get in touch, as Mike would like to see the performance after all these years.]
Los Angeles’ KRLA Beat magazine, Nov. 5, 1966 Terry Knight producing the Hard Times, mistakenly listed as from Atlanta!
Mike: The band broke up about 9 months after the Action appearance as Uncle Sam was calling most of us. It was great fun for a few years and we did shows with the Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Tommy James, the Byrds and Tommy Roe. Lots of great memories and good times. Mike Melton found some tapes we made at Fame studios with Rick Hall producing (Muscle Shoals, Alabama). I have listened to the tapes and there is some good stuff on them. Its funny that all the songs on there we wrote and they are all “death songs”, which is far from our stage act. All stuff on stage was up beat!!Mike Melton, the bass player, and Ronnie Melton, the keyboard player are still here in Birmingham and I see them often. Ron Parr who co-wrote most of our songs was killed in ‘Nam. Mike Gunnels, our lead singer made a small hit in Nashville on his own, but then fell out of sight. Daily Vandergriff our drummer is in West Virginia and is in the National Guard.
p.s. The shirts were in the early days. We got pretty grungy at the last!!

Mike Pair sent me a tape of the demo sessions at Fame. Some of the songs are downers, but they’re not all death songs! Many are very accomplished and some have contemporary country influences. The demos include later versions of “Losing You” and “You Couldn’t Love Me”, plus the following songs: “Don’t Love You Anymore”, “Memories of You”, “Rain Song”, “She’s Gone”, “If You Want Me to Go”, “Time for Me to Go”, “Suzie Q”, “Caretaker”, “Lotta Livin’ to Do”. George Wiggin provides harmony on some tracks.

Thank you to Mike Pair for sharing his photo of the Hard Times and for all his help in getting their story told. The WGSN card is from a great site on Birmingham Mike told me about, Birmingham Rewound.

Thanks also to Jeff Lemlich for the scans of the Frankford Wayne acetate.

Update, September 2011

The demo record pictured here was from Frankford Wayne Recording Labs, the leading mastering studio in Philadelphia, but not the recording studio for these songs. The band is still known as “The Hardtimes” (sic), though this would be released under the Rites of Spring name.

Hardtimes Frankford-Wayne demo, "Why" is the same as the released version. — The Hardtimes Frankford-Wayne demo, “Why” is the same as the released version.

Hardtimes Frankford Wayne Recording demo — “No Name” is actually an instrumental version of “Comin’ On Back to Me” without vocals or keyboard or guitar overdubs. Mike Pair told me “That is Ron [Parr on lead guitar], but my guitar answer is not on the [demo] record”. This bare-bones version sounds great to my ears.

Categories: Delta, Edgewood Recording Studio (DC), McLean, Montgomery, Virginia

The Apollos

July 5, 2007 Chris Bishop 27 Comments

The original Apollos band established in early 1964 by Jim Price and Dave Harney. — The Apollos: front and center Wayne Groves, middle row (left-right): Tommy Vorhauer and Jim Price, back row from left: Dave Harney, John Parisi , and Don Harney.
This is the original Apollos band established in early 1964 by Jim Price and Dave Harney.

Updated Jan. 2, 2012

From McLean, Virginia, the Apollos went through several personnel changes while leaving behind demos, live tapes and two 45s as their legacy. I’ve read conflicting accounts of who was in the band when, but with feedback from Jim Price and Tommy Vorhauer, this seems to be correct:

The original band consisted of brothers Dave and Don Harney on guitar, Jim Price on bass, and Dave Elliot on drums. Jan Sylvester soon replaced Elliot on drums was himself replaced by Wayne Groves, and Jon Parisi came in on keyboards. The band’s repertoire leant heavily on surf numbers until they added Tommy Vorhauer on vocals. This is the group in the photo at top.

A win at a local battle of the bands gave them studio time at Edgewood Recording Studio in D.C., and they cut several sides, including early versions of “That’s the Breaks” and “Country Boy”. They re-recorded these two for their own Delta label in 1965.

“Country Boy” is a fine surf instrumental written by Don Harney. Surprisingly it has never been comped before. “That’s the Breaks” has great drumming and nice fluid guitar work with a strong vocal by Vorhauer. I’m not sure who’s playing the organ on this 45.

Tom Vorhauer clarified some points about the band in a comment below that I’ll reproduce here:

Jon Parisi played keyboard and wrote the music for “That’s the Breaks”. I wrote the words and sang lead vocal. I also sang lead vocals on “Target Love” and “It’s a Monster”. We were playing on M street in Washington DC at Mack’s Pipe and Drum and were approached by two gentlemen who were scouts for Paramount Artists. They were interested in signing the Apollos to a record contract but on one condition, they wanted to replace our manager Bill Moser, we refused and never signed.

By late 1966 Vorhauer, Groves and Parisi had left to be replaced by Doug Collins on vocals, Dwight James on keyboards and Wayne Goubilee on drums. Their second 45, “Target Love” b/w “It’s a Monster” on the Montgomery label is a great double-sided 45. I hope to feature it in the future, but it seems to be rarer than the Delta one.

There’s also a live tape of the band, with good versions of “Dirty Water” and “I’m Crying”. At some point they were turned down by MGM, and that seems to be the end of their story.

In December, 2011 Jim Price contacted me and gave some background on the group:

We were from McLean, Virginia, not Falls Church. Dave, Don and I all lived in Woodside Estates, McLean. That’s where it all started in 1963. I was playing my guitar on our front porch and Dave and Don came wandering up and introduced them selves and said they played as well. I was playing lead guitar, Dave rhythm and Don played bass.We switched up as time went on and everyone found their niche.
We did our demo cut of 4 songs at Edgewood:
1. “That’s The Breaks” words by Tommy Vorhauer and music by the band.
2. “Country Boy” by Don Harney
3. “Dance Dance Dance” (Beach Boys) sung by Wayne Groves
4. “Mr. Lonely”, a remake of the original, sung by Tommy Vorhauer
“Mr. Lonely” was to be our front side of the first 45 but we decided to go with two original songs instead. They were both hits but “Mr. Lonely” would have been a hit as well. It would today.
I created “Delta Music Company” with the help of our agent Bill Moser, thus Delta on the label. We outsourced the art work for the label. Since Edgewood had recorded the songs we contracted through them to have the records pressed and the labels put on them. The records would then be made and sent to us and Bill and I would take them out to the stores and put them on the shelves. In those days you could put your records in stores on consignment. It was all we could do to keep up.
MGM did offer to buy the rights to “That’s The Breaks” but we turned them down. Paramount contacted our agent Bill Mosser three times trying to get us to sign a contract with them but we would lose $ on each record that was sold so we turned them down. Within 3 weeks of the last turndown, our records were not being played on any radio station in the nation. Paramount told Bill that “the boys will be sorry they did;nt sign with them.” The stores even started refusing to slot them any more. “Target Love” and “It’s A Monster” only made it to #10 before it vanished from the airways.
Through this phase the band members were: Don Harney, Dave Harney, Wayne Groves, John Parisi (now John Ian), Jim Price and Tommy Vorhauer. Some time after that John Parisi left the band and we added Dwight James.
The summer of 1966 we recorded “It’s A Monster” and “Target Love” on the Montgomery Label. I can’t remember the name of the studio. Shortly after that Tommy and I left the band and went to Boston to college. Dave and Don Harney continued to run the band with a new drummer who was the singer as well. When I was home on break, I would go and sing with them down in Georgetown, lots of fun.
The band stayed together for a while longer then everyone seemed to go their own way. Tommy is now in Denver, Dave is in Dayton Ohio, Don is in Seattle, Wayne is in Great Falls VA, John Ian DC, Dwight Fairfax VA and I am in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
My oldest son Jason Price does production work in his spare time in the northern VA area – take a look at www.squadcar37.com.
Jim Price

Categories: Cardinal Records, Musicol Recording Studio, Ohio, Springfield

The Endless “Prevailing Darkness” on Cardinal

June 28, 2007 Chris Bishop 15 Comments

Endless at Hull's Musicol studio, 1966 — The Endless at John Hull’s Musicol studio, 1966, from left: Jack McAtee, Mike Lyons, Mike O’Brien, Pat McAtee and Chuck Moorman.

The Endless came from Springfield, Ohio, making their only record in December, 1966 at John Hull’s Musicol Recording Studio.

“Prevailing Darkness” really shows attitude in the vocal delivery. Pat McAtee’s strong vocals also balance the delicate composition and performance on the nominal a-side, “Tomorrow’s Song”. Both songs were written by Pat and Jack McAtee.

The group started as the Mods in Springfield, Ohio, with brothers Jack McAtee on lead guitar and Pat McAtee on bass, Mike Lyons on rhythm, Jan Weinbreight on vocals and Bill Dale on drums. Jan left to form the Children of Stone and Mike O’Brien replaced Bill Dale. Chuck Moorman came in on keyboards.

Jack McAtee wrote a detailed history of the band. I will include a section of it below, but the full history, with more information on how the group formed and stories from their touring days is available as a PDF file here.

One day the band signed up for a battle of the bands contest sponsored by WIZE radio in Springfield. The winning prize was a couple of hours of recording time in a studio called Mega Sound in Dayton, Ohio. Paul Carmen was the disc jockey from WIZE who conducted the battle of the bands. Jack and Pat had written some original songs, “World of Sin” and “Endless Wandering” … we thought it would be great to record them. A week or so later we headed to Dayton with Paul Carmen. We recorded a couple of original songs and a couple of covers on a tape.
Around this time, … we met Chuck Moorman, an electric piano player with another group at the time. We were reluctant to add another person to the band, but it was one of the best decisions we made. He was very talented and was just as passionate at playing as the rest of the band. He soon added a Farfisa compact organ/keyboard which not only made us more versatile but added a lot to our original songs, and he was also a great singer.
The band was now complete. The Endless 1966: Jack (Bat Jack) and Pat (Sugar Bear) McAtee, Mike (Screen) Lyons, Mike (Miguel or Wolfman) O’Brien, and Chuck (Pick It) Moorman.
Everyone in the band sang led on at least one song and we had great harmonies.
Jack, Chuck and Mike went to Columbus to see if we could find someone else that might be interested in hearing our tape. We did find one company that was interested called Cardinal Records. We made an appointment with Frank Keefer, the owner, and took our tape to him, but guess what, the tape was not readable. In those days you couldn’t just pop the tape into any player, it was a large reel and took a special recording device to read it. After spending a couple of hours with Frank, trying to convince him our music was good, he asked if we were willing to pay for the first hour of a recording session. Then, if he liked our music we could continue recording and he would cover the additional cost. So, we set up a time to come back.
The Hull Records acetate with earlier versions of the songs on the Cardinal 45. Hull Records became Musicol Recording Studio.
A week or so later [October, 1966] we met Frank at his house and headed to Hull Records in Columbus. We met John Hull there and he set us up for our recording. After the first hour Frank liked us a lot and told us to continue with the session a few more hours. Frank and John decided to make an acetate, a small album with 5 originals that we could distribute to radio stations to see if they liked our music. The original songs were called: “World of Sin”, “Endless Wondering”, “Tomorrow’s Song”, “A Cry for Yesterday” and “Prevailing Darkness”.
At that time Frank became our manager/producer with Cardinal Records and started booking places for us to play. At the same time another disc jockey at WIZE in Springfield, Ron Brown, took our album, played the songs on Friday and Saturday nights and asked the listeners to call in and vote for the ones they like the most. The listeners decided on “Tomorrow’s Song” and the band picked “Prevailing Darkness” for the flip side.
We went back to the studio and re-recorded the two songs again [in December, 1966]. We had to shorten them because the radio stations in those days would only play songs that were two and a half minutes long. Then we released the two songs on a 45 single. Frank had 1000 records made up and distributed them to various radio stations and record stores…
Once we played at a huge Battle of the Bands at a National Guard Armory. It was put on by WIZE radio station in Springfield. There were at least a thousand kids there. It came down to us and a group call “The Children of Stone”, Jan Weinbreights’ band. Guess what, at the end of the show they called it a tie. It was a lot of work for nothing. We should have put the party on ourselves, with The Children of Stone, and split the profits…
What happened to The Endless? A couple of the guys went off to college, and Uncle Sam came to visit some of us. During this time, Chuck Moorman was replaced by Jeff Dunmire on keyboards, and a singer named Bobby Saint, along with a sax player named Art Moppit, were brought in.
Jack, Mike Lyons and Mike O’Brien were drafted in late 1968. Jack went to the Air Force, Mike Lyons into the Army and Mike O’Brien into the Marine Corps. After Jack left for the military, Pat continued with another band, Chuck and Mike Lyons formed a band called “The Blue Light” which were a very good.
Later in life, Pat, Chuck, Jeff and Mike Lyons played in several bands, “The Legacy Band” and “The Pleasant Street Blues Band”. Jack started another band in the late ’80s, while living in Phoenix, called “The Steppin’ Back Band” and played a lot of clubs and parties for about 10 years.
The band decided to get together again in 1996 and 1998 for 30th and 32nd class reunion parties. We rented a hall, and thanks to all of our old fans, it was standing room only.
Jack McAtee

The five earlier Musicol recordings were supposed to be released on a compilation of Mus-i-col recordings over two years ago, but for some reason it never appeared. Hopefully whatever issues are holding it up will be resolved so we can hear the extended work of this band. The three unreleased titles are “Cry For Yesterday”, “Endless Wandering” and “World of Sin” – heavy stuff!

Thank you to Jack McAtee for the photos in this article.

Endless on Disco 2 Dayton TV 1966 — The Endless on the Disco 2 TV show, Dayton, Ohio, 1966: Jack McAtee on guitar behind Chuck Moorman, keyboards, on the left, Mike O’Brien on the drums, Pat McAtee on the bass and Mike Lyons on the guitar on the right.

Categories: Manhattan, New York, New York City, Sanders Recording Studios, Unknown

Mystery Jazz Acetate from Sanders Recording Studio on W. 48th St.

May 11, 2007 Chris Bishop 5 Comments

This is an unidentified 12″ Sanders Recording Studios acetate featuring a somewhat free jazz ensemble whose sound and instrumentation remind me of Sun Ra or Mingus. I’m hoping some listener will be able to help me identify the artist. If you have any friends who are into this kind of jazz, please have them give these samples a listen.

Neither side has any information on it other than the printed label with the studio’s address and phone number, at 167 West 48th St., off Times Square in New York City. I would guess this dates to about 1961 or 1962.

It’s a very low fidelity recording, but I think the music is interesting enough to make a listen worthwhile. It’s noir, well-composed but not totally straight either. Track 13 may be the most polished composition on the acetate, so you may want to start with that first.

Someone commented the trombone sounded like Bob Brookmeyer, though I didn’t hear it.

Track 4
Track 5
Track 9
Track 12
Track 13

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