Kit and the Outlaws, 1967 l-r: Kit Massengill, Joe Jessmer on drums, Jerry Colwell at the mic and Alan Ravkind
Kit and the Outlaws evolved from the Outlaws, the Dallas group led by Kit Massengill. As the Outlaws, they had a great early Texas garage 45 on the In label, produced by Tommy Allsup. Both sides, “Worlds Apart” / “Fun, Fame & Fortune” were written by Kit.
With a change of members, the group hit the big time with their second 45, a fuzzed-up version of “Midnight Hour”. It was picked up by Philips for national distribution in late 1966, mainly on the strength of the a-side. That’s a fine cover version, but it’s the b-side, Kit’s original “Don’t Tread on Me”, that gets the attention nowadays.
The first BlacKnight pressings list the band as “The Outlaws”, later pressings read “Kit and the Outlaws”. Philips licensed the single through its subsidiary Mercury Records, from San-Lin Corporation on November 23, 1966.
Members included:
Kit Massengill – lead vocals and rhythm guitar Dennis Lowe – lead guitar Jerry Colwell – keyboards Alan Ravkind – bass Joe Jessmer – drums
There is also one further 45 as Kit and the Outlaws, “Now Doubt About It” / “Mama’s Gone” on the Empire label, another of Bob Sanders’ labels. Both sides written by Kit Massengill and published by Tall Pine Music, Black Knight Production. I don’t know the date of this one, or where it fits in to the chronology of their releases, but it seems to be a rare 45.
I recently heard from keyboardist and occasional vocalist Jerry Colwell, and asked him about Kit and recording “Don’t Tread on Me”:
I met Kit in late ’65, he was working with the owner of the Cotton Club, a topless bar on Lemmon Ave. He had a bass player named Alan Rafkin [actually Alan Ravkind], and drummer named Joe Jesmer [Joe Jessmer seems to be correct spelling], but needed a keyboard player and lead guitar. I was on my way out of a band called the Gobyzurks, we were a college and night club band in North Texas.
Dennis Lowe was the lead guitar and I was the organ player. Dennis and I went to high school together and were fairly good friends. Kit told us we had 2 weeks to learn about 50 songs and play nightly at this club.
Recording Midnight Hour at Sellers Recording Studio, Dallas
After about a year of playing night clubs in Dallas we recorded the record Midnight Hour/ Don’t Tread on Me. The Sellers Studio was close to downtown [2102 Jackson Street]. I sang on the song Don’t Tread on Me, as background.We had it pressed on the Black Knight Label. Frank Jolly at KBOX really liked us and would play the song every night, Finally all the DJ’s at KBOX started playing the song and it went up the charts. [It reached #1 on KBOX on December 2, 1966.] We were shocked that it was doing so good. KLIF wouldn’t play it cause we wern’t with a major record label.
Thanks to Bob Sanders, the recording engineer for the Sellers studio and our manager, we got signed to a 5 year contract with Philips. And changed our name to Kit and the Outlaws.
We played at a daily televised venue called “Something Else” [Sump’N Else] hosted by Ron Chapman, as well as opening for Sonny & Cher, The Hollies, Herman Hermitts, Noel Harrison, and The Byrds. We toured and had some great stories, like me and Kit putting a huge dead fish in the Galvez hotel swimming pool one night at three in the morning. Had pictures of Graham Nash and the Hollies drinking about 14 cases of beer before they went on at Will Rodgers in Fort Worth.By 1968 was almost 20 and still hadn’t completed high school, somehow lost interest due to work and touring. Can you imagine going to high school and having a #1 record. Needless to say I dated just about anyone, and I did!
Early days:
Started playing bass guitar and got with some older guys called the Centurys in Mesquite. Later [1964] formed my first band “The Malibus” with Don Doss, Gary Stultz, & Glen Milsap. Started playing in old bars down on Grand and Haskel Ave. These places had dirt floors, we used to put a hat down and play Jimmy Reed stuff. Thats how I learned blues harp.
Johnny Green of the GreenmenJohnny Green of the GreenmenThe Drifters ?
The Kavemen backing Chuck Berry at Surfers a Go goThe Kavemen backing Chuck Berry at Surfers a Go go
Later joined the #1 Dallas band The Cavemen and played battle of the bands against Jimmy Vaughan and his band, and the Royals and others. In 1965 the Cavemen was the home band for a Night club “Surfers A Go Go” in Dallas, where we played with Chuck Berry, Roy Head, The original Drifters, Jimmy Velvet and Johnny Green and the Greenmen. We played at clubs all over Texas, my favorites were the “Bamboo Hut” in Galveston, and “Panther Hall” in Fort Worth, a televised event every week. We were also played at Louanns many times.
The Kavemen, Dallas 1965 from left to right: Roland Allen, Jimmy Allen, Rodney Vinyard, Tommy Fonseca, Bill Walden & Jerry Colwell
In 1965 my favorite club was the Purple Orchard in downtown were my buddy Little Anthony was the host. I could go in just about any night club in Dallas and get a drink for free when I was just 16. Had a great time one night with Fats Domino.
The Gobezerks at the Sugar Shack in Mesquite
In 1966 played with “The Gobezurks” a college and night club band, I dressed in drag for some of the songs and would fall off the stage as if I was drunk.The Outlaws broke up in spring of 1968 and I went on to form the Jerry Layne Orchestra with 10 various horns and a stand up bass with Teresa Morrision on vocals.
I still play a B-3 and have recorded and produced 3 live CD’s in Austin.
Special thanks to Jerry Colwell for his history of the band and photos.
Update, February 2021:
March 1966 demo tape of Kit & the Outlaws from Sellers Recording
George Gimarc sent this image of an early demo tape of Kit & the Outlaws from March, 1966. “Fame, Fun and Fortune” is a different version than the In single. The other three songs are “Wanted”, “You Are My Sunshine” and “Lonely Avenue”. None have been released. The tape was found in the storage of the Sellers Company Recording Studio.
Update, September 2021:
Ron Lansing wrote to me about early days with the Outlaws:
I started playing with Kit when he joined my band Revelee’ in early 1965. We had met when my band was playing Louanns. Kit played with my band at a Mardis Gras party in February of 1966.
He and I both played with other bands from time to time. Band members came and went just like many of my high school buds who I played with at the time. Ultimately I ended up playing lead guitar with Kit when he and I along with Joe Jesmer and Tommy Johnson (I think that is correct last name) formed The Outlaws.
I am not positive, but I think our trip to Odessa with our ‘Outlaw’ band was in April 1966 to record the two songs Kit and Joe Jesmer came up with.
The Church Keys (Bassmen) playing live in Birmingham circa 1965
The Bassmen have the very first 45 released on the Vaughn-Ltd label, the excellent original song “I Need You”.
The Bassmen originally formed as the Church Keys in 1962 while in the ninth grade in Birmingham. Original members were Rob Hackney guitar, Chuck Butterworth keyboards, Mike Easter on bass and Tom Allison on drums. Over the next year they added Charlie Feldman as lead singer and Vaughn Rives on rhythm guitar, and Steve Gilmer replaced Butterworth on keyboards.
By 1965 they had changed their name to the Bassmen, and they went into Ed Boutwell’s studio in English Village to record their 45, “I Need You” / “Leigh Anne”, the first release on the Vaughn-Ltd label. Both songs are credited to B. Van Santte, perhaps a fictitious name as it doesn’t match any of the band members.
The single garnered the Bassmen appearances at shows produced by local DJs Papa Don Schroeder and Duke Rumore, and the band toured colleges in the area as well.
At the start of college in 1966, singer Charlie Feldman, bassist Mike Easter and drummer Tom Allison found new members Jamie Grant and Tommy Johnson. They renamed the band the Candystore Prophets and released one very fine Beatles-esque 45 on Andy Anderson’s Cougar label of Jackson, Mississippi, “The Time of Day” b/w “You’re a Teaser” (both written by Jamie Grant).
Note, this is not the same Candy Store Prophets led by Boyce and Hart who wrote and recorded the backing tracks for all the early songs of the Monkees.
Source: Info for this story and the photo at top are taken from the Bassmen’s site. Check it to see more photos and updates on the band.
The Omegas, spring 1966, from left: Mike Sarigumba, Art Brueggeman, A.T. Ryder, Mike McKeller and Steve Callahan
The Omegas were a Montgomery County group who had gone through considerable personnel changes by the time they recorded their record on United Artists.
The original group cut two songs at Edgewood Recording Studio, a good slow number with dirge-like organ called “Mean Old Man Day”, and “Mud” (aka “Mississippi Mud”), a catchy pop number with acoustic guitar, harmonies and underwater sound effects. These never saw release and I’ve only heard clips from a 2008 auction, which I didn’t win.
Art Brueggeman wrote to me about the group in 2012:
I was the original bass player and joint founding member along with Mike McKeller (drummer) and Steve Callahan (rhythm guitarist). We were high school buddies. We quickly brought in a lead guitarist and a keyboard player.
Here’s a band picture taken in the spring of 1966. That’s me with the Jazz Bass, Steve with the Gibson ES335, and Mike on drums. The other two are A.T. Ryder on Strat and Mike “Pineapple” Sarigumba on keyboard.
We were playing fraternity parties, debutante events, and dances. In early summer we ended up going to Ocean City and landing a gig at The Paddock on 17th street. It was really the only bonafide night club in OC at the time. We played 6 nights a week, and a jam session Saturday afternoon. As I recall, we were there until mid-August or so.
It was a time of the Vietnam war and the draft. Mike and Steve left the band in the Spring of 1967 to join the Air Force Reserves. I ended up joining after the end of the summer. We had a replacement drummer and rhythm guitarist for that summer. Then we returned in the summer of 1967 with the two replacements. I ended up getting married in April 1968 when I got back from active duty, and never returned to the band.
Mike returned to the band and the personnel changed. Don’t remember what Steve did exactly, but he was married by that time as well. It was the original five Omegas though who recorded the three cuts at Edgewood. As I recall, that was done in the fall of 1966, but I may be off there.
Mike and I sang “Mean Old Man Day”, and Steve and Pineapple sang “Mississippi Mud”. We did not write those songs. We did no original writing. I really do not remember who wrote them. I just remember it was two guys who we were put in touch with.
Steve Callahan wrote:
I have the original master from Edgewood studio’s which I found just recently….metal center coated with acetate. I also have the original United Artists release of the other 2 songs.
The UA record is largely the work of Tom Guernsey of the Reekers and the Hangmen. Tom wrote and arranged both sides of the record, played guitar and piano, and co-produced it with Larry Sealfon.
The vocalist on “I Can’t Believe” is Joe Triplett, who was in the Reekers with Tom and was also the vocalist on the first Hangmen 45, “What a Girl Can’t Do”. Leroy Otis played drums on the track and backing vocals were by the Jewels.
A catchy and danceable record, it was released in early 1968 and had some local chart success. With its crossover appeal I’m surprised it’s not better known these days. The flip was a ballad by Tom Guernsey, “Mr. Yates”. He told me it was one of the songs he was proudest of writing.
Shawkey Se’au and the Muffins are thought to be from Rhode Island.
They wail away on the crude and repetitive “Just One More Time”, released on the Planet label. The flip is a dense weeper by John Broughton and the Muffins called “Walk Alone”.
Publishing by Planet Studios’ company Ranford Music.
The Second Half were long rumored to have come from southwestern Minnesota, Jasper to be exact – if a rumor could be exact. Actually they were from Des Moines, Iowa, as I learned from Steve Acheson, who put me in touch with his brother David, the bassist for the group.
The IGL label was based out of Milford, Iowa, about two hundred miles from Des Moines. “Forever In Your World” is a really fine uptempo song, written by the band’s vocalist Deni Bell, published by Okoboji Music – Okoboji being a lakeside town in Iowa near Milford.
The flip, “Knight in Armour” is a contrived kind of pop, but the band gives a good performance. It was written by Wes McGlothlen, who turns out to be the group’s friend and manager.
Steve Acheson first gave me some info on the band:
The band was based out of Des Moines, Iowa, not Minnesota. My brother played bass in the band, and they often used to practice in our living room. I’m not sure exactly how long they were together, but it was long enough to get pretty good, and play some local venues. I am several years younger than my brother, and was extremely interested in playing drums at the time, and used to watch them practice for hours.
Their drummer had a set of Ludwig drums, with that classic “60s” color, sort of like the drums Ringo used during the Beatles’ early years. Occasionally, he’d let me play them. (Thanks Bob.) I recently talked with my brother, and between the two of us we remembered some of the details below:
The lineup at the time the record was made was:
Bob Spooner – Drums David Acheson – Bass Guitar Deni Bell – Lead Vocals Dean Arnold – Rhythm Guitar Fred Shaffer – Lead Guitar Wes McGlothlen – Manager
When they made the record, I remember there was a lot of “buzz” around our house. They loaded all their equipment into a trailer, and hitched it behind our Mom’s ’63 Ford Falcon, and towed it off to somewhere, which I now find was IGL studios in Milford.
My recollection of the “B” side of the record is that it wasn’t that good a song. Certainly not on a par with Forever In Your World.
When I played this for my brother, he, at first, didn’t recognize it, having not heard it for 40 years. But then, the memories all started coming back.
After the band broke up, and after my brother graduated high school, he joined the Army, and ultimately ended up in Denver, CO. He doesn’t play an instrument any more. The funny thing is, I remember more about the band, and the song than my brother. Even before I found the song again, I knew the opening bass line, the basic melody and the first verse and chorus. For some reason, that stuck with me for all these years. We have no idea of the whereabouts of any of the other members.
David Acheson added:
I don’t remember many specifics about the band. Don’t even remember how I got involved with it. I do remember that I played a red Guliettin bass guitar.
Bob Spooner (drummer) and Dean Arnold (rhythm and keyboards) were out of school. Bob was married. Deni and Fred went to North High School, Fred Scheafer (lead) was a junior, Deni Bell (lead vocals) was a senior, I believe. I went to Roosevelt HS, I was a senior. Wes McGlothlen (manager) was out of school.
Our name came about because Wes and Deni wanted us to be “the second half” of the music revolution that The Beatles began. My mother was very involved … we practiced a lot in the living room of our home, and she drove us to some of our gigs. Two that I remember the best were at Fort Des Moines Roller Rink for a battle of the bands, and at a frat house on the University of Iowa campus for their homecoming. I remember many students at U of I telling us they thought we were the best band on campus that weekend. We also received a very enthusiastic reception at the battle of the bands.
Wes, and especially Deni and Dean, wrote a lot of songs, many of which were incorporated into our playlists. For the most part, the original music was very well received.
I don’t remember much about the studio work, except that the day was very long. The weeks prior to the recording date were spent in constant rehearsal on “Forever in Your World”.
I am not inclined toward music. It was hard work for me to play any instrument, so I didn’t continue my “career” after I graduated (1967). Shortly after I graduated I joined the Army and left everything with my mother. While I was in Germany I learned that she traded or sold it for a sewing machine. I was glad she did as she got much more use out of that than I ever would have with the guitar. It was quite an experience for me at the time. I wish my mother were alive …. she remembered everything, and I am sure she could have provided us with details that have been long forgotten by everyone else. I remembered a few things just talking with my brother the other night … things that I hadn’t thought of in years. When I left Des Moines I didn’t stay in touch with anyone.
From left: Ned Bibb, Bobby Marlin, Zac Zachery and Robert Alexander (thanks to Dale Aston for the correction)
From the Ensley Highlands section of Birmingham, Robert Alexander (bass), Ned Bibb (vocals and guitar), and Bobby Marlin (drums) started playing in high school in 1962, rehearsing in Robert Alexander’s basement.
In 1965-66 they backed Travis Wammack, then took the name The Distortions from his record “Distortion pt. 1”. They added Zack Zackery on keyboards, and recorded their first three 45s on Sea Records. These included an interesting Ned Bibb original, “Can You Tell”, which was backed by a slow, loopy take on “Hound Dog”; and a raging version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning”.
The band added Eddie Rice on guitar in 1966 and switched to the Malcolm Z. Dirge label for their next release, “Thank You John”, which reached the charts on WSGN in town. On the flip they recorded a fine version of the Rascals’ oft-covered “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore”.
When their next 45, “Behind My Wall” was picked up for national distribution by Smash, they had their biggest hit, selling 10-15,000 copies according to their producer Ed Boutwell. Their penultimate 45 was a good Bill Haney original, “I Found a Girl”, with a version of “I Don’t Really Like You”, originally done by Baton-Rouge’s Canebreak Singers on Montel and written by Mike Crespo. It was produced by Haney and Richie Becker and released on Casino, a subsidiary of the Dover Records company of New Orleans.
In ’67 the Distortions added Roy Alexander on saxophone.
Capitol promo shot, 1968, from left: Roy Alexander, Roy Zachary, Bobby Marlin, Steve Salord, Dale Aston and George Landman
Dale Aston of the Torquays sent in the photo above and writes about his time with the band:
I played guitar with the band. Steve Salord and I had just left The Torquays and joined with The Distortions for a brief period. We recorded “Let’s Spend Some Time Together” at Boutwell Studios in Mountain Brook, AL.
As I recall Ed Boutwell had a hand in getting Capital Records to pick up “Let’s Spend Some Time Together”. The other labels were homegrown and produced by the band for local distribution only.
Their last release was a cleaned-up version of the Stone’s “Let’s Spend the Night Together”, retitled “Let’s Spend Some Time Together”. This was picked up by Capitol but didn’t sell particularly well.
Henry Lavoy took over on drums during the late 1960’s.
The band split up in 1969, but Zack Zachery and Roy Alexander played college and club shows as the Distortions into the ’70s, with Clif Payne on drums and Ed Finn.
Clif Payne sent in the photo of the group from the 1970’s as well as four unreleased songs from 1975 in a polished, commercial sound the band developed later on, something akin to the Average White Band. See Clif’s comment below for more information about that band at this time.
Roy Alexander and Bobby Marlin are now deceased.
45 releases:
Hound Dog / Can You Tell – Sea 100 Take This Ring / You Know I’m On My Way – Sea 101 Smokestack Lightning / Hot Cha – Sea 102 I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore / Thank You John – Malcolm Z. Dirge 45000 Smokestack Lightning / Behind My Wall – Malcolm Z. Dirge 45002 A Love That Loves You / Behind My Wall – Smash S-2068 I Don’t Really Like You / I Found A Girl – Casino 501 Let’s Spend Some Time Together / Gimme Some Lovin’ – Malcolm Z. Dirge 45008 and Capitol 2223
Sources: Reunion of the Sons and Daughters of the Sixties program, May 8th, 1987; Birmingham News. April 30, 1987, Birmingham Weekly, vol. 10.
Thank you to Mike Pair for loaning me the Birmingham News article, “Hair” Rally notice and Reunion program.
The Soul Twisters had two singles on Romat Records out of Greenville, North Carolina. Their first was “Swinging (On a Grape Vine)”, written by J.R. Daniels, Florence Farmer and E. Perkins, and “Soul Fever” by J.R. Daniels and J. Early.
It was recorded at Pitt Sound Studios in Greenville and produced by James Perkins. The Soul Twisters had a second 45 on Romat, #1004, “Doing Our Dance” / “If It Takes A Year”.
I didn’t know anything about the group until James Early and Johnny Ray Williams left comments.
James Early wrote to me:
I joined the band after it started. James Perkins, Samuel Perkins, and Ernest Perkins can tell you more about its beginning.
James Perkins was manager during the time of these recordings….not drummer!
The members of the group on the 45s were:
Johnny Daniels – lead vocal on “Doin’ Our Dance”, background on “If It Takes a Year” and guitar player on all songs.
Fred Farmer – lead vocal on “If It Takes a Year” and background on “Doin’ Our Dance”. He is deceased.
Johnny Williams of Farmville, NC was drummer on all songs.
Joe Daniels was bass player on all songs.
I was on the two 45s as keyboard player.
We all called Roy Mathews (studio owner) “Zeke” jokingly.
I have a sleeve of the 45s with the picture of the group at that time.
We played beach, soul and could adapt to any audience. We played all surrounding areas. We had a female vocalist (Ella Daniels) that could take a dance crowd [off] their seats to pay attention.
The Soul Twisters was the first group I played in. I played an Olympia organ and a Fender Jazz bass. Chapter Three (later name used for our band) did not make any records or tapes.
I played in other groups Jazz Plus, Blues Plus and Poison. I have done and still doing studio sessions with other artist and groups.
James “Bro” Early
Romat was run by Roy Matthews, its first release was the Sound System, which I reviewed here a few months ago.
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:
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.
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 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 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 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 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.
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.”
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.
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
“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.
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
Kit and the Outlaws evolved from the Outlaws, the Dallas group led by Kit Massengill. As the Outlaws, they had a great early Texas garage 45 on the In label, produced by Tommy Allsup. Both sides, “Worlds Apart” / “Fun, Fame & Fortune” were written by Kit.
With a change of members, the group hit the big time with their second 45, a fuzzed-up version of “Midnight Hour”. It was picked up by Philips for national distribution in late 1966, mainly on the strength of the a-side. That’s a fine cover version, but it’s the b-side, Kit’s original “Don’t Tread on Me”, that gets the attention nowadays.
Shawkey Se’au and the Muffins are thought to be from Rhode Island.
The Second Half were long rumored to have come from southwestern Minnesota, Jasper to be exact – if a rumor could be exact. Actually they were from Des Moines, Iowa, as I learned from Steve Acheson, who put me in touch with his brother David, the bassist for the group.
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.
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.