Buggs Bittner's 45 It's All Right

The Buggs from Kantner, PA – “It’s All Right”

Buggs Bittner's 45 It's All RightThe Buggs came from Forbes High School in Kantner, Pennsylvania, about 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. In February, 1966, the Buggs cut two songs at Bittner’s Recording Co. in nearby Somerset. “It’s All Right” is great frantic garage, “Please Be True” is an original ballad by Raymond Lohr. Rite Record Productions in Cincinnati pressed the 45s, which are now very scarce.

June 25, 1965 at Eagles

Members on the record were likely:

Raymond Lohr – singer and lead guitar
Ernie Lohr – bass guitar
Barry Boyer – organ
Joe Wirbick (or Joe Wirleich depending on the news article) – drums

The Buggs at Eagles Hall, August 20, 1965

But the band had been active for over a year before the record was made. The Somerset Daily American newspaper first listed the band members on April 21, 1965 for a banquet at the Holiday Inn, Johnstown, PA:

Group singing will be led by the “Buggs,” a group of boys, who have been very much in demand for their entertaining throughout the county. They are Raymond Lorh, Ernest Lohr, Bill Berkebile and Terry Metzgar.

On February 18, 1966, the Daily American listed a revised lineup of the group:

Ernest and Raymond Lohr of Hooversville, Barry Boyers of Stoystown, and Joe Wirbick of Kantner.

On March 9, 1966, the Daily American on wrote:

No, these are not the kind that will bite or harm you. As a matter of fact, they are pretty friendly. It is a name given to a Rock and Roll band from Forbes. Members of the group are: Raymond Lohr, singer and lead guitar; Ernie Lohr, bass guitar; Joe Wirleich, drums; and Barry Boyer, organ. All members of the group are from Forbes, except the manager, Ronnie Eutin, who is from Frielens.

They recently cut their first record with the Bittner Recording Company of Somerset.

The group will suffer a great loss, when Ernie Lohr leaves for the service at the end of March. Ernie has been with the group since it started in 1964.

Buggs Bittner's 45 Please Be TrueBittner’s would release four other singles that I know of, one each by Andy Wynn, Donnie Hunter, Larry LaVigne and Judie Follmar.

Ray Lohr passed away on May 17, 2017. An obituary online adds some information about his song, “Please Be True”:

He grew up in Hooversville, Pennsylvania, and graduated in 1966 from Forbes High School in Kantner, Pennsylvania. While in high school, he was a member of “The Buggs” rock ‘n’ roll group; he wrote and produced a 45 record entitled “Please Be True to Me Girl” about his high school sweetheart who had moved to Anchorage, Alaska. Shortly thereafter, Ray headed to Anchorage where he married the love of his life, Sandra J. Shumaker, on March 4, 1967.

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