The Excelsior House, a 19th century house on tiny Snyder’s Lake, a short drive southeast of Troy, NY, had a history dating back to the 1930s as a rural nightclub and restaurant. It drew crowds from a wide geographic area with various forms of entertainment and events.
In 1964, a new owner, Harry Doakmajian, started bringing in rock and pop acts. Over the next four years the Excelsior House hosted a succession of notable house bands.
The Knickerbockers made the Excelsior House their second home, with frequent months-long bookings from August 1964 until December 1965, and occasional monthly residencies in 1966 and 1967. The booklet of the Sundazed CD The Great Lost Knickerbockers Album! includes photos of Buddy Randell and Beau Charles on stage at the Excelsior House in 1966.
The Sundowners, from Lake George, held down monthly gigs in 1965 into 1966, and the Good Times were regulars from April through July 1966 (billed early on as “Direct from Harlow’s in N.Y.C.”) and again in September and December 1966, and January 1967.
I am not certain if this is the Goodtimes from Providence, RI, who also recorded as the Tradewinds, or more likely the band from Newburgh who recorded two albums of pop on Meteor as the Goodtimes III. This group, comprised of Johnny Babb, Timmy Jones, Dave Kennedy and Bobby Lonie, among others, cut some good unreleased songs, possibly recorded at Earl Kennett’s studio, as Dave Kennedy recommended the studio to the Jelly Bean Bandits to make their first demos.
Below is a compendium of the acts that played, compiled mainly from ads in the Troy Record newspaper (which became the Times Record).
Bands were usually booked Friday and Saturday evenings. Over time, early Sunday shows were added, then Wednesdays and Thursdays as well.
1964:
February: Tino and the Revlons
April 18: the James K4
June: Tino and the Revlons, the Act III
July: the Capris (“direct from Miami Beach”), and the Continental Twisters
August: the Act III and the James K4
August 3: Buddy Randell and the Knickerbockers
August: the Mystics and the Continentals
September through December: the Knickerbockers
1965:
January: the Knickerbockers
February: the Sundowners
March: Tino and the Revlons (“Troy’s Own Beetles”), the Blue Counts and the Motions
April: the Motions, the Vi-Cleefs
April and May: the Knickerbockers
Nick Brignola and His Modern Jazz Quartet: Thursdays in June and July
July 31: Jay and the Americans plus the Knickerbockers
July: the Knickerbockers
August: the Knickerbockers
September: Don Sohl and the Road Runners (Nebraska band who cut great sax & guitar instrumentals like “Voo Doo” on Palms and “Rampage” on Dreem).
September: the Road-ents, the Progressions
October: the 4 Synns
October 16: the Classics and the Chessmen
November: the Cordels
December 23: the Knickerbockers and the Sundowners
December: Sundowners
1966:
By 1966 the Excelsior had two venues on the same compound: the main building with pop, rock and soul bands, and another called the Corral specializing in country music and square dancing, such as Rob Horton and the Friendly Travelers or Pete Williams and His Ranchers, but I have not compiled an extensive list of those c&w groups.
January – February: the Sundowners
February 19, 20: the Big Bear Revue (“Big Bear” / “People” on Cuppy Records)
February 25, 26: the Check Mates
March: Snoopy’s Crew
March 5: the Fugitives
March 12: the “ever popular” Esquires
March 25: the Fireballs
April 3: the Group 4
April 9, 10: the Kynds
April 14 had a special show, Jerry Lee Lewis and his Review!
May and June: Knickerbockers and Good Times
On July 29, the Souls Inc. “12 Man Group” took over through August, sometimes with Lord X and his X Chords
August 27 (Saturday): Tim Rose Trio
The Good Times resumed house band status for September but there were a number of interesting featured acts that month and October:
September 2, 3 and 4: the Younger Boys (I don’t know anything about this group)
September 23: the Critters
September 28, 29, 30, 31 & October 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: the Liverpool Set
October 14, 15 and 16 and 21, 22 and 23: the Myddle Class (billed in some ads as the Middle Class)
Check this new Myddle Class post to see photos from the interior of Excelsior House!
October 26, 28, 29 and 30: the Cleaners
November: the Sundowners with Eddie Brick
December: the Knickerbockers, The Good Times
1967:
January: the Good Times
February: Ricardo the the Fore Most (4 Most)
March: the Sundowners and the O’Royals (the Fabulous Royals)
March 26: Roger Freeman with the Spoiled Brats
April 1: the Night Watch
April: the Liverpool Set
May: the Knickerbockers
1968:
February: the Shades of Brass, the Legends of Sound
In September, 1969, the Excelsior House was taken over by Eva Varaday and renamed Eva’s Towpath II, but it only continued for a few months before it was shut down by the Rensselaer County Health Department for the same reason the previous owner lost his liquor license: the Excelsior House, like most of the other residences on the lake, had been sending raw sewage into Snyder’s Lake, which was only 1/8 of a square mile (approximately) in area! It did reopen in the mid-’70s for a short time as a meeting place, but I read there was a major fire in 2009.
If anyone has old photos of the Excelsior House, or a news clipping on the 2009 fire, please contact me!
I could be wrong, but my guess is that the Good Times (Goodtimes) in question is the group that recorded for Kama Sutra. I have the band’s story and, if I recall correctly, was introduced to them by a member of the Sundowners. The band was very popular for a short period of time—they recorded an unreleased album, appeared as fashion models for major magazines, and was hired by Great Shakes for a national campaign that I believe died before it could really take off.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for commenting, that’s very interesting.
I gave the Newburgh group the edge mainly due to geographic proximity and the fact that they likely recorded at Earl Kennett’s studio in Stuyvesant, as did jazz saxophonist Nick Brignola who also played the Excelsior.
The Excelsior House booked very professional bands like the Knickerbockers and the Sundowners for those long engagements, so I agree that the connection with the Sundowners makes the Kama Sutra group a very likely one for those frequent appearances.
In any case, I’m impressed that there was a such a solid local music scene in this area all through ’65-’68, especially when including other venues like the Riviera Lounge in Troy.
I live on Snyder’s Lake and play in garage bands: GOONS!, The Sound Minds, and occasionally I tour with Los Straitjackets. This couldn’t be more fascinating to me — thank you for your research! I go by the Excelsior House every day. At some point during the pandemic, they removed the mailbox that had “Exclsior House” written on it. The metal sign post is still there. And the area is still very rural, so it’s still easy to find!
So the house didn’t burn completely? I’ll have to drive up and check it out!
Well, I don’t know what the original building looked like, but there’s a large old house that easily could have been a club. I can take photos on my run tomorrow if you want?
That would be helpful, thanks. You can email to me RChrisBishop@gmail.com
I spent much of the summers of 65 and 66 at the Excelsior House! Got to be friends with the Sundowners and the Knickerbockers. Now I live right down the road. Had so much fun there.
Also, were the Knickerbockers (Dutch settlers of NY) given their name because of the Excelsior (NYS Motto) House? It’d have to be an incredible coincidence otherwise…