The Jesters came primarily from Naples, Florida, about 110 miles west of Miami. Their discography comprises a handful of high quality singles, but there is very little info about the band on the ‘net.
The first notice I can find about the Jesters comes from the Miami Herald on March 25, 1965, for a “Hootenanny” at Naples Senior High School on April 1:
“… a six-piece band which has won popularity with local teenagers. Band members are Wally Frederickson [sic], Larry Cope, Johnny Gibbs, Riley Brack, Steve Miller, and Bill Morton.”
The lineup in early 1965 was:
Wally Fredrickson Jr. – lead vocal Larry Cope – lead guitar Johnny Gibbs – rhythm guitar Bill Morton – keyboards Steve Miller – bass Riley Brack – drums
At some point David Hopkins, from Fort Myers, replaced Larry Cope.
The Jesters in the News-Press, August 15, 1965, from left: Wally Fredrickson, John Gibbs, Bill Morton, Steve Miller, Riley Brack and David Hopkins
The Fort Myers News-Press had a full page feature on the group on August 15, 1965, including photos of fans and parents:
Teens Flock to Night Spot to Enjoy Jesters
Jester A-Go-Go, News Press, July 10, 1965If attendance is any gauge, the newest establishment at Fort Myers Beach – Jester A-Go-Go is a smashing success. Every Wednesday and Saturday night an average of 250 enthusiastic teens flock to this teenage night spot at the old Driftwood Lounge to spend an evening dancing to the music of the Jesters, a six man combo from Naples.
A popular feature is the dance contest. The prize to the winner is a record album, recorded by The Jesters at the Qualicon Studios in Naples. One of the cuts on the record is an original Jesters’ composition, “I Ain’t Gonna Cry No More.”
According to Brack, the leader, the group has been playing together a little more than a year… Brack said, “One day I was talking to a man who worked for my father and he asked if I had ever played any instruments. When I told him I played the drums some, he said he was a professional bass player and suggested we get together.
… he said he could teach the guitar, so I got Steve, Bill and John and they started taking lessons. Up until then none of them had ever picked up a guitar. After three months of lessons and practice, we went out on our own and played our first dance a year ago last July 4.
… one day Dave Hopkins drove by and saw the “for rent” sign on the Driftwood.
“We decided we liked it, went in and cleaned it up and painted it. We opened about a month ago.”
…their parents… are kept busy… selling tickets, stamping the teens for identification and acting as chaperones… Parents at the door use their own judgment as to who will be allowed in and the smell of alcohol on the breath is one sure way of being denied entrance…[see full article]
Wally Fredrickson’s father, Walter Fredrickson Sr. owned Qualicon Studio.
The Jesters as a quintet, October 1965
On October 16, 1965, the Miami Herald announced the Jesters performance that night at the Masonic Hall in Naples. The accompanying photo showed the group as a quintet, without Bill Morton. A notice in the News-Press for the same show confirms that lineup and gives some more detail, with DJ Roby Yonge as emcee, and “Two of the combo’s latest recordings, ‘I Laugh At You,’ and ‘You Say You’ll Never Leave Me’ – their own composition – will be featured.”
Wally Fredrickson Jr. – lead vocal David Hopkins – lead guitar & vocals Johnny Gibbs – rhythm guitar Steve Miller – bass Riley Brack – drums
This group cut an awesome demo, “I’ll Laugh at You” / “You Can Have Her”.
The Jesters recorded a second version of “I’ll Laugh at You” for their first released single, backed with “Just Let Me Love You”. This version has “LIVE From THE CLUB A GO GO” and “Recorded By Qualicon” on the label.
Jeff Lemlich wrote to me: “Club A Go Go [aka Jester a Go Go] was an old 1930s speakeasy on Fort Myers Beach that the band ran for about four months. Other places they played included the Flaming Fountain in Naples and the local Moose Club.”
On October 22, 1965, the Fort Lauderdale News ran a display ad for the Pompano Skate Rink “Arena-A-Go-Go, Every Sat. Nite Dance to the Fabulous ‘Jesters'”.
News-Press, September 30, 1966
By the next notice I can find from September 30, 1966, nearly a year later, the lineup had changed considerably. Only Wally Frederickson and David Hopkins remained from the 1965 lineups:
Wally Fredrickson Jr. – lead vocals, tambourine David Hopkins – lead guitar, harmonica and vocals Bill Hinman – organ, guitar, mandolin and vocals Bruce Morford – bass and vocals James O’Neill – rhythm guitar Bobby O’Neill – drums
The News-Press announced negotiations between George Pittman, representing the Jesters and Qualicon Studios, and Sidewalk Productions, a division of Capitol Records. That contract would happen, with the Jesters sending two tapes to Capitol in October, 1966, for “Ride, My Son, Ride”, written by George Pittman, and “Leave Me Alone” by Wally Fredrickson. They also signed publishing contracts with Exbrook Publishing and Mirby Music Co.
I am not sure how Walter Fredrickson, Sr. met Mike Curb or some other representative of Sidewalk Productions, but a number of his productions from Qualicon would end up on Manhattan or Sidewalk.
Fort Myers News-Press, Nov 18, 1966
The News-Press ran a feature on the the Fabulous Jesters on November 18, 1966:
The Fabulous Jesters will play for a dance for teenagers Saturday night on the second floor of the former Belk’s Building at First and Hendry Streets …
The six band members … are from Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Naples … Their first record [sic] is scheduled for release around Jan. 1 by Tower Records …
Wally Frederickson Sr. will travel as sound engineer with the Jesters on all personal appearances. He is president of Qualicon Productions, Inc. He also is owner and director of Qualicon Studios which does custom recording.
Tapes by the Jesters will be prepared by Qualicon Studios in Naples and sent to California.
In January, 1967, “Don’t Try to Crawl Back” / “Leave Me Alone” came out on Sidewalk 910, originals by Pittman and Fredrickson.
On February 9, 1967, the New-Press ran an update to note the single had reached the top 40 on WMYR, Fort Myers, and WFUN, Miami:
Twenty-two songs have been recorded for Capitol and will be released at the company’s discretion. All of them were written by the Jesters.
The boys cut a film for the Rick Shaw Miami TV show recently and it was shown on the 7-8 a.m. time spot. It will be repeated from time to time.
In Miami the Jesters have played at the Tiger Den and Shindig and entertained over 3,000 of the “in” group at the world [The World nightclub].
In April of 1967, the Jesters released “Blue Feeling” (which had been done as “Blue, Blue Feeling” by Dr. T. & the Undertakers) b/w “Unchain My Heart” on Qualicon QU-5003.
June 1967 saw the release of their second Sidewalk single, “Hands of Time” / “If You Love Her, Tell Her So” on Sidewalk 916. Writing credits list Wally Fredrickson, Sr. (I suppose it should be Jr.) and George Pittman. The labels read arranged by Wally Fredrickson, Sr., produced by Qualicon.
The Sidewalk LP Freakout U.S.A. also contains “Don’t Try to Crawl Back”.
Bruce Morford later joined the Painted Faces, another band that frequently recorded at Qualicon.
Walter Fredrickson Sr died in December, 1976 at the age of 52.
John Gibbs passed away on November 15, 2010.
There was also a group called the Jesters from Palmetto High that was playing shows in the area in 1965 and 1966, with a lineup of Richard White (lead guitar), Bob Ammarell (rhythm guitar), Pete Mooy (bass) and Mike Linet (drums).
And of course there was Mark Markham & His Jesters, with an entirely different set of musicians.
Qualicon Studios:
Qualicon seems to have been formed in January, 1963, according to a notice of incorporation on the News-Press:
Qualicon Corp. of Naples was authorized to deal in electronic devices. Incorporators are William B. Vogt, Walter I. Frederickson and Patricia Ann Dozzie, all of Naples.
Though frequently spelled Frederickson in news reports, I believe the correct spelling of his name is Fredrickson.
Qualicon QU 5001 – Bob Bellows – “Goodbye Blue Eyes” (Reg Fulton, Ted Paulson) / “Tout Doux, Tout Doux” (Reg Fulton, Louie Rey) Qualicon QU 5002 – The Painted Faces – “I Want You” / “Things We See” Qualicon QU-5003 – The Jesters – “Blue Feeling” / “Unchain My Heart”
Although the Qualicon label only released three singles, Walter Fredrickson Sr produced five singles for the Manhattan label (also affiliated with Mike Curb) by the the Painted Faces and the Mysteries.
———
Some of the info in this article came from Jeff Lemlich’s interview of David Hopkins many years ago. Thank you to Jeff for the news clipping from November 18, 1966.
Thank you to Anthony G. for forwarding a photo from Riley Brack, to Paul Sullivan for another photo, and also to Matthew Baker for his help.
5 thoughts on “The Jesters from Naples, Florida “I’ll Laugh at You””
Bob Hernandez, a 40 year old bass player from New York, was the man who started teaching the Jesters to play. After three or four months, he arranged our debut at the Cove Inn auditorium witch was torn down a few years ago. Bob promoted the battle of the bands between the Jesters and the Echos. Bob created posters and pasted them on car windshields all over Naples. On the opening night, Bob was nowhere to be found. We asked our parents “Where is Bob?”. They told us he was in jail. The band ran down to see him but we received no information and we never saw or heard from Bob again.
Thanks for putting this out there Chris. I only knew a little bit about my dad’s band, but nothing this in depth and informative. Truly appreciate the effort in documenting all this.
I played in the Jesters with Dave Hopkins, Bill Hanneman, Bobby O’Neill, Jimmy O’Neill, and Wally Fredrickson, as the bass player and vocalist my name was Bruce Morford. I was using my stepfather‘s last name for my last name. After I read the whole article posted here I realize that there were several musicians that transferred in and out of the jesters and I was not aware that when I played with the Jesters no one had ever told me the history of that band and now that I know I’m absolutely thrilled to know that there’s an article explaining the history of the Jesters from Naples.
Thank you for the amazingly detailed article. I’ve always been a Garage Rock fanatic and lived in Naples, FL for 25 years. I had just learned about and had purchased a Norton copy of the Painted Faces. Enthralled that there was a band from where I lived, I began searching EBay when I met Mr. Fredrickson Jr. whom sold me his copy of Savage Lost from Mr. Lemlich’s that he signed along with a personal note and phone number (I never called it). Mr. Fredrickson let me know about certain details about The Jesters (his dad, studio, the band, etc) but your article really filled in the puzzle pieces left out from our brief conversation. Thank you.
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
Bob Hernandez, a 40 year old bass player from New York, was the man who started teaching the Jesters to play. After three or four months, he arranged our debut at the Cove Inn auditorium witch was torn down a few years ago. Bob promoted the battle of the bands between the Jesters and the Echos. Bob created posters and pasted them on car windshields all over Naples. On the opening night, Bob was nowhere to be found. We asked our parents “Where is Bob?”. They told us he was in jail. The band ran down to see him but we received no information and we never saw or heard from Bob again.
Thanks for putting this out there Chris. I only knew a little bit about my dad’s band, but nothing this in depth and informative. Truly appreciate the effort in documenting all this.
I played in the Jesters with Dave Hopkins, Bill Hanneman, Bobby O’Neill, Jimmy O’Neill, and Wally Fredrickson, as the bass player and vocalist my name was Bruce Morford. I was using my stepfather‘s last name for my last name. After I read the whole article posted here I realize that there were several musicians that transferred in and out of the jesters and I was not aware that when I played with the Jesters no one had ever told me the history of that band and now that I know I’m absolutely thrilled to know that there’s an article explaining the history of the Jesters from Naples.
I knew Riley, Johnny and Steve. I was married to Steve. They lived music. Steve was drafted and sent to Viatnam
Thank you for the amazingly detailed article. I’ve always been a Garage Rock fanatic and lived in Naples, FL for 25 years.
I had just learned about and had purchased a Norton copy of the Painted Faces. Enthralled that there was a band from where I lived, I began searching EBay when I met Mr. Fredrickson Jr. whom sold me his copy of Savage Lost from Mr. Lemlich’s that he signed along with a personal note and phone number (I never called it).
Mr. Fredrickson let me know about certain details about The Jesters (his dad, studio, the band, etc) but your article really filled in the puzzle pieces left out from our brief conversation.
Thank you.