The Slithy Toves, from left: Chet Blackstone, Don Smith, Jon Harris, Lou Cordera (standing), and Bruce BrandfonFounded in 1967, the Slithy Toves did not release any recordings, but were an active live band in Virginia and North Carolina, including a week’s residency at the Other Place, a club in Nags Head, NC that lasted only one summer.
Bruce Brandfon wrote to me about the group:
I was the bass player in the Slithy Toves. We were all students at UVA in Charlottesville.
Members of the band were: Chet Blackstone – lead guitar, Don Smith – drums, Jon Harris – vocals and rhythm guitar, Lou Cordera (standing) – keyboard, and Bruce Brandfon – bass.
The Circle Ltd in Carrboro: a weekend with the Counts IV, Slithy Toves, and August, from the Daily Tar Heel, Feb 13, 1969We played all over Virginia (and especially at UVA): fraternity parties and clubs as well as opening for the Box Tops, the Spencer Davis Group, Martha and the Vandellas, when they played concerts at University Hall. We played at UNC parties also and quite a few times at a very cool club The Circle Ltd in Carrboro NC that was a sit-down music club. We loved playing there, rapt audiences who came to listen to the music.
We played at the Electric Circus in NYC and were hired to play a sweet sixteen party in Cleveland by a rich guy whose daughter wanted an Alice in Wonderland themed party, hence The Slithy Toves.
We played at The Other Place in the summer of 1968. Don Smith, who was our drummer and my roommate, was contacted by a booking agent about the gig in Nags Head. We loved that gig and the audiences were totally into the music. We shared one of those iconic posters with The Swinging Machine. I still have copies of the poster.
WUVA Rock Festival, May 1969, with Slithy Toves, Chrysanthemum, and Rock Lustre, May 1969Don Smith and I (founders of The Toves) graduated in 1969 so a couple of the shows you found were with another incarnation of the band. Don and I, and three of the remaining Toves (Barry Smith, Don’s bother and lead guitarist, Kent Beyer, bass guitarist, and Lou Cordera, keyboards) reunited in 1971 when those three all had graduated and we formed Childhoods End. I played saxophones in that band, and Lou’s friend David Simoni joined us as vocalist and rhythm guitarist.
Childhoods End moved up to New Jersey where we lived at Rolling Knolls Farm and became the lead house band at Mother’s in Greenwood Lake NY (when the legal drinking age was 18 in NY and NJ kids from just across the state line would come to party). Childhoods End played with Springsteen at shows on the Long Branch NY pier and the famous Satellite Lounge near Fort Dix (on the same bill as The Ronettes, with whom we shared a dressing room).
Childhood’s End recorded Decca Studios in New York and then at Chordata records in Manhattan. Recordings of both bands can be found on Reverbnation and Soundcloud.
The Slithy Toves in the Daily Progress, October 31, 1969.The Slithy Toves in 1971 before they became Childhood’s End. From right to left: Don Jay Smith, drums; Kent Beyer, bass; Barry Smith, guitar; Lou Cordera, organ and vocals; and Bruce Brandfon, sax and vocals. Not shown is David Simoni, guitar and lead vocals. Photo courtesy of Don Jay Smith
One thought on “The Slithy Toves and Childhoods End”
Back in 1967 when the Slithy Toves started to play regularly, we were the first real “jam band,” primarily because of the jazz background of many musicians (I played drums in the group and had come out of a jazz background). As the group matured, the songs became much longer with more extensive improvisations and included nods to jazz such as “The Work Song” by Nat Adderley and “Early Morning Fear” by Larry Coryell. It should also be noted that, while the group never released a 45 record, their first recording, “Kaleidoscope” got a lot of airplay on radio and the tape was circulated widely among young people. It was followed by “Cause Your Are My World” which also got airplay. The Second Incantation of the group, Childhood’s End, played widely in the New York area including gigs at The Bitter End and The Half Note.
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Back in 1967 when the Slithy Toves started to play regularly, we were the first real “jam band,” primarily because of the jazz background of many musicians (I played drums in the group and had come out of a jazz background). As the group matured, the songs became much longer with more extensive improvisations and included nods to jazz such as “The Work Song” by Nat Adderley and “Early Morning Fear” by Larry Coryell. It should also be noted that, while the group never released a 45 record, their first recording, “Kaleidoscope” got a lot of airplay on radio and the tape was circulated widely among young people. It was followed by “Cause Your Are My World” which also got airplay. The Second Incantation of the group, Childhood’s End, played widely in the New York area including gigs at The Bitter End and The Half Note.