Weird Street Carnival from left: Bobby Magee (Shelley), Rick Garfinkel and Pete McCormick
Bobby McGee – vocals Ron Schwalbe – guitar Rick Garfinkel – guitar Dave Prop – keyboards Pete McCormick – bass Robby Bruno – drums
I really like both sides of this 45. “Subterranean Edible Fungus” is indescribable early psych inspired in equal parts by nursery rhymes and Dylan. “The Inner Truth” starts out like the Animals “It’s My Life” but quickly becomes something completely original. I would guess this 45 to be from about 1968.
Production is credited to Thorn Creatives, and the songwriting credits to Shelley (Bobby McGee), Randell (Ron Schwalbe) and Thorn (George Fragos). Other than the Portchester address on the Copra label, I knew very little about the Weird Street Carnival until I received comments from guitarists Ron Schwalbe and Rick Garfinkel.
“Sad Mud Cats (immediate predecessor to Weird Street Carnival): Robbie Bruno (I think), Rick Garfinkel, Bobby Magee, Ronnie Schwalbe (Randell). Photo taken at The Golden Fountain in Pleasantville, NY”
Rick Garfinkel sent in the photos here and wrote to me about the band:
We played together in a bunch of classic 60s garage bands, Weird Street Carnival being the last one. Prior to that, we were “Sad Mud Cats”, “The Cloud Factory”, “The Colonials”, “The Contours” (no not that Contours), “The Impalas”, and more that I have forgotten. Various members came and went along with the names over a period of about 8 years. We were based out of Mt. Kisco, NY, with members from a variety of towns within an hour’s drive; White Plains, Bedford Hills, Ossining, Chappaqua, and others. The band was constantly morphing as members (and musical styles) came and went. Most of us were constant during high school, but became seasonal when I left for college in Ohio. I would come home for Christmas and summer breaks and the band would always kick somebody out so that I could re-join.
Sad Mud Cats was apparently the name of a ragtime band from the 20s that someone Ronnie knew told him about. He insisted we we change our name from The Colonials to Sad Mud Cats, as he was not part of the original Colonials, and we basically didn’t care much what we called ourselves as long as we could play.
I was not playing on the record, but was in the studio at the time of the recording. I had just gotten back from Ohio that day and didn’t have time to learn the nuances (ha) of “Subterranean Edible Fungus”. I can’t really recall any of the details of the recording session, even where the studio was. It might have been Portchester, but I couldn’t swear to it. The guitars on the record are Pete (“Limey”) McCormick and Ronnie, and if I remember correctly, Pete overdubbed the bass. Dave Prop was on the Hammond organ, and I don’t remember who was playing drums, probably Robbie Bruno. I just watched from the control room and harassed the rest of the guys that night, but slid back into the group for the rest of my time in NY.
As an interesting side note, we actually had a long debate on whether to call the song or the band Weird Street Carnival until someone, probably Bobby, came up with Subterranean Edible Fungus as an alternative. We unanimously decided that we didn’t want that to be the band name, so it became the song. I read last night on some website, that has another after-the-fact video to the song, that the song was written (and named) as the result of a bad mushroom trip; no truth in that whatsoever. Other than the occasional joint, we were drinkers, not dopers, and certainly not into psychedelics.
We recorded quite a bit during the mid-60’s with various combinations of band members under various names at various studios. The only one I can definitely remember was a session at CBC Studios in NYC with “The Contours”, one of the earlier groups, in 1964. We cut 4 demos, none of which were ever picked up. Later we recorded – and I have no idea where – as The Colonials (after Bobby Magee joined the group, but before Ronnie Schwalbe, with myself and Pete McCormick on guitar, Tom Connolly on bass, and Ray Smith on drums). That record did get pressed on the Tru-Lite label, and was readily found on juke boxes throughout the area at the time. The “A”-side was “Little Miss Muffet”, the flip side was “Do-Pop-Si (Down Down)”. They were of the bubble gum genre and while doing my Google search came across a rip-off version on U-tube; our song, our name, but not us. I have the original 45s of both of the records that were commercially pressed, although after 40+ years, it would take someone with a lot more digital know-how than I to make them sound anything like they used to.
Bobby Magee was a unique character, who modeled himself after Bob Dylan (in a way), and was a pretty creative writer. He lived in Ossining, not far from Sing Sing prison, and we would spend countless hours there listening to him expound on a variety of subjects as we tried to learn his latest songs. As well as writing most of our original stuff, he also played guitar at times, although it inhibited his “emoting” at the microphone, so that was rare, indeed. We were all relatively versatile musicians and often would switch around during a set to play something else. I recall playing the keyboards for our version of “Summer in the City”, and often played bass, sometimes even the drums. We would just rotate around the stage and swap instruments.
The opening chords played behind Bobby’s Dylanesque opening to “Fungus” are, according to him, the chords to the Lord’s Prayer. Bobby was (or perhaps, is) a unique and strange guy; haven’t kept up with him, nor heard from him since 1968. Ronnie, was the real driving force of the band; he arranged for most of the gigs, made sure everyone got there (or if not, that a replacement was), took care of business and was in it for the pure fun of playing. We worked together in White Plains during the daylight hours when I was home from college, and stayed in touch into the early 70s, but after I moved to Florida, we lost touch.
“The Cloud Factory (? – can’t really remember): Ronnie Schwalbe, Rick Garfinkel, Evan Elliott (drums), Donny Connahan, Dave Prop (organ). Ronnie Schwalbe and Donnie Connahan were the Ron and Don of the Rondons.”
Pete McCormick continued to play with anyone he could for as long as I knew. Up until about 15 years ago, my phone would ring in the middle of the night – 2:00 or 3:00 am – and it would be Pete, wanting me to hear the latest thing he was working on, some new digital/electronic guitar, or saying he was on vacation in Ft. Myers (an hour south) and I should drive down and jam with him. It was Pete’s passing that started my whole quest to find these guys. Little by little, I’ve been finding them and will continue until the spark is extinguished.
It was a great time to have a guitar in your hands; a great time for music and living.
Rick Garfinkel
Thank you to Rick for the information and photos.
“Same group as above: Rick Garfinkel, Dave Prop, Evan Elliott. This group was thrown together for a few gigs at about the same time as Weird Street…part of the morphing process.”
16 thoughts on “The Weird Street Carnival “The Subterranean Edible Fungus” on Copra”
I don’t wanna rain on anybody’s parade, but Janis Joplin did not write “Me and Bobby McGee” about some guy from Portchester NY! Kris Kristofferson wrote the song about his time spent down in Louisiana. I think her uncle is creating some fictional jive since his “name” matches the songtitle!
When my niece Leah, e-mailed me this site -I almost had a STROKE !!!! She first heard this old “Fungus” cut this summer in Wildwood and somehow found it on your site. I FLIPPED when I saw you actually have a copy of the old 45 – – Where and HOW did you ever get it ?? I will fill in all the details at a later date but, briefly – we started out in the early sixties as The “RONDONS” – playing primarily around Westchester, Hartsdale, Yonkers – Worlds Fair (New York Pavilien in 64) – Foleys, the “ChatNChew” in Ardsley, Tomkins Steak House, Dulio’s, 12-20 Club, Willow Inn, Club 22, etc. Having “Schwalbe” for a last name didn’t quite make it on stage so, I became Ronnie Randell – – (Ron-DELL) Full Rondons to Wierd Street Carnival conversion story will follow but, when Bobby McGee and I teamed up with Pete McCormick (bass) -Rick Garfinkle (of the early Lemon Pipers on guitar) Robbie Bruno (drums) & Dave Prop on keyboard, we hooked up with a small time producer named George Thorn-Fragos. Those are the names you see on the label. This is bringing back GREAT old memories for me and, I’ll be submitting probably MORE info than you want. As soon as I can get my brother to teach me how, I’ll forward some other recordings we did – including two from the Worlds Fair gig – -I’ve got some old photos kicking around to I might be able to forward along. I am FASCINATED that you have an actual copy of the record as I think there were only about a hundred or less ever cut. Thanks for making a 64 year old fart remember the “Good Old days” – -I’ll be talking atcha’ later Ron
I know it’s been years since your comment, I hope you’re well. I was wondering how the band met George Fragos (George Thorn), and came to record “The Inner Truth” which is credited to Thorn.
Ron Schwalbe was the lead guitarist for this band in the early 60’s. In addition to playing the guitar, he sang the hard-to-hear “cheesburger” line in “Subterranean Edible Fungus”. The band played at the 1964 World’s Fair, and had radio play on local AM stations in Portchester. The lead singer was William Shelley – whose real name was William (Bobby) McGee. He took the last name Shelly as an homage to his most influential poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. In 1969, he found his way to Woodstock and met up with a blues singer named Janis Joplin – who later wrote the hit “Me and Bobby McGee” after the time they spent together. (Ron Schwalbe is my uncle-)
Who would have thought that Westchester had such a good scene going once – it wasn’t that way when I was a kid. I don’t think the 45 is that difficult to come by, it’s not common, but I see it around from time to time. I’m looking forward to hearing the whole Rondons / Weird St Carnival story and seeing the photos.
I realize this is 3-1/3 years after the post, but if Ronnie Schwalbe is still out there, I would really love to get hold of him. I was part of Wierd Street Carnival and several of the groups that preceded it. I only played with them when home from college (where I did do a gig or two with The Lemon Pipers when their bass player was unavailable)from ’64-’67. I just found out that fellow member Pete McCormick passed away in 2006 and have been doing some random searching looking for missing links in my life. Hopefully, there will be some way we can connect through this site. Rick
I still have some copies of the Wierd St Carnival demo 45 on COPRA. I bought a box of them from George Thorn soon after they were pressed.
If you can not locate Ron Schwalbe you might be able to track down his younger brother Steve Schwalbe who last I knew worked for DeVilbiss in or near Toledo, OH.
For other readers from the Armonk area you may be interested in knowing this past week the Armonk Bowl was demolished. It stopped doing business as a bowling alley in 1999. A land developer bought it but was not able to get a permit to build anything there due to the close proximity to Kensico Reservoir.
The property was sold to State of NY DEP last year and now Armonk Bowl is history. I remeber when that was a swamp before the Armonk Bowl was built. Now it will return to being a swamp, like ” The Bowl ” never existed. I have some pics of the demolition.
” The Willows ” like the rest of Armonk has been upscaled and is now known as ” The Beehive, a restaurant.
This is the last photo taken of Armonk Bowl / The Rob Roy, before it was demolished. Around ’67 The Rob Roy became a caberet featuring live bands but ” The Willows ” still packed them in.
I am Ron Schwalbe’s younger brother Rick (Eric). Ron is living in New York still and I’m sure he’d love to hear from you. His e-mail is: ronschwalbe@gmail.com
Eric – I can’t believe I missed ytour message for over a year; fro a while, I would check back here on a regular basis. I’ve sent Ron a note and hopefully will hear back from him. I’ve also been in contact with several of theother guys we used to play with back in the day. I’d love to do some reminiscing and catching up.
hi rick! i’m sure you don’t remember me but i sang in a girl-group with donna rocco, carole bianco and cathy torrice. we went on gigs with you guys in armonk, mt. kisco, white plains etc. from 1964-1966. i couldn’t resist saying hello.
Hi Joan – nice to hear from someone who remembers the (good) old days. The names are familiar, but I doubt seriously that after all the years I could put faces to the names. We grew up (or at least older) in the best of times: garage bands ruled, and Westchester was a great place for them/us. Those time are a great portion of my fondest memories. I’m glad you were part of them.
I remember seeing Weird Street Carnival play at a Byram Hills High School dance in Armonk. I particularly recall seeing the lead singer rolling on the floor as he sung “Subterranean Edible Fungus” while I danced with my girlfriend!
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Bobby McGee – vocals
I was not playing on the record, but was in the studio at the time of the recording. I had just gotten back from Ohio that day and didn’t have time to learn the nuances (ha) of “Subterranean Edible Fungus”. I can’t really recall any of the details of the recording session, even where the studio was. It might have been Portchester, but I couldn’t swear to it. The guitars on the record are Pete (“Limey”) McCormick and Ronnie, and if I remember correctly, Pete overdubbed the bass. Dave Prop was on the Hammond organ, and I don’t remember who was playing drums, probably Robbie Bruno. I just watched from the control room and harassed the rest of the guys that night, but slid back into the group for the rest of my time in NY.
We recorded quite a bit during the mid-60’s with various combinations of band members under various names at various studios. The only one I can definitely remember was a session at CBC Studios in NYC with “The Contours”, one of the earlier groups, in 1964. We cut 4 demos, none of which were ever picked up. Later we recorded – and I have no idea where – as The Colonials (after Bobby Magee joined the group, but before Ronnie Schwalbe, with myself and Pete McCormick on guitar, Tom Connolly on bass, and Ray Smith on drums). That record did get pressed on the Tru-Lite label, and was readily found on juke boxes throughout the area at the time. The “A”-side was “Little Miss Muffet”, the flip side was “Do-Pop-Si (Down Down)”. They were of the bubble gum genre and while doing my Google search came across a rip-off version on U-tube; our song, our name, but not us. I have the original 45s of both of the records that were commercially pressed, although after 40+ years, it would take someone with a lot more digital know-how than I to make them sound anything like they used to.
I don’t wanna rain on anybody’s parade, but Janis Joplin did not write “Me and Bobby McGee” about some guy from Portchester NY!
Kris Kristofferson wrote the song about his time spent down in Louisiana.
I think her uncle is creating some fictional jive since his “name” matches the songtitle!
When my niece Leah, e-mailed me this site -I almost had a STROKE !!!!
She first heard this old “Fungus” cut this summer in Wildwood and somehow found it on your site.
I FLIPPED when I saw you actually have a copy of the old 45 – – Where and HOW did you ever get it ??
I will fill in all the details at a later date but, briefly – we started out in the early sixties as The “RONDONS” – playing primarily around Westchester, Hartsdale, Yonkers – Worlds Fair (New York Pavilien in 64) – Foleys, the “ChatNChew” in Ardsley, Tomkins Steak House, Dulio’s, 12-20 Club, Willow Inn, Club 22, etc.
Having “Schwalbe” for a last name didn’t quite make it on stage so, I became Ronnie Randell – – (Ron-DELL)
Full Rondons to Wierd Street Carnival conversion story will follow but, when Bobby McGee and I teamed up with Pete McCormick (bass) -Rick Garfinkle (of the early Lemon Pipers on guitar) Robbie Bruno (drums) & Dave Prop on keyboard, we hooked up with a small time producer named George Thorn-Fragos.
Those are the names you see on the label.
This is bringing back GREAT old memories for me and, I’ll be submitting probably MORE info than you want.
As soon as I can get my brother to teach me how, I’ll forward some other recordings we did – including two from the Worlds Fair gig – -I’ve got some old photos kicking around to I might be able to forward along.
I am FASCINATED that you have an actual copy of the record as I think there were only about a hundred or less ever cut.
Thanks for making a 64 year old fart remember the “Good Old days” – -I’ll be talking atcha’ later
Ron
Hello Ron,
I know it’s been years since your comment, I hope you’re well. I was wondering how the band met George Fragos (George Thorn), and came to record “The Inner Truth” which is credited to Thorn.
Ron Schwalbe was the lead guitarist for this band in the early 60’s. In addition to playing the guitar, he sang the hard-to-hear “cheesburger” line in “Subterranean Edible Fungus”. The band played at the 1964 World’s Fair, and had radio play on local AM stations in Portchester. The lead singer was William Shelley – whose real name was William (Bobby) McGee. He took the last name Shelly as an homage to his most influential poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. In 1969, he found his way to Woodstock and met up with a blues singer named Janis Joplin – who later wrote the hit “Me and Bobby McGee” after the time they spent together.
(Ron Schwalbe is my uncle-)
Hey Ron,
Who would have thought that Westchester had such a good scene going once – it wasn’t that way when I was a kid. I don’t think the 45 is that difficult to come by, it’s not common, but I see it around from time to time. I’m looking forward to hearing the whole Rondons / Weird St Carnival story and seeing the photos.
Amazing- I used to dance to the Rondons at the Club 22 in Armonk 43 years ago! I think I remember a special version of “Angel Baby” that we all loved.
I have been trying to locate George Thorn’s son Russ? I hung out at the Willow Inn in the 60’s and remember the band.Email at hoyt1@ftc-i.net
I realize this is 3-1/3 years after the post, but if Ronnie Schwalbe is still out there, I would really love to get hold of him. I was part of Wierd Street Carnival and several of the groups that preceded it. I only played with them when home from college (where I did do a gig or two with The Lemon Pipers when their bass player was unavailable)from ’64-’67. I just found out that fellow member Pete McCormick passed away in 2006 and have been doing some random searching looking for missing links in my life. Hopefully, there will be some way we can connect through this site.
Rick
I just came across a 45 rpm copy of Truth / Fungus in superb condition.
can anyone o you former members get in touch with me?
Steve at somo1@aol.com
I still have some copies of the Wierd St Carnival demo 45 on COPRA. I bought a box of them from George Thorn soon after they were pressed.
If you can not locate Ron Schwalbe you might be able to track down his younger brother Steve Schwalbe who last I knew worked for DeVilbiss in or near Toledo, OH.
For other readers from the Armonk area you may be interested in knowing this past week the Armonk Bowl was demolished. It stopped doing business as a bowling alley in 1999. A land developer bought it but was not able to get a permit to build anything there due to the close proximity to Kensico Reservoir.
The property was sold to State of NY DEP last year and now Armonk Bowl is history. I remeber when that was a swamp before the Armonk Bowl was built. Now it will return to being a swamp, like ” The Bowl ” never existed. I have some pics of the demolition.
” The Willows ” like the rest of Armonk has been upscaled and is now known as ” The Beehive, a restaurant.
This is the last photo taken of Armonk Bowl / The Rob Roy, before it was demolished. Around ’67 The Rob Roy became a caberet featuring live bands but ” The Willows ” still packed them in.
It’s now History !
Rick,
I am Ron Schwalbe’s younger brother Rick (Eric). Ron is living in New York still and I’m sure he’d love to hear from you. His e-mail is: ronschwalbe@gmail.com
I hope you guys are able to touch base
Eric
Eric – I can’t believe I missed ytour message for over a year; fro a while, I would check back here on a regular basis. I’ve sent Ron a note and hopefully will hear back from him. I’ve also been in contact with several of theother guys we used to play with back in the day. I’d love to do some reminiscing and catching up.
Thanks for the address,
Rick
hi rick!
i’m sure you don’t remember me but i sang in a girl-group with donna rocco, carole bianco and cathy torrice. we went on gigs with you guys in armonk, mt. kisco, white plains etc. from 1964-1966. i couldn’t resist saying hello.
joan
Hi Joan – nice to hear from someone who remembers the (good) old days. The names are familiar, but I doubt seriously that after all the years I could put faces to the names. We grew up (or at least older) in the best of times: garage bands ruled, and Westchester was a great place for them/us. Those time are a great portion of my fondest memories. I’m glad you were part of them.
I remember seeing Weird Street Carnival play at a Byram Hills High School dance in Armonk. I particularly recall seeing the lead singer rolling on the floor as he sung “Subterranean Edible Fungus” while I danced with my girlfriend!