Much has been written about the early O’Kaysions and their one hit; however, little is known about the group that followed and the handful of recordings they made for Cotillion Records. All but two members of the third generation O’Kaysions have since died and the bulk of the recordings they made in 1970 remain unreleased. The O’Kaysions would disband in the early seventies, following a series of personnel changes and missed opportunities.

The band formed in Kenly, North Carolina (south of Wilson) as The Kays. Lead vocalist and organist Donnie Weaver was from Rocky Mount and was just 12 when he joined The Kays. A decade later and with the same band at age 22, he sang lead vocals and played organ on “Girl Watcher” at Sound Studio in Greenville, NC, on February 8, 1968. He is also credited with coming up with a new name for the band, and from that point on they would forever be known as The O’Kaysions.

By 1968, the group had changed names and personnel. Weaver, guitarist Wayne Pittman, trumpeter Ron Turner, saxophonist Jim Spiedel, bassist Jimmy Hinnart and drummer Bruce Joyner were the second generation O’Kaysions. Steve Watson, Gerald Toler and Eddie Dement (drums, sax and trumpet, respectively) all performed on “Girl Watcher” but decided to stay with their day jobs rather than pursue fame and fortune on the road.

Pittman penned the summer beach anthem and told Rick Simmons in his book Carolina Beach Music: The Classic Years that one of the band members suggested he write a song about girl watching because of his penchant for observing bathing beauties. Pittman recalls that he had already written the melody and added the lyrics, finishing the song in two nights. When Weaver was asked in the studio to help complete the chorus, he came up with the unforgettable “umm, umm, umm.” North State Records producer Buck Trail is given co-songwriting credit on the label, but Pittman composed the song and wrote the lyrics and Trail’s contribution was minimal.

Game Artists promoter Ken Adkins says the O’Kaysions made the crude recording in “a broom closet studio in Greenville, N.C.” The song became a regional hit, with WBAG in Burlington playing the 45 (North State 1001) in heavy rotation. It caught the attention of Adkins and his boss, Bill Griffin, who owned Greensboro’s famed Castaways and managed Game Artists.

Griffin wanted to sign the band and enlisted Adkins and A&M Records promoter Manly May, who shopped the song to labels in New York. ABC Paramount picked it up (ABC 11094) and Pittman remembers that label executives flew down from New York to get the master tapes from North State and decided to rush release the song unchanged, while picking up distribution. It went on to reach #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and in Cashbox and Record World) in early October, peaking at #6 on the R&B chart and earning a gold record with one million in sales by December 1968. “Girl Watcher” was listed in the Top 10 for nine weeks and in the Top 100 for twenty-six weeks. The song is listed as the 45th biggest record of 1968 in Billboard’s listing (#44 in Cash Box) of the “Hot 100” songs of the year.

Griffin had a management contract with the group and arranged a six-week tour. ABC had signed lead vocalist Donnie Weaver to an individual contract, leaving Game Artists in limbo: They had a national hit with no band to promote it. Weaver, Pittman and Hinnart were willing to tour, but first they needed a drummer and some horns.

Adkins returned to Greensboro, where he says he hand-picked some of the area’s finest musicians to join the O’Kaysions in the studio and on tour. In the fall of 1968, the three original members were joined by newcomers Turner, Spiedel and Joyner to record the Girl Watcher album, which was was produced by Johnny Pate.

The “Girl Watcher” album (ABC LP ABCS-664) was recorded in two days to take advantage of the hit single and received a favorable review in the Nov. 9, 1968 issue of Billboard. “The soulful O’Kaysions, the “Girl Watcher” crowd who spilled from R&B into a top 10 pop power should strike hard at the LP chart with the debut dozen of breezy rock ‘n’ soul tunes. “Little Miss Flirt,” “Love Machine,” “My Song” and Don Weaver’s bluesy vocals herald the arrival of this top white soul group.” The LP did fairly well on the Billboard album charts, climbing all the way to #49 on the Rhythm and Blues LP list and peaking at #153 on the overall albums charts on Nov. 23, 1968.

“Love Machine” (ABC 11153) was chosen as the follow-up single and was listed as a “new release” in the Nov. 30, 1968 Billboard. It spent six weeks in the charts, stalling at #76 on the pop charts in late December. The song fared much better on the Cash Box charts and was chosen as the number one pick in the trade paper’s “Looking Ahead” forecast on Nov. 16, 1968, the week it debuted. “Love Machine” had risen to #47 by Christmas. It was the O’Kaysions last chart entry.

Management problems plagued the band from the start. Pittman says the people at North State thought they could sign the band with any booking agency they wished and inked a contract with Atlanta promoter Bill Lowery, without the band’s knowledge. The O’Kaysions felt Lowery wasn’t booking the group enough, so they canceled the agreement. The band next signed with Associated Booking in New York City. But Pittman says Lowery’s power and contacts in the industry “put the kiss of death” on the O’Kaysions and ABC was reluctant to put much money behind the band.

But while Weaver was tied to an individual contract with ABC, Griffin and Adkins had traveled to New York and signed the group to Atlantic Records. Atlantic would later front $15,000 for the O’Kaysions to record an album at the new, state-of-the-art Crescent City Sound Studios (formerly Copeland) in Greensboro, for release on their subsidiary, Cotillion Records.

Pittman was the next to leave. Donny Trexler was brought on board as his replacement on guitar, with drummer Gary “Groove” Pugh joining the band at the same time. Both were also excellent vocalists. Trexler was known for his gritty, soulful singing, while Groove brought a piercing falsetto voice to the mix.

Trexler began singing at age 9 in Summerfield, N.C. and was 14 when he formed his first band, Donny and the Blue Jets. Two years later, he joined the Six Teens, which consisted of six, 16-year-olds. Their drummer decided to defect to Allan and the Flames, a group that had a regional hit with the instrumental “Winter Wonderland.” Their drummer, Bob Collins, didn’t want to leave his job to go out on the road, so the bands switched percussionists. Several left to attend college and some older members were brought into the reformed band, now known as Chuck Tilley and the Fabulous Five. Chuck left or was fired in January 1962 and Bob Collins was chosen to front the band because, as Trexer recalls, “he could sing ‘Ooh Poo Pah Do’ and the Fats Domino catalog.”

But it was Trexler who would sing lead on the group’s 45, “If I Didn’t Have a Dime.” The song had been a minor hit for Gene Pitney but became the signature song for Bob Collins and the Fabulous Five. The band actually recorded the tune twice, first at Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte and then at Copeland Sound Studios in Greensboro in 1966. The latter version was released on the Greensboro-based Jokers Three label and remains a beach music favorite. Trexler says the band got a group of teens “to come in from Guilford and High Point College and a couple of cases of beer and we had an audience!”

Trexler left the Fabulous Five in February of ’68 and was playing in the basement of the Rathskeller in Greensboro with Ted Carroll and the Music Era. The band had traveled to Florida for an extended engagement when manager Bill Griffin contacted Trexler and told him he was having problems keeping members in the O’Kaysions. With a hit record and a follow-up in the charts, it didn’t take much persuading to convince Trexler and Pugh to leave the Music Era and join the O’Kaysions in the first week of January, 1969.

Both were flown to New York City to provide backing vocals for the group’s next single, an upbeat cover of Gene Pitney’s “24 Hours from Tulsa.” Weaver sings lead but none of the O’Kaysions play on the track, which was recorded with session musicians at the Hit Factory in January of ’69. Trexler says that ABC called Johnny Pate (Impressions,Gene Chandler) to produce the sessions, although the label credits Bill Szymczyk and Game Productions. While he was brought on board as guitarist, Trexler said he didn’t take his instrument to New York and Billy Butler plays guitar on the song. Interestingly, Trexler was told the guitarist was the brother of singer Jerry Butler. The single’s b-side, “Colors,” is a curious ballad about the plight of the American Indian that features a strong vocal delivery from Weaver.

The record (ABC 11207) received a favorable review in the April 19, 1969 edition of Billboard and was listed in the “Top 60 Pop Spotlight.” The reviewer enthused that “the ‘Girl Watcher’ group bounces back with a strong item here, a clever revival of the Gene Pitney hit of the past, penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Driving rock beat backs a strong vocal workout.” While “24 Hours from Tulsa” had all of the elements of a hit record, it failed to dent the charts.

But the band was about to undergo another drastic change. Lead vocalist and front man Donnie Weaver was about to leave the band for a solo career with ABC, while the band would record for Atlantic. Trexler says there were already rumblings of Weaver’s departure as early as January of ’69, although he would continue performing with the group through late August. After the New York sessions, Griffin and Trexler were walking down the street when his manager remarked: “You might as well get yourself prepared to really do something with this group because ABC is shooting to take Donnie away from us.” Griffin told Trexler he didn’t intend to stop them and asked that Trexler take over when that happened, adding: “You’re one of these people if I send you out on a job and there’s no place to play, you’ll build a place before the night.” While he insists it was never his intention to repIace Weaver, Trexler said it became apparent in the following months that “Donnie was not a happy individual.”

His first job as lead singer for the O’Kaysions came on a Labor Day Saturday night in 1969 at the Coachman & Four in Bennettsville, S.C. “We got notice on Monday or Tuesday of that week that Donnie wouldn’t be coming back,” says Trexler, because Weaver “had decided to do a thing on his own and ABC Records decided to stay with Donnie and not the group.”

Weaver left around August 1969. Jimmy Spiedel was drafted in the fall of that year and Ronnie Turner departed about the same time. Glenn Ingram was added on sax, along with trumpeters Tommy Hawk and Tim Moore.

This line-up played a gig in Mississippi a couple of days before Christmas in 1969. The job wasn’t as memorable as what happened immediately afterwards. The band was headed home to North Carolina for the holidays when someone flagged them down to tell them the door on the band trailer was wide open. Somewhere along the way, Trexler’s Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar and Hawk’s Schilke trumpet had tumbled out onto the tarmac. “We doubled back at 3:30 a.m. to look for them but never found either,” recalls Trexler, “so a Gibson ES-335 was the replacement purchased by the group.” Trexler had warned the band repeatedly that the latch was bad and describes the episode as “an early nail the coffin.”

Trexler contends the eight-piece group “was not a workable unit,” and the O’Kaysions soon downsized, eliminating the horns. After the band regrouped, Moore joined Kallabash Corporation. According to Trexler the band “just kind of drifted for 6 months” before they hired Big Jim Lowry (guitar/vocals), Allen Brewer (bass/vocals) and former Tropics drummer Lenny Collins in “late February of early March of 1970.” Groove Pugh had some problems and left the group until they were resolved. He returned and they continued with two drummers. The group now had the strength of two lead vocalists and a pair of excellent guitarists. While no longer playing in the O’Kaysions at this point, Jimmy Hinnant was the group manager. Hinnant and Ken Adkins ran the day-to-day operations of Game Artists and kept the band working.

This was the line-up that Lost Soul keyboardist Steve Calfee booked for the Blue Toad, a college club in Bluefield, WVA. Calfee said he was amazed, adding “they did ‘Girl Watcher,’ of course, but most of the evening they did everything from the Allman Brothers first two albums, blues and some killer rock and roll. Knocked our little beer hall right on its butt (and) Donny and Big Jim did some great double guitar solos.”

Art Kramer was playing tenor sax in Mass Production when the group shared a bill with the O’Kaysions at the 220 Drive-In near Martinsville in May 1970. His group also supported singer Clifford Curry. The Drifters also performed but it was the O’Kaysions who topped the bill. Kramer remembers that “the O’Kaysions were down to a five-piece band at this time… didn’t have any horns.” He recalls that they had “a good sound (and) you could tell the band had been together for a long time.”

Trexler maintains this line-up was the best on stage, noting “the group was very versatile; we all played different instruments in the show.” The five-piece configuration toured extensively along the East Coast, playing military bases and clubs like the Magic Attic in Myrtle Beach. But their songs were hard-edged and had little in common with the beach music generally associated with the band.

Their first Cotillion single, “Watch Out Girl” (Cotillion 44089) backed with “Happiness,” was recorded at Walt Copeland’s new Crescent City Studios, in the spring of 1970. Allen Brewer played bass, with Trexler on guitar and lead vocals. The band borrowed drummer Clayton “Red” White, from Bob Collins’ band, with Duke Hall on keyboards. Hall was the arranger and producer for Game Artists. Trexler says the horns were some players from A&T State University, supplemented by musicians from the Peace Core, formerly known as the In-Men LTD. While Trexler believes the strings were added later by Atlantic, Ken Adkins recalls that Hall “hired great string and horn players who were in town for the Eastern Music Festival held annually at UNCG.”

Drummer Red White remembers the band doing a sound check when a “squeak” was heard in the playback. The engineer isolated it to his Speed King bass drum pedal. “I always kept (and still do) a can of 3-In-One oil in my drum case to keep my pedal at top speed. One drop to each spring piston and we were recording.” White still uses that same bass pedal to this day.

The flip side, “Happiness,” is a beautiful ballad with an infectious chorus. Penned by Trexler, the song incorporates horns and a nice string arrangement. He sings the double-tracked vocal and plays acoustic and electric guitars. The acoustic used on the session is a 1934 Gibson Model L-00, which Trexler purchased from his uncle for $50 when he was 10. The same guitar was used on dozens of jingles he recorded at Crescent City Studios in Greensboro. Trexler performed the song as a solo artist for a TV broadcast on TBS while the O’Kaysions performed a three-week run in Atlanta in 1971.

Griffin shopped the master tapes to Atlantic because Groove and Donny were still under contract with the label through their work with the Music Era. The 45 was one of the first Cotillion releases following the massive success of the “Woodstock” album and the single was a Top 20 pick in all three trades: Record World, Cashbox and Billboard. That helped the group gain an appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in mid-October, where Trexler mimed “Watch Out Girl” and Weaver’s vocal on “Girl Watcher.” Groove couldn’t make the show and Collins sat on the drum throne.

Billboard gave the record a rave review in the Sept. 20, 1970 edition, pegging the song in its “Top 20 Spotlight” of 45s predicted to crack the upper reaches of the Hot 100. “Watch Out Girl” was singled out with the Jackson Five’s “I’ll Be There” and CSN&Y’s “Our House” as surefire hits, with Billboard enthusing “the ‘Girl Watchers’ gang move to the Cotillion label with a blockbuster single that will get them back at the top of the Hot 100 and Soul charts (with) a top vocal workout flip, “Happiness.” Unfortunately, it was not to be and the song sank without a trace.

While on the West Coast, Trexler did an interview on Wolfman Jack’s radio show before the band returned home for a heavy schedule of touring in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.

The third generation O’Kaysions were in the studio in Greensboro in the summer of 1970 to record a follow-up and an album that languishes in the vaults to this day. On reflection, “Travelin’ Life” b/w “Life and Things” (Cotillion 44134) seems like an odd choice for a single, but Trexler explains that “Duke Hall wrote them and they were published by Griffins Publishing Co.” Trexler sings lead and plays guitar. Hall was again the producer/arranger and played keyboards, while Brewer was on bass. Trexler believes Lowry played a second guitar on the recordings, with Collins on drums “and hired union musicians” rounding out the band. Jimmy Ienner (Three Dog Night, BS&T, Raspberries) was the production coordinator. Trexler recalls that Ienner was production manager for all Cotillion releases at the time and was “very interested in the group but did his homework and decided to stay clear.”

The sessions for the single coincided with the recording of the group’s second album, which featured songs written by both Trexler and Duke Hall. Hall, who is best remembered for producing some of the Platters later hits, had the financial backing of Atlantic, which – according to Trexler — had advanced Griffin $15,000 for the sessions.

Another ode to life on the road, “Travelin’ Life” boasts a strong, raspy vocal from Trexler, who explains that the effect was intentional. “Duke always liked to record late at night after I had sung all night because he said my voice sounded better,” recalls Trexler. He says the strain in his voice is audible, explaining that the song “was pretty rough, but that’s the way Cotillion said they wanted my voice to sound.” The flip side, “Life and Things” features a harmonica and fuzz guitar but sounds as though it was hastily recorded as a throwaway track. Trexler again sings lead and plays the wah-wah guitar solo.

With four songs in the can, the group needed another eight to round out the album. Four of Hall’s tunes were recorded, along with three by Trexler, including the unreleased songs “Long County” and “Unity.” Ken Adkins recalls that two songs were recorded at the insistence of Atlantic Records “as a favor to some publishing company.” Hall’s composition, “Phat Momma,” was a standout, as was Piano Red’s “The Right String (But the Wrong Yo-Yo).” Other unreleased tracks include “Bad Girl,” “Listen to the World,” Ripe for Disaster,” and “A Man Is A Man.”

Ken Adkins was in the studio and says he “loved ‘Phat Momma’ when Donny Trexler recorded it,” adding: “I thought that O’Kaysions’ album really smoked with a bunch of great songs. They even did an arrangement I suggested of a very funky version of “Right String.” He still wonders why the label chose not to release the album, calling it “the best stuff ever recorded by Game.”

Trexler has his own ideas about why the album was shelved. While he and his band mates had spent “a lot of hours” in the recording studio, Trexler contends that Cotillion became disenchanted with the group’s management after “part of the money designated for a comeback album for the O’Kaysions (was spent) on other group projects.”

While the group continued touring, Trexler insists “the magic was gone” and he decided to leave the band, ending a three-year stint as an O’Kaysion. He had become disenchanted with the lack of direction and felt the group was headed nowhere. Trexler was also embarrassed to open for national artists like the Guess Who and Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds when these groups had “top notch equipment and roadies,” (while) we carried and set up our equipment in front of thousands of people in the audience.” Trexler left in March of 1972 and formed the group Swing with Tim Callaway, Doug Bates and his future wife, Susan.

The O’Kaysions soldiered on briefly before finally calling it quits. Little is known about the last line-up, but Johnny Cobb took Trexler’s place on guitar. Jim Lowry and Gary Pugh continued with the group, joined by Frankie Prytle, Sylvia Lowry and Larry Miller. The group quickly morphed into the International Boogie Band and recorded one single for Game: “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee”/ “Silver Dollar Lady” in 1972.

Weaver’s recording career with ABC was short-lived and yielded just one single – “Speak to Me” b/w “Sad, Sad Sam” — in 1970. The plug side was written by Jackie Lomax, guitarist in the British Invasion band, the Undertakers. The song was the opening track on Lomax’s 1969 LP on Apple Records, “Is This What You Want?,” which featured all four of the Beatles. Weaver wrote the flip side of the single but neither song received significant airplay. Both songs were produced by Bill Szymczyk, who had overseen the “Watch Out Girl” sessions earlier that year.

In 1972, Weaver moved to Riverside, California, where he joined bassist Gerald Davis and put together a band to record and perform some original songs. In 1979, Weaver met Chuck Leavell and Sea Level and recorded with some of the band members at Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia. He also toured briefly with Sea Level.

According to his official bio, Weaver left music in the eighties and nineties to focus on his career as a scientific computer consultant.

But his retirement was temporary and Weaver opened for Chicago at the Alltel Pavilion in Raleigh on June 16, 2001. He performed original songs to an audience of 15,000.

In November 2003, Weaver organized a reunion of all six original members of the O’Kaysions at the Alabama Theater in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to perform “Girl Watcher” for the Carolina Beach Music Association Hall of Fame Awards.

He was inducted into the Twin County Hall of Fame for Nash and Edgecombe Counties in 2009 and was still in fine form when he recorded the song “Truth” in 2012.

Donny Trexler continues to record and perform and appears regularly at private parties, clubs and restaurants in the North Myrtle Beach area. He and his wife, Susan, formed Swing in 1972 and the four-piece, Top 40 act toured the East Coast until 1988. At the time the couple, now married, formed Swing Too. The pair still record and perform together. Their 2007 c.d., The Edge of Paradise, contains standards and original material, including the popular “Tired of Pulling This Train” and “Inventory on Heartaches,” an updated version of the song Trexler wrote for Bob Collins and the Fabulous Five. He also remixed “Jukebox,” which remains a favorite during performances.

He was recognized by the industry in November 2000, receiving the CAMMY Award for “Lifetime Achievement.” The following year, Trexler was inducted into the South Carolina Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame and received the Palmetto Award from the governor.

The O’Kaysions reformed in the eighties and remain a popular attraction on the beach music circuit. The current group is based in Columbia, S.C. and features three vocalists, trumpet, saxophone, drums, guitar, bass, and keyboards. Original member and guitarist Wayne Pittman manages the band, which plays a mixture Top 40, classic rock and the ever popular anthem to summer, “Girl Watcher.”

Jack Garrett, 2016

The post The O’Kaysions: Beyond Girl Watching appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Innkeepers had one excellent single in late 1966, “Never Should Have Done It” b/w “Wanted” on Galiko 895. The band came from Queens, New York somewhere near Bayside. One member may have been Leon Salem, who wrote both of these songs. That’s all I can tell you about the group.

“Never Should Have Done It” jumps into a tense mood, with a neat sliding guitar riff throughout the song and the line “life’s not worth living now, ever since the day, oh-o-o, you left me.” The drummer keeps a strong pace, and the bassist pushes the mood as each line of the lyrics crescends and crashes. The organ player compliments the repeating guitar and takes an extended solo after a brief guitar break.

The band comes up with a tight arrangement and good harmonies to back the lead vocalist on “Wanted”.

Salem copyrighted “Wanted” with the Library of Congress in August 1966, following it up with “Never Should Have Done It” in October, both with publishing by Leona Music Pub. Co., but on the Galiko single both list Aurora Music Pub. BMI.

The Library of Congress index shows Leon Salem copyrighting six additional titles before the end of 1966, “What Do You Find?”, “All the Time”, “Venetian Gondola”, “Reasons”, “The Truth”, “Come Back, My Baby”, though only the first of these also had the Leona Music Pub. Co. credit.

With such an accomplished group of musicians, I hope there are some unreleased Innkeepers recordings out there, yet to be heard.

Galiko had a number of other releases, most notably the U.S. Stamps, who had two singles on the label in 1967, “Come On” / “Go and Dry Your Tears” and “Pull the Wool” / “We’ll Find a Way” (by Ed Landis). I don’t know anything about that band either.

This Innkeepers should not be confused with the band from Lewiston, Maine, whose demo “Traella (Hey Babe)” surfaced years back.

The post The Innkeepers on Galiko appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Maltese came from the Winchester, Kentucky area, about 20 miles east of downtown Lexington. They cut one single for Chetwyd Records of Lexington, “You Better Stop” / “I Want To Talk To You” both written by Akers for Chetwyd BMI, released on Chetwyd CW-45006 in 1967.

“You Better Stop” has sustained fuzz notes and sounds something like the Who’s “Out in the Street”. “I Want to Talk to You” is more like the Stones doing Solomon Burke. There’s nightclub noise running in the background but it’s not quite Got Live If You Want It.

Hear excerpts of both sides. I’m not sure where I found this clip, probably from a record auction.

A few months ago I posted about another group called the Maltese, based out of northern Kentucky communities like Covington, Elsmere and Erlanger, but that was an unrelated group.

Thank you to Ed Commons for sending in the photo of the band and clearing up my confusion of the two Maltese, and to Barry Wickham for the scan of the Maltese 45 label.

The post The Maltese of Lexington, Kentucky appeared first on Garage Hangover.

Ed Commons started Chetwyd Records in Lexington, Kentucky in 1966. Ed wrote to me with some info about the label:

I had a label and recording service in Pittsburgh PA, (Encore Electrical Recording Company, label Encore Custom) before coming to Kentucky in the summer of 1965. Chetwyd preceded House of Commons. HOC began in in 1972, I believe, and the label was by then no longer in production. Currently I am the Producer/Director of Red Barn Radio, just getting ready to finish our 14th season.

Pepper and the Shakers were a Lexington group, not the one that recorded in New York [the Westland, Michigan group who cut “Semi-Psychedelic (It Is)” / “I’ll Always Love You” on Coral 62523]. There are pix of all artists, and some press and release materials. 
 
CW-45008/9 numbers were held for sessions of the Iris Bell Trio, and were never released.

You show 45010 with a yellow label, there was a re-release with a purple label, the masters were –re eq’d, and re-mastered. The yellow actually has the better sound, and would be preferred.

45001-45007 were release as standard mono 45’s. CW-45007 was released in Compatible Stereo as were both versions of CW-45010.

45s:

CW-45001 – One of Hours – “It’s Best” (Foreman – Bogliole) / “Trifolia” (Foreman – Flynn -Bogliole) 1966, both songs pub. by Chetwyd BMI
CW-45002 – Pepper and the Shakers – “For My Babe” (Oliver Pepper Burdett) / “Need Your Love” (Clarence Scott, Joe Baltimore), 1967. both songs pub. by Chetwyd BMI
CW-45003 – Marshall Jones and the 4th Dimension “It’s Not Unusual” (Reed) / “Maryland Farmer” (Clements)
CW-45004 – Pat and Barbara – “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” / “Noah” 1967
CW-45005 – One of Hours – “Feel The Pain” (Foreman – Flynn – Bogliele) / “Psychedelic Illusion” (Foreman – Willcutt) both pub. by Chetwyd, BMI (RI 2392D/E) Spring 1967
CW-45006 – Maltese – “You Better Stop” / “I Want To Talk To You” both by Akers for Chetwyd BMI 1967
CW-45007 – Universal Sound – “What Now?” / “Keep On Running” 1967
CW-45008 – no release
CW-45009 – no release
CW-45010 – Intimate Cyrcle, lead Cal Settles – “Someday (You’ll Be Breaking My Heart)” by Lisa Palas, Gene Deaton / “A World of Love” prod. by Ed Commons

7″ EP:

CWCM 1001 – “The Real Meaning of Christmas” written and narrated by William Rowe (Children’s Series – 33 1/3 RPM, mono only)

LPs:

CWM 66003 – Jack Bailey – When Your Lover Has Gone (mono)
CWS 99003 – Jack Bailey – When Your Lover Has Gone (stereo)
CWM 66004 – Pat and Barbara – There Is A Time (mono, 1967)
CWS 99004 – Pat and Barbara – There Is A Time (stereo, 1967)

Although some singles note publishing by Chetwyd BMI, I can find no record of Chetwyd songs in the Library of Congress listings. See the entries on this site for more info on the One of Hours and the Maltese.

Thank you to Ed Commons for his help, and to Max Waller.

The post Chetwyd Records Discography appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Front Office single on Mijji seems to be a combination of two different recording groups. The A-side “Girl” is polished, Motown-type soul, written by Steve Cook and arranged by Val Garay (who would go on to engineer and produce many high-profile acts in the 1970s and ’80s) and Mark Holly.

The instrumental flip side is something else altogether. “Wow” is first-rate psychedelia done by a band who knows what they’re doing and don’t hold back. The song writing credit goes to Gilbert Day, who is also credited as producer with G. Zacharisen (possibly George Zacharisen). Satori Music, BMI published both songs, released on Mijji M3007 in 1968.

Beyond those names, the identity of the musicians on “Wow” is a mystery. This was the last release on Mijji, which had a handful of other singles. Sound 70 had two singles on Mijji:

Mijji M-3002 – Sound 70 – “There Is No Reason” / “Seven Day Fool”
Mijji M-3004 – Sound 70 – “One Too Many Mournings” / “Chicago Blues”

Day-Gardner-Brown produced both singles, and other than song writing and publishing credits for the cover songs, “Seven Day Fool” and “One Too Many Mournings” (sic), there are no other names on the labels. Sound 70 played live around San Mateo, Belmont and San Carlos, California, adjacent towns on the peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose. Sound 70 seems to have come out of the Bundles, whose songs “Mark My Words” and “Watch Me Girl” went unreleased at the time but now appear on the Big Beat CD Dance With Me: The Autumn Teen Sound.

Judging by “There Is No Reason” and the heavy drums on “One Too Many Mournings”, Sound 70 had the ability to cut a track like “Wow”, but that’s only speculation.

The only other single on Mijji that I can find is by the Venus Flytrap:

Mijji M-3005 – Venus Flytrap – “The Note” / “Have You Ever” (both by Donald Danielli – Daniel Sanchez, prod. by Gilbert Day, published by Guard Music, BMI)

The original release came on Jaguar Records J-103, owned by Barry Wineroth. It was a hit in the Santa Barbara area, but the Redwood City band also had a following in the South Bay, which may be why Mijji repressed it. Both songs copyrighted in April and July, 1968, orig. publisher Wren Music BMI, then Guard Music BMI, part of Golden State Recorders.

At the time of the single, the Venus Flytrap were Nancy Morgan, lead singer; Peter Sessions on lead guitar; Dan Sanchez rhythm guitar; Ken Czapkay on bass; and Debbie Binetti. Bard Dupont of the Outfit replaced Ken Czapkay when he was drafted, and Michele Sevryn replaced Nancy Morgan shortly before the band split.

If anyone has more info or photos of the band, or copies of any of the singles (especially the Venus Flytrap on either label), please contact me.

Sources include: “The Continuing Adventures of Bard Dupont, Introducing the Outfit” by Alec Palao, originally published in Cream Puff War No. 2, February 1993, page 87-96.

The post The Front Office on Mijji appeared first on Garage Hangover.

I mentioned the Xanadus when I wrote about Angelus Records, a label for Christian music based out of Lorin Whitney’s studio in Glendale. The Xanadus first single was on Angelus, even though it was not a religious record. On hearing their second single recently, I decided the Xanadus deserve their own entry.

Their first single, “Before the Dawn” features a basic ensemble of lightly-amplified guitars, tambourine and harmony singing. “Little Girl” is a ballad, even more low-key than the A-side. Both songs are on youtube but not in great sound quality. It came out on Angelus WR-4442, and then the band reissued it on their own Encore label with the same catalog # 4442.

There are only a few instrumental or pop releases on Angelus. The Xanadus single is more pop in style and subject matter, but it’s so light and innocuous it doesn’t clash with the typical Angelus subject matter.

However, there’s no way Angelus would allow the band to use the label for their second 45, the salacious and amazing “You Turn Me On” / “Bankrupt Bothered & Bewildered”, released on Encore 4443. These are sharp, cutting rockers, with good guitar breaks. “Bankrupt Bothered & Bewildered” sounds like it was recorded live, shouting and hooting in the background.

Photos in the videos are different bands.

Angelus WR-4442 – “Before the Dawn” (Boyd & Adams) / “Little Girl” (Wray) produced by J & R Productions
Encore 4442 – Xanadus – “Before the Dawn” (Boyd & Adams) / “Little Girl” (Wray) (WR-4442-45) released Feb. 1965
Encore 4443 – “You Turn Me On” / “Bankrupt, Bothered & Bewildered” released April 1965

Both Encore releases have publishing by Shat-Shep Music BMI.

At this time I know nothing about the band.

The Shat-Shep Music credit shows up on at least a couple other singles of the period. One is Gail Da Corsi ‎– “I’ve Lost In Life” / “Touch Of Yesterday” on Dolton 314. The other is the Universals “I’m In Love” / “A Love Only You Can Give” on Shepherd SR 2200, a doo-wop style 45 from 1962.

Another Shepherd release, though without the Shat-Shep credit is Ritchie Marsh “They Say” (Pat Vegas, R. Marsh, pub. by Debutante Music) / “Darling I Swear That It’s True” on Shepherd SR-2203. Ritchie Marsh is better known as Sky Saxon.

The Shepherd label came out of Hollywood.

Thank you to Dan Peterson for the scan of the Angelus 45. If you have better scans of the second Encore single, please contact me.

Anyone have more info or a photo of the band?

The post The Xanadus appeared first on Garage Hangover.

Billy Sandlin came from Ocala, Florida, starting his recording career in 1959 with the tough-sounding “She’s Mean” b/w “Don’t Let Me Down”, released first on Vim Records then on Gala. From the start he showed an ability to sing a wide range of styles, from uptempo rock to melancholy ballads.

In 1961, Sandlin had a second single on Gala, “Teenager’s Dream” in a slow doo-wop style b/w the latin-ish “Cha Cha Bop”. Around 1962 he left for Germany, presumably for military service.

Next came a single on Viking Records, “You’ll Always Have Someone”, produced by Larry Montague and still very much in a teen style, released circa 1964, though I could use confirmation of that date.

In 1966 he found a tougher accompaniment by the Interns for the fine “Poor Rich Girl”, especially in the repetitive guitar line, and Sandlin’s voice really suits this hard r&b style. The b-side “Here Comes That Feeling” is very good downer garage. My copy is on Royale 1966.326, but others exist with the label name changed to Royala, which would match his next single.

Jack McGowan owned the Teen Time Club in Ocala, according to a short article in the Ocala Star-Banner from 1967, and I think Royala/Royale was his label. I believe he is the same Jack McGowan who produced the The Great Masquerade, also known as The AC/DC Caper, filmed in Miami in 1973.

Circa 1969, Billy Sandlin was the singer on two demo acetates recorded at National Guild Recording Studios as Sounds of Sandlin.

“Come on Up to My World” and “Dream Train Ride” are solid psychedelic numbers, while “Sunshine” is a quiet ballad in a folk or country-rock style, and “I Need You” has fuzz guitar but is more of a pop song. All four songs feature two vocalists singing each line of verse.

National Guild Studios were located in Orange City about an hour and a half east-southeast of Ocala. I’ve heard clips of both thanks to Jameson Sweiger, who took the photos of the acetates seen here and gave me some background on them.

The acetates came from Larry Montague, who produced Billy’s single on Viking.

Jameson wrote: “Larry had a full album from the sessions of these 45s that was to be released but shelved after his death and never released. Larry had the original reel to reels when I met him. Sandlin apparently was in movies or working on movies at the time of these 45s.”

Sandlin next joined with Barry Winslow of the Royal Guardsmen for a single on Mega, “Have You Seen a Rainbow Lately” / “Peace Time” that got a good mention in Billboard in November, 1971.

Billy Sandlin also recorded two songs I haven’t heard, “Turn Me On” / “Country In The City” that exist on a Capitol custom 8″ demo, I’m not sure of the year.

Tragically, Billy and his wife Melinda were killed when their car was hit by a drunk driver fleeing the police in Ocala in February, 1973.

Billy Sandlin discography:

Vim Records 1006 – Billy Sandlin – “She’s Mean” (Sandlin, pub. by ThreeWay BMI) / “Don’t Let Me Down” (1959)

Gala Records 45-110 – Billy Sandlin – “She’s Mean” / “Don’t Let Me Down” (1959)

Gala Records 45-115 – Billy Sandlin – “Teenager’s Dream”/ “Cha Cha Bop” (Sandlin) (1960)

Strike Records S-103/4 – Billy Sandlin with the Strangers and the Bluetones – “My Little Twisting Baby” (Sandlin) / Billy Sandlin and the Strangers – “My Little Star” (P4KM-5346), recorded in Germany with a group also known as the King-Beats, but issued in the U.S. circa 1963.

Viking Records 1001/2 – Billy Sandlin and the Embers – “You’ll Always Have Someone” / “I Kept on Walking” (Sandlin, pub. by Montague Music), produced by Larry E. Montague

Royale 1966.326 – Billy Sandlin with the Interns – “Poor Rich Girl” / “Here Comes That Feeling” (1966) prod. by Jack McGowan

Royala 1966.329 – Billy Sandlin with the Interns Orchestra – “I Kept On Walking” / “Sweet Loving” (sung by Ace Perryman), 1966

Mega 615-0044 – Winslow & Sandlin – “Have You Seen a Rainbow Lately” (Barry Winslow-Barry Sandlin) / same (1971)

Unreleased demos:

Sounds of Sandlin – “Come on Up to My World” / “Sunshine” (National Guild Recording Studios demo, late ’60s)
Sounds of Sandlin – “Dream Train Ride” / “I Need You Girl” (National Guild Recording Studios demo, late ’60s)
Billy Sandlin – “Turn Me On” / “Country In The City” (Capitol Custom 8″ acetate disc, date unknown)

Sources include That’s All Rite Mama

The post Billy Sandlin and the Interns appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Shanels came out of New Haven, Indiana, a town just east of Fort Wayne. The only band member’s name I can find is Marvin Larue, who wrote both songs on this single. “Why Did I” is a stomping Stones-influenced song with harmonica wailing throughout.

The band changes instruments for the ballad flip, “I Really Care For You” utilizing 12-string guitar and organ instead. Vocals are sung in unison for both songs.

West Haven Pub. Co published both songs through BMI, where I found M. Larue’s full name. Timothy Cox of 60s Indiana Band Szene wrote in a comment on Artyfacts in Wax that “every ‘West Haven’ publishing I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a few, is from Ft. Wayne Indiana. Surf Suns, Olivers, Chessmen, and Blues Inc, all shared this.”

From an online obituary, it seems that Marvin LaRue passed away on September 26, 2004 in Minnesota. In 1963 he graduated from New Haven High School and then attended Purdue University.

According to Teen Beat Mayhem, the record dates to February 1965. The number “SS-3886” indicates a pressing by Stereo Sound in Chicago.

The post The Shanels appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Del-Fis formed in Bethesda, Maryland in 1964. Members were:

Craig Brown – lead vocals
Steve Brust – lead guitar
Bob Swain – rhythm guitar
Budge Witherspoon – bass
Jim Callas – drums

Fifi Gorska penned an article on the band for the Teen section of the Washington Evening Star on Saturday, May 29, 1965. The article has some great quotes from Bob Swain: “they talked in Greek, but we played in rock” (when the band appeared on WPIK’s Greek show), and his description of singer Craig Brown making up new versions of nursery rhymes, “sentences like a barrage of multiple karate chops to the left pancreas, each one more devastating than its predecessor” [what’s the left pancreas, anyway?]

There’s also a list of their cars (Model A, Ford Mustang, 442 Olds and Chevy II) and mention of girls wearing the Del-Fis name on their “swamp” coats (long rain coats, a fashion fad in 1964).

At the time of the article, Craig Brown, Bob Swain, Jim Callas were students at Walter Johnson High School; Steve Brust and Budge Witherspoon attended North Bethesda Junior High School, all were between 14 and 16 years of age. Their manager was Toby Long, a fellow student at Walter Johnson.

In August of 1965, the band went into the studio to record two original songs for Lillian Claiborne’s DC Records. Craig H. Brown and Steven N. Brust copyrighted both songs in August, 1965. The great side is “Now It’s Time” with it’s chiming guitars, excellent rhythm section and perfect teen vocals.

The flip is “Without You”, a harmony ballad with a finely picked melody, a good one for the slow dance, I guess.

DC Records released this with two label colors: yellow and the pink/fuschia seen here. The article says they did away with the apostrophe in Del-Fi’s but there it is on the label.

I found the article at top 12 years ago while scanning through the microfilm of the New York Public Library, but hadn’t put it together with the band on the DC single until now. If anyone has a better quality photo please contact me.

The post The Del-Fi’s on DC Records appeared first on Garage Hangover.

Many bands tried their hand at “Louie Go Home”, an original by Paul Revere and Mark Lindsey released as Paul Revere & the Raiders’ second Columbia single, “Louie Go Home”, in early 1964.

Some of the best versions are the Mussies of South Haven, Michigan who cut it on Fenton, the Fugitives of San Antonio on Alamo Audio, and the Missing Lynx of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, who have it on the flip of “Hang Around” on United Sounds 100.

One of my very favorite versions is by the Chambermen, a sextet from West Valley High School in Spokane, Washington. Their version of “Midnight Hour” on the flip is good too. Members were:

Don Hines – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Lanny Beck – lead guitar
Jim Ryder – rhythm guitar and vocals
Steve Myers – keyboards
Pat Teague – bass
Jon Conant – drums

Steve Mauss (saxophone, vocals) may also have been a member at some point.

After winning a Battle of the Bands at the old Spokane Coliseum, the Chambermen had a chance to record, produced I assume by Larry Wacholtz of 4111 Willow in Spokane, whose name is on the label.

John Conant and Don Hines have since passed away. That’s all I can find on the band.

Does anyone have a photo of the group?

The post The Chambermen of Spokane appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Rogues recorded two singles on Regan Records circa 1968-1969. They seem to be from Michigan, and the “Capital City Music” publishing on the one original song they recorded may refer to Lansing, but other than that I have no clue.

Their first 45 has good versions of Bob Seger’s “Heavy Music” b/w” a cover of “Born in Chicago”, released on Regan R-0021 with IRM #1039.

The second single has an original song, “Something Called Humanity”, written by Jantz (or Jants) and Gaik (or Galk) – I don’t have a copy so I can only guess at the names on a poor photo online. Publishing by Capital City Music BMI, released on Regan R-0022, with IRM-1067. This was the flip to a version of “Summertime”.

If anyone has a scan or sound clip of “Something Called Humanity” please contact me.

Steve Donahue produced both singles, the second has a credit to Don Kemp for engineering. I can’t find their names in connection to any other releases, nor can I find any other releases on this Regan Records label.

This copy of “Heavy Music” came from the collection of David Martin, with special thanks to his family.

The post The Rogues on Regan appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Sound Track are another unknown group, probably from the area around Kingsport, Tennessee, more than four hours east of Nashville.

Their first single has two cover songs, including one of the best versions of the Music Explosion’s “I See the Light” (E. Chiprut) b/w “Groovin’”. It came out on Trail Records TSRC-1706 in November 1967. It’s a Rite pressing, #20781/2, account #400.

Trail Records came from Kingsport, TN, and had many other releases, mostly gospel. Early releases such as the Grim Reapers “Under My Thumb” / “See See Rider” (Trail TSRC-1702) have a diamond logo and list Tri-State Recording Co. and 1767 Fort Henry Drive. Some later releases such as the Downbeats “Pain” / “Got To Get You Into My Life” (Trail SRC-1736) have a rustic logo with pine trees and “Trail” spelled out in wood logs.

Over a year later the Sound Track put out their second single, this time featuring two band originals. “Face the New Day” has distorted guitar riffs repeating throughout, and solid backing of organ, bass and drums. It sounds almost like an English freakbeat track. Ron Allgood and Jerry Melton wrote the song, they were probably members of the band.

The flip “People Say” is also good, and the composer credits give six names, probably most of the band: Ron Allgood, Jerry Melton, T. Melton, Layton Bentley, Kim Dillard and B. Richmond. Copyright records give B. Richmond’s full name as Randy Richmond. The release came on Action 101, with the codes WS 1000 and PRP 7731/2.

The Sound Track went to Nashville to make their Action single. It was produced by Hoss Linneman and Al Gore, two country musicians with many recording credits to their names. Washington Square Music, BMI published both songs. This was a very rare single until 15 or more copies turned up in August, 2016.

Hear both songs at this Open Drive link while it lasts.

The post The Sound Track on Trail and Action appeared first on Garage Hangover.

Hamilton Productions, run by Bill Hamilton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, produced several garage singles with different label names including:

Sands of Time – ”Come Back Little Girl” / “When She Crys For Me”) Stearly 8167, August 1967)
Satyrs – “Yesterday’s Hero” (C. Morrill, G. Williams) / “Marie” (Spectrum 2668, released 1968, Haddonfield Heights, NJ)
Groop Therapy with Gary Dial “I’ve Got To Leave This World” (Gary J. Dilllio) / “Ronnie Ronnie” (Lisa 6865, June 1968, Ripley Park, PA)

For more on the Sands of Time, see the separate entry for the band.

Hamilton also put out a number of singles, mainly soul, on the Groovey Grooves label starting in 1968, including the Exceptions “The Look in Her Eyes” and Phillies player Rich Allen and the Ebonistics doing “Echoes of November”.

Groovey Grooves discography
any help with this would be appreciated

Groovey Grooves 160 – Rich Allen and the Ebonistics “Echoes of November” / “Fannari”
Groovey Grooves 161 – Exceptions “The Look in Her Eyes” / “Baby You Know I Need You” (Hynes, Walker, Ellis, Jones, arr. by Bob Lowden)
Groovey Grooves 162 – Collectors “Cruel World” / “I Still Love You” (March, 1969)
Groovey Grooves 163 – Isthmus of Sound “River” / “Sweet Love”
Groovey Grooves 164 – Stone Dawn “Agent Promise Blues” / “What You Think Is Right” (both by Penny Stubbs, Assoc. prod Bill Hoy)
Groovey Grooves 165 – ?
Groovey Grooves 166 – Norwood Long “I’d Like to Have You” / “She Belongs to Me”
Groovey Grooves 167 – Exceptions “The Shagg” / “Danny Boy”
Groovey Grooves 168 – Great Compromise “Let The Evening Roll On” / “He Was A Man”
Groovey Grooves 169 – Les Stewart, Jr. “One Woman Man” / “Mind Your Own Business”
Groovey Grooves 170 – Fairwinds “She & Me” (J. Swank, R. Smith) / “Height in Funland”

Groovey Grooves 176 – Fantastic Soul-Locks “Come On Home Girl” / “Funky Prance”

The Exceptions recorded at Impact Sound Recording Studio on Castor Ave in Philadelphia, while Stone Dawn recorded at Baker Sound in New Jersey.

Folsom Music, BMI published many of the original songs on Groovey Grooves.

Klemen Breznikar has an interview with one of the members of Stone Dawn at It’s Psychedelic Baby!. The piece doesn’t identify which member he interviewed but I believe it’s George Manney.

Thank you to Laurent, Max Waller and Mike Markesich for help with this post.

The post Bill Hamilton’s Groovey Grooves Records and Hamilton Productions appeared first on Garage Hangover.

Sunshine Reigns came from Crowley, Louisiana. Members were:

Burton Mader – lead vocals, guitar (?)
Kyle Jones – organ
Mark Miller – bass
Danny Foreman – drums

They cut a single in 1968 or 1969 on mbm PRODUCTIONS No. 1946. Keyboardist Kyle Jones wrote the languid A-side, “Laura (Is the Girl)”. The flip is Danny Foreman’s song “Acelia Dulfin”, a warning about a girl with a cool spoken introduction. Hear both songs on youtube:

A comment on Discogs gives the full names of the band, and that they won “the Crowley High talent contest in the late 60s.” Another mention of the band being from Arlington, Texas seems far-fetched, as Arlington is 400 miles away from Crowley.

Mike Miller, son of legendary studio owner J.D. Miller of Crowley ran MBM Productions, putting out these four singles around 1968-1971:

MBM Productions 1945 – Maximus and His Projectors – “A Thing Called Limericks (part 1)” / “Bang Bang Lou Lou” (labeled Not For Broadcast!)
MBM Productions 1946 – Sunshine Reigns – “Laura (Is the Girl)” / “Acelia Dulfin”
MBM Productions 1947 – 49th Blue Streak – “Fire” / “Foxy Lady”
Bulb Record Co. 101 – Sorce – “Tomorrow Won’t See Me” (G. Duhan) / “Courthouse Massacre” (a Division MBM Productions of Crowley Louisiana, MBM Music, BMI)

Mike Miller’s mbm Productions does not seem to be connected to an earlier MBM label that featured a Lafayette, Louisiana band called the Rogues.

The post Sunshine Reigns appeared first on Garage Hangover.

Don & the Holidays came from Orlando, Florida, cutting a single on Kam Records and backing other artists on the label. “Grasshopper Pizza” is fratty r&b with lyrics almost impossible to decipher, something about a “Beatle drive” and “grasshopper pizza is really alive”.

I like the flip, “It Won’t Be Long” with its gloomy sound and spare guitar breaks instead of sax. Both songs are originals credited to Don Adams. Kam Record Co. released it in July, 1966.

Bill Clifford posted the video of “Grasshopper Pizza”, above (under his actual name Bill Schwentner), with the names of the other Holidays members and some info:

Don Adams (vocal), Mark Farrel (Farfisa organ), Bill Stancliff (guitar), Bill Clifford (bass). [“Grasshopper Pizza”] was the only song of 13 recorded that day that was released on Kam Records.

I would like to hear the other 12 songs cut at that session! From the business card included with the video, the band seemed to go by the simple name, The Holidays, and also there was another member named Denny.

Interestingly, it appears from the RCA custom pressing codes that Kam Records issued the Don & the Holidays single at the same time as Kam 102 (Buddy Killen’s “I Oughta Be Home With Nell” / “Mister Blue”) and Kam 103, which featured Holidays’ keyboardist Mark Ferrell on his originals, “Go Go Girl” / “I’ll Never Forget You”.

I haven’t had the chance to hear the Mark Ferrell single yet.

Both songs from the Don & the Holidays single were rerecorded for Kam 111 with the artist name changed to Big Don Adams. These versions are supposed to be slicker than the original release, but I haven’t heard either.

Guitarist Bill Stancliff cut his own composition “Redline” with his Holidays band mates Mark Ferrell and Bill Clifford, along with Billy J. Killen, on November 1, 1965 at Wurtle Film Studios, Orlando. Unfortunately this fine instrumental went unreleased.

Some of the photos in the video above have the name Mark IV behind the band. From the credits, this seems to have been a different lineup featuring Bill Clifford and Bill Stancliff of the Holidays with John Oyler on tenor sax, C.E. Stubblefield on Wurlitzer piano, Roy Halpin on bass, and Clark Wormer on drums.

Kam Record Co. discography

– possibly incomplete, any help with this would be appreciated

Kam 101 – Billy J. Killen – “Truly Love You” / “Walkin’ Talkin’ (In My Sleep For You)” (both by Angel, Killen, Martin) S4KM-8406/7

Kam 102 – Billy J. Killen ‎- “I Oughta Be Home With Nell” (Otto P. Martin) / “Mister Blue” (Martin-Killen-Angel) T4KM-9776/7

Kam 103 – Mark Ferrell – “Go Go Girl” (Mark Ferrell) / “I’ll Never Forget You” (Mark Ferrell, Jerry Adams) T4KM-9778/9

Kam 104 – Don & the Holidays – “It Won’t Be Long” / “Grasshopper Pizza” (both by Don Adams) T4KM-9780/1

Kam 105 – Curt Fields – “Man, Woman And Love” / “Five Lonely Rooms” (both by Angel, Killen, Martin)

Kam 106 – Johnny Selph ‎– “My Gal’s Outta Her Tree Again” (Don Gore) / “Working On Your Future” (John Harris Selph)

Kam 111 – Big Don Adams – “It Won’t Be Long” / “Grasshopper Pizza” (different versions of Kam 104)

Many of these songs are copyrighted to Villard J. Killen, Otto Martin and Robert Paul Angel, whose name appears in producer role as Bob Angel in later singles on the Bion label of Orlando, including ones by Mark Ferrell and Johnny Selph. All Kam Records songs published by Ankilmar, BMI.

The post Don & the Holidays on Kam Records appeared first on Garage Hangover.

Birmingham, Alabama was the base of MBM Records, which started about 1961.

For more on the Rogues, see the separate post on that band.

This is not the same MBM as MBM Productions of Crowley, Louisiana, run by Mike Miller, the son of Jay Miller. Those releases I discuss in another post.

MBM Records discography

(probably incomplete – any help with this would be appreciated)

MBM 8019 – Ann Allen – “What Do You Want of Me” / “I Don’t Want Your Love” (with PS)

MBM 8020 – The Blondells – “Rocking My Blues Away” (Taylor, Starland Music BMI) / Mona Taylor and the Blondells – “No One Will Ever Know” CP-5501/2, Rite pressing from 1961.

MBM-2001 – Jimmy Ferguson with the Flares Band and the Tom Boys (vocalists) – “The Ballad of Tom Sawyer” / “Cupid” (both by Ferguson – Ferguson, Double “M” Pub. Co. BMI) SoN 9521/2

MBM-2002 – The Rouges – “Put You Down” (Kendrick & Gainer) / “Stormy Monday” SoN 29801

The Ann Allen sleeve has “MBM Records, Miami-Los Angeles” on the PS, and a managerial address:

Birmingham Artist Playhouse Agency
5017 Avenue “N”, West
Birmingham 8, Alabama

Birmginham’s Reed label usually published through Double “M” Music, but had a handful of later releases in 1961 that instead used Starland Music (and a different logo typeface):

RR 1061 – Larry & the Loafers “Panama City Blues” / “Till the End”
RR 1063 – Webb Robbins And The Jackets “Take This Ring” / “Why Was I Blue”
RR 1064 – Mason Dixon – “Queen Of My Heartaches” / “Hello Memphis”

Thank you to Tapio Väisänen and Niculò Conrad for their help with this discography.

The post MBM Records discography appeared first on Garage Hangover.

“Put You Down” was written by lead guitarist Max Kendrick and vocalist Rich Gainer. The Rogues recorded the 45 in February of 1966, for MBM Records, a Birmingham, Alabama label that goes back to the early ’60s.

For years this group was assumed to be the same as the Rogues and the Dry Grins of Lafayette, Louisiana, but I’ve heard from Rich Gainer through his daughter, Dorian, who sent in the photo above, showing the group playing live on WSFA TV in Montgomery.

Rich Gainer provides this history of the band:

The Rogues were founded in mid-1965 as a result of my being stationed at Maxwell USAF Base in Montgomery, Alabama, and meeting Bill Myers (rhythm guitar and vocals), Larry Taylor (Hofner bass), and Casey Bolt (drums), officers’ kids whose Dads had recently been reassigned there from Germany. These teens had been playing music in a band in Germany at the time the Beatles were popular and playing there, and had picked up on the style of British Invasion groups. From the time we first met and practiced together a little bit, we were getting bookings at area military and off-base clubs, and were playing gigs several times a week.

Early-on, we were introduced to Max Kendrick who would become our excellent lead guitar player, sporting his Fender Jazzmaster and Rickenbacker 12 string. Max’s Dad was the Colonel in charge of AU TV on base, and we were among the first groups to pioneer videos. Keyboards came later in the form of Max’s cousin Frank, for whom we purchased a Vox Continental organ. Through the time the Rogues were together 1965-1969, we also had the services of Joe Tucker at lead guitar and Dan Fucci who very quickly learned to play the drums in order to become our drummer.

Max and I wrote the song “Put You Down”, which we recorded for the MBM label in a Muscle Shoals, Alabama studio in 1966. Colonel Taylor, our bass player’s Dad, made the recording deal with the studio in Muscle Shoals (think it was FAME) which included the label deal with MBM. The song actually topped the charts on WBAM in Montgomery, AL for a few weeks which gave us introductions to the British Invasion groups coming through Montgomery for the Big BAM shows held at the Coliseum for many years, like The Who, The Hollies, The Blues Magoos, The Kinks, and many more including American groups like The Beach Boys, The Beau Brummels, The Turtles, and so on. Best bands we met and heard in person – The Byrds – magical and electric, and The Beach Boys – amazing sound.

We were scheduled to open for Paul Revere and the Raiders at the first WHHY Show at The Coliseum, but they wheeled out their Vox Super Beatle Amps and bulldozed our equipment off the stage some 10-12 foot drop.

We started playing teen clubs in rural Alabama, Georgia, and North Florida, and hired R. L. and Granny Davis, owners of The Opp Teen Club as booking agents for a couple of years. We were in that scene at the same time as The Rockin’ Gibraltars, The K-Otics, The James Gang, and The Candymen to name a few.

In 1968, when my Air Force time was up, the group split up. Larry and Dan became B52 pilots like their Dads, and Bill took over his Dad’s real estate business in Montgomery. Lost track of Casey and Max and the others, but would like to reconnect if it were possible. I went on to write more songs and record in Nashville for a few years with limited success through the 1990’s. Hank Tubb was my alias when I did comedy along with music. See http://reverbnation/hicksintrucks

Q. How many records pressed up? It’s very rare nowadays.

Probably a 1000 copies pressed. I used to have a few dozen but don’t know what happened to them over the years.

Q. Did the band play “Put You Down” at live shows?

Yes, played “Put You Down” everywhere, especially when it was on WBAM charts.

Q. Did the Rogues make any unreleased recordings?

We made lots of video recordings at AU TV, but on proprietary equipment and no longer available. No other audio recordings.

– Rich Gainer

The post The Rogues “Put You Down” appeared first on Garage Hangover.

Tyler Tincknell (TT) – Interviewer

Eric Olson (EO) – Participant, lead vocalist and songwriter for the Next Five.

TT: How did you first get involved in music? Was the Next Five your first band?

TT: Garage bands began popping up all over the country in the mid-1960s for various reasons. What motivated you to be a part of the Next Five?

EO: My motivation to join the 4 piece band Steve already had was we were on the same page as to what we wanted to do, there was absolutely no question in my mind that this was the band I was looking for and they felt the same way about me joining them. Of coarse I had to wrestle our drummer (Tom “Ashbolt” Stewart) out in Steve’s back yard to prove my worthiness. We were an extremely tight group of guy’s back in the early day’s, not just musically but we were all close friends instantly. I spent the summer of ’66 practically living at Steve’s in Brookfield because I was from the south side of Milwaukee and that was a little distance away. I’ve always believed because we were so young we developed and grew together as one, and that was the magic of the “Next Five”.

TT: Wisconsin is not the first state people looked to as a “hot-bed” for garage music, but it actually produced some noteworthy groups like the Blues Boys, the Delcords, and, of course, the Next Five. What was the music scene like and did any local bands influence the Next Five’s style?

EO: There were a lot of bands locally just on the south side of Milwaukee alone, before I was even in a band I saw the “Savoy’s”, “El Demerons”, “Road Runners” and the “Legends” who I never met or saw but they had an album out called “Run To The Movies” with songs like “Lariat” and “Say Mama”, they were the generation before me and pre- Beatles and had a big influence on me. The first live act I ever saw was not a rock band, it was Concertina Millie at Mitchell Park in the very early 60’s, the energy level of that act blew me away, I was probably 11 years old at the time. When I joined the “Next Five” the influences had changed due to the British invasion.

TT: Speaking of the British Invasion, which band would you say was the Next Five’s main influence?

EO: I don’t think there was any one British band that influenced us, everyone in the band had their own personal influences, we were always trying to stay current and looked for songs that fit the band and had lots of vocals. Everybody was influenced by the Stone’s and Beatles, but we would only do one song by any given artist at a time. In those day’s we only did two 45 minute shows at every gig, 12 songs a set, 24 songs a night, always new songs coming in and old songs going out, most songs would last a month or maybe two. There were some songs that were album cuts and we could hang on to those a little longer. The DJ’S at WOKY and WRIT would give us a heads up on what was coming out so we could get a jump on the new stuff.

TT: What type of venues did the band perform at? What were some of the songs that would usually be featured?

EO: We played at high schools, proms, post proms, regular dances, colleges, teen centers, fairs and festivals, radio station events and a lot of CYO dances. Our manager Con Merten kept us booked solidly for three years straight. I remember going to children’s hospitals during Christmas to sing Christmas songs to kids. We did tv shows in Milwaukee, Chicago, Ohio. We did concerts with groups like the Rascals, Herman’s Hermits, shows with groups like Tommy James and the Shondells, the Royal Guardsmen, American Breed, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Moby Grape and many shows with Chicago bands like the New Colony Six, Shadows of Night and the Cryin’ Shames. In 1968 the first Milwaukee Summerfest was born and was produced by our manager (Con Merten) and Dee Robb from Wisconsin’s most successful rock band The Robbs, who Con also managed, that was a very memorable event. We would always do our own songs of coarse, but throughout the years we did songs like “Conquistador” Procol Harum, “Kids Are Alright” Who, “Hey Grandma” Moby Grape, “Rock and Roll Woman” Buffalo Springfield, “Black is Black” Los Bravos, “Saint Stephen” Grateful Dead, “Dear Mr. Fantasy” Kooper- Bloomfield and all the current hits at the time by groups like The Rascals, Hollies, Bee Gees, and even more poppy stuff by The Turtles and Lovin Spoonful.

TT: Talking with different artists, I find some tend to believe their greatest strength was found in their live performances. Would you say that was true about your band?

EO: Recording was always fun, but on live gigs you had an audience that fed you with energy. Kids would be jammed up in front of the stage and would rock out with the band and there is nothing that could compare to that. Doing TV shows was a sterile and technical environment where people just made sure your hair was in place, but by the end of a live gig your hair would be soaking wet and the sweat would be dripping down your face and you would be hyped up with adrenaline. I would have to agree with the other artists that there is nothing like live performances.

TT: I take it from the band’s discography, you were the main songwriter. What went into your composing process and was it a relatively easy task?

TT: I noticed all of your songs were featured on the B-side. Was there a reason for this or was it a coincidence?

TT: How would you describe the Next Five’s sound? How would you say the group’s sound matured over time?

EO: Like most teenage bands back then we did cover material in the beginning, and we did that better than most bands because that’s what got us off the ground and got our manager (Con Merten) and our producer (Paul Christy) interested in us. We not only developed musically but also our presentation matured very quickly because of constant live performances. But for me anyway, the essence of the “Next Five” came out on the recording of “Talk To Me Girl”, that was the real us, un-scrutinized, spontaneous, and no input from outside sources.

TT: I noticed you shared the bill with some very successful acts. What was your most memorable gig?

EO: I would have to say that very early on everyone in the band liked the Rascals, their still one of my favorite 60’s groups. So when Con Merten (our manager) informed us we would be opening up for them at the Milwaukee Auditorium along with the Robb’s who were also managed by Con, that was a big step forward for us. I can remember standing just feet away from drummer Dino Danelli while he was doing the show, the guy was incredible, the whole band was incredible. That has always stuck in my mind as one of the most memorable gigs we did with a major act.

TT: Although you hinted at it, could you elaborate further on how the Next Five secured a record deal?

EO: Our first record deal was with Destination USA Records out of Chicago, that was for “Little Black Egg” and “He Stole My Love”. They always wanted to meet someone in the band to make sure there was a band and not just a recording. I remember driving to Chicago with Paul Christy to have lunch with Bobby Monaco who worked with a lot of Chicago bands at that time and later discovered Rufus with Chaka Khan. Ironically, ten years later in the late 70’s I ran into him at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood where he was the guest speaker at the song writers showcase I was attending, we spoke for a few minutes and I never saw him after that. Just before we signed our second deal with Wand Records out of New York for “Mama Said” and “Talk To Me Girl” they send a representative to Milwaukee to meet the whole band, unfortunately I cannot remember his name. We went downtown to a hotel where he was staying and actually had to sing for him in his room. We just brought a guitar and did the vocals for “Mama Said”, afterword he was convinced we were a band and we got the deal. Our third record deal was with Jubilee Records also out of New York for “Sunny Sunny Feeling” and “What’s That Melody” [released as by the Toy Factory], the representative was Steve Wax who was the national promotion rep. for Jubilee. We never did meet with him because he already knew we were an established band. However, I did talk to him many times on the phone regarding release date and distribution. As far as making the deals, the band never had much input, Paul took care of all the deal making that went on with all three of the record company’s we were signed to. Paul always seemed to do one shot deals in case one of the songs were to really take off, then he would be able to make a new and better deal. Back then all this information was hush, hush, we weren’t suppose to talk about any of this stuff, being all this happened a half century ago I think it’s ok now to discuss it.

TT: Were the band’s vocal harmonies well-rehearsed? I was intrigued with how well they flow with the lead vocals on “Little Black Egg”.

EO: Most of the time we would just have a guitar or use the organ and sing at rehearsals, it went without saying that everyone would know their musical parts. We were a vocal band on most of the material, some of the songs had maybe just a few other vocal parts, but if the vocals were tight the band was tight. After awhile, everyone seemed to know what part they would be singing.

TT: The Wand single sounds much more classical than most garage bands of the day. Did the Left Banke influence the band at all or was “Talk to Me Girl” a part of the Next Five’s own experimentation?

EO: The Left Banke was an excellent band, great harmonies, but we weren’t thinking of any other bands when we recorded “Talk To Me Girl”. Basically we weren’t thinking much of anything other than getting the song recorded in that 45 minutes left in the session. But again, that was the magic of that song, no time to think, just do. Spontaneity was the trick, I learned whatever you come up with first, it’s usually the best thing. Since then, I’ve found that you can try to keep finding different parts for a song and you end up going back to your first thought.

TT: You mentioned “Talk to Me Girl” is the best representation of the group’s sound. Where you guys given more studio freedom, and, if so, why was this the case?

EO: Back in the 60’s most producers didn’t really care what went on the B-side, the money was on the A-side. Being every Vinyl 45 had to have a B-side, most bands were just asked to put something together. Even on vinyl albums where there were usually 12 songs there was a lot of filler stuff, one or two songs would get featured and the rest barely got noticed. There were some exceptions to that rule on singles and albums, but not many. The B-sides were a place the bands could express themselves without much scrutiny from the record company or the producer, the only thing you needed to watch out for is that it was socially acceptable and none offensive.

TT: For all three singles, the Next Five also had three different record labels. Did this affect the group in any way or was that just a part of the business to you?

EO: All the record deals were pretty much just part of the business for us, we left everything up to Paul Christy and we trusted his decisions. Of coarse every band wanted to be signed to a major national label but that didn’t always happen. We were happy to be signed with Destination USA records out of Chicago for our first deal, it was a strong regional label that kick started many bands from the Midwest. From that, Paul was able to put together deals with Wand and Jubilee Records out of New York where at that time the music industry was centered.

TT: Did the records sell well? Which single was the most commercially successful?

EO: We were getting a good amount of airplay in Milwaukee from WOKY and WRIT and knew we were also getting it from smaller stations around the Midwest, and we found them on Jukeboxes. I don’t know exactly how many records were sold, we were never given that information. I did get royalties for writing the B-sides very early on, however I never received any for the “Mindrocker or the Pebbles albums. I would have to say “Mama Said” was our most successful record at the time. but it was the compilation albums that introduced “Talk To Me Girl” and “He Stole My Love” back in the 80’s.

EO: Yes, I have 3 acetates of 2 songs I wrote and our version of “Not Fade Away” . I haven’t heard those for a number of years now but I remember the quality was pretty bad, it was almost 50 years ago those acetates were made.

TT: Did the band have a chance to perform while in New York or in any other state for that matter?

EO: The whole band went down to Virginia to play some gigs because Paul our producer had moved down there, while Con our manager decided to move to New York to open an office with Denny Randell who was a song writer, producer and had co-written some of the early Four Seasons hits. I went to New York in Jan. ’69 to meet with them, the bottom line was the band would have to move to New York. While contemplating weather to relocate or not, Con and Denny had a falling out and Con moved to Los Angeles.

TT: Is it possible that the unreleased songs will be avaliable either online or on a compilation album?

EO: Probably not, the quality of those acetates are pretty bad and there’s not much that could be done to make them any better. Having said that, I just realized I was never in possession of the 8 track master tapes that were left at these studio’s, and neither was Paul Christy. I remember sometime in ’68 Paul Christy called us and asked if we would go to Chicago and record at a new studio that just went 8 track and they needed a band to get the bugs out of their new system, I didn’t have anything new written so we decided to record our version of “Not Fade Away” a song written by Buddy Holly. All I can remember is a guy named Cody who was the engineer and we talked on the phone and set up the time for the session. Ok, I just googled Stereo-Sonic Recording Corp. Cody and found out his name was Ed Cody, and there were some things about him. Numero Group profile – tribunedigital-chicagotribune If the 8 track master of “Not Fade Away” still exists it would now be with the Numero Group according to this 2 page article from the Chicago Tribune 2013, or in a storage locker. Apparently Cody kept acetates and master tapes of his sessions at Stereo-Sonic, ours would have been one of the first on their new 8 track machine. Wow, I never knew any of this or even thought of trying to find out until you asked me. I can’t remember where we recorded the other 2 songs I wrote “People” and “Sunday Dreamin” which are on the other acetate that has no label, I do know it was in Jan. or Feb. of ’69 and also done in Chicago. Earlier this year I talked to a record collector in Milw. who say’s he has an identical acetate of “People” and “Sunday Dreamin” which baffles me because I can remember there was only one made the day of our session. If either of those 8 track masters could be retrieved, then they could be digitized and made to sound like they could never have sounded back then.

TT: So was the falling out what lead to the Next Five’s disbandment? Did the band try to go on without them?

EO: Well the band lasted for 3+ years which was actually a pretty good amount of time for young teenage bands of the time. About half way through that time our drummer Tom Stewart left the band due to reasons I don’t remember, other then some misunderstandings with one or two of the other guy’s. Tom played the drums on “Little Black Egg” “He Stole My Love” “Mama Said” and “Talk To Me Girl”. That was when John Kruck joined for the duration of the band. John Played drums on “Sunny Sunny Feeling” “Whats That Melody” and all the songs on the acetates. Come the spring of ’69, Con our manager was settled in New York, Paul our producer was in Virginia and Steve Thomas our guitar player was heavily into med school. Gordy Wayne Olski the bass player and I were trying to keep the whole thing together while waiting for the release of “Sunny Sunny Feeling”. We held onto the bands farm house as long as we could but the money started to disappear. I can remember calling Steve Wax at Jubilee Records practically every day. When the record was finally released we found there was very little distribution and the radio stations only played it for a short time. Gordy and I jumped into another band and went to Charleston South Carolina to play at the Army Navy Club where we were introduced to playing 6 nights a week and 6 sets a night. After 3 weeks or so I left that band, jumped on an airplane and went back to Milwaukee where the realization of the demise of the Next Five became a reality.

TT: Do you feel the band accomplished everything it could and just ran its course or was there unfinished business? As a follow-up to that, was a studio album a possibility for the group?

EO: I think anybody in any band always feels that there was unfinished business in the end. Most bands didn’t get the opportunity of having someone like Con Merten for a manager and Paul Christy as a producer to guide them in the right direction. And yes, we kept bugging Paul about doing an album and he kept bugging us to keep writing.

TT: What did the other band members do after the Next Five that you know of? Do you keep in contact with any of them?

EO: After the band broke up Steve Thomas (guitar) went on to Med school and retired a few years ago, he now travels around the world, mostly to Caribbean and resides in Texas when he’s back in the states. I’ve had emails with him periodically just to reminisce about the old day’s and to catch up on what we’ve been up to. Gordy Wayne Olski (bass) went on to play in numerous bands and is still playing and resides in Wisconsin. I last talked to him a few years ago. Tom “Ashbolt” Stewart “1st drummer” also went on playing in different bands and he too is still playing and resides in Oregon. I have communication with him on Facebook. John Kruck (2nd drummer) went on to be a psychologist and is retired and living in Wisconsin. I talked to him a few years back.

The roster would not be complete without our road manager Randy “Spider” Schneider, who was as much a part of the band as the members. He drove the truck, hauled the Hammond organ and those Eros amps and set up all the gear to precision, not to mention the fact he was our protector. He is doing well and living in Wisconsin. I’ve been living in Los Angeles since 1977, I moved out here to go to work for the Robb’s at Cherokee Recording Studio’s in Hollywood where Con Merten was the General Manager. I’ve been playing with bands since I left Cherokee in 1980, and still playing now with a great bunch of guy’s around L.A.

TT: I have a copy of the Springdale ’73 album. Could you provide some background on the project and how it was released years later?

EO: Springdale was the name of the apartment complex in Waukesha Wisconsin where I was living back in 1973, and for no reason other then place and time I named that project “Springdale’73”. There was a time, 1972 when there was no such thing as affordable home recording. Springdale ’73 is an example of early affordable home recording using the newest technology of the time, the Teac 3340s and the SR-55 drum machine. For example, the Beatles recorded Sgt. Peppers on a Studer 4 track 1 inch tape machine, nearly the price of a house at the time. The Teac 3340s was a 4 track quarter inch tape machine, perhaps the price of a good used car. Every teenage band in the 60’s knew how hard it was to get a song recorded. You needed an established band, a producer, a manager, a recording studio and engineer, a good song, and lots of money, just to get 7 or 8 parts recorded together into a song. There was an actual turning point from the 60’s to now, and that was in 1973 when the Teac 3340S entered the commercial market. At an affordable price, the Teac gave you the same multi-track capabilities as those four track studios of the 60’s. Another new technology of the time was the Univox SR55 drum machine. Together, the Teac and drum machine started the home recording revolution – the complete self containment for songwriters of which is the norm today. In a nutshell, “Springdale ’73” isn’t about the songs anymore as much as it’s about one of the earliest (maybe the earliest) example of home recording using the Teac 3340s to it’s fullest extent.

TT: From what I read, you recorded 30 songs during this time. Will there a “Volume 2” to Springdale in the future?

EO: There were actually more like 40 songs that were recorded in a very short period of time back in ’73 and into ’74 using the electric drummer, but there isn’t any reason to release any more of those dated songs because it’s more about the technology and the technique of early home recording. At the time it was about making demo’s, now it’s simply about the tech part. I stopped using the electric drummer sometime in ’75 but used the Teac well into the 90’s. In 1980 I started writing for my band that was new wave. I set up a drum set in my house and I played drums on my recordings. Recently my publisher released 12 songs of mine on YouTube, one of those songs was from my 1980 recordings where it’s just drums, guitar and vocals, that was the way I would present the feel of the songs to the band.

TT: Do you recall any bands you recorded?

EO: I recorded at Cherokee with my band in 1980, I was never a studio musician there, most of their clients were the heavy’s, Rod Stewart, Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand, Journey, Tom Petty, Cars, with producers like George Martin, Tom Dowd, and Roy Thomas Baker. I did do some 2nd engineering and worked in different capacities on sessions with War, Rod Stewart, Bill Quateman and others. My favorite was doing a 3 day session with the Beach Boys and their wives who were putting vocals on old Beach Boy reject songs just for the fun of it. It was like a family party they were having and they were all there including their kids, Mike Love was the only one who wasn’t there. When I started working at Cherokee they were in the middle of building studio 2 so I helped with that and then a remodel of studio 3. I can only think of 2 times I actually recorded with a client and that was clapping with Burton Cummings (Guess Who) on one of his songs and singing some back up thing with Livingston Taylor, James Taylor’s brother.

TT: When did you first notice the Next Five’s songs were being featured on compilation albums as notable as Pebbles and Mindrocker? Where you surprised the group was receiving that much coverage?

EO: I was living in Burbank in ’81 when a friend called and said another mutual friend in Chicago had just bought an album called Pebbles Vol 10 and “Talk To Me Girl” was first cut side A. I had another friend that was coming over to my house that day and I asked him if he could stop at Tower Records on Sunset to see if it was being sold there, well it was and he bought 2 of the albums and kept one, I still have the other one. That told me it was probably being sold in New York as well, I had no idea it was being sold all over the world. I didn’t know about the Mindrocker album with “He Stole My Love” on it for years, and I didn’t know the scope of the whole thing until the internet. In the last few years I found 5 of our recordings on 11 different comp albums, some legal and some bootlegged. Yes, it was a surprise. I did think we were long forgotten.

TT: Has anyone ever approached you with releasing a retrospective album that would compile all the Next Five’s recordings?

EO: No I haven’t heard from any record company about doing that, sounds like fun though. A lot of people don’t know this but you have to bake the tapes first or dehydrate them. I think I baked the Springdale ’73 tapes at 135 degrees for about or 4 hours. There are different ways of doing it and it takes the stickiness out of the old tape.

Closing statement by Eric Olson:

Tyler, on behalf of the Next Five and everyone affiliated with it, I would like to thank you, your magazine and your readers for taking interest in our experiences of 50 years ago, it was truly a magical time for us. We all went on to play in many other successful bands throughout the years and most of us are still at it today, but there was nothing like being a teenager in the 60’s and having those experiences. As of today, which is 8/12/16, I’m enjoying playing in a band for the last 2 years in Los Angeles with people who have had similar experiences, W. Michael Lewis on keyboards has been with groups such as Spirit, Mark Lindsay, Quicksilver Messenger Service and was on the Disco charts for 4 years, Terry Rangno on bass who had been a child actor and has been with the We Five for over 43 years, Glenn Stacey on sax and Tim Shea on drums, both have been pro musicians in Los Angeles for decades. We have a lot of fun taking long breaks at rehearsals and sitting around telling stories of days gone by.

Eric Robert Olson

The post Interview with Eric Olson of the Next Five appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Intruders have the very first release on the Rofran label from Urbana, Illinois. Both sides are very good guitar instrumentals, originals composed by R.S. Little. “Deception” is particularly sharp.

I don’t know of any other releases by the Intruders, and the R.S. Little name does not appear on additional Rofran 45s that I’ve seen, so this may be their only recording.

The codes on the labels, S-4272 and S-4273 indicates Sheldon in Chicago did the pressing – anyone have a way to date those Sheldon numbers?

Intruders – Deception
Intruders – Intrudin’

The post The Intruders on Rofran appeared first on Garage Hangover.

The Classics came from Paintsville, Kentucky, a town about 110 miles east of Lexington, KY. Members included:

Richard Titlow – lead vocals and guitar
Bill (Fats) Garland – organ
Bill Osborne – lead guitar
Pat Donohue – bass
Frank Hughes – drums

The Classics played at the Teen Town in Paintsville, where two of the photos here were taken. Tim Warren writes “Other local combos included The Midnighters, The Shadows of Infinity, Johnny Reb & the Rebels, XLs, the Chessmen, the Crabs, the Invaders (from Prestonburg), the Mag Seven (from Lexington) and the Saxons (from Pikesville) who released one 45, “She’s All Wrong” / “I’ll Go Wandering” on REM.”

With no local studios to record in, the band started looking farther afield. When the Classics traveled to Louisville to be in Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars, Bill Garland’s father set up a deal to pay for them to record in Indiana for the Amway label.

John wrote to me:

I remember Richard telling me that the 45 was recorded in someone’s house and that they all were in different rooms but it was a live take. He said the guy that was going to record them asked about the b side and they quickly had to throw an original song together.

Drummer Frank Hughes wrote the A-side “Trisha” for his girlfriend, with help from Billy Garland, Richard Titlow and Bill Osborne. It features a partly spoken vocal aswirl in the echoing organ. The flip is what makes the single legendary now, the intense “I’m Hurtin’” written by Garland, Titlow and Donahue. Playridge Music published both songs, the codes 825M-4956, T4KM-4956, indicate a custom RCA pressing from the first half of 1966.

Crypt Records included “I’m Hurtin’” on Back From the Grave vol. 9.

It’s likely the draft broke the group up. John writes that the four members he knows are all still alive and well.

Special thanks to John Chaney, a guitarist who sat in with most of the band’s members at annual reunions at the area’s country club, for the photos and some of the info. More of the info comes from Tim Warren’s notes to Back from the Grave volume 9 – but you’ll have to read Tim’s notes for the raucous stories.

The post The Classics “I’m Hurtin'” on Amway appeared first on Garage Hangover.