The Fownds came from Hudson, New York, a town I lived in for a year. They had two singles, first the thumping rocker “Comin On Strong” b/w the doo-wop influenced “Rosalin” in 1971, and then the moody “Remember” b/w a hot rod parody “Wheels” (with the band name changed to the Founds). Both singles have a sound like something from the early-mid ’60s despite the release dates.

Donald Moore wrote most of the songs and did some lead vocals. Sal Gambino wrote “Rosalin”, and Roy Jackson sang lead on the moody “Remember”.

Both singles are on the Reeb label (“beer” spelled backwards), but even though the numbering suggests other releases, I haven’t found any others on this label.

The Fownds – Comin On Strong
The Fownds – Rosalin

The Founds, vocal by Roy Jackson – Remember
The Fownds, vocal by Donald Moore – Wheels

Don Moore had a later band called Confusion, I believe he passed away in 2013.

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Here is a previously unpublished history of Mechanical Switch written by lead vocalist and song writer Bart Baca in 1994. Thank you to Bart and to Massimo Di Gianfrancesco for bringing this history to light.

First time I heard the monster Texas garage psych two-syder 45 by Mechanical Switch was in the late ’80s when I bought a copy of Eva Records’ Texas Psychedelia. A few years after in the early 90’s. I bought an original copy with the picture sleeve from an U.S. dealer; I was so happy considering the scarcity of the 45 and for such awesome punkadelic single. At the time we did a small ‘zine called Never Existed, so for the second issue (that never came out), I sent a xerox copy of the pic sleeve to my friends Matteo Bocci and G. Del Buono to try contact the band by phone ’cause they had easier access to call the states. The band was shocked that somebody from Italy in the ’90s were looking for them and liked them so much; they happily sent us the pics and story you find here, enjoy!

Massimo Di Gianfrancesco

Mechanical Switch started in a garage in the small Texas farming town of El Campo. It was 1966, a wild period in U.S.A. history. Sixties music was rocking in Texas. Our group met at high school and began practicing, playing music by the Yardbirds, Stones, Animals, English groups.

The Mechanical Switch core band was Alan Meek, lead guitar; Leroy Shelton, rhythm and bass guitar; Benny Dusek, drums; and me, Bart Baca, vocals and tambourine. Mark Wenglar, organ and several other bass players joined later.

We started playing school gigs and local clubs in 1967. Rednecks and cowboys hated us and our hair and music. Always wanted to fight us. We tried to play in the high school talent contest but the principal read the words to the song we picked (“Satisfaction” by the Stones) and he stopped us. Just driving around town could be dangerous.

The late 60s brought psychedelic music and a dropout-anti-war, turned-on counterculture. We had played some pretty good shows in the Houston area where girls would mob us and start to rip off our clothes. We wore paisley and metallic Nehru jackets and “Beatle boots”. We did songs by psychedelic bands like Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Fever Tree, Iron Butterfly, Spirit and the Doors, and traditional English rock.

We also wrote a number of songs and recorded two in 1969. We recorded in Robin Hood Bryan’s studio in Tyler Texas where other psychedelic groups had recorded. We recorded all night. Our 45 rpm record had a drug-love song “Everything is Red” on the “A” side and “Spongeman” on the “B” side. “Spongeman”, about a flaky guy who lived by soaking up his girl’s love, was a hit and all copies of our record sold, except for a few we kept.

Vietnam was big. The war was always reaching for us, trying to get us into it. We saw friends dying for nothing or skipping off to Canada and blowing off their life. We recorded psychedelic songs and sent them to soldiers in Nam since they did not have live rock to listen to. Some songs were so radical people would not send them to the soldiers. Rednecks and cowboys were worse than ever. They were also our parents. Marching or even talking against the war was risky. Keeping long hair was hell. Mine was curly so I had to use heavy grease or go to a black lady who knew how to iron it straight.

The draft lottery and college deferments kept some out of war, but many went. Anyway, the band broke up during these times (1970). Leroy joined the service, went to Korea, returned to the U.S., and died in a mine cave-in. Benny joined the service and went to Germany. He is now in the Texas oil business. Alan and I went to college. Alan is a farmer in El Campo, still playing a little guitar. I am in environmental work in Florida. Watching for a rebirth of the rebel rock music of the late 60s. Saw it happen again with punk, and grunge. Kind of repeats itself when we need it.

Bart Baca
11-15-94

We recommend On the Road South for more info and photos of Mechanical Switch.

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The Tangle recorded the very cool single “Any Time, Any Where” / “Our Side of Town” for Canary Records of Nashville, Tennessee in October 1966.

Alvin Holland and Nyman Furr came from Camden, Tennessee, about 50 miles west of Nashville, so that was possibly the base for the group.

Members included:

Alvin Holland – guitar and lead vocals (?)
Ronnie Waters – guitar
Nyman Furr – bass
(?) Hayes – drums

“Any Time, Any Where” has great riffing guitars and a relaxed Stones-like feel to the vocals and band.

When I can make out the lyrics to “Our Side of Town” they’re wild: something about munching her box…lunch.

According to the labels, Halland, Furr, Hayes, Waters wrote both songs. C.L. Womack produced the single and also published both songs through C.L. Womack Pub. Co. BMI but I can find no copyright listing in the Library of Congress indexes.

Halland is a typo for Holland and a site for the Tennessee River Crooks band featuring Ronnie Waters on guitar listed the members of the Tangle as Alvin Holland, Ronnie Waters and Nyman Furr.

Holland, Waters and Furr later played in versions of Maggie Lee & the Percussions.

Nyman Furr passed away on March 10, 2007, according to Wikipedia.

Thank you to Max Waller and Mario Aguayo for their help with finding info on this band.

Canary Records had at least seven releases, most seem to be country music. J.C. Rhoton, Jr. shows up a lot on the labels, possibly he owned the label. Howard Rhoton may be his son, his “I’ll Skip School” on Canary was advertised in Billboard on April 25, 1964.

Gower-Moore Studio seems to be connected to the Gower guitar makers in Nashville.

Canary had two Nashville addresses on its labels, 2906 Ironwood Drive and 2911 Harlin Drive.

Canary Records discography (any help with this would be appreciated)

Canary 1002 – Rhodes Boys – “Pretty Little Miss” (V. Rhodes, B. Rhodes, V. Rhodes) / “Got A One Way Ticket”, prod. by Curtis McPeake, Gower-Moore Studio Production.

Canary 1008 – Howard Rhoton – “Look Back” / “I’ll Skip School” (H. Rhoton, J. Rhoton), Gower-Moore Studio Production.

Canary 1010 – Bob Hayes – “Johnny Reb Was a Fighting Man” / “1862” (both by B. Hayes, C.L. Womack for Ironwood Music)

Canary 1012 – The Tangle – “Any Time, Any Where” / “Our Side of Town”

Canary 2001 – Barbara Dale – “Winner Take All” (Joe South) / “There Stands My World”, produced by J.C. Rhoton, Jr.

Canary 2002 – Charlie Rife & the Chordsmen – “Are You Sure” (C. Rife) / “Here’s the Key”, prod by J.C. Rhoton, Jr, for J.C. Rhoton Music BMI

Canary 2003 – Barbara Dale – “Missing You Again” (Baker Knight) / “Greatest Show on Earth” (Mike Cain)

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This single by Arboreal was a mystery to me, the only names on the label are Glen, Greg Allen, and no label name or address. Even the deadwax only repeats the 45-ST-101 A/B on the labels. When I first wrote this post in late October, 2016, there was no info on the ‘net, nothing.

Obviously it’s not ’60s garage but sounds like mid-late 70s rock, without much punk influence. The opening of “Our Souls Would See Us Through” reminds me a little of Wire, but that’s as far as it goes. “16 Years Old” gives more attitude, but both songs have an original sound that can’t be pegged to any movement or sound from the time. The songs are in stereo.

Arboreal – Our Souls Would See Us Through

Arboreal – 16 Years Old

As it turns out, Arboreal were two brothers, Greg Allen and Glen Allen, originally from Nutley, New Jersey but living in New York City when they went into a studio as early as 1968 and cut the songs on this single.

My friend Jason of Rip It Up R.I. and The Basement Walls did some excellent sleuthing and contacted Steve Simels of the Power Pop blog who had been in the Floor Models with Glen Robert Allen in the 1980s.. Glen wrote a long history of the band.

The entire post is worth a read, but the relevant paragraphs are:

Greg and I had a clunky but good sounding Telefunken tape recorder and, later, a Sony that had sound-on-sound,as it was called back then. We could overdub ourselves. Many Dada-esque tunes were recorded, and some attempts at “real” music as well.

But in ’68 I took up guitar, and we wrote and recorded more in earnest. By then our family had been in NYC for about a year. Greg and I decided to record in an actual studio.

An older classmate of mine, Jon Fausty, was working in a studio that specialized in Latin music. The first day in the studio the equipment went south, wouldn’t work. I was actually relieved, for although Greg and I had performed in public and had recorded at home, this was A STUDIO! Where RECORDS WERE MADE!

The next day the gear was in working order, and I had shaken off the nerves. After all, I did have long wavy hair, a cool turquoise ring, a Superman-logo’d tee shirt, tie-dyed jeans, and, most of all, my ’68 Gold-Top Les Paul Standard on which I had mastered the three essential chords.

I also loved the name we’d devised: Arboreal. We always had a thing for chimps, and we both probably would’ve proposed to Jane Goodall.

Greg was a metronomic drummer, a better time-keeper than me (‘though I keep good time!). But who knew at the time that left handed drummers set up their drums differently than righties? Not us — we’d only seen righties ever play.

Nontheless, with Greg keeping time and me on guitar, bass and vocals(!), we cut “Our Souls Would See Us Through,” which Greg wrote the lyric for, and “Sixteen Years Old,” which I wrote.

The chorus on “Sixteen…” was originally “Things are pretty shitty when you’re sixteen years old..” But for the sake of mass appeal and radio play, I cleverly changed “shitty” to “sickening”. A move of rare genius, though I missed the sheer beauty of the “pretty/shitty” rhyme scheme.

Greg, in true mystical metaphoric mode, came up with “we gazed into each other’s eyestreams, until we met each other’s dreams.” And to think — “eyestreams” was hardly ever used back then!

We printed 100 45’s, sent them out to several record companies, and waited for the offers to roll in. Some of the rejection letters came on very nice stationery. Some with encouraging comments and actual signatures!

As I recall, Pickwick, a budget label, made an offer, but we held out for the big fish. That fish is still swimming merrily out there somewhere….

I’d like to hear some of the Allen brothers other early tapes, they obviously had a very original approach to rock music.

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The Madhatters have the earliest single on the Re-Echo Records label out of Livingston, Tennessee, about 100 miles northeast of Nashville. The A-side was a better-than-average version of “Unchain My Heart” b/w a breezy garage pop song, “That Kind of Girl”, released on Re-Echo Records 1003-45 in 1966.

T. Bradford, M. Peterman, J. Holloway wrote “That Kind of Girl” and were probably members of the band. I can’t find any further info on the group.

The Madhatters – “Unchain My Heart”
The Madhatters – “That Kind of Girl”

The label reads published by Middle Tenn. Music Co. BMI and Atwell Studio Production. Unfortunately, though many other songs published by Middle Tennessee Music were registered in the ’60s, I can find no copyright notice for this song or the writers.

Like many early releases on Re-Echo, this is a Rite pressing 17843/4, account number 1810. Other than the Madhatters, all other releases on the Re-Echo label seem to be either country or white gospel music.

Livingston, TN also had the Breeze Records label, based out of 209 South Church Street, with a connection to Atwell Publishing on 704 Bennett St. in Lafayette, TN, and featuring Dickey Cherry and Lonnie Holt, among others.

Re-Echo Records discography (probably incomplete)

1003 – Madhatters – “Unchain My Heart” / “That Kind of Girl”
1004 – Jim Edwards – “Talk to Your Heart” (James E. Hensley) / “If You Were My Darling”
1005 – Crownsmen Quartet – “Sweet Jesus” / “When God’s Chariot Comes”
1007 – Herman Hatfield and the Tennessee Valley Boys – “Sweet Memories of You” / “He Is The Master of Us All”
1008 – Sharlet Sexton & the Tennessee Valley Boys – “I Ain’t Good For Nothin ‘cept Pickin and Singin” / “Boys Like You”
1010 – Leon and Earl & the Bluegrass Mountain Boys – “There Could Never Be Another” / “False Dreams”
1011 – The Poston Family – “I Remember Daddy” / “It Might As Well Be Me”
1012 – Vic Jason & the Lonely Ones – Home Again” / “To Be Free” (both by Charles ‘Clint’ Cravens)
1014 – Dickey Cherry and the Common People – “All But Me” (Terry Muncy) / “Anita, You’re Dreaming”
45-6-2328-69 – Lonnie Holt – “Overton Hanging” / “One Little Things At a Time”

plus a spiritual album by the Four J’s Keeper of the Door.

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The Vibrators came from Pike County in eastern Kentucky, including the towns of Pikeville and Phyllis. Circa 1968 they cut the fine single “Bad Girl”, written by Stevie Justice. There’s a lot to like about the song, including a good guitar solo, excellent drum fills and lyrics like “I’ll get even with you before I die”.

The single came out on Graco Records 45-507, with deadwax markings repeated on the labels, 5650/1. The Vibrators would have traveled some distance to find a pressing plant for the singles. Lexington, Kentucky was 140 miles away, and Charleston or Huntington, West Virginia were not much closer. Max Waller suggests the 5650 code indicates Southern Plastics / United Record Pressing in Nashville, which is likely, though there is no etched “SO” or Nashville Matrix stamp in the deadwax. If the 45 is from Southern Plastics, the code would indicate a January, 1969 release.

Richard Hunt produced both sides. The labels indicate BMI for both songs but I can find no evidence of copyright registration for either song.

I only know of two band members’ names, Steve Justice and Fonso Fields. Fonso Fields wrote the flip, the bluesy instrumental “Keep a Dreamin’”.

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The Standels “Let’s Go” turns the Animals’ “I’m Crying” into edgy, forbidding territory:

Well me and my baby go to a show
And we get there … (?)
And me and my baby leave the show,
And we go out on this dark road.

Well here comes someone down the road,
They’re comin’ up behind us, not too slow.
Oh go, I see a red light flashing.
Well I guess we’d better get out of here fast.

Let’s go

According to Teen Beat Mayhem, the Standels came from Catoosa, Oklahoma, just east of Tulsa. I knew nothing about the band, nor any of the members names, but Max Waller alerted me to the following info in Teb Blackwell and Rhett Lake’s Oklahoma Guide To 45rpm Records & Bands Volume Two: Tulsa Metro Area & Eastern Oklahoma, published in 2014.

According to an interview with Ron Cortner, the band was originally called the Roustabouts. By the time of the 45 the group consisted of:

Boyd Bogle – lead vocals
Tommy Bradley – lead guitar
Ron Cortner – rhythm guitar
Blaine Trumbold – bass guitar
Eddy Cortner – drums

The band’s members changed frequently, so please check Blackwell & Lake’s research for the full story.

Pla-Me Records was located at 903 Louisiana in Muskogee, 40 miles to the southeast.

The original A-side “Love Comes Once In a Lifetime” is a fine, slow balla; since it isn’t on youtube I’m including a recording of it here from my scratchy copy.

The T4KM-9713/4 RCA custom pressing code indicates a release date from the first half of 1966. The labels credit Bobby McBride and Curtis Long with A&R, both had their own singles on Pla-Me Record. Curtis Long ran the publishing for Vilena Pub. Co. BMI, but neither of these songs were registered with BMI or the Library of Congress.

Pla-Me Records of Muskogee is not related to the Ohio label Pla Me, though both were releasing records at the same time. The Muskogee label had a 666P prefix to its RCA custom pressings, while the Ohio label’s account was 804B.

Of course, this band is not the Standells of “Dirty Water” fame.

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The Nomads came from Evansville, Indiana and played live throughout the southwest part of the state. Members included:

Eddie Karges – rhythm guitar, lead vocals
Max Emmick – lead guitar

Chuck Dowd – organ

Jeff Davis – bass

Gary Varden – drums


In 1965 they recorded their only single in Santa Claus, IN, released on Skoop 1065, one of the labels owned by Ray Scrivener. One side is the disaffected “Coolsville”, written by Max Emmick and Jeff Davis, with some of the classic lyrics of the era:

Walking down the street with my baby,
In my baggies?? so tight,
Yeah, I was whistled at,
By a gang of girls.

Went to a dance that night,
Danced with all my might,
Walked into the gym,
Boy what a crowd of hicks,
Yeah they were doing the Twist,
C’mon and twist, twist, twist, twist, ahhh!

Strolled up to a chick,
Smiled and I said to her,
Do the Twist or (?) the Charleston?

I’m a gonna leave this town,
Yeah, I’m a gonna leave this town,
I’m a gonna leave this town,
Never to return again.

The flip is the more tender “Shy Girl”, written by Max Emmick.

Despite the Buna Music BMI publishing credit on the labels, I don’t believe these songs were registered with either the Library of Congress or BMI.

I’ve read Ed Karges and Chuck Dowd later played in another Evansville group, the Misfits, who cut “I’ll Feel Better (In the Morning)” / “Please Don’t Go Away” (both by Kneeland – DeVillez) on the Showboat label in 1967.

Jeff Davis moved to Tennessee where he formed the Amazing Rhythm Aces in the early ’70s.

Photo and some of the info from the North Knox High School website.

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The Blazers were an obscure group who cut one fine instrumental single “Poison” / “Blue Blazin” with a Century Custom franchise out of Paducah, Kentucky, in the far west of the state.

“Blue Blazin” was the original A-side, a bluesy guitar workout with plenty of room echo. B. Houghland and R. Griffith, I presume they were members of the band.

“Poison” has achieved some fame since appearing on an early volume of Strummin’ Mental (available now through Crypt Records). J. Adler and H. Alexander wrote “Poison”.

The Century Custom release number 18054 dates it to 1964.

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Blue came from Salt Lake City, Utah. A photo of the group appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on June 6, 1968:

Appearing in person at Kmart Friday …
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. – June 7th

Starring – Scott Peterson, Fred Lampropulas, Aaron Boswell and Jerry Seare

“Blue” will play their new recording “SAD ‘BOUT US” and “EVERYTHING FOR YOU.” also autograph their new 45 R.P.M. recording

OUR REG. 77c ea. – 63 ea.

I don’t have a subscription to a news archive right now so I can’t access the photo in the article.

Blue do a fine version of the Who’s “Sad ‘Bout Us” keeping the harmonies and frantic drumming of the original. Not many bands covered this song at the time, at least on record.

For the flip they have a good original song, “Anything For You” (by Fred Lampropoulos, Jerry Seare, Aaron Boswell and Scott Peterson) featuring two strong instrumental breaks. The production of the record doesn’t do justice to the performances.

Released on Iris Records IR-1036 with a BMI credit on “Anything For You”. I don’t know of any other releases on Iris.

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The Zounds released their only single in June of 1967. “Me and My Girl” is the more uptempo side, while the organ leads the melody for “Love Has Found Me”. Both have fine performances by the band and singer, though the lead guitar and rolling drums on “Me and My Girl” stand out. The horn sounds a little out of place on “Me and My Girl” but fits in better on the flip.

The group came from Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, about 25 miles south of Louisville.

I’ve seen a photo of the group as a six-piece, but I only know four names:

Doug Hawkins – ?
Roger Smith – guitar
David Berry – ?
Thomas Troutman – ?

David Berry and Roger Smith wrote “Me and My Girl”; Doug Hawkins and W. Hawkins wrote “Love Has Found Me”. Both songs published through Falis City Music Co. BMI.

The Music Mountain labels list the band as The Sound of the Zounds. Music Mountain was a recording studio in Lebanon Junction run by Bill Masden with Grant Watson engineer. It was active into the 1970s. The U4KM-9950 shows this was a custom RCA pressing.

I looked for mention of the band in local newspapers and could only find one reference from the Louisville Courier-Journal on August 6, 1967. The discussion of the ‘combo contest’ lists a number of local groups, but limits coverage to the winner, the Frogs from Jeffersonville, Indiana, across the Ohio River from Louisville. The Frogs never recorded to my knowledge.

‘Frogs’ Jump to Win ‘Crusade’ Combo Spot

If their Jeffersonville neighbors knew what 17 teen-age talent judges know, they’d be more tolerant when The Frogs roar into a practice session. This guitar-banging, organ-pounding, drum-beating quintet last night topped seven other finalists in the second annual WHAS Crusade for Children combo contest, combining the loud and the soft in today’s Mod music taste. The selection by the teen-age panel on an hour-long WHAS program makes them the best among more than 90 area combos which auditioned for a place among the eight finalists.

Popular as they may be among the younger set, the “Monkee-suited” group has its problems with the older generation. “It’s kind of tough to find a place to practice,” leader Douglas Decker, 18, of 608 Kewanna Drive, Jeffersonville, said. They’ve tried basements and backyards, but the sound of The Frogs isn’t always in tune with the neighbors. Right now they’re practicing in Doug’s basement. “The folks don’t mind, as long as we practice and don’t goof around,” Doug said. “Of course they bug out when we start to play.”

Other finalists were The Zounds, of Lebanon Junction; the Cavaliers, The Silhouettes, The Dynamic Imperials and The Dark Shadows, of Louisville; The Exotics, of Leitchfield; and . “I thought The Dark Shadows were going to win,” Decker, the base guitarist, said. But the other members of his group were convinced that The Dynamic Imperials were the combo to beat.

Other members of the winning Frogs are: Rhythm guitarist Rob Roby, 16, of Utica Pike, Jeffersonville; lead guitarist David Rowan, of 210 Spickert Knobs Road, New Albany; organist John Shaughnessy, 17, of 716 Roma Ave., Jeffersonville; and drummer Richard Wolfe, 17, of 401 Chippewa Drive, Jeffersonville. While they reluctantly admit- their zany outfits are patterned after the famed Monkees, The Frogs’ favorite big-name groups are The Beatles and The Young Rascals. They organized their group only six months ago, although most of them had played with other combos which drifted apart. Shaughnessy had been a member of the Centrics, last year’s winners, before that group competed in the 1966 Crusade combo contest. The Frogs will be one of the acts to perform on this year’s WHAS and WHAS-TV Crusade for Children program Sept. 23-24. Last year’s Crusade provided $415,592 in charity for handicapped children of Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

The Marquis from Louisville could be the Marquee Monsters who recorded “I Love The Beat” (B. Cason) b/w a favorite of mine, “Laws and Restrictions” (Mac Gayden and Bill Fennell) on Our Bag Records in Sept. 1966.

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The Cloudwalkers came from the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. They cut one single, the harp-driven “Sunglasses” b/w
“Never Told Me So” on Capco 106 in mid-1965.

“Sunglasses” isn’t the same song as the Cramps’ “Sunglasses After Dark” but I’d like to think there was some influence there. The single made it to #49 in Record World’s “Singles Coming Up” chart.

Members included Chris Welch and Peter Polizzano, who wrote both songs on their single, plus Pete Frias.

“Never Told Me So” is a fine Buddy Holly influenced rocker.

George Napolitano of the Ox-Bow Incident told me that Pete Frias was the guitar instructor and mentor of many musicians in the neighborhood, and also was guitarist for Jimmy & the Jesters, a group that often played the Peppermint Lounge. George also thought the Cloudwalkers single was recorded at Rossi Sound Studios at 2005 West 8th Street and Avenue T in Brooklyn.

The labels note “A Billyjo Production”. The engineer for the session was Joe Venneri, who was a guitarist for the Tokens during their early days, then became an engineer at Incredible Sound Studio, Mira Studios and Mercury Records.

Chris Welch and Peter Polizzano registered both songs with the Library of Congress on July 2, 1965. Publishing came through Calboy Music, BMI, owned by Joe Calcagno who also owned the Capco Records label.

An ad in Billboard in November 9, 1965 lists Capco Hitsound Records at Southard Ave in Rockville Center, NY. The label was promoting Capco 108, Irv Goodman’s “Hava Nagilah” / “Sugar Blues au Go Go” produced by Jimmie Haskell.

Singles by the Crossfires, the Don Rays and others on a green Capco label, circa 1963, come from a Los Angeles company probably not associated with Joe Calcagno.

I’d appreciate any further info on the Cloudwalkers.

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I can’t find much info on the Apaches, who had one single on Galena Records out of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1966. One side is a pleasant original song, “Please Understand” by Burgess, Tousley. My copy is too scratchy to include a sound file, sorry.

The flip is a cover of “Heart of Stone”, which sounds like it features a different lead singer.

The Apaches was an RCA custom pressing, TK4M-4746/7, from late 1966, released as Galena G-131.

There was one other garage 45 on Galena Records, the Executives, who did a good original, “Why Make Me Cry” by T. Carter, Brock, Hoffman, G. Carter, Teaff, b/w “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better When You Are Gone”, also released in 1964.

Though the label for “Please Understand” lists Galena Music BMI, I can’t find copyright registration with the Library of Congress, or for the Executives song.

I find a number of registrations with Galena Music from 1964 and 1965, including: “Just Another Night”, “Gonna Find Me Someone” and “Moon Girl” by Roy L. Ferguson and Leroy Duncan, “Tear Drops” and “This Same Old Heart” by Sam Barrett, “Lonely Hours” by Roy Ferguson, Lercy Duncan and Autry Rutledge, “My Castle by the Sea” by David Vowell and Autry Rutledge, and “Back Up, Back Out” by Roy Ferguson, Leroy Duncan and Connie Rutledge, but these all seem to be country or pop music.

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Years ago, Wayland L. Davis wrote a detailed story about his time with the Outer Limits, and the Las Cruces, New Mexico music scene he grew up in. He was going to expand on it for publication in Garage Hangover, but then we lost contact. I won’t publish it since I haven’t received his permission, but I will include a little info about the band from our email back in 2009:

I grew up in Las Cruces and was one of the original members of the Outer Limits. I left the group before they recorded with Golddust. But, I helped write “The Waves” and “Walking Away” long before that, and we recorded our first version of both songs with Steve Crosno

Keith Hackney [of the Four Dimensions] lived a block away from me and taught me how to play a barre chord, which led to me playing rhythm guitar for the Outer Limits and Pete Hecker playing bass.

The original Outer Limits were Jim Westbrook, Wayland Davis, Pete Hecker and multiple drummers. First, Jerry Savage and later Jerry Bachman. We named ourselves after the TV show and not the Markettes “Out of Limits” song. John LeDuc [was] my replacement as I left the band before this picture and Goldust recordings.

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I don’t have any info on the Mark V other than what’s on the labels. BMI lists the “Mark V” as the song writer for “I Want To Say”, so that indicates the band members were L. Cerame, G. Snow, R. Eder, T. Montanino, and R. Hackling.

The b-side “You Make Me Lose My Mind” is the wilder of the two songs; Jack Provenzano is the writer. Unfortunately it’s not on youtube right now, but it’s worth seeking out for the weird scream after the opening drum roll.

Released on Blast 215 in 1964. Vincent Catalano (Vinnie) owned the Blast label, and also had the Sinclair, Whale, Mermaid, and Camay Records labels with Don Ames. Blast is known for doo wop, especially “Coney Island Baby” by the Excellents. Basil Bova did some A&R work for the Blast label.

The best source of info on Vince Catalano that I could find is from the Double Dates of Luck Records.

The Mark V single comes towards the end of the Blast catalog. New York City is a best guess as to the origin of the band, but they could have been from New Jersey or Connecticut.

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“Half Past the End” by the Smoke is hard-rocking and heavy on the keyboards, which I don’t usually like, but it has some lead guitar work that hooks me, and features a solid performance by the entire group.

The group included Mark Sheldon, who had played bass for the Mussies on their 1967 Fenton single, “12 O’Clock July” which is a great psychedelic take on Link Wray’s “Jack the Ripper” b/w one of the better versions of “Louie Go Home”.

Other members of the Mussies were Chic Ericksen (lead vocals), Paul Knapp or Paul Nabb (lead guitar), Tom Mann (rhythm guitar) and Bill Johnson (drums). I don’t know if any of them played on the Smoke single from late 1968.

The Mussies & the Smoke came out of South Haven, Michigan. Mark Sheldon wrote both songs on the Smoke single, “Half Past the End” and the flip, “My Mama”. Both published by Rise Music, Inc. BMI. Mark Edward Sheldon registered the copyright for “Half Past the End” with the Library of Congress in February 1969.

The Smoke single was produced by Sheldon-Pielert, the Pielert standing for Fred Pielert, the manager of the band with his wife, Gail Ostrow.

The ARP stamp in the deadwax indicates the American Record Pressing Co. in Owosso, MI, pressing number 1316.

I’ve seen promo and stock copies of this 45, and all seem to have stickers listing the band as the Smoke. Mark Sheldon’s name is underneath.

There’s not much info on the Smoke out there (or the Mussies for that matter). I gleaned a little from the Grand Rapids Rocks site.

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Billy Stephens seems to have been based in Belmont, Mississippi, about 45 miles north east of Tupelo, and three hours southwest of Nashville. According to a comment online, he died at age 55, which would be sometime around the year 2000. I can find no obituary or biography, but here is what I know:

Billy Stephens registered two songs in June 1963, the intriguingly-titled “Rice Paddies” and “I Need Wanda”. Unfortunately, neither seem to have been released. I wonder if demo acetates exist of these songs.

Starting around 1966, he did release three singles of excellent original songs on his own Kidd Glove label.

The first was Kidd Glove 101, credited to Billy Stephens & the Nashville Casts. One side was the amazingly brooding “Baby You Got Me” while the flip is the country “Lumber Jack”. “Baby You Got Me” almost defies description, not exactly garage and really has to be heard.

I’m not sure of the date for this one, the NRC # 510 indicates pressing at National Recording Corporation’s plant in Atlanta, sometime between late 1966 to mid 1967.

Next he released an excellent instrumental, “Sneak Attack” backed with one I haven’t heard yet, “Shirley”, on Kidd Glove 301 with a redesigned label and motto, “The Sound That Leaves You Breathless”.

The third single was the rockabilly “Dozen Diamond Man” b/w an offbeat harmony jangler, “There’s a Time” on Kidd Glove 302. Lyrics for “There’s a Time” are hard to make out, but seem to be about how his teenage queen got locked up “they took her far away, said she had to pay”. This single was released in 1967 with a b&w photo sleeve.

All of his songs were published by Kidd Glove Music BMI, though I can’t find registrations for all of them.

Certainly this was an artist with a lot of talent and originality.

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The Nightshades formed as the Deadly Nightshades at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, IL, a suburb of Chicago. The group’s lineup changed, sometimes to a quartet or trio format, but included at various times:

Gary Schaeffer – vocals
Bob Zemke – lead guitar
Larry LaCoste – rhythm guitar
Phil Jernigan, replaced by Tom Lavin – bass
Dan Locke, replaced by Kenny LaCoste – drums

I only have one of their singles, the second of three the band released on Gear Records in 1967 and 1968.

The first was “Summertime” / “Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight” on Gear 747/8.

“Summertime” and the Kinks cover are cool enough, but I like the original songs on their second single on Gear C 749/750, “Flying High” and especially the heavier “American Boy” with its sustained guitar sound and lyrics that would tell an interesting story if I could decipher more of them. The labels list Zemke, La Cost, Jernigan as writers for both songs, published by Gear Music BMI, with arrangement by Bob Zemke, plus Gear Enterprises, c/o Ed Zemke.

I haven’t heard their last single, “Sweet Cecelia” / “My Mother Done Told Me (That You Were a Lover)” on Gear 751/2.

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The Happy Return came from St. Louis, Missouri, releasing two very different 45s in the space of a couple years.

Members at the time of the Cadet single were:

Steve Noack – vocals, lead guitar
Tom Noack – rhythm guitar
Jim Cunningham – organ
Jimmy Albright – bass
Rich Carroll – drums

In November 1967 the Happy Return released a very good Steve Noack original in the Beatles style, “Longed For”, backed with another original “Maybe”, and issued Steve’s own Stack Records TS-XM510. The publisher, Country Stream Music BMI mainly handled country and gospel songs.

In July of 1968 Steve Noack had a light pop single as Steve Lee on the R.S.S.P. Inc label featuring his original “She’s Afraid to Answer” as the b-side to “Baby” (by G. Tomsco, B. Tomsco).

Missouri Music BMI published “She’s Afraid to Answer”. Missouri Music’s biggest copyrights seem to be on the Norman label, including “Rockin’ Little Egypt” by the Egyptian Combo and “Jerkin’ Time” by Bob Kuban with vocalist Little Walter.

The Happy Return next appear in June 1969 on the Cadet label with a great double-sided single featuring two more Steve Noack originals with great production by Norman Petty at his Clovis, NM studio. The plug side at the time was “I Thought I Loved Her”, a gentle ballad with keyboards making harpsichord and flute sounds. The Library of Congress registration for “I Thought I Loved Her” in April 1969 shows words by Rich Carrell (sic) and music by Steve Noack.

The flip is the very different and hard-rockin’ “To Give Your Lovin’”, full of crunching guitar and heavy drumming. Both songs list Steve Noack as writer and Heavy Music, Friedman-Collins Music BMI as publisher.

“I Thought I Loved Her” showed up as a “hitbound sound” in a weekly chart of Saint Charles, Missouri’s KIRL 1460 AM that August, but otherwise seems to have missed all radio charts despite being on Cadet. The band broke up the following year.

On the Cadet labels, the band’s manager Stan Friedman is listed as producer of the single. He was a booking agent in St. Louis with a University City address.

Info from Alec Palao’s notes to Get Ready to Fly: Pop-Psych from the Norman Petty Vaults on Big Beat Records, which also have two small photos of the group.

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The Contents Are continued until around 1972, when they changed their name to Tabernash and moved from Davenport, Iowa to Westminster, Colorado, just northwest of Denver. Prior to their move, they made this one single on Dym-a-Nite, the only release they would have under the Tabernash name.

The members of Tabernash were Craig Hute, Dave Neumann, Paul Staack and Mick Orton.

“Head Collect” is an excellent rocker written by Craig Hute. The song dates back to 1969, when a demo was recorded at Columbia studios in Chicago. The single is 44 seconds shorter, quicker in tempo, with a drier sound than the Columbia studio demo, but both are excellent performances.

“Out of the Cold” is another original by Craig Hute, again dating back a couple years, this time to a demo session at Golden Voice Recording Studio in Pekin, Illinois from 1969 or 1970. The Dym-a-Nite 45 is more sparse and plain in production than the Golden Voice demo, and is also 90 seconds shorter. Songs from that session will be released by Alona’s Dream Records in 2017.

The deadwax contains a “tulip” marking that indicates Wakefield in Arizona pressed the single, with a five digit code dating it to February 1972. Both sides have publishing by Sarfran / Unichappel BMI, and “Produced by Tabernash for Experience Group” and “Dist. by the Clouds, Bellville, Ill”.

When I sent scans and audio of the Dym-a-Nite single to Mick Orton, he didn’t recall it. After speaking to Craig Hute, he reported back that one of their managers, Spence Stein owned the Dym-a-Nite label and worked with someone at Unichappel to release the single. The band didn’t hear it until they had made the move to Westminster, but they disliked the quality of the pressing.

Mick Orton has posted photos and info about Tabernash and the later Contents Are on his extensive website. I highly recommend checking it out.

Thank you to Mike Markesich for the Wakefield pressing info.

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