The Dickens came from Pensacola, Florida. The members of the band were:

Rick Pierce – keyboards & vocals
Louie Boyleston – guitar
Ron Bowman – rhythm guitar & lead vocals
Jimmy Smith – bass, harmonica & lead vocals
Skip Higgins – drums

A news clipping shows the band as a four piece formed at Pensacola High School before Rick Pierce joined. The article notes the band played dances at Pensacola teen clubs the Place and the Beacon Club, and that they won the St. Ann’s Annual Talent Context.

In September, 1967 they cut two good, quirky versions of Left Banke songs on Format Records F45-5004/5, “I’ve Got Something On My Mind” / “I Haven’t Got The Nerve”. The single was produced by Jerry Ray for Daddy Rabbit Prod.

“I Haven’t Got the Nerve” is taken at an incredibly fast pace.

Six months later they kept their Left Banke inspiration but Rick Pierce wrote two excellent original son
gs, “One of a Kind Woman” and “Inside – Outside”.

Jerry Ray is again listed as producer, but Rick Pierce arranged them and the production is much better than the first single. The band sounds more mature, with better keyboard work and stronger vocals than the first release, and the horns fit in fine on “Inside-Outside”.

This single had release as Format F-45-5006/7 in March of ’68, with publishing by Tamrof Pub BMI.

I contacted Ron Bowman, the lead vocalist on these songs, who provided this info on the band, plus the photos and sound clips:

The Dickens began forming circa ’62-63. Pensacola, Florida, Gulf Breeze to be precise. Ron Bowman & Louie Boyleston swapped their baseball gloves for acoustic guitars & began playing folk music, until they heard the Beatles. With electric guitars in hand, Winston for Ron & Silvertone for Louie they began scratching up Beatles, Stones, & Hollie records to learn the chords & lyrics. Time for a bass player. We knew a guy who looked the part, but he was too much into surfing, but he auditioned singing “Mrs Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter”. We figured he could learn to play a 4 string instrument. Next a drummer. In West Pensacola we learned of Skip Higgens. He had a drum set. So voila, we had a band.

We’d play the run of the mill soul music all the other Pcola bands were playing, especially because people could dance to them, but our tastes were deep into the British Invasion, especially the vocals. I did most of it, but Jimmy & I were both the lead singers. We managed to get known, won a couple Battle of the Bands, then we heard about an amazing keyboardist (actually he played everything – from drums to pedal guitar) also from West Pensacola, Rick Pierce.

Once he joined the band, we really took off locally. Our early manager was a local disc Jockey, Daddy Rabbit Ray. We recorded our first session in Memphis where we recorded our first single “I’ve Got Something on My Mind” & “I Haven’t Got the Nerve” both Left Bank songs. We sold 90 copies in Albany, NY. We also recorded the first of Rick’s original songs “No One Seems to Know”, but that didn’t make vinyl. I think this was in ’66, I know we attended a Monkeys concert while in Memphis.

Q. What was the connection with Memphis?

Our manager knew of a studio. Why Memphis, beats me.

Q. Were you all fans of the Left Banke or was that mostly Rick’s influence?

Oh yes. They came to Pcola. We were deep into baroque music. Or ‘broke music’. All of us, not just Rick, but because of Rick’s fine piano/harpsichord musicianship, we were able to pull it off. Our main influence, besides the Beatles & Stones, were The Hollies. Damn those boys could sing harmony.

Because of this mild success, we rented out places in small southern towns like the Natl Guard Armory to make a decent wage for high school kids. In ’68 we recorded in New Orleans. All 3 songs were Pierce originals with Ron singing lead. A-Side “One of a Kind Woman”, B-Side “Inside Outside”, & the unreleased “I’ve Been Gone”. We sold far more of these singles & were listed on Billboard’s Hot 100 Charts with a bullet. Later we found out our manager had sent our tapes to MGM. They offered to fly us to LA to record an album & I guess groom us for a national audience. They offered Daddy Ray $40,000 as a finder’s fee. He thought “Gee if they’re that good, I’ll keep them on my label, FORMAT RECORDS. Just as well we didn’t know this at the time…

Q. Are the unreleased songs, “No One Seems to Know” and “I’ve Been Gone” still around?

I have two versions of the New Orleans session of “I’ve Been Gone”, one with & one without the lead. Jimmy Smith remixed this when he worked at Capitol Records. Another Rick Pierce original. Don’t think “No One Seems to Know” from Memphis survived.

About early ’69 we splintered off & Jimmy, Rick, & I formed a newer ‘Stoned Dickens’ foursome, John Russel played lead guitar, Rick moved to drums. Lots of Cream, Buffalo Springfield, Hendrix.

I did a short stint in the Phaetons as a bass player/ backup singer. Made a ton of money as Charlie Capri, our manager, kept us on the road. But that lasted less than the Stone Dickens, maybe 4 months.

With the narco cops following us around, Jimmy & Ron hightailed it to California. We formed a group called The Alleycats (several versions of members, one including Louie again).

Louie went on to open a mod clothing store, Oz Boutique. He was probably the best rhythm guitarist I’ve ever heard, although I do have one recording of my song “Real Fine Love” where he tears up the lead. He knew the chords to every rock & country song. Unfortunately he died of a heart attack about 2005 in his 50s.

Skip went to New Orleans & kicked around before winding up in Vienna, Austria, where he still lives. We are in touch.

Rick went to Atlanta, got very in with the Atlanta sound. I saw him last playing a solo gig in Marietta, Ga. We are not in touch now, but I’m working on this.

Jimmy’s still in Sherman Oaks. He’s worked a lot in the movie industry & was working at Capitol Records where he had access to their mixing room. This is where our remastered New Orleans session came from.

I stayed based in LA for a total of 17 years. In ’79 I joined the first American band ever to play for Club Med, The Hollywood Party Boys. Mexico, Switzerland, Greece, & always Paris, per diem. When I returned to LA, instead of resuming my music career while working for every record company mail room, including Billboard, I went to LACC & became an Elec tech. Moved back to Pensacola area, where I still live. I’ve always continued to write & record music.

You can hear Ron’s songs since The Dickens era on his Youtube channel.

Thank you to Ron Bowman for answering my questions and his help with this article.

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There isn’t much information about the Facts of Life despite the group’s fine 45 single. The group came from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, which lies just to the west of the Philadelphia city line. Members included Bruce Klauber, later a jazz drummer and professor, and Robert Yampolsky, who wrote both songs on their only single. I don’t know the other members’ names.

“I’ve Seen Darker Nights” begins with a blast of distorted guitar but otherwise is free of fuzz. The lyrics are heartfelt, the singing good, the arrangement has good hooks and momentum from the rhythm section. There’s a long solo on the organ and a brief guitar break.

The flipside, “All In Good Time” has a good ballad sound with a basic guitar solo. Robert Yampolsky copyrighted both songs in October, 1967, and the record came out as Frana Records 59-A/B. I don’t know of any other releases on the Frana label.

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The Barons were one of the early garage bands in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They released their single on a custom Fenton label, Jafes 985, in August 1965.

My copy is signed by Dick Gates, Dave Marquette and Brandon Scott. Dave Marquette wrote the A-side, “Try A Love With Me”. Dick Gates wrote the uptempo “Don’t Come Back No More”. Marquette and Gates seem to have been stage names for Dave Rutkowski and Dick Steimle.

The West Michigan Music Hysterical Society lists a couple different names as members:

Dick Gates (Dick Steimle) – guitar
Dave Marquette (Dave Rutkowski) – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Bill McNamara – bass
Steve Carpenter (Mandrill Fern) – drums

Since that site doesn’t list Brandon Scott, I’m not sure if he was a drummer or bassist at the time of the single, or if he was even in the Barons.

The two sides of the single sound like they were recorded at different sessions, with the bass easy to hear on “Try a Love With Me” and fainter on the flip. Dick Steimle plays some fast and tricky guitar work with a dry tone on “Don’t Come Back No More”.

The record seems to have come early in their career, and they changed from a trio to quartet at some point. Their record label came from the nickname of their manager, Jim “Jafes” Kemp.

Dave Rutkowski would join the Pedestrians in 1967, in time to record their third Fenton single, “The Unpredictable Miss Kinsey” / ” You Aren’t Going To Say You Know”. Jim Kemp managed the Pedestrians as well as the Barons.

Dick Steimli would leave the Barons to join the Soulbenders, best known for their versions of “Hey Joe” and “Seven and Seven Is”.

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The Epics came from Brookhaven High School in Columbus, Ohio. Warren Knox, Jim Miller and Michael Richards wrote the great A-side, “White Collar House” which refers to some kind of upscale nightspot, whether a dance club or bordello I can’t decide as the lyrics are vague. The band’s performance is a stand-out, and Musicol Recording Studio did a good job recording it.

Library of Congress records show copyright registered on May 1966 to Warren Knox, James Miller, and Mike Richards (Michael Kirk Richards). The band was a quintet but I don’t know who the other two members were.

Michael Richards wrote the gloomier b-side, “She Believe In Me”, and also arranged both sides. S. Graves produced the session.

It’s the only release I know of on the Dolphin label, which Buckeye Beat suggests was tied in with the Blue Dolphin Club for teens. There is a rare picture sleeve which I don’t own that shows the photo at the top, with a blank back.

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The Kandells, or Kan Dells came from the small town of Sandstone, Minnesota, just off I-35 a little more over halfway between Minneapolis and Duluth. Members included:

Gene Best – lead guitar
Bob VanDerSchaegen – rhythm guitar
Pete VanDerSchaegen – bass
Sam Burch – keyboards
Jay Best – drums

Lost and Found #3 has photos and a long story on the Kan Dells. Many photos of the group are available on their website.

About 1959, Bob VanDerSchaegen started playing guitar with his school friend Jim Hagford in the Problems. That group changed into the Turbans, adding Sam Zabori on drums and Milf Johnson on bass. When Milf quit the band, Bob had his younger brother Pete VanDerSchaegen take over the bass. After the Turbans broke in 1962, Bob and Pete met up with Gene Best and his cousin Jay Best, and together they formed the Kan Dells, soon adding Sam Burch on keyboards.

The group started performing at local youth dances, gaining a manager in local English teacher Noble MacVey, who fronted money for new equipment for the group. Notable gigs included a Battle of the Bands in Duluth and a show at the federal prison in Sandstone.

In late 1964 they went to the basement studio of Ron Gjerde, owner of Agar Records in Minneapolis, who subsidized studio time for the band as they worked up their original songs, first “Cloudburst”, then “Cry Girl”. Their first record was released on the Boss label in January 1965, reaching #10 on KDWB.

Both sides of the Boss 45 are excellent, but I’m most interested in their second single, “I Want You to Know”, which has a perfect garage sound but has remained a lesser-known song, at least compared to “Cry Girl”. Like the first the Kan Dells recorded this at Ron Gjerde’s studio.

In the fall of ’66, Jay Best and Sam Burch left for college. The band found Wayne Cooper and occasionally Bill Sandwick to fill in on drums, but soon broke up, partly because Pete VanDerSchaegen had started commuting to school in Duluth. Gene Best joined a group called Hereafter.

Eight of their recordings went unreleased until a couple of 7″s in the 1990s and a full CD release done by the band in the early 2000s. These include the Gene Best original “Shake It Baby”, Pete VanderSchaegen’s “I’ve Met Death”, Sam Burch’s original “Lucky Day” and Bob VanDerSchaegen’s song “It Is to Laugh”. All of these and others are available for listen on their website and I recommend checking them out.

Other singles on Bear include the (Bear 1968), and the Castaways “I Feel Fine” / “Hit the Road” (Bear 2000).

Bear Records discography (any help with this would be appreciated):

Bear 1965 – Michael’s Mystics – “You Ran Away” / “Hi Bird” (April ’65 – Kaybank 5-5123, DR-6503-121A/B)
Bear 1966 – Trashmen – Keep Your Hands Off My Baby” / “Lost Angel” (April ’65, Kaybank 5-5128)
Bear 1967 – ?
Bear 1968 – Countdowns “You Know I Do” (L. Barrett) / “Strange Are the Shadows” (C. Sleichter) (Aug. ’65,  Kaybank 5-5552)
Bear 1969 – Five Tymes – “Hold Me Now” / “Around And Around” (Aug. ’65, Kaybank 5-5609)
Bear 1970 – The Four of Us – “Liza (Hear Me Call Your Name)” / “Hot Buttered Watermelon” (Sept. ’65, Kaybank 5-5673)
Bear 1971 – Kandells – “I Want You to Know” / “Do You Know” (Oct. ’65, Kaybank 5-5847)
Bear 1972 – Red Tuck – “Heart Of The U.S.A.” (Richard Cairo) /”Power Line Man”
Bear 1973 – Joey Strobel And The Runaways – “What Good Is Love” / “Sax Shuffle” (Jan. ’66, RCA T4KM-4488)
Bear 1974 – Coachmen – “Mr. Moon” / “Nothing At All” (Jan. ’66, Kaybank 5-5869 or RCA T4KM-1723,SK5M-2955)
Bear 1975 – Marv Dennis IV – “The Hurt Will Go Away” / “Honeycomb” (RCA T4KM-4763/4)
Bear 1976 – Coachmen – “I’m a King Bee” / “Linda Lou” (Aug. ’66, Kaybank 6-6757)
Bear 1977 – Accents – “No One Heard You Cry” / “Your Time Has Come” (Oct. ’66, Kaybank 6-7015)
Bear 1978 – Precious Few – “You Don’t Need Me” /”London Town” (Sept. ’66, Kaybank 6-7016)

Bear 2000 – Castaways “I Feel Fine” / “Hit the Road” (July ’67, Kaybank 7-7745)

Bear 2005 – Gene And Brandon Davis – “Poppy’s Boy”

Thank you to Max Waller for help with this discography.

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Records like this one keep collecting interesting. Blue Creed came from somewhere in West Virginia. I haven’t been able to find out anything about the band yet.

It seems likely they recorded at Midway Recording Studio in Hurricane, West Virginia. The related Alta record label usually has a Hurricane address on it, but in the case of the Blue Creed single, Midway-Alta is listed at Camden-on-Gauley, WV, two hours drive east of Hurricane.

Luckily the Blue Creed put some of their names on the labels. Gary Gordon, Dave Franco and Bill Rexroad wrote “Need a Friend”, and the three of them plus Ron Sweeney wrote “Sugarbabe”.

Both songs feature hoarse, exaggerated vocals, a heavily distorted organ sound, a guitarist who sounds something like Jorma, especially on “Sugarbabe”, and a drummer who likes to hit the crash cymbal loudly and often.

I’ve seen the label listed as Moigo Records, but I think Mo Go is more correct, release # 4570. The ARP-1339/40 suggests American Record Pressing Co. in Michigan. Publishing by Sexman Pub Co.

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Teen Beat Mayhem lists The Shadows 5 as from Oswego, New York, on Lake Ontario, northwest of Syracuse. However I’ve seen mention that the band may be from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Can anyone clear up this mystery?

The band members’ first names are on the labels but I don’t know most of their surnames or the instruments they played:

Vic
Randy
Ralph
Craig McKinney
Bill

Craig McKinney wrote both sides, the incredible “Gathers No Moss” and the fine jangler “That Little Girl”. Another member’s last name is Williams, but I don’t know which.

Tech Records released the single in August 1966; I can’t find anything else on this label. The quality of the recording is excellent, with the opening guitar riff jumping off the grooves.

This was a very rare record though in the last year about 10 copies have shown up, which is how I was able to afford one.

I’d appreciate any more info on the band, or photos of the group.

This is not the same Shadows Five who recorded “Dynamic Drums” / “Gary’s Boogie” for the Sully label and “Markham” / “Twistin’ Shadows” for Peacock. That group became the Ultimates and later Prince Charles & the Crusaders, then finally the Ultimate, with a 45 on Garland.

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An April 1966 article in the Teen-Ager section of the Enquirer profiled the band:

Although the Greater Cincinnati area boasts hundreds of talented rock ‘n roll groups, only one, the “What Four,” claims a teacher among its members. Twenty-four-year-old Jim Hoerr, who teaches Latin, English and mathematics at Williamsburg High is rhythm and lead guitarist.

Jim Hoerr started rehearsing with student bass player Larry Malott. With Frank Johnson of Madeira High School on drums, they formed a trio called the Noblemen.

When guitarist Roy Jordan of Bethel High joined in 1965, the band became the What Four.

The What Four did well in a battle of the bands sponsored by WONE in Dayton, the prize was a free recording session. They cut two original songs, “Do You Believe” by Jim Hoerr, and “Whenever” by Jim Hoerr and Frank Johnson. The single was released on the Box label, with the band probably paying for the pressing if not the studio time.

That group was Dave Bowman on bass, Larry Combs on vocals and guitar, Tim Neff on drums and Tom Savage on lead guitar.

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The Maltese came from northern Kentucky communities such as Covington, Park Hills and Erlanger, all part of the greater Cincinnati area.

An article in the Enquirer’s Teen-Ager section on Granny’s club in nearby Elsmere, KY shows a band called the Maltese. I think it’s likely this is the same group who recorded on the Lexington, KY label Chetwyd, which would have been about an hour’s drive to the south. Of course I could be wrong and this could be a different group using that name.

The article calls Granny’s teen club the “Home of the Dingos”, a band who played often in the area and who often appear in the local listings, unlike the Maltese.

Two members of the Maltese are identified in the article, John Hyland with the bass, and Mike Mahoney on guitar. Both songs on the single are credited to Akers.

“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.

Chetwyd released the single with number CW-45006 sometime in 1967. The labels note Chetwyd published both sides with BMI but I can find no record of them, or any other Chetwyd song in the Library of Congress listings. Chetwyd had other good garage releases that I’ll cover soon.

Thank you to Barry Wickham for the scan of the Maltese single.

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One of Hours came from Lexington, Kentucky and released two singles on the local Chetwyd Records label.

Robert Nelson played drums, but for the rest of the One of Hours, I only have last names from the record labels: Foreman, Bogliole, Flynn and Willcutt; and a couple first names: David who played bass and Shawn.

The band has the very first release on Chetwyd, CW-45001 featuring “It’s Best (by Foreman – Bogliole), a gentle ballad featuring the band’s vocal harmonies, accompanied by what sounds like autoharp and even whistling.

“Trifolia” (by Foreman – Flynn – Bogliole) is more rocking but the production gives it a distant sound. The release date was 1966, and like all their songs the labels list publishing by Chetwyd, though there’s no listing for them in the Library of Congress.

In April 1967 the One of Hours released their second single on Chetwyd CW-45005. The production is so much better, and the band more energetic and tighter. “Feel The Pain” (written by Foreman – Flynn – Bogliele) is a stand-out rocker with blistering lead guitar, some fuzz blasts, good lead and backing vocals, and a solid rhythm section behind it all.

“Psychedelic Illusion” (by Foreman – Willcutt) has the cloudier production of the first single, but has beautiful guitar picking and a melancholy feel to go with lyrics like “the sounds and the colors start to sway / the sounds and the colors are starting to fade / I feel my life slip away”. An organ, barely heard on the flip side, plays the instrumental break.

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There were a number of groups called the Villagers around the country, but these Villagers came from Dayton and cut only one record, the endearing garage original “He’s Not the Same” b/w the melancholy “Sunshine My Way”.

Released on Hamlet Records V-1000 in 1968, the Villagers are a mystery other than the info on the labels: authors J. Mills and M. Copp, publishing by Counterpart Music, BMI, the code 813L which was Counterpart Records account number with RCA custom pressings, and W4KM-6004/5 (indicating a RCA custom pressing from the first half of 1968).

Library of Congress copyright records give one name, Janis R. Mills, who copyrighted “He’s Not the Same” on January 5, 1968, and “Sun, Shine My Way” (notice the different rendering of the title) on May 20, 1968. M. Copp is not in these copyright listings.

BMI’s database lists Janice Mills and Michael Copp. The spelling of her name as Janice certainly is a mistake on BMI’s part, as BMI attributes two recent country songs by Janice S. Mills from Alabama to the author of “He’s Not the Same”. It wouldn’t be unlike BMI to conflate two similar names.

Strangely, BMI lists “He’s Not the Same” and “Sunshine My Way” as registered to Piagneri Music in Astoria, NY, even though Counterpart Music is still active in Cincinnati.

I can find no listings or articles on the band from that time, so it’s possible they were not even a semi-professional band or one that would play battle-of-the-bands. Maybe Janis Mills wrote these songs and brought them to the attention of Counterpart, which had Michael Copp arrange them with some local group or musicians.

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Skipper Records came from Springfield, Missouri and released at least eight singles in 1965-1966 before folding. It was a creation of Si Siman, a promoter, manager and part-owner (along with Ralph Foster and John B. Mahaffey) of Earl Barton Music, Inc., which published most of the songs featured on the Skipper label.

Everything I’ve heard on the label is snappy and well-produced. Half are upbeat country but there are two rock singles and a couple r&b. The releases by Tonky Tomson and David & the Boys-Next-Door are notable for featuring the earliest work of two men who would go on to have huge successes in the music industry.

Tonky Tomson seems to be a pseudonym for Wayne Thompson, who wrote both “On My Way” and “I’ve Been in Love”, and probably sings on this single from October, 1965. I’d say he was listening to a lot of Hollies at the time. I wonder who was the lead guitarist on these tracks, as he did excellent work, with the country tinge that the Beatles and other groups were starting to reach for.

Wayne Carson Thompson is much better known as Wayne Carson, who would write “The Letter” a couple years after his time at Skipper and go on to write many other hits. Wayne Carson died on July 20, 2015.

Wayne Thompson also wrote the A-side of David and the Boys-Next-Door catchy party song “Land O’ Love”, and co-write “If I Was King” with David Kershenbaum, the leader of the group.

In 1967 David and the Boys Next Door released a second single on Del-Ray Records of Poplar Bluff, MO, “It Ain’t No Use” / “Spring Fever”, both originals by David Kershenbaum published by Earl Barton. I’ve heard the A-side and it’s good pop, with a nice guitar hook. David Kershenbaum had a solo single on Capitol Records in 1968, “White Velvet Cat” / “Forbidden”, both written by Bobby Lile. Kershenbaum would go on to a successful career as a producer starting in the 1970s.

Steve Sanders would sing “Land of Love” for a single on MGM 13475, a single I haven’t heard yet.

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

Labels for Skipper are gold with black print with the exception of the Clint Harrison 45. Some list Radio TV Bldg, Springfield, MO as the address, and the 828 prefix on these indicates their account with RCA custom pressings.

Skipper 828R-0773/4 – Lewie & the 7 Days – “Night Train” / “What You Never Had”

Skipper 828R-1240 – David and the Boys-Next-Door – “Land O’ Love” (Wayne Thompson)/ “If I Was King” (Kershenbaum & Wayne Thompson) (SK4M-1240/1)

Skipper 828S-1241 – Truman-Lankford – “Arkansas Man” / “Here-Comes-Heaven-Again” (both by Truman Lankford, Jim James, Prod. M.A. Box)

Skipper 828R-1408/9 – Tonky Tomson – “On My Way” / “I’ve Been in Love” (both Wayne Thompson, SK4M-1408)

Skipper 828R-2735 – Wavie Self – “Kentucky” (Prichard) / “These Words” (SK4M-2736)

Skipper 828R-5695 – Lewie & the 7 Days – “You’ve Been Cheatin on Me” (L. Taylor) / “You’re the Reason” (T4KM-5695)

Skipper 828R-6255 Clint Harrison – “Record in My Album” (Eppright) / “Thirteen to Nineteen” (T4KM-6255, red label)

Skipper 828R-7917 – Don Clements w. Anita Kerr Group vocal background – “Made in the U.S.A.” (Ronnie Self) / “My Conscience Knows” (S4KM-7917)

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The Bad Seeds came from northern Kentucky, in the greater metropolitan Cincinnati area. The Enquirer featured the band in its Teenager section on January 14, 1967. At the time the members were John Reynolds, Donald Hodge, Jerry Foster, Gene Clarke and Ernie Bands [sic – should probably read Ernie Banks]. The article notes the Bad Seeds appeared at Granny’s teen club in Elsmere, that the group would have an album in addition to the single, and also that “all except Ernie hail from Northern Kentucky”.

As far as I know, the album never materialized, but nine months earlier a different version of the group traveled to New York to cut a single for Columbia Records featuring two original songs by the band, the Dylanesque “King of the Soap Box” (written by John Reynolds) and the fine 12-string song “He’s Lying”, written by Jerry Foster, both songs published by Red Brick Music, Inc BMI. Robert Mersey conducted and produced the single, released on Columbia 4-43670 in May, 1966

According to a comment by Lloyd McGlasson, the band’s members on the single were:

Jerry Foster – six string guitar and backing vocals
Lloyd McGlasson – 12 string guitar and backing vocals
John Reynolds – bass and lead vocals
Earnie Banks – drums (Ernie Banks?)

Other sources list additional members, including Vicki Spencer on backing vocals on the single, and even Charlie Brown. Vicki Spencer would sing with The Bubble Gum Machine on their 1967 LP for Senate Records.

These Bad Seeds were not the Texas group who had three singles on J-Beck, nor the group from Oxnard, California with a single “Why Oh Why” / “Hearts of Stone” on TVA.

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It’s too bad the Jokers never cut any other records ’cause both sides of this one are impassioned performances of original songs.

“What’cha Gonna’ Do” starts with a solid bass line over fleet and distant-sounding (from reverb) drumming. The lyrics come fast with some nice echos on guitar: “That little lamb, you call him man, eating out of your hand, his golden fleece, can bring you peace, now you wanna get past my door …” Harmonica wails along, the vocal harmonies come in, and the song hits crescendo of the chorus after barely half a minute.

The Jokers came out of Valpariso, Indiana, just southeast of Gary, and about an hour’s drive from downtown Chicago, where they recorded their single. The band’s members were:

Tom Allison – guitar, vocals
Frank Ball – guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Tim Walkoe – bass, vocals
Ron Januchowski – drums, vocals

Released on Destination 614 in October, 1965, according to the Sundazed compilation 2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60’s Garage & Psychedelia From U.S.A. And Destination Records “they cut their one Destination 45 with engineer Stu Black at Sound Studios. Stu had also engineered the early New Colony Six, which might explain the familiar Leslie guitar sound on the Jokers’ “‘I’ll Never Let You Go.'”

Ron Januchowski sang lead on “What’cha Gonna’ Do”, which was written by Tom Allison and David Roth. Frank Ball and Roth co-wrote “I’ll Never Let You Go”, with Destination and Tawny, BMI publishing both songs.

David Roth is supposed to have been a pharmacist who, under the name Bernard Roth, had written “Forty Days and Forty Nights” for Muddy Waters back in 1956. The Library of Congress lists both of the Jokers’ songs under Bernard Roth only, but BMI’s current database doesn’t list either song. It’s amazing that someone who wrote a few blues songs ten years earlier was able to cop some of Dylan’s quick patter on “What’cha Gonna’ Do”.

Although white label promos exist, this blue-label copy has asterisks by “What’cha Gonna’ Do” – and I’ve had another stock label that is identical but does not include these.

Thank you to Timothy Cox of the 60’s indiana band szene site for the extra info about the Jokers.

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The Rubber Maze released one excellent double-sided single on Tower 351 in July 1967, featuring two different styles. The A-side is “Mrs. Griffith”, typical of the soft psychedelia of the era, written by Marty Cooper, who co-produced the single with Ray Ruff.

Ray Ruff and Marty Cooper ran the Ruff and Sully labels, based out of Amarillo, Texas. Their publishing companies Little Darlin’ Music Co. and Checkmate Music BMI published both songs. I’ve read this single came out on the Ruff label but haven’t yet seen a copy.

The Rubber Maze formed in 1965 in San Francisco and moved to Orange County, CA. They started up as The Young Men From Boston, shortly there after change to The Maze, and in 1967 changed to The Rubber Maze. They disbanded in late 1968.

Lead vocals and drums: Reggie Boyd
Vocals, lead guitar and keyboard: Dennis Swinden
Vocals, rhythm guitar: Brian Blanchard
Vocals, bass and cello: Ronnie Verge
Alternate Member on vocals and lead guitar: Chad Blanchard

The clipping at the top comes from Mike Dugo of 60sgaragebands.com, part of a two-page write up on a Dick Clark tour with The Split Ends and Yellow Payges in 1968 in Teen Screen.

The Rubber Maze had no connection to the Maze who had the LP Armageddon on the MTA label.

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The Nokounts came from West, Texas, a small town south of Dallas and just north of Waco. The band released one single in August, 1964, “Hey Girl” / “I Saw Her Yesterday” on Venus 500/501. The A-side is a strong bluesy shuffle while the flip is a fast rocker.

The West News covered the band in a front-page article from August 28, 1964 titled “Nationwide Sale of Record by the Nokounts” with a lot of interesting information on the group:

Ron Kudelka, Butch Vochoska and Robert Ernst, all of West, Johnny Nash of Arlington and Randy Hudgins of Waco are members of the young group … they are looking forward to additional dates in Hillsboro, Waco and the famed teenage-nightclub “The Sugar Shack” in Dallas.

This record was also the first recording of Venus Records, Inc., a new company formed by several Hillsboro-West area people with the main office in Waco. Harmon Hunt of KHBR is president of the company and Miss LaNelle Duncan of West is Secretary-Treasurer.”

“Hey Girl” was recorded by Sellers Co. of Dallas and pressed by Wakefield of Phoenix, Arizona. Bill Lindsey of Dallas, nationally known for his hit recording of “Blue,” was the arranger for the recording company.

The Nokounts were originally organized by a group of West High Students [sic], and were first known as the Counts.

An ad for a teenage dance on Saturday, October 17, 1964 at the Playdium ran in the West News of West, TX on Friday the 16th saying “The Nokounts of West … Recording Stars on the Venus Label “Hey Girl” and “I Saw Her Yesterday” … Their Second record Will Be Released in December “I’m Alone” and “I Don’t Care”.

To my knowledge that second record was not released and those songs have never surfaced.

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The Lost Generation came from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and had one single on the Bofuz Enterprises label, “Let Me Out” / “They Tell Me” in 1966. Both sides are original songs.

“Let Me Out” has a great relaxed Stones feeling to it. Band members Michael Rhodes and Bob Keating wrote the song.

The flip is a different style, an echoing ballad that alternates harmonized verses with a mournful lead vocal. Mike Rhodes wrote this side.

John Herring sent in the photo above (courtesy of Pam Causey) and wrote to me about his career in music:

The personnel in the photo were the players on the Bofuz (Bonnie Fussel) record:

Bob Keating – lead vocals
Mike Rhodes – lead vocals
Ron Grassman – lead guitar
Ronnie Easley – rhythm guitar
John Herring – bass and vocals
Ronnie Schilling – drums

Mike Rhodes went on to a career in broadcasting (radio & television) primarily doing Sports for WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge.

I later played bass and sang in a three-piece power group, The Joint Effort with lead guitarist Jerry Heinberg (Souls of The Slain) and drummer Jimmy Rink, before joining Danny Cohen (Casey Kelly) from The Greek Fountains and Joe Miceli (A.J.’s older brother and the drummer for John Fred and The Playboys) in an L.A.- based group who recorded on A&M Records as The Luziana Band.

The Luziana Band also had guitarist/songwriters Jeffrey Comanor and Sammy Rubin (ye olde Inn Crowd) at different times.

Contrary what you may read elsewhere, this is not the same Lost Generation who had a single on Tear Drop 3195: “Baby!” (Allan Green, Gary Green) / “Night Time (Makes You Lonely)” in October 1968. That group came from the area around Freeport, Texas, including West Columbia, Clute and Lake Jackson. The members were Leonard ‘Beak’ Johnson (lead vocalist), Willie Funderburg (lead vocalist), Gary Greene (lead guitar), Larry Beal (organ), Mike Roberts (bass) and Pat O’Leary (drums).

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The Bed of Roses came out of the same Bay City, Michigan music scene as the Jayhawkers and Dick Rabbit. Like those artists, they recorded for Deltron Records.

In August, 1967, Deltron put out Bed of Roses’ first single, a cover of “I Don’t Believe You” (my copy has “ASCAP DYLAN” stamped on it) b/w a ragged raga-rock instrumental, “Hate” with no songwriting or production credits on the label.

Recently, Deltron’s parent company Delta Promotions came up for scrutiny in Daniel Ralston’s The True Story Of The Fake Zombies, The Strangest Con In Rock History, which I recommend highly, and if you like that you may also want to check out Mark Ramsey’s 2008 blog article, I Was a Teenage Fake Zombie .

I’ve read that in late ’67 the band moved to San Francisco for a short time, returning to tape a second single in a room above a record shop. However, “tea Records” is a Fenton custom label, so the band likely recorded the songs at Fenton’s Great Lakes Recording Studio.

The four-minute long “Quiet!” (written by F. Dash) was backed with “I Gotta Fight” (by J. Light), that starts out with a menacing feel, but the shouting chorus brings it out of that mood.

The single came out on tea Records 2577 in February 1968. I can find no list of band members. Copyright records show a F. Dash as a pseudonym of Fredrick Dashkovitz, the writer of a song called “My Feeling” published in November, 1968, however I don’t know if this is the same F. Dash.

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The Chimes of Freedom came from Scotia, New York, near Schenectady and Albany. “Jungle Rock” is known from Girls in the Garage, but the Dead Wax blog shows this was not an all-girl group: Mari Salato vocals, Chip Vedder vocals, Bill Pytlovany lead guitar, Paul Hamilton rhythm guitar, Jeff Austin bass guitar, and Darrell Francis drums.

Hamilton, Francis and Pytlovany wrote “Jungle Rock”, while the original A-side was “Did You Ever”, a ballad by Francis and Pytlovany.

This is a hard single to date, I don’t see anything in the dead wax other than stamped 102A/B, and the label code USS 102 is also obscure. The Robert Barry Music credit helps connect this to the Vibra-Sound Recording Studio in Schenectady.

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Here’s an obscure Century Custom pressing by Chuck Edwards and the Apaches with a mix of garage and earlier rock styles that I like. “She Let Me Go” has gravelly vocals (credited to Tony and Eddie) over a great band that features good drum fills, a deep bass line and nice guitar work, plus a saxophone to tie it to the old styles.

The flip, “Lonely Apache” (written by Tony III) is a good, low-key instrumental. I don’t know any names other than what’s on the labels.

Released on Ludo Records 19796, I’m not sure of the date. The labels read “Recorded for Ludo Records by Century Custom Recording, Montgomery 6, Alabama 36106”.

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