Monocled Alchemist

Primitive, Raw, Wild & Loud Mid-60s Punk-Rock Thumpers!

THE GENTLEMEN – “It’s A Cry’n Shame” – (Boyd Recording Service acetate) 1965, Dallas, Texas
Ever since their Vardan 45 was comped by Vic Figlar on “Pebbles Volume Five” the Gentlemen’s “It’s A Cry’n Shame” has been a legendary garage punk monster. Here’s the 1965 acetate version! AND: Here’s the lowdown on these cats. Tim Justice, drummer for the Gentlemen, gives the history of the band behind one of the most essential 45s of the 1960s, “It’s a Cry’n Shame”:

“The Gentlemen played in and around Dallas, Texas from 1964 until 1968, always enjoying a booked in advance schedule and putting on energy packed shows. Originally started by guitarist Seab Meador and drummer Tim Justice, they were joined by bassist Lonnie Taylor and guitarist and singer Mike Kelley in early 1965.

The band’s early musical direction was crafted by Meador whose guitar genius was recognized by all who came in contact with the group. Seab loved early Rolling Stones, Animals, Kinks and Yardbirds, concentrating heavily on the stylings of Jeff Beck.

“The band took on more of the rhythm and blues swagger of the Stones and Animals than the pop ballads of the Beatles and Dave Clark Five. Our original bass player was Lonnie Taylor, who lived in South Dallas and had a hard time making all the gigs.

We found Jimmie Randall, or he found us, and slowly the transition took place. I do remember a few nights when he AND Lonnie showed up and we played with two bass players. Heavy. Jimmie also remembers something that I didn’t, that he played bass on our first and earliest recordings, ‘Beg Borrow and Steal’, and ‘Here I Cannot Stay’, both written by Seab Meador.

Boy, were we young. Must have been 15 at the time. In the session, Seab was on guitar and singing, I was drumming, Jimmie Randall was on bass and Mike Kelly was on guitar. The later three sang backup. Seab penned both songs and as far as I know, there are only 2 copies of the acetate, one owned by me and the other by Jimmie Randall.

Jimmie reminds me that these AND the later ‘It’s a Cry’n Shame’ sessions were recorded at Summit [Sumet] Studio, and the master acetates where made upstairs at Boyd Recording Service. [This first session] cost $150 that we split four ways. We just wanted to see what we sounded like and never tried to find a label.

This unit played through 1965 with the addition of fellow Oak Cliff musician Jimmy Vaughan, later of the ‘Fabulous Thunderbirds’, creating a powerful duet with Meador during a several month stint. Meador and Vaughan forged a solid friendship during this time. In early 1966, the nucleus thatwould come to represent the band formed, including Meador, Kelley, Justice and new members Bruce Bland on bass and Tommy Turner on keyboards.

This incarnation solidified into a driving rock band that always brought down the house. They played venues such as Louann’s Club and the Studio Club in Dallas and Panther A’ Go-Go and The Box in Ft. Worth. During ’66, The Gentlemen opened for James Brown at the Dallas Convention Centre, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, and The Beau Brummels at Louann’s.

They played along side Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison at Panther A’ Go-Go. “Tom Brown, president of Vandan Records heard us play at LouAnn’s Club in Dallas, and wondered if we would do some writing with him and Gene Garretson, his arranger.

After several weeks, we came up with a song called ‘You Can’t Be True’ and what was considered the B-side, ‘It’s a Cry’n Shame’. We liked ‘Cry’n Shame’ better, but Gene spent a lot of time arranging violins and multiple tracks for ‘You Can’t Be True’ so that was the track they pushed.

It took us nearly two weeks to record ‘You Can’t Be True’, and as a complete after-thought, two takes and probably one hour to slam down ‘It’s a Cry’n Shame’.

Therein lies the genuine spontaneity that makes it pure straight ahead punk rock, I suppose. The result was what has now become a garage rock classic. ‘It’s a Cry’n Shame’ has been referred to by the G45 LEGENDS listings as: ‘One of the top 10 tracks to play to anyone you need to convert to 60s garage-ism. Absolute perfection in every respect, including barnstorming drumming, scorching fuzz guitar complete with ripping break, bass alternately swooping and thumping. Add to this the distinctive vocals which combine the best pop sensibilities with the classic Texas punk sneer, and simple yet effective backing vocals. Everything’s just perfect.’

“Bruce Bland, our bass player, was playing a no brand bass guitar that he picked up at a thrift shop for $50. He had a Fender for gigs but this thing was so funky-butt ugly and had a fuzzy thumping sound, perfect for Cry’n Shame. Seab Meador had a gaping hole in the centre of his Vox Super Beatle so that he could stick his guitar neck inside to get the Fuzz tone that is prevalent on ‘Cry’n Shame’. He was a big Yardbirds follower.”

Mike Kelley, our singer and guitarist, stuck his finger in the master tape spool by accident when it was rewinding, causing the strange modulation during the final cord at the end of the record. Since the mix had been finalized, it stayed in . . . Brown then pressed 1 or 2 thousand of the dreadfully flat Vandan copies and sent them to his DJ cronies in Detroit, Philly and Boston for airplay.

A few weeks later when we were having the photograph made at the Studio Club in Dallas, a triumphant Brown walked in with a copy, (Jan. 1967) of Record World Magazine. In the 4 Star Rating column of hits to watch were 3 songs, ‘For What It’s Worth’, by the Buffalo Springfield, ‘Somebody to Love‘, by the Jefferson Airplane, and ‘It’s a Cry’n Shame’ by the Gentlemen.

We wondered how that could be at the time, whether Tom Brown paid someone for that privilege, but now I think maybe that song got there on it’s own merit. After all, it was suppose to be the B-side. Ha. I remember when that 45 came out, it was sent to KLIF and KNOK radio stations is Dallas and they began to play it. We, of course, were completely beside ourselves. We had accepted a job playing at a large auditorium `go-go’ show in south Dallas with several other bands, but our new song established us as the band to beat.

The promoters arranged to have two off duty Dallas police cars intercept us a few blocks from the gig. Girls were lined up several deep wanting autographs and such, so we had to run through them to get to our room back stage. Once there, a guard was stationed by our door and we could see girls jumping up to look in the little opera window, yelling and screaming.

Bands were rotating equipment so that there were always two setups on stage. A band called Mike and the Midnighters played before us, and then it was our turn. We typically dressed in collarless jackets (Nehru Jackets they were called at the time) with gold ascots, stovepipe black slacks and Beatle boots, of course.

What a crowd reaction! Several hundred wild kids whooping it up! When we finished and started off stage, several girls ran through the equipment to get to us, knocking over the Midnighter’s drum kit. The bass drum rolled over and fell off stage. They were very mad, but we were very happy, as this was about as close to That 60s British Rock Star Magic’ as a bunch of 16 year old kids from Dallas would ever get.

It was two takes for Cry’n Shame because Tom Brown was out of money. Shortly after he showed up with the magazine, we showed up at his home to find a for sale sign and no furniture. We would find our later that he was down to his last cash and skipped town to avoid creditors. We never saw him again, but read that he moved to Los Angeles to start over. He died there not long after.

In 1967, Seab Meador left the Gentlemen to pursue his quest for guitar immortality, including stints with Dallas bands The Bridge and The Werewolves. Guitarist Danny Sanchez who later played with the Roy Head band took over lead duties, but the magic that surrounded the core group was partially lost with Seab’s departure.

The Gentlemen disbanded in early 1968 as other goals became important. Like so many bands of this era, we had an incredible time playing music that we loved during a time when 16 to 18 year old high school kids were able to live lives far more mature than their ages implied. It was a unique time that will never be repeated.

Texas is known for braggin’ rights, and I realize that this bio contains some strong bragging, but I was and still am so proud to have played with such a great bunch of guys. You can’t buy that kind of friendship and strong ties.

Seab and Mike have passed away, but I am still in touch with Tommy and Bruce and since we all still play our given instruments, a Gentlemen musical reunion is being discussed down in Dallas later this year. We may be a lot older, but at heart, we’re still kids from Oak Cliff and we can still rock.” Tim Justice, Drummer, The Gentlemen.

Jimmie Randall on the Gentlemen: “My connection was my friendship with Seab Meador. He introduced me to Tim and the other guitar player was Mike Kelley. They all went to Kimball High School in Dallas, I was at Sunset til we moved to Duncanville. They seemed to like my playing and let me be a sort of honorary member.

I played with Lonnie on guitar in The Squires maybe that’s how I met Seab who knows? Not me. Everybody was changing bands so often then. I think because we were all learning to play and searching for a style and sound. It was like you sort of ‘outgrew’ one band and went on to the next size up. I do always say that the Gentlemen was the first ‘real’ band I was in. They had a real song list and could actually play.

My time with the Gentlemen was really never as the ‘official’ bass player. I filled in some and played on a recording and on the Panther Hall TV show on Channel 11 from Ft. Worth. We even played a gig at Oak Cliff Country Club with two bass players . . . with predictable results. But we were 15 and 16 years old what did we know besides it was fun.

Anyway as far as the Gentlemen recording I don’t really remember what was up with that. I know we did it at Summit Studios [Sumet Sound Studio]. I have the original acetate. These two songs [‘Beg, Borrow and Steal’ & ‘Here I Cannot Stay’] really showed off Seab’s early guitar licks and writing capabilities.

It was recorded for our appearance on the Ft. Worth TV show that was on Friday nights on channel 11 from Panther Hall . . . a club on Camp Bowie. My first TV appearance was there with The Gentlemen.

Seab and I got my mom to drive us over in her old Ford station wagon. First ‘out of town gig.’ Lots of local bands were on that show. I remember the night we were there a group called the Warlocks played I think Dusty and Rocky Hill were in that band they had a girl singer and all dressed in black.

Also Johnny Greene and the Green-men a show band with horns. Sort of a Wayne Cochran deal except with Giant green pompadour hair, instead of giant white pompadours. That was the first time I played with Seab. Later we tried to form a couple of bands, one of which was called the Hurricanes in Houston with Brian Papageorge and Ron Barnett. That became the Werewolves when Ron and I left to rejoin Gary Myrick in his band Slip of the Wrist. Seab was a great friend I was at the hospital the night before he died. He taught me a lot. I miss him still.”

THE SHAKLES – “Whizz #7” (Jamaka 2581) 1967, Texas Cowbell-intro’d fuzzladen teenrockin’ HOOT that, unfortunately, there is ZILCH as far as band info goes, so in steps Ben Olins with an on-the-spot impression of the song itself: “From somewhere in the great sun-baked state of Texas comes this bizarre fantasy powered by brutal fuzz, berserk drums and unsettling chord changes.

It’s about an international playboy who chases the girls in London, Paris and Stockholm but chooses to spend his spare time ‘up in his room’ experimenting with ‘exotic perfume’.

File under: wishful thinking.” The flipside, “Just Thinking Of You”, is a gem of suicidal teen garage misery. You’ll soon be able to glom that via a new series coming soon on Crypt.

UNKNOWN GROUP “When I Feel Better” (Hollywood Central Recorders acetate) unknown date, unknown band origin Perfect yet polished, almost Major Label-sounding fast-paced organ raving mover from, most likely, Los Angeles. It’s a drag not being able to say more about the band but with no name listed, it’s best y’just enjoy it.

KNOLL ALLEN AND THE NOBLE SAVAGES “Animal” (Primate 1001) December 1966, Caldwell, New Jersey Neanderthalic, screechingly solo’d, sex-driven MONSTROSITY that has somehow slipped below the radar all these years, especially that it’s from NJ, and you’d figure with all the heavy-duty NJ/NY/PA area record fairs and record fiends this would’ve been found and compel ages ago!

Back From The Grave | Volume 9 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014

Alan Brower, born December 13 1943 in New York City, relocated with his family to Caldwell, New Jersey, and formed his first band, The Neptunes, a surf combo, in 1962 at age 18 and began playing the Jersey shore clubs and a nightclub in Edison. Beatle & Stones mania arrived and Alan shifted to vocals and lead guitar and began writing lots of originals and continued to gig around NYC and NJ as The Soler System.

In December 1966 he and rhythm guitarist Guy Roberts wrote and recorded “Morning Glory” and “Animal”, then Alan headed to NYC with a 1/2 track reel to reel tape of both tracks and tried to play it for Mike Curb of Tower Records, in from the West Coast for business.

Unfortunately there was no reel deck at the office to play the two songs for Curb, so Alan decided to press up the two songs on his own Primate label, complete with crudely drawn gorilla, and must have pressed it in a miniscule quantity, as there are only two copies in existence, and Alan’s son and brother Rodney first got to hear it in December 2013.

Alan got a second chance in late 1967, re-recording “Animal” as “Animalia” in a more “psychedelic” style at the Brill Building with bigtime producer Jimmy Lenner, but that was never released.

Alan then formed a band, Water, for 1968-1969, playing the Metropol bar in Times Square and the Cloverleaf in Caldwell. On May 14 1968 Lennon and McCartney go on The Tonight Show to announce their formation of Apple Records. Alan has a pal that knows which hotel the Beatles are hanging at, sneaks in with tapes of Water, plays them for John & Paul, and almost gets signed to Apple.

Alan grew frustrated with music, spent time in the 70s and 80s as a cab driver in NYC before moving into a career in healthcare, but continued to do private recordings, then started playing gigs again in the 1990s as Timmy Pike Wolf, before passing away on May 2, 2010.

THE DONSHIRES – “Sad And Blue” (unissued reel tape, discovered by Erik Lindgren in 2000) 1965, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
A huge THANK YOU to Erik Lindren of Arf-Arf Records for unearthing this unissued and monstrous Keggs-ian teen clunker during his massive research on Harrisburg, PA’s The Legends. And to Jerry Musser and Joe Caloiero of the Donshires for saying “Yes” to their gem being included herein!

The Donshires played from mid 1964 until 1967, in the Harrisburg area. The band formed when Joe Caloiero and Paul Stivale, both graduates of Bishop McDevitt H.S. hooked up with Dave Still and Jerry Musser, John Harris grads.

Jerry Musser: “I had a Silvertone (Dan-electro) from Sears and Roebuck . . . the amp was embedded in the actual case. Before the Beatles, I mostly listened to country music. Loved all the greats: Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Ferlin Husky, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison. I learned guitar playing my church. My father was one of the ministers. It was Pentecostal and, so, there were few limitations, especially as to how music was played.

There was an old guy who’d been friends with Les Paul. I loved this guy. So cool. Then, the son of a travelling evangelist from the South visited. This guy, Jimmie Harding, had an ace Fender Strat. That was it for me. I had to learn. Since this happened about the time of the Beatles, it was a force too strong to fight.

Off to Sears and that Silvertone! I’d tried a few bands. Some attempts lasted no more than a few weeks. Some, a few months. They were all start-ups. No one was established at that point. I was in a band called The Illusion. (seems I always ending up naming the bands I was in. Odd that . . . since I write now, among other things).

We played things like ‘Telstar.’ Or, anything by The Ventures. That didn’t last long (I think we played maybe three gigs . . . birthday party, pool party, etc).

The next band was a few of us who’d met from knowing other bands. I named it ‘Wainwright’s Kite.’ About the same kind of music we played in The Illusion. It lasted even less. We had a great bass drum graphic though. I grew up with a guy who’s dad had a sign painting company. I’d show up at their door and ask if he’d mind doing a drum-head for our band. He always said yes.

A couple of days later, he’s give me this piece of art work . . . freehand, not less (no computers back then). The same guy did The Donshires drum head you’ve seen in that instrument shot. The lovely guy always charged the same, $5. No kidding.

Jerry: The Donshires formed when I was 16, I’m fairly sure. I’m not quite sure how I’d met Dave Still. Maybe at school. Junior High School. Edison, by name. He wanted to play drums. I was already pretending to play guitar. We used to do songs with just the two of us.

Back From The Grave | Volume 9 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014

I specifically remember working out the chords to ‘Chains’ (the Beatles’ version). So, me on guitar . . . Dave, on drums . . . doing ‘Chains.’ What a hoot. We soon realized we needed other guys. Dave came to me and said he knew of someone who played guitar and sang (Joe Caloiero). And, ‘that guy’ had a friend who also played guitar (Paul Stivali). They showed up at Dave’s house one day. We plugged in and played together. It was fun, so we kept going.

After a few weeks, we realized we needed the addition of a BASS guitar rather than three guitars. Joe suggested he wouldn’t mind learning bass but that he couldn’t afford one. My father, dear dear man, bought me, then, a Gibson Falcon bass and a Ampeg piggyback amp. So, we were set.

The band name? On this, I have a fairly clear memory. Indeed, I remember the precise corner of Harrisburg where I’d thought of it (17th and Sycamore Streets, Harrisburg). I was walking Dave back to his house from my house. It was dark. We’d talked the whole way about a name. ‘We have to have a cool name. Something British.’ I eventually arrived at ” . . . so many towns in England have ‘Shire’ in their name. Maybe something with ‘Shire’ in it?”

As soon as I’d said that, I blurted out ‘Don!’ To this day, I have NO IDEA why the syllable ‘don’ occurred to me. But, I quickly attached ‘Don’ with ‘Shire’ and the rest is . . . well, if not history, it’s somewhat interesting.

Dave paused a moment, said it a few times, and we both were elated that we came up with a name. The Donshires. It’s weird . . . but it does sound rather English.

Donshires songs: I don’t recall ever having a conversation about ‘original stuff.’ In fact, I’m not even sure why we bothered with the original tracks we did . . . that we recorded. I’m guessing here . . . but, probably, someone suggested that they knew of a recording studio . . . and that agents (or, record companies) would want to hear original material . . . so, we must have come up with something. Joe reminded me of this recently . . . the lyric to the track you seem to like so much (Sad and Blue) was done by Dave.

Back From The Grave | Volume 9 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014

I may have helped a bit, I’m not sure. But, I probably recommended the chord progression (I couldn’t possibly call what I’d done as ‘writing the music’). I can’t even remember rehearsing that song . . . but, we must have.

On the track, ‘Tripeline,’ that was all mine . . . sadly. In fact, that name was made up on the spot when the guy from New England wanted to include it on the Legends double disc. I’m not sure if I’d ever named it. So, using the ever-popular ‘Pipeline’ of the era, I named it ‘Tripeline,’ because I don’t think much of it.

When we were in that recording studio, the production guy as if we had another track, I’d suggested that I had. I introduced it to the guys then and there (as I remember it) and then, we recorded it. I was making up the ‘lead’ as I went. But, at least we had TWO tracks recorded.

We never rehearsed at Joe or Paul’s house. It was either at my house, or Dave’s. Both Dave’s parents and my parents were completely and totally behind us. I do not remember either family ever complaining about our noise. We’d started, I believe, in my parent’s garage (‘Garage Band,’ yes). But, we lacked enough electrical outlets so, we eventually moved into our basement.

Some of the photos you’ve seen were shot in that basement rehearsal room. Later on, Dave’s family allowed us to rehearse in their basement. It was larger. To this day, I don’t think I’d ever met Paul’s parents. I’ve met Joe’s parents a few times. And, of course, we dealt with Dave’s parents all the time. We played shows in a lot of, believe it or not . . . Fire Houses. Yes, buildings that housed fire fighting equipment. It was the thing to do back then.

I guess, somewhere along the line, the fire companies had the bright idea they could make some money on their facilities so, they pulled the fire trucks out and the band moved in. We also played in some Veterans clubs. And, a few community halls. We played, well, where there was a stage and space for people to watch, listen and dance.

Managing and show booking: We did it all ourselves. As I remember it, Dave mostly took care of the gigs. For a smallish guy (the drummer), he took a lot of control. Most of the time, it was a good thing. At one point, a well known and popular DJ from our area wanted to manage us. In fact, he’d set up a session for a record company to hear us in Philadelphia.

Back From The Grave | Volume 9 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014

We were ex-cited. We took off school to make the trip. At the last minute, he said he was ill or his dog died or his wife was in a car accident . . . or something. Bottom line, the chance died and it was never renewed.

We had, I believe, just a couple of variations: Beatle boots, for sure (yes, those wonderful Cuban heels). Burgundy sport jackets. Pink Shirts. Black pants. The Cuban heels reminds me of an embarrassing event: We were to play some room at a country club. We arrived at dusk, set up and waited around but got bored so we went outside and noticed a beautiful golf green. We thought it a great idea to ‘re-enact’ the scene from Hard Day’s Night on some field where the Beatles are shot from a helicopter. They’re acting silly and such.

We did the same . . . on that golf green . . . with our Cuban heeled shoes. A few days later, one of our parents received a threat from the country club that we ruined their green . . . THOUSANDS of dollars worth of damage. I guess the parent who got that message (I’m thinking it was Dave’s dad) talked himself out of it. But, the country club vowed never to book us again. Terrible, silly mentality of youth.

FAVE CONCERT: From my memory, we played a new years eve gig in Lykens, Pennsylvania. A smallish mountain town. It was some sort of large, community hall. I recall someone talking about 1500 to 2000 people. It was jammed, that’s for sure. Girls screamed. People were nuts. We loved it. We felt rock stars. But, at the end, exhausted, we still had to break down our gear and stick into our parents’ car for the trek home, sweating like steelworkers.

I remember doing a large concert at The Zembo Mosque in Harrisburg. It was, I think, a prom dance or something. The gig went fine but when we were doing our trips to and from the cars with gear, I noticed some guy walking out in his fancy suit with his dick hanging out . . . acting like it was nothing.

I can only imagine it was to do with a dare. Then, we once were asked to play at the local Jewish community centre. We got there and found out we were not allowed to set up on their stage because we weren’t Jewish. We thought it odd but just set up on the main floor and played a fun gig.”

Jerry left the Donshires in early 1966, replaced by Chuck Oaks. The Donshires broke up in the fall of 1967, as Dave Still had started college, and the logistics of trying to practice and play together became very difficult, so, shortly thereafter, the band decided to disband. Joe Caloiero went on to join local biggies The Legends in 1968.

THE STARFYRES – “No Room For Your Lies” (Burr 1001) 1967, Lansford, Pennsylvania
One of the greatest teen garage laments of all time, (girl ditches guy, regrets said move, wants to come back, but guy has already found a New Love) driven along by a whomping drum beat!

Unfortunately this was mastered at a super low volume back in 1967 and even a mint copy plays with a bit of hiss, but just CRANK this up and ENJOY! (You can also hear the fantastic flip, “Captain Dueseldorph”, on a soon to arrive new series on Crypt.)

Lansford, Pennsylvania’s The Starfyres were a four-piece of 16 year-olds, consisting of Patrick “Paddy” McCarroll (guitar and vocals) and Joe “Sep” (abbreviation of JoSeph) Fittos (guitar), Andy (drums) and Michael “Flako” Lasko (bass).

Patrick’s parents were proud of their rock ‘n’ rolling son, as he was bringing home money to help out with the costs, as he had nine brothers and sisters. Standard covers were of the Beatles and Stones and DC5, playing at many of the region’s American Legions and VFW halls, cruising to the shows in Patrick’s dad’s station wagon.

“Captain Dueseldorph’ was written before the Starfyres’ formation. They already had the recording gig set up in Philly, but they only had one song for the 45. I offered to present my stuff, and they chose two of my songs!!!!

Everyone was nervous, and Andy had a hard time with the drums. My voice was cracking, but we took the best cut . . . Joe totally made up the high guitar part!!! He is a awesome guy!!!! We walked around Philly faking British accents. to see if we could attract any females!!!!

The studio was called Virtue Records in Philadelphia PA. Raymond Burr, a Pastor of a church in Lansford, offered the lads funding to record and press up the single. (Patrick: “Raymond was a class guy.”) Tragically, Flako died in a car accident and the Starfyres packed in, as his death really impacted the other three. Patrick then formed The Liberators but that soon ended as half the band were drafted off to Vietnam, and Patrick went off to trade school.

Liner notes taken from Volume 9. Read more Graves here.