Snarling Snotty Mid ’60s Teenage Garage Punk Hoot!!
THE SIRES “Don’t Look Now” (Graves 1094) 1966, Eugene, Oregon
Doomed, haunting, DARKLY brooding tale of teen heartache (from the GIRL’s side, in a rare REVERSE of the usual “that girl broke my heart” sentiment) from these Eugene teens. Allen Graves that ran the Graves record label often had very murky, crackly recordings, and the Sires two sides were marred by this.
Says Mike Briggs: “One of the details is that although I wasn’t listed as a singer in some earlier stuff, myself and Marty were the leads and during the recording they had us sing into a garbage can that held a mike . . . to create some echo I guess.”
So that may well explain the sound! But in any case, the DOOM of this song is what made me choose to include it, so just enjoy, as we’ve broken ass to get it in as stellar a sound as we can! Listen closely and you can hear the riff of Devo’s “Mongoloid”, a good ten years prior to the Akronites!
“The Sires were teenagers from Eugene and nearby Springfield, Oregon, forming at Sheldon High School in 1964 at ages 15 and breaking up in 1969.
Recorded in 1966, the members were: Marty Berg (vocals); Ron Craig (lead guitar); Mike Briggs (bass, rhythm guitar); Roger Koliece (keyboards); Dean Lowman (bass, vocals), replaced on bass by Warner (Doc) Swebke; Robert Grebb (drums).
Ron Craig had been in the Tempters out of Springfield with Joe Crippen and Dave Rodakowski who were later in the Eugene-based group Truth. They played nightclubs in Florence, Oakridge and at a ballroom in Eugene. They won some battles of the bands and came in second to the Gentlemen Wild in a state-wide contest. Bruce Mitchell managed the band.
The Sires paid Alan Graves to record them in his basement home studio in Eugene, and he would have them pressed up on his own label.
Bassist Mike Briggs recalls: “I do not have any photos, our manager had most of them and he disappeared. Local bands included the Rogues and I had occasionally sat in with Little John and the Monks. Our favourite bands were Stones and Beatles, locally the Wailers, whose “Out Of Our Tree” the Sires would cover at gigs.
My parents didn’t really approve of me being in a hand and they finally ended my participation. For rehearsing we had an arrangement with a grade school and practiced in their gym. Clubs played included The Tork Club, Auditorium, University of Oregon, Erb memorial, various high schools, Crystal Ball Room, fairgrounds in various cities, including shows we opened for Roy Clark, Dick and Deedee, Wailers, Sonics, Don and the Goodtimes, the Rascals, and the Salem Auditorium state battle of the bands, where we came in second (boooooo!).
One particular show memory was we were on a three level stage, and Marty and I climbed to the top level (drummer) on a down stroke starting a song, and we jumped to the first level, and actually went through the stage buried up to our chests! Another show the electricity went off just as we were beginning at a boat show.
We got to record our 45 because we won a battle of the bands that had a contract to the winner, but just for that single, as we had an opportunity to sign another long term contract but our parents would not approve . . .
Back From The Grave | Volume 10 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014
IT’S THEM/TTHHEMM “Baby (I Still Want Your Lovin’) (Toy Tiger 101) November 1966, Cincinnati Ohio
Monstrous, brooding (keeping the DARKNESS of The Sires tune rolling!) garage with a slab of soul inflection from Cinci’s THEM.
Mike Markesich: “This group got to rockin’ back in ’61 as the Torquays: George Makrauer (drums), Paul Simons (lead guitar and vocals), Eugene Katona (bass and vocals), Stan Hertzman (rhythm guitar, keyboards, and vocals), all students at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lotsa practice and gigs around town scored the band a contract to record for thee mighty King Record label in the fall of ’64. The guys opted to ditch the Torquays moniker after hearing about another Torquays based in Lexington KY makin’ noise in the vicinity. The updated moniker chosen before the recording session: “Them”.
It borrowed from the ’50s classic sci-fi thriller move about giant-sized ants. “Don’t Look Now”/”A Girl Like You” hit the streets in late November, 1964, a mighty two-sided rocker of highest order. Them were completely unaware of the “other” group based overseas in jolly ‘ol Ireland using the same moniker.
The guys were enrolled at the University of Cincinnati by late’64, and added a two more members in early 1966: a female singer, Mary Ellen Tanner, and another guitarist, Steve Welkom, who came from another group and was a few years younger than the rest of the guys. Steve composed the song “Baby (I Still Want Your Lovin’)” and sang the lead vocal.
The fall, 1966 session was also recorded at King studios, but the release was issued on the Toy Tiger label, run by a local promoter. A potential contract was in the works around the time of the second 45, with Them potentially signing to Brian Epstein’s American management division.
Back From The Grave | Volume 10 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014
THE ORPHANS “Hey Gyp” (Herbst 527) 1967, Cedar Lake, Iowa BRUTAL, overdriven, CRUNCHING cover of, yes, a DONOVAN song(!!) on BFTG!
NOBODYS CHILDREN “Mother’s Tin Moustache” (Deek 1021) April 1967, Las Vegas, Nevada
INSANE, just plain NUTSO instro punk beast supreme from Sin City! First a few words on th’ song itself: When interviewing Henry, Joe, Jay & Charles in November 2013 the first thing I popped on ’em was “The riff’s from the Yardbirds’ “Lost Woman Blues”, right?” all around “YEP!”
Joe jumped in with “We weren’t really aware of it at the time, and I think there are a few little differences”. So, what’s up with that crazy JUNGLE DRUM BEAT? Were you Pretty Things fans? “Who????” was the reply.
NC: “You’ve gotta understand that Vegas circa 1967 was a population 50,000 Cowtown, and not many touring bands made it here, never mind that the radio was geared around the whole Sinatra/Dean Martin/Sammy Davis/Vegas Performer thing.”
Then: “As far as that ‘Jungle Drum’ thing, we were just trying to approximate the WIGGLE of a gal’s BUTT as she’d sashay down the street!” . . .
OK: so my next question: “What’s up with that ‘Keep that turtle out of my cabbage patch’ chant and the ‘that sure is a funny picture of your mother and me’ chant?”
NC: “OK, we had a ‘kind of “manager” of sorts named Johnny Sterling, he later was involved in Love in the early 70s, and he was older and more “hip” to the oncoming drug thing, and he’s allegedly gotten singer Joe Spitale and guitarist Greg McKenzie stoned for their first time with real “musician’s weed” at his gal Joanne’s pad?
Johnny says “Ok, Greg, what’s the first thing you can think of?” and Greg, righteously (again, ‘allegedly’) ripped by then, replies “Keep that turtle out of my cabbage patch”, then a few mins later Greg spouts “that sure is a funny picture of your mother and me” when looking at pictures on Johnny’s bookshelf. So those two phrases became the “lyrics” when recording the 45 a few days later, with Greg doing the chants.
Joe, who was busy playing washboard on “Mother’s Tin Moustache”, wanted to preserve his vocal chords for their more ethereal “Colors And Shapes” (written by Joe and Henry). That nutty guitar sound was from Greg McKenzie using a broken pocket comb as a pick! Greg would also overlap 2 or 3 guitar picks with glue to get exotic sounds.
(45 session line-up: Henry Corro (guitar, age 16), Greg McKenzie (guitar, age 18), Joe Spitale (singer, age 17), Charlie Perri (drums, age 18), Jay Painter (bass, age 18).)
Anyhoot: Joe Spitale (singer) forms his first band, The Vectors, in 1964, mostly doing Stones covers. Jay Painter (bass) and Charles Perri (drums) along with Andy Robinson and Ron Moutry formed a band called The Villagers in ’65. Their next combo was The Huns, losing Ron Moutry and adding on Henry Corro (guitar) and a keyboard player, Bruce Adler. Upon the Huns drumhead were the initials ‘BFD.’, standing far ‘Big Fuckin’ Deal’ (!!!).
The Huns broke up after The Lords (Fred Cole, Danny Bennett, Hans Grubner, soon to become The Weeds, yes, of “It’s Your Time” fame!) stole Huns keyboardist Bruce. Meanwhile in 1966, Joe Spitale (singer), Greg McKenzie (guitar) a drummer named Dave and a guitarist, Alex Cheney, form Nobody’s Children, later adding Gary Preistess on bass.
They soon start rehearsing at a room in Dave’s dad’s motel in North Las Vegas (and had use of the motel’s swimming pool). Henry Corro soon replaces Alex on guitar. Joe accidentally took a chunk out of Henry’s brand new Gibson Firebird with his tambourine, but there’s no love lost, and Nobody’s Children start gigging, with their cool as hell adhesive taped-lettering “Nobody’s Children” drumhead.
Gary flipped off the principal at a junior high school gig for unplugging the amps and closing the curtain, getting NC pretty much banned from playing any more school gigs (never mind the fact that NC were quite loud and arrogant!).
Gary’s father was in the Military and was re-assigned, so NC lost its first bass player. Henry called Jay and asked if he was willing to join, and he agreed. In spite of the ban, the lads had plenty of gigs at the Teenbeat Club and elsewhere, including one scary gig at the Twin Lakes (now Lorenzi) Park perched atop the roof of the locker rooms, where a few nasty kids started taunting them and throwing stuff at them.
Back From The Grave | Volume 10 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014
Jay, an electronics whizz, created a light show, with a little help from Greg. The lads began appropriating a buncha lawn lamps around various neighbourhoods, and Nobody’s Children blasted forth as the first band in Vegas with it’s own light show, debuting it at the National Guard Armory.
It grew, and added effects like “liquid light” and ultimately grew into a production dubbed Empty Eyesocket. The band got their first weekly gig playing at a local City operated “Teen Centre” and developed a following — complete with the requisite ‘groupies’. They were booked as Las Vegas opening act for several touring groups from The Electric Prunes to The Animals.
Jay, quite the rebel teen (as ye can guess by his lamp acquisition skills), got chucked out of Western High in ’66 for his long hair. Gig transport was via Joe’s Pontiac Tempest station wagon, and roadie Randy Holcomb’s ’56 Ford station wagon. A local music equipment shop, Southern Nevada Music was looking to promote and sell their Vox amps, so they held auditions by way of a “contest” and hired Johnny Sterling (a local pro lounge musician) to pick the most promising band.
Sterling picked the NC lads and a session was set up, at first right smack in the middle of the store, and ultimately at Billy Porter’s United Recording Studio. Sterling was the last one to possess the master to several of the NC recordings. (Efforts to get access to the masters and get Joe’s fender PA system back have been unsuccessful.)
Porter, (who later became Elvis’ house mixer), upon hearing the first verse on “Moustache” yells “cut!”, comes out of the booth and changes the mic thinking it was defective. The lads fire up once more, Porter again stops the tape, and again replaces the “defective” mic. Then the band informs Porter, “No, man, that sound is what we WANT!”
The boys each received one copy of the 45 for their efforts. KENO radio started playing “Colors And Shapes” (actually the A side of the record), but because there were so many requests for it, the DJ’s pulled it accusing the band of hyping all the request calls, something the band SWEARS was not true.
In 1968, artistic differences arose, which caused Jay and Charlie to leave the band. So losing two main members of Nobody’s Children kind of broke up the band for a bit, but in mid 1968 three new members joined: Danny Harlow (organ), John Baker (drums), Ruban Cabanas (bass).
This lineup played at the Ice Palace battle of the bands, with the Beach Boys as the judges, and NC won 2nd place for best band and 1st place for most original song. Unfortunately winning the contest cost NC their original song, “Taking It Easy”, which was taken to Hollywood to be re-recorded by The Little People for A&M Records.
Henry had to split Vegas because of the Vietnam draft, and as his family originally came from Mexico City, he headed home. One more attempt to get back together was made by Joe and Jay, but Henry had proven impossible to replace, and Joe got pretty much fed up with the whole thing. Henry leaving the US and later Jay’s induction into the Army ended it.
SOUTH SOUL “Lost” (Action 101) September 1966, Shreveport, Louisiana
This shall no doubt rocket its way to the Top of all the (oft-gag-inducing!) Euro “Mod DJ” want lists via the three “groovy” organ parts, but it is a most Excellent chunk o’ Louisiana garage greatness nonetheless! Vocal cat has a Rudy Wyatt (the Wyld, the Roots) snarl down pat, and the lyrics are pure “unloved” teen brilliance. Pure pop perfection that Should Been Big.
Back From The Grave | Volume 10 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014
THE HOT BEATS “Listen” (Rychard 61662) June 1966, Bristol, Rhode Island
Kink-riffed primal THUNK from this team o’ RI teens! and . . . here’s the COMPLETE lowdown on these cats from Detective supreme Jason Litchfield: Hands down — Bristol High School in Bristol, R.I., gets the award for the coolest Class of 1966 in the entire state of Rhode Island.
The student body yielded not only Ron Medeiros and the Night Rockers, but also the band responsible for this long-forgotten, two-sided scorcher of a disc: The Hotbeats. No lightweight ballad flipside here, folks . . . the Hotbeats come out swinging with a Kinks-riffed girl putdown complete with blistering guitar solo, backed with a grungy “Indian-beat” instro. Yeee-0000www!
The Hotbeats consisted of Denny Rodrigues (pronounced “Rod-rix”) on vocals and tambourine, his brother Dominic “Rid” Rodrigues on bass, George Oliver on lead guitar, Dan Rogers on rhythm guitar and Bobby “Bomba” Morris on drums. The crew were all seniors at Bristol High School except for Dominic and 14-year-old guitar prodigy George Oliver. (Paul “Flyers” Ferrera, who was in the first incarnation of the band, had brought over his younger next-door neighbour to sit in on a practice.”Guys, you’ve got to hear this kid play!” The lead guitar position filled itself.)
The band was managed by Jim Wilson, Dan’s uncle who was a mere eight years older at age 24. Jim hit it off with WPRO radio personality Howie Holland, which helped the Hotbeats land slots at Rocky Point and the Channel 12-sponsored State Fair. But Uncle Jim did more than just line up performances for the crew; he also shuttled them to the gigs in his station wagon.
In June 1966, the Hotbeats cut their sole 45. (The date can be pinpointed with the number on the record label: “JW6166” translates into Jim Wilson and the date of June 1, 1966.) The songs were cut in a basement studio in Riverside, R.I., by the little brother of the best man at Jim’s wedding. The project was financed with gig money — as they racked up performances, they’d divide the proceeds by one extra member and put the extra cash aside for the single.
Now, the word “Listen” is only mentioned once in the entire song. But the title would have made more sense if the pressing plant —Golden Crest in New York, infamous for styrene pressings where the labels invariably fall off — didn’t trim off the beginning of the recording. In its original form, the tune started off with Denny whispering “Listen” before the drums kick in.
The band was not happy to find that the engineers took it upon themselves to cut out that part. In the pre-draft years before rock and roll turned introspective, intellectual and down-right serious, teenage subject matter basically revolved around one thing: girls. Hotties, heartbreakers, cheaters and cheatees. And to top off the whole package is the label name, “Rychard.”
During sound check, Denny would repeat “Richard, Richard” instead of the typical “check, check.” Well, turns out this was a case of wisecracking teens getting one over on the adults, yet again. When I asked George what the odd label name meant, he pointed to his groin and said, “You know, Richard.” Eureka!
Releasing a 45 meant that the Hotbeats could now perform on Wing Ding, a local television show on WPRO. (Bands were only allowed to play if they cut a record.) “Listen” apparently proved too raw and wild for prime time, as the execs rejected the A-side and opted to play the instrumental flipside instead.
It must have been hilarious to watch frontman Denny, relegated to the sole function of hitting the tambourine throughout the duration of “Injun” in front of the studio audience.
The Hotbeats gigged steadily and secured a spot on Saturday nights at Bambi’s in Newport, a teen club of which Papa Cowsill was the co-owner. As the house band on Saturdays, they would play the breaks in between the main groups such as Mitch Ryder, the Barbarians and the Cowsills. According to Jim, the guys would give out their 45 at gigs and throw them out to the audience like frisbees.
The band performed at various venues throughout Rhode Island such as the Warren Canteen and Leo’s First & Last Stop Bar in Newport, and on to Connecticut and the Springfield State Expo in Springfield, Mass. The band stayed together through some of the college years, adding John “Sully” Sullivan on keyboards.
Denny and Rid eventually left the band, Rit DeFelice replaced Denny on vocals, and around this time the name Hotbeats was dropped in favour of the more current-sounding Bitter Truth. Drummer Bobby Morris joined the Navy and, an interesting anecdote, was in basic training with the lead guitarist for the Outsiders (Cleveland).
Unfortunately, Bobby died after an accident in the late 1980s. Sully switched to guitar, sat in with the Barbarians for a spell, and currently plays in the Fat City Band. George Oliver was asked to join Tangerine Zoo, but was forced to decline because he was too young! (He was only 16 years old at the time, and his parents wouldn’t let him.) He then teamed up with drummer Donald “Smitty” Smith post-Tangerine Zoo in the outfit Friends Incorporated.
Back From The Grave | Volume 10 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014
THE HARD TIMES “Mr. Rolling Stone” (MNO 102) March 1966, Bay Area, California
Impossibly rare 45 stating the boldness o’ the Hard Times as the local rulers o’ Roll. Mark Crocker, who has POSSESSION of the’ gol-derned MASTER TAPE of this, SWEARS that when he met MNO label boss that on the 45 he saw of “Mr Rolling Stone” the band name was the THE SELECTED REFERENCES, so perhaps that copy had been re-labelled due to the World Pacific band The Hard Times?
Also: when interviewing the Chocolate Watchband’s vocalist Dave Aguilar about his pre-CW band The Ravens, Aguilar mentioned that it WAS indeed the World Pacific band that cut this 45. But the author McCann is never listed on any of the World Pacific band’s compositions nor as a bandmember. In any case, mystery band supreme, still after all these years, but what an absolute MONSTER of a 45. The flip is a ripping “Route 66” cover.
Back From The Grave | Volume 10 (Part Two) | (Crypt) 2014
FOUR MORE “Problem Child” (Fairchild 101) May 1966, Corpus Christi, Texas
Four More were from Corpus Christi, Texas, and formed during October, 1965 after Jerry Chandler, a high school senior, and his younger brother Kenny had been playing for about a year. The line-up was Kenny Chandler (age 17) – bass guitar; Jerry Chandler (age 15) rhythm guitar; Chuck Carter (age 19) – lead guitar; Mike Burrows (age 14) drums. The guys called themselves Four More — not “The Four More” — influenced by the simplicity of the name We Five — but had to constantly correct people about their name, until they decided to give up and change to The Chosen Ones in the spring of 1967.
The only photo of the band was published in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Go Magazine, 1966, yet to this date nobody has had the luck of finding said photo. Four More mostly covered The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Ventures and all the standards (“Bad Boy, It’s All Over Now, Gloria, Louie Louie, Hang On Sloopy, Cherry Pie, Paint It Black, Wipe Out, I Feel Fine”).
All their parents were very supportive and provided practice space in the house even though it was very noisy. Local club gigs were found at The Carousel, The Dunes Club, Hoggie Land, Frenchie’s, King High Senior Prom (1966), Carroll High Senior Girls (1966), Peppermint Lane, booked by Jerry’s friend, Dennis Fairchild, acting as their manager.
Jerry: “Our first gig was at The Jewish Community Centre in Corpus Christi. We played in November or December. They liked us and we got a couple of private party gigs from that. One I remember was at a big house on Hewitt Drive. We had a great time. We also played for the King High Senior Prom in ’66, the Carroll High Senior Girl’s Dance, and several times at the Carousel Club — until Jim West, the manager, hired us and then “forgot” to pay us. I refused to play the Carousel after that, especially when the owner, Mr. Harrow, also refused to pay us for playing at his club.
We also played the Dunes Club on Mustang Island, Cody’s Volcano and Frenchie’s, both on Padre Island, and the Maison Rouge Club in Corpus Christi.
Funny story: When we set up our gear at the Maison Rouge and started to play I noticed there were no women in there. Then a couple of guys started dancing together, and it finally dawned on us that we were in a gay night club. It shocked us so much we couldn’t play and we couldn’t sing. Remember, this was in south Texas in 1966! It was hilarious!
We also played Peppermint Lane in downtown Corpus Christi, the Sand Dollar Hotel and the Duck Inn, both in Rockport. We played all the places a teen band could play in Corpus Christi in those days.”
Four More won a Battle of the Bands in 1966 and 1st prize was opening for a Valentines Show (to an audience of 5000) at Corpus Christi Coliseum which featured Charlie Rich, Billy Joe Royal, and some other big names. They also opened along with The Zakary Thaks in 1966 at the Navy Relief Festival which had The Ventures as headliners, as well as hitting local TV on Teen Time on Channel 3 doing a cover cover of “Get Off My Cloud”, and on a Jerry Lewis Telethon on Labor Day 1966.
LEAST FAVORITE concert? Jerry: “Satisfaction Dance in 1966. I played wrong chords on “The Last Time”. Had nervous mental block. Sounded awful. Another was when my older brother Jim was singing with us at a private party when some jealous coward came up and sucker punched him in the face then ran off. I swore to never play on the floor with the audience again . . . I resolved that the band must have a stage and be separated from the audience.”
Charlie Brite, a local KEYS radio disc jockey told them that they should go to McAllen, TX and record at Jimmy Nichols’ studio, so they recorded “Don’t Give Up Hope/ Problem Child” in February or March 1966.
Jerry recalls: “It was a 2-track studio. Very primitive. Had egg cartons on the walls. Bass guitar was recorded as a straight plug-in with no amp . . . we couldn’t hear the bass while recording.”
The 45 was pressed up in a quantity of 300 on the Fairchild label, named for Jerry’s pal/manager Dennis Fairchild, and the band sold them out quickly at shows and at the local Woolco.
Jerry: “We played the tape for Charlie Brite when we got back to Corpus Christi and he said “It sounds commercial. We’ll play it.” We were knocked out. We were actually going to have a song played on the radio and we weren’t even out of high school yet!”
“No band was more popular than Four More while our song was played on local radio stations KEYS and KRYS during May, June, and July 1966. We were booked constantly. We did a lot of benefit performances for local KEYS deejay Charlie Brite. Charlie was a good guy and promoted us a lot, but I finally had to tell him we couldn’t do any more benefits until we got some paying gigs. The teen gigs were fun to play but rarely paid much if anything. We needed paying gigs. We enjoyed the private parties and frat parties; they were really fun but crazy.”
Four More also recorded two more songs (“It’s So Hard/Bad Boy”) at Cutler’s studio in Corpus in 1966 but no 45’s were ever made. In 1967 Chuck Carter joined the Air Force and was replaced by Jerry’s older brother Jim, fresh back from four years in the navy. Soon after, the Four More became THE CHOSEN ONES, recording two songs (“Bald-Headed Lena/ World’s Dark Side”) at Jones’ Studio in Houston in the summer of 1967, released on Gulfside (#1144) in December 1967, continuing through early 1969. Jerry soon after signed up for military service with the Air Force.”
THE COLOR “Young Miss Larsen” (Audiodisc acetate), unknown date, unknown origin
It is murderously difficult to pin down band origins via acetates, but this FOR THIS WILD RIDE! beastly two-sider (hear their blastin’ cover of “Down The Road Apiece” on “Ho-Dad Hootenanny Volume Two”!) was purchased from the estate of Punk rock God/Pioneer Gregg Shaw, and Greg Shaw told Mike Markesich that he purchased this acetate from a musician friend of his who found it in a Bay Area thrift shop circa 1972.
So PERHAPS, jus’ MEBBE perhaps these cats were from the West Coast? In any case: great striding midtempo punk that ends with one of the greatest rave-ups/guit solos ever! Backed with a roaring take of “Down The Road Apiece” (hear it on the soon to arrive “Ho-Dad Hootenanny Volume Two” on Crypt!)
GMC AND THE ARCELLS “The Witch” (HR Recording Studios, Hollywood CA) unknown date, unknown origin
OK. The Jukebox jury was mighty divided ‘pon this: Yes, it IS a Sonics cover. Yes, it is a one-copy-in-existence acetate, and should thusly be preserved. but, wha’???? These goofballs show absolutely ZERO reverence to the NW Gods, screeching out the lyrics and howling out maniacal laughs, and just in general making asses of themselves. Um, case made. This IS utterly retarded. And so WHY NOT include it and simultaneously Piss Off the Purist contingent AND Please the Goofball contingent??? Well, here ’tis. And it’s just the RIGHT element o’ HUMOUR after so much anal-retentive fanboy/curator uptightness!
Liner notes taken from Volume 10. Read more Graves here.
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