I saw him a couple times, once back in about 1994 at a free show in San Francisco. He had a pick up band and was pretty out of it. The band tried to get him to sing "Pushin' Too Hard" but he would only repeat a chant "Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out here". Well, it was Mothers Day. A few years ago he came to Brooklyn, looking great in a white suit to match his beard and did a fine show with a new group that actually knew the material. I wish I'd taken the request to put him up for a few days.

Many of the Seeds early records on GNP Crescendo have been in print almost continuously since their release. Less well-known are two singles Sky made with a revamped Seeds lineup for MGM in 1970, "Bad Part Of Town" / "Wish Me Up" and "Love In A Summer Basket" / "Did He Die". It's a little vague who's playing on these, but Patrick Lundborg gives a possible lineup of Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper, and Richard Barcelona, with a few others only remembered by their first names, Chip, Rob, John. In memory of Sky, here's my favorite track of all these, the incredible "Bad Part Of Town".

Sky's story is told piecemeal on the web. The 'official' skysaxon.com website is one place to start, but it lacks detailed info on his career. For info on his later recordings, including "Bad Part of Town" I recommend the Lama's write up here.

"I ran out of gas one day, so I took Michael Jackson's album in, and all I could get was a dollar" - Sky Saxon, 'Rolling Stone' #456, September 12, 1985. (Is this a true quote? Thanks to Mike Lynch for the tip).

They cut two originals for their first 45 on producer Gary Paxton's own ESP label. "You Better Stop Your Messin' Around" alternates between moody verses, deadly lyrics ("you say you're shopping, but ... someone else is buying you!") and an upbeat chorus. Great harmonies and a driving bass line really propel this track. It was backed with the raver "Our Love Should Last Forever", featuring Tom Ference's slamming drum beats and John Langdon's piercing guitar work.

Their next 45 went straight to national release on Mercury. "Dandelion Wine" is a tripped-out gem, sounding like a mix of Donovan and the kitchen-sink production of the Stones' Her Satanic Majesties Request, but with greater focus than most of that LP. It was written by Jerry Scheff, a member of bands like Goldenrod, the Millennium, Friar Tuck and later Elvis Presley's touring band. For the flip of "Dandelion Wine" we have "You're Wishin' I Was Someone Else", a Greg Sanders original that would have qualified as the A-side for nearly any other group.

The band members are Greg Sanders (bass and lead vocal), Tom Bitters (guitar), John Langdon (lead guitar), and myself as the drummer. Greg and I are cousins, Bitters was my neighbor growing up, so we three grew up together and started playing music off and on about 1965. Langdon was added later as lead guitar. Don't remember how the name came about other than they're was four of us, and adding WHAT, but spelled WHATT made it cool.

We were in Riverside, California. Played that whole area and into LA and San Diego. The BUSH was our biggest local competition. But they played a different type of stuff. More of a dirty rock sound. The equipment we used were Fender amps and guitars, except Bitters used a Rickenbacker sometimes. We did have a really big Altec-Lansing PA system, which set us apart from most groups at that time. We were able to mike my drums and standard guitars for what ever effect we wanted.

We met Gary Paxton at the Decca Records office in LA. We were seeing Bud Dant of Decca, pushing some demo stuff. Paxton just happened to be there. Bud said he wasn't interested, but Paxton spoke up and said he was. So we hooked up with him back at his garage, that's where his studio was, and the rest is history. ESP was Gary's own thing. The only picture of us and Paxton is us and him by his bus that had all his recording equipment in it.

"You Better Stop Your Messin' Around" was mostly a So-Cal thing. I think Gary hoped a major label would pick it up and do it national. I did hear it was getting a little play in other parts of the country. Not much really became of it. "Our Love Should Last Forever" was written by Tom Bitters, our rhythm guitar player.

We didn't know Scheff [Jerry Scheff, the writer of "Dandelion Wine"]. His stuff was in a pile of songs Gary wanted to see if we could do something with. Greg Sanders was told to sound "loaded" by our producer Gary Paxton.

It came out on Mercury Records, a big deal for us. It was really starting to get some action. Then Greg got drafted, a few months later I got drafted, so the group went down the drain. No group, no record. We were lucky, Greg went to Germany as a radio operator, I auditioned and made it into the 98th Army Band (Ft. Rucker Ala). Much better than Vietnam.

[Editor - What was Ken Johnson's role with the band? - he's co-credited on the flip, "You're Wishin' I Was Someone Else"]

Johnson was a guy who helped Greg put the words on paper with music. And maybe some words.

Greg and I both got out of the army in 1969. We did reform with Bitters, but Langdon had gone his own way out of music. We added Larry Reid and renamed ourselves as "Allis Chalmers". We did make one record. "Sing a Song" on Cream Records (1971). It was written by Gary Wright, we got covered by that guy from "Blood, Sweat and Tears". Shortly after that we went our own ways. Just couldn't go back to playing bars and stuff like that. Never saw Paxton again, I hear he's into religious country stuff now, boy what a difference from when we knew him. Greg works for the State of California, not sure what Bitters is doing, I retired from Verizon in 2003 and enjoy every day.

I'm always amazed and happy that what we did is still remembered. It was a fun time of musical experiments. I think that was the best part, the only rule was there were no rules. It was what sounded good to you that mattered.

Tom Ferrence, 2009

See the entry on the New Wing for more about Gary Paxton and Ken Johnson. All four tracks by the Whatt Four will be appearing from the master tapes on an upcoming Big Beat comp dedicated to the Riverside and San Bernardino scene being produced by Alec Palao with Mike Stax. Knowing the quality of Alec's productions, I'm sure that's going to sound incredible. "You're Wishin' I Was Someone Else" will also be on "Where The Action Is: LA Nuggets 1965-68" box set on Rhino, due to be released in late September '09.

Special thanks to Tom Ferrence for sharing his memories and photos of the Whatt Four. Thanks to the G45 Secret Society and Jim Wynand for label scans. KFXM chart reproduced from ARSA. Also a tip of the hat to transoniq for name-dropping Dandelion Wine in a comment about the Rites.

The Next of Kinn's "A Lovely Song" is a real favorite of mine. Buckeye Beat has the full story on the band, including the photo above - below is a quick summary of their story:

The Centifanti brothers were from Youngstown, and Steve Brajak and Paul Softich other members were from nearby Struthers and Boardman respectively. These kids were young! No older than 10 when they started, and all of 10-14 when they cut "A Lovely Song" at WAM/United Audio studios in the fall of '67.

Pete Pompura, bassist for the Pied Pipers (who cut the wild 45 "Stay in My Life" on Hamlin Town) contributed the lyrics for "A Lovely Song" and helped the Next of Kinn write "Nosie Rosie". Jerry Centifanti sang lead on both songs, with Pied Piper vocalist Dennis Sesonsky on backup.

However the band went back into the studio, and the feedback-laden "Nosie Rosie" was dropped in favor of a good version of "Mr. Soul" for the record's release in January of '68, with the band's name abbreviated to Next of Kin on the labels.

An acetate of "Nosie Rosie" supposedly survives, but I've never heard it and it's never been released to my knowledge. I for one would love to hear it.

The Next of Kinn - A Lovely Song
The Next of Kinn - Mr. Soul

The Liberty Lads were from the Liberty Farms and Dixon area east of Vacaville. In 1965, like many bands from the area, they recorded at Bill Rase's studio on Franklin Blvd in Sacramento, a package deal of a few hours recording time and 45s on a custom label to sell at their shows.

George Tomelloso, who passed away some time ago, wrote both sides of their only release. "Too Much Loving" has great tension created by the repetitive bass line and sitar-like lead guitar line. The immense reverb makes the sparse instrumentation seem even thinner. The vocals don't start until nearly a minute in, and Tomelloso delivers them in a weird snarl with another member echoing the lines deep in the background. A lone handclap accompanies the chorus. At 3:55 this is one of the longest independent singles of the day, and unlike any surf music ever recorded.

All the qualities that make "Too Much Loving" so great are nearly absent on the flip, "I Need Believe In", a ballad that drags along for over three minutes with only a fine reverb guitar sound to help it along.

The excellent Big Beat CD The Sound of Young Sacramento has a great photo of the group, along with thirty great tracks by bands from the region, and I recommend it highly.

Eddie Williams (Eddie Guilherme) joined the Tears who cut "Weatherman" on Scorpio and "Rat Race" on Onyx.

The Liberty Lads - Too Much Loving

The chanted vocals and echoing chords give "Time to Say Goodbye" a downcast mood, brightening momentarily during the chorus where the singer gives the boot to the girl holding out on him.

On the flip is the uptempo "I'm Tired", with more fine harmonies and a good guitar solo.

These songs were originally released on the Cousins label, produced by Mike Barbiero. It was picked up for a December '65 release on Mercury, but doesn't seem to have made much chart impact.

The Elegant Four - Time to Say Goodbye
The Elegant Four - I'm Tired

Sources: photo from Pete Santora's site. Thanks to Tom for clarifying the photo IDs.

A couple other photos are available on Tom Walsh's site Bronx Bands of the Past (warning: Angelfire sites like this one always have pop-up ads).

The first time I met Lamar Collins was in 1963 at Bell’s Drive Inn in Toccoa, Georgia. I was a curb hop there at the time and just happened to walk to his car to take his order. Lamar asked was I the guy that played saxophone and I shyly replied, ‘yes’. I was barely 14 years old and Lamar was in his very early 20s. We started a conversation about music and the rest is history.

Lamar was already jamming with several musicians from Hartwell, Georgia – David Conway, Calvin Coker, Larry Mayo, and a saxophone player whose name I do not recall. Little did I know at the time, I would soon replace the nameless saxophone player. We began to practice at the house where Lamar and his wife Shirley were living on Prather Bridge Road. Occasionally, we would travel to Hartwell to practice. After joining the band, I recall playing at Lake Rabun Georgia for a party and making near nothing and then driving the car back to Toccoa. This band, the name which I do not recall, played a couple more meaningless gigs and soon fizzled out.

Calvin Coker continued to drive to Toccoa to keep the enthusiasm going, but something was obviously missing. Two weekends later, Lamar brought in another musician named Jimmy Sipes. I could tell right away that Sipes was a seasoned musician and that he and Lamar had a lot in common. When the four of us practiced I could sense that there was a little competition between Coker and Sipes and, soon after, Coker did not return to any more practices. Sipes was to play keyboard,“Wurlitzer piano”, and Lamar quickly bought a bass guitar and we continued to practice. The group was not complete without a drummer and guitar player. Somehow Ronnie Crunkleton (drums) and Roy Thompson (guitar) made their way into the band. After several months of rehearsing, we started sounding like a real rock and roll band. We called ourselves“The Avalons”. We were ready to gig. I recall our first gig at the ELKS Club in Toccoa, Georgia where we had to stretch 33 songs into 4 sets, but all went well. They wanted us to come back!

We began playing regularly in Northeast Georgia and South Carolina. Lamar Collins and Jimmy Sipes could give The Righteous Brothers a run for their money singing, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”. We were popular for this quality of vocal harmony and on occasion we were labeled as the Righteous Brothers of Georgia.

Lamar was very popular among the ladies with his blond hair, blues eyes, and strong tenor voice. He was endowed with a gift that enabled him to sing straight to your heart and make you remember that feeling the next day. Without question, Lamar was the driving force of the band and well respected among his fellow musicians.

The Avalons gained much popularity as the house band at a local teen club called “The Chicken Shack” located in Seneca, South Carolina. It was not uncommon to pack a thousand fans in on Saturday night where our records and pictures were sold.

I remember our opening song, an instrumental of “You Can’t Sit Down”, by The Dovells on which I played the sax. As its title suggests, it's an amazing dance number that would heat up any dance floor. This was our signature song and always got the crowd going. They would start to scream the minute we began to play.

During the band’s popularity, we opened for several national acts including such names as The Swinging Medallions, Billy Joe Royal, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Keith, and The Impressions.

Lamar was the lead singer of the band and you can see him in the picture inside the Chicken Shack playing his red Gibson bass guitar. Lamar loved to perform. Folks that came to The Chicken Shack in the late sixties will certainly remember this setting.

The Avalons’s “Come Back Little Girl” was No 1 at WHYZ radio station in Greenville South Carolina. The group brushed closely to fame, but due to conflicts of interest, they sadly chose to split in 1968.

After a period of time, everyone went their separate ways. Soon after, Lamar and Roy Thompson collaborated and put their heart and soul into two songs “The Wind” and “Without My Girl”, which you can hear on this web page.

Lamar was a “star” that shined from Toccoa, Georgia. He was loved and respected by many for his musical abilities, but those who knew him closely could tell you what a kind and gentle heart he possessed as well. It was this that shone through in his character. Lamar was responsible for getting me started in my music career and I still play today. During the years I knew him, the man ate, slept and lived for his music. He inspired a surprising number of us to continue in the gift of music God had placed in each of our souls, and for that I will always be grateful.

Lamar Collins gave birth to The Avalons. Essentially, Lamar Collins was The Avalons.

Lamar passed away in 1982 of a brain tumor. To say that I miss him would be an understatement. I think of him often and can testify of many others who do the same.

This is written in tribute to my dear friend, Lamar Collins.

Sam Camp

The Chashers - The Wind
The Chashers - Without My Girl

Recorded live at the Surf Side Club in Salt Lake City, Utah in front of a small but raucous crowd, this is a solid set of mostly standard cover songs of the day. The performances are well done, but not very exceptional. "Sparkling Sands" is something of a standout and the track I would recommend to listen to first.

Greenback Dollar, Louie Louie, Surfer Joe, Memphis (the Lonnie Mack version), Kansas City (the Trini Lopez version) and Long Tall Texan were all hits of 1963, and California Sun hit big in early 1964, so I think it's safe to date this to very early '64. Certainly there's zero British Invasion influence in their choice of material or style.

The Intermountain Recording Service has a Salt Lake address on the label, I believe the studio has moved and is now the Inter-Mountain Recording Studio in Carson City, Nevada, unless that is a different studio altogether.

The Surf Side 5 - Vic's Song
The Surf Side 5 - Louie Louie
The Surf Side 5 - Greenback Dollar
The Surf Side 5 - California Sun
The Surf Side 5 - Surfer Joe
The Surf Side 5 - Sparkling Sands
The Surf Side 5 - Boogie Woogie
The Surf Side 5 - Memphis

I formed the band in the fall of 1965 and our first name was The Dimensions, later changed to The Dementions and finally to High Water (we found a road sign warning of High Water). We played throughout Wisconsin until July of 1972 at which time we all went our own ways. We played a lot of Sheboygan Armory jobs, opening for such acts as The Robbs, Cryan' Shames, Skunks, Tony's Tygers, ? and the Mysterians, The Legends, Next Five and on and on. As for our members, they were... and were from...

Bill Bernico...Sheboygan
Don Wadyka...Sheboygan Falls
Dan Shaske...Batavia
Randy Belger...Batavia
Carl Block...Random Lake
Kim Steffen...Fredonia

After more than 43 years, I am the only one still active as a working musician. I've pared down from a 6-piece band to a duo and now a solo act. Other Sheboygan bands I've played with included PYE, Colonel Corn and Flashback.

As for recording, we had the song all picked out, rehearsed and ready to record when our keyboard player decided he didn't want to have to tour to promote it, went to another band.

Bill Bernico, 2009