All posts by Chris Bishop

Robin and the Three Hoods “I Wanna Do It”

Originally issued as by Marrell’s Marauders, the band printed labels with the new name and used the same stampers to make this second issue

Robin and the Three Hoods released this spirited and crude cover of Bobby Comstock’s “I Want To Do It” four times. First in 1964, it was issued as Marrell’s Marauders on the yellow Fan Jr. label out of Madison, Wisconsin, titled “I Wanta Do It” backed with a fine surf instrumental with a good drum break, “The Marauder”. With the name of the band changed to Robin and the Three Hoods, they issued it again on Fan Jr., with the same label number, FJ-1003, using the same pressing plates.

That’s Tuff, the B-side of the third issue of “I Wanna Do It”

Robin And The Three Hoods Fan Jr 45 A Day You'll Never ForgetTwo years later, the band reissued “I Wanto Do It” on the green Fan Jr. label with the b-side changed to “That’s Tuff”, a neat tune by one Rob Bernhagen. New stampers were made for this release, T4KM-5680/1.

Released at the same time was another single, very rare today, “A Day You’ll Never Forget” (an original by Bernhagen and Jim Schwartz) b/w “We The Living” (Bernhagen), with RCA custom pressing number T4KM-5678/9.

4th issue of “I Wanna Do It” for national release
Finally on December 31, 1966, Billboard reported that Hollywood Records had picked up “I Wannna Do It” / “That’s Tuff” for national distribution, changing the A-side title slightly, and pressing out of Columbia’s plant in Nashville.

Skip Nelson is credited with production on each release. The Hollywood pressing is of relatively poor quality.

Rob Bernhagen played bass, keyboards and sang lead vocals as ‘Robin’. He wrote to me about the band:

The Marauders, with Mike Warner on drums, all graduated from Madison East High in 1963. We had joined the Musicians Union that April and had played school gigs and a few actual paying gigs around Madison.

We borrowed “I Wanna Do It” from Bobby Comstock and recorded it in Dec. of 1963. Our manager, Frederick Arthur Nelson, aka Skip, did own a music store and produce all our records. We started playing around Wisconsin and Northern Illinois and found many “Marauder” bands so we changed our name and the label on the records … same recording. I found a paperback book about Merrill’s Marauders from WWII and plagiarized the name….and changed the spelling. As the leader of the band, I became “Bobby Marrell”.

I played bass and keyboards and was the lead vocalist. Dave Reed played lead guitar and Jim Schwartz played rhythm guitar. Bruce Benson was our drummer, he lives in Northern California. The only personnel change from the Marauders was at drums, Mike Warner was our first drummer and he played on the first version with “The Marauder” on the flip side.

We were all in college and playing part time within a couple of hundred miles of Madison. Mike Warner decided to drop out of college and try music full time so Bruce Benson joined us and we borrowed the costume idea from Paul Revere and the Raiders and came up with “The Hoods”. Once again, as leader and vocalist, I became Robin Hood. We all wore Robin Hood outfits….and tights…

We played the entire state of Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, and border towns in Northern Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota. Went as far south as Springfield, Il. We broke-up the band 1/31/69 when Jim and I graduated from college.

We got limited airplay because of the suggestive title which is why everyone loved the song to begin with. We got a “pick to click” from Billboard and a review in Cashbox which is why Starday got involved. They were to handle national distribution… which never happened. We stayed on Wisconsin statewide charts for over a year.

Funny story behind “The Marauder”… we went in the studio to record “I Wanna Do It” and when that was finished, we started to pack up. The engineer asked about the flip side to our 45 RPM and we were dumbfounded. In our youthful ignorance, we hadn’t even considered a flip side. Faced with the problem we jammed “The Marauder” from an instrumental “break song” that we were using during shows. One take and it was done. We never played the entire song on any gig … just enough of it to announce a break.

I’m the only member who continued to play professionally….I’m in an oldies band today, the Tom Tayback Band. Jim quit altogether, Bruce plays a little on the side, and Dave is deceased. I’m not in contact with Mike so I’m not sure about him.

We did produce a couple of other records but had nothing to do with the “green bean” thing.

Thanks to Kim D. for sending in the photo card with signatures above. Kim wrote to me “I saved this card for years which Robin and the Three Hoods signed and gave to me in the 60’s at a place they performed at called “The Illusions” in Neenah, Wisconsin. We had alot of bands frequent that place. You had to be 16 years old to enter, but I always looked older, so they let me in. Good times!”

Terry Knight and the Pack

There was a lot more to Terry Knight’s life than one 45, but for garage punks “How Much More (Have I Got to Give)” is the one that counts.

Born on April 9, 1943, Knight became a popular dj on CKLW, beaming British Invasion records into Detroit and other northern cities from Windsor, Ontario, Canada during 1964. He supposedly became good friends with the Rolling Stones, acquiring a ‘Sixth Stone’ moniker as he hung out with them over the next year.

In fact, most of this association seems to be largely mythical. After either being fired from CKLW for ‘controversial views’ (or more likely just quitting) Knight hid out in Buffalo as a second rate folk singer. Returning to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, he assembled a backing band, releasing numerous 45s and two lps as Terry Knight and the Pack with occasional chart success.

His real fame came as the primary force behind Grand Funk Railroad, a band comprised of members of the Pack. Knight hyped the band into a major label contract and prime festival concert appearances that soon put them atop the hard rock heap of the early 70’s. After financial disputes led to a break as manager of Grand Funk, Terry descended into cocaine addiction. Weird stories would crop up from time to time, like his having entered the federal witness protection program. Lawsuits and legal troubles dogged his later years. He was stabbed to death by his daughter’s boyfriend on Nov. 1, 2004 while interceding in a fight between the couple.

Lucky 11 was started in Flint, Michigan in 1959 to release country records, and was not Knight’s own label, as has been written.

“How Much More (Have I Got to Give)” / “I’ve Been Told” is Terry Knight and the Pack’s second 45 (the first was as the Pack: “The Color of Our Love” / “The Tears Come Rollin'” on Wingate 007).

To my ears this single has his best garage song backed by his best ballad, though other people have their own favorites. There’s a complete discussion of Knight’s early years here.

Knight also did production work for the Rites of Spring who I discuss in depth this site.

Anyone have a photo of Terry Knight with the Pack, or by himself from this time period?

The Shy Guys “We Gotta Go”

Shy Guys Oak Park Photo

The Shy Guys from Oak Park, Michigan and their closest brush with fame was opening for a tour of the Dave Clark Five.

The Shy Guys consisted of Ron Nelson (previously known as Ron Lefko) – lead guitar and vocals, Stu “Hirshfield” Howard – rhythm guitar and vocals, Marty Lewis – bass and Mark Finn – drums. Both sides of this 45 are great garage pop with good harmonies. “We Gotta Go” certainly had the potential to break into the charts, but only had local success.

Scott Regen of WKNR had the Shy Guys adapt “We Gotta Go” into “The Burger Song” to promote his show. Hear it on the Motor City Radio Flashbacks site, along with a photo of the Shy Guys and a Scot Regen fan card.

The Panik label was started as JR by Joe Revaz out of Detroit, originally for soul artists. A couple other garage and pop bands like the Rainy Days and the Human Beings also have 45s on Panik.

These two tracks were also released on the local Palmer label, along with a second 45, “A Love So True”/”Where You Belong”. Their last release was a fine Ron Nelson original “Without You” on the Canusa label, with a cover of the Byrd’s “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” on the flip.

These are not the Shy Guys from Florida responsible for the incredible psych 45 “Black Lightning Light”.

Thank you to Ron Domilici for the news photo at top.

The Maneaters


The Maneaters on public access! From left: Tara McMunn, Linda Lutz, Shari Mirojnik, Andrea Kusten, and Ellen O’Neill
Here’s a group I didn’t know personally, but a friend designed a gig flyer for one of my DJ nights using the image above. I asked him about the band and he kindly transferred a demo tape with four songs, and a live tape at the Southern Funk Cafe in October 12, 1986:

The live tape is eleven songs, with all the tuning and between-song chatter.

In addition, former WFMU DJ the Hound hosted an acoustic in-studio session with the band on October 4, 1986, link here.


from left: Tara, Andrea, Linda, Shari and Ellen
NY photographer Jeff Cuyubamba writes:

They got their name from a Hershell Gordon Lewis movie about biker chicks that isn’t really that good but its main claim to fame is that it showed a decapitation (fake) in like ’67 or so. Which was pretty wild for a drive-in flick. The main gang in the movie was called The Maneaters.

The lead singer was Shari from The Outta Place. The bass guitarist was Tara who also played bass in this NYC psych/garage band called The Ultra V. The drummer was Ellen O’Neill who was formerly the drummer for the Tryfles. She was really nice and also ended up in a short lived NYC garage band called The Shambles. Eventually Ellen quit music, married and moved away. Unfortunately I had heard she passed away a few years ago. On lead guitar was Linda Lutz. Except for another spinoff NYC garage band called The Pods, this was the only other band I recall seeing Linda in.

The Maneaters played only for about a year or so. Often on bills that Gary Balaban promoted at The Southern Funk Cafe (now a pharmacy I think in the Port Authority), The Strip on 14th or The New Theater on 4th St. In fact he made a dupe of their demo for me which I still have on cassette. He used to get tons of cassette demos from touring garage bands at the time. After I first heard the Maneaters play I asked Gary to make me a copy as they didn’t have any singles or LPs out. In fact, that cassette turned out to be the only thing that ever came out from them. Unless there’s some tapes somewhere which one of the band members might know about.

I listened to the demo tape recently. You can hear the potential for an awesome live show but in the sterile environs of a studio, it didn’t translate very well. They had this really grinding, sleazy approach to covering blues classics which made them very unique at the time. Shame nothing ever came out of it.

Southern Funk Cafe:

The person who does the intro [to the first song, “I’m Ready”] is Deb Parker who at that time was partnering with Gary as Endsville Enterprises. The impresarios behind the Strip shows. Later on she went to great success and fame opening Beauty Bar, Barmacy, No-Tell Motel and I think Babyland.

Besides the members Jeff lists there was also Andrea Matthews (Andrea Kusten), the group’s rhythm and slide guitarist, formerly of the Outta Place and Blacklight Chameleons and later the Fuzztones.


From the Dreamdate show, from left: Shari, Tara, Linda, Andrea and Ellen

From the Dreamdate show, from left: Andrea, Ellen, Shari, Linda and Tara
Peter Holsapple wrote to me about producing the demo:

We recorded four songs, including “High Temperature” by Little Walter, at Coyote Studios in the Music Building in Manhattan (8th Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets), with Albert Caiati engineering; his brother is Manny Caiati from the Del Lords, whose rehearsal room doubled as the studio’s space. The dB’s space was across the hall from the Del Lords. I was paid my production ‘fee’ in pot!

The girls were inspired amateurs; Shari Mirojnik played harmonica, and tried to do the hand/vibrato thing, but ended up looking more like she was waving at it. She’s also responsible for having noted, on a funny trip to Boston we all made, that she had to sit in front because she was “allergic” to the back of the van. The Boston trip was was the only time in my life I’ve run live sound for a band (they played at TT the Bear’s). Afterward, we went to Fort Apache studio and tried to do some recording with Joe Harvard, but the ingested psychedelic substances took their toll and we just ended up bagging it.

Thanks to Jeff for the transfers of the demo and live tapes and the Dream Date flyer. Check out his site ShakeSomeAction.

Thanks to Donna for the b&w photos from Dreamdate and additional background. Donna writes about Linda Lutz on her blog, Lethal Dose.

Also thanks to Tara McMunn for all the photos except the b&w Dream Date shots. Dream Date and candid photos taken by Tony Gliozzo. Studio shots by Martin.

Updated Nov. 2009 and Jan. 2010.


Flyer for my March 24, 2006 DJ night at the Tainted Lady (another Deb Parker creation)

The Omens “Searching” on Cody

The Omens, Searching on CodyThe Omens are famous for one of the hottest garage 45s of all time, “Searching,” which was recorded on the Cody label in July 1966 backed with the fine “Girl Get Away”.

I’ll never forget the insistent fuzz riff and opening lines “Searching… searching for love. I’ve been searching… searching for love” blasting from the old Highs in the Mid 60’s Chicago comp. After just 40 seconds the band has pounded through the opening and the first verse. Frantic screams and it’s right to a tight bubbling organ solo. Then the second verse, even wilder screams and a searing, un-overdubbed guitar solo. If you were looking for an archetypical garage song, you would have a hard time coming up with a better one than “Searching”.

Though long presumed to be a Chicago band, as I heard from one of the Omens’ organ players, Duane O’Donnell, the band more properly came from Hammond, Indiana. As it turns out, Duane played on a now-lost demo recording of “Searchin'”. In June of ’66 he was replaced by Al Patka who plays on the single released on the Cody label.

The lineup on the record was:

Don Revercomb – lead vocal
Gene Cooper – lead guitar
Larry Allen – bass
Al Patka – organ
Tim Jones – drums

Carol Buehler – lead vocals on “September” / “As Tears Go By” by Carol and the Omens

Earlier members of the Omens included Duane O’Donnell and Dan Royal. Later members included Buddy Phillips, Bob McDonald, and Jamie Pascarella.

The Omens’ story in Duane’s own words follows:

The Omens were based in Hammond, Indiana – which borders the South side of Chicago. Tim, the drummer, was from Merriville and Larry, the bass player, was from Gary.

Don Revercomb – main vocal and guitar – age 16 (at time of recording)
Gene Cooper – lead guitar – age 18
Larry Allen – bass guitar – age 19
Tim Jones – drums – age 19
Duane O’Donnell – organ – age 15

I was with the Omens during 1965 and 1966, and had to leave when I contracted mono. In retrospect, it was a great experience. Don’s father was totally set on making his son a rock star, and gave 101% of his time and probably money to make it happen. He had all of us join the American Federation of Musicians (Local 203) to make it legit. I really don’t know if we ever made any money, as Don paid me $15 a gig, and the rest went to the band fund (times haven’t changed).

We recorded ‘Searching’ in the living room of a second floor apartment in East Chicago where some guy had an Ampex reel to reel. That recording is mono, one track, one take, no overdubs. Don played a Fender Mustang into an Ampeg Rocket amp. Gene had a Fender Jazzmaster with a Gibson Maestro Fuzztone into a Fender amp. Larry used an Ampeg bass amp, the kind that stored the head upside down into the speaker cabinet. At the gigs I played a Wurlitzer electric piano into a Kalamazoo amp with two 10″s.

The guy at the ‘studio’ told me to play his Farfisa because the Wurlie was too noisy. It was like going from a Yugo to a Mercedes, since I had paid $100 for my beat up piano, and a Farfisa in 1965 was about $900. My ‘style’ back then was mainly gleaned from listening to an album by the Ventures that had some organ solos.

We performed in Chicago, Blue Island, Calumet City, Hammond, Gary, Portage, Glen Park and Cedar Lake. Since some of us were still in high school, we mainly played on the weekends, and practiced during the week at the Musicians Hall, because it had a stage. Venues were places like American Legions, VFW, Shindig and Hullabaloo teen clubs, and high school sock hops. After the record came out, all of our money went to local DJ Ron Borden, who played Searching nightly on WLTH radio and Gary, promoted our gigs, and appeared at them. One of my most memorable gigs was at the Purple Poodle Teen Club in Hobart, Indiana. We opened for the Troggs and Don made us wear long hair Beatle wigs (I’m chuckling as I write this), announcing to the audience that we were from England! I didn’t lke the wig at all, as it was too hot and really itchy. But old man Revercomb was a real promoter.

Carol, young Don’s lady friend, was 14 or 15, and usually sang a Marianne Faithfull song at our gigs. ‘As Tears Go By’ is the other B side. I missed getting a copy of that last year by a few days. I gave my only remaining copy of the 45 to Al Parka for his 40th birthday in about 1988. He was the original organist with the Omens and played a Lowrey portable. After I got sick, Al rejoined the group, but it broke up shortly thereafter. Tim worked swing shifts at the steel mill and had to make the choice of not calling off anymore or being fired. Gene’s girlfriend got pregnant and he had to get a fulltime job. Then Carol got pregnant and that was the last I heard (in 1968)!

In any case I was lucky to be part of the Omens for a short time. Larry Allen was an accomplished guitar, keyboard, bass and harmonica player and expanded my musical horizons. Being associated with a rock and roll band with a song on the radio had profound influence on the high school girls, putting me on a par with the sport jocks! And it made it possible to dump the Wurlitzer and buy an Imperial Capri (Korg Panther) organ.

Since hearing from Duane, I have not been able to find any photos of the group or business cards for the band. If anyone has a photo of the group, please get contact me!

A second 45 had a more limited promo release featuring a cover of “As Tears Go By” with an original, “September”. “Searchin'” was written by Larry Allen and Donald Revercomb. “Girl Get Away” is credited to Donald Kenneth Revercomb and Carmen Provenzano, as is “September”.

Gene Cooper wrote to me:

I played in two bands before I started the Omens. I loved playing in the Omens. We had a pretty tight group and all the guys were great. One thing I must say though, the organ player in the group was my best friend by the name of Al Patka, and he is the one who played on the record. We did cut one other 45 at the studio at the same time with the wife of the lead singer singing the songs. One we wrote by the name of “September” and a Mick Jagger tune “As Tears Go By”. Where to find a copy of that one? We had pictures of the band, but I never really had one myself.

Gene added in a comment, below:

Duane O’Donnell was never an official member of this group. I went to Al Patka’s house, my best friend, and asked him if he wanted to be in a band I wanted to get going. He agreed and he was the only organ player in the band until we broke up. He was the organ player on all the 45′s we did in Chicago. Al passed away in August, 2008

Tom Cleary wrote:

We recorded the Omens in Ron Henningsen’s basement, yes, on an reel to reel Ampex. The professional recording was done however at “Onederful Records near 18th Street and Michigan Avenue. Onederful’s claim to fame was they had done “Shake a Tail Feather” by the Five Dutones. My friends, Fred and Ron handled the studio recording. They handed me the tapes of the session, to see what I could do with them.

Later, Duane cleared up this confusion:

I only kept the record as a memento of my time as the organ player for the Omens, from July 1965 to June 1966. While I performed on the demo tape that got the band the contract for the 45, I became ill, had to leave the group, and did not perform on the July 1966 recording.

Organist Al Patka passed on in 2008, and singer Don Revercomb passed in 1994.

Later photo of the Omens, after the records: unidentified at top left, Jamie Pascarella with snare drum, and Bob McDonald holding the bass guitar. Bottom row is Buddy Phillips at left, and Don Revercomb in white shirt at right.

Jamie Pascarella wrote to me and sent in the photo at top:

I did not record with the Omens. I joined the band because they needed a bass player and drummer. I was told the drummer and the guitar players got drafted by the army? My buddy is a bass player, asked me if I wanted to join a band with a top 10 single hit. I auditioned and I was in the band.

Duane O’Donnell added: “The Omens had several Ampeg amps when I was with them. The big Kustom amps came to Chicago area around 1967.”

Carol wrote to me in 2021:

I wish I knew whatever happened to the group pictures we had taken by a professional photographer. The guys all had black corduroy pullover shirts with satin sleeves & collar; each had a different color (light blue, yellow, green, etc). Don’s had white satin sleeves & collar & my (mini) dress was the same with white satin as well.

Thanks to Tom Cleary for scans and transfers of Carol’s 45. Thank you to Duane and Carol for their updates in 2021.

The 3rd Evolution, and Dawn Records discography

The 3rd Evolution were from the Bronx, NY, beginning as a doo-wop group the Hi-Dells.

Argot Meyer founded the group, singing and managing it. He first found Mike Saglimberi (Mike Henderson) to sing and play rhythm guitar. Mike brought in his good friend from Junior High (PS 98), Manny Colon on drums. Louis Bonilla (bass) and Ron Lupi (lead guitar) joined last.

They began rehearsing in Argot’s basement, then met Phil Rosano, owner of Dawn Records at Music Makers Record shop on Fordham Road, who released two of their records.

The first has both “Gone Gone Gone” with its ripping guitar solo and their most original work, “Don’t Play with Me”. Mike Henderson is given song writing credit on both of these, and R. Miller is credited with A&R. This was one of the first garage 45s I ever bought, for $10.

“Don’t Play With Me” made the local radio charts of WLOF 950.0 AM in Orlando, Florida in 1966. The Third Evolution played at the World’s Fair, and there’s talk of these guys opening for Jay and the Americans.

The second 45 has the weird slow version of “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” which I still find pretty cool, backed with a ballad, “You’re Gonna Lose the Only Love You Ever Had”.

They also have a good demo acetate recorded at Bruno-Dean Recording Studios in New Rochelle, NY, “Help Me” / “Turn Around” that has not yet been released.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

Dawn discography (garage-type 45s only):
Any help with this would be appreciated

Dawn 303 – Derbys ” People Say (She’s No Good” b/w The Bondsmen “Wipeout ’66”
Dawn 306 – 3rd Evolution – Don’t Play With Me / Gone Gone Gone (June 1966)
Dawn 309 – Creation’s Disciple “Psychedelic Retraction” / “I’ll Remember”
Dawn 312 – 3rd Evolution – Everybody Needs Somebody (to Love) / You’re Gonna Lose the Only Love You Ever Had (December ’66)

The Creation’s Disciple had their own unreleased Bruno-Dean acetate, “Strings of Rhyme”

Source: Mike Henderson’s notes in Psychedelic States: New York vol. 1

The Cryan Shames

Chicago’s Cryan Shames found huge success from the A-side of this 45, “Sugar and Spice”, but the flip “Ben Franklin’s Almanac” is their finest garage moment and might surprise you. It has a fantastic guitar break too.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

The Destination label was also home to the Boyz excellent pop 45 “Come With Me”.

Interestingly the schedule for Mother Duck, below, shows there was a band by the name Ben Franklin’s Almanac playing around Chicago in 1969.


with Grope at Mother Duck, November 22, 1968


with the Good Earth at the Jaguar, April 3, 1968

The Delights

The Delights from Chicago cut this excellent cover of the Kingsmen’s “Long Green” that surpasses the original in energy and excitement, The Delaware label released it backed with “Find Me a Woman”.

The Delights were Gregory Grimes, Vincent Schraub, Norbert Soltysiak, Robert A. Bluff, and Louis Sanjurio.

They followed up with a cover of the Zombies’ “Just Out of Reach” backed with “Every Minute, Every Hour, Every Moment” on Smash, then disbanded.

Norbert (Norb) Soltysiak later joined the Hardy Boys, a band that released two lps on RCA as a tie-in to the TV show of the same name. The Delaware label also released A.J. and the Savages organ-groover “Long Long Time”.


Allyn Ferguson

Here’s an oddity – not garage but a gonzo 60’s instrumental with horns, twangy guitar line and all.

“Your Red Watermelon” is catchy and funky, and was well received when I spun it at Shakey’s Night Owl Record Fair this past Tuesday.

Allyn Ferguson was best known as the band leader on the Andy Williams Show. In the late ’50s his Chamber Jazz Sextet had an LP on Cadence as well as backing Kenneth Patchen on his LP for the same label, and in the ’70s he co-wrote the theme to the Barney Miller TV show.

Update: I’m sorry to report that Allyn Ferguson passed away on June 23, 2010, he was 85 years old. A full obit is here

The äva label also released a fine 45 by the Pace-Setters that I’ve covered on this site.

The Tasmanians

The Tasmanians photo
The Tasmanians, clockwise from left: Gypsy (Mike) Carns, Woody Pollard, Craig Davis, Greg Brunt and Robbin Thompson
Tasmanians Conda 45 Baby
The Tasmanians first 45 “Baby”

The Tasmanians ruled West Palm Beach, Florida in 1966-67. The group’s members came out of Melbourne High, Cocoa High, Satellite High, Merritt Island High and Brevard Junior College. Released on the local Conda label, “Baby” is a garage classic. Despite being a rare 45, it’s found its way onto many garage comps over the years. The flip side is a great pop song, “Love, Love, Love”.

Members were:

Mike (Gypsy) Carns – lead guitar and vocals
Robbin Thompson – lead vocals and acoustic guitar
Craig Davis – keyboards
Woody Pollard – bass and vocals
Greg Brunt – drums

Robbin Thompson’s site also mentions Steve Bland and Ronnie Cable as later members.

Thompson and Carns wrote three of the four songs released, with Woody Pollard’s help on “I Can’t Explain This Feeling”. Robbin’s name is spelled ‘Robin Thompson’ on the Conda labels and Mike Carns last name is spelled ‘Carnes’ on both.

 Robbin Thompson and Mike (Gypsy) Carns of the Tasmanians
Robbin Thompson and Mike (Gypsy) Carns
 Gypsy and Craig of the Tasmanians
Gypsy and Craig, dig the Canadian Rogues’ drum kit in the background.

Gypsy Carns wrote to me:

Robbin Thompson had a band called The Fab Gents – I joined that band and from there we formed the Tasmanians. He knew a couple of guys and I knew a couple of guys and we jammed with different people then we settled on this line up.

I’ll have to get with Robbin on how we met Bud Blount, but he was THE MAN without question and ruled the band with an iron hand. He was law enforcement in West Palm Beach Florida and an ex-Green Beret – so he had control of the band. We grew to be very popular in Florida and the south – had out the records and were by all accounts an energetic – rock till you drop – sort of with reckless abandon – type of band. You can hear it on BABY…the first single.

Robbin related this info to Jeff Lemlich:

“Baby” was written by me and Mike Carnes, now known as Gypsy Carns. “Baby” and “Love, Love, Love” were produced by a guy named Bud Blount, who was our manager at the time and also a cop in Boca Raton. I think a guy named Dave Hieronymus [drummer of the R-Dells/American Beetles/Razor’s Edge, later producer, engineer, and studio owner] had something to do with it from the production side also. He was a writer from Nashville who wrote the “b” side of a second 45.

I think all four songs were recorded at the same time at Criteria Studios in Miami. the band was “discovered” by the manager and father of a member of the band “Count Five” the one-hit wonders of the song “Psychotic Reaction”. They introduced Bud to us. Bud was a part-time concert promoter.

Robbin wrote to me recently:

We were introduced to our manager, Bud Blunt by the manager and father of the singer of the Count Five (“Psychotic Reaction”). The interesting part of that story is that when we played with the Count Five we were a whole different band called the Fab Gents. The band broke up for various reasons. We re-formed, called Bud and didn’t tell him we were really not the band that was seen by the manager of Count 5 except for me and Mike Carns. Bud’s younger brother, Glen Blount was also in the mix of all of this.

The Tasmanians broke up after Craig Davis, the keyboard player got busted for smoking pot. He was set up by one of his high school teachers. She convinced him she wanted to try it and he went over to her house with a couple of joints. When he lit one up cops came from out of the woodwork and arrested him. He got off due to entrapment but we were all smokin’ by then and having a cop for a manager was a bit awkward so we parted ways. By that time Bud was a detective for the Boca Raton Police Dept. We kept up with him for a bit but he found another group to work with, the name escapes me but they were a straight laced kind of a pop band.

The Fab Gents and Tasmanians were regulars at the Melbourne Teen town which was at the Civic Center there. Between the two bands we opened for bands such as the Beau Brummels (they practiced in our living room before the gig), the Mind Benders, the Lemon Pipers, the Bitter End (a band with Allman Bros drummer Butch Trucks). We also opened (in other places) for the Turtles, Blue Cheer, Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, Mamie Van Doren, Wayne Cochran and a group called The Seven of Us which later became NRBQ.

“Baby” and “Love,Love Love” were recorded in one session. “Can’t Explain this Feeling” and “If I Don’t” were recorded in different sessions at Criteria Studios in Miami by then novice engineer Ron Albert. At that time there was only one hit record on the wall there, James Brown’s “Please, Please, Please”, as I recall.

The only members still living in the original band are me and Mike (Gypsy) Carns. Craig Davis died several years ago.

Years went by and I searched Bud out. Gypsy Carns, Bud and I reconnected and have been keeping in touch for many years now.

The Tasmanians 2nd 45, "I Can't Explain This Feeling"
The Tasmanians 2nd 45, “I Can’t Explain This Feeling”

For their second and last 45, the Tasmanians adopted a much more English feel – “I Can’t Explain This Feeling” is as good as some of the top UK freakbeat of the time. It’s b-side “If I Don’t” is competent if unspectacular Beatles-influenced pop. It’s released on the Power label, or Flower Power if you take the picture into account.

Gypsy Carns:

The manager agreed to cut this track [“If I Don’t”] – written by producer Dave Hieryonmous – ‘to get a better deal on the studio.’ The band hated this song and looked at it like a ‘sell out’. The track turned out great in retrospect but the band never played this song live.

Once the band splintered Robbin got some other guys together as the Taz but that was short lived and did not have the charisma the original band had. It was an awesome experience. Robbin and I are very close to this day.

After the Tasmanians broke up, Robbin Thompson joined the Blues People, Transcontinental Mercy Flight, Steel Mill and others.

Check out Gypsy Carns’s website www.gypsycarns.com.

Robbin Thompson’s website is www.robbinthompson.com.

Robbin Thompson wrote “Woody (Callis Woodson Pollard III) died of drug overdose in the early 70’s or earlier.” Gypsy Carnes tells me that Greg Brunt has also passed away.

Special thanks to Gypsy Carns for the photos of the band. News clipping and some info from the Limestone Lounge.

Greg Brunt of the Tasmanians
“Greg was the dynamic drummer for the band. Loved to wear leather and suede – a great drummer and friend. He has passed on.” – Gypsy
 Woody and Robbin of the Tasmanians
Woody and Robbin
Craig Davis of the Tasmanians
“Craig was the keyboardist for the band. As you can tell he would rock the house. He very rarely played the keys standing still. He would rock the organ back n forth or take it off the stand and parade around the stage like he’s doing here.” – Gypsy Carns
 Craig and Woody of the Tasmanians at Melbourne Civic Center.
Craig and Woody hanging in the dressing room – Melbourne Civic Center.
Gypsy Carns and Greg Brunt of the Tasmanians
Gypsy on guitar with Greg behind him. “The Tasmanians held their record release party on the beach in West Palm. It was a wild affair!”
Greg Brundt with Gypsy in front. Dig the two-tone jeans!
 Gypsy Carns
Gypsy Carns
 Gypsy and Robbin of the Tasmanians
Gypsy and Robbin
 Robbin, Woody and Gypsy of the Tasmanians
Robbin and Woody jamming, Gypsy to the left. Rocking in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The Tasmanians on stage
“On the ground was a big part of the band’s show. Whether Gypsy was hanging off the stage blowing harmonica or Robbin working the crowd. In this photo Woody and Gyp were both getting feedback from the back line.” – Gypsy
The Tasmanians with Bill Vermillion, the Weird Beard
Bill Vermillion, the Weird Beard with a later six member lineup – can anyone give a who’s who in this one?

Things are shaping inside my head, I can’t explain this feeling
My mind is warping, my nerves are damp, it keeps me on the ceiling
I see a blur and I hear a shot, I can’t explain this feeling
I think my mind is gone to pot, it keeps me on the ceiling
People start to stop and stare, they can’t explain me sitting there
In a corner dark and damp, staring at a broken lamp
The crowd gets bigger the days go by, they’re wondering when I’m gonna die,
someone grabs me and pulls me down…
I feel an object but it isn’t there, I can’t explain this feeling
They say I’m wrong but it isn’t there, it keeps me on the ceiling
People start to stop and stare, they can’t explain me sitting there
In a corner dark and damp, staring at a broken lamp
The crowd gets bigger the days go by, they’re wondering when I’m gonna die,
someone grabs me and pulls me down…

The Tasmanians “I Can’t Explain this Feeling” by Carns, Pollard and Thompson