Category Archives: Bowling Green

Baron Thomas and the Blue Crystals

The Blue Crystals with Baron Thomas
The second version of the Blue Crystals, with vocalist Baron Thomas from left: Douglas Maas, George Anderson, Baron Thomas (front center), Don Harris and Don Hite

Baron Thomas and the Blue Crystals Courier 45 TensionBaron Thomas & the Blue Crystal’s “Tension” is a song that I never get tired of. The bass gives the song a great propulsion, the drumming sounds fantastic with all the reverb on it, and Baron Thomas’ vocals cut through the hiss of the ride cymbal and the compression of the recording. The two guitars have distinct sounds and roles in the song, and everything comes together so nicely on the chorus, as the finger-picked rhythm switches to slashing chords.

I started looking into the story of the band and found band leader George Anderson’s website, which features a history of the group written by George Gell, which I’ll summarize here.

The Blue Crystals came from Bowling Green, Ohio. They had been the Citations until a new manager, James Farringer had the idea to spray their hair blue and change their name to the Blue Crystals in 1964. The blue hair didn’t last, but the name stuck and they would remain the Blue Crystals for the next four years.

The band at this time were Joe Dill (lead vocals), George Anderson (lead guitar), Don Hite (rhythm guitar), Roger Rauch (bass) and Don Harris (drums). They cut their first record in 1965, “Be Bop a Lula” / ” Hey Baby” at Courier Studios in Fremont, owned by Bob Brown.

By 1966 Joe Dill and Roger Rauch had left, to be replaced by Doug Mass on bass and Byron Thomas, from Toledo, as new lead vocalist.

They went back to Courier in late ’66, recording two originals by George Anderson, a ballad “We’ll Be Thru For Ever” b/w “Tension,” “inspired by a certain girl friend from that time” says George. The band pressed 1,000 copies in January, 1967, selling most of them.

Later that year Don Hite switched to bass after Doug Mass left the band and Dave Brown came in on keyboards and sax. The group continued until the draft broke them up in 1968.

George Anderson continued in music, playing part-time in bands, giving lessons on guitar and performing solo with MIDI backing.

Thank you to Mark Taylor for the great transfer and scan of his autographed copy of the 45. Special thanks to George Anderson for the scans of the clippings and photo.

Blue Crystals at the Metropole
The original lineup of the Blue Crystals at the Metropole, with vocalist Joe Dill and bassist Roger Rauch
Blue Crystals band: Don Harris, Roger Rauch, Joe Dill, Don Hite and George Anderson
left to right, top: Don Harris, Roger Rauch and Joe Dill; bottom: Don Hite and George Anderson

Mail Order

The Mail Order at Harbor Lites Teen Dance Center
l-r: George “Butch” Kelly, Gerald Pynckel, Harry Kerr, Wayne Van Doren. Taken at Harbor Lites Teen Dance Center, Dunbury, August 1968

Recently I heard from Wayne Van Doren who had been in the Vandaliers and a later group, the Mail Order. Wayne generously shared his account of the Mail Order and two songs they recorded which were never released. Following is Wayne’s account in his own words:

The Mail Order was formed in November of 1967 by myself and Harry Kerr after the breakup of the Vandaliers. The band included Harry Kerr of Bowling Green on electric bass, Wayne Van Doren of Clyde on drums, George “Butch” Kelly of Toledo on organ and Jerry Pynckel (formerly of Johnny and The Hurricanes from 1959-62 and Donnie Bryan and The Raging Storms from 1962-66) on lead guitar.

The band played many night clubs and teen dance centers throughout northern Ohio: the 224 Club in Tiffin, Circus Club and Piccadilly Club in Bowling Green, the Metropol in Napoleon, the Faba in Toledo and the teen dance center the Harbor Lites in Danbury.

On October 3, 1968 the band recorded two songs at United Sound Sytems in Detroit, Michigan. The songs were ‘The Things Before Me’ written by Wayne Van Doren and ‘If I Didn’t Love You’ written by Wayne Van Doren and Jerry Pynckel. Jerry and I had written three more songs, ‘We Said Goodbye’, ‘Patterns’ and ‘Taking A Trip’ that did not get recorded that day.

The day this recording was made two of the original band members could not make it for reasons I can not remember. Jerry, at the last minute, had to call musician friends of his to go to the studio with us. They had not heard the songs before. Jerry and I had to teach them the songs on the drive to Detroit.

The recording of both songs lasted two hours. The total cost for 2 hours studio time, 1 hour of editing time and one 1/2 inch tape was $175.60. I paid for this myself and it looked like a lot of money for the time. The vocal on ‘Things Before Me’ needed more work, but I was afraid to spend the money.

In November of 1968 Jerry and I took the demo record to Marshall Chess at Chess, Checker and Cadet Records in Chicago, Illinois. Marshall liked ‘The Things Before Me’ and made an appointment for us to spend a day in the studio. When we were to go to Chess for a re-cut, again, two members had club contract commitments and could not make the trip. That did not look good to Marshall and he turned us down, and instead signed a group called The Rotary Connectiion.

In January of 1969, I sent the studio tape of The Things Before Me and If I Didn’t Love You to Apple Corps Ltd. at 3 Savile Row London, England. In March of 1969, the tape was returned to me with a very nice letter saying “We regret that we are not at this time able to proceed with what you have in mind. Very best wishes and kindest regards. Yours sincerely, John Hewlett.” [Apple filed away thousands of submissions without even reviewing them or responding. You have a rare item there Wayne! – ed.]

With Harry and I working 40 hour a week day jobs and playing 7 nights a week, it proved to be too much. In April of 1969, the Mail Order broke up.

Mail Order – The Things Before Me
Mail Order – If I Didn’t Love You

See the Buckeye Beat site to read more on the Vandaliers and other Ohio bands.

 Mail Order's rejection letter from Apple Corps
Mail Order’s rejection letter from Apple Corps