With a name like Chaos Incorporated, you’d expect sinister psychedelic sounds, but instead what we have here are two exploitative r&b tracks.
“Daktari Ooo-Ah” is in the tradition of Kip Tyler’s “Jungle Hop” and other jungle and monkey records. On the flip is “Spanish Cooking”, a take off on another genre: soul food records.
“Spanish Cooking” was writen by Frank Guida and Gary Anderson aka Gary “U.S.” Bonds. The way the band plays, it sounds like it could be a throwaway from one of Bonds’ sessions.
Guida was the man behind the S.P.Q.R. and LeGrand labels. He recorded some fantastic music by the Swinging Machine and Lenis Guess around this time that I recommend over this one. Frank Guida passed away on May 19 of 2007, just a week shy of his 85th birthday.Thank you to Marty for the 45.
The Penetraters were from Traverse City, Michigan, about a two hour drive north of Grand Rapids, where they cut this 45 at the Great Lakes Recording Studio. This is one of the earliest garage releases on the Fenton label, which catered to bands looking to finance their own records.
“What Went Wrong” was comped on the Fenton box, Scream Loud, but the ballad flip “Cross the River of Love” was left off. I like its mellow Ricky Nelson “Lonesome Town” kind of style. Both songs were written by William Soapman.
Supposedly the Penetraters members also worked as a polka band called the Jaguars.
The Sound System, circa 1969-1970. Standing left to right: Barry McNeill, Ray Barnes, Teddy Ray and Jimmy Harris. Seated from left: Ralph Melvin, Faye Williams and Lynn JenkinsSound System Romat 45 Take a Look at Yourself
The Sound System had the first 45 on the Romat label. The label credits this as a Carl Lineberger Pitt Sound Studio Production, from Greenville, North Carolina. Band members on the 45 were Barry McNeill on keyboards, Alan Knight drums, Alan Wright bass, Faye Williams guitar and Lynn Jenkins lead singer.
The haunting organ sound, solid drumming and buzzing psychedelic guitar work give the b-side, “Take a Look At Yourself” great tension to match Lynn Jenkins’ excellent vocals. I think it’s safe to say the top side, “Serenade”, will never be resurrected.
In 2009, Lynn Jenkins gave me some background to the band:
The first band that I was a member of was called the Intruders (not to be confused with the band who recorded “Cowboys to Girls”). Later I joined the Sound System. There were four members; Barry McNeil on keyboards, Alan Knight on drums, Alan Wright on bass guitar, Faye Williams playing lead guitar.
They were searching for a lead singer and I was approached for the position. As rehearsals continued for many weeks, we began to receive numerous bookings. Our band played at many locations including Duke University, Williams Lake, YMCA, local clubs, Fort Bragg’s Dragon Club, Pope Air Force Bases’ Officers’ Club, E-4– E-9 Drop Zone Club, the local skating rink and recreation centers. We felt we were gaining when we made several appearances on The Homer Briar Hopper Show hosted by Clyde Moody. Great times!
The Sound System won several Battle of the Bands, the most memorable was at the Hope Mills High School in Fayetteville, NC. Competition included Chico Carter and The Playthings, Digger Odell and The Undertakers, and numerous other groups.
Our manager Bernie McNeil (Barry’s dad) approached me and Barry on a Sunday afternoon and asked how quick we could write a song. Thirty minutes later “Take A Look At Yourself ” was complete, including the music. The following Monday it was recorded in Greenville, N.C. at Pitt Sound Studio. Our producer was Roy Matthews. It was a pleasant experience to work with Mr. Matthews. Several members of the band; “The O’Kaysions” who recorded “I’m a Girl Watcher” were present at the time of our recording.
Our record was sold at live gigs, at all of our schools, and distributed throughout the state of N.C. One copy was even sent to Viet Nam and was played over the air in DaNang. Radio play was unbelievable! The DJ’s were overwhelmed with requests, that the record was broken over the air waves … literally (WFLB radio station in Fayetteville).
The band broke up upon my entrance to the U.S. Army in which I have retired Sgt. first class after 22 years in 1993 (82nd Airborne Paratrooper). I have no information about Alan Wright, Barry McNeil is the NC Assistant State Attorney General, Faye Williams has been teaching music in Iraq for several years and Alan Knight owns and operates a recording studio in Lenoir, N.C.
The Romat label lists the song writers’ names incorrectly: “Take a Look at Yourself” is listed as by J. Jinkins and B. McNeal, which is also rendered as Barry McNeil on the credits to “Serenade”.
After a few years together they evolved into a larger soul/top 45 revue with horns. Barry McNeill sent me some examples of this later sound including a version of the Tams “Untie Me” and “Love Is a Beautiful Thing”.
Barry wrote:
These recordings were made in a small sound studio on Haymount Hill in Fayetteville NC, probably circa 1969 or 1970. Lynn Jenkins is the lead vocalist; Faye Williams is on guitar; Ray Barnes is on bass guitar; Alan Knight is on drums; Barry McNeill is on organ; Jimmy Harris is on trumpet; and Teddy Ray is on tenor saxophone. Ralph Melvin replaced Alan Knight for a period of time as the drummer.
The Sound System eventually changed their name to the Expressions, which included Warren McDonald as a member.
A real obscurity from Irving, Texas on the Dunwright label that I can’t find a shred of info about.
“Population Zero” starts out well, with a great opening wave of reverbed distortion, then turns into a dirge with horns about wandering around a post-apocalyptic landscape. The song is psychedelic in some ways, but defies easy categorization.
“Pollution” begins as a funky instrumental. For the bridge there’s a slow horn break, then a jarring blast of guitar before going back into the rhythm. Both songs were written by V. Murphy, which turns out to be Vince Murphy.
A version of “Population Zero” turns up on a 45 on the Madella label by the Chaps b/w “Water Hole on Madella”, so there may be some connection between the two groups. The Chaps had many other releases including singles on the Paula and Soft labels.
Thanks very much to Don for introducing this one to me.
The Lost Ones were from Sarver, Pennsylvania, a small town about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh. They were originally called the Kruisers and afterwards became Lite Rain. “I Can’t Believe You” is a wild, overdriven raver, too crude for some people.
“I Can’t Believe You” was written by James T. Robeson and produced by Marian Dietrich. The flip, “I Wanna Know”, which moves along at a snail’s pace, was written by James Robeson, Don Dietrich and Bill Farrington. This 45 was released in January of 1967 on the Mersey label.
One of the leading bands in the Rochester, NY area, the Young Tyrants were Carl Lundquist lead guitar and vocals, Lou Grillo lead vocals, Julio Lora rhythm guitar, Mike Zazzaro bass and Mike Montoya drums. They were heavily influenced by the Young Rascals, even adding “Young” to their band name in imitation, but came up with a sound all their own by the time they recorded their only 45.
Fine Records Studio owner Vince Jans signed the band after hearing their live show over the phone. In September 1967, they recorded an album’s worth of songs at one session, mostly typical cover versions off the day along with two original songs and a couple instrumentals.
Jans let them release the two originals for their only 45. “I Try” starts off with Carl’s trilling guitar riff taken from the intro to the Buster’s surf classic, “Bust Out”, then turns into a fantastic rocker as the band kicks in. “She Don’t Got The Right” simmers with resentment: “She’s got the right to say/ she don’t want my kind/but she don’t got the right/ to take away my pride.”
Lou Grillo wrote “I Try”, although there are no credits on the label, while Carl Lundquist wrote “She Don’t Got the Right”. 500 copies were pressed on the In label and sold at their shows, at venues like the New Patriot Club in Hornell. The only radio play it received was on local Rochester station WSAY.
The band broke up in 1968, as Carl and Lou were heading to college. The masters from the Young Tyrant’s recording sessions have been saved, and supposedly include other takes of both sides of the 45 as well as a cover of “I Can Only Give You Everything”. Hopefully someday we’ll hear the whole session.
After the Flys: the Third Row. From left: Gary (surname? – original drummer), Tom Smith, Steve Widmeyer, Bill Lyons, Dave Reemsnyder, and Don Ransom
The Flys:
Steve Widmeyer – lead vocals, rhythm & lead guitar Dave Reemsnyder – bass Bill Lyons – keyboard, vocals Randy Dunham – guitar, vocals Jim (surname ?) – drums
The Flys were students at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, close to the Ohio border. I had no information about the band until Steve Widmeyer left a comment (see below).
In 1966 they traveled over 200 miles to McLean, VA, near Washington DC, where they settled for the summer and cut their two 45s for Myskatonic, perhaps their own label.
Their first 45 is “Reality Composition #1”, written by John Elvin and Stephen Widmeyer, backed by a fine version of the Stones’ “Got to Get Away” and released with a green label.
Then came the fantastic “Be What You Is”, one of Mort Shuman’s more obscure songwriting efforts. Shuman co-wrote it with occasional collaborator Leslie MacFarland (J. Leslie McFarland, who also co-wrote “Stuck On You” for Elvis with Aaron Schroeder). An anonymous commenter below (“The Fly”) says the band outbid the Rascals for the right to record the song.
On the flip is “The Way Things Are”, an original by Steve Widmeyer. I’ve seen both white and orange labels for this one. The records are credited as F.G.I. (Four Guys) Productions.
The band evolved into the Third Row – that band’s drummer Thomas Smith has sent the photo of that band seen above. Steve Widmeyer, Bill Lyons and Dave Reemsnyder remained from the Flys, the others were new members.
Jerry Scotti, Freddie DeRubeis, Joe Liotta and George Napolitano in Freddie’s backyard, 1964
Inspired by the Beatles’ performances on Ed Sullivan in 1964, four friends in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn decided to form a band they would call the Creations. George Napolitano, Jerry Scotti, Dominic Coppola and Fred DeRubeis began lessons with Pete Frias, guitarist for the Peppermint Lounge act Jimmy & the Jesters. Two other friends, Joey Sirico and Joe Liotta soon joined. Pete not only taught them music, but assigned each of them the instrument they should play for the band.
The Creations performed at local churches and halls including the Teenage Cabaret and the “No Name” club on 60th St and 14th Ave in Brooklyn. They attracted notice with their spot-on renditions of songs by the Animals and the Dave Clark 5. Joe Liotta’s increasing ability on the Vox Continental organ gave them a professional sound that other bands lacked.
First Creations promo photo: Dom, George, Freddie, Joe L. and Jerry
Their two big breaks, though, came one Saturday in March 1965, when their new manager Bob Herin booked the band on Murray the K matinee show at the Brooklyn Fox Theatre with the Chambers Brothers. The Creations played a longer set than usual to fill in for the Rascals, who couldn’t get their equipment off of the Barge in Long Island. The audience response was tremendous, reaching Beatlemania type proportions. Charged by this reaction, they then went and auditioned for Jack Spector, AM radio WMCA’s star DJ who was looking for a house band for the stations “Good Guys” shows.
Landing the job, they began playing Good Guy shows regularly on Fridays, playing their own sets and backing touring acts. Bob Herin turned management of the Creations over to Billy and Steve Jerome, who managed the Left Banke among others. The band would soon change their name to the Ox-Bow Incident and record two fine 45s for Smash and a third, with a somewhat different lineup, for Avco.
George and Joe Sirico at the Worlds Fair, 1964
Before the name change and these releases, they recorded a handful of demos that were never released, including “Get on My Train” and “I’ve Paid My Dues”. I asked guitarist George Napolitano about the band’s early days as the Creations:
Q: What were the circumstances behind the demo recordings?
George Napolitano: The demo “I’ve Paid My Dues” was recorded at the request of Billy and Steve Jerome. They asked us to put something down so that they could give a listen. We had recorded “I’ve Paid My Dues” about 6 months earlier and this version was our second recording of that song. We also did “Get on My Train” at the same session.
Q: Who wrote “Get On My Train” and “I’ve Paid My Dues”?
George Napolitano: I don’t remember who wrote “I’ve Paid My Dues”. It was given to us on sheet music and we were “told” to work on it. “Get on My Train” was written by a friend named Denver Ruggins. He gave us the song and we changed it a bit. The demo was recorded on a 4 track Ampeg Machine at Rossi Sound Studio in Brooklyn and transferred to acetate. I have the original acetate and from the acetate we made the CD copy.
Q: Where was Rossi Sound Studios?
George Napolitano: 2005 West 8th Street Brooklyn, 23 NY is the address on the record label. If I remember correctly that was between Avenues T and U on West 8th Street.
George Napolitano
Q: Was the band still called the Creations at that point?
George Napolitano: We were still the Creations when we recorded the demos but changed the name shortly afterwards to the Ox-Bow Incident. The lineup for the original session was myself on guitar, Joe Sirico bass, Fred DeRubeis drums, Joe Liotta Vox organ and vocals, Dominic Coppola guitar. When we re-recorded the song Jerry replaced Dominic Coppola on guitar. After we recorded “I’ve Paid My Dues” and “Get On My Train” we were signed to a production contract with Billy and Steve Jerome. At the time they also managed the Fifth Estate and were part of the team behind the Left Banke who had a hit with “Walk Away Rene”. They gave us the song “Beg, Borrow or Steal” to record and we had it mastered and ready to be released. However the Ohio Express version was released before ours and it never came out. In fact that was 2 years before Reach Out was released.
Jerry, Joe, George, Freddie, Joe onstage at a WMCA “Good Guy” show
Q: Were these songs part of your live set?
George Napolitano: Whenever we performed on a WMCA ”Good Guy” show we would play the songs as part of the “show” and then we would back up all of the other acts that needed musical accompaniment. Remember this was way before the days of singers singing over pre-recorded tracks. We provided the music for groups such as the Chiffons, Peaches and Herb, Chubby Checker, the Shangra-Las, Jimmy Jones, the Jive 5, Neil Sedaka and countless others. In fact just this past week I saw Neil Sedaka and I mentioned to him that my band use to back him up on the “Good Guy” shows. He smiled and said, “I remember those days fondly”. We never rehearsed with him. Whenever he arrived Jack Spector would immediately put him on stage and Sedaka would turn to us, snap his fingers and say “C- Am- F-G” and proceed to sing “Calendar Girl”, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”, “Oh Carol” and all the rest of his songs.
Q: How was the NY music ‘scene’ at the time? Did you get much chance to see other bands or only when you shared bills with other bands?
George Napolitano: We played a lot, practically every weekend so we really didn’t get much of a chance to see the other groups that were around at the time. When we weren’t playing our respective girlfriends expected us to spend time with them and not go listening to the other groups. We did go to see some of our friends groups such as Lurch & the Brats, The Intruders and others from time to time but when we were “off” we tried to stay away from the clubs and catch up on those things which we couldn’t do whenever we were playing. That being said whenever we could we did try to get to the Electric Circus or go to the Fillmore East to see The Jefferson Airplane, The Doors and whoever else was playing, but with our schedule that didn’t happen often.
The Ox-Bow Incident at Coney Island (l-r): Joe Liotta, Jerry Scotti, Fred DeRubeis, George Napolitano, Joe Sirico
Signed to the Smash label, the Ox-Bow Incident didn’t release a record until 1968. By this time were heading in a more soulful direction, using a leslie speaker on the organ and adding lead singer Billy Sheehan from another local band, the Intruders. Unfortunately, Sheehan was drafted immediately after the band recorded a fine, somewhat psychedelicized version of the Four Top’s “Reach Out”. They recruited Al Tessitore to sing on the b-side, the garage song “Harmonica Man”. “Reach Out” made local radio charts as far away as Kentucky (WKLO) and Wisconsin (the first Instant Pick on WSPT), but missed the national charts despite good commercial potential.
They followed up with the catchy “You Can’t Make Love By Yourself”, sung by Al and “Lurch” Luis Pagan and featuring session player Vinny Bell on electric sitar. The flipside is “She’s Gone”, a heavy soul number written by Fred DeRubeis and George. Neither side caught on with radio or the public and the band disbanded in 1969. George and Joe Sirico found other musicians to record a final 45 for Avco, then reunited with most of the original members for live shows into 1973.
The Ox-Bow Incident is still performing and recording music to this day. Those who want to hear more of their music should check out their myspace page, which has a history of the band and many more photos than I could reproduce here. There’s also a long interview with George Napolitano and Joe Sirico from Mike Dugo’s 60sgaragebands.com site, archived here. Both of these were sources for this story, along with my own interview with George Napolitano. Special thanks to George and the other members of the Ox-Bow Incident for sharing these rarely heard songs.
Jerry, Joe S, Freddie, Joe L in studio during “Reach Out” session.
Featuring members of the Brogues and the Ratz, the Family Tree made this one 45 for the Mira label before releasing several singles and an lp on RCA and a final 45 on Paula. The RCA records have a polished English pop quality to the production, while this earlier Mira record has more of an Northern California garage sound.
You could say “Prince of Dreams” is heavily influenced by Dylan, while “Live Your Own Life” is reminiscent of the Beau Brummels, but this doesn’t take away from the quality of both songs.
Bob Segarini from Stockton, California was in a group called Us who made demos for the Autumn label that were never released. He then went into the Ratz, which included Gary Grubb better known as Gary Duncan of Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Duncan left the Ratz for the Brogues, who also included bassist Bill Whittington. The Brogues released two great 45s I’ll cover here someday. With members Rick Campbell and Eddie Rodrigues entering the draft, the Brogues broke up. Bill Whittington and Segarin formed the Family Tree, with Mike Olsen on keyboards and Newman Davis on drums. Mike Dure joined on guitar by the time of this recording, as he is co-writer of “Live Your Own Life” with Segarini.
Bob Segarini:
The Family Tree’s first record was for Mira, the people that did “Hey Joe” by the Leaves. Mira put out a single, “Prince of Dreams”, in ’66, and we had a lot of gigs and stuff.
We went into Gold Star [Studios] with [engineer] Doc Siegel and recorded for a week towards an album for Mira. We cut eight tracks; they were sort of produced by Sonny Bono, who was working in Studio B with Phil Spector on something.
Brian Wilson was doing the Smile album when we were in there. In fact, members of the Family Tree played things [on the Smile sessions] like the saw, hammer, and nail, and I believe I played the electric drill. We were there when they had the fire in the bucket, and they all had the little firemen’s hats on.
The Mira LP never materialized, but the demos from that session led to the contract with RCA. The band went through several personnel changes, and I’m not sure if Mike Olsen (who later changed his name to Lee Michaels) played on the Mira sessions. Bob Segarini went into Roxy and then the Wackers, and continues to make music to this day.
Source: Bob Segarini quoted by Ritchie Unterberger in his notes on Roxy.
Special thanks to JG for sharing the 45 scans and music.
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.
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
One of the leading bands in the Rochester, NY area, the Young Tyrants were Carl Lundquist lead guitar and vocals, Lou Grillo lead vocals, Julio Lora rhythm guitar, Mike Zazzaro bass and Mike Montoya drums. They were heavily influenced by the Young Rascals, even adding “Young” to their band name in imitation, but came up with a sound all their own by the time they recorded their only 45.
The Flys:
Their first 45 is “Reality Composition #1”, written by John Elvin and Stephen Widmeyer, backed by a fine version of the Stones’ “Got to Get Away” and released with a green label.
George Napolitano: We were still the Creations when we recorded the demos but changed the name shortly afterwards to the Ox-Bow Incident. The lineup for the original session was myself on guitar, Joe Sirico bass, Fred DeRubeis drums, Joe Liotta Vox organ and vocals, Dominic Coppola guitar. When we re-recorded the song Jerry replaced Dominic Coppola on guitar. After we recorded “I’ve Paid My Dues” and “Get On My Train” we were signed to a production contract with Billy and Steve Jerome. At the time they also managed the Fifth Estate and were part of the team behind the Left Banke who had a hit with “Walk Away Rene”. They gave us the song “Beg, Borrow or Steal” to record and we had it mastered and ready to be released. However the Ohio Express version was released before ours and it never came out. In fact that was 2 years before Reach Out was released.
Signed to the Smash label, the Ox-Bow Incident didn’t release a record until 1968. By this time were heading in a more soulful direction, using a leslie speaker on the organ and adding lead singer Billy Sheehan from another local band, the Intruders. Unfortunately, Sheehan was drafted immediately after the band recorded a fine, somewhat psychedelicized version of the Four Top’s “Reach Out”. They recruited Al Tessitore to sing on the b-side, the garage song “Harmonica Man”. “Reach Out” made local radio charts as far away as Kentucky 
