Category Archives: US

Ab’soul’lutely Solid

November 12, 2010 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

The Ab’soul’lutely Solid came from the small town of Kaufman, southeast of Dallas. Unfortunately a live tape and demo recording seem to be lost now.Keyboard player Randy Williams wrote to me about the group:

Dennis Patterson – vocals
Charlie Roberts – vocals
Daniel Elzner – guitar
Randy Williams – organ
John Elzner -bass
Wayne Gillespie – drums
I was in Ab’soul’lutely Solid, a band out of Kaufman, 67-68. I didn’t live in Kaufman, but in Athens, about 40 miles away. The Elzner brothers and the rest of the band were from Kaufman. I was barely 17, the guitarist was barely 16…we were the youngest. I was a classical pianist before I got the Vox.
We were mainly a cover band, but we were really tight. We did rock and roll and soul…..thus the band’s name….Paul Revere, Animals, Hendrix, Wilson Pickett, Doors, etc.
If we rehearsed in the Elzner’s garage, half the town would show up in 15 minutes or less.
We did a battle of the bands in ’68 in Dallas. Also played a UT Austin frat party in ’68, and played around Kaufman, Terrell, Royce City, Seven Points, Athens, mostly smaller places.
We recorded one gig live, and John had the tape, but doesn’t know where it is. We did a ‘studio’ recording for a lady from New York, but never heard back.
Daniel, the guitarist, later played with Tommy Overstreet, the country singer, and lived in Nashville for a while. Still play piano after a 40 hiatus, and just got a Vox Continental, trying to get a British Invasion band together.
Randy Williams

Categories: Houston, Texas

Houston music clubs – The Act III / The What a Way to Go Go

November 11, 2010 Chris Bishop 50 Comments

Johnny Winter at Act III Houston Post, Nov. 30, 1966 — Johnny Winter at Act III, Houston Post, Nov. 30, 1966

A story on a Texas group The Valens / The Outcasts (not the Askel group) mentions the band trying out for a Houston club The Act III a Go Go. However a member of the Interns remembers there being two different clubs, “What a Way to Go Go” and the “The Act III”.

Andrew Brown provided the scan above and says there was also a club called “What a Way to Go Go”. The clubs might have shared the same location, but that’s still speculative. Act III’s address was 6663 S. Main, it seems its been torn down for a strip mall.

Does anyone have posters, photos or material from either club that would clarify this minor point about the Houston music scene?

Categories: Beloit, Hays, Kansas, Sully

The Dinks “Nina-Kocka-Nina” and “Kocka-Mow-Mow” on Sully Records

November 9, 2010 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

The Dinks photo — The Dinks, from left: Bob Bergmann, Bill Hollingsworth (seated with glasses, Dean Dietz, Bruce Brown, Mike Moran (seated) and Gale Scanlon. Photo courtesy of Bob Bergmann

Pat Waddell – lead vocals, replaced by Dean Dietz
Steve Kadel – lead guitar, replaced by Bill Hollingsworth
Bob Bergmann – rhythm guitar and vocals
Gail Scanlon – organ
Bruce Brown – bass
Mike Morrand – drums

The Dinks’ “Nina-Kocka-Nina” takes the repetitive nonsense of “Surfin’ Bird” and adds a bizarre parody of an Asian accent. The soft-spoken opening has the Japanese inflection down well, even if most of the words are gibberish. Once the song gets going the tone shifts to something that sounds like no real language except variations on “papa ooh mow mow”. The few lyrics in English, “get out your pencils, get out your books, try to catch all the teacher’s grubby looks” and “I’m taking English, History, Biology and Chemistry” imply that school is turning him into a raving idiot! Ironically, the writer of the song would become a teacher himself after leaving the Dinks!

“Penny a Tear Drop” is very different, and the contrast between the twelve-string guitar and organ sounds great. It’s something of a shame that the success of “Nina-Kocka-Nina” put the Dinks into the novelty category and ended their chances of making it as a sincere pop act. Song writing credits for “Penny a Tear Drop” go to Ray Ruffin (a variation on Ray Ruff’s name I hadn’t seen before) and Jack Dunham, whose name also turns up on the Dinks second 45.

Needing a follow up to “Nina-Kocka-Nina” they predictably cut another song in that vein. “Kocka-Mow-Mow” lacks the magic of the first record. Instead of being a band original, it was knocked off by two of Ray Ruff’s associates: Jack Dunham again, and Royce Taylor, a singer who had his own 45 for Sully as part of Gaylen & Royce, “I Can’t Stay” / “Modern Day Fools”.

Oddly it comments directly on their first disc: “all the DJs across the nation, thought we had a bad creation, they just thought we were up in smoke, but that’s kind of funny because we’re on all the charts” … “radio stations started getting calls, they said our band made their skin crawl, they didn’t like the music ’cause it made them sick, but everybody wanted to hear it, kids” … “they said ‘Nina-Kocka-Nina’ was the most … you better think twice before you put this one down.” On the flip is an incredibly insensitive song by Royce Taylor, “Ugly Girl”, sung in the sweetest voice.

Dink’s rhythm guitarist Bob Bergmann answered some of my questions about “Nina-Kocka-Nina” and the band:

I am Bob Bergmann, the writer and lead singer for “Nina-Kocka-Nina” on the Sully label. I played rhythm guitar for the Ragging Regattas and the Dinks back in the 60’s out of Beloit, Kansas.
The band was started earlier by Steve Kadel, from Beloit, Kansas. He was one of my best friends growing up in the 60’s. We graduated together in ’62. We learned guitars together during high school, by ear. We learned with 5-strings on our guitars–THANK GOD–there was no little E-string.
After graduating, Steve went to Fort Hays College which is now Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas and I went to St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kansas. Steve started the band The Ragging Regattas in Hays. After two years, I transferred to Fort Hays State College and joined the band. Steve was the person who should be giving credit for starting the band.
I was in my froshmen year in college at Dodge City, Kansas and came up with the song “Nina-Kocka-Nina” and the jibberish language. We put the song together after a performance somewhere in Nebraska. We were sitting there on our amps, very tired, and I got up and started to sing the song which the band had never heard. They all plugged back in and the song was created. I had no idea what the jibberish meant, but at some performances, I was asked by orientals if I knew what I was saying and I think they agreed, I was saying some real words. Pat created his own background words during the recording. Pat’s name should have never been first on the record [writing credit] and he will admit that.
The reason we went to Texas to record, two different times, was our so call it manager had contacted Ray. We did not write “Penny A Tear Drop”. It was written by a person in the 30’s. The song was the reason we were asked to come to Texas to record. I would say it got us in the recording field. “Penny a Tear Drop” took hours. [We] needed a flip side and we did “Nina-Kocka-Nina” in a few minutes and it went over the best.
We were called the Regattas when we went to record, but Ray sent our contract back and changed our names to the Dinks because Ragging Regattas didn’t match the “Nina-Kocka-Nina” song. I did sign a contract with BMI in New York after “Nina-Kocka-Nina” came out. There was a nice writeup in one of the top record magazines in the US about the song. Full page showed a picture of the record and around the record were comments from DJ’s around the nation about the song.
We were mainly an instrumental band. The song list was very long and mixed between vocals and instrumentals. Our main songs were by the Ventures, and other instrumental groups, many from England. We recorded an album of instrumental songs at Sully Studio after the two 45s, but it never came out.
Somewhere I have one of the many sheets of songs we had taped to our our Fender Dual Showmans. We all had Fender instruments and amps. I did have a Country Gentleman at one time. I also played rhythm on a Fender 6-string bass that was owned by one of the guys in the Blue Things. It had a very funky sound and the frets were very far apart which made it tougher to play.
One of the hardest songs that I remember doing was “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” by the Ventures. Our lead guitar, Bill Hollingsworth was the greatest, and I don’t think I could have learned the rhythm without his help. You mention “Surfing Bird” by The Trashmen: Bill was first cousins with their lead guitar player.
After a few years, Bill Hollingsworth replaced Steve on lead guitar, and Dean Deetz replaced Pat Waddel on vocal. I left the band in ’66. I got married in January 1967 and finished my teaching degree. I am a retired business teacher here at Jetmore, Kansas of 35 years.
If my memory serves me correctly, [the Dinks] went on a year or so before some of the guys were drafted. After that, they split company and two bands were started – I think the Beasts and another Dinks band. I was one of the junior high school sponsors and we hired the Beast for our high school prom. I remember joining the band for “Nina-Kocka-Nina”. The students and staff couldn’t believe it. One student came up to me and said “Mr. Bergmann, I didn’t know you had that in you”!
On March 7, 2009 the Dinks were inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in Lawrence, Kansas. It was a gala celebration for our band who I had not seen for forty years. Steve could not make it to the induction ceremony.
Bob Bergmann

Thanks to Brian Kirschenbaum and Christian for scans of the Dinks original 45s.

Full page ad in Billboard, December 4, 1965

The Dinks – Bob Bergmann at bottom left of photo

Categories: Glenville, Schenectady, Scotia, Upstate New York

The Intruders

November 2, 2010 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

The Intruders were from the small towns of Glenville and Scotia, outside Schenectady, New York. They were students at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake and Scotia-Glenville High Schools and formed the band in 1964.

Carl Buell – vocals
Mark Hecker – lead guitar
Mark Ernst – rhythm guitar
Mike Collins – bass guitar
Snooky Mercoglan – drums, replaced by Warren Droms

They recorded their 45 at WRGB studios in Schenectady. The number RK4M 5992/3 indicates an RCA Custom pressing from 1964.

Mark Ernst has a very cool website on the Intruders and his later career, though he doesn’t say what happened to the group after releasing the single. Presumably, they broke up as members graduated school.

The A-side features the slower “What Kind of Girl Are You”, which starts out with a great bluesy riff and has some good soloing as the song fades.

The flip, “Hey Hey” is a good rocker.

“Hey Hey” was written by Marc Hecker, Mark Ernst and Carl Buell, with credits to AC Production and Intruders Music. “What Kind of Girl Are You” was written by Hecker and Buell.

Thank you to Brian Kirschenbaum for the scan and transfers of the 45.

Categories: Alabama, Birmingham, Hemphill, Midfield, Tinker

The Movement of Hemphill Recording

October 29, 2010 Chris Bishop 7 Comments

The Movement recorded two 45s at Hemphill Recording Studios in Midfield, Alabama, just southwest of Birmingham. The two singles were released within two months of each other, in July and August, 1968.

The first 45, “Green Knight” is a solid garage number with a good organ sound and rhythm section. The vocalist’s sputtering, garbled delivery as he says “I can’t keep from crying in the green night” is classic. There’s a fine harmonica break and a buzzing guitar solo takes the song to the fade-out.

It’s a shame that every copy of the 45 has a serious tape glitch (or mastering error) about 30 seconds into the song. The sound warbles just for a split-second, but it’s very noticeable.

The flip, “Stinking Peanut Butter Love” is one of the better nonsense b-sides I’ve heard, a parody of hippie Love-In chants with mantras like “tallyanna meat loaf”, repetitive piano, random drumming and a flushing toilet. It has it’s own minor mastering problem, a sudden rise in volume at the start of the song.

Both sides written by the Movement. There are no names on this Tinker Records label, but their second 45, released on Hemphill Studio’s own label gives Buck Williams as the writer of both sides. I don’t know who else was in the band.

“Just-a-Driftin'” has an echoing lead vocal over acoustic guitar, piano and organ, with whistling instead of harmonica. This doesn’t sound like a promising formula, but the results are good and lightly psychedelic. I haven’t heard the flip, “Dear Abby” but I’ve been told it’s a ballad.

Neal Hemphill owned Hemphill Studios, also known as the Sound of Birmingham, operating from 1966-1985. Hemphill released a couple 45s by the Mishaps, “Under My Thumb” / “One Too Many Mornings” and “Come On Up”, produced by Frank Lewis. A two-volume set, The Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neal Hemphill compiles the soul and funk sounds of the studio.

Thank you to Rich Strauss for the scan of “Just-a-Driftin'”.

Categories: Another Record, Louisiana, New Orleans, Not garage

Drits & Dravy

October 27, 2010 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

Drits & Dravy Another 45 Talk That Talk Part 1 Just a few days after I added Nick’s article on former Daily Flash guitarist Doug Hastings’ time with Dr. John’s band in 1969, I picked up this single on the Another label by Drits & Dravy, one of Mac Rebennack’s many early releases before he moved to Los Angeles and assumed the Dr. John persona. It features Mac and Ronnie Barron putting down a long stream of quick rhymes and puns, many of which I can’t make out through the echo.

I’ve seen this as being from 1960, but I think 1962 is probably more likely, given that Dr. John mentions having the Drits and Dravy act at the same time he was cutting an unreleased LP for AFO.

Besides Mac and Ronnie, either of whom could be playing organ, I’m not sure who was on this session. It could have included some of his regular band at the time, such as Paul Staehle (drums) and Charlie Maduell (sax).

Another collaboration between these two which sounds very different is Ronnie Barron’s single “It’s All in the Past” written by Dauenhauer-Rebennack b/w “The Hip Parade”by Rebennack-O’Neil, from about 1963.

Drits & Dravy Another 45 Talk That Talk Part 2

Categories: East Northport, Huntington, New York, South Grape Street, Suffolk County

Utopia Carwash

October 26, 2010 Chris Bishop 15 Comments

Updated April 2011

Selling records at the WFMU fair kept me so busy that I had zero time to look at other folks’ tables. Of course, sharing a table with Mr. Robinson is dangerous, and sure enough I spent a chunk of my sales on a few of his records, including buying back a copy of P.B. & the Staunchmen that I had sold to him last year. Why did I sell it in the first place? Why did I bother to buy it again? These are questions that haunt record collectors.

Billy from Norton Records dropped off a copy of the latest collection of unissued garage acetates: You Tore My Brain! (half of it comes from tapes and not acetates, by the way). Besides the title cut and its flip by the James Street Overpass, there are some excellent and crude out-takes from the Fine Recording vaults, like “I Won’t Play Your Game” by an unknown group, and an incredible cut by Sir Winston & the Commons, “All of the Time”. I remember when that acetate came up for auction earlier this year.

The only other record I picked up was this bizarre psychedelic number by Utopia Carwash. Mr. Finewine turned up a batch of unplayed copies – unfortunately most of them including this one have a rolling warp. The warp was bad enough that I couldn’t make a transfer of “Loneliness”. I did get a decent, if noisy transfer of the flip, “Wait and See”, which hasn’t been compiled. It’s not a bad tune once you get past the droning organ intro.

“Loneliness” was written by Gary Costa. “Wait and See” by Lloyd Deckman.

I didn’t have any real clues as to the location of this band for a long time. South Grape Street could mean Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles CA, or Medford, Oregon. Etched into the trail-off vinyl is “SGS 001A/B – IFL” and “LW” for all the deadwax hounds out there. Mike Markesich thought it might be mid-upstate New York. As it turns out, they were from Long Island.

Last month I heard from bassist Lloyd Deckman, who filled me in on the group’s story:

Utopia Carwash was named after the “Utopia Carwash” that was visible from the Long Island Expressway in towards the city. It was a carwash. Prior to that name, we had called ourselves the Makos, from East Northport.
The Cast:
Barry Ambrosio – guitar
Bryan Ambrosio – keyboard
Gary Costa – percussion
Lloyd Deckman – bass
We started – actually Barry and Bryan started – the Makos in their basement on Grant Street in East Northport. They were twins and they lived across the street from me – we grew up together, Boy Scouts, played army, etc. Barry was the brains and driving force behind the operation. As the Makos we played out at a firemens’ party in the firehouse in East Northport, at the Northport High School (video’d), and at a place called either “The Most” or “Hullabaloo” that was usually a roller skating rink in Northport. The time frame would have been around ’66 or ’67. Those were the only gigs I remember while I was in the band.
I don’t remember where South Grape Street Records came from; I was no longer in the band. “Wait and See” was actually written as “Just You Wait and See”, they chose to abbreviate it for labeling purposes. I wanted it done up-tempo too, but… They had the record cut in early ’69.
As I understand it, Barry has passed, his bio in the music world is rather impressive. I believe Bryan lives in Florida.
Lloyd F. Deckman

Categories: California, Los Angeles

Dave Johnson and Doug Hastings with Dr. John

October 20, 2010 Nick Warburton 2 Comments

Dr. John's band at the Fillmore East, October 1969 — Dr. John’s band at the Fillmore East, October 1969

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to interview bass player Dave Johnson and guitarist Doug Hastings, both of whom played with Dr John in 1969 and spoke highly of their time working with him.

Johnson was an integral member of Dr John’s touring band throughout most of that year alongside drummer Richard Crooks. Together with conga player Didymus (aka Richard) Washington, guitarist Gary Carino and singers Eleanor Barooshian, Jeanette Jacobs and Sherry Graddie, they played all the high profile gigs that year, most notably the Atlantic, Detroit and Toronto Pop Festivals.

Later that autumn guitarist Doug Hastings (who had recently left Rhinoceros) joined Johnson and Crooks in a revised line up. Hastings told me that the band had been assembled in L.A specifically to record the album Remedies, which was later cut at Columbia Studios in New York on 19 and 21-23 October.

The new group debuted at the Whisky in A Go Go in West Hollywood on 23 September (playing six nights) in what Hastings said ‘amounted to a shake-down gig for the band’. Johnson told me that the cover for Remedies was taken at the club by his cousin Steve LaVere.

At the last minute, just before they set off on tour, Hastings’s former cohort from The Daily Flash Don MacAllister was added on electric mandolin for ‘breadth of sound and camaraderie’.

Dr. John at the Fillmore East, October 1969

Hastings reckons, however, that Don’s real interest was the attraction to heroin that he had in common with Dr John. Sadly, MacAllister was ejected from the tour a few weeks before it ended. Hastings remembers walking in Manhattan with MacAllister the night he was fired and passing Unganos where Tony Williams’s Lifetime was playing. Miles Davis’s Ferrari GTO with bullet holes was parked outside!

When the guitarist got back to the West Coast, he discovered that MacAllister had overdosed. He was only 27 years old!

The photos are from the Fillmore East in mid-October. Johnson told me he doesn’t remember the name of the photographer but she was a girl he met in New York who sent him the 35 mm slides.

The group appeared at the Fillmore East on 10-11 October with Vanilla Fudge and AUM before playing four nights at Unganos from 12-15 October. The tour was wrapped up with two nights at the Fantasy East, running from 17-18 October. The sessions for Remedies took place after the tour but from what I gather only Hastings participated from the band.

Dr John put together a new road band in November but that wasn’t the end of his dealings with Johnson. Shortly after Dave Johnson replaced Randy Fuller in Blue Mountain Eagle (who had morphed out of Dewey Martin’s ill-fated New Buffalo Springfield) in April 1970, the group’s engineer Bill Halverson presented the musicians with a demo of Stephen Stills’s ‘Marianne’ and told them to cut a version.

The band’s lone album had sold poorly and despite having a stash of new songs, Atlantic would only allow them to cut a cover tune as a single before committing to a second album. The band didn’t feel Stills’s song fitted with the sound they wanted to project but begrudgingly cut a version at the Record Plant.

Johnson told me that he managed to get Dr John to come in and play some really funky piano on the song which really gave it a unique sound and feel. Halverson, however, was having none of it and forced the band to re-cut an identical version to the demo, which failed to chart on its release. It would be great to hear that version if it still exists.

To contact the author, email: Warchive@aol.com

Categories: Bell, California, Los Angeles

The Sideshow

October 19, 2010 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

Dave Bishop – guitar, vocals
Dennis Wilbur – guitar, piano, vocals
Freddie Mooney – bass, vocals
Chuck Riley – drums

Dennis Wilbur sent in the photo and history of his bands This Generation and Sideshow, out of Bell, California:

I have always been interested in music from the time I was about 3 years old. I was fascinated by the people I saw standing on a stage and performing and the applause from the crowd after each song.
My first band was called This Generation. We formed around 1965 and played dances, parties, etc. The members were Dennis Wilbur (guitar-vocals), Freddie Mooney (bass-vocals), Danny Shoaf (drums), and Tom Jonutis (guitar). Freddie Mooney and I were in the band and orchestra at Bell High School. I knew that he was playing with his step-dad Vern “The Voice” Gosdin, and Vern’s brother Rex, along with Clarence White (Kentucky Colonels, and later The Byrds). The Gosdin Brothers were former bluegrass musicians known as The Hillmen (with Chris Hillman playing mandolin prior to joining The Byrds).
I had gone to a rehearsal of the Gosdin Brothers and started talking with Freddie and said we should form our own group. One thing lead to another and This Generation was formed. We were together a little over a year when our drummer and guitarist were both drafted. Freddie said that he knew another guitarist named Danny Duran from the next town over (Maywood, CA). We auditioned him and added him to the group. I don’t recall who our drummer was at that time.
We played together for about 6 months and for some reason our guitarist left. Again, on the search for someone to replace him we found Dave Bishop (also from Maywood). We knew Dave from high school also. He had been playing with a local surf band and realized that surf music was quickly being replaced by the British Invasion and decided to join us. This was mid 1966. This also called for a name change and The Sideshow was born.
Sometime in late 1966 we landed a gig at The Street Scene in El Monte, CA which was owned by Gary Bookasta who also owned The Hullaballoo in Hollywood and was manager for The Palace Guard and The Yellow Payges. It was during this time that we again needed a drummer and while playing at the Street Scene that we found Bob Phillips from El Monte and he joined the band.
After a couple of more gigs at the Street Scene, Gary Bookasta hired us as the “house band”. We were still doing mostly Top 40 covers at this time but it did provide us with the opportunity to open for many of the big acts of the time (Grass Roots, Music Machine, Freddie Cannon, The Seeds, etc.). This also allowed us to play at The Hullaballoo with many other top acts (Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys, Taj Mahal, Van Morrison, The Doors, John Lee Hooker as his backup band, and many more) and the regular groups that Gary Bookasta handled (Palace Guard, Yellow Payges, East Side Kids).
While playing the Street Scene we were approached by Lou Liuzzi about him becoming our manager. Lou was just out of college with a degree in Business and trying to get into the music biz as a manager. He didn’t really have any experience but he did try hard. I don’t think he ever managed anyone else but The Sideshow.
He initially was able to get us some gigs and financed our first recording session at a small studio somewhere in the San Gabriel Valley. We recorded two covers, one was a song by The Who (“Can You See Me”) that hadn’t been released in the US yet and the other was by The Blues Magoos (“One By One”). During this period we were continually playing various clubs around Southern California (Marina Palace in Seal Beach, and The Galaxy in Hollywood). The Galaxy was less than 100 feet from The Whisky, which provided us with some exposure to some of the big acts of the time that would just stop in and see us.
It was at this time, early 1967 that The Standells came in to see us. A few weeks later they came to see us again when we were playing a car show at the Anaheim Convention Center. They approached our manager about signing with their new production company.  We recorded four tracks at Mama Joe’s recording studio in the San Fernando Valley. We didn’t have any original material at that time so The Standells found the songs that we recorded (“Paper People”, “Black and White”, and two other tracks that I don’t recall the names). The sessions were a lot of fun as The Standells played on the tracks with us. Our drummer felt left out as he didn’t get to play on the tracks. The lineup for the sessions was Dennis Wilbur (guitar-piano-vocals), Dave Bishop (guitar-vocals), Freddie Mooney (bass-vocals), Larry Tamblyn (organ), Dick Dodd (drums), Tony Valentino (guitar), and John Fleck (guitar). Unfortunately all of the recordings that we had done have gotten lost over the years.
Our drummer Bob Phillips left the group and became the drummer for The Rooney Brothers (Mickey Rooney’s sons, Tim, Ted, and Mickey Jr.). We found another drummer right away from Downey CA. His name was Chuck Riley. Things were looking good and we were about to sign a deal with Reprise Records when our manager fell victim to the dreaded “Greedy Manager Syndrome” and presented us with a ridiculous contract that was to be 10 years long with a 25% commission. Needless to say, we said “NO”. That’s when everything fell apart and the deal with Reprise disappeared. Shortly after things fell apart with The Standells. We continued to play for about another six months and then broke up. This was early 1968.
After a few months of not doing much of anything I received a call from Freddie Mooney. He had met Diana Di Rose from The Rose Garden and said that she was auditioning players for a replacement band as several members of the original group had been drafted and the remaining members had quit. Freddie and I auditioned and landed the gig but the group was still incomplete needing another guitarist/vocalist and a drummer. We immediately called Dave Bishop and added him to the group. After auditioning numerous drummers we found Ken Dalton recently arriving in California from New York. We started learning material and for the first time writing some of our own. At this time I was the only writer with some help coming from Freddie Mooney.
Diana Di Rose introduced us to Charlie Green and Brian Stone who had produced the original Rose Garden (also Buffalo Springfield, Iron Butterfly, Sonny & Cher, and Jackie De Shannon). They were interested in recording us but as things turned out Diana was more interested in promoting herself and our other guitarist as the new Sonny & Cher, and another potential deal bit the dust. This version of The Rose Garden lasted only about eight months.
After this I stopped playing for a while and went back to school for a couple of years.
After college I reformed The Sideshow with Wayne Boyles (vocals) (another high school friend), Mike Herrmann (guitar-vocals), David Ando (bass), and David “Frenchy” O’Brien (drums also a founding member of the group Animotion). After about a year we replaced Mike Herrmann with Michael White and continued playing the club scene for a few more years.
Overall my experiences with The Sideshow were fantastic. At that time everything was about the music. What a great time to be playing rock. I did get to meet a lot of interesting and talented people and I wouldn’t have changed anything.
Dennis L. Wilbur, October 2010

Categories: Dallas, Knight (Dallas), Texas

Knight Records of Dallas, Texas

October 10, 2010 Chris Bishop 9 Comments

Knight Records discography:

1046 – Bob Haydon – “Suzanne” / “Gonna Go (Gonna Leave Ya)” (both written by Bob Haydon; July 1, 1964)
1047 – Abby Anderson – “(We Were) Sittin’ in the Balcony” (Lewis Lindsey) / “My Love”
1048 – Lewis Lindsey – “Girls Always Break My Heart” / T”he Promise” (written and arranged by L. Lindsey)
1049 – Jimmy Rabbit with Ron and Dea – “Pushover” / “Wait and See”
1050 – The Knights – “Stay” / “I Know It Now” (both by B. Kissell)
1051 – ?
1052 – Jimmy Rabbit – “Wishy-Washy Woman” / “My Girl” (both by Ron Price, arranged by Bob Rambo)

4121-31 – The Knights – “Only You Hold the Answer” (Dick and Bob Kisslle [sic]) / “Walkin’ The Streets” (Bob Kisslle [sic]) published by Pinent Music, BMI and recorded at Dayson Studio in East Syracuse, NY

Any help with additions or corrections to this discography would be appreciated.

Bob Sanders ran the Knight and Spectra labels, among others, during the mid-’60s in Dallas, Texas. The two Jimmy Rabbit singles are probably the best, though I haven’t heard the Abby Anderson 45, described as doo wop.

See the earlier articles on this site for more on Jimmy Rabbit, the Mystics (on Spectra) and the Knights.

Bob Haydon had the first 45 that I know of on Knight, released in mid-1964. “Suzanne” never made much impression on me, but “Gonna Go (Gonna Leave Ya)” has an easy mix of country and pop sounds.

Lewis Lindsey was either co-owner or had some position with the label. Jimmy Rabbit called the Knight label’s studio “Sand-Lin”, though I haven’t seen that name cited by anyone else.

Lindsey co-wrote “Sittin’ in the Balcony” for Abby Anderson, and co-wrote both sides of the Jimmy Rabbit 45, as well as being in Rabbit’s band at the time. For his own Knight single Lindsey wrote and arranged “The Promise”, a pop number with big production. Lewis Lindsey had another release on Vandan VR-7742, “Wish It Could Be Me” / “Is It Love” that I haven’t heard.

All of the above except the second Knights 45 (4121-31) produced by Bob Sanders with publishing by Fieldcrest Music, BMI, often the credits say “An Empire Production”. I would assume the Knights “Only You Hold the Answer” was their own production back in New York, however the logo is exact and their names are misspelled on the song writing credits.

There’s no connection to the Tampa, Florida Knight label that released 45s by the Tropics, Mods and Outsiders or the Wilmington, Delaware label with a release by the Spectrums, “I’ll Never Fear” (D. Stewart) / “Wine, Wine, Wine” recorded at Ken-Del Studios, or the Schenectady, NY label.

Many thanks to Brian Kirschenbaum for alerting me to the Knights 45, and to Tommy “MrTeenSwe” for his help with the Lewis Lindsey 45 info.

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