Category Archives: Sherman

Categories: Pic 1, Sherman, Texas

The Passions

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The Passions came from Sherman, Texas, a town northeast of Dallas that had several bands including the Jack Rafters, the Five Coachmen and the Marquees.

Unlike those other bands, the Passions made a record, cutting the excellent “Lively One” / “You’ve Got Me Hurtin'” for Huey Meaux’s Pic 1 label, released in June 1965.

One person I spoke to referred to the band as Bill Galleon & the Passions. I thought Donald R. Mask may have been a member, as he wrote “You’ve Got Me Hurtin'” (his name is listed simply as Don Mask on the demo).

However, Alec Palao tells me the members were Gordon Eatherly, Bill Galyon, Larry Jannash, Roger Burkitt, Bill Shearin and Jerry Mullins, and that Eatherly was likely the leader of the band.

Besides the two songs on the single, the band recorded two cover songs that Big Beat will include on a compilation of bands on Meaux’s labels to be released Spring, 2013.

Does anyone have a photo of the group?

Mark Taylor supplied the scans seen here. Of the Sellers demo cut, he says “‘Lively One’ has an extra 40 seconds of harp wailing with an extra chorus, and ‘You Got Me Hurtin” has about 20 seconds extra of ‘yeah yeah yeah'” compared to the Pic 1 versions.

Categories: Sherman, Texas

The Jack Rafters

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Guitarist Gary Dennis sent in the photo of the Jack Rafters above. Like the Five Coachmen and the Marquees, the Jack Rafters were from Sherman, Texas, and like those bands, the Rafters never released a 45. The only band from Sherman to release a record was the Passions, who have the great “Lively One” / “You’ve Got Me Hurtin'” on Pic 1, who I’ll cover soon.

This picture was taken at the Bells, Texas high school Sr. Prom in the Municipal Building, Sherman, Texas May 1965. The Jack Rafters are right-to-left: Mike Hallett, Bobby Kincaid, Jerry Tucker, Gary Dennis.

Bill Galleon and the Passions were playing gigs and we decided that we could too. The Rafters were a hardcore party band. We rented local venues, advertised by word of mouth and sold cokes. Our parties mostly ended in drunken events that were parents worst nightmares. Years later our ex-sheriff told me that he loved our parties because he could just park outside and keep tabs on all the trouble makers. After seeing our success, several other bands came along that you mention on your website. We made money and had a great time. Our music was pretty bad, but nobody cared.

One of our friends, Ben Mandeville, had some state-of-the-art recording equipment and he recorded all our performances. Sadly this was before digital tech and I doubt that anything survived.

Gary Dennis

Categories: Sherman, Texas

The Five Coachmen

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The Coachmen on Jim Wood’s TV show. l-r: Bob Starnes, Wayne Rickman, Bill Elliott, Mark Wright and Steve Chase.

The Coachmen of Sherman, Texas existed from 1964-1966. They were composed of Wayne Rickman (lead guitar, vocals), Mark Wright (rhythm guitar, vocals), Bob Starnes (bass, vocals), Steve Chase (keyboard), and Bill Elliott (drums).

During this period of the British Invasion, The Coachmen performed extensively throughout North Texas and Southern Oklahoma. Their song list was composed of the leading songs of the day, but leaned toward R & B, as interpreted by the British groups.

Wayne Rickman’s brother was manager of The Five Americans. We would go to Dallas occasionally and watch them practice in a house in an older part of Dallas. Man, those guys could play! Wow. What an impression that made on us.

Among the venues for The Coachmen during their era were high school proms and dances in Sherman, TX, Gainesville, TX, Bonham, TX, Greenville, TX, and Durant, OK, VFW & Knights of Columbus halls all over, local conventions, courthouse lawns, etc. The Coachmen played extensively in the German communities west of Sherman, TX in Muenster, Texas. The Coachmen was the first rock n’ roll band to perform for a Sherman High School assembly, which produce excitement and controversy at the time.

We did not record on record, a great regret, but we did have some tapes, but no one can find them. Also, we were the house band for the Sherman TV station equivalent of American Bandstand televised on Saturday afternoon hosted by Jim Wood, local DJ, but no one kept a tape. Also, we did not have the money, being from a small town.

Interestingly, to me at least, is that small towns recruited their live music from a larger town in the area. Sherman, being 30,000 persons, was where smaller towns in the North Texas area went to get their music. We were the dominant band at the time. Not that many in smaller towns had the resources to get a Dallas band, unless it was particular special.

The military draft and college took their toll and led to the disbandment of the band in 1966. After The Coachmen disbanded, they were succeeded by The Upper Level and The Marquees as the leading bands in Sherman, Texas.

Bill Elliott

The Coachmen, 1965, l-r: Mark Wright, Bob Starnes, Bill Elliott, Steve Chase, and Wayne Rickman
The Coachmen, 1965, l-r: Mark Wright, Bob Starnes, Bill Elliott, Steve Chase, and Wayne Rickman
Categories: Sherman, Texas

The Marquees of Sherman, Texas

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The Marquees were a high school group out of Sherman, TX, northeast of Dallas. They never recorded, but shared a small local live scene with Bill Galleon’s the Passions (“Lively One” / “You’ve Got Me Hurtin'” on Pic 1 records), the Jack Rafters and the Coachmen with Steve Chase.

Members were Mark Higgins and Mark Kennedy on vocals, Dan Witt and Elon Reynolds on guitars, Eddie Moughon bass and George Tocquigny on drums. They had a great website (http://thefabulousmarquees.com/history_01.htm – defunct as of 2022) with lots of photos and history of the band, and even some silent Super 8 footage.