Category Archives: Washington DC

Look for Faces not for Signs

George Daly, guitarist and songwriter for the Hangmen tells the story behind “Faces” with previously unpublished photographs.

Allen Ginsberg speaking with Tom Guernsey, George Daly and Bob Berberich

The band had fans and it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say the Hangmen, at their zenith had a fan intensity that might have rivaled, in our home town, the early Beatles in Liverpool.

There on the Eastern Seaboard, mainly focused on DC and Maryland and Virginia, we played for the high and mighty such as Robert Kennedy and family, at Hickory Hill, multiple Foreign embassy balls, at many of the private girls schools, and wealthy DC homes, and even the fabled NOW Festival in the Adams Morgan area of DC, where Beat writer and great American poet Allen Ginsberg and I ended up talking music until 2am. The Hangmen played at a record store jammed with fans in Virginia where The Washington Post noted it and Cashbox, the music business trade magazines, wrote of the show as the performance turned into a riot involving over 2500 fans.

The Hangmen moved people.

At one point they told us we young men had by now a 1000+ person fan club. I eventually got in trouble with my landlord (and close to being evicted from my little Spring Street one-bedroom apartment) because of the continual lip sticking of the door and walls outside my place with “I Love George,” (heart) the Hangmen,” “We love You Dave,” and so forth – this went on for over a year till I moved to my anonymous next place.

So, we had fans. Passionate ones.

On stage: Bob Berberich on drums, Paul Dowell, George Daly and Tom Guernsey on guitars, and Dave Ottley at the mic

Faces, the song, first came to me one night, basically, all at once right after a gig in front of some of those screaming fans. Here’s how:

Hangmen - It's What's Happening profileWith the gigs’ typical cheers, noise, music and intensity I had noticed a Maryland University junior in the audience, and she me. We talked briefly outside for a few minutes after the show shut down and then she followed my car home. An unexpected feeling came over me as I unlocked the door to my apartment, my new fan just two steps behind. We walked through the door with yet more lipstick graffiti on it, and I was embarrassed. But my new friend seemed almost giddy seeing what was scrawled on the door. As I turned on the lights, I thought, I don’t know my fans, and they don’t even care about that. No, wait! Plus they don’t know me, either. I suddenly got it all. Their excitement isn’t about George or Bob or Tom or Dave or Paul, it’s about the Hangmen. The image of the Hangmen, bad boys, rockers, musicians. And that dazed, glazed look on our fans’ faces that I was seeing around me at the gigs, was all misleading me. My song Faces arrived that night because I needed to express that feeling to the world.

And, yeah, Faces sounds cynical, world-weary, whatever, but it’s real, and there isn’t an artist alive who doesn’t stand on a stage with fans yelling for them, who doesn’t finally realize the world loves the symbol they’ve become, the world loves the outline, and doesn’t know, can’t really know the person making that music or playing that guitar or singing that song just from seeing them on stage. It can be disillusioning. “At 12 you’re young, at 1 you’re old.”

Back at my apartment, I turned to her and said “What’s your last name? You have to start somewhere.

Early photo, from left: Mike Walters, George Daly, Bob Berberich on drums, Tom Guernsey (obscured) and Dave Ottley at the mic. Photo by Michael Klavans

I’m an optimistic person by nature, but that realization stuck. I saw those Faces again, all through three great bands where I was joined at the hip with Bob Berberich in the Hangmen, then the Dolphin with Paul Dowell and sometimes, Roy Buchanan and then Grin, with the incredible Nils Lofgren. And, even later, in the towers, recording studios, label offices, clubs and restaurants of the Hollywood major record label scene where I worked for 25 years after my time in those great born-in-DC bands. (Bob surpassed even our three great bands’ hat trick by singing and drumming, along with the great vocalist Joe Triplett, in Bob’s long-lasting DC band, The Rosslyn Mountain Boys.)

The Hangmen play Mosrite Guitars and Amps Exclusively clippingAnd after these bands, out West I was no longer an artist (mostly), but had an outsized impact on artists with my time running A&R Divisions at Columbia Records, Elektra/Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. One of my artists at Columbia was the late, great Janis Joplin. One afternoon at the Topanga Canyon Corral bar (Southern Comfort on ice for her, me a bourbon sour) we had a long talk about the fickleness and unreality of fans’ perception of artists, Faces again. And about the isolation that comes from living only those shallow exchanges, without the souls talking. She lived that loneliness for a long time. But that afternoon we both laughed about it. Janis was a gem.

But back to that night in my little Silver Spring apartment, the idea of the solitary artist, surrounded only by sycophants, robotic faces, no matter how nice and cheerful and desirous they might be, wouldn’t go away. And when I was alone again in my room with my old Silvertone acoustic guitar my Dad bought me years earlier, alone with my trusty yellow pad, the song, words and music appeared out of nothing but that feeling.

Paul Dowell on bass, Dave Ottley in foreground, and George Daly. Photo by Michael Klavans

The next morning (other people’s mid-afternoon), I polished the song some more by picking up my ‘51 Fender Esquire guitar and plugging it into my amp. I fiddled around and found a grinding riff that was inspired by Mississippian John Lee Hookers, intensely repetitive and growling grooves. He was the famed bluesman whose LP I wore out back when I was learning to play the blues on the guitar, the blues being the God Father of all Rock ‘n Roll. So, I kept working on that guitar lick until the room was ringing and the words flowed effortlessly over the entire song. That’s the Faces you hear today, especially on the Monument 45 version with Dave Ottley’s intense and vivid vocals. It’s not a complicated song, but a deep one, and Dave really liked that and sung it that way, another important part of the magic in that music. It all came together with Faces, my band mates took that song, and once the drumming started, made it come alive. That’s why they call the people working together on music, a Band!

But back to when I wrote it, I saw Bob Berberich the next day, and played him Faces in all its surreal sneer and grim cynicism. Bob has been somebody close to me, starting within weeks of when I brazenly walked up to his front door of his parent’s house, knocked hard, and asked if somebody there played drums (Thanks Griff!). From there I introduced Bob to Tom and the Hangmen were born. Bob was there from the beginning, and he’s still here, which is stupendous luck for me.

The thing about Bob was that he was kind of quiet and hard to tell what he was thinking, but when he engaged with you, he always went to the heart of the matter. That’s something hard to find in anybody, much less a band mate, so we became tight.

So, he and I came to understand each other. And, that day he liked the song, and pushed me to play it for everybody.

Bob Berberich

Amazingly, Bob found a handwritten draft of the Faces lyrics, probably something left on the band practice room floor. But back then, with those words and music, and with him liking it, I knew I had a truthful and powerful message. It was easy after that. Knowing that somebody besides me, my Hangmen bandmate, our drummer, got the message, and also lived the message himself, it all made me feel good. I wasn’t alone in seeing the difference between A Face and a friend. The difference between hollow acclaim and (in Bob’s case particularly) friendship that lasts a lifetime and isn’t star struck.

When his drumming was finally added to the mix combining with Tom’s always brilliant guitar playing, I was amazed how great it all felt. I still am.

A follow up note: A few years later I still had those anonymous stars & fans Faces thoughts on my mind. That was when I wrote a song with Boz Scaggs, Slow Dancer, that Columbia named Boz’s fifth major album after. My Faces anonymous-fan-meeting-you-after-the-gig line: “I never see your face in sunlight, moon light (night time) brings you straight to me. You never even got my name right. You were so easy to me.” That line in Slow Dancer spelled out the same thing as Faces expressed, so nothing really had changed.

But, ironically, with all the Faces who seemed so distant to me, just because of Bob, one fan at a gig finally did make a breakthrough, and it was straight to my heart.

Dale Kalberg modeling photo
Dale Kalberg

The Hangmen played a big show at the Annapolis Armory. Between songs Bob yelled out my name and he pointed out a pretty girl near the front of the jammed and raving crowd. I was laughing with him, and he just used his drumstick to show me where to look, there’s even a picture of me looking at him off frame, grinning. I saw her blond hair and shining face, a feminine outline, so California. I leaned over to Bob after the song ended and said, pretty on edge, wow man, I’m going to marry that girl. I was 21.

Was I joking, I didn’t know. She and I talked after the set. And, she was… so normal, clear-eyed and very present and very real. And, I did marry her. That was the first time I saw Dale from San Francisco, who became Dale Daly. And, the best man at the $23 wedding in Las Vegas? Robert Berberich. You can’t make up the great lives Bob and I have lived. But that’s another tale, too. And involves the next two bands we were in, the Dolphin, then Grin with Nils Lofgren, Bob and me.

(My best man and I also spent a half a day in Jail in Virginia a few years earlier, our crime? Having long hair in 1964 and, after a gig, being on the road on a Sunday morning in deep southern Virginia. Bob’s Dad bailed us out!)

Those fans? Apart from the impossibility of getting close to them instantly, these were wonderful people who loved something they saw on a stage, and for whom I’m forever grateful. Most have disappeared into the dark fog of years. But there still are a few fans that turned out to be real, more than faces, ones that I still know and cherish today, probably more than they ever cherished the image of a Hangmen who had other thoughts in his mind. Someone like me, who couldn’t explain his feelings, except by writing a song.

© G. Daly 2023

George and Dale on the left. Paul Dowell in the middle.

December’s Children “Signed D.C.” on Domestic Sound Records

December’s Children at the Alexandria Roller Rink, November 22, 1967, Jerry Burke holding the mic, photo courtesy of Bud Becker

December's Children photo cardDecember’s Children came from Fredericksburg, Virginia, but were part of the same Washington, D.C. music scene as the Telstars. Bud Becker managed both bands, and the photos here come from his collection.

I don’t have the lineups down exactly but I believe members included:

Jerry Burke – lead vocals
Clay Staples (J.C. Staples) – lead guitar
Pete Kahn – rhythm guitar
Steve Gilles
Matt ”Red” Kilmer – organ
Mike Martino – drums
Mick Coiner (Mic Coiner) – lead vocals (replaced Jerry Burke)

Dick Alfers was a roadie for the band.

December’s Children at the Alexandria Roller Rink, Jerry Burke with tambourine, November 22, 1967

Ad for the December’s Children supporting the Turtles at the Alexandria Roller Rink, November 22, 1967
December’s Children biggest show may have been supporting the Turtles on November 22, 1967 at the Alexandria Roller Rink with Bobby Howard and the Sweet, the Plum Beach Incident, the Hounds of Baskerville, the Fantastic Plastic, the Seeds of Life, the Rokz, the Kings Row, the Gnu Generation, and the Yorkshires. WPGC “Good Guy” DJ Jack Alix presented the show.

December's Children, Ltd. Domestic Sound 45 So Long Ago

December's Children, Ltd. Domestic Sound 45 Signed D.C.

Also in 1967, the group made their only single, featuring a cover of Love’s “Signed D.C.” backed with an original “So Long Ago” by Burke, Gilles, and Staples.

On the record the group is listed as December’s Children, Ltd., released on Domestic Sound Records DS-123, with an address at 133 South Washington Street, Falls Church, VA. M.A. Becker and December’s Children and DSP Music published “So Long Ago”.

After Jerry Burke left for Vietnam in 1968, Mic Coiner took over on lead vocals.

I don’t know if the band’s members continued in music. Jerry Burke passed away in 2007.


Bud Becker’s silent footage of December’s Children at a VFW hall with Jerry Burke on lead vocals, followed by Jerry Burke’s haircut shortly before going into the Marines, ending with a short clip at a Hullabaloo with Mic Coiner on vocals.

Thank you to Bud Becker and Paul Burke for their help with this article.

December’s Children at the Alexandria Roller Rink, November 22, 1967

The Telstars “Hold Tight” on Columbia

Tel Stars Washington DC photo and business card
The Tel Stars, from left: Jimmy Carter, Ronnie Wilson, unidentified – can anyone ID? and Terry Gorka

Telstars Columbia 45 Keep on RunningThe Telstars were a big draw in the Washington DC area, playing at the Bayou among other venues.

The band was based in Falls Church; members included:

Jimmy Maddox – guitar
Gary Johnson – guitar
Jimmy Carter – guitar
Terry Gorka – bass
Ronnie Wilson – drums

Bud Becker sent in the photo seen here, and remembers two vocalists with the band, Jerry Burke, who went into the Army, and a second named Mick. He also remembers Terry’s wife Cherrie Gorka was a seamstress who made costumes for December’s Children, and that Barry Siedel managed the band.

The Telstars put a lot of fuzz behind “Keep on Running”, a song written and originally performed by Jackie Edwards, and made famous through the Spencer Davis Group. It’s a good version, but I like their take on “Hold Tight” even more. Sylvia Fricker of Ian & Sylvia wrote “Hold Tight”, registering copyright in September, 1966.

“Hold Tight” appeared on Ian & Sylvia’s 1967 album So Much for Dreaming, which I don’t have a release date for, but I believe it shortly precedes the Telstars single on Columbia 4-44141 in May, 1967. I’d be curious if the Telstars heard “Hold Tight” on the album or from a songwriting demo.

The production credit is interesting. Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus of Longhair Productions created many great singles with the Blues Magoos, including “Tobacco Road” and “(We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet”; the Magicians (“An Invitation to Cry”, “About My Love” and more), the Blue Beats and others, usually on Columbia Records.

Barry Seidel (with Tom Traynor) produced records by the Mad Hatters and the Fallen Angels. The Telstars record is the only time Seidel worked with both Wyld and Polhemus, but Bob Wyld would later produce albums for acts that Seidel managed, Steel Image and Exuma.

Bud Becker thought the Telstars recorded at either Rhondell Rodel Studios in Georgetown or Edgewood Recording Studios. Bud managed various groups, such as the Winds of Change and the Yorkshires.

Terry Gorka would go into the Reason with Tommy Dildy, Bill Manning, and Billy Windsor, releasing an album Age of Reason on Georgetowne Records.

Thank you to Linda Shekan for correcting some errors in this article with her comment below.

The Cobras with Link Wray, Bob Rubino and WPGC DJ Dean Griffith, 1965

Cobras WPGC photo 2 tambourine player and drummer
Cobras WPGC photo 1 guitarist

Here are photos of a 1965 WPGC show featuring the Cobras, a group that is unknown to me. They have a great look, and I’d love to know who they were and if they recorded.

Cobras WPGC photo Link Wray
Link Wray at the WPGC Good Guys show, 1965

It’s interesting to see Link Wray at the show, along with Bob Rubino, who was recording his single “A Rose and a Baby Ruth” / “Lonely Boy” at Link’s studio in Accokeek about this time.

Link would record a number of teen groups in 1966 for his Gray Ant label and the Vermillion label, including:

The Dead Beats -“She Don’t Love Me” (Rick Maske) / “I’m Sure” (Bob Coleman)
The Hard Times – “I Can’t Wait Till Friday Comes” / “(Old Wine) New Bottles”
The Suburbans – “The Love That I Had” (Roby, Murphy) / “Talk to Me” (Murphy)

I haven’t found any mention of the Cobras in connection to Link.

WPGC DJ Dean Griffith is represented. Dean Griffith was a house name at the station, and this was one of four people that had that moniker – anyone know his real name?

I’m not sure the venue, maybe a gymnasium in the Washington, DC area, or perhaps the DC Armory which did host some shows during these years.

I could not find a newspaper listing for a show with the Cobras, but the Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland announced a teen dance on April 17, 1965 at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, sponsored by Pocomoke High School and Pocomoke City station WDMV.

Joey Reynolds of WKDW, Buffalo, NY acted as host. The bands were the British Walkers, Link Wray and the Wraymen “with Rob Rudino, guitarist, and a local group called the Astro-Tones”.

The Astro-Tones also played a dance at the Boggs-Disharoon American Legion in Berlin, MD on April 3.

Cobras WPGC photo 3 drummer

Cobras WPGC photo 4 bass player

Cobras WPGC photo 5 saxophone

Cobras WPGC photo 6 guitar

Cobras WPGC photo Bob Rubino

Cobras WPGC photo 6 WPGC DJ Dean Griffith

Unidentified photos by Charles Parry

Charles Parry documented over a dozen local bands and some national acts in a series of 3.5″ x 3.5″ photos in 1965. I am trying to locate him to find out more about his career.

He labeled many of the bands and photos, but some were not identified. I am posting them here, hoping people who knew these bands and fans can comment and identify them.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you to Craig Mossman of the Roaches for help with the IDs of several people in these photos.

Unidentified Band 1 Photo 1
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 1
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 2
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 2
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 3
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 3 – Wes Thacker of the Mark 4
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 4 - ID as Dave Tuno, later of the Roaches
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 4 – ID as Dave Tuno, later of the Roaches
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 5 - ID as Gill Batts, later of the Roaches
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 5 – ID as Gill Batts, later of the Roaches
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 6 - ID as Gill Batts, later of the Roaches
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 6 – ID as Gill Batts, later of the Roaches
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 7 - ID as Gill Batts, later of the Roaches
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 7 – ID as Gill Batts, later of the Roaches
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 8
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 8
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 9
Unidentified Band 1 Photo 9
Unidentified Band 2 Photo 1 Malibus Maybe
Unidentified Band 2 (maybe the Malibu’s?) Photo 1
Unidentified Band 2 (maybe the Malibu's?) Photo 2
Unidentified Band 2 (maybe the Malibu’s?) Photo 2
Unidentified Band 2 (maybe the Malibu's?) Photo 3
Unidentified Band 2 (maybe the Malibu’s?) Photo 3
Unidentified Band 3 Photo 1
Unidentified Band 3 Photo 1
Unidentified Band 3 Photo 2
Unidentified Band 3 Photo 2
Unidentified Band 3 Photo 3
Unidentified Band 3 Photo 3
Unidentified drummer, maybe from the Londoners
Unidentified drummer, maybe from the Londoners
Unidentified guitarist with records
Unidentified guitarist with records
Unidentified singer maybe from the Chancellors
Unidentified singer maybe from the Chancellors
Unidentified girls at tables
Unidentified girls at tables
Unidentified female singer
Unidentified female singer
Unidentified male 1
Unidentified male 1
Unidentified engineer
Unidentified engineer
Unidentified dancers 1
Unidentified dancers 1
Unidentified dancers 2
Unidentified dancers 2
Unidentified dancers 3
Unidentified dancers 3
Unidentified dancers 4
Unidentified dancers 4
Unidentified dancers 5
Unidentified dancers 5
Unidentified dancers 6
Unidentified dancers 6
Unidentified dancers 7
Unidentified dancers 7
Unidentified couple 3
Unidentified couple 3
Unidentified couples 1
Unidentified couples 1

The Juveniles (DC) “I Wish I Could” on Zap


The Juveniles, l-r: Jimmy Clark, Doug Sprouse, Kenny Hayes, Danny Keller and Karl Dersch

There were a number of groups in the U.S. going by the name The Juveniles. This particular group was originally from southeast Washington, D.C., with members later living in nearby Hillcrest Heights, Oxon Hill and Fort Foote, Maryland. They aren’t related to the Juveniles I featured on an acetate a few weeks back.

“I Wish I Could” is first rate garage with a pounding drums, lots of sustain on the guitar solo, and good harmony vocals, all drenched in echo. The flip is a ballad, “What Can I Do”. Both songs were written by Keller and Clark, though publishing info shows Danny Keller only.

Karl Dersch’s father managed the group, and sometime after this photo Dean Dersch also joined the band. Jimmy Clark’s sister Joyce Williams told me Jimmy has since passed away. She also mentioned that the beautiful double-necked Mosrite was the first sold on the East Coast.

The Zap label was from the Mt. Rainier neighborhood just outside Washington, D.C. No connection to the Tennessee label of the same name which released the Starlites’ “Wait For Me”.

Special thanks to Joyce for sending the photo of the group.

The Hangmen “What a Girl Can’t Do”

Early photo of the Hangmen
Earliest known pic of the original Hangmen with (from left) first bass player Mike (Walters) West, George Daly, Dave Ottley, Tom Guernsey and Bob Berberich

The Hangmen formed at Montgomery Junior College, and included bassist Mike West and rhythm guitarist George Daly. They were joined by fellow students Tom Guernsey and Bob Berberich, whose previous group the Reekers, dispersed when other members went away to college.

Looking for a vocalist, George Daly called the British Embassy asking for someone who was British and could sing! The person he talked to referred him to a girl who could sing, who in turn recommended Dave Ottley, a hairdresser for Vincent Hair Stylists who had been in the U.S. for two years at that time. Variously reported in articles about the Hangmen as being from Liverpool or London, Ottley was actually from Glasgow, Scotland.

First press on the group, from the Washington Evening Star of April 3, 1965. The Hangmen lose a battle of the bands at the Shirlington Shopping Center to the Shadows.
First press on the group, from the Washington Evening Star of April 3, 1965. The Hangmen lose a battle of the bands at the Shirlington Shopping Center to the Shadows.

In early summer of ’65, the band’s managers Larry Sealfon and Mike Klavens played “What a Girl Can’t Do” for Fred Foster of Monument Records. Lillian Claiborne graciously released Tom from his contract with her and Foster signed him – only Tom as he was the songwriter and leader of the Reekers.

Since Joe Triplett and Mike Henley were committed to college, Tom decided, against his own preferences, to work with the Hangmen as his band. Monument then released the Reekers’ recordings of “What a Girl Can’t Do” and “The Girl Who Faded Away” under the Hangmen’s name, even though only Tom and Bob Berberich had played on them.

Hangmen Monument 45 What a Girl Can't DoSome sources report that the Hangmen rerecorded the “The Girl Who Faded Away” for the Monument 45. A close listen shows that the Hangmen’s Monument 45 version uses the same instrumental backing as the Reekers’ original Edgewood acetate. The vocal track does not match the demo, with different lyrics, but the lead vocalist is the same (Triplett I think). The acetate also runs about 24 seconds longer than the Monument 45.

Confusion also exists about “What A Girl Can’t Do”, but there should be no doubt, the Monument 45 version released under the Hangmen’s name is actually the Reekers. In 1966 the Hangmen recorded their own version of the song for their LP, which sounds very different.

Arnold Stahl, a lawyer, and Mike Klavans of WTTG formed 427 Enterprises to promote the band. Their connections landed gigs for the Hangmen in embassies and a mention in Newsweek. One memorable event was playing a party for Robert Kennedy’s family and getting drunk in their kitchen!

Despite these connections, the Hangmen were still primarily a suburban band, playing for kids at parties and shopping malls but not getting into the clubs like the big DC acts like the British Walkers and the Chartbusters. This would change as the Monument 45 of “What a Girl Can’t Do” started gaining momentum locally.

Algerian Ambassador and Cherif Guellal (in tux) and former Miss America Yolande Fox to his left, with Dave Ottley on the far right and Tom Guernsey behind Yolande, 1966. Photo by Frank Hoy.
Algerian Ambassador and Cherif Guellal (in tux) and former Miss America Yolande Fox to his left, with Dave Ottley on the far right and Tom Guernsey behind Yolande, 1966. Photo by Frank Hoy.

Billboard, 2/19/66: Hangmen Cause ‘Swingalong’

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Jack Shaver, owner of Giant Record Shop, said last week a mob of teen-agers turned out to hear The Hangmen (4) and when police cleared the store because the crowd created a fire hazard a near-riot ensued.

Shaver said browser bins and display cases were smashed and two girls and a boy fainted during the chaos. He said damage was estimated at $500.

Shaver said The Hangmen are from the nearby Washington area and are local favorites. He said he had sold about 2,500 copies of their single, ‘”What a Girl Can’t Do”‘, on Monument, and it was No. 1 on local charts.

He said school was out that day because of snow and the store began filling up at noon for the 4 p.m. show. He estimated 400 ‘were jammed and packed’ inside and some 1,500 were outside.

Shaver said traffic was snarled, police came, declared the gathering a fire hazard and began clearing the store. He said The Hangmen had been playing 15 minutes at the time and it took half an hour to disperse the crowd.

Shaver said he had had record stars perform at his store before, including Johnny Rivers, Johnny Tillotson, Peter and Gordon, and Ramsey Lewis, ‘but they never created anything like this.’

He said he did not have insurance to cover the loss.

The Hangmen, May 1966.
The Hangmen, May 1966.
Dave Ottley signing for fans
Dave Ottley signing for fans

“What a Girl Can’t Do” knocked the Beatles’ We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper out of the top spot of the charts for Arlington radio station WEAM on Feb. 7, 1966. On a national level, though, Monument wasn’t doing enough to promote the 45. “What a Girl Can’t Do” remained only a local hit. Their best opportunity had been wasted, but from their perspective as the top band in the D.C. area, success seemed certain.

Tom chose to quit college when an offer to play the Jerry Blavat TV show coincided with his final exams in late 1966. On the show, the Hangmen played “What a Girl Can’t Do” then backed the Impressions on a version of “Money”. (If anyone has a copy of this, please get in touch!) The Hangmen played all along the east coast from New York down to Florida, doing shows with the Animals, Martha Reeves, the Yardbirds, the Count Five, the Dave Clark Five and the Shangri-Las among others. Tom remembers Link Wray coming up on stage during a Hangmen show, borrowing a guitar and launching into a long version of Jack the Ripper. Link played solo after solo while Tom’s arm nearly fell off trying to keep up the rhythm!

Profile of the Hangmen in the May 8, 1966 Sunday magazine of the Washington Evening Star:

Cover
Introduction
First page
Second and third pages

The Hangmen recorded a fine follow up, “Faces”, and this time Monument put some money into promotion, taking out a full page ad in the trade magazines. Propelled by fuzz guitar and a heavy bass line, “Faces” is a tough garage number with a fine vocal by Ottley. Tom points out that the song finishes quite a bit faster than it starts, making it difficult for those on the dance floor to keep up! The flip is another Guernsey/Daly original, “Bad Goodbye”, which features studio musician Charlie McCoy on harmonica.Hangmen Monument 45 Faces

By this time Mike West had left the band and Paul Dowell plays bass on “Faces”. After its release, Ottley moved to London and was replaced by Tony Taylor. The Hangmen went into Monument Studios in Nashville to record their album Bittersweet. Remakes of “What a Girl Can’t Do” and “Faces” on the album fall flat compared to the 45 versions. Monument pushed the band into recording a version of “Dream Baby”, produced by Buzz Cason and released as the A-side of their last 45. The band does a good job with a slamming beat and catchy guitar and sitar sounds, but I can’t help but feel it’s not the right song for the band.

Dave Ottley
Dave Ottley

I prefer some of the other album tracks, like their extended psychedelic version of “Gloria”, the tough sounds of “Isn’t That Liz” and “Terrible Tonight”, the delicate “Everytime I Fall in Love”, and “I Want to Get to Know You”, which sounds something like the Lovin’ Spoonful.

An announcement in the May 17, 1967 edition of the Star Ledger said that the Hangmen had changed their name to The Button to pursue further psychedelic stylings. Paul Dowell and George Daly were already out of the group and replaced by Alan Flower, who had been bassist for the Mad Hatters, and George Strunz. By June Tom Guernsey had left the band to be replaced by John Sears, and the group were being billed as “The Button, formerly The Hangmen.”

Relocating to New York, the Button cut an unreleased session for RCA and played at Steve Paul’s The Scene on West 46th St. and at the Cafe Au Go Go on Bleeker. Berberich left the band leaving Tony Taylor as the only one of the Hangmen still in the group. They band changed its name to Graffiti, recording for ABC.

Meanwhile, Tom Guernsey produced a legendary 45 for the D.C. band the Piece Kor, “All I Want Is My Baby” / “Words of the Raven”. He also wrote, produced and played on a great 45 by another Montgomery County band, the Omegas, “I Can’t Believe”. For the Omegas’ session, Tom played guitar and piano, Leroy Otis drums, and Joe Triplett sang, with backing vocals by the Jewels.

Bob Berberich briefly drummed with The Puzzle then joined George Daly and Paul Dowell in Dolphin a group that featured the young Nils Lofgrin. Berberich stayed with Lofgrin through Grin, while Paul Dowell of Hangmen became equipment manager for the Jefferson Airplane, and George Daly went on to A&R with Elektra Records.

Tom Guernsey deserves a special word of thanks for giving his time to answer my many questions, and also for loaning me the Evening Star magazine.

List of original releases by the Hangmen:

45s:
What a Girl Can’t Do / The Girl Who Faded Away – Monument 910, released Nov. 1965
Faces / Bad Goodbye – Monument 951, released June 1966
Dream Baby / Let It Be Me – Monument 983, released 1966

LP: Bittersweet – Monument SLP 18077, released 1966

Update

Tom Guernsey passed away on October 3, 2012 in Portland, Oregon, followed less than two months later by David Ottley, on November 27, 2012.

from left: Tom Guernsey, George Daly, Dave Ottley (center with white shirt), and Paul Dowell
from left: Tom Guernsey, George Daly, Dave Ottley (center with white shirt), and Paul Dowell
Hangmen with Dave Ottley on vocals
Hangmen with Dave Ottley on vocals
What a Girl Can't Do at #1 on WEAM Top 40 hits February 7, 1966
What a Girl Can’t Do at #1 on WEAM Top 40 hits February 7, 1966
Billboard, July 9, 1966
Billboard, July 9, 1966