The Fewdle Lords

The Fewdle Lords at Swinney Park, Ft. Wayne, 1968, just back with new threads.
From left: George Christie, Dennis Geiger, John Gall, George Danusis

The Fewdle Lords were an accomplished band from Fort Wayne, Indiana. On their only record, the band lays down two excellent originals with confidence, great vocals and energetic playing.

The languid “Farewell to Today and Tomorrow” was given the A-side, while the flip is the uptempo and catchy “I Know.” The sound is certainly right for 1968, certainly a lot of English influence here, maybe a bit of Bee Gees on “Farewell.” There’s even a return fade at the end of that song.

All the instrumentalists stand out: the drummer rolling through the chorus on “I Know”, the organ alternating between sustained notes and percussive chords, tasteful rhythm guitar, and the bass player strumming the strings on one song and running scales on the other.

The mastering code indicates that this is a RCA custom press from 1968 (the 1965 date on the label refers to the copyright for the Tiara label and does not have anything to do with the release date of the Fewdle Lords). The ‘I’ in the deadwax indicates it was pressed at RCA’s Indianapolis plant.

The record was released twice on Tiara 900, first on a blue label in April, 1968, and on a red label shortly after when the first pressing sold out.

The Fewdle Lords photo
First lineup of the Fewdle Lords, from left: George Christie, Denny Geiger, George Danusis and Rich Jackson

Members of the band were:

George Christie – lead guitar & vocals
George Danusis – organ & vocals
Rich Jackson – bass & vocals, replaced by John Gall
Denny Geiger – drums & vocals

The Fewdle Lords Business Card

Bass player Rich Jackson sent in some of the photos and news clippings seen here. He wrote to me:

I was the bass player back in ’67-’68. Prior to this band, we were called the “Exiles” (Mike Kruse, Don LaFever, Rich Jackson, and George Danusis) and broke up to form the Fewdle Lords with a couple different members.

The Fewdle Lords, Franke Park ClippingWe were from Fort Wayne, Indiana and were fairly popular around our area. For personal reasons I was forced to leave the band just before the record “I Know” and “Farewell to Today and Tomorrow” was cut.

I never played in a group again after that, but I went from the bass guitar to a six string guitar, which I still play. Also I’ve always wanted to play the piano so I bought one about 3 years ago and am doing fairly well with that.

We had a great time and they are all still in my heart.

Rich Jackson

Fewdle Lords Franke Park Battle of the Bands, July 28, 1967
Fewdle Lords winners of the Franke Park Battle of the Bands, July 28, 1967
At the Scottish Rite Auditorium, Ft. Wayne, prior to opening for Jay and the Americans.
Clockwise from bottom left: George Christie, George Danusi, Dennis Geiger and John Gall

John Gall replaced Rich Jackson on bass and sang lead on the record. John Gall wrote to me in 2021:

I was the bass player, a songwriter and one of the lead vocalists for the Fewdle Lords from late 1967 to late 1969, the period during which the four-person band released a surprisingly popular single in northern Indiana that rose to #4 on local charts.

Each of the members had been a lead singer in other bands, so the Fewdle Lords focused on vocals and tight harmonies to complement a solid, straight-ahead dance beat. Ironically, the record — a relaxed-tempo song with baroque-style vocals — was actually a departure from the usual style of live sets the band played.

John Gall of the Fewdle Lords

I was recruited in November of 1967. By early ’68 the band had attracted the interest of our future producer at Tiara Records (based in Hollywood, Florida) and, on March 16, 1968, we went to RCA Studios in Chicago to cut the single. The A-side — “Farewell to Today and Tomorrow” — was a song I had written earlier; the B-side (“I Know”) I finished shortly after joining the band. Our hope was to be more than a cover band, so we were excited about having an original song down on tape.

The chance to be signed up with Tiara Records to record in 1968 came about in an almost random way. A childhood buddy of mine, who lived just down the street, had a father who was a private commercial pilot for an industrialist, as well as being an accomplished singer himself. Because he performed, the father had some connections to the music publishing business and, further, he piloted in Florida as well as the Midwest. My friend told his father about the band and, on one of the rare days his father was in Indiana and not flying, the father came to rehearsal, liked the songs (at least enough to take a chance) and said, “Let’s make a record”. His father acted as producer at the session and the single was issued by a small independent label in Hollywood, Florida (Tiara), owned by one of his colleagues in the industry.

A local radio personality in Fort Wayne, Indiana was impressed with the energy of our live sets so, when the record was released in early summer of ’68, he pushed for airplay. It happened, to our great delight, but the response was more than we had expected. Things moved exceedingly fast, bigger crowds were coming to the venues we were playing, the record went to a second pressing and, by July of ’68, the Fewdle Lords were opening for some of the iconic pop groups of the sixties (Herman’s Hermits, The Buckinghams, Jay and the Americans) as those groups toured their way through the midwest.

Fewdle Lords WANE-TV adBy then, the Fewdle Lords usually took the stage resplendent in costumes, commissioned from a Canadian opera supply firm, that matched the specious medieval nature of their name. Somewhere in this swirl, before the end of summer, we were tapped for a local “back-to-school” TV special (really an early half-hour pre-teen infomercial, a low-budget, sorta-like-the-Monkees-but-not-nearly-so-nice show) that was probably painful to watch but great fun to make. George Danusis, the thin but plucky organist, was pulled behind a British taxi in a baby carriage on a rope, but then rolled into a lake when the taxi turned! The outdoor scenes, involving primarily a lake and a beach in Kendallville, Indiana, were shot on film. The remaining parts, a fashion show and the band lip-synching to the record, were done in the WANE-TV studio in Ft. Wayne and were tracked on early videotape. Then, along with the commercials (all about back-to-school shopping at the sponsor’s store, of course) the parts were compiled onto videotape for broadcast. Alas, the TV show does not survive.

While all that was going on, we embarked — with much greater seriousness — on a constant, night-after-night schedule of shows in clubs and resorts, criss-crossing the midwest in our very own Greyhound bus. The pace slackened some, but continued into 1969 and, in July of that year, we were back in the studio with improved musical skills, recording what was intended to be a pair of new singles. However, I was booted from the band in late 1969 and, shortly thereafter, George Christie, our outstanding lead guitarist, was killed in a driving accident, putting an end to the Fewdle Lords. The new songs we had recorded were never released.

I have no idea where the original tape from the Cleveland recording session in 1969 is today. My dim recollection is that it was multi-tracked and mixed on two-inch magnetic tape (basically, videotape). I do have a small reel of quarter-inch magnetic tape with copies of the songs, but the tape has not been played in years.

I don’t remember everything about those days — it happened fast and details, of course, fade with time. But I still remember vividly how much fun it was, just absolute, unbridled fun. At the same time, however, if you look closely at the faces in the pictures, beneath the smiles I think you can glimpse four young kids who, despite tender years, were absolutely committed and deadly earnest in the pursuit of being really accomplished musicians — the best we could be, even if just a garage band from Indiana. It was a privilege to sing and play with musicians as talented as my other bandmates in the Fewdle Lords. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat!

After the Fewdle Lords, I spent several years working in broadcasting, both on-air and also behind the glass as an engineer and producer. After moving to Maine, I picked up some classical training for voice, then became very involved in choral music. I’ve been privileged to sing in Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, as well as in Bath Abbey and other cathedrals in England.

— John Gall, Rockland, Maine 2021

The Fewdle Lords Tiara 45 I KnowRed

2nd pressing on red label

A notice in the Waterloo Press from February 15, 1968 mentions the Fewdle Lords playing a homecoming at DeKalb High with another Fort Wayne group, the Children.

The Rushville Republican from February 12, 1970 reported the death of George Christie from injuries suffered a traffic accident in Toledo four days previous.

Dan Karns replaced John Gall on bass around 1970, during the final months of the band. The band continued after Christie’s death, with John Escosa on guitar. The band went through other changes and ended up as Airfield Wright. Other members from that time include Jerry Reff and Rick Armstrong.

Denny Geiger continued in music, usually as a vocalist, notably with Mark Urgent Labov & Beyond.

Tiara Records & Mana Productions

Old sources listing the Fewdle Lords as a Florida band are mistaken. The confusion came because the same Tiara label had releases from Florida bands, including the Belles (“Melvin”) and the Vandals (“I Saw Her in a Mustang”).

Fewdle Lords ad for show at the Hullabaloo Club
Ad for show at the Hullabaloo Club

Deborah Teaver Moore of the Belles wrote in a comment below, “Mana Productions, Ft Wayne was the parent company of Tiara Records based in Miami. The 1966 label for The Belles “Melvin”/”Come Back” was a different color and design from the one featured for The Fewdle Lords – but you probably knew that already.:-) The woman representing Tiara in Miami was named Ruth Sadler.”

Jeff Lemlich commented: “It looks like Mana moved around. The Billboard Record Talent directory, dated December 24, 1966, lists Mana’s address as 2632 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Fla 33020. Then it’s tied to Indiana, and on Tiara CW100, by Ray Yeager, it has a Baton Rouge address! Yeager (who’s Bunny Yeager’s brother) died recently. He seemed to have close connections to the label.”

Thank you to Rich Jackson and John Gall for sharing their clippings, photos and recollections. Thank you to Janice for information on the later members of the band. Thanks to Deborah Moore, Jeff Lemlich and Mike Markesich for info on the Tiara label.

The Exiles of Fort Wayne, Indiana photo
The Exiles, before the Fewdle Lords. From left: Mike Kruse, Don LaFever, Rich Jackson, and George Danusis

Fewdle Lords Article and Photo

39 thoughts on “The Fewdle Lords”

  1. It looks like Mana moved around. The Billboard Record Talent directory, dated December 24, 1966, lists Mana’s address as 2632 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Fla 33020. Then it’s tied to Indiana, and on Tiara CW100, by Ray Yeager, it has a Baton Rouge address! Yeager (who’s Bunny Yeager’s brother) died recently. He seemed to have close connections to the label.

  2. A few facts on this entry:

    Fewdle Lords were from Ft Wayne, and this is their record. One member contacted Gear Fab after their 45 was issued on the Florida Psychedelic States comp to inform everyone that the group was not from Florida, and never performed there. It was released in the spring of 1968. There were two pressings of this, a blue label (1st) followed by a red one (2nd)

    The Tiara label was operated by Mana productions, which was based in Ft Wayne according to my copyright search archiving project. And yes, this includes 2 different 45s by the Vandals and one 45 by the Belles from Florida. I do not know the connection regarding the distance, but remember, a record company can be in one area, and the origin of the group can be thousands of miles away. Which was quite a normal circumstance forty plus years ago.

    The copyright designation does not refer to the release date of the record or date of copyright for the songs themselves. It refers solely to the commencement of the Tiara brand operation, which started in ’65. The Cameo label has a 1963 copyright on releases that were manufactured well after 1963. It just notes the copyright for the logo or brand name at the time it was enacted.

    MopTopMike

      1. No, you don’t. We never played in Cocoa Beach. We were from Fort Wayne, IN and did not travel to Florida… ever.

        1. Denny is quite right. We never played in Florida. But we certainly had fun in the midwest. It was an amazing time to be making music.

  3. They were from Fort Wayne and some of them went to Elmhurst High School . Denny Geiger played drums ,George Denusis, Hammond organ ,George Christi vocals guitar and I believe he was killed in a car crash in Detroit while they were on the road . Denny and George then played with Airfield Wright [a local ft wayne band ]with Ric Armstrong .

    1. Herb, Are you the Herb Ellis that played the Fender Telecaster Bass in a band with Dan Ellis? This is Brad Stephenson. Played with Security,Tayles, and Ethos. I grew up 3 houses down the street from George Christi. Would like to talk with you sometime if you are. Thanks

      1. Hey Brad this is Terry Huston, from way back when we were in a band together with Dave Fulkerson on Rewill drive. I would like to talk to you sometime.

  4. Mana Productions, Ft Wayne was the parent company of Tiara Records based in Miami. The 1966 label for The Belles Melvin/Come Back was a different color and design from the one featured for The Fewdle Lords – but you probably knew that already.:-) The woman representing Tiara in Miami was named Ruth Sadler.
    Deborah,
    Founding member/The Belles

  5. A 1966 business card lists Tiara Record’s address as 4400 Buchanan, Hollywood, FL – (305) 987-4767. Ruth Sadler was the contact. At the top of the card, it says “Mana Productions Ft. Wayne, Indiana”

  6. The Fewdle Lords were a Fort Wayne, Indiana band. I purchased the blue label record from Murphys Co. in downtown Fort Wayne and still have it. I was told a classmate of mine at Central Catholic High School in Fort Wayne, “Andy Barile” was in the band. Andy graduated in 1970.

  7. I knew the Fewdle Lords…went to IPFW college with some of them and they played at the IPFW dances and at the Latern in Ft Wayne late 60s-1970. I remember where I was in the building when news went out about George Christie being killed in a car accident I believe in Ohio after a gig (I think that is where it was). We were devastated. They were talented. Ric Armstrong played with a band The Story during that time.

  8. I know this was a Fort Wayne band because I was the bass player in it. Also played bass in the band before that which had some of the same members. Had lots of fun and still in my heart. Rich Jackson now 67, where did it go?

    1. Wow! Thanks for the reply. So did you play at IPFW when i was there…1968-1970? I knew Christie mostly and Georhe D. I dated a guy that helped out the band the Story with Ric Armstrong, Jimmy? Carl? on the organ, and Gene ? on drums. I think that was the name of the group. They played alot at the Lantern and Hoagland Hayoft. Cant find anythkng on them back then or now. Goof ole days. I will be 65 in July but still 20 in heart. 🙂 Thanks!

      1. Becky I wonder if I’m the guy u dated back then I was the roadie for the Story Tom Seifert they called me slick then and worked at chess king ????

        1. Hi Tom…no, it wasn’t you. His name was Jon….he helped with the lights during their gigs. Chess King? Wow! forgot all about that place. Ha! Thanks for asking.

    2. I was the keyboard player. Those were terrific times. George Christie, Denny Geiger and I were in the band from the beginning. Rich Jackson was our original bass player, but left. That is when John Gall joined and he was the writer of the songs recorded in 1968. John was with us when we did the TV show. John left and Danny Karns joined us. We were leaving for a four week tour out east. We decided to take a break weekend before hitting the road. Three of us stayed in town and George Christie decided to go to Cleveland to visit close friends of the band and that is when he died in a car accident. We tried to reorganize, but it would never be the same. I now write music and perform mostly on guitar (Hammond organs are too much to haul around). It was great seeing us as kids. Oh what wonderful memories and we really loved each other and that is something I will never forget.

      1. This message is for George Danusis
        (I Hope this message board is still alive).
        Back in the late 60’s my parents Peter (Pantelis) Boubis and Vicki (Vasiliki), from Australia, took a trip to Fort Wayne Indiana to visit your parents. My parents must have mentioned that I played guitar and also in a band and you gifted me a single record together with a promo photo of the band The Fewdle Lords. If you do remember this event then I do believe our fathers are brothers and we are first cousins. If you also believe this to be so then I would not mind some communication with you. You can look me up on Facebook or my email is boubis@ozemail.com.au.
        On the other hand, if it is not you I write about then I apologise for the interruption.
        Regards
        Thomas Boubis

  9. I played with Denny in a reformed band Story in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Danny’s brother Mark was the drummer. Denny played bass. The children formed in Garrett, In in the mid 60’s. I was there 1st keyboard player. Othet members were Jim Meier on bass. Dave Meyer’s on drums. Jeff Brinkerhoff on guitar and myself on Hammond B – 3. I left to form my own band and was replaced by Larry Place. I presently am the keyboard player for the Bulldogs! All in the pursuit of Rock and Roll.
    Keyboard Bob

    1. Thats very intetesting George. Thanks. I remember you from the 2 years I went to IPFW (68-69, 69-70). Christie was a good friend too. I remember Gene? as the drummer for the Story at that time..he was from Decatur i think. Carl was on the organ, Jim guitar and also Ric Armstrong. Bboy that was a long time ago!

  10. I played for the ‘rogues,’ when we split up I sold my fender guitar and amp to George. never knew until recently he had died.

  11. George was my brother. Thanks to all of you for putting together your thoughts and memories about the Fewdle Lords. Those were great times! The band for a while (in early times) practiced at our parents house in the garage and in the basement. I remember their big double decker greyhound tour bus parked in front of the house!

  12. George, To bad there aren’t any photos of those great outfits from the late 60’s and early 70’s you all had. I think I was probably one of your first goopies/roadies LOL

  13. One more thing, I don’t remember how it came into my possession, but I think I still have one of the original pressings of the album the band was working on at the time of George’s death.

    1. I’d like to see a photo of the label of the unreleased record. If it’s a demo acetate (a lacquer on a metal plate) it’s very rare, maybe unique. If the master tape isn’t around, this could be the only copy of these recordings in existence.

      1. Hi, Chris.
        I’m Denny Geiger, drummer for the Fewdle Lords. In reply to your post above, I do have an acetate copy of our unreleased music. I also have digital copies of these songs recorded at Cleveland Recording Company on July 22, 1969. There were four songs, three of them originals and one cover tune. The originals songs were written and sung by our talented bass guitarist, John Gall, who also played acoustic guitar on at least one of them. We did not proceed with these songs since John left the band shortly after the recording session. John holds all rights to this music as far as I know.

        1. Hi Denny,

          How are you? Saw your post and for some reason have been wondering how you have been. I miss the Fewdle Lords as I thought you were my drummer idle. Loved watching you play the drums. Keep in touch!

          Paul

  14. I am from Ohio and used to see them in the 60’s at the Mansfield Ohio ski lodge. I remember the did a nice version of Time Of The Season by the Zombies.

  15. when I was fifteen my band the nights were playing at a hospital in Richman In. with the Exiles I remember we had very limited equipment at the time and we played before them and we thought it was so cool they let us their amps and at that time. didn’t know them at all but thought they were very nice guys

  16. I remember seeing the Fewdle Lords perform at IPFW when I was first getting interested in rock and roll in my preteen years. At the time they were the hottest local band and many thought they could breakout nationally. Adding to the confusion about the band being from Florida is their appearance on the 2000 compilation album Psychedelic States: Florida in the 60’s Vol. 1 which includes their song “Farewell To Today and Tomorrow.” Even the review on allmusic.com describes The Fewdle Lords as “an obscure Miami outfit” with “a baroque influence.”

    1. Hi, Randy. Denny here. Sorry, but I’m not from Culver. I was born and raised in Fort Wayne and still live in the area.

  17. remember as a kid in Ft Wayne they played one night at the park pavilion in Waynedale Park.. had the time of my life dancing at my first dance ever!!!!

  18. Hi, Randy. Denny here. I was born and raised in Fort Wayne, but we’re probably some kind of distant, shirt tail relation.

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