Category Archives: RCA Victor

3’s a Crowd

3s a Crowd Dunhill promotional photo
1967, l-r: Trevor Veitch, David Wiffen, Brent Titcomb, Donna Warner, Richard Patterson and Ken Koblun

The vibrant music scene that existed in Canada during the ‘60s has rarely been given the exposure it merits. Undoubtedly, the Canadian music industry must shoulder much of the blame. Not only did it actively discourage the flowering of homegrown acts, but the fact that American-based, Canadian artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and The Band have proven they are the equal of their American and British contemporaries, underlines what can be achieved with industry support. For those who chose not to base themselves in the US, the prospect of international acclaim was slight, which may explain why the folk-rock outfit 3’s a Crowd have remained an obscurity outside Canada.The original 3’s a Crowd line-up was formed in Vancouver in the summer of 1964, when folk singer, guitarist and comedian Brent Titcomb (b. 10 August 1940, Vancouver, British Columbia) joined forces with singer Donna Warner (b. 23 May 1946, Edmonton, Alberta).

Of the two, Titcomb had the more established career, having spent the best part of the early ‘60s frequenting the city’s folk clubs, where he combined traditional folk songs with a comedy routine. (On several occasions he would book himself at two clubs on the same night; after performing as a folk singer at the first, he would then drive to the next to perform as a comedian, often under the names “Uncle Roy Plain” and “Dr Mezner”.)

Titcomb’s stage act soon attracted the attention of performer Oscar Brand, and in early 1964 he was invited to perform at the world famous Calgary Stampede, which is where he befriended Donna Warner, currently singing with The Kopala Trio. Warner’s musical accomplishments were somewhat different to Titcomb’s, having spent much of her youth singing in a number of choirs in her native Edmonton. (Her grandfather incidentally, had been a choirmaster in Glasgow.) The pair nevertheless, had a lot in common (a mutual love of folk music and a “very quirky sense of humour”) and made arrangements to meet up in Vancouver once Warner had finished high school that summer.

The Calgary gathering proved to be notable in more ways than one, however. During a visit to the city’s premier folk den, the Depression, Titcomb and Warner were introduced to singer/songwriter David Wiffen (b. 11 March 1942, Sydenham, Kent, England), who would feature prominently in 3’s a Crowd’s story in later years. A love of folk music again provided a common bond but their paths ultimately diverged as Titcomb and Warner duly headed west to Vancouver.

Once there, the pair quickly became regulars at Les Stork’s Bunkhouse, a coffeehouse where Warner worked as a waitress and performed on “open mike” nights with Titcomb. On a number of occasions, guitarist Trevor Veitch (b. 19 May 1946, Vancouver, British Columbia) joined in, and his proficiency on the instrument so impressed them that the three of them decided to form a group. They also took part in after-hours get-togethers with local and visiting musicians in what were essentially “kitchen jams”.

The newly established trio quickly set about grooming their act, which mixed comic routines with the folk songs of the day. Around January of the following year, the group officially debuted at the Bunkhouse coffeehouse under the oddly titled moniker, The Bill Schwartz Quartet. Apparently the name was Titcomb’s idea – the group apologised all weekend for Bill’s absence until the very last song of the last set on the last night when Titcomb’s high school buddy “King Anderson” showed up on stage wearing an eye patch and joined in on harmonica.

Understandably the club owners were not amused, after all they had been led to believe that a quartet would be playing and had paid for one accordingly. A new name was deemed necessary, and on hearing the group’s conversation, Anderson pitched in: “Two’s company and three’s a crowd.” The band adopted the name immediately.

The first reference to the trio’s new name appears to have been in June 1965, when the group was pictured on the front of the local TV Times. The band’s sudden rise to fame was no doubt due to a series of shows at the Ark two months earlier, where it had performed with local jazz double bass player Danny Schultz. (The group’s performance caused quite a stir and was impressive enough in fact for the organisers to record some of the shows.)

The next logical step was to move lock, stock and barrel to Toronto, the epicentre of the Canadian music scene, and in a propitious move, the group sent a demo tape to Sid Dolgay, formerly a member of Canada’s premier folk group The Travellers. Dolgay had recently formed his own management company, Universal Performing Artists (UPA), and was on the lookout for new talent. Suitably impressed by the group’s tape, he invited them to Toronto to perform some engagements and shortly afterwards signed the trio.

Although they didn’t know it at the time, Toronto would become 3’s a Crowd’s home for the next three years. While there the group would become a regular fixture at the city’s renowned Riverboat club and a popular live attraction on the folk circuit.

The best part of late 1965/early 1966 was spent touring the length and breadth of the country, largely as a trio (the group could rarely afford the luxury to pay supporting musicians). Nevertheless on a few occasions, former Bad Seeds bass player Brian Ahern (later Emmylou Harris’s producer and second husband) joined the band to add a little muscle.

By the spring of 1966, however, 3’s a Crowd’s following was such that a full-time bass player was a distinct possibility. The scene was changing too, and the impact of The Byrds and Bob Dylan’s new brand of “electric folk” couldn’t be ignored.

Consequently, the group enlisted the services of bass player Kenny Koblun (b. 7 May 1946, Winnipeg, Manitoba) during early March. A former member of Neil Young’s high school band The Squires (and later Four To Go), Koblun would prove to be a transient musician in the 3’s a Crowd story. His various comings and goings were marked by personal problems, and in many ways his relationship with the band was not that dissimilar to his contemporary in Buffalo Springfield, Bruce Palmer.

The Buffalo Springfield in fact provided a useful link. Koblun’s relationship with that band would remain close, and within a month of joining 3’s a Crowd, he was tempted away by an offer to join Stephen Stills and Richie Furay in an embryonic version of that band. (Koblun and Young had befriended Stills the previous year, when Stills’s group The Company shared the bill with The Squires.)

As Koblun told rock historian John Einarson: “Stills called me and told me that I should come down to California to join his band.” Which is what Koblun did, but the arrangement proved to be brief: “I spent a week with Stills and Furay but nothing was happening. I had to make a decision. I had twenty dollars in my pocket. Either spend it on food and stay with Stills in California, or spend it on a taxi fare to LA airport and the manager from 3’s a Crowd was going to pay for my ticket back to Toronto. So that was what I did.” (Unknown to everyone concerned, Young and Palmer were on their way to LA to meet up with Stills and Furay as Koblun was on his way out.)

Back with 3’s a Crowd, Koblun lasted long enough to appear with the group for a taping of the highly-rated TV programme The Juliette Show, before dropping out after an engagement at the Raven’s Gallery in Detroit in mid-April.

In his place the group enlisted bass player Comrie Smith (b. 29 September 1945, Toronto, Ontario), who ironically also shared a Neil Young connection. Smith and Young had in fact been high school friends at Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto from 1959-1961.

When The Squires relocated to Toronto in mid-1965, they spent a brief period playing together and made some rough demos of Young’s songs in Smith’s attic. After Young moved on, Smith took some of his songs to Arc Records but nothing came of it at the time. However, some of these songs, including “Casting Me Away From You”, “Hello Lonely Woman” and “There Goes My Babe” have finally surfaced on the first installment of Neil Young’s Archives series.

Smith’s enlistment brought stability to 3’s a Crowd and in the latter half of 1966 the band was awarded its first Juno (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy) for best folk group of the year, a distinction it would also enjoy the following year.

The Juno award undoubtedly raised the group’s profile and in September of that year 3’s a Crowd won a short-term deal with Epic Records in New York. Initially, the label promised to record four singles but in the event only one was completed at the first session with Toronto producer Ben McPeek and New Yorker Bob Morgan. Drums, bass and a horn section were added later to fill out the sound.

3's a Crowd Epic PS

The Pacers promotional card
The Pacers promotional card

David Wiffen at the Bunkhouse Coffeehouse LP

David Wiffen at the Bunkhouse Coffeehouse LP back cover

Bruce Cockburn with The Flying Circus, November 1967 poster
Bruce Cockburn with The Flying Circus, November 1967
Bruce Cockburn, early 1968
Bruce Cockburn, early 1968

The result was the catchy folk-rocker “Bound To Fly” written by black American songwriter Len Chandler, coupled with a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Steel Rail Blues”. The single was given a Canadian release on 24 October, and (according to Billboardin January 1967) was even issued in Britain, making it the band’s sole UK outing and a rarity at that. (The single finally peaked at #34 on the Canadian RPM chart and proved to be the group’s biggest hit.)By the time the single appeared Koblun was back in the fold, having played with American singer Carolyn Hester in the interim. His second stint, however, barely lasted out the year. On this occasion it was a desperate call from his old friend Neil Young, which led to his third departure in less than a year.

In early January, while Buffalo Springfield were performing in New York, Canadian Bruce Palmer had been arrested on marijuana charges and summarily deported. The others headed back to LA but with tour dates to honour, an immediate replacement was required. Young naturally suggested his former cohort – and it certainly helped that Koblun was familiar with Stills and Furay. It seemed a perfect arrangement and yet perhaps predictably, Koblun’s tenure with the group proved to be short-lived. While Koblun was under the impression that he was joining the band, the others merely thought he was “filling in”, until Palmer sorted out his problems and returned. After only three weeks, Koblun was asked to leave and returned somewhat despondently to Toronto.

3’s a Crowd meanwhile, re-enlisted Comrie Smith, who appears to have acted as a sort of “all-utility man” for whenever Koblun was absent. Amid all this activity, the band returned to New York to record a follow-up single with A&R man Ted Cooper. The result, the comedy single “Honey Machine” c/w “When The Sun Goes Down”, was quickly disowned by the trio, who fell out with Epic over the label’s marketing of the band. (The label saw the group as a sort of novelty/comedy act, which was not the image the trio wanted to project.) In the end, 3’s a Crowd severed their ties with Epic and the single thankfully died a quick death.

Back in Canada, 3’s a Crowd resumed gigging and at Ottawa’s Le Hibou coffeehouse (most likely for shows between 28 March-2 April) reunited with David Wiffen, who was singing in a local group called The Children.

His next move was to join a local beat group called The Pacers, who were soon offered a recording deal in Montreal. Trekking east, the group soon discovered that the promise of a deal had been a smokescreen; the company merely looking for an excuse to milk the group for all its worth. Wiffen and the others were subsequently obliged to slog it out on the local club scene, which at the time was very exhausting (8pm-3am, seven nights a week!). A lone single on RCA Victor – “I Want You Back” c/w “Windjammer”, turned up in late 1965 but it’s not clear whether Wiffen appears on it.

The others soon lost heart and returned home, while Wiffen moved to Ottawa, after hearing about the folk scene based around the Le Hibou coffeehouse. Before long he was invited to join the city’s premier folk-rock group, The Children, which at that time featured aspiring singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn (b. 25 May 1945, Ottawa, Ontario) and drummer Richard Patterson (b. 20 September 1944, Ottawa, Ontario), both of whom would feature greatly throughout his career. Wiffen and Patterson struck up a rapport and when 3’s a Crowd enquired about Wiffen’s services, he was keen to champion Patterson as a drummer.

His erstwhile colleague’s background was also distinguished. During the early ‘60s Patterson had played in Canada’s answer to Cliff Richard & The Shadows, The Esquires, who incidentally were one of Neil Young’s favourite groups. The Esquires had cut a number of singles for EMI/Capitol Records during the early to mid-‘60s. The Esquires had also produced Canada’s first professional music video and been voted Top Pop Vocal & Instrumental Group of 1964.

The addition of Wiffen and Patterson in April 1967 was to all intents, the turning point in the band’s career. Patterson’s solid drumming strengthened the group’s overall sound, while Wiffen’s attractive baritone (not dissimilar to Fred Neil’s), provided an interesting counterpoint to Warner’s voice and boosted the group’s overall appeal immeasurably. They also brought with them much of The Children’s material, which by the standards of the day was excellent.

With Wiffen and Patterson aboard, the “expanded” group made its debut on the popular afternoon show Take 30 where, according to Patterson, host Paul Soales spent most of the interview asking Wiffen and himself why they had joined an established act instead of forming a new band of their own.

The exposure generated by the show nonetheless helped 3’s a Crowd to break out of the Canadian market. An important engagement at Steve Paul’s prestigious New York club, the Scene from 15-21 May was quickly arranged, while the band also made regular visits to the Back Porch Club in Columbus, Ohio. Another important showcase from that period was the annual Mariposa Folk Festival (Canada’s answer to Newport), held at Innis Lake near Toronto on 11-13 August.

The festival, featuring the cream of Canada’s folk community, reached a watershed in its history that year; 1967 was not only the last year before the festival moved to its present location on Toronto Island, but was also the first to feature electric instruments. The inclusion of local groups 3’s a Crowd and Kensington Market reflected this growing acceptance of “electric folk”, and was an acknowledgement of the folk-rock scene emerging in Canada.

As important as Mariposa was, however, it would be eclipsed that summer by the world famous Expo Exhibition being staged in Montreal. 3’s a Crowd had been spotted performing at the Riverboat by one of the entertainment co-ordinators for the Ontario Pavilion and were subsequently allocated a slot at the Pavillion in late August and early September.

Prior to this, the group concluded a two-week engagement at the Le Hibou coffeehouse (27 July-6 August), after which Smith left to make way for a returning Ken Koblun, who no doubt was in a better frame of mind. In the intervening months since leaving Buffalo Springfield, Koblun had been playing with Elyse Wienberg’s O.D Bodkins and Company, but was eager to re-establish his position in his former group. For 3’s a Crowd, Montreal’s Expo ’67 was the premier event of the summer and the one that ultimately bagged the all-important record deal.

3's a Crowd at Mama Cass's house, l-r: Richard, Ken, Trevor, Brent and David. Donna on the floor
3’s a Crowd at Mama Cass’s house, l-r: Richard, Ken, Trevor, Brent and David. Donna on the floor

In a fortuitous twist of fate, a friend in LA had asked Warner’s boyfriend (at that time one of the promoters of Toronto’s first mini outdoor music festival) to accompany Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty of The Mamas and the Papas on a visit to Expo. What’s more, he also asked him to make sure they had everything they desired. Warner’s man not only kept his word, but also ensured that Elliot and Doherty were escorted to the Pavilion as 3’s a Crowd took the stage.Though Doherty clearly enjoyed his old friend’s group, it was Elliot, who, according to Patterson “saw a possible career opportunity for herself as a producer” for 3’s a Crowd. Enthused by their performance, she contacted Jay Lasker, President of ABC Dunhill, to rave about her new find and Lasker asked for a demo tape to be forwarded to him immediately.

For the purposes of recording the demo, Harvey Glatt (who Patterson says “owned most of the publishing of the new songs the group was performing” and had managed The Esquires and The Children) hired out Bell Studios in New York in mid-September. He also commissioned his friend Rick Shorter (The Paupers’s debut album being among his credits) to produce the three songs. While in New York, the band continued to work showcase dates, before returning to play at the Canadian Pavilion Feature stage at Expo ‘67.

Then finally, after what seemed a lifetime, a call came through to Sid Dolgay that the group was expected in Los Angeles as soon as possible to sign a deal and begin recording. Abetted by David McLeod, previously the talent co-ordinator and liaison for the Ontario Pavilion, and now acting as the band’s road manager, 3’s a Crowd flew out to LA for a month’s work in mid-October.

For Patterson in particular the group’s arrival in LA brings back fond memories: “Dunhill sent a couple of limos direct to the plane’s staircase and a photographer covered the arrival for the record label. As a matter of fact part of the arrival was…a photo shoot where we had to parade up and down the staircase a couple of times, and cavort around the tarmac waving our hands to the then non-existent cheering fans.”

The group was then driven to a small but comfortable Beverly Hills hotel round the corner from Dunhill’s offices, which according to Patterson “had a wonderful in-house restaurant where we non-suntanned northerners could order a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for a mere fifty cents.”

Sessions began soon afterwards at Studio 3, Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard with engineer Chuck Britz assisting Elliot. However, as Patterson recalls, after a week in the studio, “Cass lost interest in the every day of it” and by end of the week, Dunhill staff producer Steve Barri (PF Sloan’s writing partner) was in charge. (When the album came out though Elliot was credited as co-producer, perhaps in recognition of the fact that she had discovered the band.)

The first week was also notable for the presence of top session drummer Hal Blaine, who was brought in, according to Patterson, to “size my talent up”. Patterson didn’t know it but in those days the majority of sessions with bands included the use of top studio drummers sitting in with the group. Patterson needn’t have worried though; Blaine was bowled over by his playing and offered the use of his equipment stored in the studio’s basement! As the sessions progressed, the band also found time to play a few local dates including a performance at the student union, UCLA on 20 October; a photo of which found its way onto the back cover of their album later in the year.

Photographs from 3’s a Crowd’s arrival at the airport plus a group visit to Western Costume Company were also slated for the album’s cover and inside collage. In the latter case the band spent a morning looking at various catalogues of photos in the company’s inventory before choosing their favourites. In the end, Veitch decided on a white set of tails once worn by Fred Astaire, while Warner picked one of Maid Marion’s dresses from a Robin Hood film. Titcomb’s choice was a First World War fighter pilot’s uniform. Koblun, on the other hand, dressed in an old policeman’s outfit, while Patterson chose a 1930s full-piece bathing outfit and Wiffen dressed as a New York Irish boxing coach! A final photo taken at Elliot’s house (with 3’s a Crowd decked out on her sofa) after a dinner party held for the band one evening was also picked out for use.

Back in Toronto, the band embarked on a frenzy of activity, the highlight of which, was a television special for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) called Our Kind Of Crowd. The show, aired from coast to coast, boosted the group’s credentials and also provided a platform for their chosen guests, comedian Richard Pryor and up and coming singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell; both relatively unknown at the time but soon destined for greater things.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about 3’s a Crowd; although the TV show was clearly a great success and bode well for the future, the group’s career was about to grind to an unwelcomed halt.

Ironically, the recent success proved to be the group’s ultimate undoing. The pressures of touring were as Patterson concedes “taking its toll on both Donna and Kenny”, and following a stint at the Riverboat during December, Koblun quit for the fourth and final time, suffering from nervous exhaustion.

He subsequently returned to Winnipeg and enrolled on a computer course at the city’s university. In the early ‘70s he briefly ventured back into music, playing with a few local groups, before trading in his bass for a career in computers. He currently lives in San Francisco.

In his place 3’s a Crowd recruited bass player Wayne Davis (b. 28 April 1946, Toronto, Ontario) from R&B outfit Bobby Kris and The Imperials, and before that Just Us.

As Patterson reveals, however, Koblun was not the only member to succumb to the pressures on the road. Donna Warner also struggled to cope with the heavy workload and on a number of occasions was too ill to perform. During the group’s Expo stint the previous summer, Ottawa-based singer Colleen Peterson (b. 14 November 1950, Peterborough, Ontario) had ably covered for Warner and would continue to do so at intervals throughout early 1968. In this way Peterson’s role bore an uncanny resemblance to Comrie Smith’s earlier in the year.

Peterson, another of Harvey Glatt’s protégés was a respected singer on the folk circuit and in 1967 had won a Juno award for most promising new vocalist. More importantly, she was well acquainted with the band’s repertoire, having been closely associated with The Children. She was, as Patterson points out, “a natural choice”.

3's a Crowd Australian RCA PS Bird Without Wings - Coat of Colours
A rare Australian pressing!

3's a Crowd RCA Victor 45 Bird Without Wings

3's a Crowd in early 1969. Clockwise from front: Colleen, Dennis, Richard, Bruce and David.
3’s a Crowd in early 1969. Clockwise from front: Colleen, Dennis, Richard, Bruce and David.

3’s a Crowd spent most of early 1968 showcasing the album, which had yet to be given a Canadian release. The “expanded” group’s debut single, a cover of Bruce Cockburn’s catchy “Bird Without Wings” was issued in early February (and even gained an Australian release!). Its relative success (peaking at #61 on the RPM chart) coincided with a tour of Western Canada, featuring memorable dates at the Simon Fraser University on 28 February and the Retinal Circus in Vancouver from 1-2 March.The band then headed back to the US West Coast for a series of dates at the Ice House in Glendale from 5-17 March supported by folk singer couple Jim & Jean. Patterson remembers Neil Young showing up in his Austin Mini Cooper one afternoon, perhaps hoping to catch his old buddy Ken Koblun. Young subsequently invited the group to an informal jam at Stephen Stills’s girlfriend’s house in Topanga Canyon a few days later, and the events that followed were to become the stuff of legend.

As Patterson recalls the car (containing Jim & Jean, Titcomb, Warner and himself) was stopped by the police on route to the party and its occupants presented with a fait accompli; either reverse and go home or carry on and be arrested with the other party goes at the house. (The police had just raided the house and in the ensuing drama three members of the Buffalo Springfield and Eric Clapton had been arrested on suspected drug charges.) Patterson and company returned home, narrowly avoiding one of rock music’s most famous drug busts.

In retrospect the Topanga Canyon episode signaled the end of The Buffalo Springfield, and 3’s a Crowd’s career was about to take a similar path. Back in Canada, the group was joined by members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for a memorable performance at Massey Hall, where the group debuted the album in its entirety with full orchestration, an act never to be repeated. However, Warner’s declining health could not be ignored and following some final dates at Toronto’s Friars Tavern in early May, she left the group just as the album Christopher’s Movie Matinee hit the shops.

The record, though far from being a long lost classic, is still a wonderful collection, which holds up surprisingly well today. The highlights include the sprightly folk-rockers “Drive You Away”, (penned by Wiffen), and “Bird Without Wings”, plus the melancholic ballad “Cotton Candy Man”, the latter also emanating from Bruce Cockburn, who contributed two other songs to the collection. The album’s real gem (as far as this listener is concerned), however, is the band’s haunting version of Bill Hawkins’s (of The Children) “Gnostic Serenade”, which shows how gifted a singer Wiffen is.

At the time, the record was largely ignored, although Billboard did run a brief review earlier in the year: “The music is good, alive and invigorating. It won’t take long for this group to make a solid dent on the best seller charts.”

Review of Electrocution of the Word, inexplicably referred to as "Explosion of the Universe" in this review, Ottawa Journal, August 30, 1968.
Review of Electrocution of the Word, inexplicably referred to as “Explosion of the Universe” in this review, Ottawa Journal, August 30, 1968.

And perhaps it would have had there been a group to support it, but as Patterson points out, when Warner left, Titcomb and Veitch lost interest in the band and were not prepared to put things on hold while she recuperated.But if Titcomb and Veitch were no longer in the picture, there were still commitments to be honoured; Sid Dolgay’s two investors in the group – Harvey Glatt and Toronto film producer Sid Banks were intent on pushing the band. (There was outstanding debt to be paid off and a recently issued album to promote.)

As a result a new version of the band was formed in Ottawa during the summer comprising David Wiffen and Richard Patterson alongside some old and familiar faces.

Former Children members Bruce Cockburn and Sandy Crawley (b. 7 December 1947, Ottawa, Ontario), the son of independent filmmaker Budge Crawley, who made the rock documentary Janis, were drafted in alongside Colleen Peterson.

The new group was completed with bass player Dennis Pendrith (b. 13 September 1949, Toronto, Ontario), who had been in Cockburn’s last band Olivus, and before that had played with Simon Caine & The Catch, Luke & The Apostles and the short-lived group Livingstone’s Journey.

In the midst of all these changes, RCA Victor belatedly released a second single from the album, a cover of Dino Valenti’s “Let’s Get Together” backed by “Drive You Away”, which stalled at #70 on the RPM charts.

The new line-up quickly returned to the road, spending the best part of the summer supporting The Turtles and Gary Puckett & The Union Gap on their Canadian dates.

During this period 3’s a Crowd found time to record a recent Bruce Cockburn composition “Electrocution of The Word”, and Glatt subsequently produced a video to accompany it, which ran at Ottawa’s Teen Pavilion as part of the Canada Exhibition.

Amid all this activity, 3’s a Crowd were hired by Sid Banks to provide the youth element to a new TV series that he had been commissioned to produce called One More Time, hosted by Broadway actor/singer Gilbert Price. Twenty-six episodes were recorded for the first series during the late summer and the band were asked to perform two/three songs per show. (The majority of the music on the show was Broadway hits and guest slots by a few other pop groups, but it was one way for Banks to recoup some of his investment in the band.)

The series was a reasonable success and was renewed for another season with a second batch of taping in the winter. Banks, however, felt that the group’s songs were, according to Patterson, “too alternative for the audience” and pitched the idea of “putting a pop arrangement to some of the top Broadway tunes”. 3’s a Crowd were understandably reticent about such an undertaking but in the end came up with some rather unusual renditions of songs such as “Mack The Knife”.

Donna Warner (middle) singing on Jay Telfer's Perch album sessions, spring 1969
Donna Warner (middle) singing on Jay Telfer’s Perch album sessions, spring 1969

After the TV series ended in early 1969, the band was offered a spring tour of the US college and university circuit. Crawley, who was more intent on pursuing an acting career opted out leaving the others to fulfil what essentially were 3’s a Crowd’s final dates.The last engagement at Columbia in South Carolina was a low-key affair and summed up the group’s career in a nutshell. They had never been a highly touted band and yet the degree of talent within the group, when looked at retrospectively, would suggest that they deserved a lot more recognition than they did.

Since the group’s final split, the band’s members have, collectively, produced a remarkable body of work. Cockburn undoubtedly has maintained the most visible profile; with close to thirty albums, and a top thirty US hit in “Wondering Where The Lions Are” to his credit, he has produced a wealth of material that surpasses many of his (better-known) ‘60s contemporaries.

Titcomb also emerged as a solo artist (producing three albums for small Canadian labels), but is perhaps best known for his songwriting skills. Canada’s popular country singer Anne Murray recorded many of his songs, including “Sing High, Sing Low” and “I Still Wish The Very Best For You”. Besides this, Titcomb has also made a habit of cropping up in the most unlikely places. He made a cameo appearance in the popular TV series Due South, and has also done voice-overs for cartoon programmes The Care Bears and Clifford The Dog. If that weren’t enough he has produced song jingles for radio and television, appeared in a TV commercial for Canadian Tire and been featured on a commemorative postage stamp acknowledging the corporation’s 75th Anniversary! His son Liam Titcomb has also established himself as a singer/songwriter of note.

Peterson, who died of cancer in October 1996, also found success after leaving 3’s a Crowd. Her first notable recording was with the New York group Taking Care of Business, who released a lone album, Open For Business on Traffic Records in 1969. In the mid-‘70s she became a popular country singer in Nashville and recorded a string of albums for Capitol. She later returned to Canada and enjoyed a hit with a cover of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”. Shortly before she died Peterson was involved in the first LP by Sylvia Tyson’s band The Quartette.

Her predecessor Donna Warner kept a low profile but did make a guest appearance on Jay Telfer’s unreleased album Perch in mid-1969, singing backing vocals. She subsequently appeared on an album with Tommy Banks Century II productions in the early ‘70s and currently resides in Edmonton where she sings in a local choir at a local cancer care facility.

Veitch, like his erstwhile colleagues also found belated success. For a while, he became American singer/songwriter Tom Rush’s right-hand man, but when the duo parted in the mid-‘70s he headed for LA where he has lived ever since. Veitch is perhaps the most unlikely member of the group to find success as a songwriter, and yet no one could quite have foreseen the level of success that was generated from Laura Brannigan’s “Gloria” and Toni Basil’s “Mickey”, both co-penned by Veitch. He has also found a niche for himself as a session player, appearing on albums by artists as diverse as Pink Floyd, Madonna, Frank Sinatra and Luther Vandross. And then there is also his work on film soundtracks, such as Pretty Woman and Top Gun.

Dennis Pendrith also followed the session path. One of Canada’s top session musicians, he also plays with The Bebop Cowboys, while Patterson recorded a lone single with Canada Goose, a cover of Jackie Wilson’s hit “Higher and Higher” for the New York based Tonsil Records, which reached #44 on the RPM charts. He subsequently joined forces with Tom Rush and Ian and Sylvia Tyson’s Great Speckled Bird before working for The Canadian Broadcasting Company for 16 years.And finally there is David Wiffen, who, despite a loyal following in Canada, has remained something of an obscurity elsewhere. That is a huge injustice as his solo work is easily comparable to many of his oft-cited contemporaries. Like Nick Drake and David Ackles, Wiffen has only produced a handful of recordings, yet that has not prevented his songs from being widely covered by many highly respected artists.

Following the break up of 3’s a Crowd, Wiffen paid his way down to Oakland, California to record his second solo album after bagging a recording deal with Fantasy Records. The label – best known for Credence Clearwater Revival – arranged for Wiffen to work with former Youngbloods guitarist Jerry Corbitt, and although Wiffen was able to invite along Sandy Crawley, most of the players were unfamiliar to him. This caused some problems as the record was later finished without his involvement and the master tapes were reportedly damaged. Not only that but only promotional copies were made available in the US. The record did see a Canadian release, but copies are now extremely scarce, and the record has only been re-issued (by Italian label Comet Records’ subsidiary Akarma Records), despite containing his best known songs “Drivin’ Wheel”, “More Often Than Not” and “Mr Wiffen”.

The distribution problems in the US were certainly frustrating but at least Wiffen had the consolation that his work was being covered by the likes of Tom Rush, Roger McGuinn, Ian & Sylvia Tyson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Eric Anderson and Harry Belafonte.

Wiffen’s influence also is evident in more contemporary artists; “Drivin’ Wheel” has become an integral part of The Cowboy Junkies’ live sets. This renewed interest in his work has led to the recording of his first solo album since 1973’s highly acclaimed Coast To Coast Fever album which saw Wiffen collaborate with former 3’s a Crowd members Bruce Cockburn and Dennis Pendrith. His latest album, which is entitled South of Somewhere, includes a number of reworked versions of Wiffen’s “classic” songs plus some new material.

3’s a Crowd’s career meanwhile may finally receive the recognition that it deserves. Richard Patterson has been busy working on a compilation album mixing the band’s album and early singles with later live material, which has previously been unreleased. The CD compilation has yet to see the light of day.

Nevertheless, the respect given to group members Bruce Cockburn and David Wiffen mean that the band will always be held with affection by those who witnessed the group play in Canada during the mid-late ‘60s.

David Wiffen Coast to Coast Fever LP

Christopher's Movie Matinee Canadian mono RCA Victor LP side 1
Christopher’s Movie Matinee Canadian mono RCA Victor LP
Christopher's Movie Matinee US stereo promo LP on Dunhill side B
US stereo promo LP on Dunhill

Recordings

45 Bound To Fly/Steel Rail Blues (Epic 5-10073) 1966
45 Honey Machine/When The Sun Goes Down (Epic 5-10151) 1967
45 Bird Without Wings/Coat of Colours (RCA Victor 4120) 1967
45 Bird Without Wings/Coat of Colours (Dunhill D-4120) 1968 (US release)
45 Let’s Get Together/Drive You Away (RCA Victor 4131) 1968
45 Let’s Get Together/Drive You Away (Dunhill D-4131) 1968(US release)
LP Christopher’s Movie Matinee (RCA Victor DS-50030) 1968 (Canadian ‘mono’ copy)
LP Christopher’s Movie Matinee (Dunhill DS-50030) 1968 (US release)Advertised gigs

November 14-20 1965 – 4-D, Regina, Saskatchwan
November 21-December 4 1965 – Esquire Club, Saskatoon
December 12-23 1965 – Guiseppe’s, Edmonton
January 6-19 1966 – Brass Rail, Halifax, Nova Scotia
March 1-6 1966 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
March 17-20 1966 – 4-D, Regina
March 29 1966 – Riverboat, Toronto
April 5-10 1966 – Riverboat, Toronto
April 19-21 1966 – Raven’s Gallery, Detroit
April 23-28 1966 – Riverboat, Toronto
February 24-26 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
February 28-March 5 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
March 28-April 2 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
May 15-21 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene with Dianne Brooks, Eric Mercury and The Soul Searchers
July 27-30 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
August 1-6 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
August 11-13 1967 – Mariposa Folk Festival, Toronto
August 17-September 8 1967 – Expo ’67 Exhibition, Ontario Pavilion, Montreal
September 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York with Lothar & The Hand People
October 2-9 1967 – Canadian Pavilion, Expo ‘67 Montreal
October 20 1967 – Student union, UCLA, Los Angeles
November 11 1967 – Neil McNeil’s High School, Toronto
November 13-25 1967 – Granny’s, Walker House Hotel, Toronto
December 2 1967 – Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
December 19-24 1967 – Riverboat, Toronto
January 1968 – Lawrence Park Collegiate, Toronto
February 28 1968 – Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
March 1-2 1968 – Retinal Circus, Vancouver
March 5-17 1968 – Ice House, Glendale, California with Jim & Jean
March 29 1968 – Massey Hall, Toronto
April 22-May 4 1968 – Friars Tavern, Toronto
May 14-18 1968 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
November 19-24 1968 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
January 16-18 1969 – Pornographic Onion, Toronto

The article would not have been possible without the generous help of John Einarson and particularly Richard Patterson, who interviewed the band members. Thanks also to Graham Wiffen, Donna Warner, Sandy Crawley, Brent Titcomb and Trevor Veitch for their input. Thank you to Ivan Amirault for the scans from RPM.

Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author.

Email: Warchive@aol.com

3's a Crowd Bird Without Wings US promotional sleeve on Dunhill

US promotional sleeve

3's a Crowd rare German RCA Victor PS
Rare German sleeve
RPM, Sept 26, 1966
RPM, Sept 26, 1966
RPM, Oct 24, 1966
RPM, Oct 24, 1966
RPM, February 24, 1968
RPM, February 24, 1968
RPM, March 3, 1968
RPM, March 3, 1968

The Tidbits

Tidbits RCA EP I Believe front cover

Tidbits RCA Victor EP I Believe side 2Three schoolgirls, Serene Wee (13), her sister, Merlina Wee (12), and their cousin, Bernedette De Souza (12), won the Radio and Television Singapura Talentime contest for 1967/68 and as part of their prize got to record two EPs with RCA.

On the first EP they recorded the song that won them the prize, “I Believe”, and also “Lace Covered Window”, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, and “Never My Love”, the latter song made famous by The Association, but recorded by many other artists. The Tidbits were backed on this EP by popular Singapore band The Trailers.

On their second EP, also in 1968, The Tidbits were backed by The X’periment and then went back to being schoolgirls.

Tidbits RCA Victor EP I Believe

Tidbits RCA Victor EP photos

Tidbits RCA Victor EP photos

The A-Cads

Left to right: Louis McKelvey, Les Goode, Sam Evans, Hank Squires, Dick Laws and Rob Kearney
Left to right: Louis McKelvey, Les Goode, Sam Evans, Hank Squires, Dick Laws and Rob Kearney

Mid-1960s beat merchants The A-Cads heralded an exciting new age in South African rock music and were promoted by the local press at the time as a super group of sorts.

The band’s leading figure, rhythm guitarist/singer Hank Squires (b. Henry Stephen Smitsdorff, 20 May 1941, Johannesburg, South Africa) was well-established in South African musical circles, having previously worked with British expat Mickie Most, then a popular singer in South Africa and later one of rock’s most successful producers.

Hank Squires’ early career

Squires’s career began in the late 1950s when he made his debut on the city’s fledging rock ‘n’ roll scene playing with the popular rock ‘n’ roll outfit, The Playboys.

Training to become an electrical engineer, Squires soon abandoned Johannesburg Technical College after witnessing a concert by English émigré, the late Mickie Most (real name: Michael Hayes), a singer of modest talent who had moved to Johannesburg in 1958 to marry his South African fiancée. Impressed by the singer’s performance, Squires approached Most for guitar lessons and after a few months joined his original backing group, The Playboys.

Most’s move to the colonies proved to be extremely fortuitous – his British solo recordings (as well as singles recorded with future producer Alex Murray as The Most Brothers) had all met with widespread indifference back home.

However, after changing his name, Most and his newly formed group quickly established themselves as one of, if not, the most successful band(s) in South Africa, scoring six consecutive South African hits over the next three years (including one with Jackie Frisco). And although Most would subsequently return home during 1962 to try his hand at production, he would continue to maintain contact with Squires, seeing him as one of the few musicians in South Africa that he thought had the potential to go on to greater things.

Squires, meanwhile, had already left The Playboys prior to Most’s departure for the UK and formed a new band, The Silhouettes. This short-lived outfit also featured another ex-Playboys member, Leon Booysen (bass), alongside the late George Hill (drums) and the late Archie Van der Ploeg (lead guitar).

During The Silhouettes’ short lifespan, the group supported singer June Dyer on her number one single “Whirlpool of Love”. Squires moved on soon afterwards and joined another local group, The Giants, who scored a number one hit in late 1961 with “Dark and Lonely Street” and also recorded a rare album entitled Meet The Giants. The Giants subsequently changed their name to the Rebels and became June Dyer’s backing group.

While his old friend Mickie Most struck gold in the UK as a producer for The Animals and Lulu, among others, Squires kept busy performing and recording with Johnny Kongos and The G-Men. This exciting band was arguably one of the best outfits to emerge in South Africa during the early-mid 1960s and included some of the city’s most accomplished musicians.

The group’s potential, however, was cut short when the band’s singer (and future solo artist) John Kongos (best known for penning the international hit “He’s Gonna Step On You Again”, made famous by indie revellers The Happy Mondays in the 1990s) left to do national service.

Johnny Kongos & the G-men, 1964, l-r: Jesse Sumares, Johnny Kongos, Ed Burns (with bass), Rob Kearney (drums) and Hank Squires
Johnny Kongos & the G-men, 1964, l-r: Jesse Sumares, Johnny Kongos, Ed Burns (with bass), Rob Kearney (drums) and Hank Squires

Kongos later enjoyed moderate success with his solo work and his UK bands Floribunda Rose and Scrugg. The former also featured English expat Pete Clifford, who had toured South Africa with Dusty Springfield and worked with Tom Jones before forming The 004 and later joining South African rock-comedy group, The Bats.

Kongos’ replacement in The G-Men was another expat, singer Sam Evans (b. 1947, Glasgow, Scotland), a short, burly man with a rough-edged voice, who had arrived in South Africa in early 1964 after fronting a number of now long forgotten bands back home. Evans would ultimately become Squires’ first choice as the singer in what would become The A-Cads. Another former G-man, drummer Robbie Kearney (b. South Africa), fresh from a nine-month army stint at Simons Town naval base, joined him soon afterwards.

The Falling Leaves, 1965: Leib Brews, George McCauley (on chair), Hank (standing) and Arthur Fisher (high chair)
The Falling Leaves, 1965: Leib Brews, George McCauley (on chair), Hank (standing) and Arthur Fisher (high chair)

Before such a project could materialise, however, Squires left The G-Men during December 1964 to pursue a short-lived solo career. Spotted playing in a club by Mickie Most (on a flying visit to South Africa), Squires was subsequently offered a recording contract and a single, a cover of Fats Domino’s “I’ve Been Around”, produced by Most, was issued in spring 1965. A follow up single, “Stand By Me”, produced this time by Squires, also failed to attract much attention and the singer began to look around for fresh adventures.

The G-Men, l-r: Jesse Sumares, Leib Brews, Hank Squires and John E Sharpe
The G-Men, l-r: Jesse Sumares, Leib Brews, Hank Squires and John E Sharpe

After brief stints with The Falling Leaves and a short-lived line up of The G-men featuring John E Sharpe, Squires started to put together a new group that would storm the South African charts.

l-r: Jesse Sumares, John E Sharpe, Hank Squires and Leib Brews
l-r: Jesse Sumares, John E Sharpe, Hank Squires and Leib Brews

The A-Cads form

Formed during October 1965, The A-Cads were essentially the brainchild of English émigré Peter Rimmer, a former support musician for the likes of Marty Wilde and The Tempests, who had decided to try his hand at management following his move to South Africa in 1963. By the time that Rimmer ran into Squires, he had become the manager of the Rand Academy of Music, and it was probably this experience that inspired him to form what would essentially be the first South African super group.

Squires immediately recruited Evans and Kearney for the new project. He was also instrumental in bringing in the band’s remaining members, lead guitarist Dick Laws (b. 15 May 1946, London, England) and bass player Les Goode (b. 10 September 1946, Surrey, England). Both musicians had impressive pedigrees and were first-rate musicians.

Londoner Dick Laws had first visited Johannesburg in early 1963 when his band, Bill Kimber & The Couriers, got work in the city through local-born businessman Frank Fenter who had seen them play in his London coffee bar and raved about them to friends back home. Like many British artists who ventured to the colonies during this period, the group arrived to be greeted like visiting royalty.

Over the next year or so, Bill Kimber & The Couriers scored a string of South African hits for the Renown label, including covers of The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and Booker T & The MG’s “Green Onions”. They had a starring role in South Africa’s first rock movie, Africa Shakes, where they also backed local singer Sharon Tandy on various songs, including the well-known R&B hit, “I’m Movin’ On”.

The Couriers eventually returned home, but Squires was convinced that Laws was key to his new group’s success, and with Rimmer’s support, managed to coax him back to join The A-Cads. Laws brought with him a unique guitar style and, perhaps more importantly, an in-depth knowledge of the UK rock scene, as well as choice material to cover.

Les Goode (real name: Les Gutfreund), meanwhile, had emigrated from England in 1952 and played with Shadows tribute band, Les Beats, which morphed into The Nitwits, before working with The Deans, formed in 1963 with the late singer/guitarist John E Sharpe. Coinciding with the arrival of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Deans subsequently adopted the more progressive name John E Sharpe and The Squires and quickly became Johannesburg’s top R&B attraction.

The A-Cads’ unusual name appears to have been, according to press releases from that period, a compromise between Rimmer and the band. Apparently Rimmer was keen to name the group after the Rand Academy, while the group members’ preferred choice was The Cads, the result being The A-Cads.

After weeks of intensive rehearsals, Rimmer duly launched The A-Cads at a cocktail party at Ciros in Johannesburg, hosted by A G J McGrall, a managing director of a well-known record company. The event attracted a great deal of publicity and made the front cover of the South African music rag, Record Express.

A-Cads RCA Victor 45 Hungry for LoveSoon afterwards, the band signed a recording deal with Teal Records (with distribution by RCA Victor) and, on the recommendation of Laws, recorded a stunning version of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates’ “Hungry For Love”, which reached #1 on the South African chart in January 1966. The South African music press was quick to praise the band’s debut disc, with one review quoted as saying “an excellent disc by an excellent group, backings are great, and vocal beautifully handled, this is about the best record ever produced in South Africa…”

Laws’ piercing guitar work on the single’s B-side, a storming version of Bo Diddley’s “Roadrunner” meanwhile, provided a more accurate insight into the group’s musical abilities and hinted at its potential to develop into a formidable force. In addition, the track featured some amazing throat shredding vocals from Sam Evans. However, as the next few months would prove, the band would never capitalise on this early success.

Review in Pop Gear, May 1966
 Review in Pop Gear, May 1966

During December, The A-Cads began work on an album, and while in the process recorded a cover version of The Small Faces’ “Sha-La-La-La-Lee”, which for some inexplicable reason was later omitted from the album when it was issued the following spring. To add to the confusion, the track was finally issued as a single following the album’s release and after the band had relocated to London in April 1966.

Pop Gear discusses the breakup, February 1966
Pop Gear discusses the breakup, February 1966

Unfortunately during the recording process, the band started to unravel as Laws increasingly voiced his objections over the choice of material being presented to the group.

As he later recalled: “A lot of stuff we did was just floating around in memory (Chuck Berry, Rufus Thomas etc.), old favourites, that sort of thing. But some of it was producer Derek Hannan playing us things in his office that he thought would be good for us. I never agreed with his choices, but then I had a distinct vision of what the group should be. I always thought that it would have been better if Teal had just let us loose in the studio to get on with it ourselves (as we did initially with “Hungry For Love”). I think the band would have lasted a lot longer and surprised a few people.”

Louis McKelvey, Andy Keiller and the Upsetters

At this critical juncture, Squires decided to introduce a second lead guitarist Louis McKelvey (b. 31 October 1943, Killorglin, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland), as Laws looked increasingly to be on the verge of splitting. McKelvey, whose family had moved to Twickenham during his adolescence, was already a seasoned player on the West London club scene.

His earliest musical venture had been local group Johnny & The Pursuers, but he quickly jacked this in to become the lead guitarist in R&B outfit Jeff Curtis & The Flames, regulars at the famous Ealing Jazz club. Though no recordings ever emerged from this period, The Flames did record a four-track acetate in October 1963 and two further tracks in late 1964.  The band’s main claim to fame was appearing on a cross-channel ferry with headline act Jerry Lee Lewis.

After the band’s drummer Malcolm Tomlinson quit the band to play with The Del Mar Trio, McKelvey eventually grew restless and took off for South Africa with his newly wedded bride (not before joining Tomlinson’s band in Germany for about a month’s worth of gigs).

McKelvey’s parents had run a theatre production company in Leicester Square and on their travels had been struck by Cape Town’s beauty. McKelvey’s dad was briefly director of theatre in South Africa and the guitarist had spent part of his childhood in the country. On the look out for fresh musical adventures, he decided to follow their advice and return to South Africa for a few months.

Arriving in Johannesburg around September 1965, McKelvey quickly fell in with another expat, singer Andrew Keiller. Though relatively new to the music business, Keiller had nevertheless, witnessed first-hand many of the hotbeds of the early London rock scene (including a brief incarnation of The Rolling Stones featuring Carlo Little and Rick Brown), before moving to South Africa in March 1964 and recording a single for Continental Records, “Find My Baby” c/w “Elaine”. This was followed by an album, Round About Midnight, which was held back for release until mid-1966 when it was given a write up in Teenage Personality in its 12 May issue.

Within a short space of time, Keiller and McKelvey established one of Johannesburg’s finest beat groups, The Upsetters, with former Playboys member Leon Booysen (bass) and future Freedom’s Children member Colin Pratley (drums), who soon made way for George Hill.

Thanks to Booysen’s contacts at Trutone Records, the band (with George’s brother Frank on the skins) recorded a single for the label, “Daddy Rolling Stone” c/w “Pain In My Heart”, at EMI studios in Johannesburg. The single’s a-side, which was brought to Keiller’s attention when he heard The Who cover it, is an arresting R&B tune written by Derek Martin and features some fiery guitar work from McKelvey. The flip meanwhile is more restrained and is the same Otis Redding song that had recently been made popular in the UK by The Rolling Stones.

The group’s name appears to have been McKelvey’s idea – The Upsetters being his idol, Little Richard’s original support band. The Upsetters proved to be particularly apt as it was also a fashion at the time to insult the audience and, according to sources close to the band, Keiller was keen to emulate what The Who were doing back in London.

Shortly after the single’s release, the band underwent a number of personnel changes as Leon Booysen and George Hill both left to be succeeded by 18-year-old drummer Gregory Allen Plotz and former Johnny Kongos & The G-Men bass player Jesse Sumares.

The new Upsetters line-up ventured back into the studio to record further material for a follow up single – “Down Home Girl”, “Boom Boom” and “High Heel Sneakers”, but for some inexplicable reason, the tracks were subsequently left in the can. Perhaps it was this disappointment that led to the group’s collapse later that autumn.

Whatever the reason, Keiller decided to return to London in late November and the others drifted apart after a short Bloemfontein tour with the A-Cads the following month, during which Sam Evans handled vocals for both bands. It was shortly after the final tour that Squires approached McKelvey about joining The A-Cads.

Dick Laws and Sam Evans depart the A-Cads

As mentioned earlier, McKelvey’s primary role appears to have been to take over from Dick Laws, who had increasingly come to blows over the band’s musical direction.

As Laws later admitted: “The band was moving in a super-commercial direction, recording puff pieces like “Fool, Fool, Fool”. I was interested in keeping the heavier sound of “Hungry For Love”. Also, there were too many people involved in the band’s management – three managers actually. It felt like no one was interested in the music itself. Producer Derek Hannan was coming up with these hits (which I suppose was his job). Yet the success of “Hungry For Love” should have proved that a song doesn’t have to have an infantile hook to top the charts, but no one was listening.”

Within weeks of McKelvey’s arrival, Laws abandoned the group, initially to work on a solo rock instrumental album for Teal Records, but he soon lost interest and the project was shelved. Over the next few years, Laws would maintain a relatively low profile, working occasionally with The Derick Warren Sound in South Africa during 1969.

However, that same year he joined Tommy Roe’s visiting support band and subsequently moved to the US. During the early 1970s, Laws contributed to Tommy Roe’s critically acclaimed albums We Can Make Music and Beginnings, but has kept a low profile since then, although he is still active musically in Los Angeles where he resides.

Sam Evans during his time with This Generation in mid 1966
Sam Evans during his time with This Generation in mid 1966

Laws was quickly followed by Sam Evans, who was keen to go solo and wisely used the success of the group’s debut single to launch his career. After a brief stint with local beat group This Generation, Evans debuted with a revival of Dean Martin’s “Memories Are Made of This” on the Pye label, and later that same year scored with Roy Hammond’s composition, “Shotgun Wedding”.

Incidentally, the song was at #10 in the South African charts on 12 August 1966 when the Beatles’ hit “Paperback Writer” was removed from the Springbok charts as a result of a SABC Board decision that no Beatles songs may be played on any government-sponsored radio station. They took the decision in response to Lennon’s apparent remark about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus.

Later, Evans would go on to record a string of singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s for the WRC, Parlophone and Nitty Gritty labels. He enjoyed further chart success with his singles, “Ain’t Love A Funny Thing”, “Goodbye Girl” and “Goodbye Guitarman”. Evans also issued a solo album in 1970 for Parlophone entitled “Ain’t Love A Funny Thing”, but sadly passed away in Johannesburg on 23 December 2004.

The A-Cads, meanwhile, briefly split up for a few weeks, but soon reformed with Hank Squires handling the vocal duties and McKelvey covering the lead guitar. “Evans and Laws were responsible for the group’s break up,” explains Squires. “Evans conspired to have me kicked out, Laws backed him. Their whole scheme backfired when Les and Robbie joined with me, giving us the majority to carry on as The A-Cads. McKelvey was in the right place at the right time, so I replaced Laws with him.”

The new line-up quickly emerged with a follow up single, “Fool Fool Fool” c/w “Zip-A-Dee Doh Dah” (the b-side in fact had been recorded before Evans’ departure) and, in a rather unusual move, also toured the Garden Route by train with the Boswell-Wilkie circus during the school holiday. One of the most memorable dates during this period was appearing at the Vaal Festival where the band played to 3,000 screaming fans. Soon afterwards, the new line up toured Mozambique.

Hungry for Love

Amid all this activity, RCA Victor issued the band’s album, which credited McKelvey for lead guitar and Dick Laws for bass (Les Goode wasn’t mentioned at all in the sleeve notes!). Curiously, the label also chose to use a rare picture of the short-lived Laws-McKelvey line-up for the album’s front cover with the group pictured on the back of a lorry. The true extent of McKelvey’s involvement in the sessions, however, is a matter of contention.

According to Dick Laws, McKelvey wasn’t around in the studio when he was recording with the group, and Laws is almost certain that he played lead on all the album tracks and three of the singles. Other sources close to the band, most notably Hank Squires, support his claim although McKelvey insists he played on some tracks.

Sam Evans Goes Solo, Pop Gear June 1966
 Pop Gear, June 1966

One possible explanation is that both guitarists recorded material for the album and RCA Victor handpicked the best cuts when choosing on a final track listing. That might explain the delay in the album’s release and may also explain why the group’s second single, as well as earlier recordings with Laws – “Roadrunner” and “Sha-La-La-La-Lee” were subsequently excluded.

A-Cads RCA Victor 45 reviewWhatever the reason, the media was unaware of any musical differences, and its response was overwhelmingly positive. Record Express gave the album a beaming write up in the April 1966 issue: “This tremendous, versatile, local group have followed up their hit single with this terrific album of bluesy R&B type numbers.”

Though no long lost classic, the album, named after the group’s debut single, does show The A-Cads in fine form with the band tearing its way through covers of R&B favourites like “In The Midnight Hour” and “Got My Mojo Working”. If any criticism could be levelled at the record, it would have to be the absence of any original material. Even The A-Cads’ British contemporaries, Them, The Rolling Stones and The Animals were writing their own songs, and The A-Cads’ dependence on such well-trodden material would probably not have helped the group’s cause over the long-term.

The album’s appearance also coincided with the belated release of the non-album track “Sha-La-La-La-Lee”, which as mentioned earlier, had been recorded while Laws was still in the band. Despite the changes in personnel and fresh developments in the group’s career, which will be discussed in a moment, the media continued to sing the group’s praises.

Record Express’ Cordy Gunn enthusiastically told readers in that month’s issue: “’Sha-La-La-La-Lee’ is the A-Cads’ best since ‘Hungry For Love’ …I predict that this new single will immediately leap to the top.” Though it never quite matched the success of the band’s debut single, “Sha-La-La-La-Lee” did indeed become a sizeable hit that spring, but by then the band was no longer in the country to promote it.

Departure to London

With Squires’ old mate Mickie Most now acting as the group’s agent in London, the group’s fortunes appeared to be on the up, and plans were made to launch the group overseas. Record Express was quoted as saying in the April issue, that “Louis McKelvey has left South Africa on the Edinburgh Castle bound for London where he’ll meet the other members of the group in a month’s time”.

Pop Gear, May 1966
Pop Gear, May 1966

Squires and Goode (joined by former member Dick Laws) sailed on the Windsor Castle during May 1966, and the trio ended up renting a flat in Notting Hill Gate where McKelvey occasionally dropped by.

Robbie Kearney meanwhile decided against the move as he had recently married the leading dancer from the Boswell-Wilkie circus. He would maintain a profile of sorts, reportedly playing briefly with The Falling Leaves and recording with Birds of A Feather in late 1968. Later qualifying as an artist, he went on to design the cover of the Ancient Mariner album, which featured Les Goode on bass! Today, he is a successful artist.

Hank Squires in London clipping, July 1966
Hank Squires in London clipping, July 1966

However, plans to get The A-Cads’ singles issued in Europe remained just that, and though a recording company in Amsterdam was reportedly interested, Most’s attempts to negotiate a deal quickly floundered. The Bournemouth Evening Echo interestingly has Hank Squires & The A-Cads playing at the Pavilion Ballroom on 12 July 1966.

Hank Squires & The A-Cads billed to play in Bournemouth, England in mid-July 1966

When the opportunity to play some dates in Hamburg also failed to materialise, and tentative plans to move to India to play at a major festival fell through, Goode returned somewhat despondently to South Africa in September 1966. (Incidentally, Teenage Personality reported in its 21 July issue that Squires was in Hamburg, so perhaps he did play there as a solo artist?)

Re-establishing ties with John E Sharpe, Les Goode became a member of The John Sharpe Set. Goode continued to work with the guitarist and was also a member of his next outfit, Impulse, which was formed in September 1967 with John Elliot (sax), Albert Rossi (drums) and Nic Martens (keyboards). Impulse recorded a lone 45 for Scepter Records, which coupled Booker T’s “Green Onions” with Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man”.

Impulse changed its name to The Board of Directors in August 1968 and recorded two tracks for a lone 45: “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” and “Legend of A Big Toe”, before Sharpe and Goode left in November to put together The Crystal Drive alongside South African guitar legend Julian Laxton from Freedom’s Children. Goode also briefly played with The Derick Warren Sound during this period, recording two singles with the group for the Continental label: “Lingering On” and “Every Other Saturday”.

Pop Gear, September 1966
Pop Gear, September 1966

Since then, he has become one of South Africa’s most highly regarded bass players and has appeared on records by (or played with) such notable outfits as Dickory, Backtrax, Morocko, Foxy and 909. Goode also worked with future Yes member and fellow South African Trevor Rabin’s support group when he toured England in 1979, and during the 1970s was also a member of Hawk. He is currently A&R and owner/director of Great Value Music in Johannesburg, a successful wholesale/distribution budget record company.

Hank Squires Columbia LP Strange Effect front cover

After the A-Cads: Hank Squires and Louis McKelvey in Canada
Back in England Hank Squires’ decided to trade in a career as a performer. His decision may primarily have been influenced by The A-Cads’ recent demise, but it is likely that other factors played a part.

During the summer, the South African division of Columbia Records had released Squires’ solo album Strange Effect, but neither it nor two singles – “Don’t Come Knockin’” and “Strange Effect” had been commercially successful. Nevertheless, the album, recorded in late 1965/early 1966 (largely with the original A-Cads in support, although McKelvey appears on a couple of tracks), did receive a positive write up in the South African music press.

Hank Squires Columbia LP Strange Effect back cover

Tony Hamilton writing in Teenage Personality that summer said: “[The album] carries 13 carefully chosen numbers including “It Only Took A Minute”, “Concrete and Clay”, “Up On The Roof” and “My Girl”. Hank has lots of talent and deserves a break. He is now in England, and this new LP may help him over there.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t and after recording a number of demos with American producer Steve Rowland, South African songwriter Hugh Patterson and his mentor Mickie Most, Squires was forced to leave the country. “Due to the politics practised in South Africa I wasn’t able to secure a work permit and had no choice but to leave the UK, so I immigrated to Canada,” recalls Squires.

According to Teenage Personality in its 22 December 1966 issue, Squires recorded a rare single in Europe and then headed to Canada for a three-month engagement after he couldn’t get a work permit to perform in England. Arriving in Montreal in December 1966, he hooked up with McKelvey who’d made the crossing months earlier.

Like Les Goode, Louis McKelvey decided that England was not the ideal place to pursue his musical ambitions and around September 1966 he took the boat to Montreal with only $10 in his pocket. However, after only a few weeks in the city playing with the French-speaking Les Sinners, during which time he performed at the Paul Sauve Arena sporting a Union Jack jacket (an extremely daring move considering the political climate in Quebec), he took off for a cross-country jaunt to Vancouver. Returning to Montreal that December, he hooked up with Our Generation.

 Hank Squires in the studio, 1969
Hank Squires in the studio, 1969

Reunited with Hank Squires, McKelvey helped his former A-Cads band member find work with (arguably) Montreal’s finest garage band, The Haunted, who had recently scored a sizeable Canadian hit with “1-2-5”. Squires would work with the band and be given co-production credit on their lone album, which has since become a popular collector’s item.

McKelvey was also briefly involved with The Haunted. He was given co-production credit for the single “Searching For My Baby” c/w “A Message To Pretty” with Squires and, according to band member Jurgen Peter, was responsible for suggesting the ‘A’ side’s gutsy guitar intro. In an interesting side note, The Haunted single was given a South African release on the Continental label during early 1968 and was given a positive write up by Tony Hamilton in Teenage Personality.

A short while later, Hank Squires became a talent scout for Johannesburg-based label Highveld and through Jurgen Peter produced a single for Montreal singer, Andrew Storm (real name: Andrew Lacroix). Storm’s single, “Tic-Tac-Toe” c/w “I’d Love To Love You Again”, which features McKelvey on guitar, was later given a South African release on Highveld in 1970. Squires sadly died on July 13, 2009.

McKelvey meanwhile had thrown in his lot with Our Generation – a Haunted spin-off featuring former members Bob Burgess, Tim Forsythe and Jim Robertson. Our Generation already had one single to their credit, “I’m a Man”” c/w “Run Down Every Street”, issued on the Transworld label, but McKelvey’s arrival gave the band a “shot in the arm”. His fiery lead guitar work is immediately distinguishable on the group’s second (and arguably best) single, “Cool Summer” c/w “Out To Get Light”, which was issued in May 1967 and was produced by Squires.

By the time it reached the shops, McKelvey had moved on and pieced together a new musical project, Influence alongside Andy Keiller from The Upsetters. Keiller had arrived in Montreal in April 1966 and spotted McKelvey playing on TV with Our Generation. Influence subsequently recorded an album for ABC in late 1967 before splitting late the following year. McKelvey then worked with the short-lived groups Milkwood, Damage and Powerhouse.

During the early 1970s, McKelvey briefly re-united with Hank Squires, working as a songwriter and session guitarist for Squires’ short-lived studio group Marble Hall, which featured singer Brian Redmond. McKelvey contributed to the group’s lone single, “Marble Hall” (originally recorded as a demo with Influence).

Hank Squires in Montreal, 1970
Hank Squires in Montreal, 1970

Following his work with Andy Storm, Hank Squires released one more solo recording that year – “Ecstasy”, which appeared on a compilation album called Command Performance. Squires later produced a number of recordings in the early 1970s for a singer known as Martin Martin. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, he is preparing an album of new material, which will be released under the name, SmityBoy.

Interest in The A-Cads has grown meanwhile and an Italian label, Crystal Emporium, brought out a CD of The A-Cads album in 1998 complete with bonus tracks featuring some rare Hank Squires solo material, taken from an unreleased EP recorded in 1966.

Many thanks to the following for generously helping to piece the story together: Hank Squires, Les Goode, Dick Laws, Louis McKelvey, Andy Keiller, Tertius Louw, Jurgen Peter, Ian Hannah, Mike Paxman, Garth Chilvers, Tom Jasiukowicz, Gregory Plotz and Leon Booysen.

Strange Effect LP photos courtesy of Ivan Amirault.

Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author.

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

 

Los Arlequines

Los Arlequines RCA Victor PS Tomando Cafe
A band from Madrid, the Arlequines released only this one 45 in 1967.The a-side is “Tomando Cafe”, which seems to be an adaption of a traditional song by Maximo Baratas. It rides the line between rock and soul in that peculiar Spanish style.

Los Arlequines RCA Victor 45 No Hay AmorEven better is the flip, the tense punker “No Hay Amor Para Mi” (“There Isn’t Love for Me”). The guitarist throws out fuzzed lines over a steady drum beat, while the organ player’s emergency siren-like pulsations fade in and out. The singer spits out lyrics in english that’s barely decipherable, while still managing to sound soulful. Plenty of attitude here, even the short bridge comes off drugged and ends abruptly.

As this was the b-side, it may be a band original; it was written by Juan Bona and Jose M. Panizo.

Info on the group is scant, but from what I can gather, their singer was Pepe Robles (José Robles Rodríguez). Pepe went on to join the established group Los Ángeles before forming Los Módulos, one of Spain’s most successful bands in the ’70s.

The Trailers

Sleeve to the Trailers first 45, Do It Right
Sleeve to the Trailers first 45, Do It Right

The Trailers was one of the most versatile and talented bands to emerge from Singapore in the 1960s. Formed sometime in 1964 by Victor Woo (lead guitar) and Eric Tan (bass), the band had a number of line-up changes before they released their first 45 in mid 1966 with Benny Koh (vocals), Edmund Tan (rhythm guitar), Tony Zee (drums) and Michael Teo (keyboards).

Trailers Cosdel 45 Do It RightThat first single contained the group’s original composition “Do It Right” backed with the instrumental “Thunderball” (Cosdel CSP-1007). The single went on to be a number one seller in Singapore. Check out the fans at a Trailers dance shown on the single’s cover. Sunglasses were pretty hip in Singapore in 1966!

Later in 1966 the Trailers had another hit with their second single, another original, the excellent “Don’t Laugh (You’ll Cry)”, backed with a great version of Little Richard’s “Lucille” (Cosdel CSP-1008).

This was followed in early 1967 by an all instrumental EP, O.B. a Go Go (Cosdel CEP-3001) with new keyboardist Jimmy Chan, that yielded one of their most evergreen tunes, “Phoenix’s Theme”, which apparently is still a feature of many Singaporean Chinese New Year celebrations. Another standout tune is “Alisan”, based on a Taiwanese folk-song that praises the beauty of the Taiwanese maidens from the island’s highest peak. “Ding Ding Song” is also based on a Chinese tune and “Lara’s Theme”, from the film Dr Zhivago, is the odd one out. My copy of this EP is a bit rough, but it has a slightly different cover to all the other copies I have seen.

In late 1967 the Trailers released two more EPs which I haven’t heard yet, but in 1968 they had another line-up change when Patrick Foo replaced Jimmy Chan on keyboards.

In late 1968 they released what I believe is their last recording, the fine Big 4 EP (Cosdel CEP-3003) with the original “I’m Ready Now”, the instrumental “Peter Gunn” and two covers, “Raise Your Hand” and “Gimme Little Sign”. Eric and Victor provide saxophone on some of the tracks on this EP and all are handled very well, although “Gimme Little Sign” is not really my cup of tea.

The liner notes on this last EP claim it appeared four years after the band’s debut, which would date it at 1970, but this is almost certainly wrong. All the Trailers recordings appeared on the Cosdel label, but starting in early 1968 a number of Cosdel artists received international release through an arrangement with RCA. The catalogue number SGE 0005 would place this EP as one of the first such releases. Actually, the Trailers appeared on the first recording that appeared as part of this deal when they backed three young girl singers called the Tidbits, who got to make a record as part of their prize for winning a talent contest. The tunes the girls tackle on that EP are not really the sort of thing the Trailers would go for I imagine. The Trailers, did however, provide the backing on at least three EPs for a pretty cool Singapore singer called Lara Tan, who may or may not have been related to Eric or Edmund Tan.

The band reunited to appear at a couple of 60s nostalgia concerts in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

For more information about the Trailers check out the article by Joseph Pereira that appeared in Fancy Mag a few years back.

Their second, and arguably best 45, Don't Laugh (You'll Cry)
Their second, and arguably best 45, Don’t Laugh (You’ll Cry)

Trailers Cosdel 45 Don't Laugh (You'll Cry) back of sleeve

Trailers Cosdel 45 Don't Laugh (You'll Cry)

Trailers O.B. A Go Go EP

Trailers O.B. A Go Go EP back of sleeve

Trailers Cosdel EP Ding Dong Song, Ali San

Trailers RCA EP

Trailers RCA EP back of sleeve

Trailers RCA EP side 1

Los Soñadores

Los Soñadores (the Dreamers) were from, I believe, Seville. Their first 45 has an excellent original “Sin saber por que” and a song I haven’t heard, “Judy con disfraz”. If I can find a copy I’ll post it.

José Luis Garrido wrote both songs on their 45, including “Vete,” a short, upbeat number with elements of Knock on Wood and Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag. The a-side is a pop ballad “Lo sé por mi.” This is one of the discs I found in Valencia with the help of Borja.

After Los Sońadores, José formed a group called Flamenco, opened recording studios and worked as musical producer on films.

The Bedforde Set

The Bedforde Set fan club card, Bill Singer, Steve Schein, Norman Bull, and Louis Miller.
The Bedforde Set, from the top: Bill Singer, Steve Schein, Norman Bull, and Louis Miller.

Bedforde Set RCA Victor 45 Girl Go Run AwayThe Bedforde Set formed in Silver Spring and Rockville, Maryland, with members William Singer lead guitar, Lewis Miller organ, Norman Bull bass and Steve Schein drums.

I heard from a fan who told me they started out as the Jaguars. They also took 2nd place at the Cap Center in a national battle-of-the-bands.

“The World Through a Tear” was a cover of a Neil Sedaka song. The Jan. 21, 1967 issue of Billboard predicted the single would reach the Billboard Hot 100, but I haven’t seen any record of it in the charts. “Girl, Go Run Away” is a fine original by the band and has appeared on several ’60s garage compilations over the years. Production by Joe René.

I’ve heard of an earlier 45 by Ronnie Dean and the Bedforde Set, “Oh Don’t You Know” / “Little Girl”, but wasn’t sure if it was the same group until Bill Singer wrote to me with some information on the group and the photo at top:

We did back up Ronnie Dean and recorded some songs with him.

The way we got signed was that our manager Hirsch Dela Viez, set up an audition at a dance we were playing. RCA sent down a scout, and was impressed that we sounded good vocally live. When asked if we had original material, of course we said yes. So we went to RCA in NY and did a demo. Turned out great so we eventually recorded 6-8 songs. “The World Through a Tear” was not one of them. We came back to DC and got a call to go work with Joe Rene on a Neal Sedaka remake, “The World Through a Tear”. Went back to NY and cut the record.

It was a toss up between “Girl Go Runaway” or “The World Through a Tear” as to the first release. The publishing company that owned the rights put up 25,000 for promotion. So “The World Through a Tear” was released, backed by “Girl Go Runaway”.

Got a lot of airplay in major cities. I heard it sold around 100,000. Joe Rene wrote “Tossing and Turning”. I have some pix of the RCA sessions.

We were asked to tour to support the record, and RCA fronted the money. But, Steve and Louis had just started college, I was teaching and we had to make a decision whether or not we wanted to give up guaranteed work. Well, common sense won out. We were making a fortune playing one-nighters in the area, and were booked a year in advance. We could do four part harmonies and covers of just about everything. So, our recording days came to an end. The band disbanded in 69-70.

I went on to work for ARP instruments. Helped develop the Avatar guitar synthesizer, and became their guitar product specialist. Got to travel all over the world and retired from the music business in 1985. Bought some land in WV and built two log homes, which is the quintessential hippy dream. For the past 19 years I have worked with children with autism and have a studio that keeps me busy.

The Chosen Few

Hadji in front, Jack on bass, Rich on guitar
Hadji in front, Jack on bass, Rich on guitar
Carl Storie and Hadji
Carl Storie and Hadji
Steve "Hadji" Baba
Steve “Hadji” Baba
Carl Storie and Rich Burman
Carl Storie and Rich Burman

There were many bands named the Chosen Few but this one was from Muncie, Indiana. Some of them were students at Ball State, and were originally known as the Invincibles.

According to comments people have left below, original members of the group were:

Jack Hamilton – bass
Rich Burmann – guitar
Steve Baba (also known as Hodgie or Hadji Baba) – vocals
Steve Nephew – drums

John Cascella joined on keyboards in 1966, and the band changed their name to the Chosen Few in early ’67. Baba was their original lead singer, but Steve Nephew and Jack Hamilton also took turns on vocals. Carl Storie joined in late summer or fall of ’67, giving the band two lead vocalists and a boost to their stage presence. This combination was together for almost a year. At times Jack switched to piano or harpsichord while Hadji played bass.

Chosen Few Denim 45 It Just Don't Rhyme“It Just Don’t Rhyme”, released in May of ’67 is the first of four 45s they released on the Denim label, and the most rockin’. The guitarist’s snappy rhythm on the intro provides the hook as the singer tells the girl to get her head out of the clouds. Jack Hamilton handled the lead vocals on this song. The band liked it enough to record it a second time with fuller vocal tracks and heavier organ as the a-side of their third single, this time backed with a cover of “Lucille”.

“Don’t Say It” has a different kind of sound, rooted in 50’s r&b, featuring good horn arrangements and a nice bass line. “Don’t Say It” was written by Jack Hamilton, “It Just Don’t Rhyme” had music by Hamilton and words by Steve Nephew.

Chosen Few Denim 45 We Walk TogetherTheir second 45 has the folk-rock sounds of “We Walk Together” (a Jack Hamilton composition) backed with the solid pop number “Foolin’ Around with Me” (co-written by Hamilton and Nephew). Production was by Bill Michael.

Sometime around late 1967 or 1968, Rich Burman and Steve Nephew left the band, and Dave Bennett (guitar) and Dave Barnes (drums) took their place. Hadji Baba left and joined the Ritual as their vocalist. The band’s later work is more pop based, as evidenced by their fourth and last Denim 45, “Pink Clouds and Lemonade”, backed by a cover of the Supremes hit, “Stop! In the Name of Love”.

Chosen Few Denim 45 Foolin' Around With MeAfter leaving Denim, The Chosen Few released a 45 on the Talun label “Maybe the Rain Will Fall” / “Deeper In” which was picked up by RCA. The band signed to RCA for an album deal in 1969. Their self-titled LP continues the pop sound of their later 45s, adding horns to the mix, though some of the band was disappointed in how it turned out.

The Chosen Few evolved into the Faith Band, who released five LPs in the 70’s. By this time Jack Hamilton had left and was replaced on bass by Mark Cawley, leaving John Cascella as the only member who had been with the original Chosen Few in ’67. John Cascella went on to join John Mellencamp’s group until he passed away in 1992. Carl Storie is still active in music with his own group.

Thanks to Ann Likes and Gary for sending in the great photos of the group.

“Don’t Say It” written by Steve Nephew b/w “Melissa” by Jack Hamilton
The original entry I wrote has been corrected thanks to information from Jack and Cindy Hamilton and from comments below. Thanks to Jean-Pierre Coumans for the scans of “We Walk Together” and “Foolin’ Around with Me”. The Denim label also released the Jades “Come Back” / “Change My Ways”.

Updates: I am very sorry to report that Jack Hamilton passed away on September 26, 2021, after a brief illness. His obituary is online at Legacy.

Timothy Cox of 60’s Indiana Band Szene sent me this label scan of an early single from the Limit on Denim Records DS-1076, that predates the Chosen Few 45s. Did the group play live as The Limit, and are there any photos of this lineup?

Jack Hamilton (with polka dots), Rich Burman on guitar, John Cascella's legs and boots
Jack Hamilton (with polka dots), Rich Burman on guitar, John Cascella’s legs and boots
from left: Hadji, Jack, Rich and John
from left: Hadji, Jack, Rich and John
Rich Burman on guitar and Steve Nephew on drums
Rich Burman on guitar and Steve Nephew on drums
from left: Steve, Rich, John
from left: Steve, Rich, John
Carl singing, Steve Nephew on drums
Carl singing, Steve Nephew on drums
Carl and Steve
Carl and Steve
Rich Burman
Rich Burman
Steve, drummer of the Chosen Few
Steve
Carl, Rich and John
Carl, Rich and John
from left: Steve Nephew on drums, Rich Burman guitar, Hadji
from left: Steve Nephew on drums, Rich Burman guitar, Hadji
Steve 'Hadji' Baba (aka Captain Schoolbus)
Steve ‘Hadji’ Baba (aka Captain Schoolbus)
1969 promo photos (thanks to J. for this scan and the LP cover below)
1969 promo photos (thanks to J. for this scan and the LP cover below)

Mark Markham and His Jesters “I Don’t Need You”

Mark Markham in the Miami Herald, October 2, 1966

Mark Markham and His Jesters came from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and only released one single, “I Don’t Need You” / “Marlboro Country”.

Both songs were originals by Markham. The 45 was first released in September, 1966 on the local Power label, then picked up by RCA Victor.

An announcement of his RCA contract in the Fort Lauderdale News on September 30, 1966, listed the the Jesters lineup at the time:

Bob Ungerer – rhythm guitar
Burns Weick – organ
Mike Sherlock – bass
Bill Fariello – drums

Other notices gives different spelling for a couple names: Bob Weick or Burns Wieck, and Billy Farnello

The Power single lists the group as Mark Markham and The Jesters, but there were a couple other Jesters playing the area at the time, which may have been why they were sometimes billed as Mark Markham and His Jesters.

I’ve found a couple photos of Mark Markham alone, but none that feature the Jesters.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

The Galaxies IV

The Galaxies IV
The Galaxies IV, photo courtesy of Alan Fowler

The Galaxies IV formed at Catholic school in Trenton in 1962. Members were T.J. Tindall on guitar, Chris Holmes on guitar and vocals, Charles Brodowicz keyboards, Len Demski bass, and Alan Fowler on drums. T.J. Tindall left the band early on when his family moved to Pennington; he eventually joined the Edison Electric Band.

The first Galaxies IV 45 was “Let Me Hear You Say Yeah” / “Till Then You’ll Cry” recorded at Regent Sound studios in New York City and released on the Veep label in June of 1965.

That summer of 1965 the Galaxies IV played forty shows during at the second session of the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, including eight shows at the New Jersey Pavilion.

The band received a notice in Billboard for winning the First Annual Rock ‘n Roll Olympics on Labor Day 1965 at St. John Terrell’s Music Circus in Lambertville, NJ. It was a huge battle-of-the-bands, judged by Phil Spector and Cousin Brucie Morrow. The notice lists Charles Brody instead of Brodowicz, and says Billboard had mistakenly reported the Rubytones were the winners in a previous issue.


The Galaxies IV at the 1965 Rock ‘n Roll Olympics
l to r: Chris Holmes, Alan Fowler, Charles Brodowicz and Len Demski

The Billboard notice also mentions a 45 already released on the Mohawk label, “Don’t Let Love Look Back” but I haven’t been able to confirm this exists.

The win led to features in the NY Times and Reader’s Digest (anyone have scans of those notices?).

In August of ’66 they did release a 45 on the Mohawk label, “Piccadilly Circus” / “I’m Goin’ For Myself” in August of 1966.

“Piccadilly Circus” is a version of the Rolling Stones’ “2120 South Michigan Blvd”, often covered by 60’s bands and usually retitled (other versions include Sly Stone’s “Buttermilk” and Thee Midniters “Whittier Blvd”).

“Piccadilly Circus” was picked up by RCA for national release with the Chris Holmes’ wild original “Don’t Lose Your Mind” on the flip in June of 1967.

Adding a lead vocalist, Steve Shier they changed their name to Galaxie V and then Alexander Rabbit, releasing an lp on Mercury. Afterwards, Chris Holmes took the stage name Duke Williams and led his own band throughout the ’70s.

Alan Fowler of the Galaxies IV
Alan Fowler of the Galaxies IV

Photo from the Cathedral High School 1969 YearbookInformation and photo sources included Trenton Makes Music (site now defunct) and Randy Now’s Sept. 5, 2007 show which features Duke Williams and T.J. Tindall. Thank you to Alan Fowler and Esther for additional photos for this article.


The Galaxies IV in 1969, from left: Charlie Brodowicz, Steve Shier, Alan Fowler and Chris Holmes (Len Demski out of frame)

The Galaxies IV
The Galaxies IV, from left: Charles Brody, Len Demski, Alan Fowler, & Chris Holmes aka Duke Williams
The Galaxies IV photo
L-R Alan Fowler, Len Demski, Charles Brody & Chris Holmes
GalaxieIs IV at the Allentown Fairgrounds with Gene Kaye of WAEB
GalaxieIs IV at the Allentown Fairgrounds with Gene Kaye of WAEB
L-R Chris Holmes, Len Demski, Gene Kaye, Alan Fowler & Charles Brody