The Ashbury Dream

The Ashbury Dream band
The Ashbury Dream, from left: Mike Jorgenson, Lynn Pierce, Johnney Ammons, Jerry Messmore, Roger Howe and Lynn Mills

Here’s a clipping featuring the Ashbury Dream from the Grand Prairie Daily News, April 29, 1968. Lynn Pierce’s name was misspelled in the photo caption of the article.

Who knows if the other musicians’ names are spelled correctly. I don’t believe this band ever released any records, please correct me if I’m wrong.

Grand Prairie is just east of Arlington, between Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas

Other groups to play the YMCA: The Basement Pipes and Tracks, the Accents and the Chessmen.

The Krisis

The Krisis photoThe Krisis were a mystery when Jean-Pierre Coumans sent in a photo of them, adding “the back of the photo has a stamp of a Dutch promotion bureau with tel. number + a foreign tel. number with at the end handwritten: UK. So an English band but from where? Wonder if these guys released anything on vinyl?”

In early 2014 I heard from Tony Norton, who wrote:

The band were from Harlesden in London and were gigging in 1968.

From left to right they are:

Tony Baggett – bass
Stuart Sanders – guitar
Roger Grey – drums – owned a recording studio in Wales where Oasis made their first album
Baz Knight – vocals – currently a club singer in Teneriffe

You have an early pic as Stuart was only in the band for a short time and was replaced by Colin Bass (guitar) who later joined Camel.

Their roadie also worked for The Honeycombs at the same time.

The Krisis, 1967, from left: Roger Grey, Stuart Sanders, Baz Knight and Tony Baggett
The Krisis, 1967, from left: Roger Grey, Stuart Sanders, Baz Knight and Tony Baggett

Update 2018: Tony Baggett sent in the color photos, flyer and Melody Maker ad, and gave a history of the group (see his comment below).

Two early gigs, December 1969

The Krisis, 1969 Melody Maker Yearbook
The Krisis, 1969 Melody Maker Yearbook

The Era of the Beat Groups in Bombay 1962-1968

Photo courtesy Ardeshir B. Damania of the Gnats

Ardeshir Damania writes about his band the Gnats and the history of the Bombay beat scene in the 1960s:

Although my awareness of western pop music started with the receipt in the mail of a 45 rpm record of Elvis’s “Jailhouse Rock” in December 1957, the era of the Beat Groups in India did not start until the arrival of the British groups on the pop charts like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Who, etc.

The first Beatle’s single “Love Me Do” hit the charts in late 1962, and nothing was the same anymore. 45 rpm discs of the song were released in India on the Parlophone label and sold like hot cakes. Soon hits by other groups from the same genre followed such as “My Generation” by The Who, and “Route 66” by The Rolling Stones. Soon my friends at school were having their hair styled like the Beatles!

The Indian government had imposed a strict non-import policy and it was very very difficult to purchase electric guitars, amplifiers, or any other items needed to start a rock group. Beatlemania was considered “foreign” affliction of an imperialistic power that should be shunned. Nevertheless, I ordered an electric guitar to be handmade by a shop at Gol Mandir Dhobi Talao. The Catholic guitar-maker and violin repairer was always boozed up and took weeks and weeks to make the guitar. Finally, one day when it was ready to be picked up my friend and I picked it up on his father’s BSA motorcycle. All the way from Dhobi Talao to Dadar-Matunga where we stayed people were pointing at us since we had the guitar in hand and looked like the Beatles. The scene in Bombay was ready to explode.

Soon there were rock groups, such as The Trojans, The Brief Encounter, The Jets, The Savages, etc., were mushrooming everywhere. The Jets were playing in 1963 at the Greens Hotel next to the old Taj Mahal Hotel. The Greens was pulled down a few years later and in it place stand the new Taj. Beat concerts were organized on regular basis at the newly-opened Shanmukhnanda Hall at King’s Circle in Matunga since it had a very large capacity and had the best acoustics for that time. Groups like The Trojans, The Savages, and others played covers of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Fortunes. They all used locally-made instruments and fabricated amps and speaker modules that just did not sound right and did no justice to the Indian talent.

It was around 1965 that time that we began to think about a name for our group and were leaning towards “The Gnats”. The name was derived from a jet fighter of the same name that served the Indian Air Force well in the India-Pakistan war of 1965 and in addition we were remaining true to color by naming our band after an insect as The Beatles had done! The Gnats were constituted one fine day on the entrance steps on Captain House on Vincent Road in the Dadar-Matunga area of Bombay comprising of Adil Battiwala on drums and keyboard, myself Ardeshir Damania on lead guitar, Keki Patel bass guitar, and Walter Noronha on rhythm guitar. I had got rid of my black and white badly-made guitar and purchased a new one from a shop, Sardarflute, opposite the Chitra Cinema at Dadar. The Sikh instrument maker at least had some knowledge about electric guitar-making and had supplied Hawaiian guitars to such Indian maestroes such as Van Shipley, Hazara Singh and his son Charanjit Singh. Adil Battiwalla used to borrow the Premier drum set from Earuch Sethna, who used to play the drums in his mother’s professional Nelly & Her Band. Keki Patel had a locally made bass guitar which was passable, and Walter Noronha played rhythm guitar with an electronic pick-up fitted over an normal acoustic 6-string guitar. We used the call Walter “Mr Confidence”. This was because whenever we faltered while playing on stage for one reason or the other, Walter would at once cover up the mistakes with his excellent and flawless guitar work.

There was an electronics expert at Kabutarkhana close to BB Dadar Station called Edwin D’souza. Edwin used to make amplifiers using original Mullard circuits. The amps, all valve type, were great but did not have the special effects of imported ones like reverb, tremolo, and echo. Someone had brought a simple echo unit for The Gnats that had a piece of regular open reel ¼” tape that went round and round. The tape had to be replaced after every gig. Apart from that our instruments and electrification lacked sophistication and held us back. This was the case with almost all beat groups until the arrival of The Reaction.

Ken Gnanakan was an accomplished musician and used to be a part of “The Trojans”. The band known at that time as “the Indian Beatles” kept Bangalore, Calcutta and Bombay swinging in the early sixties and included Biddu a prominent pop musician to later left for a solo career. Ken Gnanakan is widely connected all over the world with academic and social programs.

In 1966 at yet another beat concert at the Shanmukhnanda Hall a new group The Reaction (who had been formed abroad comprising of kids of some Indian professionals and diplomats posted in Europe) arrived on the scene. I was there. A couple of local groups opened the concert. And then The Reaction came on. They had set up their instruments behind the curtains and when the curtains finally opened the audience, yours truly included, let out a gasp! They played a cover of the 1965 Fortunes’ hit “You’ve Got Your Troubles” and Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time”. The Reaction had arrived from Germany with the latest guitars by Vox and Fender and had all the lovely and much craved for professional equipment, especially the Vox amplifiers and speakers with reverb, echo and all the special effects which the local groups, incl. ours The Gnats, did not possess. The effect was nothing short of stunning. With the striking of the first chord the crowd went in to raptures as The Reaction brought the house down!

Thanks to the beat concerts, rock groups were in demand all over Bombay. The colleges in Bombay had their annual day around February or March just before the end of the scholastic year and rock groups were invited to play for a few hundred rupees or only conveyance, or not even that sometimes. The Gnats played the the Annual Day of the Khalsa College at Matunga in 1965 and in 1966 at the Annual Day of the Nair Dental College at Bombay Central. The JB Vatcha School invited The Gnats to play at their fund-raiser for a new gym building and we obliged. That is when an excellent photo of the group was taken by scout-master Jal Khan. This photo has since been lost and is untraceable.

We had made one 7″ Stereo tape recording of the group at my home in Matunga (Five Gardens) area in Bombay using my AKAI M-6 tape-recorder at 7.5 ips speed using two AKAI microphones for brilliant stereo separation. The tape was temporarily left with one of our group’s lead guitarist called Bannerjee. Bannerjee died soon after wards of some rare disease compounded by misdiagnosis at the hospital. He was hardly 18 years old. I did go on a condolence visit to his house but did not have the heart to ask his parents for the tape. Now I wish I had. After 45 years I am almost certain the tape reel is long gone.

Later on, after 1968, I decided to take my studies a little more seriously and sold my guitar to a college friend, Samson from Shivaji Park and stopped playing. Walter soon migrated to England, and Adil after playing at one last gig with The Reaction on keyboard (he played the organ on the cover of The Doors’ “Light My Fire”), left for Iran to play the piano at 5 star hotels and The Gnats disbanded. Most of the boys of our generation grew up and had to earn a living which was not possible in India through playing in rock bands. However, some managed to make a success of it, like Ananda Shankar, and Biddu of the Biddu Orchestra. Biddu separated himself from The Trojans and for some time played the night club scene in Bombay as “The Lone Trojan” before making his way to England in 1973, earning his passage by playing as he went. He had some successes in England writing music scores and even produced an album that was on the charts in 1974-75.

The Jets, who will reunite for a one-night-only concert on March 7 this year, ruled the jam session scene in Mumbai in the mid-1960s. Ralph Pais, bassist of The Savages, another popular band from the era, vouched that among beat groups (as the rock bands of the time were called) the Jets were “at the top of the pile”. Said Pais, “There wasn’t any fiddling and farting and noises happening, which happened even 15-20 years after The Jets wound up. One, two, three, four – bang! They were on. They sounded very tight.”

The Jets with their lead guitarist Michael “Mike” Kirby, rhythm guitarist Malcolm “Muzzie” Mazumdar, bassist Suresh “Bhoj” Bhojwani, three teenagers who met while at Campion school at Cooperage, and drummer Napoleon “Nap” Braganza, a St Mary’s alumni, were pioneers of sorts. They weren’t just one of the first Mumbai bands to play the songs of The Shadows and The Ventures, they were also among the earliest Indian groups to have a look as hip as their sound. Old pictures and newspaper clips show the members clad in matching polo necks (all the rage then with Benlon material), suits and skinny ties.

On the other hand, The Savages, the Jets’ alter ego, had Hemant Rao on lead guitar, Bashir Sheikh on drums, Prabhakar Muzumdar on the electric organ, the evergreen Ralph Pais on bass guitar, and Russel Pereira playinmg the rhythm guitar as well as doing the vocals. I guess Russel played the same role as Walter Noronha did for our “Gnats”, that of an anchor when minor mistakes were made and quickly got the performance under control. I am attaching a photo of the Polydor stereo album by the The Savages that I possess. The album is titled “Live” but the applause sounds the same after every number which makes me think it was a canned applause and the cover numbers like “Proud Mary”, “Venus”, “Soul Finger” etc., were never recorded “Live”. For The Jets, making music was never about making money or becoming famous, but simply about having fun. “It was more the excitement of our idols of the time,” Bhojwani said. Their signature tune was ‘The Savage’ [originally by The Shadows] with which they opened every concert.” The Savages also later began to play some original compositions by Remo Fernandes who arrived from Goa to join the group. They merged with The Brief Encounter and in 1974 formed The Savage Encounter.

Some of the last beat group gigs that I personally witnessed were in the early 1970s around 1970-1971 when the disco “Blow Up” at the old Taj was the rage in Bombay. My good friend Burjis Khursetji used to play the organ as well as his Framus electric guitar (similar to the one used by Trini Lopez) with a couple of go-go girls dancing on the side of the stage. Burjis was killed tragically by a stone that was hurled from the Police Chawls that hit his skull as he was driving in his Fiat on Worli Sea Face during the police riots.

Today we are all in our mid or late 60s. Our hairs are gray if not white, and our gait is much slower than when we were prancing around the stages with electric guitars and straps and banging out pulsating songs on our poorly made local instruments.

Ardeshir (“Adi”) B. Damania
University of California, Davis

Websites to see:

http://sierra.mmic.net/malcolm.htm

http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/music/music_details.asp?code=93&source=1

http://www.campion-calls.com/Pages/page-0jets-memory.htm

http://indianbandshub.blogspot.com/2010/09/savages.html

Regarding the photo at top of article:

Neville Stanley’s shop Stanley & Sons was on Arthur Bunder Road, Bombay. The same road where there was a disco called The Slipped Disc where the band Led Zeppelin once played. Neville Stanley had a very big collection of rock albums from the 1960s and 70s and he used to help us by making tape recording of them. I have several tapes made by Neville Stanley with me here in California. It is a pleasure to hear them on my open reel tape decks. Neville died around 1986 from diabetes. His sister tried to run his video and record library but without success. – Ardeshir Damania

The Local Traffic “Time Gone to Waste” on Black Light

The Local Trafffic, circa 1967, from left: Mick Hassell, Buddy Bullard, Stormy Folse, Steve Morant and Mike Cottage
The Local Traffic, circa 1967
From left: Mick Hassell, Buddy Bullard, Stormy Folse, Steve Morant and Mike Cottage

 Mickey Hassell singing with the Local Traffic, 1967
Mickey Hassell singing with the Local Traffic, 1967
The Local Traffic’s incredible single on the Black Light label has remained almost unknown until recently and never reissued or compiled since its original release in June, 1968. “Time Gone to Waste” is a wild original sure to take its rightful place at the top of ’60s psychedelia. I love how it ends with that roll on the tom-toms. The B-side is “Second Century”, slow and stately but also excellent. Two copies of the 45 attained huge sums at auction in 2009 and 2010; there’s no doubting the rarity or musical quality of this 45.

Myles Hassell, then known as Mickey Hassell, sent in the photos and memorabilia seen here and wrote this history about the group:

In the later part of 1965, The Local Traffic came into being in the living room of Mickey Hassell’s house on Citrus Road in River Ridge; a sleepy little suburb located about 7 miles west of New Orleans, in between Harahan and Little Farms. The members of the band included Mickey Hassell (lead vocals and guitar), Stormy Folse (guitar, organ, vocals, and saxophone), Mike Cottage (bass guitar and vocals), Steve Morant (lead guitar and vocals), and Buddy Bullard (drums). The band’s manager, Skip Robinson, also played tambourine during live performances.

Our band existed outside the mainstream of the traditional music genres one associates with New Orleans (jazz, R&B, funk, etc.). Instead, we were strongly influenced by the British Invasion bands and the psychedelic music scene. If it was far-out, we played it.

When we began playing music together, we were all in high school (ranging in age from 14-16). From the start, we did not have an easy go of it. Our musical instruments and sound system were second tier: a hodgepodge gathered from pawnshops, family members, and wages earned by working after school. We had to make do with what we had – pushing our instruments and equipment to the limit when we performed. Because we were all underage, many of the local music venues such as bars, nightclubs, and other places where liquor was served were off limits to us; and other doors were slammed in our faces because we were not members of the local union of musicians. Furthermore, nobody knew us; we didn’t even have a booking agent. But we were young, and nothing was going to stop us. Through the efforts of the band’s members and word of mouth, we started to find gigs at local CYO Dances in Harahan, Little Farms, Metairie, and Kenner, along with some frat parties and block parties—anywhere we could find an audience for our music. We were beginning to build a reputation for being a band of versatile musicians that worked up a sweat and put on a good show every time we performed.

Many of the bands in New Orleans frequented Tippet’s Music store in Orleans Parish. Being kids from the suburbs, however, The Local Traffic shopped at Werlein’s Music at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie, at that time an open-air facility. It was there that we met Andy Gallien, who was working in Werlein’s music department. Sometime during late 1966 to early 1967, Andy and Mike (our bass player) negotiated a way for us to lease some first-rate equipment—Fender and Gretsch guitars, Ludwig drums and Zildjian cymbals, Fender Dual-Showman and Fender Twin amplifiers, Farfisa keyboards, Shure microphones, a solid sound system, and all the electronics needed to make things hum. This equipment leveled the playing field for The Local Traffic, thus enabling us to stand toe-to-toe with well-known bands from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and the Gulf South.

Local Traffic Black Light 45 Time Gone to WasteFrom 1967 on, The Local Traffic developed a reputation as a hard-driving force in the local music scene. This led to better-paying gigs at psychedelic teen clubs, such as The Purple Pickle in Slidell and The Hullabaloo Club in Metairie, along with high school dances and private parties. During this time, Bill Strong, a producer and promoter in the music business, approached us at one of our gigs, saying that he liked our music. Ultimately, we signed a recording contract with his company, Black Light Productions. At that time, we were still a cover band, and while we had dabbled in songwriting, we had neither practiced nor performed any original music. Therefore, we had some work to do for our upcoming recording session at the now legendary Cosimo Matassa’s studio on Camp Street in New Orleans.

Mickey wrote the chord progression, words, and melody for “Time Gone to Waste,” which was to be the A-side for our 45-rpm record. During this time, he was living in an efficiency apartment in the French Quarter, scratching out a living playing music, working as a roadie for a couple of bands from the area, and working at the PDQ Car Wash on Metairie Road. As the lyrics below reveal, the song’s imagery came from his mind and soul, his apartment, and life on the streets outside:

Before the flashing dawn, I put my new face on
And I take the time to pull out my mind and then
I can see once more the same mind I had before
In my single window pane with a crystal picture frame

Love lights the night before, it makes me think of you once more
And it leaves me senseless with a time relentless
I pick my eyes up off the floor, I throw them out the open door
And I laugh out crying instead of lying, I’ve got no use for lying

I sing out loudly mine, inside the flashing sign
It’s a neon stillness like a creeping illness
I see the carpets crawl up and down the patterned wall
And they leave me a taste of the time gone to waste

Buddy’s driving drumbeat and Mike’s punching bass line created a rhythm section with the power of a locomotive roaring at full throttle. The guitar work of Stormy and Steve slashed, soared, and intertwined with the rhythm section. Mickey’s vocalization was defiant, yet laden with emotion. As recorded, “Time Gone to Waste” was a kick-ass song—combining poetry with rock-and-roll and psychedelics, and capturing the energy, creativity, and musicianship of The Local Traffic.

Mike created an elegant bass line, then Mickey created the chords, lyrics, and melody for a song titled, “Second Century,” which became the B-side for our 45-rpm record. The song was about a woman who kept others at a distance via mind-games and who tried in vain to ignore the passing of time and her loneliness. The song’s chord progression was tempered by Buddy’s skillful drum work and accentuated by Stormy’s sensitive touch on the electric organ. Steve’s guitar solo was adept, and his harmonic coda ushered the song to a climactic tonal flourish. Mickey’s vocalization was melancholy and the lyrics were poignant:

Second century woman, Second century child
Talk with your mask and not your mind
Singing songs stolen out of time

I feel the thunder, of the senseless words
Open to those who sing your song
Not trying to but aging along

I’ve been playing your lovely games
And I’m tired of feeling just the same
I’m cracked just like a broken dream
That stopped for a while just to scream

Second century woman, Second century child
You can remain with yourself
You can remain with yourself in falling

Second century woman, with a hand of brass
Reaching out to turn to gold
In a world that makes you grow so old
You’ve gone and you’ve left it
How hard to forget where you’re at

Local Traffic Black Light 45 Second CenturyA limited number of 45-rpm discs were pressed on the Black Light label (the label is florescent and glows if you hold it under a black light), and “Time Gone to Waste” was introduced to the New Orleans market in 1968. The song got some airtime on local radio stations WNOE and WTIX, both during the day and on the underground broadcasts at night. Through local record stores, we sold some 45s to our fans, and the radio airtime helped us land some good gigs in the area. During this time, Mickey was becoming prolific as a writer of songs and lyrics, so we laid some more tracks at Cosimo’s recording studio; also teaming up with another local songwriter. None of the tracks made it outside of the four walls of the studio.

In early 1969, The Local Traffic played its last gig at a country club (now gone) near the current site of the Greek Orthodox Church on Bayou St. John, just off Robert E. Lee Boulevard in the Lakeview section of Orleans Parish. After our work was done, we sat on the bank of the bayou, smoking, drinking, and saying our goodbyes. Perhaps it was the strain of balancing divergent interests in music; maybe we were frustrated by the outcome of our efforts in the recording studio; perhaps we were exhausted from busting our chops in the music business in the Crescent City; or maybe it was just time to move on. Whatever the reason may have been, we parted company that night and went our separate ways.

Q. It’s amazing you were able to come up with a song as strong as “Time Gone to Waste” considering the band didn’t do originals in their live shows yet. Did you ever play that song live?

Thank you for your compliment about “Time Gone to Waste.” It was one of the first songs I had ever written. After it was released in New Orleans, we played “Time Gone to Waste” and “Second Century” whenever we performed.

Q. Were there other groups on the local scene that your band was either friends with or saw as competition?

We competed for jobs with bands from out of town, such as The Basement Wall and the Greek Fountains. There was plenty of local competition from groups such as The Palace Guards, Yesterday’s Children, The Clinging Vines, The Gunga Dyns, The Souls of the Slain, The Better Half Dozen, The Glory Rhodes, and Leaves of Grass and more. When I first set foot on the campus of the University of New Orleans, it was like “old home week,” because a lot of the local musicians were going to college there. We had all heard of each other, and got a chance to get to know each other, at that time. That’s where I met and became friends with Rickey Moore, drummer from The Better Half. I also got to know Frank Bua (drummer w/The Palace Guards and later with The Radiators), Camile Baudoin (later with the Radiators), Richard Morant (lead guitar with Yesterday’s Children; his brother, Steve, played lead guitar in the Local Traffic), Quint Davis (tambourine with Yesterday’s Children; started the Jazz Fest in NOLA). During this time, I did roadie work with The Palace Guards and Yesterday’s Children (when the Local Traffic was not working), so I knew the members of those groups pretty well.

Q. Were you in groups before or after Local Traffic?

Before the Local Traffic, I did not play music with anyone else, practicing guitar and singing by myself. After the Local Traffic, I was active as an “outsider” musician in New Orleans, making some studio recordings of songs I had written and trying to form some bands. Much of this activity was not noteworthy, but there are some things of substance. . . . In the late 60s – early 70s, I did some more recording work with Stormy Folse and Bill Strong at Cosimo’s, Butch Elliot (son of Ken Elliot aka Jack the Cat on the radio in NOLA) at his personal studio, and another studio, can’t remember the name, on Tulane Avenue (during these sessions, Rickey Moore, former drummer with the Zoofs and The Better Half was on drums). I co-wrote a few songs with some other musicians; I can only remember Eddie Volker (later with the Radiators). However, no records were released from these sessions.

At several gigs in the early 1970s, I sang lead in a band featuring Emile Guest (lead guitarist with Roger and the Gypsies), short-lived and I can’t recall the name of the group. I sang and played acoustic guitar at several local pubs, such as The Rear End in Lakeview. In 1973 – 1975, I sang lead and shared lead guitar duties with Stormy Folse (from the Local Traffic), in a cover band named Wet Leggs. From 1976 – 1978, I sang lead and played guitar in another cover band–Straight Whiskey–and Stormy played bass guitar. I hung up my rock-n-roll shoes in the later part of 1978, after earning an MA in English Literature and getting a job selling office machines. In 1987, I went back to college to earn an MBA, and taught in the English Department at the University of New Orleans. During that time, I picked up an acoustic guitar, writing several songs, singing and playing in private only for about six months. Since that time, I have not played music or written any songs.

Myles (Mickey) Hassell, April 2011

Thank you to Myles for the history and images, and also for kindly answering my questions.

Update, July 2012

Mike Cottage wrote to me:

I went on, moved to California in ’73 and was a founding member of Sneaker produced by Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. We had moderate success with a few hit songs, “More Than Just the Two of Us” and “Don’t Let Me In” (written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagan). You can view our web site for more songs and info: sneakersongs.com. Sneaker has a number of videos on you tube if you search for Sneaker the band or type the song title “More Than Just the Two of Us”. And of course most of Sneaker’s songs are available on itunes.

Update, March 2016

Myles Hassell (Mickey) passed away on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at the age of 66. Interviewing Myles for this article has been one of the highlights of my work on this website over the last 11 years.

Mike Cottage adds, “all of his band mates from the 60’s and the many friends he made through his journey will always be richer for having known him. Though he will always be with us, those who played music with Mickey will forever share in a special brotherhood and miss his creativity and brilliance. RIP Mickey. Thank you again for leading the way.”

At the Hullabaloo on Airline Highway, 1967 Note other shows by the Gaunga Dyns and the Leaves of Grass
At the Hullabaloo on Airline Highway, 1967
Note other shows by the Gaunga Dyns and the Leaves of Grass

The Sands “Open Your Eyes” on Capri


The Sands in the Houston Post, January 9, 1966

Andrew Brown suggested I cover the Sands, a Houston group who cut the legendary Seeds sound-alike “Open Your Eyes” on the Capri label in 1966.

A Houston Post article from January, 1966, shows the band at what must have been one of the oddest gigs ever, playing for patrons of the Look Plaza Barber Shop in the Spring Branch neighborhood on the west side of Houston.

Members were Tom Smith (drums and vocals), Kevin Pitts (bass), Eddie Everett (guitar), Charlie Snell (guitar) and Keith Church (vocals).

The article also lists the barbers: Herb Barnum, Montaugn Wise and shop manager Bill Cox.

The Sands recorded their only 45 at Huey Meaux’s Pasadena studio on October 11, 1966, produced by Joe Falcone. The A-side, “Can’t Find a Way” was written by Tom Smith. The band is known today for the flip, “Open Your Eyes”, a rewrite of “Pushin’ Too Hard” credited to Eddie Everett. The band gives a spirited performance, with off-the-wall fuzz lead, frantic organ, snappy drumming and snotty lead vocals.

For whatever reason, this is one of the rarest of Texas garage singles.

Eddie Everett wrote to me:

Those were the days, my first real band! One of the barbers in the shop (keyboard player) replaced the rhythm guitar, Kevin Pitts. Shortly after that we recorded our first 45 rpm that put us on the map!

We did concerts with Fever Tree, Moving Sidewalks, 13th Floor Elevators. Down the road, I moved to Florida and played with the Night Crawlers (Little Black Egg) for two years.

Thank you to Andrew Brown for the clippings and 45 scans.

Session log, October 11, 1966

Lee Tracy & the Tributes, circa 1963

Lee Tracy & the Tributes photo, circa 1963

Mick Pye sent in these great photos of of an unidentified band possibly from the coastal area south of London. Though nearly identical, there are small differences between the two. Mick tells me these are from glass negatives.

Any help with identifying these musicians would be appreciated. Mick also sent photos of Johnny Devlin and the Detours taken in 1962 or 1963, likely the same time period when these were taken.

Update, November 2012:

Luckily bassist John Garrett saw these photos and wrote to me with some information:

The band in the graveyard were Lee Tracy & The Tributes. Lineup: Lee Tracy (Graham Smithen) lead guitar; Martyn Pearse later to be replaced by Ray Flacke, rhythm guitar; Nick O’Brian; me, John Garrett on bass and Chris Hunt drums. The band members were from Arundel & Bognor.

The photo was taken in 1963. We played at most of the local venues: Top Hat, Mexican Hat, Rex Ballroom, The Green Topper, plus all the surrounding village halls. More information can be found in Mike Read’s book, The South Coast Beat Scene of the 1960′s.

Lee Tracy & the Tributes photo, circa 1963

Johnny Devlin and the Detours

Johnny Devlin & the Detours, 1962 or 1963, from left: Arthur Biggs, Bob Pettit, Bernie Smith, Johnny Devlin, Bryan Stevens, Mick Ketley, and Chuck Fryers
1962 or 1963, from left: Arthur Biggs, Bob Pettit, Bernie Smith, Johnny Devlin, Bryan Stevens, Mick Ketley, and Chuck Fryers

Mick Pye sent in these great photos of Johnny Devlin & the Detours, who later evolved into the Noblemen. Mick tells me these are from glass negatives, which I would think was an antiquated format for 1962 or 1963.

Notice retouching to remove the background on the promo shot, above.

Bryan Stevens wrote in a comment below with identifying info for the photos. He gives the lineup above as:

Arthur Biggs – rhythm guitar – Burns Black Bison 3 pick up 6 string guitar
Bob Pettit – alto/tenor/baritone sax
Bernie Smith – drums (replaced Roger Yardley)
Johny Devlin – vocals
Bryan Stevens – Burns Black Bison bass guitar
Mick Ketley – Vox Continental keyboard
Chuck Fryers – Lead guitar – Burns Black Bison 4 pick up 6 string guitar

Thank you to Bryan for identifying all the musicians and for sending in the poster below for their upcoming reunion show.

 1961 or 1962, clockwise from top left: Roger Yardley, Mick Ketley, Bob Pettit, Johnny Devlin, Bryan Stevens, Arthur Biggs and Chuck Fryers.
1961 or 1962, clockwise from top left: Roger Yardley, Mick Ketley, Bob Pettit, Johnny Devlin, Bryan Stevens, Arthur Biggs and Chuck Fryers.

Back to the 60’s – Revival
Featuring The Detours, Johnny Devlin, The Diamonds, Dave Hooper, The Southbeats, Roy Haines of the Fenmen, The Concords, Colin Madeley and Cosy.
Riverside, February 18, 2012
Johnny Devlin & the Detours, The Post, January 25, 1964
Johnny Devlin & the Detours, The Post, January 25, 1964, submitted by Nick Warburton

The Chargers

The Chargers: Ron Kinscherf, Steve Barone, Curt Dorey, Steve Nelsen and Tony Morgan
From left: Ron Kinscherf, Steve Barone, Curt Dorey, Steve Nelsen and Tony Morgan
Photo from pnwbands.com.

The Chargers came from the central Washington state town of Wenatchee, like Billy and the Kids. Steve Barone was 16 years old when he played lead guitar on the Chargers single on Julian Records, “Taxi” / “I’m So Alone”, released in October 1966. Steve plays some great lead on Steve Nelsen’s original “Taxi” with its super-cool lyrics. The girl’s going to leave so he might as well just call her a taxi and get it over with. “I’m So Alone” is one of the better downer songs of the ’60s, with a neat sliding guitar riff towards the end of the break.

About a year after the single, they recorded three more songs in Spokane that have so far been unreleased. I’ve only heard short excerpts of each. “Need Your Love” sounds a lot like “Taxman” but has its own charms. “You Got a Hold” has a great distorted guitar opening. “In the News” might be my favorite, with it’s heavy tom-tom opening, fine organ playing and interesting rhythm changes. All three of these deserve getting a proper release on CD or vinyl, I hope it happens soon.

Steve Barone wrote to me in detail about the band:

I am the lead guitarist and vocalist for the Chargers. I was born in 1951, and my earliest memories are of watching my dad play with his bands, and by five years old was playing his instrument. In junior high, I had a little group called The Hustlers. One guitar, one drummer, and five singers! We had the chicks screaming when we played Beatles songs at assemblies and dances … how naive they were.

Then I met Ron Kinscherf, Curt Dorey, Tony Morgan and Steve Nelsen. They had a band The Undertakers with Larry Youngblood (passed on) singing, and they were very good; the Hustlers didn’t have a bass man. We did a “battle of the bands” … they even had a coffin to haul equipment in! I was so impressed with them, and they with me, that I quit the Hustlers.

Early lineup of the Chargers, March 1966 L-R, standing: Don Sandstrom, Larry Roller and Curt Dorey; kneeling Tony Morgan and Steve Barone
Early lineup of the Chargers, March 1966
L-R, standing: Don Sandstrom, Larry Roller and Curt Dorey; kneeling Tony Morgan and Steve Barone
Steve and Ron were part of the Undertakers but Tony, Larry, and Curt formed the three-piece Chargers, then I joined. Larry Roller was lead singer in the beginning but he liked ripping off stuff, like other people’s cars, so we axed him. There was also Don Sandstrom, who sang as well.

Don and Larry are both [in the talent show clipping]. That is because Don had just joined the group. He hadn’t been at the talent show but joined before the picture so there he is. Then Ron replaced Larry, then Steve Nelsen joined later on keys.

We actually let Don into the band because he was the only one with a driver’s license and would drive us all around in his mom’s Corvair … and usually with one or two of us in the trunk as that was a very small car! Especially on drive-in nights! One other friend, Phil Dorschak, had a ’58 Chevy with a tri-power 348 and a big trunk. We always gave him a few beers if he would help haul the equipment for us. I don’t know where he is and haven’t seen him since 1968.

Don quit after a couple years, leaving us a five-piece for the duration. Me on my 1963 Tiesco art-deco Japanese guitar and Silvertone twin-twelve amp, playing lead and singing, Ron on his red Lyle guitar and Paul McCartney vocal stylings, Steve Nelsen on the Farfisa keyboard, Curt Dorey on Fender Mustang bass, and Tony Morgan on drums. Toward the end of the band Tony quit, and was replaced by Jerry Riley on drums. He was the absolute best drummer ever.

We played all over, every high and junior high school dance we could handle, plus Yakima, Bridgeport, Spokane, all over except for the Seattle area. We weren’t ready for that yet.

Steve Nelsen and Ron Kinscherf lived on the East side. Me, Tony, Jerry and Curt lived on the West side. When we played at either high school, or junior high, we had fans in either case. The town didn’t matter much to us, but Billy & the Kids were all living with their folks in East Wenatchee so they had a “town loyalty”, as it were. Billy & the Kids didn’t go over that well at Wenatchee High … we ruled there, and played for nearly every dance from 1966-68. Especially after the record came out. But on the East side, Billy & the Kids had the edge. We always enjoyed the competitive nature of it, but were all brothers and respected each other a lot. I do give them credit, they took it a lot further than I ever did, and now Bill and Bob Burns have a group called “The Called”! Christian stuff of course.

The Chargers won a talent show in 1966, first prize being recording time at Julian records. We were excited, to say the least. We packed up the trailer and headed for Spokane one Friday afternoon. We went to some restaurant for dinner and cruised around town for a while, trailer proudly in tow. Nobody knew who we were then … but that was about to change. After settling in at a motel; the band in one room and the manager and his wife in another, we commenced to “hootenanny” and light farts all night long. After they shut the power off, we continued to sing and light farts in the dark!

In the morning, all fucked up from not sleeping, we headed to the other side of town, and pulled in to an unassuming, plain-looking building. Inside were many rooms and corridors, all full of amps, wires, speakers, etc. I was in heaven. We proceeded to lay down all the instruments at once, and got the songs down fast, albeit with a couple small mistakes that we left in just because. Then we went into a booth and did the vocals. All this recorded on reel-to-reel, very primitive even then.

When that hit the street, and went to #3 on the local survey the first week, we were gods. How overwhelming it is to hear your songs on the radio! We played at virtually all the big dances after the record came out.

The Chargers: Curt Dorey, Steve Nelsen and Tony Morgan; seated: Steve Barone and Ron Kinscherf
Standing, from left: Curt Dorey, Steve Nelsen and Tony Morgan; seated: Steve Barone and Ron Kinscherf
Photo courtesy Steve Barone

I have one old picture of the band in our suits, in a frame. We took many poses, in the house, in a tree, on another part of the roof, and gathered around our trailer that had the logo and a crazy horse on the sides. I don’t know where these photos ended up. It must have cost a lot; it was a professional photographer, and we took a LOT of shots.

Chargers Julian 45 TaxiQ. I notice Ron looks to be left handed and playing with a right-handed guitar turned upside down. Is he really left handed, or was this just for the photo?

Ron was intrigued with Hendrix but only for the photo was the guitar reversed unfortunately. That would have been something though! Sorta like I painted the “Vox” logo on my Silvertone/Tiesco guitar. Nobody ever knew but the band.

The story of “I’m So Alone” is a book in itself. I met Carl Hunt in 1963, at Pioneer Junior High. My neighbor, Jerry Highfill and I played guitars together a lot, and thus entered our first talent show playing a couple Ventures songs, and a tune called “Bulldog”. We caused pandemonium; nobody suspected I could really play and was actually “cool”. I looked like Fearless Fly; skinny, horn-rimmed glasses and clothes my mom picked out. But when Jerry and I won that first show, I suddenly had a lot more friends. Carl was way cool, smoking on the corner in his leather jacket, just being next to Carl made you cool.

He had one of those Silvertone guitars with the amp in the case. I never would have dreamed it, but Carl wanted to learn how to play, and all through junior high he was my body guard more or less, in exchange for guitar lessons. I spent the weekend at Carl’s often; his mom always fed us and let us smoke in his room, and occasionally we would smuggle in a few beers too. We had a few tunes down, and were joined by a drummer, Jerry Riley, in 1964. One night at Carl’s house, he said he had a new song, kind of a ballad. Then he started playing the two opening chords to “I’m So Alone” and started the plaintive vocal. I knew he was on to something, and before too long we sounded like the Everly Brothers on the chorus. But then I got asked to join the Chargers, formerly the Undertakers, and I spent a lot less time with Carl. Jerry joined the Chargers as well.

Chargers Julian 45 I'm So AloneWhen the Chargers decided to record our first single, we already had “Taxi” on our playlist. But we needed a “B” side. So I remembered Carl’s song. I played it, and everybody liked it right away … and we ended up recording it. I never gave Carl credit for it though, and always felt a little bad. I didn’t see him much so I never knew if he was upset about me claiming his song. I did refine the lyrics but the music is all Carl.

Around 1976 I spoke with a man who was a former detective, and he said Carl had committed suicide that summer. I had not seen him since 1968.

You can sure tell in “I’m So Alone” that there is a Farfisa screeching away (man I hated that sound). We did an outdoor gig and it got so hot it just freaked out. The notes would go up and down and it finally pooped clear out. We got it fixed and jammed on. Later with Double Image, Steve got a B-3.

Ron Kinscherf, Steve Nelsen and I were always coming up with ideas for songs. Some were ok, most sucked, a lot of them were rip-offs of the Beatles or the Wailers songs, and all were eventually forgotten but for the five recordings. I spent a lot of time at Ron’s house in those days, and we would jam for hours on end.

We released the record, and in early 1968 went back, older and wiser, doing “You Gotta Hold”, “News in General” and “I Need Your Love”. With the three tunes in the can, the band split up before it was pressed. Only the masters and copies remain. By some miracle, of course, as Ron ended up with the masters at first. His stepdad was the manager. He ended up with at least 300 copies of unsold records, and used them for skeet. The rest of us were quite pissed when we found out where all the records went, but it was too late. I do have a copy, one I gave to my mom, and she gave it back to me just before she died. So it is priceless to me now and never sees daylight.

The Chargers, Eagles Hall, 1967 poster
Eagles Hall, 1967 poster
One summer day, Ron and I went to a department store with a friend named Dale. He was, unbeknownst to us, a compulsive kleptomaniac. He would fill his trenchcoat with stuff and go unload it in the car while we were looking around the store. When we discovered how easy it was to rip stuff off, I tried to hork Jimi Hendrix’s first album and got caught by store security. After the cops came, and my folks came to get me from them, my guitar and amp were locked in a closet and I was forbidden to play music until I graduated the following year. This put an end to my membership in the band. They tried to carry on with replacements but it just didn’t work.

After I actually showed some remorse, worked hard at school and for the first time ever, made the honor roll, I got my guitar back. Then I hooked up with Dick and Jerry Riley, Bob Herron and Rick Troppman and formed “Subtle Difference”. We were cutting-edge, with a keyboard (Hammond B-3 and Leslie), two hot guitars and Jerry was one hell of a drummer. Rick was, and is, one of the best bassists I ever knew. We did Vanilla Fudge and all the hot psychedelic stuff.

Too bad it was the time of drugs, partying, Viet Nam and thoughts of marriage … all this combined to send all five of us in different directions. By 1969, the smoldering remains of the Chargers was officially put to rest.

Ron moved to Tacoma to play new wave, Tony and I joined the Army, Steve Nelsen joined “Double Image” with the Burns Brothers in Seattle, Curt Dorey went to work at Alcoa on the night shift. Jerry Riley overdosed on 96% pure heroin (from VietNam) in 1971. RIP old pal.

I moved to Tacoma in 1979, and played with Ron in “Kicker”, a three-guitar and keyboard band that specialized in AC/DC, Molly Hatchet, Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I also did time with Wakefield Manor and No Cheese Please … check them out on pnwbands.com. I left Tacoma in 1982 and never looked back.

Ron and I are the only ones still performing. I am in “Trio Deluxe + 1”, an oldies band ( the +1 is a sax player), “the Steamers” (check ’em out at lakeboys.com) and the church worship team. So I am heavily involved but in Wenatchee, also heavily poor. This town does not have a very supportive music scene, I have to spread it thin to stay working. But I will keep playin’ that rock and roll … until I die.

If there’s one thing I pray to never lose, it is my memory of those crazy times with that first “successful” band. This past October, on the occasion of Curt’s 60th birthday, we all got together, even some of our old “groupies” were there. I brought my Strat and Ron brought his bass and another guitar. We howled at the moon from 3pm until after midnight, and would not have stopped then except the neighbors complained. I still can’t believe we remembered all those old songs. But we are NOT going to get the band back together!

Steve T. Barone aka Bonehead

Thanks to Doug Shirk for his help in making this article possible.

The Chargers: Tony Morgan, Ron Kinscherf, Steve Nelsen, Steve Barone, and Curt Dorey
clockwise from left: Tony Morgan, Ron Kinscherf, Steve Nelsen, Steve Barone, and Curt Dorey (holding Ron’s guitar)
“My guitar is still sunburst … sort of. When I bought this ugly guitar, it had long cutaways which I took off with a hacksaw and made it a teardrop. The edges of the cuts still show raw wood in the pic. Then I painted it Krylon sea blue and hand-painted psychedelic stuff, along with boobs and snatches, all over it. I still have this guitar!”
Photo from the cover of Teenage Shutdown “I’m Down Today”

The Scorpio Tube

Dan Nielsén, who had conducted the interview with John Ford of the Index published here back in February, asked me to dig into the story of the Scorpio Tube, the group behind the incredible B-side “Yellow Listen”.

The lead guitar track dominates the sound with a piercing distortion and echo that breaks up with stroboscopic effect. You can hardly hear the piano in the background, though it provides much of the droning sound at the intro and becomes apparent towards the end as the lead guitar is mixed down.

I just recently heard the A-side, “White Birches” and it’s more polished than “Yellow Listen”, with a progressive sound that would have done fine on radio at the time. The instrumental break is excellent too.

As far as info goes, I know what the label tells me, that both songs were written by Conn. MacDonald.

H. Eugene MacDonald produced the record for Vita Records from Hollywood, CA, which is probably not the same Vita owned by Laurence Mead that released a good number of records in the 1950’s with a Pasadena address.

As for dating this, it may have been recorded as late as 1970.

Transfer of “Yellow Listen” taken from the expanded CDR version of Psychedelic Disaster Whirl. Thanks also to bosshoss for the scan of “White Birches”. Transfer of “White Birches” sent to me by Max Waller.

Jeweldine Taylor

Jeweldine Taylor TRC Records promotional photo

My name is Jeweldine Taylor. I wrote and recorded “Look Who’s Talking About Love”, backed by Jim Bogle and the Beaumen. Recorded at Clifford Harring Studio, Fort Worth, Texas, on the T.R.C. Label. On the flip side was a song I also wrote, “Your Choice”.

at Geneva Hall, with Dale McBride, Gaylon Christie and Roy Robinson

A few months later, I formed my own band, Jeweldine Taylor and the Rockets. On occasions I appeared with other bands as a female vocalist.I had two lead guitar players, Tommy Christian, who I lost when he took a job with Chuck Harding and his wife. I then hired Jim Walker who stayed as long as I had a band.

Bass players were Tony Fishers, Wallace Pelton, Johnny Eubanks, and Algie Roundtree. Drummers, James Jackson, Mike Stewart, Mickey Sharp, and David West. Two saxophone players, Danny Fisk and Paul Jones. Other musicians were sometimes employed on a temporary bases until a permanent member could be found.

In the spring of 1965 I met a young Army officer named Douglas B. Gremel. We were married on August 7, 1965. After about ten months, with all contracts fulfilled, I dissolved the band and quit professional music.

About three years later, I started writing and recording gospel music as Jewel Gremel. My last recording was in 1999. My song New Jerusalem, was recorded by the Belville Brothers in the late 1990s.

Sincerely,
Jewel Gremel

at the Imperial Club, featuring Earl Crosby 407 Dallas Highway
with the Rockets at the Flame Room, formerly the Tropical 1520 S. Loop Drive, Waco
with Link Davis, Big Mamou and Paul Wayne at the Terrace on Dallas Highway
In the Sahara Ballroom of the Sahara Club, 111 East Industrial Blvd.

All clippings courtesy Jewel Gremel

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