The Second Half were long rumored to have come from southwestern Minnesota, Jasper to be exact – if a rumor could be exact. Actually they were from Des Moines, Iowa, as I learned from Steve Acheson, who put me in touch with his brother David, the bassist for the group.
The IGL label was based out of Milford, Iowa, about two hundred miles from Des Moines. “Forever In Your World” is a really fine uptempo song, written by the band’s vocalist Deni Bell, published by Okoboji Music – Okoboji being a lakeside town in Iowa near Milford.
The flip, “Knight in Armour” is a contrived kind of pop, but the band gives a good performance. It was written by Wes McGlothlen, who turns out to be the group’s friend and manager.
Steve Acheson first gave me some info on the band:
The band was based out of Des Moines, Iowa, not Minnesota. My brother played bass in the band, and they often used to practice in our living room. I’m not sure exactly how long they were together, but it was long enough to get pretty good, and play some local venues. I am several years younger than my brother, and was extremely interested in playing drums at the time, and used to watch them practice for hours.
Their drummer had a set of Ludwig drums, with that classic “60s” color, sort of like the drums Ringo used during the Beatles’ early years. Occasionally, he’d let me play them. (Thanks Bob.) I recently talked with my brother, and between the two of us we remembered some of the details below:
The lineup at the time the record was made was:
Bob Spooner – Drums
David Acheson – Bass Guitar
Deni Bell – Lead Vocals
Dean Arnold – Rhythm Guitar
Fred Shaffer – Lead Guitar
Wes McGlothlen – ManagerWhen they made the record, I remember there was a lot of “buzz” around our house. They loaded all their equipment into a trailer, and hitched it behind our Mom’s ’63 Ford Falcon, and towed it off to somewhere, which I now find was IGL studios in Milford.
My recollection of the “B” side of the record is that it wasn’t that good a song. Certainly not on a par with Forever In Your World.
When I played this for my brother, he, at first, didn’t recognize it, having not heard it for 40 years. But then, the memories all started coming back.
After the band broke up, and after my brother graduated high school, he joined the Army, and ultimately ended up in Denver, CO. He doesn’t play an instrument any more. The funny thing is, I remember more about the band, and the song than my brother. Even before I found the song again, I knew the opening bass line, the basic melody and the first verse and chorus. For some reason, that stuck with me for all these years. We have no idea of the whereabouts of any of the other members.
David Acheson added:
I don’t remember many specifics about the band. Don’t even remember how I got involved with it. I do remember that I played a red Guliettin bass guitar.
Bob Spooner (drummer) and Dean Arnold (rhythm and keyboards) were out of school. Bob was married. Deni and Fred went to North High School, Fred Scheafer (lead) was a junior, Deni Bell (lead vocals) was a senior, I believe. I went to Roosevelt HS, I was a senior. Wes McGlothlen (manager) was out of school.
Our name came about because Wes and Deni wanted us to be “the second half” of the music revolution that The Beatles began. My mother was very involved … we practiced a lot in the living room of our home, and she drove us to some of our gigs. Two that I remember the best were at Fort Des Moines Roller Rink for a battle of the bands, and at a frat house on the University of Iowa campus for their homecoming. I remember many students at U of I telling us they thought we were the best band on campus that weekend. We also received a very enthusiastic reception at the battle of the bands.
Wes, and especially Deni and Dean, wrote a lot of songs, many of which were incorporated into our playlists. For the most part, the original music was very well received.
I don’t remember much about the studio work, except that the day was very long. The weeks prior to the recording date were spent in constant rehearsal on “Forever in Your World”.
I am not inclined toward music. It was hard work for me to play any instrument, so I didn’t continue my “career” after I graduated (1967). Shortly after I graduated I joined the Army and left everything with my mother. While I was in Germany I learned that she traded or sold it for a sewing machine. I was glad she did as she got much more use out of that than I ever would have with the guitar. It was quite an experience for me at the time. I wish my mother were alive …. she remembered everything, and I am sure she could have provided us with details that have been long forgotten by everyone else. I remembered a few things just talking with my brother the other night … things that I hadn’t thought of in years. When I left Des Moines I didn’t stay in touch with anyone.
According to copyright records I researched, Deni Bell was from Des Moines, IA (as noted for both sides/songs on the second Half 45).
I also knew of this band. I was playing in another band, first the Plastic Mushroom then the Wild Cherries, but i was good friends with Deni Bell. He went to North high and I went to East, maybe with the internet i should try to find him and talk about old times. The Second Half was a very good sounding band live. With all the local bands at the time…the Echos V, Captain Beefheart and the Shipwrecks, Pendletons, us, etc, they were among the top but sadly short-lived. This is great site and i’ll be anxious to see it grow. Dennis
Hey Chas, I’m happy to find your website, and also happy to tell you I was the ‘Fred Shaffer, not Schaffer’ who played lead guitar for the Second Half. I’m really stoked to see this recording preserved in this way, and available to share to the world…….it was a great record, a great band, and so cool for the times! I’m still rockin’ in a hot band from California now…….but, I’d like to share my thoughts and memories of that time (not so long ago) when we thought we were ‘it’, and we were going to the top! Like many/most of the kids back then, we believed we had the sound, the ‘whatever it was’ to take things to the next level. The Second Half was a band of cool guys who had lots of talent, lots of enthusiasm, and lots of belief in ourselves! It turns out that it didn’t last all that long………but, what we had for a while……….oh yeah, it still brings back cool memories of a time when things in the music business were ‘growing’ and ‘the sky was the limit’! Anyway, this recording is still cool today…….just listen……….and I get the old vibe when I listen to it…………rock on!
Hello Fred,
I’ll correct your name in the article. I’d like to hear more about your time with the Second Half and other bands. Contact me at chas_kit@hotmail.com
Thanks!
Hey Chas, I just checked your website for the first time since I sent you my input……..cool! I know there’s a lot of info about this band, my band, from the sixties and I’d like to share it with you….and the world. It’s been a long time ago and I think I should try and hook you up with the other band members who are still around. I was, and am a ‘lead guitar’ player and I don’t and didn’t pay attention to how cool it was back then, so I’m afraid I’ll miss some cool info. But, if I can get some of the guys to contact you, maybe there’ll be some of that cool info still in the minds of my old bandmates………I’ll try! Thanks, and rock on…
Well, greetings readers, this is Teja Bell aka Deni Bell in the Second Half daze. I will post again when i have some time to write.
Very happy to hear from Dave “the Rave” and everyone else…
more soon…
Teja
hey Deni Bell, i have been looking for you! remember me, we were friends back then then we lost track. write me so we can catch up.
Dennis Dyer
gostallion@aol.com
Steve Acheson here, Dave’s brother. I hadn’t been on this site for quite a while, and I’m really glad to see that some of the old band members have found it. I thought you might be interested to know that last year, I formed a “Classic Rock” band, and we ended up with the name “The Second Half”. How it came about was, we were stuck trying to find a suitable name, and one day, I sat down with a dictionary and just started writing down words that sounded good to me. It just so happened that I turned to the letter “S”. As I was writing, sometimes certain words would trigger others, and so on. One of those that popped into my head was “The Second Half”. When I floated it past the other band members, they all thought it was great, and fit us to a Tee. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that three of the four of us are over 50; that whole “second half of life” thing. We’ve been playing out for several months, and having a ball. You can check it out at http://www.TheSecondHalfBand.com. I don’t know if the original band had a logo or not, but we came up with an oft-used oval as ours. It’s fairly distinctive, I guess. My wife thinks it’s too “ordinary”, but we like it. I’ve been trying to persuade the band to do “Forever In Your World”, but so far not a lot of interest. I’ll keep working on ’em.
All for now,
Steve
Fred: I’m glad to see you found this. I’ve been looking for this record off and on for years. What’s your current band? I played drums for some years, then gave ’em up for guitar. I formed a band last year, and the name we decided on is “The Second Half”. (See my post to this site.)
Steve
Deni: When you get some time, I’d really appreciate you posting some rememberences on those days. I can remember watching you guys practice for hours on end in our living room.
Steve
Came back to this site just to remember all over again the good times in high school with the band. I love music, and have always been very sad that I didn’t have the talent to sustain a career in it. (I’m still a little upsed with my brother for taking the talent I was supposed to get…he had more than enough.) 🙂 He is very good, and I always feel some envy when I hear him play. Reading the comments from Fred and Deni, and others who knew the band, fills my mind and heart with nostalgia. I communicated recently with Hal Moore, who was a DJ at KIOA in Des Moines back in the ’60’s when we were playing. (Hal has been a DJ in Denver for a long time, and is now at KRZN 950 Oldies.) He didn’t remember the band specifically, but we reminisced about the good times back then, and the Fort Des Moines Roller Rink “battles” that he MC’d.
Interesting stuff….hey Dave…in 65, after Second Half…you, Charlie Konkol and I began an idea for a band. I can’t remember how far it got but it may be you on bass on a multitude of rehearsal reels I made at the time. All I really remembrr is the three of us at I guess, your house, munching turkey from a platter on the kitchen table.
Does anyone have a photo of this group? Without a doubt this is one of my very favorite records of the mid-60s!
I knew Wes pretty well from the North High art department. I, too am a ’67 North High graduate. I found this site in the process of seeing if I could find where Wes might be now. I do have a copy of the record, and it is one of the few 45’s I’ve held on to all these years. I’m 60 now!
(a “Second Half” fan, Kathy Hummer Lowe)
That is SO cool! I’ve written to some friends of ours who we grew up with in Des Moines asking for some pictures. I don’t know if they have any or not, but they’re the most likely candidates.
Steve
I am David Acheson’s sister, Gail. I’m a year younger than David and went to Roosevelt High School until Mom moved to Indianapolis, which is where I spent my senior year. I remember some of the guys very well – Deni, Bob, Wes. I watched them practice and went along when they played locally. I have some mementos from the band in my scrapbook that bring back happy memories. I was really happy to find this site and read the comments. By the way, I was listening to Forever in Your World at my desk and my boss really liked it!