The Torques of Farmington, New Mexico

The Torques of Farmington, New Mexico
The Torques of Farmington, New Mexico
from left: Skip Batchelor, Bob Amerman, Dwight Babcock and Fender Tucker
Fender Tucker of the Torques
Fender Tucker

Fender Tucker wrote this history of his band the Torques from Farmington, New Mexico. The Torques lasted from 1963 to 1965 and had one single on the Delta label: a cover of the Chartbusters’ “She’s the One” along with an original by Skip Batchelor, “She’s With Him”.

The germ that infected the gentle souls who later became Torques appeared in 1963 when Fender Tucker, the sole constant in the group, got together with Dwight Babcock and Geno Jaramillo for some guitar picking at his house. They soon saw that they needed a drummer real bad, and heard that Louis Pope, a classmate of Dwight’s, had just bought some drums. Fender, Geno and Dwight all played guitar but Dwight kept on the big strings and simulated a bass.

Geno Jaramillo of the Torques
Geno Jaramillo
Dwight Babcock of the Torques
Dwight Babcock
Louis Pope of the Torques
Louis Pope

The four got together at Louis’ house for a few practices and it was time to play a dance at the Farmington high school cafeteria. But they needed a name. At the time there was a cute commercial on TV with an animated character pushing Burgomeister beer, and so they called themselves The Burgie Boys. The dance went over fairly well and another was slated.

But they tired of their name and Fender came up with The Napa 4. He had read a book about California surfing and apparently he thought “Napa” was a word that meant “cool” or “hip”. Later on, in the 70s, Fender married a woman who had lived in the northern California area and when she heard the band was called The Napa 4 she guffawed. To people of the Sacramento area, Napa was the town where the insane asylum was and anyone saying they were from Napa was certifiably nuts.

The Napa 4 only lasted for one dance and then Fender came up with “The Torques”. He noticed a weird wrench that Dwight was using on a rebuilt engine in his back yard and asked what it was called. “A torque wrench.” He liked the sound of it so much he painted a logo on a sweatshirt with cut-off sleeves. It was an armed and legged torque wrench (a long tool with a circular dial at the “head” end) riding a surf board with “Fender des Torques” underneath. Apparently he was taking French in high school that year. The other guys in the band made similar sweatshirts with their names “des Torques” on them and that was the genesis of The Torques.

Andy Sandoval of the Torques
Andy Sandoval

Graduation in 1963 caused Dwight and Louis to leave the band and their places on drums and bass were taken by Andy Sandoval and Bill Smart. They were pretty good on their instruments, but mainly they had cars. Finding a way to get to dances was always a problem for Fender and Geno.

Bill Smart of the Torques
Bill Smart
Harry Batchelor of the Torques
Harry “Skip” Batchelor

Everybody got better in 1964 and then the band split up and Fender joined the biggest band in town, Cecil Irvin’s The Invaders. That lasted for one dance at McGee Park that signaled the end of dances put on by bands. After expenses the band barely broke even.

Barry Dunkeson of the Torques
Barry Dunkeson

But then late in 1964 Dwight Babcock came back from college and he and Fender teamed up with a guitar player from Bloomfield named Harry Batchelor. They added Barry Dunkeson, a guitar player from another group, but he played drums plenty well enough for The Torques.

The four Torques played at dances in Farmington and then booked several weekend jobs at a 3.2 beer bar in Durango CO, Poor Boys. The unexpurgated story of what happened to Fender and Harry at the Central Hotel on Main Street in Durango on a chilly autumn night in 1964 is told in Fender’s 2007 book, The Compleat Calhoon.

But Barry left to go to college (where he joined the Beckett Quintet, a band featured here on Garage Hangover) and The Torques picked up young Bobby Amerman, an excellent drummer a year behind Fender at Farmington High School.

The Torques Delta 45 She's with HimIt was the spring of 1965 that The Torques, Fender, Dwight, Harry and Bob, drove down to Albuquerque and recorded a song that Harry had written, “She’s With Him”. The B-side was a song by The Chartbusters called “She’s the One”. They were recorded at John Wagner’s studio and it was released as Delta R-2078A and R-2078-B.

300 copies were pressed and bought by the guys and a few were sold at Torques dances in Farmington. Most were given away and the rest were lost. In 2010 a collector from southern California found a copy and sent me transfers of the songs and scans of the labels.

The Torques – She’s With Him (music and lyrics by Skip Batchelor)
The Torques – She’s the One (written by J. Dubas of The Chartbusters)

The Torques Delta 45 She's the OneSoon after they had made the record, they got a call from Albuquerque from their fan club. What? They didn’t even know they had a fan club. They were told that if they could come back to Albuquerque The Torques would be featured on “Johnny’s Record Party” a TV show that was the Albuquerque equivalent of American Bandstand. So the four Torques drove to Albuquerque and were interviewed on air by a local DJ in a studio above the Kimo Theater on Central Avenue. The DJ kept trying to build up The Torques as a huge phenomenon but Fender kept bringing him back to earth with reality. Listeners said they could hear Harry cackling in the background.

Then they went to the TV studio to tape “Johnny’s Record Party”. They were to do their hit song, “She’s with Him” and the original idea was to mike the live-playing band. But something (probably the band) didn’t sound right and at the last minute the director said, “Just lipsync the song.” The only problem was that there were no monitors and the band couldn’t hear anything. The director pointed at the band and apparently the band started at the right moment, but did they play the same tempo and arrangement as the record? Hell no. They fumbled around mindlessly until they were told to stop “playing”.

The next day at Harry’s grandparents’ house The Torques watched themselves on TV. It was as bad as they feared. If there is a tape of the show, it should be a shoe-in for America’s Stupidest Videos, but I’m afraid that there probably is no record of the debacle left. Go figure; the Torques’ only TV appearance is lost forever.

Jon Kottke of the Torques
Jon Kottke

The Torques had a chance to be heard by a lot of different people when they played the Farmington Senior Prom in early 1965. It was sort of an experiment to have a local band play for the prom so we had to learn a bunch of old fogey songs like “Stranger on the Shore” that of course we couldn’t sing, so we hired a sophomore named Jon Kottke to play sax. It was probably the best The Torques ever sounded.

The end of the summer of 1965 came and that was the end of The Torques. Dwight and Fender left for college in Las Cruces. Harry became “Skip” and went into the Navy. Bob Amerman went to school in Albuquerque but within a year he developed a rare form of cancer and died. He was 19 years old.

All of the members of The Torques were in it for the fun. It was a blast playing dances at the Boys’ Club, the high school, the parks and private dances, and we knew it was a lark. Unlike John, Paul, George and Ringo, who wanted to be the absolute best in the world, The Torques just wanted to have fun, drink some beers, play some songs, and most importantly, to NOT have to wake up for a day job. They were eminently successful at it until the draft (or the alternative to the draft, college) split up the group permanently.

Here are some songs recorded by The Torques at the Farmington Boys’ Club on an October night in 1965. They recorded it by placing a microphone in front of a crummy speaker that was attached to the PA. Surely the sound out in front of the band was better than these recordings? Surely? I hope so.

The Torques 2011
Skip and Fender of the Torques, 2011

Do You Wanna Dance
Let The Good Times Roll
Maybelline
She’s With Him (written by Skip)
Mojo Workout
No Reply
The Last Time
She’s the One
Things We Said Today
Reelin An Rockin
Satisfaction

18 thoughts on “The Torques of Farmington, New Mexico”

  1. Had a blast with each iteration of the Torques. College at UCLA, work on rigs in the summer, finally enlisted in the Marines after Phil Serrano was killed in and Hank Blair came back from the Nam, slid away from Farmington after I came home.

    It’s still home though, made 20th and 40th reunions, hope they do that gig for the 50th. Don’t know who survived this walk of Life, Fender, but pray you are well and happy. This little jaunt down memory lane has me smiling like I snuck a pint of Everclear into the punch at the FHS prom.

  2. What a surprise to find this site and to read about our band and my buddies. I clicked on the links to hear our songs, and those sounds brought back memories. I’m still in the Farmington area, though I’ve moved over the state line into Colorado. I don’t play music anymore, but I do play co-ed softball. –Dwight Babcock

  3. My best friend from Farmington class of ’63 sent me this, and what a delight to read. The Burgie Boys laid a foundation that would help pay my way through college at Memphis State University. I was blessed to play for
    several of the best bands in the Memphis area during the height of “The Memphis Sound”. We played a clubs, colleges, etc. in many states. We were the “warm up band” for groups like Sam the Sham , and even got to record at Ardent Studio. All of this came with a price though. That loud playing left me deaf in one ear, and I can’t hear too well out of the other.

    I still have 5 drum sets, but my favorite is that set of green Ludwigs that backed the Burgie Boys. I’ve styed in touch with Dwight, but would sure love to hear from Geno and Fender.

    God bless you all! Louis Pope

    1. if you can go back would you change Torques to twisted guts. Hi guys. This is Andy, Now know as Orlando Sandoval. I am an attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have been at the same location for 32 years. I practice personal injury litigation, and living the mothea fuckin dream . Praise Jesus.

    2. Louis Pope, a name for all seasons. I so rarely check this site and just now noticed yours and Dwight’s comments. Do you have recordings? I pretty much only listen to music made and recorded by people I know personally and I’d love to add some Memphis Sound to my songlist. email me when you can. I’m slow with FB.

      1. Tommy Tucker, I just read Totah Six Pack and went back to this site and saw where you had written me in April. What a good surprise.

        Your stretched the truth about the treasures under the insulation in the attic of the Allen Theater. I still remember the night you, Jimmy Patterson and myself climbed that ladder and shouted “Bonanza”. I called Jimmy Sunday and told him about it. We had some wonderful times, didn’t we?

        Where are you? I’d love to give you a shout sometime. I’ll try and find some of those tapes, and if I do I’ll send them to you.

        God Bless You, and let me hear from you. Louis

  4. So, Orlando (if that’s your real name), the pigeon has come to roost in Albuquerque. Did you know that my musical pseudonym was Knees Calhoon, named after the lawyer for Kingfish on the old Amos & Andy show, Algonquin J. Calhoon? And that you always reminded me of the actor who played Calhoon, even though you were still years away from being a law-abiding lawyer when I knew you. Please google and email me when you can. I enjoy the pics and stories in FaceBook but I don’t communicate well in it.

  5. Will somebody tell me who the solo vocalist is for each song from the links above?
    Do You Wanna Dance
    Let The Good Times Roll
    Maybelline
    She’s With Him (written by Skip)
    Mojo Workout
    No Reply
    The Last Time
    She’s the One
    Things We Said Today
    Reelin An Rockin
    Satisfaction

    1. The singer is Skip Batchelor of Albuquerque NM who still performs as a soloist at venues in the north NM area. He remembers all of the old songs and will occasionally treat you to a Mojo Workout.

    2. At the time we knew him as Harry Batchelor, but he was really Skip Batchelor and he still sings in Albuquerque NM.

  6. Hey we were your competing band. I sang ” Somethin else” with the torques @ Woodys Safety service, when the crowd was not into it.. They suddenly came to life.. Tommy Tucker, and I Played Elvis, and Ral Donner, thats where he got “Shes with Him”. You guys are great!!! so long ago, so great!!

    1. I still remember the Ral Donner song, “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got (Until You Lose It)” and how well you did it. I don’t remember Skip being inspired by Ral for “She’s With Him”, though. It’s great to hear from you. I should check out this excellent site more often.

  7. I still remember the Ral Donner song, “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got (Until You Lose It)” and how well you did it. I don’t remember Skip being inspired by Ral for “She’s With Him”, though. It’s great to hear from you. I should check out this excellent site more often.

  8. This is great reading comments from those that have a memory of us.(However vague). As Fender said, I have been fulfilling my lifelong dream of doing a solo for the last 10 or 12 years and it has turned out way better than I could ever have imagined. I’m curious as to just who Sally is?? If you have 5 minutes to waste, here is the link to my demo video made several years ago. You’ll notice my choice of songs hasn’t progressed much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7eZMMkdIJw

  9. Hey you guys!! Just discovered this site – too cool!!
    All my buds from high school!! What memories!!
    Used to love to hang out at your house, Fender, when the band practiced. It was so crashing loud, that the din made me really sleepy – weird, huh?! Maybe it was something other than the “din” – do recall that the air was rather hazy, you know?! Speaking of such (weirdness), for some reason, one memory in particular is of when you were working on “Norwegian Wood.”
    Don-no-why-beatsme!! Love you guys!! Linda “Wright”

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