The Lamp of Childhood

Lamp of Childhood Dunhill PS, left to right: Fred Olson, Marty Tyron, James Hendricks and Mike Tani
Left to right: Fred Olson, Marty Tyron, James Hendricks and Mike Tani
Lamp of Childhood feature in Teenset
Feature in Teenset

The little known folk-rock group The Lamp of Childhood was the brainchild of singer/songwriter and guitarist James Hendricks (b. 10 February 1940, Atkinson, Nebraska), who organised the original band around June 1966 after working with The Big Three and The Mugwumps. Beside Hendricks, the group also boasted Portland, Oregon, born lead guitarist Fred Olson and singer/songwriter and Hawaiian born rhythm guitarist Mike Tani (aka Michael Takamastu), who were both relative newcomers to the scene. Indeed, it was the group’s drummer, Billy Mundi (b. 25 September 1942, San Francisco), who was by far the most seasoned member, having studied music at UCLA during the late 1950s and performed with a number of noteworthy groups prior to completing the band during the summer. His musical credentials included spells with future Byrd Skip Battin’s group and as a member of another intriguing folk-rock ensemble, Mastin & Brewer.

It was Hendricks’ connections, however, which led to a deal with Dunhill Records and the release of a handful of singles over the next year. Hendricks’ wife was none other that Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas, who were also represented by Dunhill, and the fact that she and singer Denny Doherty had recorded with Hendricks in The Mugwumps probably helped to clinch the deal.

To assist the band with its recordings, Dunhill linked The Lamp of Childhood up with English expatriate Andy Wickham and Israeli immigrant and classical pianist Gabriel Mekler, who oversaw the sessions for the group’s three singles and numerous unreleased recordings. “The story goes that when [Mekler] arrived in Los Angeles he finds his way to Dunhill Records and tells them he can produce a hit record,” says Jim “Harpo” Valley, who got to know the group while he was playing with Paul Revere and The Raiders. “He had never produced before and wasn’t that familiar with rock ‘n’ roll or pop music. They give him the opportunity with a new group called The Lamp of Childhood.”

Mekler’s relationship with the group was somewhat similar to that of Brian Wilson in The Beach Boys, joining The Lamp of Childhood in the studio but not participating in live work. Mekler’s piano playing was employed for several tracks and towards the end of the group’s life he also assisted with the song writing.

Little is known about the sessions that produced the band’s three obscure singles, but what can be gleaned is that Mundi stayed around long enough to appear on The Lamp of Childhood’s debut release, a low-key reading of Donovan’s “Season of The Witch” backed by Tani, Hendricks and Olson’s “You Can’t Blame Me”. It was an impressive start but the single’s failure to register on the charts that September probably played a part in Mundi’s decision to defect the following month to join Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention (and later Rhinoceros and numerous sessions).

The group carried on, working largely in the studio, and only picking up a drummer for the odd live performance. As Jim Valley suggests, the trio of Hendricks, Olson and Tani were often assisted in the studio by The Mamas and The Papas session crew, drummer Hal Blaine, pianist Larry Knechtel and bass player Joe Osborn. That at least is his recollections of one session, which he was asked to participate in playing acoustic guitar, alongside a string section.

“At one point during my year with The Raiders, I moved into an old mansion that used to belong to Greta Garbo. In the downstairs apartment lived Fred Olson [and] we became pals,” explains Valley, who was approached to join the band soon afterwards. “Gabriel and James asked me to record on one of the sessions. My time with The Raiders was becoming strained, my tunes weren’t being recorded and the group just wasn’t evolving as I felt they would or could.

“My song writing was changing due in part to my association with musicians like Gabriel and Jackson Browne and Pamela Polland, who was with a group called The Gentle Soul,” continues Valley. “So one night, Gabriel and James came over to the house very excited. They had decided that I should leave The Raiders and join The Lamp of Childhood. It felt like the right thing at the right time.”

As it was not everyone was happy about the decision to approach The Raiders’ lead guitarist. “The rest of the group wasn’t in on the decision and as it turned out Andy Wickham, the publicist from Dunhill didn’t agree with the move. He felt that Harpo from The Raiders was not the right move. So it never happened but it did show me I was ready to leave The Raiders,” says Valley.

Despite his fleeting relationship with the band, the guitarist has fond memories of the Lamp’s songs. “‘Misty Morning Eyes’ and ‘I Look For Your Smile In A Thousand Faces’ were the first recordings I heard from the group. Since 1967, I’ve never heard those songs again. I’d love to hear [them] again. Their voices were like angels and I was knocked out with their arrangements.”

Of the two songs listed, “Thousand Faces”, to give it its correct title, is a co-write between Mike Tani, James Hendricks and Gabriel Mekler. The author of the other title, however, is not known unless of course this is just a working title. The BMI, which represents, songwriters, composers and publishers, lists a number of songs written by the band’s members during this period but whether these were meant for The Lamp of Childhood and were recorded in the studio remains a mystery (and Hendricks cannot remember any titles).

To start with Mike Tani and James Hendricks co-wrote one song called “Low Down Woman” and also collaborated on another entitled “Blues for Django” with guitarist Eric Hord. The BMI lists a number of Mike Tani compositions with interesting titles like “Maybe Again”, “Prayer for Julian” and “Sad Sad Memories” but whether these songs were solo tracks, group recordings or meant for other artists is not clear.

The Lamp of Childhood Dunhill 45 First Time, Last Time

As it was, none of the above tracks turned up on the group’s second Dunhill single, released in March 1967. Gabriel Mekler penned the A-side – “First Time, Last Time” backed by Tani, Hendricks and Olson’s “Two O’Clock In The Morning”. Once again, however, the single failed to make the charts despite both being strong numbers and coming in an attractive picture sleeve. The single, incidentally, featured new member, bass player Marty Tryon from The Purple Gang who added a fourth voice to the mix.

Back in the studio, The Lamp of Childhood recorded one final track, and arguably their finest moment on disc, “No More Running Around”, a co-write by Mekler, Hendricks and Tani, which features some fantastic piano flourishes courtesy of Mekler. Coupled with a re-release of “Two O’Clock In The Morning” on the A-side, the single was issued later that summer by which point the band had undergone a major upheaval, resulting in James Hendricks’ departure for a solo career. Like the other singles, “No More Running Around” fell on deaf ears.

The Lamp of Childhood Dunhill 45 Two O'Clock MorningIn his place, Tani, Olson and Tryon recruited guitarist and singer John York (b. 3 August 1946, White Plains, New York), who had previously worked with The Bees, The Sir Douglas Quintet and The Gene Clark Group and would subsequently tour with The Mamas & The Papas and record with Johnny Rivers before joining The Byrds in late 1968 for two albums. “I joined The Lamp of Childhood after James Hendricks left,” explains York. “His girlfriend [sic] Cass Elliot wanted the band destroyed because she was mad at James and possibly because it might have been a threat to The Mamas & The Papas.”

The new line up did only one gig with a borrowed drummer at the Mount Tamalpais Festival in San Francisco in mid-June 1967. “I do remember vividly our gig at the 1967 Mount Tamalpais Music Festival,” recalled Tryon in an interview in Misty Lane issue 19. “We had to follow The Doors our first afternoon. The last song of their set was ‘Light My Fire’. We played as the people walked out. Our second afternoon, we followed The Fifth Dimension. Their last song was ‘Up Up and Away’ as skydivers with purple trails parachuted into the venue. We played as the people walked out. Talk about feeling invisible. We knew that feeling.”

According to John York, the plan was that the group would erase James Hendricks’ vocal parts on the unreleased songs and he would sing them. Apparently that was not enough for Cass and “Dunhill ‘froze’ the band for seven years.” James Hendricks, however, denies that there was any friction with Elliot and the group.

Whatever the case, the individual members went their separate ways, although Mike Tani and John York did reunite years later to work as a duo act for several years. Marty Tryon meanwhile hooked up with the remnants of John York’s former band, The Bees, now going by the name The WC Fields Electric String Band. After missing out on a chance to join Steppenwolf, he later did sessions for Simon Stokes. He currently works with the Smothers Brothers.

Olson, who moved into session work, appearing on Brewer & Shipley’s Weeds and Mike Bloomfield’s It’s Not Killing Me albums in 1969 and Southern Comfort’s eponymous debut in 1971, sadly died years later from a heroin overdose. Gabriel Mekler sadly is also no longer with us. After the band’s premature demise, he landed on his feet and found the success that he had missed with The Lamp of Childhood in his next project, the multi-million selling Steppenwolf.

As for James Hendricks – he attracted the patronage of singer Johnny Rivers, who expressed an interest in covering the singer/songwriter’s “Summer Rain”. Released as a single, it became a top 20 US smash in January 1968, and Rivers also recorded a number of Hendricks’ compositions for his new album, Rewind. Hendricks later recorded a solo album, produced by Johnny Rivers, with whom he maintained a close working relationship and he continues to record to this day.

In the months that followed The Lamp of Childhood’s demise, one final piece of work emerged on The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s album, Pure Dirt – the previously unreleased Tani, Hendricks and Olson collaboration, “You’re Gonna Get It In The End”. And apart from the inclusion of “No More Running Around” on the Dunhill Records’ sampler, The Penny Arcade, that’s all that’s been heard from a group that promised so much but never achieved its full potential.

Many thanks to James Hendricks, Jim Valley, Brian Hogg, Mike Paxman, John York, Marty Tryon.

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

 

14 thoughts on “The Lamp of Childhood”

  1. I’ve been waiting years for someone to get the story down about The Lamp Of Childhood. Thanks

  2. No More Running Around actually made Billboard’s Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart for 2 weeks in June of 1967…it peaked at #116…great LA record…

  3. Some bad news: John York reported that Mick Takamatsu from Lamp Of Childhood passed away on November 15th, 2009.

    1. We had a nice “going away” party for him at the end, shortly before he passed. I’m Fred Olson’s (later Fred Burton) son, and Mickey was sort of my honorary Uncle. Mickey was the blood uncle of my half-sister, Barri – Fred’s first child by way of Mickey’s sister, Trudi, whom he met through Mickey.

      I really appreciate all of you who have contributed to the information here. The greatest thing about the internet is the access to information, and having grown up for the most part without Fred, from time-to-time I turn to the internet to discover more about him.

      If any of you have more info about The Lamp of Childhood, I’d love to hear it. Of all of the bands that Fred was a part of, The Lamp is my favorite. I wish they would have seen more success, they had a great sound.

      Cheers,
      Chris Burton
      heyburton@yahoo.com

  4. Listen to…:
    Beacon Street Union – Blue Avenue
    The Premiers – Come On And Dream
    The Illusions – Wait Till The Summer
    AND THEN!
    The Lamp Of Childhood – First Time, Last Time

    THEN YOU’LL SEE THE WORLD WITH NEW EYES,… OF COURSE…

    Thank you.

    1. First time I saw her
      She stood alone and looked at me
      And I looked back at her

      I came beside her
      She would not give her name to me
      And never asked for mine

      She put her hand in mine
      Talked looked and kissed the time
      Till shadows of light began to shine

      I said come back again
      Let’s make tomorrow be the same
      And never end this game

      I held her close to me
      Not knowing what would come to be
      As if I couldn’t see

      She put her hand in mine
      Talked looked and kissed the time
      Till shadows of light began to shine

      First time I saw her
      She stood alone and looked at me
      And I looked back at her

      Last time I saw her
      She stood alone tears in her eyes
      And I was crying too
      And I was crying too
      And I was crying

  5. Hi my name is Katherine, and Fred Olsen was my brother.

    Our mom had him when she was I believe 18, and 24 years later she and my dad adopted me in 1965.

    I have very vague memories of Fred when I was a young child, I remember a time when Fred and his then wife Susie came to visit, when we were living in Milwaukie, Oregon, and I’m pretty sure I remember their son Noel, known now as Chris was just a baby…I don’t remember much more than that as again I was very young.

    I always knew he was my brother, but he was always somewhat of a mystery to me as our mom always talked about him in hushed tones. I do remember overhearing phone calls over the years and talk of sending him money.

    Finally when I was about 13 he came to live with us when we were living in Aurora, Oregon.

    My dad gave him a job at our tire store, and that was pretty much what his life consisted of…he worked and lived with us, except for a short time when he worked as a cook at our local truck stop, but he was still living with us.

    The memories I have of him are nothing but good.. he was quiet and could be moody, but he was good to me and I have good memories of chopping wood with him out in the barn, him getting me the Beatles White Album for Christmas one year, and going to see a Cheech and Chong movie…(he told mom we were going to see something else
    ..lol…)

    I also remember him buying beer for me and my boyfriend when I was 14 and hiding it out in the Filbert orchard for us to pick up when we left on our date. My boyfriend was 16 and had a truck.

    Even during those few years he was with us prior to his death when I was 16, his life was still a mystery…I remember one evening he was beginning to tell me about when he played in a band, but mom shut him up and I never heard anymore about any of it.

    I had a very vague idea that he had a drinking problem…I remember when he was working for a short time as a cook at our local truck stop that mom got a call from his boss saying that he was passed out in his car in the parking lot, and another time that mom got a phone call at night from the local police in Aurora saying that Fred had been pulled over for drunk driving.

    Another memory of him that just came to my mind is that whenever I walked through the house in my pink flannel pj’s he would hum the Pink Panther song…lol…

    When our mom and my dad divorced, we, mom, Fred and I move into Canby, Oregon…about that time is when I really began to see Fred’s drinking problem for what it was , he would come home drunk and it caused a lot of conflict, at this time, Fred also began walking with a very pronounced limp, and it ended up that he had some kind of degenerative hip issue and there was talk of him getting a replacement of some kind.

    It was around this time that Fred moved out of our house where he lived with mom and I and got a job at the then Kopper Kitchen in Wilsonville, Oregon and he moved into a small mobile home with a roommate.

    The relationship between him and mom had deteriorated quite badly.

    I remember one day when I was 16, she and I went to visit him at his place and he and mom getting into a terrible argument, with mom telling me “come on let’s go”…I looked at Fred and he looked at me and said “come on sis, don’t go”…but I followed mom on out the door…

    That was the last time I ever saw my brother alive…a couple weeks after that I came home one evening with my friends, only to have mom take me into the bathroom and tell me that Fred was dead. His roommate had found him dead in his room in the mobile home they shared.

    I find it interesting that a part of the info about Fred here says he died of a heroine overdose as what mom told me was that he drank himself to death and his room was littered with booze bottles and that he had cirrhosis of the liver.

    I will never forget the day I went with my boyfriend to see him at the funeral home…He looked like he was sleeping and he was wearing his cream colored cable knit sweater with a maroon and navy stripe…I felt numb because I didn’t know how to process all the feelings.

    I remember the day of his funeral at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. He was buried there because he had served in the US Navy prior to his brief music career.

    Mom was an absolute wreck and again, I was just numb.

    That day was over 40 years ago, and to this day my brothers life is still in many ways a mystery to me…

    I know mom was young when she had him, I know he joined the Navy at 16, I know he had a brief music career, I know he had a drug and alcohol problem, I know he came to live with us for a brief time and that I really enjoyed having him around inspite of the secrecy and his alcoholism…he was good to me.

    Every few years I pop onto the internet to see if anyone has any info on him.

    At one time as a teenager I had his Southern Comfort album and one time seeing a newspaper clipping of him and a band that mom had packed away in a chest in the attic, but again she was very secretive about him.

    I can tell everyone this about Fred…he was exceptionally talented…I remember one day when we were still living in Aurora he showed me a drawing he did back in high-school when he attended Benson High School…it was a drawing of a very futuristic and technical looking van, very detailed and very well done…it retrospect I have often recollected that it was much like the minivans we have now.

    1. Catherine, thank you for sharing your memories here of your Brother, Fred! I plan on searching out his recordings, and I have one record with him by Gale Garnett and the Gentle Reign- Audience With The King Of Wands (1968). I believe he played guitar on the record, and is pictured on the cover. He also wrote a few songs for the 2nd and last album “Sausalito Heliport”, but I understand the band had reformed by that time. I would love to communicate with you or anyone else about his time with the Gentle Reign Band. Best wishes to you all! scokeley67@msn.com.

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