The Inner Thoughts, with Mike Burgess standing on roof
The Inner Thoughts came from Clearwater, Florida, west of Tampa. There’s not a lot of info about them available, but the Inner Thoughts had one of the best and earliest releases on the Paris Tower label, “Smokestack Lightning” b/w a band original, “1,000 Miles (Cheating on Me)”, released in March, 1967.
Paris Tower included a postcard with some copies of the single, featuring the cool photo of the band with this great description on the other side:
Shaaa-Zam!!! THE INNER THOUGHTS are ready to capture your city with their first Paris Tower release, which is a far out, fuzz-toned, revamped arrangement of “Smokestack Lightning.”
Rumbling into high gear; this Clearwater, Florida group has made a name for itself among the cool set on Florida’s West Coast.
Give a close listen to the flip side, “1,000 Miles (Cheating on Me).” This is a surprisingly original number with a wild “MOD” mood featuring tonal transitions indescribable in print. THE INNER THOUGHTS will be around for a long time!!!
Members of the Inner Thoughts were:
Bob Baskin – vocals Ray Carpenter – lead guitar Mark Burgess – bass Sonny (surname?) – guitar Jeff Covert – drums
Mark Burgess was formerly the lead guitarist for J. R. and the Newtrons, a Dunedin group that didn’t record but whose members included David Muse, later of Firefall; John Roedel, who joined Those Five; Bill Harrill; Buddy Waterman; and Rick Roberts of the Flying Burrito Brothers.
Publishing for “1,000 Miles (Cheating on Me)” was through Redrah Music, BMI. The Inner Thoughts recorded at H&H Productions in Tampa, the pressing through RCA, U4KM-2558.
Can anyone confirm this is Mike Ogilvie and the Blues Uv Purple?
Mike Ogilvie and the Blues of Purple released this one single “Miss Dove” / “Story Book Plays” on the Sandal Wood label in 1969. Tippy Smith was the vocalist and wrote both songs.
“Miss Dove” has buzzing guitar over a very English sounding track and vocal. The flip is gentler with the piano more prominent than the guitars.
Although the label has an address at 100 Ardmore Ave, on Staten Island, NY, I’ve also read the band was from Jacksonville, Florida. Some copies have a sticker changing the artist name to Blues Uv Purple, vocal Tippy Smith. Confusingly, a CD compilation listed the band as the Powers Uv Purple, I’m not sure where they got that name.
The only other member of the group I know of besides Mike Ogilvie and Tippy Smith is Patrick Ogilvie who played organ. The photo at top is supposed to be the band but I need confirmation of that. Thank you to Ken Friedman for sending it in.
This seems to be the only release on the Sandal Wood Records label. Sandalwood Music BMI published the songs and the pressing was done by Sound of Nashville, SoN 63051.
Charles Fuller owned Boss Records in Tampa, Florida, along with other labels like CFP, Fuller and Tigertown. John Brummage did much of the production work for all of these, at least some of the time at H&H Productions studio. Fuller Music BMI or Fulprod Music Publishing Co. ASCAP published the original songs.
Boss only lasted for a couple years, 1966 and 1967.
Me & the Other Guys included Frank “Dutch” Walton, Billy Aerts, Chuck Doughtery, Kent LaVoie, and Leon Massey, and had an earlier single on Hit Cat Records “Skinnie Minnie” / “Crazy” (J. Wilson, D. Walton, Redrah Music BMI).
I haven’t identified 001 or 005 yet. Any help with this discography would be appreciated.
BOS-001 – ? BOS-002 – Rovin’ Flames – “I’m Afraid To Go Home” / “I Can’t” (Feb. ’66) BOS-003 – Ravens – “Reaching For The Sun” / “Things We Said Today” BOS-004 – Berkley Five – “You’re Gonna Cry” (M. Newman, Yubash Music BMI) / “In the Midnight Hour” BOS-005 – ? BOS-006 – Trojans – “The Kids Are Allright” / “Leave Me Be” (Dec. ’66) BOS-007 – Souldiers – “Would You Kiss Me” / “Lemon Sun” (Jan. ’67) BOS-008 – Journey Men – “She’s Sorry” / “Short And Sweet” (both by McMillan) FulProd Music ASCAP BOS-009 – Me And The Other Guys – “Runaround Girl” (C. Dougherty, D. Walton) / “Everybody Knew But Me” (J. Wilson, D. Walton) BOS-0095 – Purple Underground – “On Broadway” / “Rain Come Down” BOS-010 – Purple Underground – “Count Back” / “Soon” (Aug. ’67)
“The Kids Are Allright” / “Leave Me Be” by the Trojans is another of the lesser-known singles on Tampa’s Boss label. High school kids from the Harry B. Plant and Jesuit high schools, members were:
Mike Regar – lead vocals & keyboard David Lasswell – lead guitar & vocals Tom Saussy – rhythm guitar & vocals James Spoto – bass & vocals John Trujillo – drums
Released on Boss 006 in December 1966, the band do an excellent job with their harmony singing on the Who’s “The Kids Are Allright” (sic) and the Zombies’ “Leave Me Be”. I know bands in my high school never sounded this competent.
It was their only single. Mike Regar eventually joined a longer-lived Tampa band, Amanda Jones.
The Ravens came from Tampa, Florida. They two singles a couple years apart with different band lineups. The first single is on Charles Fuller’s Boss label, the original and gentle “Reaching for the Sun” b/w a slamming instrumental version of “Things We Said Today” on Boss BOS 003 in 1966.
According to Brian Egan on the Tampa Bay Garage Bands website (originally published in Fuzz, Acid & Flowers I believe), the first line-up of the Ravens consisted of Mark Maconi on lead vocals, Richard “Rick” Vincent Simpson on lead guitar and vocals, Richard “Thor” Simpson on rhythm guitar and vocals, Brian Egan on bass and vocals and Paul Purcell on drums and vocals.
By 1966 the two Rick Simpsons had left the band. Al Schweikert joined on lead guitar – at 21 he was four years old than the rest of the band and became their leader. John Hallenstein came in on organ and the band started playing bigger gigs. This was the lineup that Charles Fuller saw at the Spot in Tampa and brought in to cut a single. “Reaching for the Sun” had song writing credits to Albert Schweikert and Bob Orrick, an early manager and subbing bassist with the group. Brian Egan credits Richard Vincent Simpson as the original writer of “Reaching for the Sun”, however Schweikert at least would prove himself to be a fine song-writer in the near future.
Soon after the Boss single, the band dropped Brian Egan and replaced him with Ken Spivey. Chris Krawczyn replaced Hallenstein on keyboards, and later Beau Fisher replaced Spivey on bass. The band split up around 1968 and Schweikert reformed the group, bringing in Kent Pearson on bass. Mark Maconi and Paul Purcell were the only original members to last the full time with the band. Their second manager was major Tampa area promoter A.J. Perry
The lineup of Marconi, Purcell, Schweikert and Pearson recorded “Calamity Jane” / “Now She’s Gone” as the Raven on Rust 5123 in late 1968.
Albert Schweikert and Karl Lamp (Karl Leopold Lamp, Jr.) wrote “Calamity Jane” for Roznique Music, BMI. Schweikert and Lamp had scored a success (artistic anyway) in 1967 when they co-wrote “As Time’s Gone” for the Tropics, a classic of ’60s garage.
The Gernhard Productions credit on the Rust label refers to Phil Gernhard, who co-wrote “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” and brought the Royal Guardsmen to Laurie Records (Rust Records’ parent label). Gernhard surpassed himself on “Calamity Jane”, blending bullet ricochets, morse code beeping, horns, fuzz guitar, electric sitar, flute and melodica sounds and cowbell into the backing track. The single attracted no chart action – perhaps Laurie Records was in the process of phasing out the Rust subsidiary so they didn’t promote this late single. In any case, “Calamity Jane” has become a catchy hit among club DJs in recent years.
Schweikert’s original “Now She’s Gone” has none of the flashiness of the A-side, but an inventive organ track and good harmonies back up an impassioned lead vocal. Copyright registrations from that era show another Schweikert song never recorded to my knowledge, “The Prism”.
Towards the end of the band, Albert Schweikert left. Tommy Angarano came in on organ and Charlie Bailey on guitar for the final lineup of the band.
If anyone has more input on their time with the Ravens I’d like to hear about it.
Here’s an obscure single on Tampa, Florida’s Boss label, the Souldiers with a great harmony song “Would You Kiss Me” b/w an underrated ballad, “Lemon Sun”. Release date was approximately January 1967 on Boss BOS 007 (BSKM-1119/20)
Randy Lewis and Swilley wrote “Would You Kiss Me” for Fulprod Music Pub ASCAP, while Ed Hillert wrote “Lemon Sun” published by Fuller Music Pub. BMI.
Despite the obscurity of the band, the other two names on the labels are famiilar, John Brummage and Charles Fuller.
John Brummage had a hand in the production of the Royal Guardsmen’s “Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron”. He produced the Split Ends “Rich with Nothin'”, the Noah’s Ark “Love In”, several for the Rovin’ Flames including “I Can’t” (which he wrote) on Boss, “Gloria” on Fuller and “How Many Times” on Decca, and many for the Boss label including the Berkley Five’s “You’re Gonna Cry” and the Ravens who I’ll feature soon.
Charles Fuller headed the CFP, Fuller, Tigertown and Boss labels, among others, with Brummage most often listed as producer.
There’s a possibility this Souldiers band is connected to another local group called the Soljers aka Blues Syndicate, with Bob Conn as either member or manager, but otherwise I can’t find any definite info on who was in the band or any photos of the group.
The Sugar Beats formed in Tampa, Florida and had the first release on the Knight label, which is much better known for 45s by the Outsiders, the Tropics and the Mods. The band members were:
Roland Kent LaVoie – guitar Bill Ellington – guitar Bill Denman – bass Rick Emmert – drums
Both sides are upbeat pop cover songs, which may be why it was not included in Teen Beat Mayhem. Produced by Phil Gernhard and recorded at H & H Studios, though I’ve also read this was recorded at Charles Fuller’s studio – some overlap there? It dates from approximately 1964, with SoN #s 22541/2 in the matrix.
Roland LaVoie went into Me & the Other Guys who had two 45s, “Skinny Minnie” / “Crazy” on Hit Cat and “Runaround Girl” / “Everybody Knew But Me” on Boss.
Frank Milone sent the photos and history of this North Miami band who unfortunately never recorded.
Frank Milone – lead guitar Butch Cappolino – drums Jim O’Connell – bass Bob Wolfkill – rhythm
The 4-Dimensions were started 1963 in Miami Shores, Florida by three friends, Frank Milone, Butch Cappolino, and Jim O’Connell. Frank had been playing the guitar for several years, Butch had taken drum lessons and Jim volunteered to play bass.
They went through several lead guitar players when they met an older musician Buck Campbell. He trained Frank to play lead, Butch to play drums and Jim some bass. Once he had the band going with a list of top ten songs Buck moved on. The band auditioned several rhythm guitar players and found Bob Wolfkill who matched the temperament of the other three and fit right in.
The band started playing at many of the local schools and community clubs. Their first real big break came when they got a gig with local disk jockey Charlie Murdock. The band played every Friday night at the Cutler Ridge Mall south of Miami and eventually became the house band. They began playing all over the town and especially on Miami Beach. During the summer of 1964 they played in a small club call the Coffee House in Coral Gables where they played rock and roll music six nights a week.
Near the end of 1964 they became one of the regular bands at the North Miami Armory on Sunday nights and at War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday nights. These were the top dance locations for teenagers on the weekends.
At the end of the summer of 1965 Bob left for college and the band disbanded. The band had a reunion in 1999 and jammed for the last time.
Frank is now currently playing in two separate bands.
Butch use to jam with Frank every once in a while and still had his original set of drums when he passed in 2008 at age 60.
Jim still has his original Gibson SG bass but does not play.
Bob sold his guitar to go to school when he left the band. All agreed it was the best time of their lives.
Clockwise from left: Bob Wolfkill, Jim O’Connell, Frank Milone and Butch Cappolino
The State of Mind, from left: Tommy Devore, Gary Redwine, Mike Darby, Glenn Coleman and Bobby Corley This photo and the one of the band van from Bobby’s blog Diary of a Drummer
Last year Bobby Corley of the State of Mind sent me a copy of their cool single for the Tener label. I sent him a couple emails to thank him and ask for more information on the band, but haven’t heard back yet. Bobby has a blog Diary of a Drummer with many good photos, but he hasn’t updated it in a couple years.
The members of the State of Mind were Tom Devore (vocals), Glenn Coleman (lead guitar), Mike Darby (rhythm guitar), John Dumas (bass) and Bob Corley (drums). Their original drummer was Leo Gates, replaced by Corley in 1967 when Gates went to college. Gary Redwine also played bass with the group, though I’m not sure if he came before or after John Dumas.
The band was from Winter Park, by Orlando, often appearing on bills at the Orlando Youth Center and The Place, but other than that I don’t know much about them.
Their first release was probably this very fine version of “My Back Pages” on the Bee Jay Demo Volume II compilation from 1967 (Tener TC 1014). I hadn’t heard this until recently.
Their single came out in late ’67 or ’68. “City Life” is really unusual, with static noise layered over the music throughout the song, giving it an apocalyptic feel. It was written by Mike Darby, Tom Devor and Glenn Coleman. The flip “Time Will Tell” is also good, written by Devor and Darby.
Glenn Coleman and Tom Devore, and later Mark Darby, played with a later group called the Orange Wedge (not the Michigan group who recorded “From the Tomb to the Womb” or the Baltimore group with two LPs in the ’70s).
Thank you to Jeff Lemlich for the transfer of “My Back Pages”.
Orlando Youth Center, Fall 1968 schedule, featuring the State of Mind, Ron & the Starfires, the Marshmellow Steamshovel, Plant Life, Magic Circle and more.Orlando Youth Center, Fall 1968 schedule From the collection of Rootbound at the Limestone Lounge.
The Surprize, from left: Roger Fuentes, James Marvell and Buddy Good. (Paul Paris not shown)
You can hardly find a better intro than the one to the Surprize’s “I Will Make History”, with an immortal fuzz riff that hooks the listener immediately. I find the lyrics don’t match the intensity of the music, and that hokey interlude just doesn’t make sense to me, cutting the momentum in the middle of the song.
The flip “Too Bad” is more consistent, if more conventional, and is the side I play the most these days. I’ve seen this listed as from the summer of ’67 but I would speculate it was cut a little later.
Members of the band included:
James Marvell (Carlos Zayas) – lead vocals Paul Paris – lead guitar Buddy Good – bass and vocals Roger Fuentes – drums
Roger Fuentes came from the Early Americans who have a great single on Paris Tower, “Night After Night” / “It’s So Cold Outside” where his drumming stands out. Carlos Zayas wrote “Too Bad” and co-wrote “I Will Make History” with Centinaro.
John Centinaro managed and produced the band on his own Cent Record label out of Tampa, Florida. Centinaro he also managed the Robbs and the Mysterians for a time.
Prior to the Surprize, Good and Marvell collaborated with Centinaro as the Skopes with “She’s Got Bad Breath” / “Tears In Your Eyes” on the USA label in the summer of ’67.
In 1968 Good and Marvell released one single with lead guitarist Eddie Wasenberg as ‘Together’, with “I Loved You” (credited to Centinaro, Wonderbuna and Zayas) / “Don’t Laugh at Me” on Cent Records, recorded at Charles Fuller Studios in Tampa. Both sides are poppy productions, and “Don’t Laugh at Me” seems to feature some zippy speeded-up guitar runs.
Marvell, Fuentes and Good went on to join Mercy (“Love Can Make You Happy” on Warner Bros), another band managed by Centinaro. After Mercy, Marvell and Good formed the gospel country music duo the Country Cavaleers, again with Centinaro managing, then went solo in 1976.
James Marvell wrote to me:
The Surprize was originally a 1966 three piece Tampa, Florida band.
Before their days as The Surprize, James Marvell and Buddy Good were singing and writing songs together. It was during those teen years that James and Buddy formed The Scopes. They released a song co-written by their manager John Centinaro titled “She’s Got Bad Breath.” Scope mouthwash banned the song and the duo changed their group name to The Surprize.
Around 1968 Surprize members James Marvell, Buddy Good with their drummer Roger Fuentes joined Mercy and recorded the million seller “Love Can Make You Happy” written by Mercy founder Jack Sigler Jr.
James & Buddy wrote many songs during their teenage years in Florida and even had songs published by The Isley Brothers’ publishing company in New York. James hopes to dig up those recordings from the middle to late 60s.
After Mercy, Marvell & Good went on to form The Country Cavaleers. Today, James Marvell is still traveling and reliving the the music of the 60s. Joining Marvell is his wife Faye.
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
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The Inner Thoughts came from Clearwater, Florida, west of Tampa. There’s not a lot of info about them available, but the Inner Thoughts had one of the best and earliest releases on the Paris Tower label, “Smokestack Lightning” b/w a band original, “1,000 Miles (Cheating on Me)”, released in March, 1967.
Members of the Inner Thoughts were:
