Category Archives: Pennsylvania

The Couriers

The Couriers, C.V. Recording Artists, Lancaster, PA
The Couriers, C.V. Recording Artists, Lancaster, PA

Couriers C.V. Records 45 FeelingsUpdated July and August 2010The Couriers formed in 1965 and recorded this one fine record on a Lancaster, Pennsylvania label, C.V. Records.

“Stomping Time Again” is something out of a 50’s hop, but the snare drum slams the beat and the vocals are slurred a bit. This record was reissued years ago on red vinyl, primarily because doo wop collectors valued this side. The song was written by Harry Strother and Steve Kurtz.

The b-side was “Feelings”. The band takes their intro from the Kinks and goes into typical Louie Louie changes but manages to create an original and memorable song – mainly from the notable singing of Steve Kurtz. It’s one of my very favorite songs of this era. It was written by Steve Kurtz and Neil Schuck.

Other members were unknown to me until members and friends commented below, from which the updated info in this post is taken.

Members included:

Steve Kurtz – vocals
Harry Strother – guitar
Neil “Butch” Schuck
Carl Beyer – bass
Dave Johnson – keyboards
Bob Bitts – drums
Dick Dunkle – drums
Larry Spece
Tim Miller

Steve Kurtz wrote in his comment below:

We didn’t exactly disappear after “Stompin’ Time”. We were supposed to cut two more 45’s as per our informal contract with Chuck Raymond and Pancho, who awarded us the opportunity to make records after we won a Battle Of The Bands at Moose Hall in Lancaster. We never did cut those other two sides, but, for us as a band, the experience of recording and releasing “Stompin’ Time Again” was a wonderful thing. It even got to #8 on the WLAN Top 60. I still think it sounds great to hear it, and I’ve always thought it sounded less “local” than most of the records cut by Lancaster bands, with the exception of The Shaynes, who I thought cut two very cool records themselves, “You Tell Me Girl” and “From My Window”.

Those were heady days, and I wouldn’t trade the experience I had playing with Hoagie Strother, Butch Schuck, Dick Dunkle, Dave Johnson (deceased), Bob Bitts (deceased), and Carl Beyer for anything in the world.

The band played their last show at the 421 Club in February, 1968.

Harry Strother, aka Hoagie went on to play lead guitar for Jay and the Techniques from Allentown.

The band became Little Stevie & the Couriers.

Thank you to all who commented for the info on the group and to Carl Beyer for the photos and poster.

The Couriers at the 421 Club. Carl Beyer, Harry Strother, Robert Bitts, Steve Kurtz and Dave Johnson.
The Couriers at the 421 Club to promote the Atlas Sound Banshee PA speaker.
From left: Carl Beyer, Harry Strother, Robert Bitts, Steve Kurtz and Dave Johnson.
The Couriers promote the Atlas Sound Banshee PA speaker.
The Couriers promote the Atlas Sound Banshee PA speaker.

The Magic Mushrooms

 Magic Mushrooms publicity photo taken by Ted Cahill in Philadelphia, Fall, 1966
Magic Mushrooms publicity photo taken by Ted Cahill in Philadelphia, Fall, 1966

The Magic Mushrooms A&M 45 It's-a-HappeningFive students at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia formed the Magic Mushrooms. Original members were Stu Freeman vocals and guitar, Ted Cahill lead guitar and autoharp, Dick Richardson keyboards, Charles Ingersol on bass and Joe LaCavera on drums.

Allen Ginsberg gave them the Magic Mushrooms name after a campus lecture in late 1965. In early 1966, Josh Rice joined the band on vocals, flute and harmonica.

Sonny Casella heard the band playing at Drexel University and became their manager. Contrary to previous reports, he did not sing or play in the band, but he was responsible for mixing, arranging and producing their records.

The Magic Mushrooms Philips 45 Never Let GoThey recorded their first 45 in New York, “It’s A-Happening”, an original credited to Casella and Rice, but perhaps really written by Stu Freeman and Josh Rice. A bizarre psychedelic montage, it was released on A&M in September, 1966 and reached as high as #93 on the Billboard charts in November, backed with another original, “Never More”.

The Magic Mushrooms East Coast 45 Let the Rain Be MeA close comparison could be made to the Electric Prunes, but unfortunately we’ll never know how far a record this strange could go – when Herb Alpert of A&M realized the drug reference in the band’s name, he pulled the record from the shops and ended their relationship with the label.

A&M Spurns Psychedelic Records, Billboard August 1967
Item in Billboard, August 19, 1967.

Despite this setback the band hooked up with Philips for their second record, “Look in My Face”, which didn’t chart. However, it was backed with the intense “Never Let Go”, an original by Stu Freeman and Josh Rice and my favorite track by the band.

Their final release is the corny “Municipal Water Maintenance Man” on the East Coast label, hiding a very fine hippie-ish track on the b-side, “Let the Rain Be Me”, another Freeman/Rice song.

 Magic Mushrooms on stage
Magic Mushrooms on stage, from left: Chris Barbieri, Stu Freeman, Joe LaCavera and Josh Rice. Out of frame: Bob Grady and Ted Cahill.
Magic Mushrooms Manager Sonny Cassella, Ted Cahill, Stu Freeman, Chris Barbieri and Josh Rice
Manager Sonny Cassella, Ted Cahill, Stu Freeman, Chris Barbieri and Josh Rice taking a break from recording

Lead guitarist Ted Cahill and vocalist and guitarist Stu Freeman have filled in some details on the band:

Ted Cahill:

I was the lead guitar playing for The Magic Mushrooms. I am still in touch with Stu Freeman, and Joe Lacavera, the drummer.

The original bass and keyboard players were replaced, I think, in the Spring of 1966. Those guys were replaced by Chris Barbieri (bass) and Bon Grady (keyboards). They had both been in a band with Stu in Westchester County, NY before Stu came to Penn.

That summer we played the Jersey shore at a place called Tony Mart’s in Somers Point. We had a dispute with the owner later in the summer and quit. One of our lead singers had been sick and the guy docked us some money. Little did we know it was a mafia bar; our days of playing that part of the Jersey Shore was over. If you have ever seen the movie Eddie and the Cruisers, Tony Mart’s is the club where a lot of the action in the movie happens.

Chris Barbieri and Bob Grady of the Magic Mushrooms. Ted Cahill's Vox 12-string on the guitar stand
Chris Barbieri and Bob Grady

We played a lot around Philly, the Hy Lit show on TV, some bars around the city and lots of frat parties at Penn. We also were supposedly in a movie the Andy Warhol shot at Penn’s Mask and Wig Theater in Center City Philly, whether that really happened I don’t know, but we were asked to play the party there and there was filming going on.

We saw no reward for the Nuggets appearance, all the money we made was from the gigs we played.

Stu Freeman:

I grew up in New Rochelle and presently live in White Plains. The band I had in high school was called the “Foremost” and later the “Fiendish Thingies”. The other members were Barbieri, Grady and a guitar player named Lloyd McCool. All from Pelham Manor.

Barbieri and Grady replaced Charlie Ingersol and Dick Richardson in the Mushrooms after about a year. After about another year, Cahill, Josh Rice and drummer Joe LaCavera were out and the Mushrooms was composed of myself, a guitar player named Steve Rundle, bassist Pete Gries (both from Penn) and a couple of different drummers from around Philly.

“It’s a Happening” was recorded in Sigma Sound studios on Broad Street in Philly, NOT in New York. Engineer was Joe Tarsia, who worked with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff on all those great “Philly sound” records (Harold Melvin, MFSB, Ojays, Archie Bell, Jerry Butler, Soul Survivors, etc). Tarsia expanded and opened up a studio in NY after the huge success of the Philly studios.

 Stu Freeman of the Magic Mushrooms
Stu Freeman

Also, Allen Ginsberg did indeed provide the name “Magic Mushrooms” (he was speaking at a Penn function and Josh caught up with him and asked him for a suggestion). And, there was never any “David Rice” on guitar. BTW, Josh Rice is nephew of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Elmer Rice.Q. Did you ever see much in the way of royalties from It’s a Happening?

We all received some royalties from the original sales (eons ago), but interesting you should ask that, because one of my erstwhile Penn roommates and current good friend asked me a while ago, after noting the success of the “Nuggets” albums, if any royalties had been received from them. I told him no and he suggested that I investigate, but I never did. I have no idea where Josh Rice is so I never contacted him about it either. Casella owned much of the original publishing so he may have received something from “Nuggets” but it’s also possible the publishing had expired and he got nada.

I got involved with “Stars On 45” in 1981 with my current partner Ed Garr and we still play regularly (everything from weddings to CBS News holiday parties to Vegas conventions).

I believe Joey Gennetti was a later keyboard player for the group.

In 2011, acetates of two songs, “Pain” and “I’m All Ears”, turned up from a later version of the group that included only Stu Freeman and Josh Rice from the original six that had cut “It’s-A-Happening”.

Sonny Casella also helped produce the first record by The Snaps (later known as the Underground Balloon Corps) “You Don’t Want Me”/ “You’re All Mine”.

These Magic Mushrooms shouldn’t be confused with the California group the Magic Mushroom (singular) who recorded “I’m Gone” / “Cry Baby” on Warner Bros.

Photos from the collection of Ted Cahill. I am sorry to report that Ted passed away on March 16th, 2020.

 Chris Barbieri and Ted Cahill, with Stu Freeman in background
Chris Barbieri and Ted Cahill, with Stu Freeman in background
Joe Lacavera of the Magic Mushrooms
Josh Rice of the Magic Mushrooms on harmonica
“Joey Gennetti, our last keyboardist when I was with the band. He had an awsome Hammond B3 organ and Leslie cabinet. I piped some of my leads through the Leslie” quote by Ted Cahill
Ted Cahill with his Gretsch Country Gentleman, Stu Freeman and Chris Barbieri during a practice

The Catamorands from Erie, PA

The Catamorands were from Erie, Pennsylvania, not Nashville as I originally thought.

Guitarist and vocalist Rod Mellquist writes: “The Catamorands were from Erie, PA. and recorded this record and several other original pieces that didn’t make it to vinyl. The four members were Gary Gregor -drums, Mike Ditrick -guitar, Dick Burkett -bass and vocals and Rod Mellquist -guitar and vocals.”

The D.G.M.R. in the label are the initials of the band members first names. Both sides of this 45 are gentle, original compositions. The beautiful “Over You” was written by Rod Mellquist and produced with A. Mellquist. R. Burkett wrote “Never Say Goodbye”, which was produced by R. Burkett and M. Ditrich.

The Time Stoppers

“I Need Love” was a song written by Tom Curley, vocalist with the Maryland group the Mad Hatters. The Mad Hatters cut the original version in late ’65. The Time Stoppers version wasn’t released until 1967. I’ve heard it called ordinary, but I’ve always liked it very much.

The band were probably from Pittsburgh, but I don’t know who was in the group. Jules Kruspir, publisher and co-producer of this disc, owned St. Clair records, which released great records by the Swamp Rats and Pat Wallace. The flip is a forgettable instrumental, “Fickle Frog”.

This also appears to be about the last record ever released on the eclectic HBR (Hanna-Barbera Records) label.

The Hides

From Pennsylvania, the Hides released just one 45 in 1966 before disappearing. The only member I know of is John Marsiglio. The description on his website:

At age 15 he started “The Hides” from the ashes of The Runaways and The Ban-Lons. They cut some tracks at Gateway Studio’s in Pittsburgh. Shortly after his 17th birthday “The Hides” released a single “When I See The One I Love”, but the “B” side “Don’t Be Difficult” received more attention. John promptly quit the band because he didn’t sing “Don’t Be Difficult”.

Supposedly two other tracks were recorded but never released. “Don’t Be Difficult” was written by Sam & Marsiglio, “When I See The One I Love” by Cheplick & Marsiglio.

The Lost Ones

The Lost Ones were from Sarver, Pennsylvania, a small town about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh. They were originally called the Kruisers and afterwards became Lite Rain. “I Can’t Believe You” is a wild, overdriven raver, too crude for some people.

“I Can’t Believe You” was written by James T. Robeson and produced by Marian Dietrich. The flip, “I Wanna Know”, which moves along at a snail’s pace, was written by James Robeson, Don Dietrich and Bill Farrington. This 45 was released in January of 1967 on the Mersey label.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

The Tumblers

Tumblers Pocono 45 ScreamHere’s an obscurity from the Tumblers, a quartet from Mt. Pocono, Stroudsburg and Bangor, towns in the eastern part of the Pennsylvania. They had one release on the Pocono label from July, 1965.

I think we can safely say this was not influenced by the British Invasion. The incredible “Scream” was ‘written’ by Larry LaSpina, and backed with a ballad, “Make You All Mine”, another LaSpina original.

Members of the band were:

Larry LaSpina
Daniel Altieri
Alex Coury
Huck Gould – bass and vocals

Tumblers Daily Record Friday, September 25, 1964
Tumblers on the Chief Halftown show, September 26, 1964

Does anyone have a photo of the group?

Pat Wallace

Pat Wallace and the Shadows - prior to the St. Clair 45
Pat Wallace and the Shadows – prior to the St. Clair 45

Pat Wallace St. Clair 45 Fill the Hole in Your SoulBased in the Pittsburgh area, Pat Wallace released many 45s, this one being more garage in style than most.

“Fill the Hole in Your Soul” is a straightforward come-on, but danceable and catchy for all that. The musicians must not have had any other song in mind for this session, as “C’mon and Work” is just the band vamping with Wallace chanting the title repeatedly. Not bad, though.

Pat tells me the band was Prince Valiant and the Knights, who had their own 45 on St. Clair, “Back Yard”/”Front Yard”, though Rick Sharp recalls playing on the session with his group the Sharades (see below). Songwriting credits are Pat Wallace and Jules Kruspir on “Fill the Hole”, and Rick Sharp – Jules Kruspir on the flip, production by J.J. Jules.

The St. Clair label is famous for releasing the Swamp Rats’ most beserk 45s.

Thank you to Pat Wallace for the photos seen here of his early group, the Shadows. Please do not reproduce these images without permission.

The Shadows with Pat Wallace, plus Chubby, Bill, Jim, Ed and Denny
The Shadows with Pat Wallace, plus Chubby, Bill, Jim, Ed and Denny

Rick Sharp of the Sharades provides his recollection of how he came to record with Pat Wallace on this single:

Jules Kruspir managed my first Pittsburgh, PA band, The Vel Mars. We knew Jules for a lot of years, from 1963 to the late seventies (he managed the Marcels). Not quite sure how we met him though. He used to invite us over to his house to rehearse every month or so and seemed to have a genuine interest in our band, The Vel-Mars.

We were a guitar band, a la The Ventures, and were playing local school dances. Jules said he knew all the right industry people and we could go places. Actually nothing happened until he signed Bob Stupec to do a Christmas song, “Jake The Flake”. This was a huge production number, full orchestra (Jim Drake conducting & arranging), backing vocals by the Ray Charles Singers (“Love Me With All Your Heart” fame) and recorded at Bell Sound Studios in NYC. The tracks were absolutely beautiful!

But, Bobby (Bobby Star) couldn’t sing. It took 157 takes to complete the lead vocal track. I remember, Phil Ramone was the engineer. Well, we were to record the back side “Jingle Bells”. Studio time was running out, we cut our song in 1 1/2 takes. We broke a guitar string, but they spliced the tape & our record turned out great. The record was released a few weeks later, became the National Record Mart “Pick of the Week” and was played in NRM commercials for a few weeks. Picked up a review in Billboard (Jules had a full page ad), but the record never took off. Too bad. Bobby Star quit recording and went to Vegas and opened a casino.

In 1965, our Vel-Mars band broke up and I auditioned for a club band in Beaver Falls, PA. The leader was Gary Glenn. The group was Gary Glenn and the Jeweltones. The Jeweltones had departed and left Gary without a band, for which I was auditioning & was ultimately hired for. They had a local record out, “Goodnight My Love”, on the Cove label. Great record. I wrote a couple of songs for Gary that were recorded at Jerree Records in Beaver Falls, PA. “Always So True” b/w “What Do You Want”, released early 1966, but went nowhere. The original Jeweltones were later to become the Jaggerz of “The Rapper” fame.

I left Gary Glenn in mid 1966 & formed the Sharades. We were a cover band [but] with a lot of original songs. Jules expressed an interest in us again and asked if we would do a demo session at Glen Campbell Studios in Pittsburgh, PA. We did the session but nothing came out of it. A few of the songs were good though. Jules later asked us to back up Pat Wallace for a couple of songs at the same studio. We did and that’s where “Gonna Fill The Hole” & “Come On & Work” came from. And yes, “Come On & Work” was nothing more than a “B” vamp.

In 1966,Jules opened a record store in the Southland shopping center (Pat Wallace worked there) and I took a job with Kleins One Stop (Itzy Records) heading up their oldies department. Jules bumped into The Fantastic DeeJays (who had some local Music For Young Lovers songs for Terry Lee). He changed their name to the Swamp Rats and recorded “Louie Louie” & released it on his St. Clair label. (Jules lived in a community named Upper St. Clair).

Also in 1966, Jules picked up a group named the Dynatones. They had recorded a record “And I Always Will” b/w “The Fife Piper”. The local DJs flipped it over & the record went to Number 1. HBR Records, who just recently started a pop records division, picked up national distribution. The record went all the way up the national charts. Then … HBR called for a album followup to the single. Jules took the Dynatones down to Glen Campbells studio & cut 10 or 12 absolutely terrible tracks. Truth is, Jules couldn’t produce & Glens’ studio (3 track Ampex) was nothing more than a reverb box. HBR Records rejected the cuts for the “Fife Piper” LP. They produced all the tracks in LA with studio musicians.

I continued on working at Kleins and with my band, the Sharades. We were working steady at local clubs when we decided to go into the studio on our own. Late 1966 we recorded “Only A Tear” b/w “It’s A Groovy Day” at Gateway Studios in Pgh, PA (Some of the Lou Christie hits were recorded there). Our session was quick…maybe 1 1/2 hours. We only recorded the two songs. The record was released on Fasicination Records which was my label. Kleins One Stop (my day job) became our distributor. I started college in January 1967 and played weekends with the band. By springtime Terry Lee had picked up the record & began playing it every night at 11:00 as the opening song for his “Music For Young Lovers” show segment. “Only A Tear” was the only record released by the Sharades. We continued on as a band until the mid-seventies. I recorded “Surfin’ USA – Pittsburgh, PA” b/w “Pipeline” in the mid-eighties with a new group – The Allegheny Surfers.

Rick Sharp

The Centurys

The Centurys of Lebanon, PA
The Centurys

The Centurys - Renco 45 "83"

Considering they were one of the greatest of all the 60s garage bands, there’s not much information out there on the Centurys.

From Lebanon, Pennsylvania, band members were:

Billy Beard – lead guitar and vocals
Larry McKinney – guitar
John Iacovone – bass
Bob Koch – lead vocals and organ
Bernie Orner – drums

In April of 1965, they recorded four songs at WSBA radio’s studios in York, PA, produced by Frank Treida. These four songs were released on two 45s on the Renco label and quickly sold out.

The first is “83” a lo-fi anthem that’s an absolutely classic. On the flip is the moody “So the Prophets Say”, another echo-laden number with wild drumming and intense vocals. It’s been described as anti-Vietnam war, but actually I think it’s pro-war. It’s definitely a dig at Dylan and the protest movement in general, and there’s a condemnation of communism: “a red slave song you’re singing, you’ll wish you had a gun in your hand.”

The second is “Don’t Bother”, with intense guitar riffing and haunting organ. The flip, “Together We’ll Stay” is not nearly as great as the other three songs, but it has some decent surf-type guitar in the break.

Their live reputation helped them land a 45 on Swan. “Hard Times” b/w “Endless Search” did very well in the area and should have been their big break. The Swan label was folding at the time, so it’s possible the record wasn’t promoted as well as it should have been.

Former Swan label head Bernie Binnick put out one last Centurys 45 on his BB label, “And I Cried” b/w “Catch Me Fast”. The band broke up in 1967 due to a combination of draft notices and a lack of success.

All their releases were original songs. Billy Beard wrote most of their best songs: “83”, “So the Prophets Say” and “Don’t Bother”, while “And I Cried”, “Hard Times” and “Endless Search” were co-written by Beard with Larry McKinney.

The two 45s on Renco were reissued on an EP in the ’80s as the Renco Demos. It’s possible the Centurys originally intended these songs to be demos for purposes of securing a record contract. Regardless, the Centurys did release these songs on 45 and sold them at gigs and local shops, which makes them not ‘demos’ in the usual sense. None of the songs on the EP are different versions of what was released on the 45s.

Centurys original 45 releases:

Renco 115 – 83 / What the Prophets Say
Renco 116 – Don’t Bother / Together To Stay
Swan 4265 – Hard Times / Endless Search
BB 4002 – And I Cried / Catch Me Fast