Category Archives: Panorama

Buck & The Hunters / The Tragedy

Buck and the Hunters on stage

The Blue Mountain Playboys
The Blue Mountain Playboys – aunts and uncles of Buck played in this group

Jeffrey Harvey provides the story of Buck and the Hunters, who cut original songs for singles on Westland Records 15829/30 and Panorama 1004. “Without Your Love I’m A Nobody” has a wild desperate sound to it, unfortunately the youtube video is made from an off-center copy.

Buck Hunter was born into a musical family in Beaverton, Oregon in 1946. His aunts and uncles on his mother’s side played in a western swing group called The Blue Mountain Playboys, who at one time toured with The Sons Of The Pioneers.

Buck started playing music at age 13 and after a stint in the U.S. Navy, he formed Buck & The Hunters in Cove, Oregon in 1965 at the age of 19.

After winning a local battle of the bands competition, Buck & The Hunters were signed to cut a spec record for the local Westland label.

“The Train Is Leaving Me Behind” b/w “Without Your Love I’m A Nobody” was recorded in a basement studio in the Kennewick, Washington area and achieved significant airplay in the Washington, Wyoming, Oregon, and Idaho radio markets.

The band members at the time of recording were:

Buck Hunter – lead vocals / guitar / songwriter
Dan Aguilar – lead guitar
John McClay – bass
Dan Ross – drums

After the release of “Train” on Christmas Day 1965, the band spent 18 months touring the Pacific Northwest, playing armory dances, state fairs, high schools, and clubs, and opening for such Northwest luminaries as Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Wailers, The Kingsmen, and more.

Buck-and-the-Hunters-Business-Card

A fun story Buck shared with me about the Hunters’ touring days goes like this: The band was booked to play a high school dance in John Day, Oregon on a Friday night. Buck and the boys were traveling to the gig in two separate vehicles, when they came upon an active blasting zone on the interstate.

The state was using dynamite in the area for construction purposes, and after the first car carrying half the band made it through the blast zone “We all hear this big boom! Sure enough, we look back and saw a landslide had cut off all the traffic – including the second car with the rest of the band in it!”

Buck and two other band mates continued on to John Day High School to find that the dance they were booked to play was the school’s prom. “We ended up playing with three guys that night, and were asked to come back the next night with the full band. They held two proms so our entire band could play!” recalls Hunter.

Buck and the Hunters on stage

Buck & The Hunters disbanded in 1967 when a few members went off to college and Buck moved to Everett, Washington. It was there he met his wife in the same year, and the two were married within months.

Buck took a nightclub residency gig as a solo folk act, doing a supper club show at a local restaurant/lounge called Kay’s Rice n’ Bowl. Here he opened for such artists as Pat Suzuki and The Four Freshman.

Buck Hunter and Mary
Buck Hunter and Mary

After putting in his time at the club, Buck and his new bride formed The Tragedy with four other players. The group went on to win a “contemporary folk music battle of the bands” put on by The Pat O’Day Show, broadcast on KJR radio in Seattle at the time.

An A&R man from the Pacific Northwest stalwart label Panorama signed the group to a one-disc deal and “The Entertainer” b/w “Unfaithful Love” was recorded. The Tragedy then toured, opening for such acts as Merrilee Rush & the Turnabouts and The Turtles.

After Buck’s father was diagnosed with cancer in 1969, he and his wife became born again Christians. They went on to write, record, and tour as a duo, preaching the gospel in churches around the country until 1985.

In 1992 Buck began hosting a nightly radio show that was broadcast from the floor of The Gold Coast Casino in Las Vegas. The program lasted until 2002, and in that time Buck met and interviewed thousands of artists including James Brown, Little Richard, Willie Nelson, Martha Reeves, and more. He also told me that the actress Betty White was an avid listener to his program and would call in on numerous occasions to co-host the show with him!

To say that Buck has lived an interesting and full life would be an understatement. He is still active in the business space and currently resides in Kuna, Idaho with his wife of 50+ years.

I asked him about the psychedelic sound of his two 45rpm releases, and if that was an intentional artistic choice or not. His response? “I was always looking for my own original sound.”

Article by Jeffrey Harvey.

Buck-Hunter-The-Tragedy-News-Clipping

The Raymarks

The Raymarks formed in 1962 in Bremerton, Washington, across the Puget Sound from Seattle. They began as the Orbits, changing their name twice, first to the Galaxies, and in 1964 to the Raymarks. They embody the Pacific Northwest sound – playing tough organ-based r&b numbers with a heavy rhythm section with little or no British Invasion influences.

Their first 45 is a stomping version of “Work Song”, my favorite cut by the band. The flip, “Backfire” is a good instrumental. Mike Spotts wrote most of the band originals, including their second 45, the pounding “Louise”, which was mistakenly released under the name the Paymarks.

Their last 45 is another fine garage number, “I Believed”, again written by Spotts. The Raymarks also had several good songs that went unreleased at the time, including “Walking Down the Street”, “Feelin’ No Good”, “Hard Times” (which uses the same rhythm as “I Believed”) and an untitled piece.

Members included Mike Spotts on keyboards, Ken Huff and Chuck Snyder on guitars, Greg Pettit and Terry Carter on saxophone, Larry Trudeau bass, and Terry Selvidge on drums. Like the Wailers (whose live album At the Castle features singer Gail Harris), the Raymarks’ live shows included a female vocalist, Gail Davies, who is not on their studio recordings.

Chuck Snyder went to the Tacoma group the Noblemen in 1964. Ken Huff and Terry Selvidge were drafted in 1966 which spelled the end for the band.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

Sources include: The PNW Bands site.