The Ambertones, from left: Jimmy Alvarez (on drums), Eddie Delgado (above on bass), Mike Sandoval (guitar), Frank Vasquez, Danny Medina, Tony Cardenas (sax), and Henry Hernandez (guitar).
The Ambertones were part of Los Angeles’ fabled East Side scene along with dozens of legendary bands like Thee Midniters, the Premiers, the Romancers and Cannibal and the Head Hunters. All these groupos could play in several styles, from garage to straight soul to r&b shouters and ballads.
The original lineup was:
Ray Arriola – sax Henry Hernandez – lead guitar Mike Sandoval – rhythm guitar Eddie Delgado – bass and vocals Danny Medina – keyboards Jimmy Alvarez – drums
Later members included:
Frank Vasquez (Frank Olvera?) – vocals Charlie Muñoz – vocals Tony Cardenas (or is it Tony Duran?) – saxophone Henry Sarnoff joined on piano and organ in 1966 Ruben Alvarez – drums
They began releasing records in 1963, with “Charlena” / “Bandido” on the GNP/Crescendo label. Next came two 45s on the Dottie label. I have never heard the first, “Chocolate Covered Ants” / “One Summer Night”.
Their second Dottie 45 is a ballad, “I Need Someone” backed with an excellent garage original “If I Do”, written by Eddie Delgado. The sound of the organ, vocals and guitar solo make “If I Do” my personal favorite of their records.
Originally released on a dark blue Dottie label in October of ’65, it was reissued with a pale blue label, pictured here, in 1969 or later, probably because of interest in the ballad, “I Need Someone”.
Their next two releases were on Rayjack. “Clap Your Hands” is a great party record, and “Cruise” is a riff on Thee Midniter’s “Whittier Blvd”. This 45 was also issued on the Newman label, pictured here, in 1966. Both of these were written by Leonard Mamola, who also produced all their records except their first.
“I Can Only Give You Everything” is another of their garage recordings, it too was issued on a second label, Treasure Chest.
In 1967 they signed with White Whale for two 45s in a soul style, giving them probably the best nationwide exposure of their career. “Ninety-Nine and a Half” is a fine cover of the Wilson Pickett hit, with a Sam and Dave song on the flip, “You Don’t Know Like I Know”.
top center: Henry Hernandez middle row, l-r: Jimmy Alvarez, Eddie Delgado, Ray Arriola, and Mike Sandoval bottom row l-r: Charlie Muñoz and Danny Medina
Source: Photos from collection of Victor B. and from Mark Guerrero’s excellent site markguerrero.net.
Leader of Mark & the Escorts of the classic “Get Your Baby,” Mr. Guerrero has also written extensively about Los Angeles music, including articles on the Romancers, The Premiers and the Blendells. I highly recommend setting aside a few hours to look through his site.
Thanks to Danny Medina for correcting the IDs on the photos.
Ambertones 45 releases:
Charlena / Bandido (GNP Crescendo 329) – 1963 Chocolate Covered Ants / One Summer Night (Dottie 1129) – 1965 I Need Someone / If I Do (Dottie 1130) – October, 1965, repressed on pale blue label in 1969. Clap Your Hand / Cruise (Rayjack 1001) – December 1965 Clap Your Hand / Cruise (Newman 601) – 1966 I Can Only Give You Everything / I Only Have Eyes for You (Rayjack 1002) – 1966 I Can Only Give You Everything / I Only Have Eyes for You (Treasure Chest 001) – 1966 Ninety-Nine and a Half / You Don’t Know Like I Know (White Whale 242) 1967 A Million Tears / Little Bit Of Lovin’ (White Whale 302) 1969
from left: Danny Medina, Mike Sandoval, Eddie Delgado, Henry Hernandez and Ruben Alvarez
The Deepest Blue formed in Pomona, a town about halfway between Los Angeles and San Bernadino further inland. Members were:
Earl Shackelford – vocals Russell Johnson – lead guitar and vocals Ken Zabel – organ Rick Edwards – rhythm guitar Bruce Lavoie – bass Russ ‘Soupy’ Morrow – drums
The band was actually known as the Doves, they only changed their name when releasing their 45, because they thought it sounded more commercial.
They played teen clubs in the area like the Oasis and Discoteen, and a couple shows on the Hollywood strip with the Leaves and the Seeds. Their repertoire was all covers, mostly influenced by the Stones and other English groups.
Russ Johnson and Earl Shackelford wrote two songs just for the recording session, the first originals the band had ever played. They recorded at 9th Street studio in LA in August of 1966, with Richard Delvy, drummer for the Challengers engineering. Vic Gargano financed the record – he also produced the Tomorrows’ La Do Da Da / Need Only You on Condor. Without the band’s knowledge Gargano had a studio musician add guitar parts to enliven the sound. Although this upset the group, the resulting single is fantastic.
“Pretty Little Thing” features Bruce’s sliding bass line, precise drumming from Soupy, and a raging organ solo by Ken Zabel. Earl’s vocal has elements of Jagger’s inflections but his voice is stronger. “Somebody’s Girl” is more subdued but also powerful. Despite the quality of the record, it received little airplay.
The band returned to the studio to record more tracks for an album which was never finished. Soupy Morrow had an acetate of the sessions, but it has not surfaced since.
However, two songs “I Found Out” and “Living My Love Game” were released on a Blue-Fin 45 under the name the Egyptian Candy. Earl for one had completely forgotten about this record, but he did confirm that this was recorded by the Deepest Blue for their album sessions. Earl speculated that this may have been released under the name Egyptian Candy to test the waters for how the band’s new direction would be received.
Both songs demonstrate the influence of Earl’s friend Chris Darrow on his songwriting. Earl had met Chris at the Forum Club in Montclair when Chris was with the Floggs. Chris would record both songs with his next band, Kaleidoscope in similar arrangements (“Living My Love Game” retitled “Love Games” in the Kaleidoscope version and not released at the time). Another song by Earl, “I Found Out” became one of Kaleidoscope’s signature songs. It’s unfortunate the Deepest Blue were unable to stay together to pursue this new style, as they were obviously onto something.
Lacking success and headed in different musical directions, the band split up. Soupy died in a motorcycle accident in 1967 [actually in 1968 according to Oscar Bee], and Rick Edwards was killed in a car crash the following year while on tour. Earl stayed in music, notably forming Wheels with Chris Darrow and Walter Egan, and arranging vocal harmonies on Iggy Pop’s New Values album.
Update: Russ Johnson passed away in Australia in 2007. He had a long career in music there, most notably with a group called Mississippi.
For more information on the Deepest Blue there are two interviews with Earl Shackelford, one by Mike Dugo, and one at Pulsating Dream.
Blue-Fin discography (incomplete?):
101 – Ascots: The Wonder Of It All (R. Borden, M. Borden) / I Won’t Cry (Al Politano) (engineer Doc Siegel at Gold Star Studios, Onned Music BMI) 101 – Ascots: Summer Days / The Wonder of It All (matrix #s BL-FI-1004 and, I assume, BL-FI-1000) 102 – Deepest Blue: Pretty Little Thing / Somebody’s Girl 103 – Egyptian Candy: I Found Out / Living My Love Game
Thanks to Max Waller for bringing the two separate releases of the Ascots Blue-Fin 101 to my attention. Max writes:
The Wonder Of It All” (BL-FI-1000) has Monarch 62241 in the dead wax. “I Won’t Cry” (BL-FI-1001) has 62241-X in the dead wax so this was supposedly the “B” side, although it appears from the “*” scrawls on the label that someone was pushing this track. This monarch number pairing seems to confirm that this was the original/first pressing, from June 1966.
For the “Summer Days” 45, I’d expect to see a different monarch # in the dead wax for that track, (BL-FI-1004).
Due to the “(BL-FI-1001)” ref, it appears they used the same recording of “I Won’t Cry”, so I’d expect to find Monarch #62241 in the dead wax.
Boystown is a collaboration between Michael Lloyd and his childhood friend Jimmy Greenspoon. Lloyd and Greenspoon had been playing music together and recording as far back as 1963, with the New Dimensions. Greenspoon also may have played with Lloyd in an early version of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.
When the Boystown 45 was released in June of 1967, Lloyd had recently left the WCPAEB, but was busy with with many projects, including helping produce Kim Fowley’s first lp, Love Is Alive and Well.
Greenspoon wrote the very poppy “Hello Mr. Sun”, and co-wrote with Lloyd the hypnotic “End of the Line”, which would have sounded right at home on an early West Coast Pop Art album.
Soon after this release Jimmy Greenspoon moved to Denver briefly, before returning to LA and forming Three Dog Night. Lloyd stayed busy with productions for Mike Curb and his own group, Smoke.
Though born in Texas, Keith Allison made his mark in Los Angeles. A resemblance to Paul McCartney helped him land a starring role on the national show Where the Action Is.
He became close friends with Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders and Mike Nesmith of the Monkees, and soon he was playing sessions for both groups on guitar and keyboards.
His album In Action features “Louise”, a fantastic Gary Usher production and the single hit the charts in March of ’67. Louise was written by Jesse Lee Kincaid (real name Nick Gerlach), who was a member of the Rising Sons with Gary Marker, Kevin Kelley, Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.
The flip, “Freeborn Man”, written by Allison with Mark Lindsay has become a country standard. Keith joined the Raiders in late 1968, then went into acting.
The Los Angeles-based Plamie label released a handful of 45s in 1967-68. At least two of the bands on the label, Uncle Ben and the Wild Rice and Weathervane, were based in Santa Cruz, which makes these Plamie 45s important documents of the music scene along the California coast north of LA and south of the Bay Area.
Jason Sweitzer suggested we write about the Plamie label to compliment the previous article about other Santa Cruz-based bands the Cobras, Talon Wedge and Snail. Jason conducted the interviews with Ben Hudson and Steffen Presley, and wrote the text for the sections on Weathervane and Strange Laughter. Gray Newell provided some of the scans and transfers from original 45s.
Uncle Ben and the Wild Rice at the department store ‘Disco’ in Capitola, near Santa Cruz l-r: Ben Hudson, Mike Gordon, and probably Ray Tuthill, or possibly Scott Pearson or Tony Hill on drums
Uncle Ben and the Wild Rice
Uncle Ben and the Wild Rice were Ben Hudson guitar and vocals, his sister Sharron Bassano on vocals and organ, Mike Gordon bass, Willie Wahler guitar and vocals, and Tony Hill on drums. They played at the Grass Cookie in Santa Cruz, among other venues.
Jason spoke to Ben:
We were local to Santa Cruz, California in the 60’s. We played at the Boardwalk’s “Coconut Grove” frequently in the 66-68 years. We also played all of the area venues of the time [including the Grass Cookie]. I recall opening for Country Joe and the Fish in an airplane hangar in Watsonville and bumping into the Jefferson Airplane folks at the Coconut Grove.
We were just kids having a blast. I imagine the record doesn’t sound too hip, it was a Christmas release and didn’t really reflect the Rock ‘n Roll of our stage shows. The band members are still around the area, mostly retired. I started a new solo CD recently and still write and play a few gigs. We recorded a couple other songs at those early sessions, but nothing else was released to my knowledge until the reunion CD in 2003.
Sharron Bassano
“A Tale Told” is their first 45, one side featuring lead vocals by Sharron, the other Uncle Ben. With the dreamy quality to the vocals and keyboards you may not notice the lyrics are about Jesus! It’s also the first single on Plamie, P-1021, with publishing by J&J Music and Bound Music, distributed by Commerce Record Corp.
Their second 45 leaves the folky sound of “A Tale Told” for a tougher, bluesy approach. “Sinner” features Ben’s bracing vocal and a sharp guitar solo. Sharron’s “Holdin Blues” is a wonderful song reminiscent of the Charlatans, with interesting guitar work and a great rave-up at the end.
There is a third single by Uncle Ben and the Wild Rice, but Plamie P-1027 seems to be a re-release of “Holdin’ Blues” backed with “Zindar” which is a version of “Sinner” but sung in German (I think)!
The photos are from B. Robert Hudson’s (Uncle Ben) site [http://ubwr.broberthudson.com/ but defunct when I checked in 2016] with more cool pics of the band and info on his recent live shows. Their reunions in 2002-3 included all members but Sharron.
Hot Coffee
Until Mark Tranchina commented below in August, 2018, the only names we could associate with them were Linden Coffee, the leader of the group, and Dave Holt, writer of “Cheatin On Me”. This David Holt also wrote songs with Baker Knight, longtime singer and songwriter (garage fans may know him for “Hallucinations” on Reprise). However, I don’t know if he had any connection with the band at all.
I’ll reproduce some of Mark’s comment here:
Besides Linden Coffee, the other members were George LaFrance drums, Ray Rackstraw bass, and my brother Richard “Dick” Tranchina who played rhythm guitar, 12 string and occasionally bass and drums. They had regular gigs at Mission Ranch in Monterey and the Coconut Grove in Santa Cruz. During the “draft” days in the late 60’s they all enlisted in the national guard and spent a good time of their enlisted time playing at the officers club at Fort Ord in Monterey. They also opened for the Righteous Brothers in Disneyland in LA.
Richard Tranchina passed away in 2004.
Ben Hudson told Gray Newell, “We went to LA to record on a joint trip with Hot Coffee, because we had the same manager, Ben Lawson, a DJ on a local radio station at the time, KDON from Salinas, CA.”
There’s a good possibility that this is the same band listed as Coffee on the poster for the Santa Cruz Blues Rock Festival at San Lorenzo Park. The other acts listed on the poster are Jaguars, Snail, Stained Glass, Moses February, Bogus Thunder, the John Deacon Society, Tender Gender, Sabbathe Office, and Aunt Millie’s Blues.
Weathervane, l-r: Ed Bowman, Mike O’Bryan, Steffen Presley and Kevin Beamish
Weathervane
From Modesto, California, The Weathervane only released this 45 on Plamie Records in 1968 — a euphoric, if not lyrically sardonic, slice of psychedelia.
Formed in 1966, the original group comprised of teens Steffen Presley on organ and lead vocals, Kevin Beamish on lead guitar, Ed Bowman on bass, and Mike O’Bryan on drums and lead vocals. Bob Wilson was an itinerant member on bass, rhythm guitar and lead vocals, having left the band for a time and then returned.
November 23, 1966 concert program at the Strand Theatre in Modesto with the Sir Douglas Quintet and Golliwogs
As a popular mainstay at the under-21 hangouts and nightclubs of the Central Valley, The Weathervane also performed regularly in Sonora and the San Francisco Bay Area, sharing bills with The Golliwogs, Sir Douglas Quintet, The Ratz, The Eisage, Mourning Edition, Meat and Cheese, Homegrown, and the all-girl outfit, Sometimes, among others.
During the summer of 1967, at the arrangement of their manager Gene Bastion, they temporarily relocated to Ben Lomond, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and performed at various venues along the coast. Of this time, Steffen Presley remembers:
Gene was a radio DJ who went under various aliases. In Modesto, he was known as Jerry Lang. We stayed in a big cabin in Ben Lomond, which was owned by a friend of his and they only used it part of the year. The idea was to gain us greater exposure. It was a great fun time!
Bob Burns review from Modesto station KFIV/136 Spotlight, Vol. 2 No. 18
Soon after returning from Santa Cruz, Bastion was able to negotiate a recording deal for the band with Plamie Records in Los Angeles. Presley, who wrote both original songs, recalls:
I was 17 at the time of the Plamie sessions. Although I did the lead vocal on “4-4, 5-4,” it was Mike O’Bryan doing the lead vocal on “My Original Blue Jeans.”
One of the things the producer did was to change the key of “My Original Blue Jeans,” which I felt was detrimental to Mike’s vocal, particularly as he was very used to the original key from live performances. Fortunately, “4-4, 5-4” was left fully intact and basically represented our true sound, sans the poor mix, where the vocal is fairly buried for the first half of the song.
My Vox Continental organ was a signature part of our sound, as you may have noticed. At that time, there was next to nothing available in portable keyboards, and I had no money to buy anything else. I did play piano at that time but was not interested in electric pianos, which barely existed, anyway. Of course moving real pianos around was not even a consideration. The studio had a Hammond organ, which I used on “My Original Blue Jeans.” I had actually written the song on piano. I don’t think the studio had a piano or I may have used it.
There had been talk of recording an album, but despite significant airplay the 45 was a complete dud in Modesto upon its release. We were even ridiculed by some. I could understand that, as the producer had completely changed (ruined- in not just my opinion) our sound on “My Original Blue Jeans,” and even back then I thought that the recording quality was quite poor. This is one reason why I later became a producer with my own studio.
Weathervane, 1967, l-r: Bob Wilson, Ed Bowman, Mike O’Bryan, Kevin Beamish and Steffen PresleyStrange Laughter, 1969
Strange Laughter
About a year after the Plamie release, the Weathervane split up over artistic and personnel conflicts. Soon thereafter, Steffen Presley formed a new band, Strange Laughter. When asked how The Weathervane transformed into Strange Laughter, Presley wrote:
Well, this is the most interesting question to me! As the Weathervane matured musically, Tom Aragon eventually replaced Kevin Beamish on guitar. The beginning of the split came about as Tom and I wanted to pursue all original material. The other members preferred that we did mostly cover tunes. Very soon thereafter, Tom and I decided to form a new (all original) band, which became Strange Laughter.
Beside myself on organ and lead vocals, Tom Aragon was the bass player. The guitarist, David Rose, is to this day the best guitarist I’ve ever heard, and was also a superb songwriter. The fourth member was an amazing drummer and lifelong friend of mine, Kimber Glendening.
Strange Laughter was a far better band musically and artistically than The Weathervane, in my opinion, and became even more popular than The Weathervane in the Modesto area. I would describe our music as “progressive rock”, but this was at least a couple of years before the Prog-rock movement, so we were ahead of our time, for sure.
Unfortunately, the band was able to last only one year. Just as we were starting to get offers to go on significant bills, we split up due to conflicting interests. I think that it’s a crime that no recordings were ever made.
I’d like to thank Steffen Presley for taking the time to write and for sharing his pictures and recollections. For more info on his recent work, visit www.song-haven.com.
Country Weather, Strange Laughter, Elastik Band and Rest Meat Cheese at the California Ballroom in Modesto on June 19, lights by Keeper of the Night. Poster by Tom Morris
Strange Laughter updates:
Sept. 2008: Steffen writes, “I have just released a new album, along with the first of two video releases. The band is called “3 Legs On Wheels” and the album titled “in Our Time Machine” on Terraform Records. All the info can be found on the official web-site: www.3legsonwheels.com.
Feb. 2009:
My dear friend, Kimber Glendening passed away on January 18, 2009. As the best drummer California’s Central Valley has seen for the last 50 years (at least), he was a major factor in the still legendary (in that small part of the world) “Strange Laughter” sound. He played in many other bands in the Modesto area throughout his life. A memorial was held in his honor on February 8th at the Eagle Lodge in Modesto, California. The event was attended by several hundred people, including myself. There were many people there that I hadn’t seen for forty years! Teaming with remaining members from Strange Laughter, we played a tribute set in Kimber’s honor. Different combinations of musicians jammed into the night with myself sitting in with most of them on keys and sax.
Steffen Presley
Strange Laughter, Burnt Sunnyland Canyon at the California Ballroom, September 26, 1969, lights by Bayshore Fruit Co. “The California Ballroom regularly brought in about a thousand people and often had name SF bands headlining.” – Steffen Presley
Plamie Records P-1023 and P-1025 are still unknown, if anyone has copies of these please contact us.
The Now, clockwise from top left: David Zandanotti, Frank Straight, Oliver McKinney and Randy Gusman
The Ban came from the small town of Lompoc, near the Vandenberg Air Force Base, north of Santa Barbara. Members were Tony McGuire guitar and lead vocals, Oliver McKinney keyboards, Frank Straight bass and Randy Gordon (aka Randy Guzman) drums. The band was managed by Randy Guzman’s parents, which is why he changed his name to Gordon.
The Ban released “Bye Bye” in November of 1965, a magical record with the perfect garage organ sound, see-if-I-care vocals, resounding drums and a crude, energetic guitar solo. On the flip is another original, the moody “Now That I’m Hoping”, written by (as spelled on the label) Randy Gusman and Frank Strait.
When Tony McGuire was drafted, the Ban found David Zandonatti to play bass and vocals, while Frank Straight moved over to guitar. They relocated to Los Angeles and became the Now for one fine record on Embassy in June of 1967. “I Want” channels the band’s powerful playing in a very well produced recording. “Like a Flying Bird” is keyboard-driven pop with harmonies that has been compared to the Left Banke. Both songs are band originals.
The Now played shows at major venues like the Sea Witch and Pandora’s Box, but they had limited success until Matthew Katz signed them to a production contract. With another move to San Francisco, they became Tripsichord Music Box, releasing a legendary album and a couple of 45s. But that is a whole other story.
Special thanks to Jason for providing the label scan for the Now 45, and to Gregg McKinney for the photo of the Now.
A bit of trivia – I wonder if the stamp on the label (Denny Zeitler, Independent Music Sales) is the same person who the 13th Floor Elevators thank on their first lp?
The dense, echo-laden production and almost spoken vocals match this song’s dark, obsessive lyrics. A real obscurity, this Allied label also released “Mini-Skirt Blues” by the Flower Children.
“He Means So Much to Me” was written by Robert Bennett Bailey and Douglas Hunsaker. The less interesting flip side, “You Cheated”, was written by Don Burch and was the original A-side to the record.
It came with a picture sleeve (see comments below), and I’ve seen one scrawled with “Sioux Falls” (maybe she came from South Dakota?) and “”Scepter Wand just picked up” (but it wasn’t).
Featuring members of the Brogues and the Ratz, the Family Tree made this one 45 for the Mira label before releasing several singles and an lp on RCA and a final 45 on Paula. The RCA records have a polished English pop quality to the production, while this earlier Mira record has more of an Northern California garage sound.
You could say “Prince of Dreams” is heavily influenced by Dylan, while “Live Your Own Life” is reminiscent of the Beau Brummels, but this doesn’t take away from the quality of both songs.
Bob Segarini from Stockton, California was in a group called Us who made demos for the Autumn label that were never released. He then went into the Ratz, which included Gary Grubb better known as Gary Duncan of Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Duncan left the Ratz for the Brogues, who also included bassist Bill Whittington. The Brogues released two great 45s I’ll cover here someday. With members Rick Campbell and Eddie Rodrigues entering the draft, the Brogues broke up. Bill Whittington and Segarin formed the Family Tree, with Mike Olsen on keyboards and Newman Davis on drums. Mike Dure joined on guitar by the time of this recording, as he is co-writer of “Live Your Own Life” with Segarini.
Bob Segarini:
The Family Tree’s first record was for Mira, the people that did “Hey Joe” by the Leaves. Mira put out a single, “Prince of Dreams”, in ’66, and we had a lot of gigs and stuff.
We went into Gold Star [Studios] with [engineer] Doc Siegel and recorded for a week towards an album for Mira. We cut eight tracks; they were sort of produced by Sonny Bono, who was working in Studio B with Phil Spector on something.
Brian Wilson was doing the Smile album when we were in there. In fact, members of the Family Tree played things [on the Smile sessions] like the saw, hammer, and nail, and I believe I played the electric drill. We were there when they had the fire in the bucket, and they all had the little firemen’s hats on.
The Mira LP never materialized, but the demos from that session led to the contract with RCA. The band went through several personnel changes, and I’m not sure if Mike Olsen (who later changed his name to Lee Michaels) played on the Mira sessions. Bob Segarini went into Roxy and then the Wackers, and continues to make music to this day.
Source: Bob Segarini quoted by Ritchie Unterberger in his notes on Roxy.
Special thanks to JG for sharing the 45 scans and music.
I planned an entry on the Dirty Shames for their great “It’s A Shame” 45, but when I discovered the flip side, “Makin’ Love”, was a cover of an earlier 45 on the same label by the Sloths, I thought I may as well feature whatever I can find out about Impression. It turns out there were a good number of fine 45s on this Hollywood, California label run by two brothers, Al and Sonny Jones.
There were two sets of Impression releases, a first on a blue label with plain logo, and the second on yellow labels with the new, somewhat psychedelic Impression logo.
On the blue label is the Sloths’ song “Makin’ Love”, which was covered by the Dirty Shames a year later. The Sloth’s version is far cruder, but both are fine perfomances. The Dirty Shames label gives writing credit to Hank Daniels. I had heard a rumor that the two bands shared some members, but Marty Wons from the Dirty Shames says this isn’t true. The Sloths record happens to be by far the rarest garage 45 on this label.
Update June 2011: I’ve included more on the Sloths on a separate page.
Of the releases on the yellow Impression label, first was a release by the Dillons, produced by Dorsey Burnette. See the Dillons’ entry for more on this release.
Next up is one that I hadn’t heard until recently. The Mark Five of San Bernadino featured brothers Danny and Jimmie Faragher, who released “I’m Through With You” b/w “I’Il Keep On Trying” on Impression 102 in 1965 before they went on to form the Peppermint Trolley Co. The Mark Five also recorded as the Intercoms and the C-Minors for Impression, as well as helping back Jimmy Robins on his great soul song, “I Just Can’t Please You”. See their entry for the full story on all four of these Impression releases.
The Tangents have the distinction of releasing two 45s on Impression, “Good Times” / “Till I Came Along” (Impression 105) in 1965, and “Hey Joe, Where You Gonna Go?” / “Stand By Me” (Impression 111) a year later. “Good Times” starts off like Heat Wave then gets very pop sounding. Their version of “Hey Joe” is one of the best. Like many 45s on this label it was arranged and engineered by Al Jones. Members were: Jim Janesick (Jim Janesich?) lead guitar, Bob Shelton rhythm guitar & lead vocals, Terry Topolski bass guitar and Warren Brodie drums.
Lonnie & the Legends backing Doye O’Dell
Lonnie and The Legends recorded one of my very favorite songs on this label. “I Cried”/ “Baby Without You” (Impression 109) was released in Mar. 1966. Lonnie Grah’s niece Becky Lynn Ray sent me some photos of Lonnie and info about Lonnie & the Legends. The band was from Sylmar, California, near San Fernando. It may surprise the listener that they were actually more of a country & western band, performing on bills with many big names like Doye O’Dell, Joe and Rose Maphis and Lefty Frizzell, and were friends with early rock ‘n roll performers like Ritchie Valens and the Rivingtons of “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” fame.
Songwriting credits are George and Lonnie Grah, but Becky tells me “I Cried” was actually written by Lonnie and her mother, Nancy Grah, who was also in the group along with Donna Grah. Other musicians included Kenny Ray on bass and Gene Gunnels on drums, who was in Thee Sixpence just before they became Strawberry Alarm Clock, and then joined Hunger. (See SAC’s website.)
Lonnie & the Legends had other 45s:
Rev 1006: Lonnie & the Legends – “Penguin Walk” / “Crazy Penguin” (George Grah, Laucan Music BMI) Danette Records: Lonnie & His Legends – “Cause I Love You” (Lonnie Grah, Nancy Grah, produced by George Grah) / ?
The Dirty Shames have one great double-sided 45, the garage classic “I Don’t Care” with the flip “Makin’ Love” (Impression 112) released Sept. 1966. Band members include Marty Wons and Bob Larson. Marty wrote a little to me, but hasn’t answered my responding emails. He wrote:
We recorded until we lost two members to the Vietnam war draft. Al Jones did the majority of the engineering with Sonny occasionally sitting in. By the way, the Sloths and the Dirty Shames were two different groups. No crossover members. We were given a copy of their record to create our version of Makin’ Love.
A discussion of the Grodes would take up a whole entry in itself. From Tucson, Arizona, they tried to break out to national success with some 45s released on California labels. Their most famous is the original version of “Let’s Talk About Girls”, covered by the Chocolate Watchband. Over a year later, they released “What They Say About Love” on Impression 114, but it made no mark at all. I don’t believe John Fisher of Current Records was part of Impression, but he may have been the connection for the Grodes single.
Impression discography (any help on finishing this would be appreciated)
Blue label series:
?? – (Impression 101) Tommy Lee – If You See Me Cry / One of These Days (both written by Al Jones & Joe Osborn, produced by Al Born) (Impression 102) Big Dave Washington & the Zensations with the Buddy Harper Orch. – You Stay On My Mind / Don’t Say We’re Through (Impression 103) The Sloths – Makin’ Love / You Mean Everything (Impression 104)
Yellow label series with new Impression logo:
The Dillons – Simple Way of Living / Night Winds (Impression 101) The Mark Five – I’m Through with You / I’ll Keep on Trying (Impression 102) Teddy Durant – The Beast Of Sunset Strip / The Night Stalker (Impression 103) Bob & Judy – We’ll Try It For Ourselves (Gregory Dempsey) / We’ve Got Something Going (Impression 104) The Tangents – Good Times / Till I Came Along (Impression 105) The C-Minors – Just a Little Feelin’ / Don’t Go (Impression 106) The Intercoms – Unabridged, Unadulterated, Unextraordinary, Ordinary, Mediocre Unoriginality Blues / Please Try and Understand (Impression 107) Jimmy Robins – I Just Can’t Please You / I Made It Over (Impression 108) Lonnie & the Legends – I Cried / Baby, Without You (Impression 109) ?? – (Impression 110) The Tangents – Hey Joe, Where You Gonna Go? / Stand By Me (Impression 111) The Dirty Shames – I Don’t Care / Makin’ Love (Impression 112) The Dirty Shames – Run and Hide / I Don’t Care (Impression 112 – white label promo only) Jan Crutchfield – Front Door, Back Door / It’s Now (Impression 113) (both by Crutchfield and Fred Burch) The Grodes – What They Say About Love / Have Your Cake and Eat It Too (Impression 114)
Thanks to Rich Strauss, Jason and Max for help with the discography. According to Rich, the Teddy Durant 45 has a couple of good novelty monster songs, and #113 is mediocre country. The Tommy Lee, Big Dave Washington and Jimmy Robins are r&b/soul releases, everything else is rock.
Here’s an overview of early recordings by members of Love, including Arthur Lee, Bryan MacLean and Ken Forssi who have passed away, and Johnny Echols who is thankfully still with us.
Before Love, Arthur Lee and Johnny Echols fronted bands or wrote songs for a series of 45s in a variety of styles, from surf to soul to pop, including a single as Arthur Lee & the LAG’s “The Ninth Wave” / “Rumble-Still-Skins” for Capitol.
Lee wrote the great soul song “My Diary” for Rosa Lee Brooks, recorded in early 1965. The flip is “Utee” an excellent upbeat dance number. This is also an early session for Jimi Hendrix (not his first, which was probably either with the Isley Brothers in early ’64, or with Don Covay in May of ’64).
Lee also wrote “I’ve Been Trying” for Little Ray.
Arthur wrote songs for Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals including “Everybody Do the Jerk” and “Slow Jerk”. He may be singing backup vocals as well. I used to think Arthur was singing lead on these songs, but that was probably mistaken, as lead vocalist Charles Lett was a very talented singer and other people have said he was singing on these tracks. I’ve come to believe Arthur partially modeled his vocal style on Charlie Lett, or at least on Curtis Mayfield.
The American Four just preceded Love’s first incarnation, which was known as the Grass Roots. With typical acerbity, Arthur wrote a dance song named “Luci Baines” after Lyndon Johnson’s homely daughter and called the label Selma. “Soul Food” is Arthur’s take on Booker T. and the MGs; he was born and raised in Memphis, Tennesee, home to Stax.
Following is was a selection of rare tracks by Love, most taken from the great bootleg Last Wall of the Castle. “Gazing” is one of my favorite tracks from the first lp. “It’s the Marlin, Baby” seems to have been recorded around the time of the American Four and was release on a Texas label under the Love name. Release date is uncertain, but it could have been after Love scored a hit with” My Little Red Book”
“7 And 7 Is” required over 80 tracks just to get the backing right! Vocals were recorded later. On these takes you hear the bluesy coda taking form as the band idly jams to relax after frantically tearing through the song. Arthur probably played drums (though some sources say Michael Stuart) on these takes, leaving the guitar to Johnny Echols and Bryan, with Ken Forssi on bass.
An instrumental take of “Your Mind and We Belong Together” showcases Johnny Echol’s lead. Arthur wrote “Feathered Fish” for fellow LA band the Sons of Adam. He recorded his own version in 1994, but it sounds like vintage Love.
Bryan MacLean’s contribution to Love is more important than most know, both in songwriting and in the distinctive sensitivity he brought to the band. There are several fine demos are from 1966, including “Orange Skies” and “Old Man” and strong originals like “Strong Commitment”. There’s also a great version of “Alone Again Or” from 1982. Bryan died in 1998.
Anyone not familiar with the band’s studio lps should definitely check out the first four: Love, Da Capo, Forever Changes, and Four Sail. Out Here and False Start also have good individual tracks, as does Arthur Lee’s solo lp Vindicator. For a different kind of tribute, see my next post on cover versions of Love songs.
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.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
The dense, echo-laden production and almost spoken vocals match this song’s dark, obsessive lyrics. A real obscurity, this Allied label also released “Mini-Skirt Blues” by the Flower Children.
On the blue label is the Sloths’ song “Makin’ Love”, which was covered by the Dirty Shames a year later. The Sloth’s version is far cruder, but both are fine perfomances. The Dirty Shames label gives writing credit to Hank Daniels. I had heard a rumor that the two bands shared some members, but Marty Wons from the Dirty Shames says this isn’t true. The Sloths record happens to be by far the rarest garage 45 on this label.
Lonnie and The Legends recorded one of my very favorite songs on this label. “I Cried”/ “Baby Without You” (Impression 109) was released in Mar. 1966. Lonnie Grah’s niece Becky Lynn Ray sent me some photos of Lonnie and info about Lonnie & the Legends. The band was from Sylmar, California, near San Fernando. It may surprise the listener that they were actually more of a country & western band, performing on bills with many big names like Doye O’Dell, Joe and Rose Maphis and Lefty Frizzell, and were friends with early rock ‘n roll performers like Ritchie Valens and the Rivingtons of “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” fame.
The Dirty Shames have one great double-sided 45, the garage classic “I Don’t Care” with the flip “Makin’ Love” (Impression 112) released Sept. 1966. Band members include Marty Wons and Bob Larson. Marty wrote a little to me, but hasn’t answered my responding emails. He wrote:
Here’s an overview of early recordings by members of Love, including Arthur Lee, Bryan MacLean and Ken Forssi who have passed away, and Johnny Echols who is thankfully still with us.
