Primates recording on the Marco label.
I grew up on 34th Street with Barry Bozzone though I was a few years younger. The Poor Soul’s covered many of The Primates’ songs including “Fate”. I don’t believe The Primates recorded a studio version of the song.
Earlier this year, our lead singer, Phil Borgia sent me The Poor Soul’s recording of the song, made in the late 60’s. It was put on tape by Phil’s uncle, using a guerilla recording technique during a rehearsal i.e., using a microphone placed in front of the room plugged into a reel-to-reel deck.
Unfortunately, no one has been able to find photos of the band though I know we had enough taken that some should still exist. I have the band rehearsing on converted 8mm film that was put on 1.2 VHS and then converted to digital media.
The Poor Souls business card [to the right] was very unusual. My father designed it, he was a graphic artist.
After our bands split up, Barry and I played together in a number of bands with only limited success. We also co-wrote quite a few songs though our careers in other fields short-circuited any chance for popularity. However, we have reconnected too after 40 years and we are making plans to reunite, at least on one song we think has a fighting chance in the Christian song market.
I’ve been living in Mahwah, NJ for the last 12 years or so. My former bandmates are all on the east coast – two in NY, one in PA and one in North Carolina. The five members of The Poor Souls (sans Mark) are reuniting for the first time in over 40 years this weekend. I’ve attempted to find Mark on several occasions but no luck.
Rick Grande, November 2010
Here is some great 8mm film of the band, with “Fate” and their version of “C.C. Rider” / “Jenny Take a Ride” added as a soundtrack.
Rick also sent two interesting photos of Hy Fenster’s Universal Rehearsal and Recording, a studio which is still in business at the same address, 17 W. 20th Street in Manhattan.
