Category Archives: Salem

Categories: Boise, Garland, Idaho, Oregon, Salem

The Ultimate

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Ultimate photo Garland Records
Clockwise from top left: Jim Hemenway, Bill Walker, Dwight Fenski and Ken (Wimpy) Mitchell. Photo courtesy of Jim Hemenway

Bill Walker – organ, vocals
Jim Hemenway – guitar and vocals
Dwight Fenski – bass
Ken Mitchell – drums and vocals

The Ultimate Garland 45 Keep On LookingThe strong vocals and organ playing distinguish “Keep on Looking”, written and sung by Bill Walker. It’s backed with a cover of Los Bravos’ “Black Is Black”.

It was released on the Garland label of Salem, which also released fine 45s by the Zero End and the Morning Reign.

There was some confusion as to whether or not the Ultimate (singular) were related to an earlier group The Ultimates (plural) until Bill Walker and Jim Hemenway contacted me and left the comments below. Since there was a connection between the two, let’s go back and first talk about the Ultimates.

After touring as part of the Champs of “Tequila” fame, drummer Gary Nieland and lead guitarist Leon Sanders formed the Ultimates in 1963 in Boise, Idaho with bassist Allen Crawford and keyboardist Gary Sullivan. They eventually relocated to Salem, Oregon, where they recorded a 45 on Lavender, “My Babe” / “Little Girl”, then changed their name to Prince Charles and the Crusaders.

Bill Walker picks up the story from here:

Gary Neiland was owner of Garland Records. He was also a talent booking agency. When Gary left Prince Charles and the Crusaders his wife and he started a group called Fatt Twice Together.

He still booked them [the Crusaders], they changed their name to the Dart. Our group was called The Last Resort. A club owner in Salem, Oregon liked our group, but not the name. So Gary suggested we change it to The Ultimate.

“Keep on Looking” was recorded January of 1969 in Salem, Oregon. The record made number one in the top forty in Great Falls, Montana. We could never get our record played in the Portland, Oregon radio market. It’s all about marketing and we were just working musicians.

After we left Gary’s booking agency, we added a horn player. Jim and I also played horns and changed our name to Five Straight Up. The members were all lead vocalists. The band became a rock show band, it was a great group. Jim Hemenway and I have worked together off and on for the past forty years.

Bill Walker

Scappoose, Oregon

Thanks to Bill and Jim for the information and the photo of the group. As an aside, Dart recorded a great 45 on Garland, “Genevieve”, written by Earl Chipley.

Categories: Earl, Oregon, Salem

The Chaen Reaction

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A group out of Salem, Oregon, the Chaen Reaction recorded this one 45 around 1968.

Members were Larry Carroll guitar, Craig Gunter drums, Lee Gunter keyboards, Lane Weinberg bass and Jim Burris vocals. Earl Chipley seems to have been the maven behind this distinctly uncommercial venture, co-producing and releasing the 45 on his own Earl label, a “division of Royalty Records.”

“Sometimes I Think About” was written by the Blues Magoos and included on their first lp. A good song, but it’s a bit of a downer no matter who performs it. It was also covered by Delaware’s Fabulous Pharoahs who must have realized its lack of hit potential and threw it on the b-side of their great Reprize 45, “Hold Me Tight”.

The flip “Chain Reaction” is even less commercial but far cooler, featuring distorted guitar and a heavy organ and drum pounding over a collage of screams and crowd noise. The vocals are buried in the mix and almost unintelligible, but seem to have a very trippy bent. Hard to believe anyone but the band really wrote this ditty, but Chipley gives himself sole credit. It was produced by Earl E. Chipley, and Clayton Caughill was the engineer who put this all together.

Thanks to Lee for correcting the group lineup and to Bonnie W. for the photo.