This time around ...
A look at The Falling Pebbles ...
One of the precursors to The Buckinghams!
Early Chicago promoter, producer, manager Carl Bonafede acknowledges he and his partner Dan Belloc were in the right place at the right time to watch the story of The Buckinghams unfold.
In the early history of the band, for a fleeting moment they were known as The Falling Pebbles. In Bonafede’s autobiography The Screaming Wildman, he says, “I guess its pseudo name was supposed to be a ‘take off’ of the Rolling Stones.” He goes on, “I have to give a lot of credit to Jon Poulos (the band’s drummer) for the idea. This got a lot of exposure for the group by getting even more of the alliances it took to get a single record to the marketplace.”
Under that moniker, they released one single, a version of “Laudy Miss Claudy” (Alley Cat A-201), a version of which would ultimately be included on their debut "Kind Of A Drag" album. The flip side was unusual for the group, as one of their primary strengths was their vocals from Carl Giammarese and Dennis Tufano ... this being an instrumental track, “Virginia Wolf."
The Falling Pebbles
This was an early Buckinghams' instrumental track, previously issued on their very first album by the group on their "Kind of a Drag" album.
The Buckinghams got all kinds of airplay in Chicago and the strategy worked when the group was lauded by Cashbox magazine as "the most listened to band in America" in 1967.
The Buckinghams enjoyed a bit of success locally BEFORE hitting the national spotlight.
The group evolved from a couple of local bands ...besides recording as The Falling Pebbles, the guys enjoyed some local success as both The Pulsations and The Centuries, who also released a single on the Spectra Sound record label, "It's All Right" / "I Love You No More." Prior to The Buckinghams' official "Kind Of A Drag" album release, Spectra Sound also released a version of "Sweets For My Sweet" b/w "Beginner's Love" on Spectra Sound 4618.
The Pulsations consisted of two lead singers, George LeGross and Dennis Tufano, who were backed by Curtis Bachman on bass guitar, Jon Jon Poulus on drums, Carl Giammarese on lead guitar, Nick Fortuna on rhythm guitar and Dennis Miccolis on organ. These guys honed their skills playing rock and roll, soul, blues and R&B in other outfits like The Darcels and Tuffy and the Redbirds.
This was the line-up that was signed by WGN Television and slated to perform on their "All Time Hit Show," performing the latest hits of the day to a live teenage audience.
However, WGN wasn't thrilled with the name "The Pulsations" ... so, at the suggestion of WGN Security Guard John Opager, they changed their name to "The Buckinghams" ... especially timely and iconic in light of both Chicago's Buckingham Fountain ... and the onslaught of British Invasion groups hitting the music charts here at home. A subliminal reference to Buckingham Palace may have also had something to do with this! (There is no question that their British-sounding name helped the band early on in their career ... and they certainly looked the part ... but even after three or four substantial national hits, the set was decked out with Union Jack Flags when the band appeared on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in late 1967. They apparently had absolutely NO idea that the band hailed from CHICAGO ... and not Great Britain!!!)
In hindsight, this video clip shows a group of VERY young, somewhat unpolished Italian Greasers, who were thrust into the spotlight on a syndicated teen-based music program that allowed them entertain a group of kids craving the latest hits, performed by a live group ... and, in the process of playing those hits, they were also able to polish those skills to become a MAJOR recording act just 18 months later.
Before recording their first album, LeGros was drafted, leaving Dennis Tufano to handle the lead vocals, and Bachman became disenchanted, forcing the move of Nick Fortuna to bass. Miccolis would be replaced by the incredible Marty Grebb in 1967, who played on some of the band's biggest hits ... and even traded off lead vocals with Tufano on "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, a #5 smash in 1967.
The Buckinghams enjoyed SIX Top 40 Hits in 1967, prompting Cash Box Magazine to declare them "The Most Listened To Band In America" that year. (kk)
THE BUCKINGHAMS HIT LIST:
1966 - I'll Go Crazy (National Peak = 112 / Chicago Peak = 19)
I Call Your Name (Nat = 102 / Chi = 14)
I've Been Wrong (Nat = 129 / Chi = 13)
1967 - Kind Of A Drag (Nat = #1 / Chi = 2)
Laudy Miss Claudy (Nat = 36 / Chi = 24)
[also shown as Lawdy Miss Clawdy - some copies also show "I Call Your Name" on the B-Side]
Don't You Care (Nat = 5 / Chi = #1)
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Nat = 5 / Chi = 4)
Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song (Nat = 5 / Chi = 5)
1968 - Susan (Nat = 6 / Chi = 5 )
Back In Love Again (Nat = 45 / Chi = 21)
We've done COUNTLESS pieces on The Buckinghams over the past twenty years. Just type their name into the search engine at the top of this page and you'll find a ton of them.
When I did this, this page immediately gave me a wide variety of topics covered ... scroll back to read "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page for even more information, including comments from several of the original members over the years. Enjoy!
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/search?q=the+buckinghams
Here is the way Dennis Tufano explained the evolution of the band to our Forgotten Hits Readers back in 2011:
The Buckinghams - The Beginning (1965-1970) “Debunking the Myths”
In the beginning, drummer John Poulos personally recruited the band members ... first myself and George LeGros, to be the singers in his new band, The Pulsations. John and I then added Carl Giammarese and Curtis Bachman from the band The Centuries, with whom Nick Fortuna played rhythm guitar.
“All Time Hits,” the WGN TV show, spawned the newly named band, “The Buckinghams.”
Members at that time were: John Poulos - drums, Curtis Bachman - bass, Carl Giammarese - guitar, Dennis Micolis - keyboards, Dennis Tufano - vocals, and George LeGros - vocals.
George LeGros was drafted into military service and had to leave the band. This left me, Dennis Tufano, to step into “lead vocals.”
Later ... after the "All Time Hits" Show, Nick became a “Buckingham” as bass guitarist on the "Kind Of A Drag" album. After the release of "Kind Of A Drag," John Poulos and myself enlisted Marty Grebb from The Exceptions, whose bass guitarist was Peter Cetera, soon to be a member of the group CTA / CHICAGO.
Now The Buckinghams were: John Poulos - Drums, Nick Fortuna - Bass, Carl Giammarese - guitar, Marty Grebb - guitar / keyboards / sax, Dennis Tufano - lead vocals / harmonica.
The Buckinghams officially disbanded in 1970 just after Marty Grebb left to play with Leon Russell. Carl and I recorded three albums with Lou Adler’s Ode Records from 1972 - 1976 as Tufano & Giammarese and The Tufano & Giammarese Band.
In 1980, just after the passing of John Poulos, WLS Radio asked us to have a reunion for Chicagofest and we played a number of “reunion” shows for the next year. To answer the pressing question, “Why did Dennis leave the band?” – I never “left” the band ... the band was officially dissolved in 1970 and we only got back together in 1980 for the Chicagofest Reunion shows and not as a permanent re-packaging of the original band!
Due to the amazing response at these concerts, Carl and Nick felt that we could put the band back together and be The Buckinghams again. I was already working as a solo act both in music and acting and living in Los Angeles, so I wasn’t available at this time. Respectfully declining to reunite, I gave them my blessing to go forward and be the band. Even though we all shared trademark ownership of the name, and due to the fact that I didn’t choose to use the name, "The Buckinghams,” Carl and Nick by “using” the name have legal ownership of the name and I admire the great work they’ve done through the years.
Today, we all do our own thing and continue to perform ... Carl and Nick as “The Buckinghams” and myself as “Dennis Tufano, the original voice of The Buckinghams.”
-- Dennis Tufano (2011)
And the great music lives on and on. (kk)
