Frannie, Paige and I watched the movie Soul Men a few weeks ago ... and haven't been able to get the song "I'm Your Puppet" out of our heads ever since.
In the film, Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac play former members of an R & B group called The Real Deal, a group fronted by John Legend, who left the trio to pursue a solo career and has recently passed away. The remaining back-up singers decide ... somewhat hesitantly ... to reunite to perform at his farewell memorial service.
It's hardly a classic film comedy (although it DOES have its moments) ... and Jackson and Mac do pretty much exactly what you expect them to do in any of their film roles. (Jackson is an over-the-top, foul-mouthed maniac and Mac does his usual schizophrenic teetering between being the voice of reason and just a little bit crazier than Jackson.) The film is probably MOST notable for the fact that co-stars Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes died within a day of each other just before the movie was originally released in theaters.
It also, however, has an OUTSTANDING '60's Soul Soundtrack and, if you can get past the language, it's a pretty entertaining film to watch. (We watched it with our thirteen year old daughter, who laughed at all the right parts, but had to be constantly reminded that this is NOT the way to talk ... in fact, we probably apologized every minute and a half or so for what was being said and / or shown on screen!!! lol) Jennifer (Yo Stink Bitch) Coolidge has a HILARIOUS bit part, too, as one of the groupies who goes back to their hotel room.
Legend does a fine job of covering "I'm Your Puppet", first a hit for James and Bobby Purify back in 1966. (It hit #6 on the national pop charts and notched a point higher on Billboard's R & B Chart.) You will hear this one from time to time on the oldies stations but the duo's other Top 40 Hits (Wish You Didn't Have To Go, #35, 1967; Shake A Tail Feather, #25, 1967 and Let Love Come Between Us, #23, 1967) have all long since disappeared down the oldies radio sewer.
James and Bobby Purify were actually cousins James Purify and Robert Lee Dickey. (In fact, when Bobby decided to leave the act in the late '60's, James attempted an unsuccessful solo career. In 1974, he teamed with Ben Moore, who became the new "Bobby" in the stage act.)
The Box Tops also did a nice version of this song on their first album, "The Letter / Neon Rainbow".
Today we've got all THREE for you. (Join us in the madness ... let's see who quickly you can get this tune out of YOUR heads!!!)
James And Bobby Purify
The Box Tops
John Legend
(NOT the kind of song you expect to hear this guy sing ... but he does a VERY credible job with it!)
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Ides and Shames Union
Nearly every year since Forgotten Hits began, we have made it a practice to salute The Ides Of March ON The Ides Of March. For the past three years, I've been wanting to do SOME sort of spotlight piece on the short-lived mid-'70's Chicagoland Rock Band, The Ides And Shames Union, a band that evolved out of two of our long-time local heroes bands, The Ides Of March and The Cryan' Shames ... but information has proven to be pretty scarce regarding this brief incarnation of the band.
Even with some of the members of these bands on our mailing list ... and local contacts who are regularly in touch with former members of "The Union", we've had a difficult time assembling enough information to put together an "interesting" piece ... but this year ... thanks to a little help from our friends ... (Marlene O'Malley and Guy Arnston in particular!) ... we've FINALLY got something VERY nice to share with you!
Now, in all fairness, we've certainly given ample time to BOTH of these artists in the past ... in fact, we kicked off this special weekend series with a salute to each of them! As I just mentioned, we have typically saluted The Ides Of March every year on The Ides of March ... and The Cryan' Shames have ALWAYS been one of our favorite local bands ... so we've given them ample space in our Forgotten Hits pages over the years, too. But, quite honestly, I don't EVER recall seeing a significant piece written on the joined forces of these two artists ... so I figured that I may as well just do it myself!!!
For starters, thanks to Guy Arnston, who published "The Illinois Entertainer" back in its hey-day ... and Jeff Lind, who wrote that OUTSTANDING series on "The History Of Chicago Rock" ... ... we were able to put together a little something from that great series to share with you here today. (Sadly, Jeff passed away last year, so he won't even get to see it ... but his series has become the definitive source for the Chicagoland Rock Scene of the '60's and '70's. Guy Arnston is in the process right now of assembling and updating ALL of those pieces to be published in "coffee table" book form as a fitting tribute to the artists and music of this very special era.)
Along with Guy, we've got to tip our hat to Marlene O'Malley (aka "Rock On Chicago") ... and one of "The Shameless Babes" ... who helped put us in contact with some of the principle members of this late '70's version of The Cryan' Shames, lending this whole piece a "We Were There" perspective that we could have otherwise never achieved. (Sadly, we were NOT able to gather ANY perspective from The Ides Of March camp in time for this piece ... hopefully, after they see this posted on the web page, we'll be able to offer follow up comments from the likes of Chuck Soumar and Larry Millas, who were ALSO there at the time!) Hearing from a few of the band members who participated in The Ides - Shames Union REALLY helps to top things off this year ... and, as such, we're able to fill in a few more gaps in the story.
Here Goes ... our Forgotten Hits Tribute to The Ides - Shames Union!!!
(P.S. Efforts to track down ANY recorded material ... live or otherwise ... have failed miserably!!! When all was said and done, we've got exactly ONE track to share with you today ... but even that can be considered a World-Wide Exclusive Premier!!! If ANYONE on the list happens to have access to any other recordings by this version of the band, we'd LOVE to hear them ... perhaps we can do some type of follow-up feature somewhere down the road. In talking with the guys involved in this brief venture, THEY'D like to hear them, too!!! Likewise with photos and memorabilia ... virtually everything you'll see here today comes from The Cryan' Shames' website ... we'd love to share some MORE photos from back in the day if you've got them!)
First up, here's the bulk of Jeff Lind's original History Of Chicago Rock piece (with some current updating by Guy Arnston):
Hey Kent,
I seem to remember you were looking for more info on the Ides-Shames Union, a Seventies band that rose from the ashes of two of Chicago's most beloved groups, the Ides of March and the Cryan' Shames. I found mention of the Union in one of Jeff Lind's original History of Chicago Rock chapters. Here is what he had to say back in August of 1980, with a few alterations:
The Cryan' Shames farewell concert was held at the Cellar in December of 1969 ... Less than six months later, in the summer of 1970, the band got back together for a one-week series of concerts at the urging of WLS Disc Jockey Dex Card, who wanted the band to play at his Wild Goose Productions. It was a memorable week, full of surprises from the group, including a guest appearance from Jim Fairs. After the one week, the Cryan' Shames all went their separate ways. Jim Fairs went back to performing with a band called Cross (aka Hezikiah), who also had J. C.Hooke for awhile. Lenny Kerley and Dennis Conroy were back in their new country band, Possum River. Al Dawson also got into country rock. Toad (Tom Doody) gave up on music completely: "I didn't even listen to the radio." And so it remained for a period of almost four years. Hooke ended up as percussionist in a band called Jotto, while Kerley fronted Goodfoot. Fairs had done session work with Pearls Before Swine and was also a member of a Champaign-based band named Afterbirth. Toad was living in Minnesota when he heard about the breakup of the Ides of March (in November of 1973, leaving a third RCA album unreleased). He relates, "My friend Larry Millas, who was their bass player, gave me a call and we kicked around the idea of putting a band back together. I really felt like I still had talent, and I missed the music scene. We chose the name The Ides - Shames Union because we knew it would get us some better gigs, even though it sounded hokey." Besides Doody and Millas, the group included Chuck Soumar (from the Ides) on drums and trumpet, Don Melton on keyboards (he later played with Steve Dahl in Teenage Radiation), and John Pavletich (formerly with Orphanage) on lead guitar. Besides playing the hits of both bands, the group got into a newer sound that today would be called power pop. After about a year as the Ides - Shames Union, J. C.Hooke was lured away from Jotto, and Fairs from Afterbirth, and the band became the Cryan' Shames. When Chuck Soumar left, Ron Kaplan came in to play drums and Randy Ponetowski was added on keyboards to complete the group. Press coverage of the new group was prolific, but they lived up to their expectations in concert ... For two years, the group played at local clubs and bars, but they broke up for good in 1977. Of course, everybody knows that the Cryan' Shames were revived by Jim (Hooke) Pilster, and are still playing these days. And the Ides also got back together, and are leader Jim Peterik's outlet for songs he's written for the Ides, Survivor, 38 Special, and others.
Guy Arnston in Algonquin
I think Dex Card was more upset about the break-up of the band than WE were! We agreed to do a series of appearances at his Wild Goose clubs as a way of saying goodbye to the fans. He actually cried the last time we performed.
-- Jim Pilster (Hooke) / The Cryan' Shames
Dex Card was the popular WLS afternoon jock who used to countdown the WLS Silver Dollar Survey every afternoon ... he opened up a string of nightclubs where he hosted any number of local talent acts on any given night ... and clearly, The Cryan' Shames were amongst his favorites. (kk)
I was fortunate enough to see The Ides - Shames Union perform at a downtown bar called Rush Up ... the band performed up in the loft for the patrons below. Sadly this was the beginning of The Disco Era ... and fewer and fewer rock bands were getting live performance gigs, having been replaced by deejays and light-up floors!!! Another big peformance for the band took place at B'Ginnings, a club owned at the time by Chicago (as in the BAND Chicago ... get it ... Beginnings?!?!?) Drummer Danny Seraphine. I found these pictures on The Cryan' Shames' website ... ironically from a concert that took place on my birthday back in 1975!!! (kk)
I showed this set list to Toad (Tom Doody) to see what HE remembered ... and this is what he had to say. (Personally, I thought that there was a surprising lack of well-known Cryan' Shames and Ides of March songs on the list ... material that the audience most certainly would have identified with. Perhaps this was intentional and the band was trying to forge a new identity, circa 1977??? Earlier comments indicate that they went with the "Ides - Shames" name to capitalize on familiarity and have a greater ease in securing bookings ... and Tom tells me that the band's 1975-1977 line-up excelled in song-writing. The mention of a "demo" session prompts me again to ask, "Is there ANY recorded material floating around out there by this version of the band???" Ron Kaplan has a VERY poor quality cassette recording of the above show ... and Toad mentioned hearing a tape shared by a fan ten years ago that impressed him as to just how good the band sounded live on stage. Surely SOMEONE out there must have SOMETHING to share???)
This was a set list towards the end of the group. We had really changed things by then. I believe when we started we did L.A. Goodbye, Hot Water and Vehicle by the Ides and we did Sugar and Spice, Up on the Roof, and It Could Be We're in Love by the Shames. The rest of the early group set were songs written by John Pavletic, and Don Melton. Dancing Shoes, California Triptic and a bunch of others, the names of which I can't remember by John. 76 and again a bunch of others whose names escape me by Don. It is interesting ... I still remember the melodies of all of there songs. They really were quite good.
Tom
When I saw The Ides - Shames Union perform at Rush Up, "Vehicle" and "Up On The Roof" were concert highlights ... incredibly, I still remember that night! (kk)
Meanwhile, Drummer Ron Kaplan had a few OTHER memories to share with us:
This is what I remember of the Ides / Shames Union.
I was playing with Redwood Landing and came home late one night to find a message from Jim Fairs. He said to call him no matter how late it was, which I did — at about 2 am, probably lunch time for Jim — and he asked me if I would be interested in joining the Ides / Shames Union. I had seen the band a few times, and thought this might be a good fit for me musically. While Redwood was a great band, and I had reservations about abandoning my good friend, and Redwood guitarist, Bobby Diamond, not everyone was putting the best interests of the band first, and it seemed like the right time to find something else to do. I rehearsed with the I / S Union for a couple of weeks in the basement of a house in Hinsdale, which could have been Hooke's, and my first gig with the band was at the Thirsty Whale on May 7, 1977. I have a live recording from this night, which has the date on the cassette case. The band members included Hooke and Jim Fairs from the Shames, Larry Millas from the Ides of March, keyboard player Don Melton, guitarist John Pavletic (I think), and, of course, Toad, who, for some reason, at first I couldn't recall being in the band. I recently listened to the tape to see if it would bring back any memories. I could hear Toad's distinctive voice singing harmony in the very first song, so I guess he was in the band after all. Too bad it wasn't until the fifth song of the first set, "It Could Be We're In Love", where he finally sang lead. I listened to the entire tape and out of 15 songs, Toad sang lead on only five of them. And only two of these were Cryan Shames originals. Is it any wonder that I didn't remember him being in the band? To me, that was the main problem with the Ides / Shames concept. I think that most people would assume it was not only a combination of players from both bands, but the songs from each group as well. The tape I have may be missing a song or two from that evening's performance, and while I vaguely remember that we did learn an Ides song, or possibly two, it seemed as if the band became a vehicle, (no pun intended), for Jim Fairs. He sang lead on most of the songs, and it became a night of guitar solos. That's not to say that the solos weren't good, but that's not why people — and in the case of that particular evening it sounded like there were all of five of them in the audience — came to see the band. What amazes me about that night's performance is how tight the band played, especially since it was my first gig with them. And while I was certain that I had escaped having to play the obligatory drum solo, as luck would have it, there it was during a completely unrecognizable version of "Tobacco Road." Oh, well. As for the harmonies, let's just say it was probably an off night and leave it at that. (NOTE: A list of songs, in the order they appear on the tape, appears earlier in this article.)
There's very little talking between songs, or whomever was running the tape was stopping and starting it, but at one point Hooke mentions that there would be three sets. I think it's the first and second sets that were recorded.
The only other job that comes to mind is a night that we played at a club in Aurora, and the PA system didn't show up. Luckily Redwood Landing used to rehearse at Pan PA, so I knew someone who might be able to help us. We contacted Ken Gorz, the owner of Pan, and he brought his system to the club as a last minute replacement. It's been such a long time that I don't really remember the reason I stopped playing with the band. It's possible that Toad left at some point, but considering the fact that I couldn't even remember him being in the band in the first place, I'm not sure if that means much. :-)
Ron
Ron DID send me a copy of one of the songs from that live Thirsty Whale tape. It's a VERY interesting cut called "Long Goodbye" ... which sounds like absolutely NOTHING either of these bands did on their own. Perhaps we're right ... using the familiar names got them their initial bookings ... but then they tried to forge their own musical identity. All I know is that this one sounds pretty good to me ... especially for a live cut ... and they don't come much rarer than this!!! (Thanks to ALL the guys for letting us "World Premier" this cut here in Forgotten Hits!!!)
Jim Pilster of The Cryan' Shames told us another interesting story:
Ask Tom if he remembers the time we performed as "Lemlow Phrultzb"!!! We were supposed to do a gig at The Aragon Ballroom with Gary Wright and Peter Frampton ... this was right around the time that "Frampton Comes Alive" hit the charts ... and it was a monster!!! ... and The Cryan' Shames were booked as the opening act. We're backstage and we're thinking that we're never going to go over with this crowd ... they weren't here to hear OUR music ... so we came up with the idea to go on as Lemlow Phrultzb ... that way if we died, nobody would know it was us ... and, if the audience didn't know it was us, they'd have no pre-conceived notion of what we were supposed to sound like and judge us for what we actually played instead. It was the one and only appearance of Lemlow Phrultzb!
-- Jim Pilster (Hooke) / The Cryan' Shames
The general feeling I got from all the guys I talked to is that the timing just wasn't right for this venture to succeed ... disco was at its peak and live bands in clubs were being replaced by disc jockeys and light-up floors. The punk scene was in its infancy ... and not enough time had passed yet for Chicagoland heroes like The Cryan' Shames and The Ides Of March to make us wax nostalgic about the good old days and the feel-good music they brought us. Yet every single one of them to a man wishes that there was more of a committment and focus to see things through. Unfortunately, when bookings fell off, they became discouraged and slowly started to fall apart. Fortunately, today we're often treated to ALL of the Chicago bands performing on the Summer Suburb Circuit ... and quite honestly The Ides Of March and The Cryan' Shames sound just as good ... or even better ... then they did back in the '60's and '70's.
We're STILL hoping to hear at least SOMETHING from Ides members Larry Millas and/or Chuck Soumar to give The Ides' perspective on this brief incarnation of the band. (Maybe once they see this, they'll feel inspired to get in touch ... stay tuned for more developments, IF they respond!!!)
Meanwhile, thanks to all of you for all your help in putting this piece together ... I really appreciate it. After three years' research, I'm giving you everything I've got!!! (lol) Well, at least I'm persistant!!!
REMINDER: Guy Arnston is still in the process of putting together the ULTIMATE Coffee Table Book spotlighting The History Of Chicago Rock ... if ANYBODY on the list would like to talk to him about this project ... was a member of these bands ... or knows where we might find some of the members of these bands ... please contact Guy Arnston at: guyarnston@sbcglobal.net
Even with some of the members of these bands on our mailing list ... and local contacts who are regularly in touch with former members of "The Union", we've had a difficult time assembling enough information to put together an "interesting" piece ... but this year ... thanks to a little help from our friends ... (Marlene O'Malley and Guy Arnston in particular!) ... we've FINALLY got something VERY nice to share with you!
Now, in all fairness, we've certainly given ample time to BOTH of these artists in the past ... in fact, we kicked off this special weekend series with a salute to each of them! As I just mentioned, we have typically saluted The Ides Of March every year on The Ides of March ... and The Cryan' Shames have ALWAYS been one of our favorite local bands ... so we've given them ample space in our Forgotten Hits pages over the years, too. But, quite honestly, I don't EVER recall seeing a significant piece written on the joined forces of these two artists ... so I figured that I may as well just do it myself!!!
For starters, thanks to Guy Arnston, who published "The Illinois Entertainer" back in its hey-day ... and Jeff Lind, who wrote that OUTSTANDING series on "The History Of Chicago Rock" ... ... we were able to put together a little something from that great series to share with you here today. (Sadly, Jeff passed away last year, so he won't even get to see it ... but his series has become the definitive source for the Chicagoland Rock Scene of the '60's and '70's. Guy Arnston is in the process right now of assembling and updating ALL of those pieces to be published in "coffee table" book form as a fitting tribute to the artists and music of this very special era.)
Along with Guy, we've got to tip our hat to Marlene O'Malley (aka "Rock On Chicago") ... and one of "The Shameless Babes" ... who helped put us in contact with some of the principle members of this late '70's version of The Cryan' Shames, lending this whole piece a "We Were There" perspective that we could have otherwise never achieved. (Sadly, we were NOT able to gather ANY perspective from The Ides Of March camp in time for this piece ... hopefully, after they see this posted on the web page, we'll be able to offer follow up comments from the likes of Chuck Soumar and Larry Millas, who were ALSO there at the time!) Hearing from a few of the band members who participated in The Ides - Shames Union REALLY helps to top things off this year ... and, as such, we're able to fill in a few more gaps in the story.
Here Goes ... our Forgotten Hits Tribute to The Ides - Shames Union!!!
(P.S. Efforts to track down ANY recorded material ... live or otherwise ... have failed miserably!!! When all was said and done, we've got exactly ONE track to share with you today ... but even that can be considered a World-Wide Exclusive Premier!!! If ANYONE on the list happens to have access to any other recordings by this version of the band, we'd LOVE to hear them ... perhaps we can do some type of follow-up feature somewhere down the road. In talking with the guys involved in this brief venture, THEY'D like to hear them, too!!! Likewise with photos and memorabilia ... virtually everything you'll see here today comes from The Cryan' Shames' website ... we'd love to share some MORE photos from back in the day if you've got them!)
***
First up, here's the bulk of Jeff Lind's original History Of Chicago Rock piece (with some current updating by Guy Arnston):
Hey Kent,
I seem to remember you were looking for more info on the Ides-Shames Union, a Seventies band that rose from the ashes of two of Chicago's most beloved groups, the Ides of March and the Cryan' Shames. I found mention of the Union in one of Jeff Lind's original History of Chicago Rock chapters. Here is what he had to say back in August of 1980, with a few alterations:
The Cryan' Shames farewell concert was held at the Cellar in December of 1969 ... Less than six months later, in the summer of 1970, the band got back together for a one-week series of concerts at the urging of WLS Disc Jockey Dex Card, who wanted the band to play at his Wild Goose Productions. It was a memorable week, full of surprises from the group, including a guest appearance from Jim Fairs. After the one week, the Cryan' Shames all went their separate ways. Jim Fairs went back to performing with a band called Cross (aka Hezikiah), who also had J. C.Hooke for awhile. Lenny Kerley and Dennis Conroy were back in their new country band, Possum River. Al Dawson also got into country rock. Toad (Tom Doody) gave up on music completely: "I didn't even listen to the radio." And so it remained for a period of almost four years. Hooke ended up as percussionist in a band called Jotto, while Kerley fronted Goodfoot. Fairs had done session work with Pearls Before Swine and was also a member of a Champaign-based band named Afterbirth. Toad was living in Minnesota when he heard about the breakup of the Ides of March (in November of 1973, leaving a third RCA album unreleased). He relates, "My friend Larry Millas, who was their bass player, gave me a call and we kicked around the idea of putting a band back together. I really felt like I still had talent, and I missed the music scene. We chose the name The Ides - Shames Union because we knew it would get us some better gigs, even though it sounded hokey." Besides Doody and Millas, the group included Chuck Soumar (from the Ides) on drums and trumpet, Don Melton on keyboards (he later played with Steve Dahl in Teenage Radiation), and John Pavletich (formerly with Orphanage) on lead guitar. Besides playing the hits of both bands, the group got into a newer sound that today would be called power pop. After about a year as the Ides - Shames Union, J. C.Hooke was lured away from Jotto, and Fairs from Afterbirth, and the band became the Cryan' Shames. When Chuck Soumar left, Ron Kaplan came in to play drums and Randy Ponetowski was added on keyboards to complete the group. Press coverage of the new group was prolific, but they lived up to their expectations in concert ... For two years, the group played at local clubs and bars, but they broke up for good in 1977. Of course, everybody knows that the Cryan' Shames were revived by Jim (Hooke) Pilster, and are still playing these days. And the Ides also got back together, and are leader Jim Peterik's outlet for songs he's written for the Ides, Survivor, 38 Special, and others.
Guy Arnston in Algonquin
I think Dex Card was more upset about the break-up of the band than WE were! We agreed to do a series of appearances at his Wild Goose clubs as a way of saying goodbye to the fans. He actually cried the last time we performed.
-- Jim Pilster (Hooke) / The Cryan' Shames
Dex Card was the popular WLS afternoon jock who used to countdown the WLS Silver Dollar Survey every afternoon ... he opened up a string of nightclubs where he hosted any number of local talent acts on any given night ... and clearly, The Cryan' Shames were amongst his favorites. (kk)
***
I was fortunate enough to see The Ides - Shames Union perform at a downtown bar called Rush Up ... the band performed up in the loft for the patrons below. Sadly this was the beginning of The Disco Era ... and fewer and fewer rock bands were getting live performance gigs, having been replaced by deejays and light-up floors!!! Another big peformance for the band took place at B'Ginnings, a club owned at the time by Chicago (as in the BAND Chicago ... get it ... Beginnings?!?!?) Drummer Danny Seraphine. I found these pictures on The Cryan' Shames' website ... ironically from a concert that took place on my birthday back in 1975!!! (kk)
(Very special thanks to Joanie Crear, who took these photos ... and to Pat and Barb Malott, who maintain The Cryan' Shames website.)
I remember Rush Up ... we had to carry this giant Hammond B-3 organ up a floor of stairs in order to get it into this cramped little loft area where we were supposed to perform. The space was so tight we literally couldn't move out of our spots while playing!
-- Jim Pilster (Hooke) / The Cryan' Shames
Where to begin?
I had been totally out of music for 3 yrs. I was even living in a different state. I got a call from Dave Remidi and John Galobich. They were both record promotion men from Columbia Records, and old friends. They wanted to know if I would consider getting back into music, with a couple of guys from the Ides of March. After some consideration, I said yes and I moved back to Chicago.
The members from the Ides were: Chuck Soumar on drums and Larry Millas on bass. Chuck is a trumpet player, but he can really play drums, and sings great. Larry was a guitar player, picked up the bass and did a great job with it. A real groove monster, and a super singer. It also helped that these are two of the nicest guys you are ever going to meet.
We added two new members. Don Melton on piano ... good player, good singer, very good song writer and possibly the most musical person I have ever met. We were also lucky to have John Pavletic on guitar. I have been fortunate to play with great guitarists like Jim Fairs, Lenny Kerley and Jeff Rutter. John was their equal, super melodic and he could play riffs faster than anyone I have heard. He also could sing very good and was a prolific and very good song writer.
This was us ... musical, vocal and all original material rock and roll. We came at a time when glam rock and disco were king. Our musical inspiration was from a different generation. We wanted to let people know from where we came. That's why we called ourselves the Ides - Shames Union. We tried to seek a different personality, but this is a hard thing to do when you had success being who you were.
All this said, the band sounded great live. About 10 yrs ago a fan let me hear a recording of the Ides - Shames at a local club ... and I was blown away at how good it sounded.
We added new members. Jim Pilster ... I was always most comfortable with him on stage with me. Chuck left (he needed more stability in his life) and we added Ted Kalamatas, another great jazz style drummer. At this time we added another lead instrument to our group ... Randy Poiniatowski on Hammond Organ. He could really play and the sound of two keyboards was super. John Pavletec took his leave ... too many smokey clubs and not enough recognition. He was replaced by Jim Fairs. I don't have to tell you about Jim's chops. I think at this time we replaced Ted with Ronnie Kaplan. He was the last drummer we had with the Shames. After all these changes we were still sounding great live, but not attracting an audience ... so we disbanded.
Looking back, I am sorry that Don and John did not get the recognition they deserved as song writers ... also that a larger audience was not able to hear the group live. It is hard to catch magic twice. Also, as a lead singer fortunate to have hit records, you are always going to be recognized for that work. I was still able to sing ... I thought pretty good, by the way ... but it was not new or different enough to carry the day. This (and perhaps our lack of real vision) sealed our destiny.
I still like the band ... it sounded great and it had some of the best people I have ever worked with. Hope this helps.
Toad
This was us ... musical, vocal and all original material rock and roll. We came at a time when glam rock and disco were king. Our musical inspiration was from a different generation. We wanted to let people know from where we came. That's why we called ourselves the Ides - Shames Union. We tried to seek a different personality, but this is a hard thing to do when you had success being who you were.
All this said, the band sounded great live. About 10 yrs ago a fan let me hear a recording of the Ides - Shames at a local club ... and I was blown away at how good it sounded.
We added new members. Jim Pilster ... I was always most comfortable with him on stage with me. Chuck left (he needed more stability in his life) and we added Ted Kalamatas, another great jazz style drummer. At this time we added another lead instrument to our group ... Randy Poiniatowski on Hammond Organ. He could really play and the sound of two keyboards was super. John Pavletec took his leave ... too many smokey clubs and not enough recognition. He was replaced by Jim Fairs. I don't have to tell you about Jim's chops. I think at this time we replaced Ted with Ronnie Kaplan. He was the last drummer we had with the Shames. After all these changes we were still sounding great live, but not attracting an audience ... so we disbanded.
Looking back, I am sorry that Don and John did not get the recognition they deserved as song writers ... also that a larger audience was not able to hear the group live. It is hard to catch magic twice. Also, as a lead singer fortunate to have hit records, you are always going to be recognized for that work. I was still able to sing ... I thought pretty good, by the way ... but it was not new or different enough to carry the day. This (and perhaps our lack of real vision) sealed our destiny.
I still like the band ... it sounded great and it had some of the best people I have ever worked with. Hope this helps.
Toad
(Tom Doody)
P.S. It looks like you've done your home work! It was a fun band that sounded great live. I enjoyed it, especially the guys I played with. I wish I had some pictures from the group, but I don't. Thanks for the update.
I remember Ron Kaplan ... we used to call him "Ronnie Rent-A-Drummer"!!! He was a fun guy and I've kind of lost touch with him over the years ... actually, I'd love to talk to him again. He was a good drummer but we used to tease him because he would iron his jeans ... actually iron in a crease in his blue jeans ... and we'd say "C'mon, Ronnie, we're a ROCK band!!! You can't iron your jeans!!!"
-- Jim Pilster (Hooke) / The Cryan' Shames
Guy Arnston put me in contact with Ron Kaplan for this series ... little did I know at the time that he was already a Forgotten Hits List Member!!! (lol) Ironically, he now calls HIMSELF "Rent-A-Drummer" and even has his own website. He's still playing music and recording and, thanks to this series, has been back in touch with both Jim Pilster and Tom Doody! (kk)
There was a period 'after the fall' of the 60's scene, when a number of fine musicians and writers simply could not find a 'fit' for there ideas and talents. The private studio scene had yet to truly emerge, there were no niche' labels, no niche' marketing endeavors, etc., ... and the clubs were playing disco, which (in all fairness) eventually paved the way for Dance, House, Dub, Scratch, Rap...and more.
I was asked to join the 'Ides-Shames Union', which consisted of Don Melton, Randy Poniotowsky, Ron Kaplan, Tom Doody, Larry Millas, and Jim Pilster. I would be replacing John Pavletic, who was branching out into the high-end audio installation market.
The group had no real "raison d'etre" ... reason for existence ... but acted as a means for the participants to find their way to the next steps in their lives. There was no real fan base, etc. ... yet high points for me included the groups' performances of my songs "Now You Can Fly", "In This Dream", and "This Life-These Times". I also enjoyed watching Tom Doody re-invent his vocal style to suit the circumstances.
Tom went on to work with Ditech in California ... and to learn the bass!!!
Larry Millas started a number of exceptional recording studios, resumed playing with the (re-formed) Ides of March ... and joined with me in founding IMI Innovations, Inc.
Randy still plays the organ, I believe ... and Larry's in touch with him
Ron Kaplan is still, no doubt, a fine drummer, and lives in Texas
Don Melton (a great guy) is, I'm sure, still writing music
Jim Pilster (always up for a jam session!) went on to form a long-term 'oldies' - based version of the Cryan' Shames.
... and time continues to come down; you've got to take it on yourself.
all the best
Jim Fairs
I felt that with The Ides - Shames Union it seemed as if the band became more of a vehicle, (no pun intended), for Jim Fairs. He sang lead on most of the songs, and it became a night of guitar solos. That's not to say that the solos weren't good, but that's not why people came to see the band. --Ron Kaplan
Hey Kent,
Prior to sending you that Illinois Entertainer piece, I talked to Jeff Lind and he told me that he saw the Ides - Shames Union in early 1974 at Papa Joe's, the former Deep End, in downtown Park Ridge. Tom Doody from the Shames was lead vocalist,with fellow former Shame John Pavletich on lead guitar. Larry Millas (bass) and Chuck Soumar (horns) from the Ides of March were also in the Union. Doody returned to music for this project from his gig as an accountant; Jim Peterik had just broken up the Ides. Jeff didn't remember the other musicians. They played out for a year or so, then the New Cryan' Shames came out. Songs included the usual suspects, like Vehicle, L.A. Goodbye, Sugar and Spice, Up on the Roof, It Could Be We're in Love. That's about it from this end. Can't wait to see what else you come up with. -- Guy in Algonquin
After Guy put us in contact with latter-day Ides - Shames Union Drummer Ron Kaplan, he came up with a copy of the set list that the band performed at The Thirsty Whale back in 1977:
In This Dream
Waiting For You
Easy Money
Take That Ride
It Could Be We're In Love
Waiting For You
Easy Money
Take That Ride
It Could Be We're In Love
You Can Fly
Hot Water
We All Need Someone To Love (Toad sang this one)
Natures.... (Can't figure out what song this is, but Toad's singing it as well)
--- BREAK ---
In This Dream (For the second time, so I'm not sure where we are in the evening at this point)
Some Jazzy sounding song that I don't recall, but Toad sounds great on it
Long Goodbye
A pseudo funk latin version of Sugar and Spice (I kid you not!)
Hot Water
We All Need Someone To Love (Toad sang this one)
Natures.... (Can't figure out what song this is, but Toad's singing it as well)
--- BREAK ---
In This Dream (For the second time, so I'm not sure where we are in the evening at this point)
Some Jazzy sounding song that I don't recall, but Toad sounds great on it
Long Goodbye
A pseudo funk latin version of Sugar and Spice (I kid you not!)
On The River
Love Song (A really great song, which as fate would have it, I got to play drums on when I was asked to replace a track on a demo version)
Tobacco Road (drat, a drum solo)
Let It Roll
Obviously, It Could Be We're in Love and Sugar and Spice are Shames tunes, and Hot Water is a single from the Ides album Midnight Oil. None of the other songs are on the Shames albums. Maybe Toad remembers where they came from.
Love Song (A really great song, which as fate would have it, I got to play drums on when I was asked to replace a track on a demo version)
Tobacco Road (drat, a drum solo)
Let It Roll
Obviously, It Could Be We're in Love and Sugar and Spice are Shames tunes, and Hot Water is a single from the Ides album Midnight Oil. None of the other songs are on the Shames albums. Maybe Toad remembers where they came from.
-- Ron Kaplan
I showed this set list to Toad (Tom Doody) to see what HE remembered ... and this is what he had to say. (Personally, I thought that there was a surprising lack of well-known Cryan' Shames and Ides of March songs on the list ... material that the audience most certainly would have identified with. Perhaps this was intentional and the band was trying to forge a new identity, circa 1977??? Earlier comments indicate that they went with the "Ides - Shames" name to capitalize on familiarity and have a greater ease in securing bookings ... and Tom tells me that the band's 1975-1977 line-up excelled in song-writing. The mention of a "demo" session prompts me again to ask, "Is there ANY recorded material floating around out there by this version of the band???" Ron Kaplan has a VERY poor quality cassette recording of the above show ... and Toad mentioned hearing a tape shared by a fan ten years ago that impressed him as to just how good the band sounded live on stage. Surely SOMEONE out there must have SOMETHING to share???)
This was a set list towards the end of the group. We had really changed things by then. I believe when we started we did L.A. Goodbye, Hot Water and Vehicle by the Ides and we did Sugar and Spice, Up on the Roof, and It Could Be We're in Love by the Shames. The rest of the early group set were songs written by John Pavletic, and Don Melton. Dancing Shoes, California Triptic and a bunch of others, the names of which I can't remember by John. 76 and again a bunch of others whose names escape me by Don. It is interesting ... I still remember the melodies of all of there songs. They really were quite good.
Tom
When I saw The Ides - Shames Union perform at Rush Up, "Vehicle" and "Up On The Roof" were concert highlights ... incredibly, I still remember that night! (kk)
Meanwhile, Drummer Ron Kaplan had a few OTHER memories to share with us:
This is what I remember of the Ides / Shames Union.
I was playing with Redwood Landing and came home late one night to find a message from Jim Fairs. He said to call him no matter how late it was, which I did — at about 2 am, probably lunch time for Jim — and he asked me if I would be interested in joining the Ides / Shames Union. I had seen the band a few times, and thought this might be a good fit for me musically. While Redwood was a great band, and I had reservations about abandoning my good friend, and Redwood guitarist, Bobby Diamond, not everyone was putting the best interests of the band first, and it seemed like the right time to find something else to do. I rehearsed with the I / S Union for a couple of weeks in the basement of a house in Hinsdale, which could have been Hooke's, and my first gig with the band was at the Thirsty Whale on May 7, 1977. I have a live recording from this night, which has the date on the cassette case. The band members included Hooke and Jim Fairs from the Shames, Larry Millas from the Ides of March, keyboard player Don Melton, guitarist John Pavletic (I think), and, of course, Toad, who, for some reason, at first I couldn't recall being in the band. I recently listened to the tape to see if it would bring back any memories. I could hear Toad's distinctive voice singing harmony in the very first song, so I guess he was in the band after all. Too bad it wasn't until the fifth song of the first set, "It Could Be We're In Love", where he finally sang lead. I listened to the entire tape and out of 15 songs, Toad sang lead on only five of them. And only two of these were Cryan Shames originals. Is it any wonder that I didn't remember him being in the band? To me, that was the main problem with the Ides / Shames concept. I think that most people would assume it was not only a combination of players from both bands, but the songs from each group as well. The tape I have may be missing a song or two from that evening's performance, and while I vaguely remember that we did learn an Ides song, or possibly two, it seemed as if the band became a vehicle, (no pun intended), for Jim Fairs. He sang lead on most of the songs, and it became a night of guitar solos. That's not to say that the solos weren't good, but that's not why people — and in the case of that particular evening it sounded like there were all of five of them in the audience — came to see the band. What amazes me about that night's performance is how tight the band played, especially since it was my first gig with them. And while I was certain that I had escaped having to play the obligatory drum solo, as luck would have it, there it was during a completely unrecognizable version of "Tobacco Road." Oh, well. As for the harmonies, let's just say it was probably an off night and leave it at that. (NOTE: A list of songs, in the order they appear on the tape, appears earlier in this article.)
There's very little talking between songs, or whomever was running the tape was stopping and starting it, but at one point Hooke mentions that there would be three sets. I think it's the first and second sets that were recorded.
The only other job that comes to mind is a night that we played at a club in Aurora, and the PA system didn't show up. Luckily Redwood Landing used to rehearse at Pan PA, so I knew someone who might be able to help us. We contacted Ken Gorz, the owner of Pan, and he brought his system to the club as a last minute replacement. It's been such a long time that I don't really remember the reason I stopped playing with the band. It's possible that Toad left at some point, but considering the fact that I couldn't even remember him being in the band in the first place, I'm not sure if that means much. :-)
Ron
Ron DID send me a copy of one of the songs from that live Thirsty Whale tape. It's a VERY interesting cut called "Long Goodbye" ... which sounds like absolutely NOTHING either of these bands did on their own. Perhaps we're right ... using the familiar names got them their initial bookings ... but then they tried to forge their own musical identity. All I know is that this one sounds pretty good to me ... especially for a live cut ... and they don't come much rarer than this!!! (Thanks to ALL the guys for letting us "World Premier" this cut here in Forgotten Hits!!!)
Jim Pilster of The Cryan' Shames told us another interesting story:
Ask Tom if he remembers the time we performed as "Lemlow Phrultzb"!!! We were supposed to do a gig at The Aragon Ballroom with Gary Wright and Peter Frampton ... this was right around the time that "Frampton Comes Alive" hit the charts ... and it was a monster!!! ... and The Cryan' Shames were booked as the opening act. We're backstage and we're thinking that we're never going to go over with this crowd ... they weren't here to hear OUR music ... so we came up with the idea to go on as Lemlow Phrultzb ... that way if we died, nobody would know it was us ... and, if the audience didn't know it was us, they'd have no pre-conceived notion of what we were supposed to sound like and judge us for what we actually played instead. It was the one and only appearance of Lemlow Phrultzb!
-- Jim Pilster (Hooke) / The Cryan' Shames
The general feeling I got from all the guys I talked to is that the timing just wasn't right for this venture to succeed ... disco was at its peak and live bands in clubs were being replaced by disc jockeys and light-up floors. The punk scene was in its infancy ... and not enough time had passed yet for Chicagoland heroes like The Cryan' Shames and The Ides Of March to make us wax nostalgic about the good old days and the feel-good music they brought us. Yet every single one of them to a man wishes that there was more of a committment and focus to see things through. Unfortunately, when bookings fell off, they became discouraged and slowly started to fall apart. Fortunately, today we're often treated to ALL of the Chicago bands performing on the Summer Suburb Circuit ... and quite honestly The Ides Of March and The Cryan' Shames sound just as good ... or even better ... then they did back in the '60's and '70's.
We're STILL hoping to hear at least SOMETHING from Ides members Larry Millas and/or Chuck Soumar to give The Ides' perspective on this brief incarnation of the band. (Maybe once they see this, they'll feel inspired to get in touch ... stay tuned for more developments, IF they respond!!!)
Meanwhile, thanks to all of you for all your help in putting this piece together ... I really appreciate it. After three years' research, I'm giving you everything I've got!!! (lol) Well, at least I'm persistant!!!
REMINDER: Guy Arnston is still in the process of putting together the ULTIMATE Coffee Table Book spotlighting The History Of Chicago Rock ... if ANYBODY on the list would like to talk to him about this project ... was a member of these bands ... or knows where we might find some of the members of these bands ... please contact Guy Arnston at: guyarnston@sbcglobal.net
Saturday, March 14, 2009
The Ides Of March
Before The Ides Of March EXPLODED on the national scene with their chart-topping rock classic "Vehicle", they placed a couple of "garage band" tunes on our local Chicagoland charts.
First ... and certainly one of their BEST ... was 1966's "You Wouldn't Listen", a #7 smash here in Chi-Town that JUST missed cracking The National Top 40 when it peaked at #42 in Billboard.
This was followed by "Roller Coaster", a #19 local hit that peaked at #92 in Billboard.
I've also included one of MY personal favorite Ides songs from this era, "My Foolish Pride". Unfortunately, this one never charted at all ... and that's a shame. Not only does it have a very distinctive sound to it, but it almost serves as a precursor to the "horn" sound that was to come.
For a complete touring schedule, be sure to check out The Ides Of March's website here: Click here: The Ides Of March Flash Intro
First ... and certainly one of their BEST ... was 1966's "You Wouldn't Listen", a #7 smash here in Chi-Town that JUST missed cracking The National Top 40 when it peaked at #42 in Billboard.
This was followed by "Roller Coaster", a #19 local hit that peaked at #92 in Billboard.
I've also included one of MY personal favorite Ides songs from this era, "My Foolish Pride". Unfortunately, this one never charted at all ... and that's a shame. Not only does it have a very distinctive sound to it, but it almost serves as a precursor to the "horn" sound that was to come.
These guys went to the same High School that I did (but were a few years ahead of me and, as such, had already graduated by the time I hit my junior and senior years.) They practiced, however, right down the street from that High School and several of us used to go hang outside the house and listen to them rehearse in their basement.
The group started out as The Shondells (named after Troy Shondell, believe it or not, who had a #1 Hit here in Chicago with his One Hit Wonder, "This Time".) Ides guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and chef, cook and bottle washer Jim Peterik said he just fell in love with the name and thought it would make a GREAT moniker for his high school band. In 1966, however, ANOTHER group calling themselves The Shondells (as in "Tommy James and the ...") scored a #1 million selling hit single with "Hanky Panky" so our Berwyn buddies had to come up with a new name. Studying Julius Caesar in High School, they hit upon "The Ides Of March" ... and it stuck. (In fact, over the years, The Ides have come back to Morton West High School on a number of occasions to perform ON The Ides Of March!)
By the late '60's and early '70's, horn bands were big with groups like Blood, Sweat And Tears and Chicago's own Chase and The Chicago Transit Authority tearing up the charts. Peterik turned the story of what we were all taught as children ... what to do if a stranger offers you candy to get into the backseat of his car ... designed by parents to both protect us AND scare the bejeezus out of us ... into a rock and roll classic. "Vehicle" shot up the charts, eventually peaking at #2 in Billboard and going all the way to #1 here on our local radio charts. It has since gone on to become an absolute rock classic.
Several months later, an OUTSTANDING follow-up hit peaked at #2 here in Chi-Town but was virtually ignored by radio everywhere else. As such, the beautiful "L.A. Goodbye" (written about the group's return to Chicago after performing out on the west coast) only went to #72 on the national charts. It's a gem that ABSOLUTELY deserves to be heard.
The Ides Of March have gotten back together a number of times over the past fifteen years or so ... and, incredibly, with all of the original members intact. Peterik, meanwhile, has had ALL kinds of solo success, both with Survivor (Eye of the Tiger) as well as writing songs for other artists (like .38 Special). He also has become a Chicagoland fixture with his World Stage performances.
Without question, The Ides Of March STILL put on one of the most dynamic shows you're going to see around town ... and they feature music from ALL of the different phases of Peterik's career.
For a complete touring schedule, be sure to check out The Ides Of March's website here: Click here: The Ides Of March Flash Intro
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Cryan' Shames
One of my favorite Chicagoland bands of the '60's was The Cryan' Shames.
Although they never had a Top 40 Hit on the national charts, The Cryan' Shames were ALL over the radio here in Chi-Town back in the mid-to-late '60's.
Hits like Sugar And Spice, I Wanna Meet You, Mr. Unreliable, It Could Be We're In Love and Up On The Roof ALL made The Top Ten on AM Giants WLS and WCFL and were played right alongside all of the biggest hits of the day. (Here in Chicago, It Could Be We're In Love topped the charts for FOUR WEEKS during the summer of 1967, despite never rising higher than #85 on the Billboard Chart and #70 on the Cash Box Magazine counterpart. As a result, National #1 Hits like All You Need Is Love by The Beatles and Light My Fire by the Doors never reached the summit here in Chi-Town.)
Over the years, more and more folks around the country have been discovering some of this GREAT music they missed the first time around thanks to its inclusion in various '60's compilations, a complete CD reissue series of all of their albums on Sundazed and services like Forgotten Hits.
The hits stopped in 1968 and, by 1970, the band split up after completing a series of appearances at Dex Card's Wild Goose nightclubs.
In 1973, an attempted "merger" with another big Chicagoland musical attraction, The Ides Of March, pumped some new life into some of these former bandmates. (We'll give you the rundown on this venture in their own words later this weekend.)
The Cryan' Shames would reunite again in the late '80's and have been together (in SOME formation) ever since, regularly appearing at many of the local summer neighborhood festivals around Chicagoland. Original Jim "Hooke" Pilster is still on board and, at various times, you're likely to catch lead vocalist Tom "Toad" Doody, guitarist Jim Fairs and/or Rock And Roll Roots / DRIVE DeeJay Bob Stroud sitting in as well. (They've also recently presented forums for vocalists like Dennis Tufano, original lead singer of The Buckinghams, Jimy Sohns, lead vocalist of The Shadows Of Knight and Ronnie Rice, the most often featured lead vocalist of The New Colony Six to step up to the microphone again, using The Cryan' Shames as their back-up band!!!)
For a rundown on upcoming appearances, be sure to check out The Cryan' Shames' website:
Click here: http://www.cryanshames.com/index2.html
I caught The Cryan' Shames for the very first time back in 1966 when the band was still calling itself "The Travelers". They were playing a WLS Hop in the parking lot of The Hillside Shopping Center and WLS "East Of Midnight" Jock Don Phillips was MC-ing the event. Incredibly, what drew me there in the first place was the fact that I was in the market to buy a new guitar and had seen an advertisement for a Sunburst Gretch Country Gentleman in the local paper. When I called the phone number, I was told that I could "demo" the guitar during one of the band's breaks at that Hillside concert. Sure enough, I was soon sitting inside of a trailer with Shames' Guitarist Jim Fairs, right after the band had played a KILLER version of the Jr. Walker hit "Shotgun". Completely intimidated by his presence after seeing him perform on stage just moments before (and a complete NOVICE on the instrument) I barely gave the guitar much more than a casual once-over ... but Fairs let me hear how it COULD sound in the hands of a VERY capable guitarist. Had I only known then what I know now, I would have bought the thing ... but the truth is, I had my heart set on a brand new Cherry Red Gibson ES335 ... and no USED guitar (no matter WHO it belonged to) was going to dissuade me!
Before we left, we heard The Travelers play what they said was going to be their "brand new single" ... a FANTASTIC version of The Searchers' hit "Sugar And Spice". Prior to the record being released, the band changed their name to The Cryan' Shames ... and the very first record pressed was hand-delivered to Clark Weber over at WLS Radio, The Big 89, who IMMEDIATELY put it on the air. It was a break-out smash ... and Sugar And Spice raced up the WLS chart, eventually peaking at #4. (This is probably their best-known tune outside of Chicago, where WLS was beamed into households ALL over the country with a 50,000 watt clear channel most evenings. It ended up on Rhino's Nuggets LP and gained a whole new audience.)
A while back, we asked Tony Hatch to fill us in on the story behind "Sugar And Spice", a song he wrote for The Searchers under the pseudonym "Fred Nightingale". Here is what he told us:
***
Sugar And Spice was followed by one of MY favorites by the band, "I Wanna Meet You", which went to #6 on the Chicagoland charts.
Although they never had a Top 40 Hit on the national charts, The Cryan' Shames were ALL over the radio here in Chi-Town back in the mid-to-late '60's.
Hits like Sugar And Spice, I Wanna Meet You, Mr. Unreliable, It Could Be We're In Love and Up On The Roof ALL made The Top Ten on AM Giants WLS and WCFL and were played right alongside all of the biggest hits of the day. (Here in Chicago, It Could Be We're In Love topped the charts for FOUR WEEKS during the summer of 1967, despite never rising higher than #85 on the Billboard Chart and #70 on the Cash Box Magazine counterpart. As a result, National #1 Hits like All You Need Is Love by The Beatles and Light My Fire by the Doors never reached the summit here in Chi-Town.)
Over the years, more and more folks around the country have been discovering some of this GREAT music they missed the first time around thanks to its inclusion in various '60's compilations, a complete CD reissue series of all of their albums on Sundazed and services like Forgotten Hits.
The hits stopped in 1968 and, by 1970, the band split up after completing a series of appearances at Dex Card's Wild Goose nightclubs.
In 1973, an attempted "merger" with another big Chicagoland musical attraction, The Ides Of March, pumped some new life into some of these former bandmates. (We'll give you the rundown on this venture in their own words later this weekend.)
The Cryan' Shames would reunite again in the late '80's and have been together (in SOME formation) ever since, regularly appearing at many of the local summer neighborhood festivals around Chicagoland. Original Jim "Hooke" Pilster is still on board and, at various times, you're likely to catch lead vocalist Tom "Toad" Doody, guitarist Jim Fairs and/or Rock And Roll Roots / DRIVE DeeJay Bob Stroud sitting in as well. (They've also recently presented forums for vocalists like Dennis Tufano, original lead singer of The Buckinghams, Jimy Sohns, lead vocalist of The Shadows Of Knight and Ronnie Rice, the most often featured lead vocalist of The New Colony Six to step up to the microphone again, using The Cryan' Shames as their back-up band!!!)
For a rundown on upcoming appearances, be sure to check out The Cryan' Shames' website:
Click here: http://www.cryanshames.com/index2.html
***
I caught The Cryan' Shames for the very first time back in 1966 when the band was still calling itself "The Travelers". They were playing a WLS Hop in the parking lot of The Hillside Shopping Center and WLS "East Of Midnight" Jock Don Phillips was MC-ing the event. Incredibly, what drew me there in the first place was the fact that I was in the market to buy a new guitar and had seen an advertisement for a Sunburst Gretch Country Gentleman in the local paper. When I called the phone number, I was told that I could "demo" the guitar during one of the band's breaks at that Hillside concert. Sure enough, I was soon sitting inside of a trailer with Shames' Guitarist Jim Fairs, right after the band had played a KILLER version of the Jr. Walker hit "Shotgun". Completely intimidated by his presence after seeing him perform on stage just moments before (and a complete NOVICE on the instrument) I barely gave the guitar much more than a casual once-over ... but Fairs let me hear how it COULD sound in the hands of a VERY capable guitarist. Had I only known then what I know now, I would have bought the thing ... but the truth is, I had my heart set on a brand new Cherry Red Gibson ES335 ... and no USED guitar (no matter WHO it belonged to) was going to dissuade me!
Before we left, we heard The Travelers play what they said was going to be their "brand new single" ... a FANTASTIC version of The Searchers' hit "Sugar And Spice". Prior to the record being released, the band changed their name to The Cryan' Shames ... and the very first record pressed was hand-delivered to Clark Weber over at WLS Radio, The Big 89, who IMMEDIATELY put it on the air. It was a break-out smash ... and Sugar And Spice raced up the WLS chart, eventually peaking at #4. (This is probably their best-known tune outside of Chicago, where WLS was beamed into households ALL over the country with a 50,000 watt clear channel most evenings. It ended up on Rhino's Nuggets LP and gained a whole new audience.)
***
A while back, we asked Tony Hatch to fill us in on the story behind "Sugar And Spice", a song he wrote for The Searchers under the pseudonym "Fred Nightingale". Here is what he told us:
Hello Kent,
Here's the full story regarding SUGAR AND SPICE:
SWEETS FOR MY SWEET had been a big hit for THE SEARCHERS but I was having difficulty getting them into the studio again because of the work generated for them by the hit. A familiar story. Their manager could only see the instant money and the boys needed it. They didn't write songs and although they had some other American R&B songs in their repertoire I was reluctant to release another cover. Whilst waiting for them to confirm a recording date I wrote SUGAR AND SPICE as a reserve title although I did think it would make a good follow-up to 'SWEETS' if only they would record it. The session was finally arranged and I fully expected them to arrive with at least a couple of good ideas. They had nothing so I played them SUGAR AND SPICE and, fearing they might not like it or be influenced against it because I, their producer, had written it, I told them it was a song I'd picked up from a young UK writer called FRED NIGHTINGALE. I was thinking, 'Well, if they say it's crap, it's not my song.' Happily, and somewhat to my surprise, they liked it immediately and set about arranging and rehearsing it. This was fortunate for me because we were in an expensive recording studio and not a cheap rehearsal room. By then I couldn't risk telling them the truth and kept saying inane things like, 'I wish Fred had been here.' It was recorded 'live'. It felt good. The record company (PYE) thought it was the perfect follow-up to SWEETS and the rest, as they say, is history.
THE SEARCHERS have said for many years that they always knew it was my song but preferred to let me play my game. It isn't true that I had a proven track record in 1963 but it was building. I'd had a US & UK hit with LOOK FOR A STAR in 1959, some more near misses, a couple of hits with comedian BENNY HILL plus Bobby Rydell's FORGET HIM in early 1963 but that was about it. DOWNTOWN and the real hits started late in 1964.
I haven't heard the CRYAN' SHAMES record for years so can't really remember it but would have been very pleased to have them cover it.
Best wishes.
TONY HATCH
By the way, after this piece originally ran, I sent a copy of THE CRYAN' SHAMES' version so that TONY could hear it again, figuring that, at the VERY least, it deserves a listen every thirty years or so!!! LOL After listening to it again after all this time, here is what TONY HATCH had to say:
Thanks, Kent.
Pretty good for a 43-year-old record but the lyrics are the most basic (or do I mean banal?) ever written. I think that resolves the issue of the songwriting credit. I wrote the tune. Fred wrote the lyrics.
Regards,
TONY
LOL!!! TOO funny!!!
Here's the full story regarding SUGAR AND SPICE:
SWEETS FOR MY SWEET had been a big hit for THE SEARCHERS but I was having difficulty getting them into the studio again because of the work generated for them by the hit. A familiar story. Their manager could only see the instant money and the boys needed it. They didn't write songs and although they had some other American R&B songs in their repertoire I was reluctant to release another cover. Whilst waiting for them to confirm a recording date I wrote SUGAR AND SPICE as a reserve title although I did think it would make a good follow-up to 'SWEETS' if only they would record it. The session was finally arranged and I fully expected them to arrive with at least a couple of good ideas. They had nothing so I played them SUGAR AND SPICE and, fearing they might not like it or be influenced against it because I, their producer, had written it, I told them it was a song I'd picked up from a young UK writer called FRED NIGHTINGALE. I was thinking, 'Well, if they say it's crap, it's not my song.' Happily, and somewhat to my surprise, they liked it immediately and set about arranging and rehearsing it. This was fortunate for me because we were in an expensive recording studio and not a cheap rehearsal room. By then I couldn't risk telling them the truth and kept saying inane things like, 'I wish Fred had been here.' It was recorded 'live'. It felt good. The record company (PYE) thought it was the perfect follow-up to SWEETS and the rest, as they say, is history.
THE SEARCHERS have said for many years that they always knew it was my song but preferred to let me play my game. It isn't true that I had a proven track record in 1963 but it was building. I'd had a US & UK hit with LOOK FOR A STAR in 1959, some more near misses, a couple of hits with comedian BENNY HILL plus Bobby Rydell's FORGET HIM in early 1963 but that was about it. DOWNTOWN and the real hits started late in 1964.
I haven't heard the CRYAN' SHAMES record for years so can't really remember it but would have been very pleased to have them cover it.
Best wishes.
TONY HATCH
By the way, after this piece originally ran, I sent a copy of THE CRYAN' SHAMES' version so that TONY could hear it again, figuring that, at the VERY least, it deserves a listen every thirty years or so!!! LOL After listening to it again after all this time, here is what TONY HATCH had to say:
Thanks, Kent.
Pretty good for a 43-year-old record but the lyrics are the most basic (or do I mean banal?) ever written. I think that resolves the issue of the songwriting credit. I wrote the tune. Fred wrote the lyrics.
Regards,
TONY
LOL!!! TOO funny!!!
***
Sugar And Spice was followed by one of MY favorites by the band, "I Wanna Meet You", which went to #6 on the Chicagoland charts.
The following year, the incredible voices and beautiful harmonies of the band were showcased on two ballads ... It Could Be We're In Love and Up On The Roof. Up On The Roof was first a hit for The Drifters back in 1963, but The Shames stripped it down even further and let their voices carry the tune. Story goes that Carole King liked The Cryan' Shames' version so much, she had it played at her second wedding!
It Could Be We're In Love became the band's biggest local hit, topping the charts here for four weeks during the summer of 1967. Again, the voices REALLY shine on this one ... and the arrangement has often been compared to that of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys over the years. All I know is that it's become a Chicagoland classic. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Cryan' Shames and The Ides Of March
For the past three years, we've been trying to put together a decent tribute / remembrance of the brief merger of two of Chicago's premier bands of the '60's and '70's ... but have never been able to get the participation we needed to come up with a piece worth reading!!!
This year ALL of that has changed ... as SEVERAL members of the short-lived Ides - Shames Union have agreed to share their memories with our Forgotten Hits Readers.
The Cryan' Shames and The Ides of March are just two of our local musical heroes ... and achieved far greater success here in The Windy City than they did on the national charts ... but a few of these hits did, in fact, "cross over" in a very big way.
This weekend, we'll be taking a look (and giving a listen) to a few of them.
Stick around: It's an Ides / Shames Weekend in Forgotten Hits!!!
This year ALL of that has changed ... as SEVERAL members of the short-lived Ides - Shames Union have agreed to share their memories with our Forgotten Hits Readers.
The Cryan' Shames and The Ides of March are just two of our local musical heroes ... and achieved far greater success here in The Windy City than they did on the national charts ... but a few of these hits did, in fact, "cross over" in a very big way.
This weekend, we'll be taking a look (and giving a listen) to a few of them.
Stick around: It's an Ides / Shames Weekend in Forgotten Hits!!!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
American City Suite
One of the songs that has ALWAYS received a good response here in Forgotten Hits is "American City Suite" by Cashman and West. Despite the fact that this was not a big hit record, it got a TON of airplay on the soft-rock stations here in Chicago in the early '70's ... particularly the end piece, "A Friend Is Dying," which was often edited and played as a stand-alone tune. "American City Suite" peaked at #27 on both of the National Charts in 1972 and was strung together as a medley of sorts ... (thus the "suite" idea) ... three very distinct, separate tunes: "Sweet City Song", "All Around The Town" and "A Friend Is Dying".
Listening to the lyrics of the "A Friend Is Dying" segment, it's hard to grasp at first that this is not a song written about a personal friend who is dying ... but, in fact, it was actually about their concerns regarding the deteriorating state of New York City in the early '70's. In effect, Cashman and West were declaring their love for the city (in an almost "Be all that you can be" sort of way!) In view of all that has happened to this great city in the nearly 40 years that have passed since this song was first released, it makes for some pretty poignant and interesting listening today. Despite anything you may have thought about The Big Apple in the past, the city certainly has pulled itself together after facing one of its greatest tragedies ... compounded all that much more in these post 9/11 days.
Terry Cashman and Tommy West first tasted chart success in the late '60's as members of The Buchanan Brothers. (Their hit "Medicine Man" was one of our earliest Forgotten Hits features way back in 1999!) Terry Cashman, a former baseball player who went on to write and record several tributes to the sport (as well as write the Top Ten Spanky and Our Gang hit "Sunday Will Never Be The Same), adopted his stage name while still a member of The Chevrons in the late '50's. (His real name is Dennis Minogue.) Tommy West's real name is Thomas Picardo, Jr. Together, they produced ALL of Jim Croce's chart hits and even started their own record label (Lifesong).
SOME OF YOUR ORIGINAL COMMENTS:
American City Suite was a HUGE hit in the Boston area. I have their album, and have always loved this song. Moving around the country, it seemed like nobody else had ever heard this song! I used to request it on the radio, but nobody had ever heard of it! I'm glad you chose this song-I certainly haven't forgotten it!
EShanks
Although it's not all that well known (and is RARELY if ever heard on the oldies stations anymore), American City Suite hit #21 here in Chicago, too, but I can't really remember ever hearing it on the AM dial...WBBM FM (our soft-rock station) played the hell out of it, however. (kk)
I don't live in NYC, but my daughter and I visit this magnificent place as often as we can. We were in the city, about a month after 911. It tore our hearts apart ... watching those people standing there, waiting for some word; the church with all the signs, flowers, ribbons and pictures; the odor in the air (they tried to cover it up with some perfumey stuff, which, to me, made it even worse), the peep holes, the cameras from the TV News, the sound of the firemen and other workers digging, all the police and service men, and those poor dogs, with bandaged paws ... and the smoldering buildings, still untouched. The food stands for all the workers, the veterinarians (my vet being one of them) ... such a sad waste of lives. Now, when we go to NYC, we see a big difference. The people walk at a slower pace ... they aren't in such a big hurry any more; they smile, and talk ... offer a chair, they will stop, and give directions, instead of turning away. These people have learned to SEE what they look at, and HEAR what others say. The men shake hands, and the women aren't afraid to hug. What a terrific place NYC is!!
Vicki
I had always wanted to visit NYC, but never had a chance until a few months after 9/11/01. Several of us from my office at United Airlines took a day trip to try and get the feel of what the city was experiencing post 9/11. We went directly to Ground Zero, and the debris was nearly gone. However, the surrounding buildings were draped in black and American flags. It was hard not to be emotional at such a sight. The NY'ers were very helpful in explaining the wall erected around the platform used to view Ground Zero. The wall was filled with mementos, scrawled epitaphs and messages, stuffed bears, flowers, blankets, etc. Even the street hucksters kept their business at a distance. I hope that the next time I visit is a pleasure trip with you, hon. We will go and visit Ping and see a coupla shows :)
Cherricat
It's a date ... I'd love to go to New York with you ... see the shows on Broadway ... visit Ping (and listen to him complain about Joe Cocker ruining his favorite Julie London song!!!) lol (kk)
Listening to the lyrics of the "A Friend Is Dying" segment, it's hard to grasp at first that this is not a song written about a personal friend who is dying ... but, in fact, it was actually about their concerns regarding the deteriorating state of New York City in the early '70's. In effect, Cashman and West were declaring their love for the city (in an almost "Be all that you can be" sort of way!) In view of all that has happened to this great city in the nearly 40 years that have passed since this song was first released, it makes for some pretty poignant and interesting listening today. Despite anything you may have thought about The Big Apple in the past, the city certainly has pulled itself together after facing one of its greatest tragedies ... compounded all that much more in these post 9/11 days.
Terry Cashman and Tommy West first tasted chart success in the late '60's as members of The Buchanan Brothers. (Their hit "Medicine Man" was one of our earliest Forgotten Hits features way back in 1999!) Terry Cashman, a former baseball player who went on to write and record several tributes to the sport (as well as write the Top Ten Spanky and Our Gang hit "Sunday Will Never Be The Same), adopted his stage name while still a member of The Chevrons in the late '50's. (His real name is Dennis Minogue.) Tommy West's real name is Thomas Picardo, Jr. Together, they produced ALL of Jim Croce's chart hits and even started their own record label (Lifesong).
SOME OF YOUR ORIGINAL COMMENTS:
American City Suite was a HUGE hit in the Boston area. I have their album, and have always loved this song. Moving around the country, it seemed like nobody else had ever heard this song! I used to request it on the radio, but nobody had ever heard of it! I'm glad you chose this song-I certainly haven't forgotten it!
EShanks
Although it's not all that well known (and is RARELY if ever heard on the oldies stations anymore), American City Suite hit #21 here in Chicago, too, but I can't really remember ever hearing it on the AM dial...WBBM FM (our soft-rock station) played the hell out of it, however. (kk)
I don't live in NYC, but my daughter and I visit this magnificent place as often as we can. We were in the city, about a month after 911. It tore our hearts apart ... watching those people standing there, waiting for some word; the church with all the signs, flowers, ribbons and pictures; the odor in the air (they tried to cover it up with some perfumey stuff, which, to me, made it even worse), the peep holes, the cameras from the TV News, the sound of the firemen and other workers digging, all the police and service men, and those poor dogs, with bandaged paws ... and the smoldering buildings, still untouched. The food stands for all the workers, the veterinarians (my vet being one of them) ... such a sad waste of lives. Now, when we go to NYC, we see a big difference. The people walk at a slower pace ... they aren't in such a big hurry any more; they smile, and talk ... offer a chair, they will stop, and give directions, instead of turning away. These people have learned to SEE what they look at, and HEAR what others say. The men shake hands, and the women aren't afraid to hug. What a terrific place NYC is!!
Vicki
I had always wanted to visit NYC, but never had a chance until a few months after 9/11/01. Several of us from my office at United Airlines took a day trip to try and get the feel of what the city was experiencing post 9/11. We went directly to Ground Zero, and the debris was nearly gone. However, the surrounding buildings were draped in black and American flags. It was hard not to be emotional at such a sight. The NY'ers were very helpful in explaining the wall erected around the platform used to view Ground Zero. The wall was filled with mementos, scrawled epitaphs and messages, stuffed bears, flowers, blankets, etc. Even the street hucksters kept their business at a distance. I hope that the next time I visit is a pleasure trip with you, hon. We will go and visit Ping and see a coupla shows :)
Cherricat
It's a date ... I'd love to go to New York with you ... see the shows on Broadway ... visit Ping (and listen to him complain about Joe Cocker ruining his favorite Julie London song!!!) lol (kk)
Friday, March 6, 2009
Yellow Balloon
Another TOTALLY inspired, creative band took their name from their big hit record when Yellow Balloon ... by The Yellow Balloon ... climbed its way up the pop charts in 1967, eventually peaking at #25. (This one, too, was a much bigger hit in Chicago, where it rose to #12 during The Summer Of Love.)
The band's BIGGEST claim to fame may be the fact that Don Grady, who portrayed Robbie Douglas on the hit television series "My Three Sons" for twelve years, was a member. But, the fact is, the "band" came later.
According to the liner notes of "Sunshine Days, Volume 3", the hit single was recorded by a bunch of studio musicians. Once the song became a hit, a touring band was quickly assembled to cash in on the hit. Since Don Grady was already a recording artist for the label (Canterbury Records), a good looking guy, AND a television star, HE was selected to front the band. (Actually, that's not quite true ... Grady was stuck in the back on the drums and had to wear a blonde wig and fake mustache so as NOT to be recognized by the fans!!! You can read all about it in the two links provided below.)
Grady was a pretty good musician, proficient on piano, guitar, bass, trumpet and drums. (In fact, much of his post-television career has been spent creating music for TV, movies, multi-media events and animated films!) In an interview with Noell Wolfgram Evans of Digital Media FX, Grady recalled the day "the jig was up", putting an end to his hiding behind a wig, a hat, a mustache, sunglasses and the drums.
"I would work during the week portraying Robbie on 'My Three Sons,' and on weekends, I would hop on a plane and travel to the city where the band was performing. To keep my identity a secret, I would wear a wig, mustache, shades and a big hat. I was on drums and harmonica, and sang too. One weekend, we were gigging in Denver, onstage for at least two hours. All sweated up while playing my harmonica, the fake mustache fell off. Immediately I was recognized by the fans, who stormed the stage and ripped off my wig. The jig was up." (In an effort to milk this sudden wave of publicity even further, Canterbury Records then sponsored a "Guess The Drummer" Contest in some of the teen magazines!!!)
Here are a couple more little known, interesting facts about The Yellow Balloon:
DIDJAKNOW?1: Ken Handler, the head of Canterbury Records, was the real-life model for the "Ken" doll. His parents founded the Mattel Toy Company and developed the Barbie and Ken dolls! In fact, Ken used HIS share of his parents' Mattel fortune to form Canterbury Records in 1966.
DIDJAKNOW?2: Yellow Balloon was written by Gary Zekley and Dick St. John ... who was one half of Dick and Dee Dee. It was first recorded by Jan and Dean (although Jan Berry was actually laid up in the hospital at the time after his infamous Dead Man's Curve accident ... Dean Torrence handled ALL of the vocals on the track but it was still released as a Jan and Dean record!)
Click here: The Yellow Balloon: Yellow Balloon Story!
Click here: http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Interviews/don-gradyp.html
After we ran our Yellow Balloon piece in Forgotten Hits the first time, we heard
from Cass Kessler, who runs the official Yellow Balloon website, and then from two of the original members of the band: Alex Valdez and, by way of his brother, Don Braucht! All three of them have been Forgotten Hits list members ever since and have shared a number of interesting memories with our readers during that time.
In fact, I asked Alex if he might want to say a few words to the fans out there in honor of this piece going up on the web page this morning ... and here's what he had to say:
Right after the song took off, a group was formed to accommodate the requests for appearances. This group was made up of Mark Andes (pre-Heart and Firefall), John Beck (The Leaves), Darryl Dragon (Captain & Tenille) and I think Dave Andes (Mark's brother) ... and some guy with the last name of Rubin on drums. As I understand it, they wanted a better deal than was offered and pressured the label for more money. (I'm not 100% sure of all of this but the essence is there.) The label, not willing to be held hostage, asked Don Grady to take over the group and form a band. That is how myself and the rest of the guys came into being. Of course Mark and Darryl proved to be better off going in their different directions. Darryl (The Captain) has a brother named Dennis who went on a small southern tour with us ... he was a monster drummer who I have a great memory of ... he gave a drum clinic to all the hopefuls that came to our shows. He has done lots of studio work and had a group called "Surf Punks" whom I believe did fairly well.
There is also something that I'd like to clear up that is on some of the sites that are dedicated to the Yellow Balloon ... not yours ... but there's misinformation out there. Some of these sites mention that when the Yellow Balloon broke up, they went on to become the "Popcorn Explosion". This is entirely not true. Our guitar player, Paul, has a younger brother who brought his band out to L.A. and they were given the name "Popcorn Blizzard", by the Yellow Balloon's ex-manager. Nobody from the Yellow Balloon ever played in this group and for that matter never saw them perform. They eventually became disenchanted and returned to Tucson shortly thereafter.
The Yellow Balloon broke up primarily because we had nothing new to offer in the way of songs. We did some TV appearances around L.A. , but the guys were almost embarrassed to keep playing songs from our album that were just not catching on. We had released four singles from the album but it became evident that we needed something fresh and we just didn't have that. Besides, the label wanted to go in other directions.
I did some solo material after the Balloon burst. We had done the orchestra thing with big productions trying to jump on the Scott Walker model he was doing in England. The label was going big bucks with some other new artists as well and I think we may have been on the verge of coming up with something. BUT, all good things can come to a screeching halt sometimes. The label owner, Ken Handler, being the son of the Mattel Toy Co. owners was forced to close the label due to Mattel's financial problems starting to manifest. As I understood it, he lost some major money and was forced to curtail his life. There is a new book out called "Toy Monster" ... the big, bad world of Mattel ... that outlines that world and the family. I worked at Mattel while doing my solo album and had the privilege of working in R & D under Jack Ryan (the smartest man I've ever known). Of course I was treated somewhat special due to the fact that I was there because of the Handler family's interests. So my fellow workers were the actual people that invented and developed "Hot Wheels", 10 speed bike "Caps", Barbie"Slime", etc. A great part of my life.
The Yellow Balloon bass player, Don Braucht, had gone home to Oregon when the Yellow Balloon came to a halt, but later returned and became my roommate . I was in the process of starting a group which I was going to name "Smoke". We had auditioned and come up with a couple of monster players, one of which was a badass guitar player in the navy. Well, he went AWOL with one of his sailor buddies and we got 'em an apartment and they hid out. Smokey eventually turned himself in and did his time. His buddy, though, had applied for ID with the name I gave him, Jack Daniels, and got a job and later married. He eventually went back, too. Don Braucht joined a group called "The Relatives" which featured a young, unknown singer named Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman). That group ended up playing Caesar's Palace in Vegas for a long stretch.
Today we are all still alive, thank God. Don Grady, of course, will always be the success story. You can visit his website and hear the music he is putting out these days. It really is quite good, but then again he always was talented. Paul is an insurance investigator living in the L.A. area last I checked. Frosty, I believe, lives in the Carolinas and every few years I'll make an effort to track him down and have a short visit telephonically. Other than that the group does not stay in touch and, although I get calls to put something together, even if it's just me, to do some casino gigs, I just don't know if I'll ever muster up that kind of energy again. Although the people around me say I can still sing my A-- off ... so who knows!
Alex Valdez
Thanks, Alex ... you can visit Don Grady's website here:
Click here: DonGrady.com - Home
Be sure to check out some of the new music he's got posted here ... REALLY good stuff!
The band's BIGGEST claim to fame may be the fact that Don Grady, who portrayed Robbie Douglas on the hit television series "My Three Sons" for twelve years, was a member. But, the fact is, the "band" came later.
According to the liner notes of "Sunshine Days, Volume 3", the hit single was recorded by a bunch of studio musicians. Once the song became a hit, a touring band was quickly assembled to cash in on the hit. Since Don Grady was already a recording artist for the label (Canterbury Records), a good looking guy, AND a television star, HE was selected to front the band. (Actually, that's not quite true ... Grady was stuck in the back on the drums and had to wear a blonde wig and fake mustache so as NOT to be recognized by the fans!!! You can read all about it in the two links provided below.)
Grady was a pretty good musician, proficient on piano, guitar, bass, trumpet and drums. (In fact, much of his post-television career has been spent creating music for TV, movies, multi-media events and animated films!) In an interview with Noell Wolfgram Evans of Digital Media FX, Grady recalled the day "the jig was up", putting an end to his hiding behind a wig, a hat, a mustache, sunglasses and the drums.
"I would work during the week portraying Robbie on 'My Three Sons,' and on weekends, I would hop on a plane and travel to the city where the band was performing. To keep my identity a secret, I would wear a wig, mustache, shades and a big hat. I was on drums and harmonica, and sang too. One weekend, we were gigging in Denver, onstage for at least two hours. All sweated up while playing my harmonica, the fake mustache fell off. Immediately I was recognized by the fans, who stormed the stage and ripped off my wig. The jig was up." (In an effort to milk this sudden wave of publicity even further, Canterbury Records then sponsored a "Guess The Drummer" Contest in some of the teen magazines!!!)
Here are a couple more little known, interesting facts about The Yellow Balloon:
DIDJAKNOW?1: Ken Handler, the head of Canterbury Records, was the real-life model for the "Ken" doll. His parents founded the Mattel Toy Company and developed the Barbie and Ken dolls! In fact, Ken used HIS share of his parents' Mattel fortune to form Canterbury Records in 1966.
DIDJAKNOW?2: Yellow Balloon was written by Gary Zekley and Dick St. John ... who was one half of Dick and Dee Dee. It was first recorded by Jan and Dean (although Jan Berry was actually laid up in the hospital at the time after his infamous Dead Man's Curve accident ... Dean Torrence handled ALL of the vocals on the track but it was still released as a Jan and Dean record!)
Click here: The Yellow Balloon: Yellow Balloon Story!
Click here: http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Interviews/don-gradyp.html
After we ran our Yellow Balloon piece in Forgotten Hits the first time, we heard
from Cass Kessler, who runs the official Yellow Balloon website, and then from two of the original members of the band: Alex Valdez and, by way of his brother, Don Braucht! All three of them have been Forgotten Hits list members ever since and have shared a number of interesting memories with our readers during that time.
In fact, I asked Alex if he might want to say a few words to the fans out there in honor of this piece going up on the web page this morning ... and here's what he had to say:
Right after the song took off, a group was formed to accommodate the requests for appearances. This group was made up of Mark Andes (pre-Heart and Firefall), John Beck (The Leaves), Darryl Dragon (Captain & Tenille) and I think Dave Andes (Mark's brother) ... and some guy with the last name of Rubin on drums. As I understand it, they wanted a better deal than was offered and pressured the label for more money. (I'm not 100% sure of all of this but the essence is there.) The label, not willing to be held hostage, asked Don Grady to take over the group and form a band. That is how myself and the rest of the guys came into being. Of course Mark and Darryl proved to be better off going in their different directions. Darryl (The Captain) has a brother named Dennis who went on a small southern tour with us ... he was a monster drummer who I have a great memory of ... he gave a drum clinic to all the hopefuls that came to our shows. He has done lots of studio work and had a group called "Surf Punks" whom I believe did fairly well.
There is also something that I'd like to clear up that is on some of the sites that are dedicated to the Yellow Balloon ... not yours ... but there's misinformation out there. Some of these sites mention that when the Yellow Balloon broke up, they went on to become the "Popcorn Explosion". This is entirely not true. Our guitar player, Paul, has a younger brother who brought his band out to L.A. and they were given the name "Popcorn Blizzard", by the Yellow Balloon's ex-manager. Nobody from the Yellow Balloon ever played in this group and for that matter never saw them perform. They eventually became disenchanted and returned to Tucson shortly thereafter.
The Yellow Balloon broke up primarily because we had nothing new to offer in the way of songs. We did some TV appearances around L.A. , but the guys were almost embarrassed to keep playing songs from our album that were just not catching on. We had released four singles from the album but it became evident that we needed something fresh and we just didn't have that. Besides, the label wanted to go in other directions.
I did some solo material after the Balloon burst. We had done the orchestra thing with big productions trying to jump on the Scott Walker model he was doing in England. The label was going big bucks with some other new artists as well and I think we may have been on the verge of coming up with something. BUT, all good things can come to a screeching halt sometimes. The label owner, Ken Handler, being the son of the Mattel Toy Co. owners was forced to close the label due to Mattel's financial problems starting to manifest. As I understood it, he lost some major money and was forced to curtail his life. There is a new book out called "Toy Monster" ... the big, bad world of Mattel ... that outlines that world and the family. I worked at Mattel while doing my solo album and had the privilege of working in R & D under Jack Ryan (the smartest man I've ever known). Of course I was treated somewhat special due to the fact that I was there because of the Handler family's interests. So my fellow workers were the actual people that invented and developed "Hot Wheels", 10 speed bike "Caps", Barbie"Slime", etc. A great part of my life.
The Yellow Balloon bass player, Don Braucht, had gone home to Oregon when the Yellow Balloon came to a halt, but later returned and became my roommate . I was in the process of starting a group which I was going to name "Smoke". We had auditioned and come up with a couple of monster players, one of which was a badass guitar player in the navy. Well, he went AWOL with one of his sailor buddies and we got 'em an apartment and they hid out. Smokey eventually turned himself in and did his time. His buddy, though, had applied for ID with the name I gave him, Jack Daniels, and got a job and later married. He eventually went back, too. Don Braucht joined a group called "The Relatives" which featured a young, unknown singer named Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman). That group ended up playing Caesar's Palace in Vegas for a long stretch.
Today we are all still alive, thank God. Don Grady, of course, will always be the success story. You can visit his website and hear the music he is putting out these days. It really is quite good, but then again he always was talented. Paul is an insurance investigator living in the L.A. area last I checked. Frosty, I believe, lives in the Carolinas and every few years I'll make an effort to track him down and have a short visit telephonically. Other than that the group does not stay in touch and, although I get calls to put something together, even if it's just me, to do some casino gigs, I just don't know if I'll ever muster up that kind of energy again. Although the people around me say I can still sing my A-- off ... so who knows!
Alex Valdez
Thanks, Alex ... you can visit Don Grady's website here:
Click here: DonGrady.com - Home
Be sure to check out some of the new music he's got posted here ... REALLY good stuff!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Sweet Inspiration
Over the years we've run into a few artists who've named their act after their new single ... or vice versa. Yesterday we covered The Boys In The Band. Other artists / songs that might immediately come to mind might be Bo Diddley or Bad Company. Tomorrow we're going to turn the spotlight on our Forgotten Hits buddies The Yellow Balloon once again ... but TODAY our featured song AND artist is Sweet Inspiration by The Sweet Inspirations!
The group's origins date back to the late '50's when a gospel group calling themselves The Drinkard Singers did some traditional gospel recordings for RCA Records. Led by Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney), along with her nieces Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick and sisters Judy and Sylvia Guions, they slowly began to develop more of a "pop" sound as their love for rock and roll music grew. (Early on, Doris Troy, who had the first big hit with "Just One Look" back in 1963, also sang with the group.)
Dee Dee and ESPECIALLY Dionne Warwick went on to have big, solo careers after leaving the group. Judy Guions hit the charts a couple of times as Judy Clay, singing duets with Billy Vera and Sylvia Guions (now calling herself Sylvia Shemwell) stuck with Cissy Houston as The Drinkard Singers continued to change personnel.
In the process, they became one of the highest regarded (and most recorded) group of background singers on record. Their first real "rock" record came when they were asked to sing back up for Ronnie Hawkins and the group that would later become known as The Band. Before being signed to Atlantic Records (and being renamed "The Sweet Inspirations" by the legendary Jerry Wexler), the girls (Cissy and Sylvia, now teamed with Estelle Brown and Myra Smith) recorded background vocals for everyone from Neil Diamond to Aretha Franklin to Dusty Springfield to Wilson Pickett as well as literally DOZENS of other well known pop acts. (According to Wikipedia, they also sang background on Van Morrison's big hit "Brown Eyed Girl" and did some selected vocals on the Jimi Hendrix / Electric Ladyland LP!)
In 1967, Wexler decided to let them cut their OWN recordings ... and, after a couple of minor chart successes, "Sweet Inspiration" became a Top 20 Hit a year later. After none of their other singles reached The Top 50, The Sweet Inspirations were soon back to singing back-up, gaining a whole new allegience of fans once they started singing behind Elvis Presley in Las Vegas during his late '60's / early '70's comeback.
Cissy Houston left the quartet in 1970 to pursue a solo career but, when nothing really materialized, she soon found herself on the road singing back-up for her niece Dionne Warwick. Meanwhile, Estelle Brown and Myra Smith are still recording (along with Portia Griffin) as The Sweet Inspirations today. (Original member Sylvia Shemwell, who used to sing with the group as well as introduce them on stage, suffered a stroke in 2001 and, as such, is no longer able to perform with her "soul sisters".)
Meanwhile, The Sweet Inspirations have a brand new song posted on their website ... and you can check it out here:
Click here: Sweet Inspirations On The Web!
The group's origins date back to the late '50's when a gospel group calling themselves The Drinkard Singers did some traditional gospel recordings for RCA Records. Led by Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney), along with her nieces Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick and sisters Judy and Sylvia Guions, they slowly began to develop more of a "pop" sound as their love for rock and roll music grew. (Early on, Doris Troy, who had the first big hit with "Just One Look" back in 1963, also sang with the group.)
Dee Dee and ESPECIALLY Dionne Warwick went on to have big, solo careers after leaving the group. Judy Guions hit the charts a couple of times as Judy Clay, singing duets with Billy Vera and Sylvia Guions (now calling herself Sylvia Shemwell) stuck with Cissy Houston as The Drinkard Singers continued to change personnel.
In the process, they became one of the highest regarded (and most recorded) group of background singers on record. Their first real "rock" record came when they were asked to sing back up for Ronnie Hawkins and the group that would later become known as The Band. Before being signed to Atlantic Records (and being renamed "The Sweet Inspirations" by the legendary Jerry Wexler), the girls (Cissy and Sylvia, now teamed with Estelle Brown and Myra Smith) recorded background vocals for everyone from Neil Diamond to Aretha Franklin to Dusty Springfield to Wilson Pickett as well as literally DOZENS of other well known pop acts. (According to Wikipedia, they also sang background on Van Morrison's big hit "Brown Eyed Girl" and did some selected vocals on the Jimi Hendrix / Electric Ladyland LP!)
In 1967, Wexler decided to let them cut their OWN recordings ... and, after a couple of minor chart successes, "Sweet Inspiration" became a Top 20 Hit a year later. After none of their other singles reached The Top 50, The Sweet Inspirations were soon back to singing back-up, gaining a whole new allegience of fans once they started singing behind Elvis Presley in Las Vegas during his late '60's / early '70's comeback.
Cissy Houston left the quartet in 1970 to pursue a solo career but, when nothing really materialized, she soon found herself on the road singing back-up for her niece Dionne Warwick. Meanwhile, Estelle Brown and Myra Smith are still recording (along with Portia Griffin) as The Sweet Inspirations today. (Original member Sylvia Shemwell, who used to sing with the group as well as introduce them on stage, suffered a stroke in 2001 and, as such, is no longer able to perform with her "soul sisters".)
Meanwhile, The Sweet Inspirations have a brand new song posted on their website ... and you can check it out here:
Click here: Sweet Inspirations On The Web!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
How About A Little Hand???
Film critic Leonard Maltin describes "The Boys In The Band", one of the first openly-marketed gay films released as a major motion picture as " an excellent filmization of Mart Crowley's landmark play about nine men at a birthday party; eight are gay, the ninth insists he's not ... often hilarious, frequently sad, but always thought provoking, and sensationally acted by the original stage cast." (He gave the film 3 1/2 stars.) Other critics called it revolutionary for its time, portraying gays in a realistic light for the first time before a mass audience.
Having never seen the movie, I can't really comment any further ... but in 1970, a song called "(How 'Bout A Little Hand for) The Boys In The Band" ... by a band CALLED The Boys In The Band ... started making its way up the pop charts. Naturally, I assumed at the time that THIS must be the title song from this hot new film I'd been hearing so much about.
Incredibly, despite the timing, I later learned that the song was NOT from the film of the same name ... but instead came from a movie called "The Phynx" ... which Maltin describes as "A BOMB!!!" (An online imdb.com movie review refers to it as an "all-star celebrity bomb of epic proportions".)
The premise of THIS motion picture was (what Maltin describes as) "a way-off-base satire about a rock group recruited to spy behind the Iron Curtain ... and the kidnapping of America's pop-culture heroes." As such, the film features cameos by such noted American icons as Ed Sullivan, Richard Pryor, James Brown, Huntz Hall, Guy Lombardo, Joe Louis, Johnny Weissmuller, Colonel Sanders, Ruby Keeler, Xavier Cugat, Dick Clark, George Jessel, Rudy Vallee and many, many others.
The artists on the record (recording as The Boys In The Band) were under the direction of Herman Lewis Griffin, who assembled a band of studio musicians and singers to complete the soundtrack. Griffin holds the distinction of recording the very first song held by Berry Gordy's Jobette Publishing Company. And that's not his only tie to Motown ... he was also married to Mary Wells.
The Boys In The Band ... by The Boys In The Band ... went to #41 on the Cash Box Chart ... but was a Top 20 Hit here in Chicago.
Having never seen the movie, I can't really comment any further ... but in 1970, a song called "(How 'Bout A Little Hand for) The Boys In The Band" ... by a band CALLED The Boys In The Band ... started making its way up the pop charts. Naturally, I assumed at the time that THIS must be the title song from this hot new film I'd been hearing so much about.
Incredibly, despite the timing, I later learned that the song was NOT from the film of the same name ... but instead came from a movie called "The Phynx" ... which Maltin describes as "A BOMB!!!" (An online imdb.com movie review refers to it as an "all-star celebrity bomb of epic proportions".)
The premise of THIS motion picture was (what Maltin describes as) "a way-off-base satire about a rock group recruited to spy behind the Iron Curtain ... and the kidnapping of America's pop-culture heroes." As such, the film features cameos by such noted American icons as Ed Sullivan, Richard Pryor, James Brown, Huntz Hall, Guy Lombardo, Joe Louis, Johnny Weissmuller, Colonel Sanders, Ruby Keeler, Xavier Cugat, Dick Clark, George Jessel, Rudy Vallee and many, many others.
The artists on the record (recording as The Boys In The Band) were under the direction of Herman Lewis Griffin, who assembled a band of studio musicians and singers to complete the soundtrack. Griffin holds the distinction of recording the very first song held by Berry Gordy's Jobette Publishing Company. And that's not his only tie to Motown ... he was also married to Mary Wells.
The Boys In The Band ... by The Boys In The Band ... went to #41 on the Cash Box Chart ... but was a Top 20 Hit here in Chicago.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Jim Weatherly
Last week Forgotten Hits reader David Lewis sent us a copy of Jim Weatherly's original version of "Midnight Plane To Houston" ... which Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded as "Midnight Train To Georgia", turnng it into a HUGE #1 Hit Record back in 1973.
In fact, Gladys Knight and the Pips had success with SIX of Weatherly's songs: "Neither One Of Us" topped The Cash Box Chart (as well as Billboard's R & B Chart) in 1973, "Where Peaceful Waters Flow" went to #23 in 1973 (just before the aforementioned "Midnight Train To Georgia" topped the charts), "Between Her Goodbye And My Hello" hit #57 in 1974, "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" shot up to #3, also in 1974, and "Love Finds Its Own Way" peaked at #33 in 1975.
In between, Jim Weatherly, a former All-American University of Mississippi / Ole Miss Rebels quarterback, squeezed in his OWN hit when "The Need To Be" went to #11 in 1974.
Jim also had quite a bit of success placing his songs on the country charts ... Vince Gill, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Marie Osmond, Eddy Arnold, Lee Greenwood, Charley Pride, Steve Wariner and England Dan Seals have all recorded his songs ... and Ray Price reportedly recorded about FIFTY of Weatherly's compositions! Between 1975 and 1980, Weatherly placed half a dozen songs on Billboard's Country Chart under his own name. (For a very impressive, complete list of Jim's songs ... and who recorded them ... be sure to check out his website here: Click here: Jim Weatherly)
In fact, Gladys Knight and the Pips had success with SIX of Weatherly's songs: "Neither One Of Us" topped The Cash Box Chart (as well as Billboard's R & B Chart) in 1973, "Where Peaceful Waters Flow" went to #23 in 1973 (just before the aforementioned "Midnight Train To Georgia" topped the charts), "Between Her Goodbye And My Hello" hit #57 in 1974, "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" shot up to #3, also in 1974, and "Love Finds Its Own Way" peaked at #33 in 1975.
In between, Jim Weatherly, a former All-American University of Mississippi / Ole Miss Rebels quarterback, squeezed in his OWN hit when "The Need To Be" went to #11 in 1974.
Jim also had quite a bit of success placing his songs on the country charts ... Vince Gill, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Marie Osmond, Eddy Arnold, Lee Greenwood, Charley Pride, Steve Wariner and England Dan Seals have all recorded his songs ... and Ray Price reportedly recorded about FIFTY of Weatherly's compositions! Between 1975 and 1980, Weatherly placed half a dozen songs on Billboard's Country Chart under his own name. (For a very impressive, complete list of Jim's songs ... and who recorded them ... be sure to check out his website here: Click here: Jim Weatherly)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Run Run Run by Jo Jo Gunne
We talked a little bit about Spirit last week in Forgotten Hits ... and mentioned the One Hit Wonder act, Jo Jo Gunne, who scored a #27 Hit back in 1972 with a song called "Run, Run, Run". (We LOVED it here in Chicago ... where it went all the way to #2!!!)
Jo Jo Gunne (named after the Chuck Berry hit Joe Joe Gun from 1958) featured Spirit alumni Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes. (The line-up was rounded out by Mark's brother Matt Andes on guitar and vocals and Curly Smith on drums.)
Mark Andes left after their first album and only hit single ... he later performed as part of Firefall and Heart. Ferguson stuck around for a couple more LPs and then went on to have a couple of solo hits in the late '70's with "Thunder Island" (#6, 1978) and "Shakedown Cruise" (#27, 1979).
DIDJAKNOW?: Jay Ferguson wrote the theme to our favorite TV comedy, "The Office".
Jo Jo Gunne (named after the Chuck Berry hit Joe Joe Gun from 1958) featured Spirit alumni Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes. (The line-up was rounded out by Mark's brother Matt Andes on guitar and vocals and Curly Smith on drums.)
Mark Andes left after their first album and only hit single ... he later performed as part of Firefall and Heart. Ferguson stuck around for a couple more LPs and then went on to have a couple of solo hits in the late '70's with "Thunder Island" (#6, 1978) and "Shakedown Cruise" (#27, 1979).
DIDJAKNOW?: Jay Ferguson wrote the theme to our favorite TV comedy, "The Office".
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