Northern California Spotlight: The Golliwogs - Porterville/Call It Pretending

Day 9 of our Northern California Battle of the Garage Bands takes us to the hamlet of El Cerrito, California, a small town wedged between on the north side of Berkeley. and Oakland at the eastern terminus of the Bay Bridge.

Here we find a band called The Golliwogs. The Golliwogs started in 1958 in Jr. High as a three-piece instrumental combo calling themselves The Blue Velvets. Stu was on piano, Doug on drums and John on guitar. When the older brother of the teenaged guitarist joined the band in 1960, they became a vocal act with the older brother, Tom, now singing. That band released three singles before 1962. Now in High School, in 1964 the band got picked up by the San Francisco based label, Fantasy Records. The owner of the label changed the name of the band to The Golliwogs and the band produced their first record three months before The Beatles would change the face of music in America.

The Golliwogs quickly adapted to the new landscape and recorded three singles for Fantasy Records between December 1964 and July 1965. Then the label created a subsidiary, Scorpio Records, to focus on local garage bands. The Golliwogs would release four singles on this label between December of 1965 and October of 1967. All originals, all written under pseudonyms. At some point the younger brother, John, started to assert more control of the band as he became the primary composer and took over the singing duties from his older brother.

Today we feature The Golliwogs' final record, released on Scorpio Records in October, 1967, Porterville/Call It Pretending. Both numbers were composed by John and he sings on both the a-side and the flip-side.

Porterville has a deep, dark dirge of a rhythm section offset by a catchy, recurring chiming Rickenbacker guitar. Our singer tells a tale of a son being persecuted for the crimes of his father in the California farming town of Porterville. Oh lord, stuck in Porterville again.

The flip-side, Call It Pretending, is our first real hint of what The Golliwogs would soon become. From the opening drum section from Doug with the accompanying hand claps, to the simple, yet catchy, James Jamerson inspired bass work of Stu (who moved from piano to bass around 1964). John sings his original composition with a real tip of the hat to the work coming out of Detroit. One can easily imagine The Temptations singing this tight, catchy soul number. The backing vocals of Tom, Stu and Doug add to the Motown feel.

Remarkably the single would see two releases, both on Scorpio Records. This first release in October of 1967 under the name The Golliwogs. And then a second release, just four months later in February of 1968 under the band's new name, the curiously named Creedence Clearwater Revival. Both releases were a flop but the band, John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford would soldier on undaunted.

 Until next time, We'll see You On The Flip-Side!

Busker Days: "Frisco Fog"

As I exit the North Berkeley BART Station at the other end of my evening trip home from work, more than occasionally I’m treated to some busking. I’ve seen an older lady on guitar belting out some soulful tunes, a wistful guy on sax, another guy plugged-in (a BART no no!) doing jazz-infused guitar work and a really amped-up younger woman jumping up and down on a milk crate playing accordion and singing zydeco. For a while, every time I came up out of the BART netherworld in the evenings I was confronted with a man deftly playing a classical guitar. 95.7% of the time he was playing the same exquisite Spanish folk song. This means either a) he and I are cosmically and tragically destined to forever cross paths exactly at the time he plays his favorite song; or b) this song is a big money-maker for him. I choose b. But if he’s making money its not coming from my pocket (OK, maybe the first time or two), and that’s saying something, because I’m the easiest, most free flowing, crumpled-up-dollar-tosser a busker is ever going to see. Ever.

Busker rule number one: if you have to rely on money-maker songs, have at least five to draw from because I’m coming by every day at 6:55 PM sharp and I’m hungry and tired and I have two kids that want to jump all over me at home. OK?

That said, my favorite end-of-the-line busker is Sam Strong who plays the recorder. I hear the sweet intertwining celtic melodies as the sound of the departing train subsides and my hand instinctually grasps for the nearest bit of loose change on me. After donating regularly for over a year, one day I went up, introduced myself and asked to record. One of the songs I recorded that day is this short, sweet, Sam Strong composition, Frisco Fog. I hope you enjoy.