Battle of the Garage Bands: The Chocolate Watchband v. The Shadows of Knight

Yesterday The Sonics, representing the Pacific Northwest region, steamrolled Phil and The Frantics, the representatives of the Rocky Mountain Region.

Today we witness Northern California do battle with the monsters who emerged from The Great Lakes region.

The Chocolate Watchband of San Jose, California, will put forth with their 4th and final single, Are You Gonna Be There/No Way Out. The record was released in October of 1967 on Tower Records. The Shadows of Knight will put up their 2nd single, Bad Little Woman/Gospel Zone.  It was released on Dunwich Records in August of 1966.

Here is a link to the original Chocolate Watchband post. 

Here is a link to the original post on The Shadows of Knight. 

Take a look at the graphics here to see some of the top competition that these two bested on the way to their awesomeness. Both of these bands had to beat some real great talent to get to this point. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Great Lakes Spotlight: The Knaves - Leave Me Alone/The Girl I Threw Away

We'll hit the hot Great Lakes Region Battle of the Garage Bands on day 8 with a truly inspired number. This is the kind of thing that could only come from the demented minds of crazed male teenagers. Lucky for us, Bill Traut and his Dunwich cronies didn't try to tame them.

The demented band in question went by the name The Knaves and they hailed from the northern suburbs of Chicago. The band was made up of Howard Berkman, John Hulbert, Mark Feldman, Neil Pollack, and Gene Lubin. Singer and guitarist, Howard Berkman and guitarist and harmonica player, John Hulbert get writing credit for their maiden release, Leave Me Alone/The Girl I Threw Away. It was recorded in '66 and released in January, 1967.

This anti-authority number -- allegedly originally released on the Glen Label before being picked up by Dunwich -- has all the musical punch and drive to back up it's "piss-off" lyrics. I'm not 100% sure on all these, but here are the lyrics to Leave Me Alone. They say more about why this is a great song, than I ever could.

I was driving in my jaguar car, I had nothing much to do.
I had my woman with me, we were looking at the view
We were driving around searching, for a nice little place to stop
When up pulled that blue suede warrior, better known as a cop.
He said "Hey baby, do I know you? Can you call this town your home?"
So I rolled up my window I said "Leave Me Alone" 

Why Don't you Leave Me Alone
Can't you see I'm doing nothing
Well fight some crime, or something
Just, Leave Me Alone 

I was sittin' in a restaurant, trying to shake the flies outta my hair
I was lookin' at my woman, I was admiring the silverware
When up steps a waiter, he says, "Hey Babe you can't do that"
He said, "Why don't you order something?"
I said "give me filet of fat"
He said, "Look here, baby, we can't do that, it's un-American in tone"
So I put down my fork and I said, "Leave Me Alone"

Why Don't you Leave Me Alone
Well go wait on a table
Or go sweep out the stable
But Leave Me Alone 

I was sitting in my apartment, about 5 O'Clock at night
I was smoking and I was drinking, I was getting kinda tight
I was sitting on the ceiling, I was looking at the floor
When in walked my landlord, he walked right thru the door
He said "Hey baby, get out of here, don't you call this place your home"
Why, I said, "why don't you choke yourself and Leave Me Alone." 

Why Don't you Leave Me Alone
Build yourself a slum
Or chew some bubble gum
But Leave Me Alone

If you think you can figure out what it is he orders (I said "give me the last _____") please let us know. One website had "Give me a leg of fat" but I don't hear that.

Check comments for clarification on the lyrics.

The A-side gets all the love and all the comp action. But we present here the under-the-radar Flip-Side, The Girl I Threw Away. The boys aren't so mad on this side. They are a little reflective and a little sorrowful. Berkman and Hulbert get writing credit on this folky jangler.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side.

Great Lakes Spotlight: The Shadows of Knight - Bad Little Woman/Gospel Zone

You Bad Little Woman! Welcome back to day 5 of the Great Lakes-Region of the Battle of the Garage Bands. We've written extensively about The Shadows of Knight in the past. As any casual Flip-Side reader will know, this band is one of our favorites. 

The Shadows of Knight were formed in the hallways of an Arlington Heights, Illinois High School (the school nickname was...the Knights. Get it?). After a few early mutations and instrument swapping, the band settled into the line-up of Jim Sohns on vocals, Warren Rogers on Bass, Joe Kelly on lead guitar, Jerry McGeorge on rhythm guitar and Tom Schiffour on drums. In early 1966, The Shadows of Knight would release the first ever record for one of the all-time great garage labels, Dunwich Records. That record was their cleaned up cover of Them's Gloria. 

But today we feature the 2nd single from The Shadows of Knight. And, believe it or not, it is also a cover of a record from Northern Ireland, this time a record by an obscure group called The Wheels. The Wheels covered Gloria for their debut in September of 1965. That was released only in the UK. For that band's second release they did two originals: Bad Little Woman with a flip-side of Roadblock. But here is the kicker. That single was released on a local US label called Aurora Records one month before it was released in the UK. The band name was unceremoniously changed to The Wheel-A-Ways, the flip-side was changed to a different song and the version of Bad Little Woman is an early demo version, not the same pounding one released in the UK a month later. Both versions of The Wheels' release can be heard here. 

It was likely the languid demo version mistakingly shipped to and released on Aurora in January of '66 that was presented to The Shadows of Knight for consideration. Regardless, The Shadows of Knight version of the song is dramatically different than either version by The Wheels. 

According to Jerry McGeorge, who has recently been in touch with us at Flip-Side:

The Wheels' Bad Little Woman was presented to us in demo form as a potential single. We came off the road to do the sessions for the second album and recorded it at that time, early Summer '66. We weren't nuts about it the way it sounded and someone got the idea of having Hawk [aka David Wolinski] add keyboards to fill it out, which worked splendidly.

We concur with McGeorge. The floating organ over the song creates a lush bed for the band to soar over the song. Joe Kelly, one of the most talented and under-appreciated lead guitarists in the US garage scene, paints a beautiful picture with his deep bends. McGeorge also informs us that Kelly plays a Gibson ES 335 (see pics) on the recording and you can really feel the power of the guitar as the band kicks into the glorious lead break at 1:15. But his guitar work is never better than right after the break when he responds so delicately to singer Jim Sohns' restrained vocals. 

He brought you home last night
Smelled like gypsy rose
Now I don't know just where you been
He only knows
He says he loves you baby
Just like I love you
He says he loves you baby
Just like I love you
Oh no, it's not true!

The band had a pattern in their releases. A non-band composed number on the A-Side, a fabulous original relegated to the Flip-Side. In this case it is one of The Shadows of Knight's best recordings, the drummer composed Gospel Zone. It opens with a rip-roaring dead-switching effect by Kelly or McGeorge that then catches fire and propels the song into an infectious groove. The bass work by Warren Rogers really stands out on this number. It sounds to this listener like he is playing a hollow body bass. We're guessing the same Framus Star Bass in the pics below. Oddly, Gospel Zone was released by Dunwich as a one-sided promo in severely edited down form, clocking in at a full minute less than the normal take. We've only ever seen one copy of that record.

Credit where credit is deserved: I've nicked almost all of the photographs from a Joe Kelly fan site which can be found here.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Great Lakes Spotlight: The Del Vetts - Last Time Around/Everytime

Day 4 of our Great Lakes-Region Battle of the Garage Bands takes us back to the Chicago area. And back to Dunwich, Man. Today we spin both sides of the Del Vetts debut single from August, 1966. 

We'll I'm sitting here sinking on deeper down.
My head is a' spinning around and 'round.
I can't seem to shake this feeling.
Oh, My body is a rockin' and a-reelin'.
Oh' it's such a funny feeling
that I know this is the last time around for me, Oh yeah, 

Oh, I'm sinking on sinking on deeper down.
My eyes are blood and I can't hear a sound.
Fight it! help me fight it.
Because I know this is the last time around for me. 

The Del Vetts were Jim Lauer on vocals and lead guitar, Bob Good on rhythm, Jack Burchall on bass and Roger Deatherage on drums.

Their debut single was a raging original composed by their friend, Dennis Dahlquist who penned a kick ass Yardbirds inspired song called The Last Time Around. Production is perfect as is Lauer's vocal delivery and Better Man Than I inspired guitar break. Jeff Beck would have been proud. Special shout out to the bass work of Jack Burchall whose work on this song truly inspired me to learn every note of what he did with his fast running fingers. This single was released just days after the Things To Come released I'm Not Talkin' and just two months before The Banshees set Project Blue upon the record buying public and The Shadows of Knight released Bad Little Woman/Gospel Zone. You see why I love this label?

While Last Time Around was a true regional hit, the follow-up, I Call My Baby STP, which came with a nice pic sleeve and an STP Oil sticker as part of a quasi-ad campaign, was a flop. (but the flip is respectable) It turns out that was the last time around for the Del Vetts who went from one bad name to another as they inexplicably changed their name to the lame-ass Pride and Joy, whose lone Dunwich release, Girl/If You're Ready, was highlighted a few years ago. Jim Lauer allegedly went the way of Roky Erickson and Syd Barrett. Play it loud and enjoy.

The Flip-Side is solid as solid gets and thus we include it here. Also penned by Dahlquist, the number is the rather peppy, Everytime. Another kick-ass guitar solo from Lauer. I love how you can hear someone cue them back into the verse after the guitar solo. Low-fi, baby.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Great Lakes Spotlight: The Banshees - Project Blue/Free

Great Lakes Spotlight resumes. Day 2! Today we feature perhaps the most crazed garage record ever put to wax! Man, that is saying a ton. Especially when we have songs like that by Australia's The Elois and Texas' The Outcasts. But I stand by it. Here we present Chicago's The Banshees doing their own composition, Project Blue. It was released in August of 1966. Any garage-O-file worth their salt has heard this song 1001 times (last week alone), but we can't let that stop us from giving them more love. This one is front and center on the Mt. Garagemore monument we have mythically built in our own depraved flippy heads. 

The Banshees were made up of singer Frank Bucaro, lead guitarist Ron Rouse, Rick Notolini on bass, John Smead on rhythm, and Tom Leetzow on drums. Lead guitarist, Ron Rouse gets writing credit for this. However, in the world's briefest interview over on 60sgaragebands.com, Frank Bucaro lays claim to co-writer credit. He wrote the Flip-Side of this single, the rather tame, Free. 

Musically speaking, this is -- and I use a technical musicologist term here -- fucking amazing. The lead guitar riff is a relentless, menacing, stabbing piece of testosterone that Angus Young could only dream of playing. You will never, ever, hear a better garage punk guitar riff. Ever. Ron Rouse, you are my hero for coming up with that and performing it so damn perfectly. Singer Frank Bucaro sounds nothing like he does on the rather tepid flip-side. (Yep, even us at Flip-Side HQ sometimes have to love the A-Side more.) On the rather cryptically named Project Blue, Bucaro screams so much and so loud you can damn near hear the blue veins popping out of his neck as he spits out "Come On Now!". There's not much to these lyrics, but man oh man, Bucaro delivers.

Oh Noooo!
I need your love baby, and I need it so bad, Yeah
'Cause your's is the only love that I ever had, babe 

I need your love baby, and only you know.
I need your love baby, and I need it more 

Your love, baby, I need your love, baby
Yeah love, oh! 

I need your love baby, and only you know. Yeah!
I need your love baby, and I need it more, love 

I need your love baby, and I need it so bad. Yeah
'Cause your's is the only love that I ever had, babe

Your love baby, I need your love, your love, baby
Come on Now!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh, come on

Let's be very clear. I would not let this man date my daughter.

Check out the picture of these cats. This is one of those things I love about 60s Garage Bands. They look so nice and clean cut. And then you get this out of them. Rouse is in the middle, Bucaro, second from left.

Like so many bands of their day, High School ended (yep, they were in high school when they did this number) and they disbanded. Some went to college, others to the military. The Banshees would scream their siren song no more. One depraved single is all we have of their existence.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

The Shadows of Knight - Bad Little Woman

Our last post focused on the rare 1965 single from Northern Ireland's The Wheels and their composition, Bad Little Woman. We return today with a recording of the same song from Chicago hipsters, The Shadows of Knight. We've written about the band extensively on this site so we won't rehash their history today. 

The Shadows of Knight, who first captured lightning in a bottle with a cover of Gloria by Northern Ireland's, Them, released Bad Little Woman in August of 1966 for our beloved Dunwich Records. They even got a picture sleeve for the release! They must have figured re-recording Northern Ireland based bands was the key to success. The Shadows of Knight's version is very different than either of The Wheels' versions. Gone is the harmonica and slide guitar opening/closing riffs and the random tempo changes. In it's place is some blistering guitar work by Jim Kelly and ethereal organ work. I'll let you decide which version works best. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

The Shadows of Knight - Hey Joe

I'm probably milking the Hey Joe thing a little too much, but I couldn't overlook one of my favorite versions of the song. Recorded in 1966 by Chicago band, The Shadows of Knight, it's a unique version with Joe Kelly's lead guitar work creating a great raga feel to the extended jam. This appeared on the band's second and final album, Back Door Men, for the famed Dunwich label.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Dunwich Records: The Del-Vetts - The Last Time Around and Everytime

Last Time Around

Everytime

Day 7 -- yes, 7! -- of our look at Dunwich Records, man!

We'll I'm sitting here sinking on deeper down.
My head is a' spinning around and 'round.
I can't seem to shake this feeling.
Oh, My body is a rockin' and a-reelin'.
Oh' it's such a funny feeling
that I know this is the last time around for me, Oh yeah, 

Oh, I'm sinking on sinking on deeper down.
My eyes are blood and I can't hear a sound.
Fight it! help me fight it.
Because I know this is the last time around for me. 

Oh Yeah! This is another Mount Garagemore record from Dunwich and one that I was very pleased to add to my personal collection. Today we look at The Del-Vetts. The Del Vetts were Jim Lauer on vocals and lead guitar, Bob Good on rhythm, Jack Burchall on bass and Roger Deatherage on drums.

Their debut single in June of 1966 was an original composed by their friend, Dennis Dahlquist who penned a kick ass Yardbirds inspired song called The Last Time Around. Production is perfect as is Lauer's vocal delivery and Better Man Than I inspired guitar break. Jeff Beck would have been proud. Special shout out to the bass work of Jack Burchall whose work on this song truly inspired me to learn every note of what he did with his fast running fingers. This single was released just days after the Things To Come released I'm Not Talkin' and just two months before The Banshees set Project Blue upon the record buying public and The Shadows of Knight released Bad Little Woman/Gospel Zone. You see why I love this label?

While Last Time Around was a solid regional hit, the follow-up, I Call My Baby STP, which came with a nice pic sleeve and an STP Oil sticker as part of a quasi-ad campaign, was a flop. (but the flip is respectable) It turns out that was the last time around for the Del-Vetts who went from one bad name to another as they inexplicably changed their name to the lame-ass Pride and Joy, whose lone Dunwich release, Girl/If You're Ready, was highlighted just days ago. Jim Lauer allegedly went the way of Roky Erickson and Syd Barrett. Play it loud and enjoy.

The Flip-Side is solid as solid gets and thus we include it here. Also penned by Dahlquist, the number is the rather peppy, Everytime. Another kick-ass guitar solo from Lauer. I love how you can hear someone cue them back into the verse after the guitar solo. Low-fi, baby.

Sit back and listen to all seven posts in tribute to Dunwich Records out of Chicago. I think you'll get it pretty quick. 

Dunwich Records: The Warner Brothers -- Lonely I

Day 6 of it's Dunwich, man! From the music mecca of Peoria, Illinois, we have today, The Warner Brothers. They were brothers Larry and Al Warner and they released a number of singles from the early 60s to the early 70s. But only one single on the legendary Chicago label, Dunwich. Lonely I is a real raver of an original with Larry busting it with full force. 

We hope you enjoy and we'll see you next time On The Flip-Side!

Dunwich Records: The Shadows of Knight - I'm Gonna Make You Mine and I'll Make You Sorry

I'm Gonna Make You Mine

I'll Make You Sorry

Day 5 of It's Dunwich, Man! As is evident from my last four posts, I love the Dunwich Records label out of Chicago, Illinois. Mostly small, obscure, one-off recordings of bands that popped their head up seemingly from nowhere and disappeared back in their hole just as quick as a whack-a-mole at a pizza parlor game room. That is not the case with today's feature, The Shadows of Knight. They were different. They were stars in Chicago. 

The Shadows of Knight were formed in the hallways of an Arlington Heights, Illinois High School (the school nickname was...the Knights. Get it?). After a few early mutations and instrument swapping, the band settled into the line-up of Jim Sohns on vocals, Warren Rogers on Bass, Joe Kelly on lead guitar, Jerry McGeorge on rhythm guitar and Tom Schiffour on drums. In early 1966, The Shadows of Knight would soon release the first ever Dunwich record. Their cover of Them's Gloria. Now we all know all three chords of Gloria and can sing every word in our sleep, but you may not know it if it weren't for the SoK. Long story short, Gloria was the Flip-Side to Them's first US single, Baby Please Don't Go. The SoK picked it up, cleaned up some suggestive lines, and, believe it or not, scored a certifiable hit with the song. It was largely after the SoK version charted sporadically around the country (Dunwich couldn't press enough to get it out at one time nationally) that the Them version was rediscovered. The band was rushed into the studio where they put together a largely blues cover album. One of only two bands to get a full length player on the Dunwich label.

Just 10 months after Gloria hit, The Shadows of Knight had released one LP and were releasing their fourth excellent single on Dunwich. It is this release, from October of 1966, which we feature both sides of today. This is a real double-sided gem if there ever was one. The A-Side is the power chord heavy, I'm Gonna Make You Mine which never saw an LP release. Lead guitarist, Joe Kelly, puts on the fuzz, turns his Gibson ES335 up to 11, and never lets up. The sexually suggestive, sexually aggressive lyrics are rather surprising for an A-side release in '66: 

I'm Living mean, That's how I live
I'm gonna take girl and you're gonna give
I'm gonna make you mine
I want you bad, so be prepared. 

But the Flip-Side, I'll Make You Sorry, is not to be ignored. And in some ways, maybe better. I'll Make You Sorry was written by Sohns and Kelly. But I think the real star here is rhythm guitarist Jerry McGeorge. That incessant three chord riff played on the Rickenbacker is just pure joy. I never, ever tire of it.

Credit where credit is deserved: I've nicked almost all of the photographs from a Joe Kelly fan site which can be found here.

We'll see you next time On The Flip-Side.

Dunwich Records: The Banshees - Project Blue

"Oh Nooooo!" Day 4 of It's Dunwich Man! As we've stated in our three previous posts, Dunwich Records out of Chicago put out killer records and some spectacularly odd songs. Songs that are far from radio friendly. We already featured The Knaves anti-establishment number, The Things To Come 1000 mph version of I'm Not Talkin', and both sides of The Pride and Joy's lone output.

Today we feature perhaps the most crazed garage record ever put to wax! Man, that is saying a ton. Especially when we have songs like that by Australia's The Elois and Texas' The Outcasts. But I stand by it. Here we present Chicago's The Banshees doing their own composition, Project Blue. It was released in August of 1966. Any garage-O-file worth their salt has heard this song 1001 times (last week alone), but we can't let that stop us from giving them more love. This one is front and center on the Mt. Garagemore monument we have mythically built in our depraved heads. 

The Banshees were made up of singer Frank Bucaro, lead guitarist Ron Rouse, Rick Notolini on bass, John Smead on rhythm, and Tom Leetzow on drums. Lead guitarist, Ron Rouse gets writing credit for this. However, in the world's briefest interview over on 60sgaragebands.com, Frank Bucaro lays claim to co-writer credit. He wrote the Flip-Side of this single, the rather tame, Free. 

Musically speaking, this is -- and I use a technical musicologist term here -- fucking amazing. The lead guitar riff is a relentless, menacing, stabbing piece of testosterone that Angus Young could only dream of playing. You will never, ever, hear a better garage punk guitar riff. Ever. Ron Rouse, you are my hero for coming up with that and performing it so damn perfectly. Singer Frank Bucaro sounds nothing like he does on the rather tepid flip-side. (Yep, even us at Flip-Side HQ sometimes have to love the A-Side more.) On the rather cryptically named Project Blue, Bucaro screams so much and so loud you can damn near hear the blue veins popping out of his neck as he spits out "Come On Now!". There's not much to these lyrics, but man oh man, Bucaro delivers.

Oh Noooo!
I need your love baby, and I need it so bad, Yeah
'Cause your's is the only love that I ever had, babe 

I need your love baby, and only you know.
I need your love baby, and I need it more 

Your love, baby, I need your love, baby
Yeah love, oh! 

I need your love baby, and only you know. Yeah!
I need you love baby, and I need it more, love 

I need your love baby, and I need it so bad. Yeah
'Cause your's is the only love that I ever had, babe

Your love baby, I need your love, your love, baby
Come on Now!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh, come on

Let's be very clear. I would not let this man date my daughter.

If you go to that above linked interview, you'll see a picture of these cats. This is one of those things I love about 60s Garage Bands. They look so nice and clean cut. And then you get this out of them.

Like so many bands of their day, High School ended (yep, they were in high school when they did this number) and they disbanded. Some went to college, others to the military. The Banshees would scream their siren song no more. One depraved single is all we have of their existence.

We'll see you tomorrow with more Dunwich love, man. Until then, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Dunwich Records: The Pride and Joy - If You're Ready and Girl

If You're Ready

Girl

It's day 3 of Dunwich, man! Today we listen to both sides of Dunwich 152. As we like to do, we've flipped the record over and are pimping the Flip-Side of the April, 1967 single first. The band is going by the god-awful name The Pride and Joy. But in reality this is The Del-Vetts (just as bad a name). They must have realized just how un-mod the name Del-Vetts was in '66 and tried, poorly, to rechristen themselves with the more "now" sounding name of Pride and Joy. Regardless of what they called themselves on any given week, we dig them. We've highlighted the Del-Vetts in the past with their über-nugget, Last Time Around/Everytime on Dunwich. Check out that post (please) to learn more about the band.

Girl/If You're Ready was the last song recorded on Dunwich by Jim Lauer and the rest of the band. And what a great song it is. This sometimes gets overlooked by collectors because of the ill-advised name change, but it's a real gem. Both songs are written by Dennis Dahlquist (who also wrote Last Time Around).

If You're Ready starts with Lauer's familiar sounding fuzz guitar and then it rolls into his plea to a no good woman to let him be free. Lauer's lead guitar skills get a nice little moment before the song rolls into a double time, harmonica driven close. The Yardbirds would be proud.

Girl, is far more pop, and thus makes sense on the A-side. A nice number written, again, by Dahlquist, we find Lauer now singing his heart out to (probably) that same woman who appeared on If You're Ready. But now he is real smitten by the girl. Dude, which is it?

Enjoy them and we'll see you tomorrow On The Flip-Side.

Dunwich Records: The Things To Come - I'm Not Talkin'

Day 2 of our Dunwich Records love fest. Like yesterday's highlighted band, The Knaves, The Things To Come hailed from the suburbs of Chicago. Specifically Wheaton, IL. The band -- who clearly got their name from a Yardbirds song, recorded the Mose Allison (by way of The Yardbirds) number, I'm Not Talkin' and two other numbers at Sound Studios in Chicago. The hyper-aggressive I'm Not Talkin' got the A-Side on this July '66 release, while the flip-side was a real nice jangly original called Till The End. It came replete with some Keith Richards styled lead work. 

Bill Traut, trying to make the band "more British" apparently went so far as to change the names of most of the members. From the website, Turn Me On Dead Man:

Ken Ashley's real name was Kennith Utterback, George Heatherton was Richard Cureton and Keith St. Micheal was Thomas Keith Mirabile. It was thought by the label (Bill Trout and Dunwich) that having English sounding names would be a advantage. The only one who had the advantage was the drummer Cliff Harrison who survived the name changes.

 We'll see you next time On The Flip-Side.