Krystal Blue

The Houston area Solar label released a handful of interesting 60's and early 70's rock singles, including a nice double sided early hard rock 45 from Wharton, TX band The Krystal Blue. I got to speak with bassist Carl Thrasher a few times and he emailed me the story on the band copied below. Although Carl actually grew up in San Marcos (and remembers seeing area garage bands The Mad Mods and The Driving Wheels) he would commute the 2 1/2 hour drive to Wharton for practice every week.

"From left to right at the top is Ronnie Luco on Drums, Tootie Brown on lead guitar, Carl Thrasher on Bass, Terry Tony on rhythm guitar, Mike Gray on lead vocals, rhythm and acoustic guitar, and Glenn Seay (pictured in front) on piano and Hammond organ. Terry also frequently sang lead vocals. Carl, Terry, Mike, and Glenn sang backup vocals." 

"The band began playing for high school and college students at proms and fraternity parties in 1969 in places near Houston and Austin-San Marcos.  The band joined the Barons Agency in the summer of 1970 and began playing the dance hall circuit in an area bounded by Houston,  Austin, and College Station, which included dance halls in small towns like La Grange, Smithville, Swiss Alp, Schulenburg, Columbus, Deanville, College Station, Summerville, Sealy, Bellville, Brehnam, Giddings, Hillje, Lousie, East Bernard and other nearby venues.  Some of these dance halls had spawned earlier talent in the 60s, including B.J. Thomas and Roy Head.  The band usually performed every Friday and Saturday at one of these dance halls throughout the year, and sometimes on Sundays.  Crowds would vary from 300 to 1,200.  We were disappointed if we did not attract at least 600 people.  The band also performed in Galveston and as far away as Louisiana.

Usually once a year, the Barons Agency would sponsor a “Battle of the Bands” at one of these venues.  All of the bands (usually six to eight bands) in the Agency would perform.  These usually drew crowds of 1,500 or more people.

"Did You See Her Eyes"

 "All Right With Me"

The band recorded two 45s in 1971-1972 and sold them at performances for $1 each.   Posters advertising upcoming performances could be found in convenience stores, and fast food places in all nearby towns at least a week ahead of time.  The band did well enough to purchase its own van and m matching trailer with the band name on it, which was a source of pride for a group of college students like us playing music on the weekends.

We practiced at least once a week (usually Wednesday) in a recording studio in Rosenberg owned by the Agency.  The acoustics were exceptional in the studio, which kept the sound from bothering anyone outside.

We did mostly top 40 music and worked hard to learn and play the most current popular tunes of the day from artists like Van Morrison, Lee Michaels, Neil Diamond, Grand Funk Railroad, James Taylor, Loggins and Messina, Deep Purple, Three Dog Night, ZZ Top, Bread, Chicago, and the Hollies,  to name a few.

I left the band in July 1973 and have no historical information for the time after I left.  However, I believe the band continued for at least another three years after that, in some form or fashion."

Thanks Carl for taking the time to type out the bands story, it makes my job a lot easier! Ill be adding the second 45 and hopefully a few more pics to this entry as I acquire the source materials... 

The Roks

The Roks from Waco, TX are the only known teen group on the Mark VII label that I have not been able to identify all the members of.
What I do know is this:
Milton Kirkpatrick was the vocalist of the group. Ronnie Rogers was the bassist.
Though Milton passed away years ago, I was able to speak with Ronnie briefly: he could not remember the names of the other band members, only that they were older and were attending Baylor University at the time.
He recalls going into the studio and being disappointed that they only recieved a box of records afterwards and were offered absolutely no promotion.
A few locals recall seeing this band at a battle of the bands event at the skating rink.
These guys must've been fairly hip, as both of their cover choices on the their lone 45 record are both just a little outside the scope of your average small town Texas garage band.
One side is a searing rendition of the Leaves version of "Hey Joe." The other side, even more surprising, is a nice cover of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band's jangle pop gem "Transparent Day."

"Hey Joe"


"Transparent Day"


 If anyone out there can shed a little more light on this group, please drop me a line at shape3 (at) yahoo.com
Thanks!

The Twilighters

After a long hiatus due to several converging elements, I have returned! I thought I would kick things off with a bang... 

The Twilighters released one of Texas most legendary and savage 1960's garage band recordings with their "Nothing Can Bring Me Down" b/w "I Need You" 45 on Mark VII records.
Long rumored to be a group based out of Waco, the group were actually from the quaint small town of Belton, Texas.

The member line up consisted of:

Jay White - Lead Guitar/Vocals
David Constance - Bass
Ronnie Proctor - Drums
David Petty - Guitar
Barry Couch - Farfisa Organ

David Constance provided some history on the band over email:

"I think back in about 1964 I talked my parents into buying me a 6 string electric guitar and amp on a trip to Waco.  Jay invited me out to his house.  He had a HUGE  Gibson guitar and somehow I ended up buying a cheap bass guitar and amp.  We always played by ear, no music reading as far as I know.  We practiced and practiced and at sometime David Petty, rhythm guitar, joined along with Ronnie Proctor on drums.  Our first gig was the Belton Lions's Club Minstral show. We played Walk Don't Run by the Ventures , and Donnette Boyd sang-----? .    We started playing at the Teenage Canteen,  a building on the black side of town ( I think just as our high school began intergration , about 1966-67) .  We would practice there as the local radio d.j., Bill Elliot, must have really liked us and allowed us to use the place and play on weekends for I guess a year or so.

Now, keep in mind, I was not very good, but with Jay's instruction, I knocked out a few good riffs to create a "bottom" for our music.  Petty kept a good rhythm and Proctor banged out the beat.  We must have been paid some cash, because we hung out at Heart of Texas Music store in Temple and occasionally bought a new instrument.  I remember owning a Fender Jazz Master bass and a Gibson EBO bass.  Man I wish I had them today!  I had a Fender bass amp and wish for a Marshall someday.  Never got it.  

 Once, we drove to Dallas to a "head" shop to buy (something?)  about the time Jimmie Hendrix was making it.    Janis Joplin (I saw in Austin), Cream, the Beatles, Stones, Animals, Procol Haram, and (help me guys) all the rest influenced us greatly.  We had a blast!    Jay was the genius behind our "success".  At some point, Barry couch joined with his electric organ. I, and I think Petty, played to get as many girls as possible.  It worked! We played at different high school dances around central Texas.  We got gigs at Fort Hood with the help of Jay's dad, at the EM (enlisted men's) Club... We played in Rogers, Waco, Lampasas and the roller skating rink in Harker Heights and other such not so major cities. I created a "light show" for us with a strobe light, a black light and an old Christmas tree light wheel. Too Cool! We played in Temple at the Mark VII, the new club (I got paid for building/painting the new sign out front). We cut our record at the same building. I think we had to pay the guy for recording and I doubt we made our money back in sales. 

At some point Barry stopped playing and we found a guy from Rogers, Glen Henderson. A great organ player, but he drank too much.  Ronnie stopped playing drums and we found a great drummer from Lampasas, Bobby Langford. I remember getting a job in Houston at The Cellar our last summer together. We changed our band name to Blue Fever . Our first taste of  big city pleasures. We "lived for today..." We played all night and slept all day. We had a great time but thank God I did not pursue that way of life."

"Nothing Can Bring Me Down"

"I Need You"

It seems that at some point in 1968, Glen Daniels (owner of the Mark VII studio and label) opened a night club in Temple and reused the name Mark VII.

In exchange for free performances at his club, Glen recorded the band after hours one night in the venue. As the band recalls, they had to set up lumber with draped blankets throughout the space in order to subdue some of the all too ample natural reverberation of the empty room.

As was typical of these type of recordings, the band only had one song prepared to record for the session, so they quickly wrote "Nothing Can Bring Me Down," and had it ready to go within 3 or 4 passes at rehearsal. 

They pressed up an estimated 500 copies of the 45 record and sent it out to local record stores and radio. Apparently, the single made it up to #1 on KTON radio in Temple for a week or two.

Interestingly enough, these 2 songs became live staples after releasing the record. Not a typical thing for most 60's garage bands who would usually cut a record and leave it behind as a distant memory right after committing it to tape.

Not long after the single was released, Ronnie Proctor left the group to pursue a career as a professional bull rider. He was replaced by Bobby Langford.

By the summer of 1969, the band stripped down to a trio with only Jay White, David Constance, and Bobby Langford. They moved to Houston and gained a residency spot at the legendary Celler Club and would play there 6 nights (!) a week until the early hours of the morning.

Due to endless nights of partying, the band burned out and decided to call it quits by the end of that very summer.

Special thanks to all the members of The Twilighters, who all shared a few tidbits. Thanks guys!

More coming soon. Hope to have a short post on The Roks up in the next few days...