The Epics/Grass Menagerie

Jack Flanders recently wrote to me and asked if he could contribute a story on his 60's rock band from Waco. Of course! Below is the tale, in his own words…

Quiet Riots in old Waco, courtesy of The Grass Menagerie

Another ‘60s Waco band with a particularly notable member was a group first called The Epics, and later The Grass Menagerie. The idea for the band came when the families of friends Jack Flanders and Paul Quick met up for a weekend of camping at Doheny Beach in Southern California during the summer of 63. Enraptured by the golden surfer girls and soulful sounds of The Beach Boys, the two decided to form a band once they returned home.

Together from 1965 to 1968, the band had two distinctions – a particularly gifted lead singer and a knack for starting small-scale riots. The gifted singer was Ronny Raines, an original band member along with Flanders on rhythm guitar, Quick on lead guitar, Bill Howard on bass, and Roy Nash on drums. When the band began, its members were in junior high school. Later half the band attended Waco High School and the other half Richfield High School.

Impressively fashionable, Raines was a member of the choir at Waco High. The other band members always figured his involvement was too good to be true, which soon turned out to be the case. After only two gigs, Raines moved to Houston. In a few years he was Ron Raines, performing for many years in a leading role on the TV soap opera "Guiding Light.'' He also starred in numerous performances of the New York City Opera, distinguished himself in numerous stage and movie musicals, and has recorded more than 25 albums. He’s still a great dresser.

After Raines left the band there were line-up changes, with Roy Walker becoming the lead singer, Tommy Waggener the drummer, and Scott Vaughn the bass player. When Paul Quick moved to Louisiana in 1968, Woody Money took over the role of lead guitarist. The band played regularly at YWCA dances, high school proms, Saturday night dances, bars, Waco Parks and Recreation dances and private parties.

Nothing if not ambitious, the band regularly branched out from its Top 40 rock and performed some of the period’s more avant-garde songs, including “Seven Plus Seven Is’’ by Love, “Riot on Sunset Strip’’ by The Standells, and “You’re Going To Miss Me’’ by the 13th Floor Elevators.

Without fail, “Riot on Sunset Strip’’ would always incite mayhem of some order, according to band members. On a spring night in 1966, the fighting spilled from Waco High School’s gymnasium onto the parking lot where a truly impressive brawl ensued. Among those arrested were two particularly athletic thugs who were hammering away at each other on the roof of a car Flanders had borrowed from his mother.

Today Scott Vaughn and Roy Walker remain active in the Central Texas music scene. Walker played most recently in Time Machine and Vaughn plays in The Lost Tomorrows. Paul Quick lives in Asheville, N.C., where he writes songs and performs with the band QuickChester. Bill Howard is a businessman in the Fort Worth area, and Waggener continues his long-time dental practice in Waco. After living a time in California, Jack Flanders now lives in San Marcos and plays regularly with any and all comers.

Amazingly, although they are in their early 60s, all members of the Epics/Menagerie are still alive and picking. The band members agree that some of their longevity is probably due to never again playing the song “Riot on Sunset Strip.’’

A final bit of irony: Propelled into rock music by a desire to start a Beach Boys-like band, Flanders and Quick have played music of all types for half a century, but are yet to perform a Beach Boys song.

The Synthetic Sound

Here's a mystery record on Lamar McDaris' Pot Records label… Its by a group called The Synthetic Sound. There's a producer credit of A. Dicroce on the label side with the band's original composition- a pleasant sax-laden ballad called "I Must Go". The flip is a wild n wooly cover version of "Proud Mary".
No one Ive spoken to thus far from the Del Rio scene seems to recall who these guys were. Perhaps they were a group from nearby Eagle Pass? or from Uvalde? Maybe Crystal City? Or was this a short lived group with some of the guys from Thee or Chocolate Grapevine?
The deadwax on the record has a Texas Sound Studio code number of 691202, indicating a pressing made on December 2nd, 1969. This is Pot Records catalog number 1002.

"I Must Go"

"Proud Mary"

If anyone knows who these guys were or even played with them, drop me an email at: shape3 "at" yahoo.com

Thanks!

Thee

Band members from left to right:

Ruben Resendez - Bass
Bruno Lozano - Rhythm Guitar
Reginaldo Gonzalez - Lead Guitar
Juan Jimenez - Singer
Juan Raul Rodriguez - Organ
Eddie Garza - Drums

Sporting one of the most unorthodox 60's rock band names, Thee originated from the mid sized border town of Del Rio.
Despite the local population being largely hispanic, segregation was common during those days. The town had at one time been racially separated as one side being San Felipe and the other being Del Rio. Three members of Thee were from either side. Despite this separation, the group were able to bring both sides of the town together at their dances.
Last year while visiting with a friend, I was able to sit down with original bass player Ruben Resendez.
Ruben had moved from California to Del Rio, TX in 1961. A few years after moving to town, Ruben began learning to play guitar from his next door neighbor's brother, an older kid named Raul who played in several bands. His lessons came to the test when his first band- The Extremes, got asked to play a youth center dance in 1965. Ruben was 12 years old at the time. This project only lasted about a year, and in 1966 Juan Jimenez and Juan Raul Rodriguez left their band to join Ruben's group. They decided to change their name at this point and wanting something British sounding, so they choose the stark and unusual name: Thee.
Soon the band was playing local sock hops and church functions, and began to tour regionally in places like Uvalde, Brackettville, San Angelo, Eagle Pass, San Antonio, San Marcos, and as far as Sul Ross University in Alpine. The group even played across the border in Mexico at the infamous Boys Town a few times.
One of the other popular teen bands in Del Rio was a band called The Chocolate Grapevine, which featured Ferdy Calderon, local celebrity Blondie Calderon's younger brother. Blondie went on to be Ray Price's vibraphone (and later on piano) player from 1967 on.
Thee's drummer at the time, Lupe Lomas eventually left the group and joined Chocolate Grapevine, and their drummer Eddie Garza joined Thee.
One night in early 1969 while opening for one hit wonders Crazy Elephant at the Del Rio civic center, the band caught the attention of local KLDK DJ and concert promoter Lamar McDaris aka James D.
Lamar began managing the group and brought them into the radio station one day to make a quick demo of an original song they had written. "Time With Her" began being played on the air and started receiving a good amount of attention, so McDaris sent the boys out to Texas Sound Studio up a ways north in San Antonio to record their hot new original song plus a cover version of the Bee Gee's "To Love Somebody". The band chose the controversial label name of Pot Records for the 45 label, a name which Lamar would continue to use for several other records he released down the line.

"Time With Her"

"To Love Somebody"

The single was a local hit and according to Ruben, sold about 4 or 500 copies.
The band was only briefly able to enjoy the momentum from their first record however, as the members began to graduate from high school and either move away or take serious jobs. Thee was no longer by the summer of 1970.

Ruben continued playing in bands from that point on, playing in a long running group called Crossroads, who played mostly tejano and country music. He focuses predominantly on christian music these days.

Many thanks to Ruben Resendez, Ray Gutierrez, and Billy & Bob McDaris for their time. It truly is much appreciated!

The Unexpected Party

I recently came across an obscure late 60's rock single by a group from Kerrville, TX. I don't often seen records from that area, so I HAD to know more. To boot, the record was pretty good... I located original organist John Thomason, and here is what he and David Crosswell had to say about the group:

"The band was short-lived, only about one school year 1968-69. John Thomason was a math teacher at Schreiner Institute (now Schreiner University) in Kerrville. There were some students there who wanted to play some rock and roll, but it was too loud for the dorm and the music department didn't have space for or interest in accommodating them. However, there was a vacant building on campus, the old infirmary, and the students asked the administration about using it as a rehearsal hall. The administration said okay, on one condition. They had to have a faculty sponsor who would unlock and lock the building and be present while the students used it. That's how Thomason got involved. He occasionally played piano or directed musical events around campus, so the students knew he might be interested. And, conveniently, he actually lived on campus, pretty much across the street from the vacant building. Besides, he always wanted to be in band and so … a band was formed.

The name of the band came from "An Unexpected Party," the title of the first chapter of "The Hobbit," a popular book among students at the time. Of course, the band intended a clever play on the words thinking they would be the impetus for some spontaneous parties. The personnel in the band were David Crosswell, guitar and lead vocals; Tom Daniels, bass and background vocals; Jack Horner, lead vocals and harmonica; Tom Ostendorf, drums; and John Thomason, organ and background vocals. They played mainly for dances on campus, at the local high school, and at a local "teen canteen." They also managed to play a couple of times in San Antonio--once at a club called the Pink Pussycat and once for a Trinity University frat party. They were strictly a cover band and the songs they played tended to be favorites of the band members, probably songs they already knew. They did songs by Iron Butterfly, The Beatles, The Grass Roots, The Band, and Steppenwolf, to name a few.

They decided to try their hand at producing a 45 and booked an hour at Texas Sound Studios in San Antonio. The songs they recorded were covers of Steve Miller Band's "Living in the USA" with Jack Horner singing lead and John Mayall's "Broken Wings" with David Crosswell singing lead. They had 200 copies pressed and sold them around campus and at dances where they played. Bill "Wink" Stacy was then a DJ at the local radio station KERV reported that their recording of "Broken Wings" was more requested than even songs by the Beatles were.

The school year ended and the band members went their separate ways. Tom Daniels has since passed away. Crosswell and Thomason are still in touch, but the fates of Horner and Ostendorf are unknown. Like most unexpected parties, this one was fun, but short-lived."

"Living In The USA"
 
 "Broken Wings"


Many thanks to John Thomason and David Crosswell...

Mechanical Switch

The core of Mechanical Switch began when friends Alan Meek and Leroy Shelton began playing guitar together at age 13. Alan had begun playing guitar two years earlier and he hastily taught Leroy everything he knew. Shelton learned very quickly, as he was just as obsessed with the instrument as Alan had been.
About a year later the two became friends with Ben Dusek, who they convinced to become their drummer. Ben had no experience playing before an didn't even own a drum set. No problem, Ben's brother in law had an old kit that Ben could have.
The three of them would spend a lot of time together. One day while out fishing, Ben suggested the band needed a name. While waiting for a fish to take the bait on his line, Alan thought of a light switch on a wall... "What about 'Mechanical Switch'?"
After a few months of steady practice, the band started to gel. Eventually, Ben suggested they try out a friend of his named Bart as their singer. Bart was a perfect fit and even had the "look," long hair and stylish mod clothes. Bart quit the band he was currently with, and Leroy switched to bass guitar so that the low end could be covered. Within a years time from there, the band had become quite tight and were playing dances within a 150 mile radius of El Campo.

Being a psychedelic rock band with long hair in a South Texas farming town certainly caused its share of friction. The occasional dance which would feature both a country band AND The Switch would certainly mean fights within the crowd.
Despite these differences, Alan's parents were very supportive of his bands endeavors, his mother had been a musician in her younger days and she supported her sons interest in music. Both Alan's parents began booking the band for many of their dances and generally acted as the bands management.
This was to change after an encounter at one particular show where the group was approached by a man named Walter Richardson who offered the band a contract to be their manager. The band signed and shortly after he sent them up to Tyler, Texas to record with the great Robin Hood Brian, whose work Walter had been acquainted with due to his quality recordings made for Mouse & The Traps. By this point, Organist Mark Wenglar had been added to expand the bands sound.

It took almost 5 hours to record the first song the band had prepared, an original Alan had written the music for called "Everything Is Red." Though they had brought down their own guitars, they were using the studios amps, drums, and organ. Unfamiliar with the new equipment and unable to turn up the amps loud enough for their usual distortion tone, they had to struggle a little to get the right sound. By the time they rolled around to the next song, a collectively written tune called "Spongeman," they were moving a lot faster and were able to knock it out within 30 minutes. Ironic since it was the song they slapped together in one rehearsal before going into the studio.
Both songs were described later by Bart as "drug-love" songs: they both intended to describe the feeling of being a teenager who is intoxicated by his infatuation with a girl. "Spongeman" is a tune about a boy who lives by soaking up his girlfriends love. Although it was difficult to get much radio time for their new single, the record sold quite well in the area and the pressing sold out.

"Everything Is Red"

"Spongeman"


A year later, Bart and Mark were off to college while the rest of the band was still in high school. Later on Ben and Leroy both joined the army. The band was over, and most of the guys stopped playing music entirely.
Alan continued playing with several groups afterwards, notably an outfit called The Experience which was based in nearby Wharton, where Meek had been attending college.

The line up of Mechanical Switch was:
Alan Meek - Lead Guitar
Leroy Shelton - Bass
Ben Dusek - Drums
Bart Baca - Vocals
Mark Wenglar - Organ

Thanks to Alan, Bart, Ben, and Mark for their help...

The Rebels

Boasting one of my favorite 1960's band portraits, The Rebels were a teen band from Marlin, TX (same as The Wullabies- see my first post). 

They started sometime circa 1966 and folded around 1969.

According to original member Keith Alston, the band went into Chuck Harding's recording studio around 1967 and recorded and released a 45 record. If this is true, it would be a complete unknown in the TRC (Texas Recording Company) label catalog. Very enticing, as the band certainly looks like they could've issued a nice garage rocker.

No one in the group seems to still own a copy of this recording, and details are foggy.

Does anyone out there know anything else about this recording?

Band members were:

Kevin Alston - ace tone organ

Keith Alston - drums

Eddie Verevoski - bass

Joe Falco - guitar

Nick Labarbera - vocals

Thanks to Keith for the info! Anyone with additional knowledge about this group or the record they recorded, please drop me a line at shape3 (at) yahoo.com

The Souls

Here is a real mystery record which I recently dug up... Its an acetate pressing by a band called The Souls recorded at Sound City Recording Studio in Fort Worth, Texas. I would guess this was tracked around 1966. The record contains two songs: "Why" and a great crude garage punker called "Green Eyes".
Does anyone out there know more about this mysterious band?

"Green Eyes"

"Why"


Please excuse the audio quality of this record. Not in the best of shape, but at least it exists!
If anyone out there remembers this group, please drop me a line at shape3 (at) yahoo.com !