The Tikis – Bye Bye Bye

Mention the Tikis to even the most diehard Sixties enthusiast, and you’re liable to get a blank stare. Mention Harpers Bizarre, and you might get a knowing nod, if only for their effervescent cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)“, which went to #13 on the charts. However, the Tikis, who would become Harpers Bizarre, were a fine Beatlesque pop band in their own right (if perhaps missing a little Lennon grit ‘n vinegar). They’re also worth remembering as one of the artists who recorded for Autumn Records, the preeminent record label in the Bay Area until its collapse in 1966.

The Tikis formed in early 1964 around guitarist/vocalist Dick Scoppettone and bassist Dick Yount, high school friends who had been playing folk music until the British Invasion hit. With the addition of Ted Templeman on drums and vocals, and Ed (or Eddie) James on lead guitar, the lineup was complete.

The Tikis became popular in their hometown of Santa Cruz, purveying a mixture of British beat and surf music. They signed to Autumn Records in May of 1965, and released two singles on that label, “If I’ve Been Dreaming” and “Bye Bye Bye” – neither single dented the charts.

In early 1966, Autumn was bought by Warner Bros. The label released a different, slower take of “Bye Bye Bye” as the band’s third single – this take is the one featured here for review. It was also a flop.

The Tikis might have only been a footnote in history, were it not for Warner Bros. staff producer Lenny Waronker. Waronker was determined to make a hit single out of the Simon and Garfunkel tune “59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)“, and decided that the Tikis were the ones to do it.

The resulting recording featured Templeman and Scoppettone’s singing, and a sunshine-pop arrangement (by Leon Russell) with a large backing ensemble, including a woodwind quartet. Because the recording was such a departure from their usual style, the Tikis decided to release the track under the name “Harpers Bizarre”.

When the single shot to #13, the Tikis decided that it might be more lucrative to become Harpers Bizarre full-time, and with the addition of former Beau Brummel John Petersen on drums, the change was complete.

Harpers Bizarre would release four studio albums and numerous singles in their four-year lifespan, although none reached the level of commercial success of the “59th Street Bridge Song”. They broke up in 1970, reforming for a reunion album (without Templeman) in 1976. Templeman himself went on to be a staff producer for Warner Bros. Records, with a wide variety of production credits to his name.

The Song: Bye Bye Bye

Written by Ted Templeman and Dick Scoppettone

Recorded in San Francisco, CA (December 1965)

Released as Warner Bros. single #5818 (May 1966)

Personnel:

Dick Scoppettone – lead vocals, rhythm guitar

Ed James – lead guitar

Dick Yount – bass, backing vocals

Ted Templeman – drums, backing vocals

with:

Unknown – piano, harmonica, tambourine

Produced by Abe “Voco” Kesh (a Donahue-Mitchell Production)

This is very reminiscent of the Beau Brummels, especially the mournful harmonica intro, which is straight out of “Laugh, Laugh“. Anyway, this is a tad too wimpy for my tastes, but I can’t deny the quality of the harmonies. I do think that the verses work better than the chorus, which is disjointed and not very catchy.

Rating: B-

Listen to the song here.

The Mojo Men – She’s My Baby

The Mojo Men are best known for their biggest hit, the Van Dyke Parks-arranged baroque-pop nugget “Sit Down, I Think I Love You“, which went to #36 in March of 1967. Prior to this, they had purveyed a brand of proto-garage rock, heavily influenced by the British Invasion.

The group (consisting of Jim Alaimo on lead vocals and bass, Paul Curcio on guitar, Don Metchick on keys, and Dennis DeCarr on skins) had started out in Florida as the Valiants. They relocated to San Francisco in 1964, and changed their name to the Mojo Men. The band signed with Autumn Records in 1965, and began working with producer Sylvester “Sly” Stewart (later known as Sly Stone).

The band’s debut single, a fairly colorless Rolling Stones cover, failed to dent the charts, but their follow-up effort, “Dance With Me“, was a small national hit at #61.

Stewart and the Mojo Men recorded several tracks as “Sly and the Mojo Men”, but apparently Stewart didn’t think them worthy of release. However, the band’s third single (and the featured track), “She’s My Baby“, featured Stewart on percussion, harmonica, fuzz bass, and backing vocals.

Drummer Dennis DeCarr left the band in 1966. He was replaced by former Vejtable Jan Errico. Around the same time, Autumn Records folded, and Warner Bros. bought out the record company’s roster. The Mojo Men would continue to record on Warner Bros. subsidiary Reprise.

These events wrought a sea change in the Mojo Men’s sound. The new record company was willing to provide extensive studio time and money; this, combined with Errico’s poppier sensibilities, pushed the band in a softer, more heavily orchestrated direction.

This new direction bore fruit, as “Sit Down, I Think I Love You”, the band’s fourth single, became a hit. The song featured the arranging talents of Van Dyke Parks. The band’s fifth single, “Me About You“, charted, but didn’t match the performance of its predecessor.

This proved to be the high watermark of the Mojo Men. They would go on to release seven more singles during 1968 and 1969, an album, and change their name to the trendier The Mojo, and finally just Mojo – sadly, none of these efforts met with commercial success, and the band (by now sans keyboardist Metchick) called it a day in 1969.

The Song: She’s My Baby

Written by Sly Stewart, Jim Alaimo, and Paul Curcio

Recorded in San Francisco, CA (October 1965)

Released as Reprise single #1001 (June 1966); a different mix was released as Autumn single #27 (February 1966)

Personnel:

JIm Alaimo – lead vocals, bass

Paul Curcio – guitar, backing vocals

Don Metchick – organ, backing vocals

Dennis DeCarr – drums

with:

Sylvester “Sly” Stewart – percussion, harmonica, fuzz guitar or fuzz bass, backing vocals

Produced by Sylvester “Sly” Stewart

Man, that fuzz bass (or maybe it’s a fuzz guitar – the Nuggets notes are unclear about that) is mean. Unfortunately, it’s the best part of the song; the rest is just a fairly generic blues pastiche, complete with obbligato harmonica. Nevertheless, the song’s well arranged (even if the transition between the fuzz breaks is a bit abrupt), and the Mojo Men rock out with enough power and conviction to get them a B+.

Rating: B+

Listen to the song here.

The Great Society – Free Advice

The Great Society (stylized as The Great! Society) are mainly remembered today for being the first band that Grace Slick was in. The band was not known for its professionalism. It reportedly took them over fifty takes to record the basic track of the featured song, “Free Advice“, irritating producer Sylvester “Sly” Stewart to no end.

The Great Society could be described as a minor brother of Jefferson Airplane. Indeed, they often shared the same gigs, played similar styles of music, and, of course, both bands featured Slick. In addition, the Society’s lead guitarist, Darby Slick, wrote “Somebody To Love“, which both bands would record.

Unfortunately, the Society wasn’t as instrumentally talented as the Airplane (although Darby Slick was an inventive guitarist), and would not share the success of the Airplane – after the departure of Grace Slick (who was the real talent in the band), the Society fell apart. However, at least for time, the Great Society was almost as popular as the Airplane, and possibly could have made it – had Grace stayed on board. Unfortunately, the departure of Signe Anderson from the Airplane sealed the fate of the Society, as Grace joined virtually the moment Anderson left.

The band was formed by brothers Darby and Jerry Slick, and Jerry’s wife Grace (born Grace Wing). The three came from wealthy Palo Alto families – Darby and Grace had known each other since childhood. Darby had musical experience playing in bands, while Jerry and Grace were novices. Darby played lead guitar, Grace played rhythm guitar and sang, and Jerry played drums.

The lineup was fleshed out with the addition of Bard Dupont on bass, and David Miner on rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Dupont was selected not because of his ability (he had never played bass before), but because of his long hair and good looks.

The band’s name came from David Freiberg, a friend of Dupont, as a mocking send-up of Lyndon B. Johnson‘s policies.

Before they had even played a gig, the Society audtioned for Tom Donahue and Bob Mitchell. The Autumn Records talent scouts were impressed. They signed the band, and took them into the studio to record a “demo album” of a dozen tracks, which would not be released for years. Donahue and Mitchell also signed the band up to play a two-week stint at Mother’s, a local club.

The band played their first gig on October 15, 1965. The next day, they opened for Jefferson Airplane at the first Family Dog event at Longshoreman’s Hall. As it happened with Jefferson Airplane, a positive review by Ralph J. Gleason caused many major record labels to become interested in the band.

The Great Society released their first single, “Someone to Love” (sic) in February of 1966, written by Darby Slick, with “Free Advice” as the B-side. The single failed to sell outside of the Bay area, but “Free Advice” is noteworthy because it was influenced by Indian music – quite groundbreaking for early 1966.

I’ll finish up the history when I review “Somebody to Love”.

The Song: Free Advice

Written by Darby Slick

Recorded in San Francisco, CA (December 1965)

Released as Northbeach single #1001 (February 1966)

Personnel:

David Miner – lead vocals, rhythm guitar

Grace Slick – lead vocals

Darby Slick – lead guitar

Bard DuPont – bass

Jerry Slick – drums

with:

Billy Preston – drums (he’s playing the drum overdubs in the left channel)

Produced by Sylvester “Sly” Stewart

This may be groundbreaking, but that sure don’t mean it’s good. The bass player just plays the same two notes throughout, the drumming and guitar playing are rudimentary as well, and no two ways about it – David Miner just can’t sing. Why they had him sing lead when Grace freakin’ Slick was in the band is a mystery to me. Her wordless vocals, influenced by scat singing and Eastern scales, are just about the only enjoyable part of the whole experience. Bleh.

Rating: C

Listen to the song here.

The Vejtables – Anything

The Vejtables were a minor San Francisco band (they’re associated with the San Fran scene, but actually formed in Millbrae) who were notable for one reason; they had a female drummer. Jan Errico not only drummed for the group, but sang lead vocals on their first two singles (even though the band actually had a lead vocalist – I wonder how he felt about this turn of events).

The band formed in the summer of 1964, and followed the same path as the Beau Brummels, playing at the Morocco Room as the Brummels had done and signing to Autumn Records. They released two singles with Autumn: “I Still Love You“, which charted at #84, and “The Last Thing On My Mind“, which failed to chart. Both singles found the band purveying a poppy, harmony-rich sound, which recalled the Beau Brummels in many ways (especially the harmonica and jangly guitars on “I Still Love You”).

The band broke up in early 1966. Lead vocalist Bob Bailey reformed the band with all-new members. Their sound became more psychedelic with the new lineup, and the band dabbled in raga rock as well – check out “Shadows“. The new incarnation of the band survived until late 1966, when the band broke up for good.

Jan Errico would go on to drum for the Mojo Men (and sing harmony on their hit “Sit Down, I Think I Love You“). Bassist Rick Dey would co-write the Paul Revere and the Raiders hit “Just Like Me“.

The featured song was released as the B-side of “I Still Love You”. It is quite different from either of the band’s Autumn A-sides: it’s a moody, organ-driven minor-key number that recalls the Zombies.

The Song: Anything

Written by Bob Bailey

Recorded in San Francisco, CA (May 1965)

Released as Autumn single #15 (August 1965)

Personnel:

Bob Bailey – lead vocals, tambourine

Ned Hollis – lead guitar, Vox organ, backing vocals

Reese Sheets – rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Rick Dey – bass, backing vocals

Jan Errico – drums, probably wood block, backing vocals

Produced by Sylvester “Sly” Stewart for Cougar Productions

It’s easy to see why Jan Errico sang lead on both the band’s Autumn A-sides: lead singer Bob Bailey is a little lacking in the personality department. Fortunately, he makes up for it in the songwriting department; the lyrics are fairly conventional (lead singer can buy anything, except love), but the chord structure definitely is not. The instrumental bridge, with the interplay between the lead guitar and the organ, is also noteworthy; Ned Hollis’ organ playing is pretty sophisticated for 1965. (OK, he’s no Alan Price.) Good tune; says what it needs to in two minutes.

Rating: B+

Listen to the song here.