El
Chuco: que transa por tus venas
There's few parallels to draw between
El Paso's music scene in the 1960s and Albuquerque's. In the early
sixties, El Paso was seemingly still under The spell of Buddy
Holly/Eddie Cochran and early recordings by local bands reflected
this trend. This El Paso era produced two musicians in Bobby Fuller
and Terry Manning that would influence American rock/pop music well
after the 60s gassed out. Fated for a macabre demise, Bobby Fuller
established himself in West Texas/New Mexico before he moved to Los
Angeles and broke out on the national scene with “I Fought the Law”
in 1966. Terry Manning, had a modest run in El Paso with his band,
The Wild Ones, but truly hit his stride once he relocated to Memphis,
Tn. and started working with Stax/Ardent Records in the the early
1970s.
Due to the success of Norm Petty Studios, West Texas got off the
starting line early compared to the rest of the region. In 1957, both
Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen (who had played together in The Rhythm
Orchids) hit the national charts with million selling singles.
Bowen's “I'm Sticking With You” and Knox's “Party Doll”
coupled with Buddy Holly's #1 single, “That'll Be The Day” set
off a stampede of musicians headed to Clovis, N.M. As Goldust
Records founder, Emmit Brooks put it: "After Buddy Holly and the
Beatles, there was a feeling out there that anyone could get a hit
and make a million dollars," El Paso caught the fever and before
long a burgeoning local rock & roll scene was starting to bubble
up from the dusty landscape.
The arrival in 1957 of itinerant blues
guitarist, Long John Hunter (who set up shop at the Lobby Club across
the river in Juarez) helped to kick things off. Much like Al
Hurricane in Albuquerque, Hunter was grounded in another genre, yet
still played a part in helping rock & roll gain a toehold. His
single “El Paso Rock” released on Calvin Boles' Yucca Records in
1961 helped spark El Paso's pre-Beatles infatuation with instrumental
rock. Countless El Paso musicians made nightly treks across the
border to the Lobby No. 2 Cafe and Night Club to watch Long John lay
down some rattlesnake moan. A disciple of the East Texas blues
guitar tradition, Hunter would often allow young musicians who could
work up the nerve, to take the stage with him (including a very young
and nervous Bobby Fuller)
Then in 1963 a funny thing happened... El Paso went bonkers for surf
music. No easy way to explain this. The Gulf of Mexico is 700 plus
miles away (though the closest beach to El Paso is actually Puerto
Peñasco in Mexico...about 500 miles) Almost overnight, every band
worth a lick in El Chuco, started playing like Dick Dale and The
Deltones. A period well documented by Norton Records' compilation
series “El Paso Rocks” Having tossed aside his aspirations
towards emulating Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran. Bobby Fuller planted
himself firmly at the forefront of this curious turn towards
instrumental surf music in the desert. “The Bobby Fuller
Instrumental Album” compiled by Rockhouse Records (a label based in
the Netherlands) adds further credence to this strange turn of
events.
I realize that historically, El Paso has ties to Cali, specifically Los Angeles. But this is fucking nuts. If not for the British Invasion, who knows how far this “sand surfing” craze may have gone. One thing for certain, this odd mix of borderland bands produced instrumental surf music roughly the equal of what was streaming out of SoCal at the time. Bobby Fuller's “Thunder Reef” “Our Favorite Martian” “Wolfman” and “Stringer” The Pawns “South Bay” The Sherwoods “Tickler” The Impostors' Surfaris spoof “Wipe In” Four Dimensions “Sand Surfin” The Four Frogs “Mr. Big” The Chandelles “El Gato” The dichotomy of “surf in the desert” was resurrected in 1978, when for some strange reason “Big Wednesday” John Milius' coming of age surf movie filmed several scenes in El Paso.
I realize that historically, El Paso has ties to Cali, specifically Los Angeles. But this is fucking nuts. If not for the British Invasion, who knows how far this “sand surfing” craze may have gone. One thing for certain, this odd mix of borderland bands produced instrumental surf music roughly the equal of what was streaming out of SoCal at the time. Bobby Fuller's “Thunder Reef” “Our Favorite Martian” “Wolfman” and “Stringer” The Pawns “South Bay” The Sherwoods “Tickler” The Impostors' Surfaris spoof “Wipe In” Four Dimensions “Sand Surfin” The Four Frogs “Mr. Big” The Chandelles “El Gato” The dichotomy of “surf in the desert” was resurrected in 1978, when for some strange reason “Big Wednesday” John Milius' coming of age surf movie filmed several scenes in El Paso.
The Chains “El Paso's Beatles”
weren't from El Paso, they weren't even from the Southwest. The band
got its start in Las Cruces when Roy Pinney, Brian Kelly and Andy
Woll, all formerly of The Dolphins, a surf band from Larchmont, N.Y.
enrolled at NMSU. They added Ted Woods on drums and lead guitarist
Ron Hillburn (a fullback on the NMSU football team) and called
themselves Rasputin and the Chains. After a year at NMSU, Andy Woll
left the group and the rest of the guys transferred thirty miles down
the road to UTEP. The group's name was shortened to The Chains and
they recorded their first single, a cover of The Young Rascals “Ain't
Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore b/w Cee C. Roc” The b-side was
actually titled “Crotch Cannibal Rock” an instrumental ode to an
enthusiastic groupie.
“Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart
Anymore” was an instant regional hit, topping the charts at El
Paso's KINT “And NUM-BER ONE (echo) for the fifth week in a
row-ow-ow-ow, THE CHAINS-AINS-AINS! Ohhhh, baby! I Ain’t ‘a
Gonna’ Eat Out My HEARRRT Anymore-ore-ore-ore!” With Bobby Fuller
gone from this earth, The Chains rapidly filled the void in the El
Paso musical landscape. They signed with Pinpoint Records and
received a radio push from KINT radio personality Sonny Melendrez who
wrote: “The Chains were the Beatles of El Paso, I remember seeing
them for the first time at Cathedral Hs. There was electricity in the
air... the kids went wild for these guys” Not to be outdone, KELP
El Paso's top forty front runner ran a “Win a Date with The Chains”
contest.
1967 was a busy year for The Chains, as
they toured relentlessly across the Southwest, opening for the
Standells in Las Cruces and The Electric Prunes in Albuquerque. Yet,
a breakout hit eluded them. Roy Pinney's brother Tor, had cut his
teeth playing with several bands in upstate New York, the best known
being Haymarket Square. When the drug scene in New York got too
heavy, Tor bailed out, joining his brother in El Paso as The Chains
second guitarist. Within a month or two, Roy quit The Chains, with
Tor filling his spot. The Chains then embarked on a 1968, “40 shows
in 40 towns” tour of the western states that included stops in
Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Tor recalls that: “The audiences were
appreciative and the groupies were downright heartwarming”
Back in El Paso, The Chains were
offered a recording contract from a label in Dallas. Ultimately the
deal fell through and they found themselves stranded and starving in
a Dallas motel before landing a gig as the house band at a club
called “Lou Anne's” Undeterred The Chains made their way to New
York City in search of a record deal. Roy Pinney rejoined the band,
personnel changes followed. They worked the club circuit in New York,
cut some demos, but were unable to land the elusive major label
contract that they sought. In 1969 The Chains called it quits. Later
that year, following on the heels of the smash hit “Na Na Na Na Hey
Hey Kiss 'Em Goodbye” Tor Pinney toured the U.S. as a member of
Steam (this was strictly a touring band and not involved in the
recording process)
Terry Manning played a bit part in El
Paso's early rock history, yet his name still resonates in that
border city. A nascent Terry & The Wild Ones (with Roy Moore &
David Wood) can be heard at their raucous best, working through a set
of diverse cover songs in 1963 on Norton Records' “El Paso Rock
Vol. 7” Originally from Oklahoma, the Manning family only lived in
El Paso for a few years before moving to Memphis, Tn. For Terry it
was long enough to attend Austin Hs., put together an iconic local
band and strike up a friendship with Bobby Fuller, after a
performance by Fuller at a school dance. Terry is often referred to
as having been mentored by Bobby and apparently his connection to
Fuller helped open doors for him on the Memphis music scene.
Manning performed live with Bobby on
several occasions “I ended up on several gigs sitting in and
playing with him, or he'd let me sing a song here and there, it was
usually "Oh Donna" or "Peggy Sue" Terry was also
a frequent guest at 9509 Album Ave. the Fuller's home. He recalls
the living room having been converted into a rudimentary recording
space with a fully functioning concrete echo chamber added on just
outside the house. This would have been around 1962-63, when Bobby
started up Eastwood Records, which would later transition into Exeter
Records. However, Terry admits that at the time he wasn't into the
technical aspect of the recording process, so other than picking up a
few pointers, it's not likely that the two worked together on any
actual recordings.
In Memphis, a teenage Terry Manning
convinced Al Bell to give him a job at Stax Records. Initially his
duties consisted of sweeping floors and copying tapes. Eventually he
became an assistant engineer and then an engineer and occasional
producer. During this period Terry also played with Lawson and Four
More, a Memphis band that featured Bobby Lawson as vocalist. Lawson
and Four More recorded for Ardent Records (produced by Jim Dickinson)
which led to a spot on The Dick Clark Caravan Tour of the Mid-South.
It was on this tour (which included The Yardbirds) that Terry became
friends with guitarist Jimmy Page. After Bobby Lawson was
unceremoniously booted from the group, they changed their name to The
Goatdancers and continued to record for Ardent under Jim Dickinson's
direction.
At Stax Records, Manning was on the
production team that produced The Staple Singers and Al Green. He
also recorded a rather unexpected solo album, “Home Sweet Home”
released in 1970 on Stax's Enterprise subsidiary. The brainchild of
Stax Vice-President Al Bell, Terry's soulful, psychedelic, blues
tinged rockabilly long player deserves serious consideration if only
for the fact that it marked the first studio appearance for Big
Star's Chris Bell. Manning also worked at Ardent Studios, first with
The Box Tops and then with Alex Chilton. His continued friendship
with Chris Bell led to his becoming a member of two of Bell's pre-Big
Star bands, Rock City and Icewater. He engineered Big Star's “ #1
Record” (on which he played electric piano) and “Radio City”
albums.
Manning's friendship with Jimmy Page
also led to his working on “Led Zeppelin III” the crowning
achievement of a career that would see him work with the likes of ZZ
Top, Albert King, Leon Russell, Joe Walsh, Johnny Winter, Molly
Hatchet, Ten Years After, Jason & The Scorchers, Joe Cocker, The
Fabulous Thunderbirds, George Thorogood, Widespread Panic and Lenny
Kravitz... just to name a few. In 1988 Manning opened his own studio
in Memphis, Studio Six. Four years later Chris Blackwell of Island
Records sought him out to revitalize Compass Point Studios in Nassau,
Bahamas. where Terry worked for twenty years. Manning also started
his own record label, Lucky Seven on which he released an album by
Chris Bell's Rock City and his own tribute to Bobby Fuller “West
Texas Skyline”
Bobby
Fuller Died For Your Sins
Following Terry Manning's departure,
Roy Moore, David Woods and a revolving cast (Frank Sotelo, Ty Grimes
and Mike Ciccarelli) continued on as The Wild Ones. They recorded one
single on Suemi Records “Something's Wrong b/w I Want to Be
Friendly” in 1966. Produced by Bill Taylor and Kenny Smith,
co-owners of Suemi Records and co-writers of both songs. Following
the release of the Suemi single, The Wild Ones made the prerequisite
move to Los Angeles. On the fateful day of July 18th.
1966, Ty Grimes and Mike Ciccarelli, having just arrived in Los
Angeles, stopped in at the apartment shared by Dalton Powell and Jim
Reese of The Bobby Fuller Four. They asked if they could go see
Bobby, who lived just a few blocks away. Powell and Reese agreed to
take them to see Fuller.
The four arrived at Bobby's place, only
to find his Oldsmobile gone. They went up the stairs and knocked on
the door, nobody answered. After waiting a few minutes, they started
back down the stairs when suddenly Lorraine Fuller, Bobby &
Randy's mother, came running towards them. She had just discovered
Bobby's lifeless body in his car, which had mysteriously turned up in
an adjacent lot during the time that the four men had gone up the
stairs. Ty Grimes would later state that he was almost certain he saw
Bobby's car pull into the lot while they waited upstairs. Lorraine
collected herself, called the police and then called Randy Fuller (he
wasn't on speaking terms with Bobby and was staying at the home of a
family friend from El Paso) Lorraine uttered “Bobby's Dead” and
hung up the phone.
Bobby Fuller was almost certainly
murdered. Theories abound, few stand up to further scrutiny. There's
one theory that was brought to my attention by a man who claims he's
the illegitimate son of Bobby Fuller. His version echoes a plot line
from John Kaye's novel “The Dead Circus” Frank Sinatra, enraged
over Bobby having slipped his daughter Nancy a hit of LSD (she had a
bad trip) during the filming of “Ghost in the Invisible Bikini”
(in which they co-starred) used his ample mob connections to have
Fuller put on ice. Bobby was into acid and in fact it's rumored that
he attended an LSD party the night he died. It's the most plausible
of all the Bobby Fuller murder theories. It would take a heavy guy
with dirty cops and mob hit men at his beck and call to pull this
off. Was Sinatra that guy?
Jim Reese would later state that he and
Dalton Powell fled Los Angeles after three mysterious armed thugs
showed up looking for Bobby four days after he died. Apparently, the
thugs hadn't read the newspapers. Reese and Powell, who were already
scheduled to depart from Los Angeles, proceeded to do so, post haste.
In Bobby's Oldsmobile no less... reeking of gasoline and death.
Dalton Powell was desperate to return home to his wife in El Paso. He
had rejoined the band on an interim basis following DeWayne Quirico's
dismissal. Jim Reese had received his draft notice and was due to
report for boot camp. Bobby, as he was wont to do, had dipped into El
Paso's deep pool of talent for replacements. Ty Grimes and Mike
Ciccarellli who were already in town being the obvious choices.
Bob Keane of Del Fi/Mustang Records
was the type of guy that believed you could still race a dead horse
run if you whipped it hard enough. After a brief period of mourning
and with “I Fought the Law” still on the charts, Keane had
DeWayne Quirico convince Randy Fuller to come back to Hollywood and
put together another band. (Randy Fuller, DeWayne Quirico, Mike
Ciccarelli & Howard Steele). A former member of Bobby Fuller &
The Fanatics, Ciccarelli had been replaced by Billy Webb when he was
unable to accompany the band to Los Angeles in 1963. A talented
guitarist, he had just left The Wild Ones and would go on to join
Swift Rain in 1969 (they released an album on Hi Records) Mike
Ciccarelli also released a solo single on Hi Records “The Sun
Rises/ Here” in 1971.
Bobby Fuller was a strict taskmaster, as evidenced by the long list
of back up musicians he employed. Bobby loved to tinker with the
lineup, trying out various drummers and guitarists. The only constant
being his brother Randy. He damn near went through as many drummers
as Spinal Tap. Accompanying Bobby and Randy on the fishing expedition
to Los Angeles in 1963 were Billy Webb and Jimmy Wagnon (who had
replaced Freddy Paz on drums) They played a few gigs and trolled for
a major label, to no avail. The only bite they got was from Bob
Keane, who always kept an open door policy and yet he initially
turned them down. Keane advised them to go home and come back when
they had a hit single for him. Advice that must have gnawed at
Bobby's egocentric nature.
In late 1964, spurred on by the closing
of the “Rendezvous” his showcase dance club in El Paso and his
father's refusal to co-sign on a new club. Bobby left for Los
Angeles. From that point on, Fuller had mixed feelings about his
hometown. A big fish in a small pond, Fuller would soon find himself
a guppie swimming among sharks. Accustomed to to their role as
headliners, Bobby & The Fanatics (now rechristened The Bobby
Fuller Four at Bob Keane's insistence) found themselves grinding out
cover songs at The Ambassador Hotel, L.A. Rendezvous and PJ's. “Let
Her Dance” a local hit in Los Angeles (released in June of 1965, it
tanked nationally, failing to make the Top 100) finally broke the
band regionally as control over his destiny and music slowly slipped
out of Bobby's reach.
Bob Keane rushed Randy into the studio
and had him sing over the original track for “It's Love, Come What
May” Instead of dubbing in Randy's voice, Keane simply turned up
the volume, in effect drowning out Bobby's original vocals. It's
suffice to say, Randy was a much better bass player than vocalist.
The resulting cluster fuck was rushed out as a single, credited to
Randy Fuller and it flopped miserably. The faux four recorded a
second single for Mustang, “The Things You Do/Now She's Gone”
credited to The Randy Fuller Four, it went unreleased. Keane also
re-recorded “Thunder Reef/Wolfman” which had originally been
released on Mustang and credited to The Shindigs aka The Bobby Fuller
Four (a blatant ass kissing attempt to secure the position of house
band on the tv show)
It's the same arrangement, right down
to Bobby's awful Wolfman Jack impersonation. But, it's clearly Mike
Ciccarelli on lead guitar instead of Bobby Fuller. Keane updated the
sound in the same manner that so many groups did back then, giving it
a hyper speed freak boost. It's a miracle Bob didn't rename it
“Wolfman '66” Ever the scoundrel, Bob Keane licensed (without
Randy's consent) “It's Love, Come What May” to Show Town Records
for release in the UK (a fairly common Bob Keane dirty deed) “1,000
Miles in Space / Revelation” would prove to be the last recording
made with Keane. Cornball psyche guitar doodling with vocals as thin
as Arby's roast beef, it amounted to nothing. Randy for the life of
him, could not sing. Not that it stopped him from trying.
The well ran dry, Randy Fuller and
Quirico were left to fend for themselves. This albatross of a rhythm
section spent the next two years grinding out cover songs at the
infamous PJ's. Eventually Randy Fuller found himself playing in Dewey
Martin's ersatz version of Buffalo Springfield called “The New
Buffalo Springfield” which wasn't even that, seeing how the first
version of “The New Buffalo Springfield” had already tanked. In
effect it was “The New, New Buffalo Springfield” but it was still
the same old crap. This version worked with producer Tom Dowd on an
album that was scrapped. After which, Randy Fuller and the others
mutinied, fired Dewey Martin and carried on as Blue Mountain Eagle.
Not long after that, Fuller left to join Dewey Martin's new band
Medicine Ball.
Ty Grimes also had connections with
Bobby Fuller. His older brother Gaylord Grimes was Bobby's first
drummer, dating back to the Yucca Records period. Ty lobbied for
the job when Gaylord opted to enroll in college, but Fuller
considered him too young for the job and went with Googie Dirmeyer
instead. (Dirmeyer wasn't with the band long before he lost a finger
in an industrial accident while working his day job at an elevator
factory) While Ty never had a chance to play with Bobby Fuller, he
did go on to become a member of Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band
(appearing on the “Windfall” album) Capt. Beefheart's Magic Band
(during the “Bluejeans & Moonbeams” Tragic Band period) and
was drummer for jazz/rock fusion flutist, Tim Weisberg in the
mid-1970s.
The
Nerve of Your Hometown...
The most striking difference between
homespun record labels from Albuquerque and El Paso is the production
quality. Duke City labels such as Lance, Space, Lavelle, Red Feather,
Delta and Q.Q. all met high professional standards. This was due
mainly to the state of the art equipment and professional standards
set by John Wagner Studios, the primary recording facility used by
all the labels mentioned above. Hurricane Records with their own
recording facility and Tiny Morie at the control board didn't lag far
behind. John Wagner was a major label quality engineer and producer
working at the local level. Lindy Laskey and Tommy Bee were also top
notch producers with a keen ear for quality production. Few
recordings came out of 'Burque during this period that weren't “radio
ready”
El Paso studios held to a lower
standard. Live takes were often pressed directly to vinyl, equipment
was shoddy and production values lax. Danny Parra (Danny & the
Counts) having suffered through Steve Crosno's slapdash recording
methods at Frogdeath Records, remembers the poor quality of studio
recordings in El Paso at the time. “The songs were recorded as live
single takes in a dumpy downtown recording studio for the princely
sum of $75” production work was nonexistent “The fee was for an
hour of recording time with a very bored, spectacled, bald geezer,
bored out of his gourd during our session” Parra continued “Did
he kick up our audio or segregate the instruments and vocals for a
sweeter mix?... Hell No! He might've been the janitor for all we
knew”
The recording session Danny Parra
describes produced the single “You Need Love b/w Ode to the Wind”
released on Coronado Records. This enigmatic label appears to have
had two distinct production phases. The first is marked by the use
of a maroon label and started with a split single, The Pawns
“Lonely” and David Hayes “Meet Me Here (In New Orleans)”
Early on Coronado Records was home to a handful of instrumental/vocal
groups riding the sand surfing fad that swept through El Paso. (The
Pawns, The Beach Nuts, The Celtics) David Hayes & The Pawns
single “Lonely Weekends/What do the Voices Say” released in 1965
was produced by Calvin Bowls. Which is either a typo, Calvin Boles of
Yucca Records going incognito or a totally different person
altogether.
Signaling a change of direction for the
label, the last two releases on the maroon label featured R&B
artists with Gene Willis & the Aggregation and The El Paso
Drifters. Coronado Records second phase “yellow label with
conquistador heads” began with Coronado 141, “Ode to Loneliness
/Heart of Blue” by The Motivaters (sic) This period almost exclusively
featured R&B/Soul acts such as The El Paso Drifters, Doug Adams,
Donald Ray, The El Paso Chessmen. There's gaps-a-plenty in the
Coronado Records discography and a thorough search of the internet
failed to turn up any info as to who owned and operated the label.
For what it's worth, Calvin Boles and Kenny Smith both associated
with other labels, produced singles for Coronado. Not sure if their
involvement went beyond that.
Kenny Smith and Bill “Sparks”
Taylor were owner, operators of Suemi Records. Named after a popular
60s put down (So, if you don't like it... Sue Me!) Previously, they
were both members of the Sherwoods. Often referred to as Bill Taylor
and the Sherwoods, arguably to avoid being confused with The
Sherwoods of Corpus Christi, a garage band with a much larger
following. The El Paso Sherwoods released a handful of recordings,
including “You Hold My Letters (Not Me) / Just As I Love Her”
released in 1963 on Bobby Fuller's Eastwood label, reissued the
following year on Bobby's Exeter label. Like so many of their clan,
The Sherwoods got caught up in the surfing craze, recording
“Tickler” “Black Out” and “Podunk” for Exeter in 1964.
Following the demise of The Sherwoods, Bill “Sparks” Taylor joined up with band mate Kenny Smith to form Suemi Records. Having been evicted from their original studio on Stanton Street, they set up shop at Tasmit Studios in the Upper Valley. Suemi started out with a diverse roster of local instrumental and vocals groups before evolving into one of those obscure American “soul” labels sought out by British Northern Soul aficionados. The highlights of the Suemi's early rock period include: The Scavengers - Bogus / Ghost Riders ’65, The Embers - I’m Goin’ Surfin’ /Why Am I So Blue, Dave Caflan - You Came To Me / You Must Me kidding, The Wild Ones - Something’s Wrong / I Want To Be Friendly. The majority of these tracks were licensed to Norton Records' and included on that label's awesome “El Paso Rocks” compilation series.
Suemi also went through a psyche rock
period, that culminated with the release of “I Love You Gorgo” a
cursory compilation featuring four tracks each from Truth, Lode Star
and The Intruders. Not certain if Dalton Powell and Jim Reese had
joined Rod Crosby in The Intruders at this point. After Bobby
Fuller's death and their subsequent return to El Paso, they played
with Murphy's Law. Lode Star (they had released a single on Suemi,
“Glimpses / It’s Gonna Be Here”) included Andre Bonaguidi and
Frankie Sotelo (ex-Wild Ones) The Intruders also included Paul West.
All three musicians would later turn up (along with Mike Ciccarelli)
in Swift Rain, an aborted psyche rock band that recorded an album
“Coming Down" At Royal Studios in Memphis, Tn. released on Hi
Records in 1969.
Suemi Records' last phase was dominated
by Lou Pride, who's single “I’m Com’un Home In The Morn’un /
I’m Not Thru Lov’un You” became a bonafied Northern Soul
Monster. In fact Pride's entire catalog is revered by those wacky
Brits, specifically his El Paso recordings with the Suemi imprint. Go
figure? Lou Pride was a man possessed of “a smooth, uptown southern
voice” Originally from Chicago, Pride was drafted into the Army. He
met a gal, got married and upon being mustered from the ranks decided
to call El Paso home. (he would eventually move to Albuquerque, where
he recorded his debut album “Very Special” on the Black Gold
label) Landing at Suemi Records almost by accident, Pride recorded
seven singles for Suemi, all highly sought after by UK collectors.
Suemi also put out a
single by The Groove Merchants “There’s Got To Be Someone For Me
/ We Are Only Fooling Ourselves” A group of Ft. Bliss soldiers,
calling themselves the Funky Bunch, they were actually Lou Pride's
back-up band. Kenny Smith was quite impressed with their horn section
but not their name. Smith thought he overheard Lou Pride refer to
himself as “The Groove Merchant” so he took the liberty to have
“The Groove Merchants” printed on the label. All of which freed
up Funky Bunch for Marky Mark's back up band to use in the late
1990s. Eventually Bill “Sparks” Taylor and Kenny Smith moved to
Memphis and set up shop at Royal Studios, an eight track studio owned
by Hi Records. Lou Pride soon joined Bill & Kenny in Memphis,
recording a few more tracks in the process.
As Steve Crosno would say, “My, My...
will you look at the time” El Paso is a nice place, it's no
Albuquerque mind you.... with that said, it's time to wrap this up.
Bobby Fuller, as so many had before him, made the trip to Clovis
N.M., and Norm Petty Studios. Recording two tracks “My Heart
Jumped / Gently My Love” released as a single on Yucca Records.
[05/1962] Bobby on vocals & guitar was accompanied by none other
than Vi Petty (piano, backup vocals) The experience rubbed Fuller the
wrong way and he set out to record his own music from that point on.
To this end he set up his own studio in the Fuller's living room.
Just a young man, two four-track Ampex recorders and a home made
concrete echo chamber. From that humble studio sprang forth some
truly iconic American rock & roll.
Naturally, a man with his own studio must
have his own label. Bobby Fuller's first effort was Eastwood Records
(named either for Eastwood Hs. or the Eastwood Heights neighborhood
adjacent to Montclair where Fuller lived) Eastwood ran from 1962-63,
releasing three singles “Nervous Breakdown” / “Not Fade Away”
Bobby Fuller “Judy” / “I Can No Longer Pretend” The
Chancellers “Just As I Love Her” / “You Hold My Letters (Not
Me)” Bill Taylor & The Sherwoods (this single was also
reissued as EXT 121 on Exeter, the only overlap between the the two
labels) Eastwood essentially merged with Exeter Records which was
active throughout most of 1964, ceasing operations shortly after
Fuller relocated to Los Angeles. Exeter Records would issue seven
singles and one album.
The album was an anomaly by Los Paisanos, a local trio comprised of “a businessman, a professor and a dentist drawn together by their mutual love for the traditional music of the Southwest and Mexico” The three, Don Dixon, Dan Richey & Clarence Cooper created a smashup of styles and genres, long before anyone even thought of such a thing. Traditional vaquero songs, modern folk classics, Irish Revolutionary ballads and Mexican folk standards. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The album sold well and copies are still out there.... somewhere. Los Paisanos credited Mr. Bob Fuller of Exeter Records Co. 9509 Album Ave. El Paso, Tx. for having produced and directed the recording. “Los Paisanos are indebted to Mr. Fuller for his able direction and sound engineering.” Boy Howdy!
Three of the Exeter recordings featured
Bobby Fuller & The Fanatics (“Fool Of Love” / “Shakedown”
“She’s My Girl” / “I Fought The Law” “Wine, Wine, Wine”
/ “King Of The Beach”) including Fuller's original versions of “I
Fought The Law” and “King of the Beach” (which was reworked in
Los Angeles as “King of the Wheels” for the album “KRLA, King
of the Wheels”) Other singles included, “Tickler / Black Out”
The Sherwoods, “The Pawn / South Bay” The Pawns and “Meet Me
Here / Lonely” David Hayes & The Pawns. “Meet Me Here /
Lonely” was the final Exeter release, shortly thereafter Bobby
informed The Pawns that he was leaving for Los Angeles and cleared
them to reissue “Meet Me Here/ Lonely” on Coronado Records
credited as “A Fuller Production”
Text accompanied by music, Dirt City Chronicles
Don't Need You No More- The Outer Limits
And She'll Cry- The Celtics
You Need Love- Danny & the Counts
How Do You Feel?- The Chains
When Will I Find Her- Mike Renolds and
the Infants of Soul
You Came to Me- Dave Caflan (Colin Flannigan of The Four Frogs)
Not Fade Away- Group Axis
Walking Away- The Outer Limits
Walkin' and Talkin'- The Keymen
Want to Be Your Loving Man- Dudley and
the Do-Rites
I Love You For What You Are- Four
Dimensions
Don't Leave Me- The Outer Limits
Someday- Apple Glass Cyndrom
Stop the World- The Chains
Silly Ants- Group Axis
Babe You Know- The Brentwoods
Shakedown- Bobby Fuller & The
Fanatics
Begin Your Crying- The Outer Limits
Meet Me Here (In New Orleans) David
Hayes & The Pawns
Think I'm Losing You- The Four Frogs
Ode to Loneliness- The Motivaters
Waves- The Outer Limits
Something's Wrong- The Wild Ones
Wine Wine Wine- Bobby Fuller & The
Fanatics
Smokestack Lightning- Group Axis
Talk Talk- Terry Manning