posted 30 October 2000 03:43 PM         

Here's my letter, and it is about the steel guitar in rock.

quote:

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Dear Sundazed,

I was interested to see that in the last Sundazed email newsletter that the Various Artists compilation Northwest Battle of the Bands Volume1: Flash and Crash, included a track by SIR WALTER RALEIGH: Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day

I haven't picked up the compilation, so I'm not sure how much the Sundazed people know about the history of the group Sir Raleigh & The Coupons, but the group formed in April 1964 as the Norm Raleigh Band to play as the house band at the Lazy X Club in North Hollywood.
They consisted of Sneaky Pete Kleinow on steel guitar and vocals, Al Harris on piano & vocals, Johnny Meeks on lead guitar, vocals, Mel Taylor on drums and Norm Raleigh on bass and vocals. Most of this group had played at the Palomino Club, while Al Harris had worked with Rick Nelson’s group.
The Lazy X club was quite a Hollywood hot spot to begin with and it also featured touring acts, and the ones that weren’t self contained, then they’d provide the backing. Visitors to the club included Jan & Dean, Ike & Tina Turner with the Ikettes and the Ventures.
Mel Taylor was splitting his time between the Ventures and the Norm Raleigh Band, when the gigs clashed Junior Nichols would sub on drums at the Lazy X. It would seem likely that when Kleinow played on the Ventures song 'Blue Star' in 1964, it was through his connection with Mel Taylor.
Later in 1964 the group changed it’s name to Sir Raleigh & The Coupons, which evolved out of Pete’s nickname for Norm and the idea gelled from the post-Beatles interest in British sounding groups and Pete’s observation that Raleigh Cigarettes offered ‘Coupons’ with their packs. The Beatles also helped provide some new material and the group began mixing Beatles songs, rock and country, all taking vocals and singing harmonies.
A local drummer vocalist Dewey Martin started to sit in with the group at the club, Dewey whose real name was Walter Dwayne Midkiff, and although Canadian had already worked in Nashville before moving to LA. In 1964 he had already toured with the Dillards and appeared on some of their recordings. When Mel Taylor left to concentrate on touring and recording with the Ventures, Dewey was a natural fro the drum spot.
took them to Seattle and hired them out as his group under the name the ‘Blue Diamonds' and when they weren't backing him they were Sir Raleigh & the Coupons, etc and you know the rest of the story.

Through a Californian singer and promoter named 'Lucky Lee' (Wally Leise), and some of Lucky Lee’s Seattle business contacts they got a promotional deal to move to the Pacific Northwest to record and tour the local scene. They totally outfitted themselves in fancy cowboy suits and relocated the whole band around 1964. The group found it hard in Seattle area and rarely managed to play a gig as bookings were scarce. Kleinow also remembers Dewey Martin’s attitude was often a problem when they did actually travel to a gig, with Martin getting into fights with lumberjacks at truckstop cafes. Their singles were issued in 1965 on three different labels, A&M, Jerden and Tower Records.

White Cliffs Of Dover/Somethin' Or Other (A&M 757) 1965
Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day/Whitcomb Street (A&M 760) 1965
Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day/Whitcomb Street (Jerden 760) 1965
While I Wait/Somethin' Or Other (A&M 764) 1965
Tell Her Tonight/lf You Need Me (Tower 156) 1965
I Don't Want Her To Cry/Always (Tower 220) 1966

After the recording of their final 45, in 1965 and prior to it's release in 1966 the group folded, due to a lack of gigs, which was the only real income they had. Several of the band found themselves stranded in Seattle, Pete had to work for a couple of months before he could move back to California with his wife and kids. Meanwhile Dewey used various local groups to back him as Sir Walter Raleigh before he moved back to L.A and helped form Buffalo Springfield.

Now having mentioned all of this, the group are an interesting anomally in the Californian and later Seattle music scene, and yet they weren't totally alone in mixing pop with pedal steel guitar.
There were a couple of others from the same time period.

The Five Whispers
The interesting thing about the 5 Whispers from Northern California, is that like the Norm Raleigh Band they were all hardcore country pickers, that were faced with the coming tide of rock and roll.
It was the brothers Larry and Bobby Black, Larry played a mean lead and rhythm guitar, while Bobby was a supreme pedal steel and non pedal steel guitarist, they'd come through a variety of 1950's groups that played country and Western Swing, a lot of them involved a young drummer named Jack Greenback who was ex-Bob Wills and played with a Western Swing supergroup with the Black brothers, until around 1959 when they started to go into rock territory in a Santo & Johnny vein.
They had a small hit around 1960 as the Triplets with 'Gently My Love Me b/w Bagdad Beat' on the L.A based Dore label.
They blew that, by not doing a promo gig for free and as they were quite innocent of payola they were kind of unofficially blacklisted on a few shows and couldn't get a gig anywhere.The did more demos and signed to Liberty {thus Dolton} and were renamed the Five Whispers.

The Five Whispers debut single ‘Midnight Sun b/w Moon In Afternoon’ It is on Dolton 61 from mid 1962.

It was thought by some that the Ventures backed the Five Whispers on "Moon In The Afternoon". This turned out to be untrue, it sounded like the early Ventures, and was produced by Bob Reisdorff, (who co-produced the Ventures with Ventures member Don Wilson's mother, Josie). The flip side, Midnight Sun, is a lot slower, and has obvious steel guitar in it.
‘Midnight Sun’ was apparently a No #1 hit in Bakersfield, but no-where else of course.

They followed with two more singles:

‘Awake Or Asleep b/w Especially For You’ (Dolton 69) from early 1963.
Can't Face The Crowd b/w Sleepwalker' (Dolton 90) from early in 1964.

At some stage, circa 1964 they became the Green Beens, with Roy McMeans, Mel Larson, Bob Carlson, Hoyet Henry and the Black Brothers, this was a full group, bass, drums, organ etc, with Bobby using fuzz tone on his steel, mimicking horn parts, the whole trip, an interesting live group with vocals and they did a lot of Motown and Beat material. I'm not sure if they had anything to do with the latter version of the Five Whispers, but the Green Beans were very popular live, but as far as I know they didn't get a record deal. This group evolved into the more country-ish Black Brothers into the early 1970s.

The last group to fall into this pedal steel meets rock grouping is another Californian group (from Riverside, California to be precise), called the Misunderstood after evolving out of two surf bands, the Blue Notes and the Goldtones in 1965. The latter contained the brilliant Glenn Campbell who utilised his pedal steel in surf and later psyche with the Misunderstood for two 1966 singles and a heap of studio sides that came out on Cherry Red compilations in the 1980s. As such they fall outside the main subject of this email as they have been so haevily compiled already (the subject of this email ..I will elaborate more on soon)

Campbell and the group later relocated to the U.K where Campbell remained long enough to see the group evolve into blues rockers Juicy Lucy, while Bobby Black went on to work with Commander Cody & the Lost Planet Airmen, Alseep At The Wheel, New Riders of The Purple Sage, some rock-disco-experimental solo projects, etc.
Sneaky Pete Kleinow later joined the Flying Burrito Brothers and worked with many variations of that group, while he also became quite a hot session dude in the L.A recording scene as well as working on films, which he mainly does now in San Francisco.

As I'm writing this, I have to admit my interest in the groups goes beyond that of just a fan, I'm working on a book, and these groups feature in it to some extent, especially the Norm Raleigh Band/Sir Raleigh & Coupons/Sir Walter Raleigh groups.
My interest, is perhaps Sundazed could perhaps consider a compilation on some of these artists, I don't think any of them alone could really fill a CD or album, but a set of Sir Raleigh, The Triplets and The 5 Whispers would be interesting.

I'm writing this as a suggestion, I think it's an interesting concept and there is a common musical thread and inoovative style to the groups and their releases. I've been in touch with Sneaky Pete and Johnny Meeks, while Bobby Black is still quite active in Northern California.
Norm Raleigh passed away around 1996, as did Mel Taylor.

Outside of being a fan of these groups and the artists involved in them I really don't have any interest besides the fact that I'm writing about them in my book and that I would truly love to see a compilation of these sides gathered together. I thought of mentioning this to a couple of labels (including Sundazed.. I love the Buck Owens reish and the fact that you put Gene Moles on a comp), but the 'Northwest Battle of the Bands' comp was the clincher.

If you need me to pass on a contact to any of the guys (Pete Kleinow or Johnny Meeks) I can do that no problem, while I also know the guy who has put out Bobby Black's solo albums and would most likely know how to track him down.

Just call me crazy, but I had to mention it.

Regards

Jason Odd

(aka the guy who writes and asks for the Buckaroos albums to be reissued on CD..please)

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posted 31 October 2000 03:19 AM         

I was with a band in the early 60s' and was approached to send them our masters of the recordings back then. Oh yeah, you'll find some of the records on some of the albums, but we were never asked if they could sub-contract them out for re-issue without us receiving payment. We did not receive any of the royalties.

Look for a 3 album release of old SOMA records. We, "The Titans", as far as I'm concerned were screwed! I'm told we are no longer owners of the material, and it was SOMAs' property to do with as they wish.

Give it some thought before giving Sundazed any material. I sure learned.

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SUAS U' PHIOB
Geo

[This message was edited by George Mc Lellan on 31 October 2000 at 03:21 AM.]

posted 31 October 2000 12:16 PM         

Absolutely fascinating man! Thanks for the musicology lesson, and tell us more about that book you're writing. Put me on the list of buyers!

posted 31 October 2000 07:49 PM         

Sundazed are mainly a reissue label and do their best to reward the artists, track down surviving members and in some cases have helped in the groups reforming for gigs and promomtional activities.. which means $$$ for the band members and no-one else except maybe management, etc. If there is any.

But more to the point, yes they do buy and lease old masters, but quite often it is from artists who actually own the discs, Buck Owens is a pretty good example of that. Personally I have never understood how an industry can be set up to deprive artists of what is rightfully theirs. After all a group ends up paying for the studio time and promotion.
Anyway, I think the warning is fair enough, going into any deal an artist or owner should be aware of future distribution.
I was just thinking that maybe Sundazed might be into the idea of a great reissue label, which is what they have been for so many others.
As far as I know, (and I've heard nothing but good reports on these guys) Sundazed pay all royalties and better yet they're not some dinky little French or Brit label you'll never be able to track down.

Tom Bradshaw is currently the steel players greatest reissue label and a fair sort of guy with a true understanding of the artists.

Cliff, my book is on the history of Americana, Country rock and alterna-country. It is very much set in Californina (but not totally) and is mainly about the 1960s and 1970s with notes on the lead up to the 1960s scene in L.A and Bakersfield.

When the sucker is done I'll shout it around the Forum, don't worry about that. The Forum has been a big inspiration to me.
Regards

posted 01 November 2000 03:23 AM         

I will say they have very good sound quality and a good selection of "oldies" on their web site.

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SUAS U' PHIOB
Geo

posted 01 November 2000 08:20 AM         

The 2CD collection "The Big Hits of Mid-America, The SOMA Records Story 1963-1967" on "Plum" label, that was released, gave me some comfort. They have some of the information wrong and cut off the first 15 seconds of "The Noplace Special". I brought that to their attention, so at least they have to live with their boo-boooooo.

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SUAS U' PHIOB
Geo