Maryland

The Second*Hand*Bitter*Sweet - You're Gonna Be Mine Now
The Second*Hand*Bitter*Sweet - Please Don't Go

Vocalist Tom Deaton answered my questions about the band and provided the photo and news clip seen here.

Q. Who else was in the band besides you?

Robert Burchfield, Bill Nelson, Mark Wirth, Mike Burchfield, John Oglevee, and Gary Donovan.

I was in a band in high school called the Cobras. When I went into the Navy, I formed another called the Cobras II. We changed the name pretty quickly to Midnite Mass. It was during that time that I let another drummer take over and concentrated on singing. We folded pretty soon and I loaned out my P.A. system to some Navy dependents. I went to pick it up and they were rehearsing for a show at a Catholic school. They sounded pretty awful - they were all just starting to play and sing. I showed them how to sing one of their songs and they asked me to join so I did.

We came up with the name, Second Hand Bitter Sweet cause of the crazy named bands at the time - Strawberry Alarm Clock, etc. When we played out, the kids made fun of us cause we couldn't sound like the covers. So I suggested we write a couple of our own songs that the kids couldn't compare to anything. We did - it worked - the kids thought we were great.

Got hooked up with some guy nearby (we were in Bainbridge, MD). We went to a big studio in Baltimore and recorded 2 songs.

The producer was supposed to promote the record, but instead he sent us 500 copies and moved to Ohio.

Of course, it's virtually impossible to promote something on your own. I had one big time DJ tell me that he got hundreds of 45's a month and threw most of them in the trash. He said if they had a $50. with it, he would play it once...

I think I gave up too early, but I spent a year in Morocco before I got out. I took up guitar over there and formed a band called the Jagged Edge. Jagged Edge was my first attempt at playing guitar. The rest of the guys were jazz musicians so we did mostly rock and a little jazz. It was fun - we were the only American band in Morocco at that time.

Back in the states, I didn't do much for a while (college, etc.). When I took a job in San Diego, I played lead with a country band called Country Rainbow - great band. I also played acoustic in bars for drinks and tips.

Back in North Carolina I played with several bands - wrote a few more songs. The band I'm in now, Legacy, is a lot of fun. We played as a 3 piece for over a year. Now we have another guitarist and a new drummer. We do about four of my originals - it's just a helluva lot of fun. I also volunteer at a local hospital where I sing and play acoustic to cancer patients and others who are in bad shape. 64 and still rockin.... what can I say - "I got the music in me..."

Tom Deaton

Be sure to check out Tom's website N.C. Blues.

Bob Brown had been recording and releasing records in his hometown of Fremont, Ohio since the early '60s on his Courier and Empire labels. He continued to produce singles while stationed in the Army in Aberdeen, only 11 miles from Bainbridge. During his two years there he released several records, changing the label name to CEI (Courier-Empire International).

These include:
Sodom & Gomorrah "Flower Children" (written by Caulson, Rudacille and Brown and co-produced by B. Kuhns, D. Bush and G. Gregory) / "Twenty Miles"
The Soulations "Come on Thats Love Baby" (Lester Earl Lee G&J) / "Will You Be Mine"
The Runabouts "Way Of Life" / "All Is All " (is this the same group from Cincinnati that cut "I Need Time" / "The Chase" on Vox?)
The Hamilton Peach "With the Girl That You Love" (Jeff Yost) / "One Way Ticket Down"
The Souls of Britton "Make a New Light" / "I'll Be on My Way" (this group had an earlier 45 from 1966, "JJ (Come Back to Me)" / "Can't Be True" (both by Heiberger / Bumgarner, produced by C.M. Bartlett) on Ed Kennedy's Ken-Del label out of Wilmington, Delaware).

Back in Ohio in late '68, Brown became even busier, releasing a good light psychedelic 45, the Majority of Six "I See the Light" / "Tears Like Rain" and a rare private press LP by "Eric".

Sources include: Background on the CEI label from Buckeye Beat and 45rpmrecords.com.

Because of a connection Bruce's father had with the owner of Pixie records, the band traveled to Megacity Studio in Dayton, Ohio in the early spring of 1965 to record their first 45, "I Don't Want to Try It Again," an original by Geoff Robinson. John Bardi's guitar drives the verses and before his wild lead break you can hear someone shout "Play it J.B.!" Lyrics are hard to make out, though it's clear the singer is trying to get out of an entanglement with a girl.

The flip side is Bruce Kennett's original "Now That Summer's Gone," which the band would re-record for their second record. The Pixie label also released also released 45s by Bittervetch and Dave and the Stone Hearts.

Record collector Mike Markesich told an interesting story about this 45:

The initial pressing run for promo copies of The Dagenites 45 printed the name of the group on the label incorrectly as the Joy Boys, and the label name as Fencoe. I own a copy of this 45. Someone at the record company affixed corrected labels by pasting them over the errant labels (I also have the detached corrected labels for both sides). There were probably a few hundred that went out this way. The rest were correct, as are the yellow label stock copies.

After the band members graduated from high school in 1965, the lineup changed. Geoff Robinson and Bruce Kennett left to be replaced by Bardi's brother Julian on bass and Jon Rowzie on guitar. Jimmy Musgrove was added as vocalist.

John Bardi describes the next phase of the band's career: "Ron Barnett got us the contract with Heigh Ho records. There was what we were told was a nationwide talent search. My brother and I applied, Ron (a beatnik looking character probably in his mid-20's, maybe a few years older) auditioned us and we won! He wanted to call us the "Howling Wolves" and have a trained wolf appear with us when we performed. We of course mocked the idea, but he had such an air of certainty about him, and he DID have this recording contract, that we went along. He had big ideas. I once heard that he had become a successful producer (I can believe it), but apart from that, I never heard anything about him after our short time together."

The band traveled to New York City to record their next 45 "I'm Gone Slide" released on Heigh-Ho in September, 1965. The song is credited to Barnett, who supplied the words and idea for the song, though John Bardi arranged the music. John says, "A studio musician was hired to record an organ part for 'I'm Gone Slide.' He had played on the Wilson Pickett 'Mustang Sally' sessions (which at the time had not yet been released) and during breaks regaled the band with stories about those recently completed sessions. He played a rough cut of 'Mustang Sally' in order to try to influence the band in their approach to 'I'm Gone Slide.'" For the flip they included a new version of "Now That Summer's Gone."

Two other tracks were recorded at the New York sessions, "The Fugitive" and "Poison Ivy,". These songs were pressed with a Heigh Ho label and released in early 1966, though perhaps on a promotion-only basis as copies are extremely rare now. "The Fugitive" earned a pick hit review in Record World Magazine.

"The Fugitive" ("Once I was a respected man, but then they said I killed with my hands....") was going to be offered as the theme song for the TV show the Fugitive, but the show was cancelled that summer. John believes it would have been the first rock style TV theme song.

There was also a second version of "I Don't Want to Try It Again" recorded. This one had smooth vocal harmonies and a wild guitar break, and it was also released on the Heigh-Ho label. Like "The Fugitive" it was not released widely, and in fact only one copy is rumored to exist.

John wrote to me, "I still play, but the innocent immediacy of those days is long gone" - as fine a summary of the appeal of this music as I've ever seen.

The Dagenites - I Don't Wanna Try It Again
The Dagenites - I'm Gone Slide
The Dagenites - Now That Summer's Gone
The Dagenites - Poison Ivy
The Dagenites - The Fugitive

The vocalist on "I Can't Believe" is Joe Triplett, who was in the Reekers with Tom and was also the vocalist on the first Hangmen 45, "What a Girl Can't Do". Leroy Otis played drums on the track and backing vocals were by the Jewels.

A catchy and danceable record, it was released in early 1968 and had some local chart success. With its crossover appeal I'm surprised it's not better known these days.

The Omegas - I Can't Believe

“I Wish I Could” is first rate garage with a pounding drums, lots of sustain on the guitar solo, and good harmony vocals, all drenched in echo. The flip is a ballad, “What Can I Do”. Both songs were written by Keller and Clark, though publishing info shows Danny Keller only.

Karl Dersch's father managed the group, and sometime after this photo Dean Dersch also joined the band. Jimmy Clark's sister Joyce Williams told me Jimmy has since passed away. She also mentioned that the beautiful double-necked Mosrite was the first sold on the East Coast.

The Zap label was from the Mt. Rainier neighborhood just outside Washington, D.C. No connection to the Tennessee label of the same name which released the Starlites' “Wait For Me”.

The Juveniles - I Wish I Could
The Juveniles - What Can I Do

Special thanks to Joyce for sending the photo of the group.

I heard from a fan who told me they started out as the Jaguars. They also took 2nd place at the Cap Center in a national battle-of-the-bands.

"The World Through a Tear" was a cover of a Neil Sedaka song. The Jan. 21, 1967 issue of Billboard predicted the single would reach the Billboard Hot 100, but I haven't seen any record of it in the charts. "Girl, Go Run Away" is a fine original by the band and has appeared on several '60s garage compilations over the years. Production by Joe René.

The Bedforde Set - The World Through a Tear
The Bedforde Set - Girl, Go Run Away

I've heard of an earlier 45 by Ronnie Dean and the Bedforde Set, "Oh Don’t You Know" / "Little Girl", but wasn't sure if it was the same group until Bill Singer wrote to me with some information on the group and the photo at top:

We did back up Ronnie Dean and recorded some songs with him.

The way we got signed was that our manager Hirsch Dela Viez, set up an audition at a dance we were playing. RCA sent down a scout, and was impressed that we sounded good vocally live. When asked if we had original material, of course we said yes. So we went to RCA in NY and did a demo. Turned out great so we eventually recorded 6-8 songs. "The World Through a Tear" was not one of them. We came back to DC and got a call to go work with Joe Rene on a Neal Sedaka remake, "The World Through a Tear". Went back to NY and cut the record.

It was a toss up between "Girl Go Runaway" or "The World Through a Tear" as to the first release. The publishing company that owned the rights put up 25,000 for promotion. So "The World Through a Tear" was released, backed by "Girl Go Runaway".

Got a lot of airplay in major cities. I heard it sold around 100,000. Joe Rene wrote "Tossing and Turning". I have some pix of the RCA sessions.

We were asked to tour to support the record, and RCA fronted the money. But, Steve and Louis had just started college, I was teaching and we had to make a decision whether or not we wanted to give up guaranteed work. Well, common sense won out. We were making a fortune playing one-nighters in the area, and were booked a year in advance. We could do four part harmonies and covers of just about everything. So, our recording days came to an end. The band disbanded in 69-70. 

I went on to work for ARP instruments. Helped develop the Avatar guitar synthesizer, and became their guitar product specialist. Got to travel all over the world and retired from the music business in 1985. Bought some land in WV and built two log homes, which is the quintessential hippy dream. For the past 19 years I have worked with children with autism and have a studio that keeps me busy.

Looking for a vocalist, George Daly called the British Embassy asking for someone who was British and could sing! The person he talked to referred him to a girl who could sing, who in turn recommended Dave Ottley, a hairdresser for Vincent Hair Stylists who had been in the U.S. for two years at that time. Variously reported in articles about the Hangmen as being from Liverpool or London, Ottley was actually from Glasgow, Scotland.

The Hangmen - "What a Girl Can't Do" (45 version)
The Reekers - "The Girl Who Faded Away" (Edgewood acetate)
The Hangmen - "The Girl Who Faded Away"

Some sources report that the Hangmen rerecorded the "The Girl Who Faded Away" for the Monument 45. A close listen shows that the Hangmen's Monument 45 version is actually the same recording as the Reekers' original Edgewood acetate, except that the acetate had a long ending that was cut from the Monument 45. Confusion also exists about "What a Girl Can't Do". The Monument 45 version released under the Hangmen's name is the Reekers. In 1966 the Hangmen recorded their own version of the song for their LP, which sounds much different.

Arnold Stahl, a lawyer, and Mike Klavans of WTTG formed 427 Enterprises to promote the band. Their connections landed gigs for the Hangmen in embassies and a mention in Newsweek. One memorable event was playing a party for Robert Kennedy's family and getting drunk in their kitchen!

Despite these connections, the Hangmen were still primarily a suburban band, playing for kids at parties and shopping malls but not getting into the clubs like the big DC acts like the British Walkers and the Chartbusters. This would change as the Monument 45 of "What a Girl Can't Do" started gaining momentum locally.

Billboard, 2/19/66: Hangmen Cause 'Swingalong'
     FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- Jack Shaver, owner of Giant Record Shop, said last week a mob of teen-agers turned out to hear The Hangmen (4) and when police cleared the store because the crowd created a fire hazard a near-riot ensued.
     Shaver said browser bins and display cases were smashed and two girls and a boy fainted during the chaos. He said damage was estimated at $500.
     Shaver said The Hangmen are from the nearby Washington area and are local favorites. He said he had sold about 2,500 copies of their single, '"What a Girl Can't Do"', on Monument, and it was No. 1 on local charts.
     He said school was out that day because of snow and the store began filling up at noon for the 4 p.m. show. He estimated 400 'were jammed and packed' inside and some 1,500 were outside.
     Shaver said traffic was snarled, police came, declared the gathering a fire hazard and began clearing the store. He said The Hangmen had been playing 15 minutes at the time and it took half an hour to disperse the crowd.
       Shaver said he had had record stars perform at his store before, including Johnny Rivers, Johnny Tillotson, Peter and Gordon, and Ramsey Lewis, 'but they never created anything like this.'
     He said he did not have insurance to cover the loss.

Tom chose to quit college when an offer to play the Jerry Blavat TV show coincided with his final exams in late 1966. On the show, the Hangmen played "What a Girl Can't Do" then backed the Impressions on a version of "Money". (If anyone has a copy of this, please get in touch!) The Hangmen played all along the east coast from New York down to Florida, doing shows with the Animals, Martha Reeves, the Yardbirds, the Count Five, the Dave Clark Five and the Shangri-Las among others. Tom remembers Link Wray coming up on stage during a Hangmen show, borrowing a guitar and launching into a long version of Jack the Ripper. Link played solo after solo while Tom's arm nearly fell off trying to keep up the rhythm!

Profile of the Hangmen in the May 8, 1966 Sunday magazine of the Washington Evening Star:
Cover
Introduction
First page
Second and third pages

The Hangmen recorded a fine follow up, "Faces", and this time Monument put some money into promotion, taking out a full page ad in the trade magazines. Propelled by fuzz guitar and a heavy bass line, "Faces" is a tough garage number with a fine vocal by Ottley. Tom points out that the song finishes quite a bit faster than it starts, making it difficult for those on the dance floor to keep up! The flip is another Guernsey/Daly original, "Bad Goodbye", which features studio musician Charlie McCoy on harmonica.

The Hangmen - "Faces" (45 version)
The Hangmen - Bad Goodbye

By this time Mike West had left the band and Paul Dowell plays bass on "Faces". After its release, Ottley moved to London and was replaced by Tony Taylor. The Hangmen went into Monument Studios in Nashville to record their album Bittersweet. Remakes of "What a Girl Can't Do" and "Faces" on the album fall flat compared to the 45 versions. Monument pushed the band into recording a version of "Dream Baby", produced by Buzz Cason and released as the A-side of their last 45. The band does a good job with a slamming beat and catchy guitar and sitar sounds, but I can't help but feel it's not the right song for the band.

I prefer some of the other album tracks, like their extended psychedelic version of "Gloria", the tough sounds of "Isn't That Liz" and "Terrible Tonight", the delicate "Everytime I Fall in Love", and "I Want to Get to Know You", which sounds something like the Lovin' Spoonful.

An announcement in the May 17, 1967 edition of the Star Ledger said that the Hangmen had changed their name to The Button to pursue further psychedelic stylings. Paul Dowell and George Daly were already out of the group and replaced by Alan Flower, who had been bassist for the Mad Hatters, and George Strunz. By June Tom Guernsey had left the band to be replaced by John Sears, and the group were being billed as "The Button, formerly The Hangmen."

Relocating to New York, the Button cut an unreleased session for RCA and played at Steve Paul's The Scene on West 46th St. and at the Cafe Au Go Go on Bleeker. Berberich left the band leaving Tony Taylor as the only one of the Hangmen still in the group. They band changed its name to Graffiti, recording for ABC.

Meanwhile, Tom Guernsey produced a legendary 45 for the D.C. band the Piece Kor, "All I Want Is My Baby" / "Words of the Raven". He also wrote, produced and played on a great 45 by another Montgomery County band, the Omegas, "I Can't Believe". For the Omegas' session, Tom played guitar and piano, Leroy Otis drums, and Joe Triplett sang, with backing vocals by the Jewels.

Bob Berberich briefly drummed with The Puzzle then joined George Daly and Paul Dowell in Dolphin a group that featured the young Nils Lofgrin. Berberich stayed with Lofgrin through Grin, while Paul Dowell of Hangmen became equipment manager for the Jefferson Airplane, and George Daly went on to A&R with Elektra Records.

Tom Guernsey deserves a special word of thanks for giving his time to answer my many questions, and also for loaning me the Evening Star magazine.

The Hangmen

45s:
What a Girl Can't Do / The Girl Who Faded Away - Monument 910, released Nov. 1965
Faces / Bad Goodbye - Monument 951, released June 1966
Dream Baby / Let It Be Me - Monument 983, released 1966

LP: Bittersweet - Monument SLP 18077, released 1966