This has been sitting around my place for many years but I haven't listened to it in quite a while. The jury was out then and it's still out now, though I must admit the band is off the wall with a melting pot of styles which is slightly endearing. Willie et al came out of west Texas and remind me of a cross between a jug band and the 13th Floor Elevators, or maybe Zappa if he went country, or, The Fugs if they went country. They have nothing in their oeuvre to compare to fellow Texan Roky and his 13th Floor Elevators but they are interesting as a time capsule of the era and they were certainly "playing" in the same "mind" park as Roky.
Trying to find anything on this band is near on impossible – but they must have had a career as this is their second album and they are on a major label (RCA). The music is a mix of rock, blues, country and soul with a dash of the avant-garde underground. Also, I suspect it was common for bands to do acid whilst drinking mescal, in late 60s Texas if these guys, Johnny Winter, and the 13th Floor Elevators are anything to go by.
Best Tracks:
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"Last Letter from Mary"
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'L.A T.H.E Man" – just plain weird but catchy.
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"Try a New day On" – horn driven soul.
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"We're Comin Up"
To say the album is diverse is an understatement.
Is it a keeper? … yes … there are enough good tracks and it keeps my collection eclectic.
Songs:
L.A T.H.E Man
attached
Chicky Chicky Boom Boom
I note that John Buck Wilkin plays quitar on some of the tracks. The guy is a unsung semi-legend – well, unsung, till now (harr) … he has recorded under many guises and played with many bands – always involved and quite influential in the 60s and early 70s music industry without becoming well known to the general public.
from allmusic: "John "Bucky" Wilkin, the son of Marijohn Wilkin (author of the country classic "Long Black Veil"), is most noted as a session guitarist on numerous country and rock records of the 1970s, particularly outlaw country releases by Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Kinky Friedman, and Jessi Colter. He was also a songwriter and put out a little-known solo LP. Prior to his solo album, Wilkin had been in Ronny & the Daytonas, famous for their 1964 hot rod hit "Little GTO." Wilkin was also in the American Eagles (not to be confused with the much more famous Eagles), who also included keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and put out a single in 1969".
Guitarist and bass player Glen Ballard became a producer and songwriter. He wrote for Alanis Morissette and worked with Teddy Pendergrass, Michael Jackson, The Corrs, and Wilson Phillips (well … you got to eat I suppose)
Elvis link: the recording engineer, Al Pachucki worked with Elvis quite a bit (Elvis was on RCA also of course) … and Elvis even referred to him on record when he recorded "Merry Christmas Baby" during a jam session at RCA’s Nashville studios on May 15, 1971. During the recording, Elvis sang, “Gave me a diamond ring for Christmas, now I’m puttin’ it through Al’s mike”.
(originally posted: 08/07/2009)
Bart Harlan emailed me on December 19 2015 and said:
Thanks for posting one of the very few bits of information about this song (and band) available online. I found it from searching 'Charles Addington Red Rubber Band', as that was all the detail I could remember about one song I heard in second grade.
re "Trying to find anything on this band is near on impossible"
It might interest you to know that from about 1973-1975, Charles Addington was the band director at our school in a tiny town west of Lubbock TX. I remember standing by a record player with my dad as 'Charlie' played that "Chicky Chicky Boom Boom" single for us and told us a little about recording it, and (iirc) then some about how he had to give up the band to make a steady living and start a family. From that one hearing and maybe one or two more at school, that little '1-2-3n4' intro organ hook has stuck with me all these years 🙂
I don't remember his face terribly well, but he was probably either the guy in the lower-middle or lower-right of the album pictured on your page, or either the guy in orange or turquoise on this cover https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ukLLcO5-ev0/hqdefault.jpg
Thanks Bart for that. Hopefully this will be able to fill in some more gaps for people on a quest for background information … cheers.
About Franko
Hi, I'm just a person with a love of music, a lot of records and some spare time. My opinions are comments not reviews and are mine so don't be offended if I have slighted your favourite artist. I have listened to a lot of music and I don't pretend to be impartial. You can contact me on franklycollectible@gmail.com though I would rather you left a comment. I also sell music at http://www.franklycollectible.com Cheers
