An old fashioned “battle of the
bands” takes center stage on this edition of Dirt City Chronicles,
the podcast. The combatants in this instance represent New Mexico's
polar opposites. North vs. South. It's an imaginary rivalry for the
most part, made up by the state's broadcasters in order to drum up
interest whenever the Aggies and Lobos face off in athletics. Other
than that, it's doubtful that the average New Mexican gives the idea
much thought. The very definition of what divides Northern and
Southern New Mexico is not very well defined. New Mexico doesn't
always lend itself to a clean North/South division. It's far more
complicated than that. For instance, Clovis is further north than
Socorro, yet Clovis is solidly in the southern camp and Socorro
staunchly sides with the North.
When a community was first settled and
by whom, plays a big part on what side these “border” communities
identify with. Belen is firmly aligned with the north, though its
located just a bit further north than Clovis. Vaughn, Duran and Yeso
are south of Belen, yet are culturally Hispano communities that
identify with the north. Fence Lake, Pie Town & Quemado are north
of Socorro and they're culturally connected to the south. If I were
to draw a boundary across the state separating the north and south, I
would start at the Arizona border, north of Fence Lake, continue
north of Alamo, jot down to include Magdalena in the south, skirt
south of Socorro and San Antonio, swing north to include Corona in
the south, northeast to Ft. Sumner continuing northeast to House and
then east to the Texas border.
Now that we have a clear line of
demarcation, allow me to muddy up the water once more by stating that
in the spirit of fair play, I'm including El Paso, Tx. with Southern
New Mexico. Reason being that Albuquerque has a huge advantage in
both the number of bands that formed during the 1960s and in the
number of recordings produced. Without El Paso, this battle of the
bands would be akin to “Rice vs. Texas” as JFK once stated. The
Northern half of the state is nonetheless poorly represented outside
of Albuquerque. Nobody's Children from Gallup, The Morfomen & Era
of Sound from Española and The Frantics (a band originally from
Billings, Mt. that was briefly based in Santa Fe during the
mid-sixties) being the only representatives from outside the Duke
City that I could muster.
To avoid
redundancy, no songs already posted on previous episodes of Dirt
City Chronicles podcast were included. This favors the southern half
of the state more than the northern. (the only band from Southern New
Mexico previously posted being The Beckett Quintet from Portales by
way of ENMU. While no Murderer's Row, it's still a strong line-up. A
bunch of “fell through the cracks” tracks included here, though
nothing that can't be found on YouTube. Most of these songs have
found their way onto one 60s compilation or another (“From
The Grass To The Outer Limits! The Goldust Records Story” “Chicago
60s punk vs. New Mexico 60s pop” “Norton Records, El Paso Rocks”
“Sixties Archives Vol. 4 Florida & New Mexico Punk”) et cetera et cetera
On this episode, Lindy Blaskey lead off
with Hank Ballard's “Annie Had a Baby” which he curiously renamed
“Would You Believe” An inside joke perhaps? Ann Faught held the
purse strings at Space Records, the label for which Lindy recorded
and it's been insinuated that Lindy had a special business
relationship with Ann. The two also hook up for “Meet Me Tonight in
Your Dreams” for which Ann gets a co-writer credit, which in all
likelihood was one of those “Norm Petty” arrangements to cop a
few extra royalties. King Richard & The Knights weigh in with
“That's the Way it Goes” a song garnished with sublime country
rock flavor. In the 1960s, Española was well represented on the
local scene, what with The Morfomen, The Defiants and of course, Era
of Sound, led by the Naranjo Bros.
The Plague had a Dick Stewart/Knights
connection. Their drummer was none other than Corky Anderson of the
original Knights. Steve Erickson, Larry Shyrock and Billy Main
rounded out the band, The Plague is best known for one song, “Go
Away” a shameless Kinks ripoff released in 1966 on Epidemic
Records. I didn't make any of that up, I swear. I know far less
about Axis Brotherhood than I would like to know. Their sublime
version of “Signed DC” by Arthur Lee & Love, is right on the
money. Kartune Kapers were produced by Lindy Blaskey and recorded
for Lavette Records. Their cover of The Seeds “On the Plane” is
top notch and they give that old Eddie Floyd warhorse “Knock on
Wood” a bubblegum pop makeover that brings The Ohio Express to
mind.
The university experience has nurtured
more than its fair share of musicians over the years. College
deferment was a surefire way to avoid or at the very least, postpone
the draft. As a result, Duke City garage bands revolved around
musicians attending the U. of A. or UNM. Southern schools, NMSU and
UTEP (Texas Western) also fostered their share of rock bands The
Chains (originally The Dolphins from Larchmont, N.Y.) enrolled
together at NMSU before transferring to UTEP. A surprising number of
bands popped out of Portales N.M., home to ENMU. The Chandelles, The Apple Glass Cyndrom and The Beckett Quintet, who signed with Nick
Venet's Gemcor Records and were in the process of recording an album
for A&M with Herb Albert producing, when the draft dispersed
them.
The Brentwoods, from Hobbs, N.M.
recorded at Norman Petty Studios, self released a single “Yeah Yeah
No No b/w Babe You Know” 1967 on Our Records. Both songs written by
Alyse Paradiso. “Yeah Yeah No No” was included on the Big Beat
compilation “Learning to Fly” a collection of psyche garage
bands from the vaults of Norman Petty Studios. The Apple Glass
Cyndrom from Clovis (Bill Aguirri-vocals, Dale Sills-drums, Jon
Williams-lead guitar, Scott Rebtoy-bass, Johnny Mulhair-keys) also
recorded for Norman Petty and released a single for Column Records in
1969, “Going Wrong/ Someday. The single also made it onto “Sixties
Rebellion, Vol. 15 Psychedelia” A low budget compilation series. of
unknown origin, that also includes Albuquerque's own Hooterville
Trolley.
If you know country music, there's one
member of the Apple Glass Cyndrom that immediately gets your
attention. Having worked at Norman Petty Studios as head engineer,
Johnny Mulhair started his own studio, Johnny Mulhair Recording
Studio in Clovis, N.M. Mulhair produced and engineered LeAnn Rimes
first album “Blue” which has since gone platinum an amazing eight
times. Johnny was nominated by the CMA and ACM for his work on that
landmark recording. An accomplished musician Johnny was nominated by
Music Row magazine as one of the top ten guitarist in country music.
He's toured with LeAnn Rimes, Chicago, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Will
Banister, who records for Mulhair's own Clovisite Records.
Group Axis also from Clovis, also
recorded for Norman Petty. They (I have zero band info for these guys) started out as The Shi Guys and recorded “Mystic Magic
Movements” at Norman Petty Studios, which may have been an album,
but in all probability was a single... either way it went unreleased.
In 1968 Group Axis covered Buddy Holly and Howlin' Wolf on their next
single “Not Fade Away / Smokestack Lightning” picked up for
national release by Atco Records. Yet another single “Silly Ants” (b-side
unknown) was recorded in 1969 and would later be included on the
“Learning to Fly” Big Beat compilation album. According to the
Norman Petty discography, Group Axis also recorded an album in 1970
that was never released.
Annie Had a Baby (Would You Believe)
Lindy Blaskey & The Lavells Albuquerque
I Want to be Friendly- The Wild Ones El Paso
Girl in the Mini Skirt- Era of Sound
Albuquerque/Española
I'm Getting Tired- The Grass Las
Cruces
On the Plane- Kartune Kapers
Albuquerque
Ode to the Wind- Danny and The Counts
El Paso
St. James Infirmary- Nobody's Children
Gallup
My Love- The Things El Paso
Signed DC- Axis Brotherhood
Albuquerque
It's A Shame- The Chains El
Paso
Go Away- The Plague
Albuquerque
Alone and Crying- The Outer Limits
Las Cruces
That's the Way it Goes- King Richard
and The Knights Albuquerque
Why I Cry- The Pitiful Panics El
Paso
Meet Me Tonight in Your Dreams- Lindy
Blaskey & The Lavells Albuquerque
What Am I To Do- The Keymen Las
Cruces
Write Me a Letter- The Morfomen
Española
Going Wrong- The Apple Glass Cyndrom
Clovis
Relax Your Mind- The Frantics
Santa Fe
Yeah Yeah No No- The Brentwoods Hobbs
Stay With Me- Era of Sound
Albuquerque/Española
She's Still a Mystery- The Chains
El Paso
