GAUDEAMUS (Lincoln, MA)

Let us rejoice! From left: Dave Wright (guitar), Rick McPherson (bass), John Grabill (organ), Pete Troisi (drums).

Gaudeamus was the sole band from the small but active Lincoln/Sudbury music scene (about 20 miles west of Boston) to cut a record. We caught up with organist/bassist John Grabill, who provided an animated and loquacious history of the band and the neighborhood scene in general. The following are John's own words verbatim — even the questions!

Gaudeamus was a second-generation super group/power trio that started in 1968 and featured Peter Troisi from one group on his giant double bass Ludwig drum kit, Dave Wright on his Rickenbacker and lead vocals, and me (John Grabill) with my Vox Jaguar playing bass and organ a la Ray Manzarek. During one notable Battle of the Bands, while all the other groups were doing quick songs like Fire and Got A Line On You, we did an 18-minute version of I Can't Keep From Crying, culminating with me standing on my reinforced Jag playing maracas and harmonica, and smashing the shakers together while jumping down on the last note.

1) Why Gaudeamus? Good question!

Prior to Dave Wright, Peter Troisi and I forming Gaudeamus, Mark Beaton and I had a group we named Rainwater Shoot, based on the sole dialogue in a Mark Trail comic strip. We changed it quickly to Rainwater. It's noteworthy that Mark was the godfather of all these many bands, with Peter and Dave being the next prolific band founders, and me rounding out the Lincoln fab four.

But I digress, as I often do. Back to the story. Dave, Peter and I were rehearsing in my living room and trying to come up with a cooler name than some of the ones our ever nascent fellow musicians had been using like Elmer Fudd, Outing Flannel, Brownstone, Mark's Maniacs and Midnight Riders.

My Dad jumped up out of his chair and started to play Brahm's Academic Festival Overture, opus 80 on our Chickering baby grand, singing out Gaudeamus Igitur. We became it!

2) Tell me about making the record, please. 

Glad you asked! The idea was instigated by Dave after hearing a jingle on the radio: "Ace is the place to make recordings." He was very pumped that we make a record. Dave's grandfather, Dr. Cummings from Houston, believed in his and Gaudeamus' efforts and financed both the recording session and the pressing of the discs.

One weekend in 1969, we piled our equipment into my Mom's blue Chevy station wagon and she drove us into Herbie Yakus' Ace Recording Studio where he produced Patti Page's huge hit Old Cape Code in 1957, co-written by Milton, Herbie's brother. We hoped Herbie could work his magic on us. 

First thing he wanted to do was have me put my Vox aside and instead use the studio's sweet Hammond organ... what a dream! Only... I couldn't play bass with my feet, so I embarrassingly stuck with the Jag. Oh well. It all worked out pretty well and after two or three takes, no overdubbing, our mono 45 was done! We listened in the control room and went home with acetates, ordering up the discs to be pressed. We wanted to have Produced By Herbie Yakus on the label, I mean, after all! A real producer. But he gently demured, suggesting we put Arranged by Gaudeamus instead.

We made 300 hundred copies and sold them over the couple of years we were together at dances, concerts, teen centers and the like.

3) What other groups recorded on Portafoy Records? 

Well, in 1969 the pilot show of Rod Sterling's Night Gallery premiered. One segment, titled The Cemetery, starred Ossie Davis as a butler, Osmund Portifoy and his protagonist, Roddy McDowell. Peter, Dave and I caught the show and got a kick as to how whenever Osmund was needed, his employers would bark out: "Portifoy! Portifoy! Come here, I need you!" I don't know exactly how we came to choose that name for our record label, albeit spelled incorrectly, but there's the story. Now you can impress your friends with that rarely known bit of trivia.

4) What were your live shows like? Mellow like New Born Day or more pumped up like The Healer? 

Yes. Besides introducing original songs into the teen scene, and making an actual record, Gaudeamus was very musically diverse. We rocked out with Born To Be Wild, Crossroads and a sweet segue going from Sympathy For the Devil and morphing right into Dear Mr. Fantasy. We could be folk-rocky with Tell Me, If I Were A Carpenter, Someone's Crying To Be Heard, and Summertime,t then charge it up with Morning Dew, I'm So Glad and I Can't Keep From Crying (originally Al Kooper/Blues Project prior to Ten Years After). A good example of our dynamics was Catch The Wind which started out Donovan-like but surged into a powerful second half. And the that's the way it was.

•  •  •

When Gaudeamus was armed with an actual 45, the currency of any musical dream back then, we decided to up our game and bettered our live show by adding a bass player to free me up to play multiple keyboards. Rick McPherson was a new kid in my freshman gym class; I heard he played bass and asked if he'd like to audition for the band and he shrugged. We had a rehearsal at his house, playing Let It Bleed, I'm So Glad, Can't Keep From Crying and Catch The Wind. A good musical meld and he was in.

Prior to that, the record was premiered at Stop, Look and Listen, which was a very hip and popular record shop in Concord near Concord Academy which usurped the hold the Concord Music Shop had on LP and 45 buyers at that time, located in downtown Concord. SLL was owned/run by Dan Beach, a music man on the new scene, and our record got prominent display and playing time there. Heady stuff for us! We did also get at least one on-air playing on WBCN and WNTN. Peter, who worked there part-time, managed to sell a copy to Concord Academy co-ed Caroline Kennedy. So if you're looking for your own copy, give her a call.

With Rick on board, I was able to add a clavinet sit on top of the Jag and was relieved of left-handed bass notes and could now use both hands on two disparate keyboards to greater effect.

We went beyond high school gigs and invaded anywhere we could gig: more and more teen parties, teen centers, yacht clubs on the Cape, weddings and more high school school dances. Our 45 was snapped up at all gigs quite regularly.

In 1969 my older brother recorded us doing basically a live show in my living room on a reel to real (pun intended) Teac which is really quite powerful (entitled Liquid Crap) for how young and self-taught we were. New Born Day and The Healer are included on that tape. In the summer of '70 we did another live recording (Peter had since delved heavily into becoming an excellent studio talent and producer), this time in Peter's Scituate cottage with each of us (now including Rick) in separate rooms, baffled for sound leakage, but with all of us being able to make eye contact. We did three new songs we hoped to turn into a second 45: Totally Free, a hippie dippy anthem; and a rhythmic boogie, Just Let It In by me; and a scorcher rocker with twin guitar leads by Dave and Rick, called I'm So Glad I Found You by Dave. We also did a cover of Your Time Is Going To Come.

Great stuff, a great step up from our first single but alas, once again a viable band morphed into different directions before before we we went back to pressing a 45.

•  •  •

What were Gaudeamus' most memorable gigs?

Every one was a gift and a blast, but when we jumped from friend's weekend parties and playing at LSRHS (Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School), it got more exciting and daunting as we kept trying to up the ante.

Highlights were gigging at the Acton Teen Center where despite there being groups from Acton playing there, we were voted the fave band for two years in a row. Always great to play before friends, but kicking it up to impress totally unknown and eager kids from another town was a high! And, we got hit upon by girls, which was not the norm for us, and which discomforted the local boys. A kiss or a hug between sets was such another natural high!

Similarly, playing for audiences we did not know, such as at Belmont Hill and the Dennis Yacht Club (Dave went to Belmont Hill while Peter, Rick and I stayed with LSRHS) were wonderful experiences, as we were able to rise to the occasion and get people up and dancing, or just standing, swaying and listening.

One other big deal, for us, was when we (the original three) somehow got an outdoor gig playing at the opening of the first CVS in Massachusetts, in Fitchburg. We got a hundred bucks, big at the time, and it was funny to hear little Dave Wright, 15, screaming "just as every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners saints," as we were surrounded by policeman keeping the opening day crowds at bay. We were so badass.

•  •  •

Heady times, and about eight of us [from the Lincoln/Sudbury scene] went on into the 70's and 80's playing with ever-more bands featuring original songs. I have a song on Joe Viglione's Rock n' Roll Anthology Vol. 2, an LP released in late 1983 [the band is Reality, with the track "High School"] and also appear on a 12" EP with the band Mande Dahl in 1979 (a band based in NYC, rehearsing in John Lennon's Broome Street loft. Yoko Ono's tarot card reader was our manager. When we had gigs we would go to the Dakota garage to get John's beat up station wagon to haul equipment. So I didn't have lug a keyboard down when we weren't doing Boston club gigs, I would use John's Fender Rhodes and Farfisa organ; used his fuzz box and wah-wah pedal with my Gibson SG).

On our 50th birthday, Peter, Dave and I put on a glorious reunion concert with longtime musical friend Bruce taking the place of Rick where we did three 45 minute sets of Gaudeamus repertoire along with my original Reality songs, some of Dave's countrified selections from his projects and lots of other songs from the era. Peter led the show with his drums and the rest of us rotated on various guitars, bass and keyboards. A memorable night for about 80 former school chums.

And now a word from surviving founder Dave: "Hi everyone, Dave here! I went on to a professional career with bands in the Northeast country-rock circuit, playing gigs up and down the Eastern Seaboard and opening for Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette, Molly Hatchet and .38 Special along with others.  Peter became a respected recording and mixing expert. He invented the Troisi analog digital converter and, along with other achievements, was responsible for remastering and mixing David Bowie's catalogue for Rounder Records."

"The excitement of the Gaudeamus years (1968-70) was never forgotten by the original three members. Fortunately, our 45 on Portafoy Records preserves a little spark and reminder of our time together. Let us rejoice, indeed!"

First battle of the bands, Summer of '69 (cue Bryan Adams).

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GAUDEAMUS
New Born Day / The Healer
Portafoy Records (202,562/63)
1970

WILD CHERRY (Huntington, CT)

A solid rock band, indeed. The lineup on the 45, from left: John Sidoti (bass), P.I. Breton (drums, vocals), Peter Horodysky (guitar). Photos courtesy of Peter Horodysky.

Wild Cherry's b-side track "She Won't Care" possesses that timeless quality — it could be a '60s tune, or could be a powerpop single from the late '70s or beyond. Turns out, it was right in between, recorded in late 1970! Songwriter and guitarist Peter Horodysky relays the story of the band behind this little gem:

I went to school in Bridgeport, P.I. went to Stratford High School and John went to Milford High School. P.I. and I met in about 1968, jamming with mutual friends. John joined the band in early 1970 through an open tryout for bass players. At this point we were only three piece, but added a lead singer later on. The record was recorded while we were still three-piece. We were together only a short time and probably broke up around 1972. We played various clubs and college mixers in southern CT and also the Blue Sands, which was in Westerly, R.I., a couple of times. We won the Milford Jaycees battle of the bands in 1971 and came in second at the state competition. We were not a very popular club band because we played very loud and did very little cover music. We played a lot of originals at the time which for the most part didn’t go over well in bars where people just wanted to dance.

The idea of the record was to get local airplay, which never really happened, and to distribute the record to the local stores. Our manager was a college English major and was also into British history. He came up with the Staehle-Tudor label name. Don’t really know the significance.

The guy who owned the studio was from a totally different era. Marty Kugell, who earlier in his career produced “In the Still of the Night” by the Five Satins. For the most part he produced “She Won’t Care” but really didn’t understand the sound we were going for. When we played out we were a pretty loud band. I was also a big Who fan, so I had always imagined something with a lot more drive. I had used “The Kids Are Alright” as my go-by guide but it didn’t work out that way. At that time there weren’t amps with overdrive channels so to achieve overdrive we basically cranked up to full. In the studio, Marty wouldn’t hear of it so we pretty much recorded at a lower clean volume.

I went back and read the bio on Blue Mist and saw they were booked at the Blue Sands in Westerly by Dean Bibbens. Dean was also the agent who booked us there. Now that I think about it, that gig was just before we became Wild Cherry. We were called Savoy Rich at the time and were a five piece. Three members left just after we played there so it was just P.I. and I so we formed Wild Cherry.

Now time to crank this up to "11" until your speakers reach overdrive!

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WILD CHERRY
You Ain't Got Nobody / She Won't Care
Staehle-Tudor (SR-105)
© December 1970

DAEDALUS (New Britain, CT)

Daedalus was a studio project dreamed up by New Britain, Conn., high school junior Henry Gwiazda, for the sole purpose of recording and releasing two of his compositions on a 45rpm record.

Henry met neighborhood kids Frank Rutkowski (bass) and Mike Spendolini (drums) the summer after 9th grade, in 1966. Mike attended St. Thomas Aquinas (Class of 1969), while Henry and Frank attended Pulaski High School (Class of 1970). Being from a well-to-do area, all of them had nice instruments (and Fender double-stack amps!), and Mike was the only guy in town with a brand-new Ludwig double-stack drum set. Henry, a serious “student of guitar,” according to Mike, was one of the first guys in town to play a 12-string guitar a la the Byrds. He was also deep into original blues records — i.e., the kinds of things the Rolling Stones would cover. The three of them, along with rhythm guitarist Jim Kloczko, lasted about a year and had a couple of gigs playing local high schools.

Henry left the band, while Mike, Frank and Jim continued on with additional musicians. Henry was enamored with three-piece bands like the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream, so he started jamming with Mike and Frank in this format. Mike and Frank preferred the fuller sound of a five-piece band, and kept both outfits going simultaneously.

The unnamed three-piece rehearsed throughout the summer of 1968 and played exactly one gig, at local dive bar Mr. Lucky’s in Southington, CT. During the set, some biker guys wandered in while they were playing a Hendrix-style version of “Mustang Sally.” One apparently impressed biker pulled out a switchblade knife and stuck it into the wooden table, and demanded that they “Play it again!” So they did — over and over and over — for an hour or so until the bikers were satisfied or finally lost interest. (Picture a Blues Brothers crossed with Roadhouse scenario!)

The guys made $300 for their efforts, and Henry had the idea to take the proceeds to buy a block of studio time to record two songs he had written. The songs, “Raga For A Mountain Man” and “Empty Streets,” were never performed in public, and Henry came up with Daedalus — a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power in Greek mythology — as the band name. Mike and Frank thought it would be fun to do so they went along with the idea.

Henry’s guitar teacher, Joseph Lariviere (who went by the name Raney Rivers and released some 45s of his own), had just opened a recording studio called Audio Specialties. The trio booked three hours in the evening on a snowy, icy night. As Mike put it, “one hour to set up, one hour to record, and one hour to get the hell out of there!” They set up fast, did three takes of each song, wrapped up by 10pm and then dined at the pancake house down the street, giddy and excited. 

Henry kicked in the extra funds to have a couple hundred copies of the 45 pressed, and with that, the short tale of Daedalus concluded. 

Mike and Frank continued on with other bands, and Mike achieved fame in the business world with a groundbreaking book on benchmarking. Frank stayed active in the New Britain music scene and ran a successful business in the town for 50 years. Henry, a gifted musician, continued in a career of music composition, becoming a college professor in the field.

As Mike recalls, “He could make that Gibson wail.”

Thanks to Henry for the label scans and audio files.

Special thanks to Mike Spendolini for taking the time to share his detailed memories!

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DAEDALUS
Raga For A Mountain Man / Empty Streets
Audio Specialties Recording Studio (CO 2534)
© October-November 1968

FONOGRAF FOUR (Cheshire & New Britain, CT)

David L'Heureux in the mid-1960s. Courtesy of D.C. LaRue.

The Fonograf Four present two winning sides on their sole 45 from late 1967, both penned and sung by future disco icon D.C. LaRue — who at the time was still going by his birth name, David L'Heureux. But the ace finished product belies some music industry shenanigans...

The "Fonograf Four" never existed as a real band. The backing band was in fact The Prodigal Sons from New Britain, CT, featuring Bob Turek on bass and lead vocals, Ed Brighenti on guitar, his brother Bill Brighenti on organ, and David Cimino on drums. 

Bill Brighenti: "We performed all summer at the Surf-a-Go-Go in SoundView in the summer of 1966. We performed at area colleges, including Central Connecticut State College and the University of Hartford, and won several band contests, including a contest at Lake Compounce. I played a Vox organ with an 18" Ameg bass speaker. Edward Brighenti played a Les Paul guitar with a Super Beetle Vox amplifier. Bob Turek played bass and was lead vocals."

Meanwhile, David L'Heureux was living in Cheshire, CT, working as an art director at Hit Parader / Song Hits magazines in Derby, CT, and writing songs on the side, looking for a hit record. (David had some earlier pop singles under his belt as a teenager under the pseudonyms Matthew Reid and Casey Paxton, working with Bob Crewe and Frank Slay — and even is credited as co-writer on the Rockin' Ramrods' cut "Play It" on Claridge Records.) Popular local disc jockey Ken Griffin recommended the Prodigal Sons to L'Heureux to perform two of his compositions. And here is where the story takes an unexpected turn.

Bill Brighenti: "We never knew Dave until he approached us about the songs. Our band was the Prodigal Sons. He gave us the music; we did the arrangement and vocals. We performed and recorded "Don't Throw Stones" at Syncron Studios (Wallingford, CT) as a folk-rock recording, with Bob Turek performing the lead vocals, and Ed and I doing background harmony. But Dave, who wrote the music, had us revise the arrangement at the very last minute at the studio that night using Chris Montez's arrangement of "Let's Dance." And after we had left the studio, dumbfounded by the surprise and chain of events, Dave scrapped our vocals and recorded his own vocal tracks. To say the least, we were not happy with the finished product; however, we had no control since we were not financing the recording. The Fonograf Four name was put on the record without our knowledge. We were never offered payment.

"Ken [Griffin] told me he had paid the bill at Syncron, and it was way more than he had anticipated ($250?), perhaps due to the fact that Dave had us re-record the music while there and then he re-recorded the vocals after we had packed up and left the studio."

D.C. LaRue: "It was a really limited pressing because I was paying for everything myself. And If I remember correctly, at the time I only had a couple of hundred copies pressed. I figured if I could get local Top 40 radio play, we could take it one step at a time. I loved it and really thought it sounded like a hit. I got WPOP and WDRC in Hartford to play it for a few weeks but the play was limited late at night and they stopped playing it almost immediately. Payola was the only game at the time ... even in the Hartford market. And New Haven or Bridgeport or Waterbury stations were useless when it came to breaking records."

And regarding the strange label name, Recettsic: "A close friend Jack Costa came up with the label name. I don't think it means anything!"

And there is the Fonograf Four story, warts and all. I sure wish the original recorded versions arranged by the Prodigal Sons still existed, but odds are they never survived past that night.

Dedicated to the late Ed Brighenti, who's stinging guitar breaks punctuate "You're Not Foolin' Me."

Ed Brighenti's previous band, The Epics, circa 1963. From left, Bob "Dino" DiDonno on rhythm guitar, Dick Rosol on bass, Ed Brighenti (kneeling) on lead guitar, Dan Szewczul on drums, Harold Sessa on sax. Courtesy of Bill Brighenti.

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FONOGRAF FOUR
Don't Throw Stones / You're Not Foolin' Me
Recettsic (RR 69 • UK4M-0685/0686) Note: matrix is written incorrectly on the A-side label.

© October 1967