Texas native Gaylan Latimer was a singer-songwriter who first recorded with a group called the Dawgs. The band consisted of four young gentlemen: Fred Arechiga on drums, Bobby Sharp on background vocals and acoustic guitar, Gaylan Latimer on lead vocals and 12 string acoustic, and a bass played by the name of Sammie, whose last name I was unable to unearth.

The Dawgs recorded one single on the Pic 1 label “Won’t You Cry for Me” written in early 1965. The B Side was “Shy,” a song Gaylan had written when he was in the 4th or 5th grade. This single was recorded at Gold Star Studio and produced by the famed Huey Meaux. Gaylan shortened his last name to Ladd, as a stage name, at Meaux’s request. After this record Meaux decided to refashion The Dawgs persona by billing them as Bob and Gaylon. Bob and Gaylon recorded for the Ventural label “Don’t Go in My Room Girl,” and “It Belongs To You.” The group had a very English, mop-top, beetle boot look. Using both compositions by Bobby Sharpe and Gaylan, Meaux promoted off a concept that Bob and Gaylon were a Texas/English band. Once executives at Epic records were convinced Bobby Sharpe was from Dover, England they signed the band.


Epic was falling in line to financially back Bob and Gaylon when Bobby Sharpe leaked to the Houston News he was not actually from England. This caused Epic to pull the plug on support for that band, who was hoping an authentic Texas/English group would compete with the British invasion. Meaux would later use this deceptive marketing strategy of creating a Texas/English persona when engineering and producing the Sir Douglas Quintet.

Now in Houston, Bob and Gaylon played all around town opening for many famed acts of the day like Jimmy Reed, Sir Douglas Quintet, Roy Head and B.J Thomas amongst many others. One night in the KILT (Houston radio station) waiting room, Gaylan, who was waiting for a ride home, became riddled with frustrations upon the thought of being forgotten. He wrote, “Think About Me”, a song that would turn out to be his biggest musical success. Freddie Fender covered the song and it soon became a hit on the MGM label.


The flip of the original version is a tough/garage song, which was written by Latimer as well. In this tune Gaylan screams out in dissatisfaction of a cheating female companion, “I can’t stand your loving ways.” In 1965 Latimer recorded a few songs in Meaux’s recording studio, Pasadena Sounds. At this session Latimer recorded “Smokey Places” and “The Painted Lady.” Meaux put both on his Ventural label. The single “Smokey Places,” turned some heads of MGM, which sparked “Her Loving Way” being released on a major label. Within that same year Meaux was arrested, leaving Gaylan in a tough spot.


Feeling disillusioned, and the fact that his engineer/producer/manager was in prison, he moved back to Waco. At this time he had no record deal and played with anyone he could. One group he played with was called The Silvertones, who recorded a few singles for the T.R.C. label in Chuck Harding’s recording studio. Gaylan, playing at various venues around town, summoned a few musicians in the Waco area and started playing as Gaylan and the Dawgs. Being that Gaylan had already played with other musicians prior to using the name; the band changed their name to Gaylan Ladd and the East Side Transfer.



Right around this time in late 1967 Meaux was released from prison. Meaux contacted Gaylan to lay down whatever he had. “Repulsive Situation” illustrated Gaylan’s frustration with his musical career. This tune contains a bit of Fuzz and slow repetitive melody, which summons a depressed sentiment that he was feeling at the time.

After this recording The East Side Transfer split and Gaylan joined members of The Silvertones to record under the name Heather Black. Heather Black recorded a few singles and a full length as well. After some personnel changes in Heather Black, the group took on a female vocalist who was Chuck Harding’s daughter, Glennis Harding. I was able to dig up a track, which Gaylan wrote and arranged called “You Better Find Your Way.” This single was recorded under Glennis Annette and the Confederates for the T.R.C. label. This single is chock full of reverb, laid over a layer of distant voices, conjoining to create an eerie pop number.


Gaylan later became a staff song writer for Meaux in the 70’s under the assumed name Emery Cambel, which he used to write tunes for Peggy Scott, Bobby Bland and Freddy Fender. He continued to record with Heather Black over the years.

I referenced Gaylan Latimer’s official website along with House of hits. I recommend any Texas enthusiast pick up this book. I now invite you to enjoy one of Waco’s finest, Gaylan Latimer.

LISTEN: Gaylan Ladd – Her Loving Way

LISTEN: Gaylan Ladd – Painted Lady

LISTEN: Gaylan Ladd and The East Side Transfer – Repulsive Situation

LISTEN: Glennis Anette and The Confederates – You Better Find Your Way

LISTEN: Sir David and His Knights-Shotgun ]]> http://www.imshakin.com/2010/11/16/sir-david-and-his-knights-pa-go-go-1966/feed/ 3 http://www.imshakin.com/2010/10/20/the-raiders-raisin-cane-van-1963/ http://www.imshakin.com/2010/10/20/the-raiders-raisin-cane-van-1963/#comments Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:08:23 +0000 michael selman http://www.imshakin.com/?p=1880

Our story starts in Lake Jackson, Texas, where the small record label Van was once based. Charles and Bobby Vanmeter, two brothers from Longview, TX, started the label out of the back of their music store in Lake Jackson. Both men ran the small studio where they used a Roberts 4 track recorder to recorded local acts from Angleton, Clute, West Colombia and Freeport. The two brothers took on an accountant to help with the business side of the label named Lonnie Roberts, who was also an accountant for Dow Chemical at the time. Lonnie’s address was used occasionally, which is why you see Angleton on the labels and not Lake Jackson. Lonnie once recorded a single for the label with The Raiders titled, “Rugged But Right/ Room Full of Roses.”

The two groups I would like to spot light on this specific label are the Raiders and The Originals. I have come across some evidence that Van did in fact record a few groups in the Garage, Rocker vein, but have not acquired them as of yet.

The Raiders were a three piece consisting of Jessie Castor on bass, Bill Pitcock on drums and Terry Simpson on guitar. I had the pleasure of speaking with Terry Simpson on the phone to get the down low on this mysterious label and his group along with some information on The Originals.

Terry told me that the group started in 1961, but did not actually record until 1962. The group’s first recording was the hit, “Stick Shift.” It was outside of a club in Angleton that Terry just started playing around on the guitar and ended up writing the guitar section of the song on spot. The group went to the Vanmeters with the song where Terry and Jessie Castor then wrote the rest of the song and recorded the tune. “Stick Shift” sold 10,000 copies in Houston alone after being picked up by the Vee Jay label, giving the record worldwide distribution.


When the group started playing Terry was a fifteen year old and a freshman in High School, Jesse Caster was twenty-two, and Bill Pitcock was twenty-six years old. Another single the group wrote, which was not a chart topper, was a track titled “Raisin’ Cane/Repetition.” This disc is my personal favorite and was recorded in about 1963 with two different members, Clyde Kirkpatrick on bass and Larry Cox on Drums. This tune features a slower bass line edging toward a tittyshaker.


It was around this time The Raiders went through multiple lineup changes and finally became the backing band for Walter Crane, who was a popular vocalist in the area.




The second group I would like to highlight is The Originals. Gary King on guitar, Ronnie Ellis on VOX, Gary’s brother Tommy King on bass, and George Shelton on drums made up the group. They started out with a sound similar to that of The Raiders, but later recorded a few slower ballads and a few moody garage numbers. The Originals went on to record Terry’s “Stick Shift,” with a slight title change, “Stick Shift 65.” Terry Simpson was a huge influence for Gary King and many other guitar players in Texas at the time. Billy Gibbons will even drop Terry Simpson’s name when asked of his early influences.

The Originals eventually recorded four singles for the Van Label. The first one, “Scatter Shot/Lucille,” was the topside written by Garry King and the flipside was a moody version of Little Richard’s “Lucille”.


The group then recorded “Honey Blonde/ One Little Raindrop,” both tunes written by Monte Angell. Their third single contains the Terry Simpson and Jessie Castor cover of “Stick Shift 65/Blast Off”, with the “Blast Off portion written by Gary King. Their fourth single contains my favorite of the four singles “How Much of Your Heart/Searching For Your Love.” The song features Ronnie Ellis belting out the vocals and was written by Monte Angell. For more information on The Originals please refer to Garage Hangover’s interview, which features some additional tunes as well.


I would like to thank Terry Simpson for giving me his time, and Doug Hanners for providing the photos of the band on stage and the publicity poster.

LISTEN: The Raiders – Stick Shift

LISTEN: Lonny Roberts & The Raiders – Rugged But Right

LISTEN: The Raiders – Raisin’ Cane

LISTEN: Walter Crane & The Raiders – Everyday I Have the Blues

LISTEN: The Originals – Lucille

LISTEN: The Originals – How Much of Your Heart

Holding one of the most common band names in the 60s garage scene, The Coachmen hailing from Lincoln, Nebraska were the most successful with their hit “Mr. Moon.” I had the pleasure of contacting Bruce Watson, the group’s drummer. The Coachmen was originally a six piece, formed from the demise of two Lincoln, Nebraska bands. Rick Bell on organs, Red Freeman on rhythm guitar, Craig Perkins on bass and Jeff Travis on rhythm guitar, were all from a group called The Viscounts. Bruce Watson on drums and Jim Reinmuth on electric piano, were from The Chandells. In 1965 Jim Reinmuth left the group creating the five piece mold that was kept through out the sixties, until horns were added later. In the summer of 1965 just before recording Mr. Moon, Red Freeman left the group to be replaced by Frank Elia who took over as lead vocalist and rhythm guitar.


In August of 1965 Mr. Moon and Nothing At All were recorded in Sears Studio in Omaha, Nebraska. This first recording put the group on the map, and turned into a regional hit. Originally Mr. Moon was released on the MMC label, which later helped them strike a distribution deal with Bear Records, who also re-released the disc. In the next 12 months the band was receiving airplay all over the United States. Mr. Moon, right away strikes a chord of melancholy, which is accompanied by a quick, sharp, organ piece, which turns into a story of lost love. This moody garage tune, with its catchy hooks, will stick in anyone’s head for days.


In 1966 the group added two horns, Rusty Davis on trumpet and Merle Leadly on sax. The group then covered Ray Sharpe’s Linda Lou backed with a garage tinged version of Slim Harpo’s swamp blues tune I’m A King Bee. This track is my favorite that The Coachmen released. The Coachmen’s version of I’m A King Bee swings a bit from the original. A main change, from the walking bass line of the original to a sliding bass line, and not to mention the added hand claps with extra reverb on top, give this tune a ruff and tuff sound, where the original was straight forward blues. For the group’s next single, the two horns were dropped to regain the garage roots of the original line up, covering The Who’s My Generation.


The group would continue to record, however with a market movement to a younger crowd, The Coachmen would need to make some changes. These changes were used to keep up with the bubble gum sound, which had begun to take root. The group tried two different Identities, Alexander’s Rock Time Band and Professor Morrison’s Lollipop, with some success, which also lead to other recording and production deals with Super K and White Whale. The group later broke up in 1969.

The Coachmen were inducted into the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Iowa Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. All of the information and the one promo photo came directly from Bruce Watson or The Coachmen website. These guys have a 19 track CD that is for sale on their site, which can be purchased here. The mailing address for the groups Merchandise is not up to date, please email them, for information. To check out all of The Coachmen’s merchandise look here.

LISTEN: The Coachmen – Mr. Moon

LISTEN: The Coachmen – I’m a King Bee