I have been trying to locate members of The New Breed for a long time with no real luck. The confusion surrounding this band has proven to be quite a hardship to research, for in trying to cross facts many inaccuracies are found. The New Breed was another great Dallas area group headed up by the master writer and vocalist Ron Price. Ron wrote Texas hits such as “Wishy Washy Woman”, and “My Girl” for Jimmy Rabbit. He also wrote the tune “Didn’t We Have a Good Time” for The Mystics, another Dallas group, which is where some inaccuracies surface.
Many sources falsely accredit Price as one of the musicians who played with The Mystics. I contacted Bud Bruschardt who was part owner of GPC Enterprises in the 60s. GPC was the booking agency that promoted The Mystics. I Hoped Bud would have some information on The New Breed or could confirm or deny whether Price was in The Mystics. He was under the assumption that Price was in the group as well, but was not really sure, being that it had been forty years and that he only booked the group. He was nice and mailed me some great promo shots of the Mystics and some publicity prints.
Bud pointed out that in “Journey to Tyme” (Texas discography of 60’s psych), The Mystics and The New Breed were listed as the same group. Bud told me to try to contact Robin Hood Brians out of Tyler, TX. Robin had recorded and produced The New Breeds last record in 1968 “I’d Like To See Her Again/High Society Girl.” Robin Hood, as most know, is one of the heavy hitters when it comes to recording and production in Texas. He is known for recording Jon and Robin, Kenny and The Kasuals, The Moving Sidewalks and Jimmy Rabbit. I tried to contact Robin Hood for a while with little luck.
In the mean time I stumbled upon an interview at Garage Hangover with Dave Mitchell, the bassist from the Mystics. He confirmed that Price was never in the group, that he only wrote their single. Price became affiliated with The Mystics after they won a battle of the bands. This set them up with a single on the Spectra label, out of Dallas, who Price had been working with at the time. This interview shows many scans of the band lacking any photos of Ron Price. Mitchell claims that the Spectra label and the In Crowd label (The New Breed’s first label) had some affiliation. The two labels, according to Mitchell, mislead the public to believe that The Mystics became The New Breed, to give the band some publicity. I then tracked down a man by the name of Gerald Peirce, who was in a group named the Mystics and soon after joined another group called The New Breed. As it turns out there was another Mystics from Port Neches, TX and another New Breed from Beaumont, TX. For a side note Peirce was in a group named The Basic Things also from Beaumont; check it out on Garage Hangover.
I also stumbled upon a great interview at 60sgaragebands, where Bill Looney from The Penthouse Five, another amazing Dallas group, spoke of some affiliation with Price. The Penthouse Five used to play gigs in Dallas with The New Breed and actually recorded one of Price’s tunes, “Don’t Mess Around With My Dream”. This interview seems to reflect that Price was in The Mystics as well.
Around this time I received a call back from Robin Hood, he told me that he didn’t remember the exact details, but he thought that the group consisted of a few brothers and that he would contact Ron Price to verify. When Robin called me back I learned that Ron Price had passed away several years ago from multiple strokes. Robin Hood told me that Ron’s brother, who Robin spoke with on the phone, said the band consisted of five brothers. He also claimed to be the vocalist on “I’d Like to See Her Again.” The brother also said the group at one time had played as Roy Orbison’s backing band? Robin told me that he didn’t feel comfortable giving me the brother’s name or number and that he would forward my email to him so he could contact me. That email never came…
I am posting this hoping one of our readers will solve the mystery. If a person was to look close at the scan of “P.M. or Later”, D. Morris was credited as well as R. Price, proving that at least a portion of the writing crew was not of relation. BMI doest not reflect D. Morris, only Ron Price as the writer. Another thing that is funny to mention here is that after this track was pressed regionally, the Jamie Label picked it up and sited the production to Ray Price instead of Ron Price. If anyone has any information about The New Breed or Ron Price please contact us and we will reference your contribution.
The New Breed Discography
In Crowd 001 – Sunny/P.M. Or Later
Jamie 1341 – Sunny/P.M. Or Later
In Crowd – Little Bit of Soul
In Crowd 1234 – Big Time/Summer’s Comin’
Fraternity 1003 – I’d Like To See Her Again/High Society Girl
LISTEN: The Mystics – Didn’t We Have Good Time
LISTEN: The New Breed – High Society Girl
LISTEN: The New Breed – P.M. Or Later
