Neal Ford and the Fanatics were a 60s pop rock group from Houston, with a polished sound, which no one in the circuit could touch. They played every venue possible and practiced quite often at the Catacombs creating a real tight sound. Neal Ford and the Fanatics are well known for their hits on Hickory Records out of Nashville, however Neal Ford recorded a solo record as well. Neal Ford’s first band was called the Prisoner’s while he was enrolled in Howard Payne College. The short-lived group was made up of Ray Hildebrand and Kim Espy (who later became the male vocal portion of “Hey Hey Paula” of Paul & Paula). They later changed their name to the Ramada’s after the hotels, which at the time were just starting to open up around Houston. After the Ramada’s Neal formed the Fanatics, which later turned into Neal Ford and the Fanatics.
Neal Ford was born in San Antonio Texas, later moving to Houston as a boy and graduated from Jones High School. He attended Howard Payne College, where his music really took form. Fords favorite sport was pole vaulting in his youth, but really had passion for any competitive sport. His band consisted of: Johnny Stringfellow better known as “String” being their lead guitar player. String was born in Houston and went to Reagan High School. String only played with the group for a short time for he was drafted into the army. Next is Jon Pereles who was born in Miami Beach, Florida. The group called him “Big Jon,” he originally joined to play rhythm guitar, but seeing that String was drafted Big Jon became the lead player. From what I have read Jon’s writing portion of tunes was the reason the group went for more of a pop accessible route, after playing harder material in the early days. Next is John Cravey who was born in Memphis, Tennessee. John later moved to Houston to graduate from Spring Branch High School, continuing his education South Texas College. He was the drummer and writer of one of the groups toughest songs recorded “Pain.” Lanier Greig was the Keyboard player hailing from Houston and graduated from Memorial High School. Lanier is also known for writing some material from the group, most notably co writing, “Wait For Me” with Big Jon. Next W. T. Johnson was born in Galveston and also graduated from Spring Branch High School in Houston. “Dub” as the group called him was the bass player. The Groups Manager/Producer was Dick Ames hailing from Denver, Colorado. He moved to Texas to attend Texas Christian University.
I have picked four of this group’s singles to feature for this weeks Texas grooves. I normally only choose one or two, however this week have taken on a group with such a large recording history that picking just one selection would have been a daunting task.
Neal’s solo disc was put out on Pablo Records with “The Very First Time.” This track was written by Ford (like most of the fanatics tracks) and Kim Espy, First Time was recorded in 1964. Any listener will quickly realize this track is like so many slow early sixties cuts with an interesting keyboard section just over the horizon of the entire piece. I have chosen this one because it is an early representation of Ford.
Second I have chosen the Fanatics cover of the Zombies single “Woman.” I am a big fan of this cover for its raw rendition, which really gives Rod Argent a run for his money. This cut was never pressed until a small label released it in the 90s, Caped Crusader. It was recorded in 1966 plainly as the Fanatics, with its screaming organ intro to its driving fuzz and screaming harmonies, really gives a rise to the idea of an early punk scene that blasted out in the mid sixties.
The third choice is the most unusual track the group recorded. With almost a pre Ozzy Osborne/Alice Cooper talky and growling lead vocal, which summons a dark, frightening sound that is solidified by haunting laughter on the bottom end of the cut. This track was at first considered the plug side, however became over shadowed by flip “Gonna Be My Girl.” Here is the story in Fords words:
“Here’s the real story on “Shame On You”. I wrote the song around 1965 (I think). We recorded it at Jones Sound Recording in the Heights. The owner Doyle Jones and Mickey Gilley were the engineers. I took the tape to Nashville and got an offer from Hickory Records owned by Acuff/Rose Publishing. At the time they were very successful with acts like The Newbeats-”Bread and Butter”, Sue Thompson and other pop acts. The main song that they were interested in was “Shame On You”. If you look on the single you will see that it was released as the “A” side and was being promoted as the single until Joe Ford at KNUZ flipped it one day and played “Gonna Be My Girl” which was written by Jon Pereles. The phones lit up and KILT jumped on the flip side also and it leaped to # 1 staying on top of the charts for weeks. This changed the whole direction of our album and future recording efforts. Prior to that we were doing harder rock oriented music like “Woman”, “I Will Not Be Lonely”, “Pain” etc. “Gonna Be My Girl” took us to doing more of Jon’s compositions which was a much lighter pop/rock sound. I called it Hard Bubblegum. In retrospect, I wish we had stayed more in the original style. “I Will Not Be Lonely” was my original direction for us and the real me at the time. I never intended to sing “Shame On You” as you hear it on the record. It just developed to that in the studio. I’m totally shocked to see it on so many internet sites and on so many compilation CD’s. It and “I Will Not Be Lonely” are getting more play and recognition now than back when we did them.”
I would have chosen “I Will Not Be Lonely” for this post yet this record, like so many others is a bit out of my pocket book’s range, however if I dig up a copy I will post it here. Until then check out this site authored by Bill Thompson, it is a wonderful resource for this group.
Fourth I have chosen “Pain,” which is another early punk/rocker for the Fanatics, this time recording as Neal Ford and The Fanatics. Recorded in 1967 in Jones Studio in Houston for Hickory. This track features less of a raw sound with more melodic harmonies and much more of a pop sensibility than the prior two selections. The Theme of this cut portrays the image of a boy’s heart being cut in two by his lover and the PAIN he is enduring.
Now dig the sounds of Houston one more time!!!
LISTEN: Neal Ford – The Very First Time
LISTEN: The Fanatics – Woman