“Phil Alexander on guitar and vocals!”
“Fred Seibert on organ!”
“Ray Frisby on drums and vocals!”
“Brian North on bass!”
“I’m Rodney Johnson on vocals and tambourine!
And we’re the Neglekted Few!”
Thanks guys, you changed my life forever.
(Spencer Davis Group > Gimme Some Lovin’)
(Composed by Steve Winwood, Spencer Davis & Muff Winwood)
Neglekted Few Week #11
Legends of Rock #17
The Young Rascals > Land of 1000 Dances
Composed by Chris Kenner
This album came out right at the beginning of our run (1967) and had an outsize influence on us (I swore it was one of the best albums eva(!), having listened to, what, 10 albums eva?). And Wilson continued to dominate us, at least through his surrogates.
The Rolling Stones > Under My Thumb
Composed by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
We were equal opportunity cover-ers. Though we tended towards the soul and the pop, rock tunes that made it into the Top 40 were fair game too. Early on, Ray and Rodney might have tended towards the more adventurous of us, but we were all on the lookout for the new (as were all our friends).
But, even though the Stones might have had that rebellious image, they made the charts pretty often too and we saw their hits as our territory. And they could always fill the dancefloor as often as the soul ravers.
Neglekted Few Week #8
Legends of Rock #11
Legends of the British Invasion #3
Sam & Dave > Hold On, I’m A-Comin’
Composed by Isaac Hayes & David Porter
I’m even sure I had heard of soul music, as separate from pop or rock or hits or whatever, before I joined this group. It didn’t occur to me where my bandmates found all these great records, but they kept showing up with them and we kept learning them. These guys turned me on to everything from Smokey Robinson to Pink Floyd, and everything in between; it was an incredibly vital moment for the world, and for me personally.
It seems like we gravitated towards the Southern soul of Stax a bit more than Motown (though we did play Shotgun), maybe because of our instrumentation. We existed at the peak of soul as pop, which was just OK.
Neglekted Few Week #7
Legends of Soul #40, #41, #42
Legends of Pop #12
Tribute to Isaac Hayes #6
Paul Revere & the Raiders> I’m Not Your Stepping Stone
Composed by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
The Neglekted Few played all kinds of gigs. Dances, concerts, battles of the bands, house parties; we’d even convince our friend Sally Baur (Wingo) to clear out her parents’ living room to make room for us if we didn’t have a paying job. The cops came calling the night we were playing this tune at an outdoor party in Halesite.
Neglekted Few Week #6
Legends of Pop #12
Jay & the Americans > She Cried
Composed by Greg Richards & Ted Daryll
Phil had a great pop voice, a sweet, romantic baritone he used to unbelievable effect to cover this early Jay and the Americans hit. (I think a lot of the action I got that year came after the girls heard this one.) There were a lot of other bands who could get the dancing going (we could too), but not too many that could slow it down as well as we could.
Neglekted Few Week #5
Legends of Pop #11
Ballad #39
Otis Redding > Respect
Composed by Otis Redding
In the haze of a 40 year look back, I think of us as a soul combo. Though we probably looked at ourselves as a rock group, or a covers band. I remember rehearsing Respect out on Ray portico overlooking the beach the summer of ‘67 after Aretha made it a pop smash. Our arrangement was from Otis (via The Vagrants of Long Island, Farfisa and all), and Rodney couldn’t avoid Ree’s “R.E.S.P.E.C.T! “
Peaches & Herb > For Your Love
Composed by Ed Townsend
Our band was blessed with incredible vocal chops. Rodney was our lead singer and had the voice of a black angel. But when you added Phil and Ray, and trumped it with the three of them practicing in the school choir every week, we beat everyone in the harmony department, hands down.
It was the other guys who brought in most of our great material, including this Peaches & Herb track, which was one of our shining moments. (We even sang it on WABC Radio’s battle of the band competition, Cousin Brucie’s “Big Break.” Alas, we didn’t win.) They could sing the hell out of this one.
Neglekted Few Week #3
Ballad #38
Wilson Pickett > In the Midnight Hour
Composed by Wilson Pickett & Steve Cropper
In 9th grade my great friend Rodney Johnson and I had a “band” because after the Beatles you had to be in a band. I taught myself guitar (you had to play guitar; accordian and flute, my other two instruments didn’t really work), Rodney sang and played tambourine (he was a drummer, but we had no drums), and our buddy Phil Couremanche played second guitar. Rodney named us “The Evil Lords” (hah!).
In the 10th grade we got together with Phil Alexander on guitar and vocals, Ray Frisby on drums and vocals, and Brian North on bass. Now we had a real band.
“In the Midnight Hour” was our closer at every gig (though it’s really a cheat playing Wilson’s here; we copped The Rascals ). Rodney was an unbelievable singer, and had some of Wilson’s moves to bring the house down.
The Young Rascals > Come On Up
Composed by Felix Cavaliere
For 18 months in high school I was in a rock band (if you were my age, who didn’t?) and our patron saints were the Young Rascals. They weren’t from Long Island, but they might as well have been. Our opening number alternated between this tune and Gimme Some Lovin’ (by the Spencer Davis Group). The opening guitar chord screech set a great mood for the night.
