Update

Greetings,

I would first of all like to thank all of the LoneStarStomp readers. Your comments both here on the blog and in private emails are greatly appreciated. It's nice to know people enjoy what I'm doing and it's also nice to hear little stories and insights from people that were there so to speak.

I had begun my summer thinking I would take LoneStarStomp to its own domain as well as set up a better host for audio. DivShare has been dropping files and so there are a number of dead links throughout the Stomp's back pages. At this point that will probably have to wait until Christmas or even next summer.

I also thought I was just going to be knocking off one big story after another. I have stories that I've been wanting to do for over a year (Lubbock's Traveling Salesmen) and other stories that are just popping up (the Soundrifters of Turkey and Midland's Clue) . But 'twixt rennovations, travel, and general laziness summer time certainly gets away from a fellow. It's a case of 'too many irons in the fire' and not enough sense to get rid of a few.

I've spent oodles of time talking to members of the New Roadrunners and the Knights Bridge. My goal was to have the tale of the Knights Bridge told early on in the summer, but real world events got in the way. I've also not given up hope on finding surviving members I've not yet talked to. Where are you Randy Williams and Ted Franklin?!?! I'm waiting on an early picture of the group and as a result the story will more than likely have to wait until late September. I'm much closer to finishing up the New Roadrunners after a couple of more interviews this week. All of the Roadrunners were extraordinarily kind and generous. These guys were one of THE hardest working bands in the Permian Basin back in the day.

A bit sadder... West Texas lost a few stars in the last few months. Ted Groebl, owner/producer of Joed Records out of Midland, passed away in the spring. I had really hoped to talk with Ted and get a good piece on him and Joed for the Stomp. Keith Ward, long time mover and shaker on the Midessa country/western radio scene, passed away at the beginning of the summer. And this week Odessa lost Ben Mancha. Ben spent decades working hard to bring the different cultures and people of Odessa together. I make sure the family's restaurant Ben's Little Mexico gets recommended to all Odessa-bound travelers. That joint served as a place where the Westex family broke bread 100s of times. The restaurant will go on one would hope. I'll have the #14.

One last thing... Danny and David of Abilene's Continentals (recorded for Gaylo and AOK) passed along word that a big 60s-era homecoming is happening in Abilene on Saturday, August 21. I wish I could make it, but that is probably the worst weekend of the year as the school year kicks back in the following Monday. Woulda been a hoot no doubt as they're advertising the Coachmen, Chevelle V, and Continentals as well as a couple of bands whose names DON'T start with the letter C. More info including cool pictures can be found here: http://garagebandwoodstock.com/

And make sure and check out my other blawgs Diggin' It!!! and Country. & Western.

Thanks Everybody,
Westex
Odessa, Tejas

Friends of Mind, Odessa

Every record has a story. I first became aware of a single on InSounds by Friends of Mind via John Ingman's regional discography A.O.K.: Record Labels of West Texas & New Mexico. The disco listed the record with an Odessa address. I had known the InSounds label through a 45 by an Angie Carroll, but it was not until Danny over at the seemingly defunct Office Naps posted a side that I actually heard the Friends of Mind. Ken Tumlin emailed Danny soon after and I was eventually able to sit with Wendell Gregory and Ken Tumlin, the Friends of Mind, 40 years after they recorded "Moving Through Your Mind".

THE FRIENDS OF MIND- Moving Through Your Mind / Not Much Lovin' (InSounds 111)

Wendell Gregory and Ken Tumlin became friends as upperclassmen on the south side of Odessa at Ector High School in 1960 singing together in choirs at school and at church. Though there was an impressive rock n' roll scene around them made up of the likes of the Starfires, Ronny Smith and the Poorboys, Peanuts Wilson, Ken Cook (a classmate at EHS), and Montie Mead, both Ken and Wendell were more in tune with the folk scene coming to the nation's attention, a scene normally associated with coffee houses and college campuses rather than high schools. Both Ken and Wendell went to North Texas State in Denton after finishing high school and both eventually returned to Odessa.

"In August of 1965, I auditioned for a local group of singers called the Rhythm Folk, which was formerly called the WD Singers, led by Walter Dixon Bowles," Ken told Danny Shiman of the late, great Office Naps. "I became a part of the group and in June of 1966, we moved to Hollywood, CA, and became associated with Dan Blocker of Bonanza fame. He let our group use his name and we became The Dan Blocker Singers, performed on three Milton Berle Shows on ABC, and performed in Reno, Nevada for 2 weeks with Ray Bolger. I had a great, fun experience with the Singers."

Dan Blocker, of course, played the rather large character Hoss from the Bonanza tv show. Born on the other side of Texas, Blocker enrolled at Sul Ross College down in Alpine where he played football and studied to become a teacher, a profession he worked at in various locales in both Texas and eastern New Mexico.

In 1968 Walter Dixon called together the Dan Blocker singers and announced a move to a commune setting along the Big Piney River in Arkansas (a 1971 article about the commune can be read HERE). Ken had no interest in moving to Arkansas so he returned to Odessa where he joined back up with Wendell and participated in the theater at Odessa's Permian Playhouse.

While working at the Permian Playhouse they drew the attention of a local eye doctor named John Sheets whose wife Carroll was a member of the Playhouse actors group. Sheets invited Ken and Wendell to come to his home in far east Odessa where he had set up a small studio. In exchange for backing his wife on a few tracks (1) the duo would be given access to his home studio(2).

Ken and Wendell recorded two of Ken's own compositions, "Moving Through Your Mind" and "Not Much Loving". "Moving Through Your Mind" is almost entirely the duo's voices as well as Wendell's tambourine and Ken's guitar with the addition of a synthesizer for bass and percussion. Friends of Mind sometimes included an upright bassist named Phil Crouse and it is Phil who can be heard adding a soft bass rhythm to "Moving Through Your Mind" though he did not play on the flip. In Los Angeles Bill Cheatwood (formerly of Oklahoma folk trio The Wayfarers) added a layer of effects to "Not Much Loving". Neither Wendell nor Ken were happy with what had happened to their song, but Dr. Sheets would not change it. Luckily "Moving" escaped the same attention leaving Ken and Wendell with a nice folk number with a psychedelic feel.

Sheets found financial backing from a fellow doctor and owner of a local beer distributorship who helped defray the cost of producing the InSounds single. It is not clear how an eye doctor from Odessa, Texas came to have a partnership with the West Coast InSounds label. Insounds was a subsidiary of the Accent label which is best known chiefly for its country releases and two sought after 45s by the Human Expression.

"They made quite a few records, " said Ken. "I carried some down to Houston, dropped them off at some radio stations. It got some radio play in Seattle, Washington and somewhere in Virginia. Of course when all of our relatives and friends got finished calling in to KOSA radio we got up to number 12 on the charts here in Odessa." Wendell himself personally delivered records as far away as Oklahoma City, including the famed and powerful KOMA.

"That was the most exciting thing to hear that on the radio," proudly remembered Wendell in Ken's living room on a summer afternoon. "It was like 'Yeah!' We thought we were, well... we were good. We were really good."

Despite having a small hit in a few regional markets Wendell and Gregory were not at a place where they were able to capitalize and the radio life of the record was rather short lived.

Wendell and Ken eventually added a third member, Marietta Weaver, who came from Up With People. As a trio the group entered the former AOK studios and recorded a handful of songs that have so far remained unreleased.

Aside from sporadic gigs outside of Odessa and continued work at the Playhouse, the group never really moved beyond the local stage. At around the time of the single's release Wendell and Ken had married sisters and turned their attention to family matters. The two always remained friends. even working for the same company for many years. Ken performs occasionally with local band leader Cindy Ward.

Wendell passed away on November 5, 2011. God Bless.
_______________________________

(1) I have no idea what ever became of the work done with Dr. Sheets' wife, but there is a 45 on InSounds by an Angie Carroll with scribbles from the late Keith Ward noting that she was a local housewife. Weird record.

(2) Dr. Sheets would go feet first into running his own studio, Trans Global, around 1970. Bill Cheatwood was brought into work in the studio as well as Larry Tamblyn of the Standells! Actual releases on the Trans-Global label are few and far between as are examples of works produced by the studio. It seems the best known production is the album for Colorado's Cedar Creek Society. With no real direction the studio closed within a few years of opening.

I would like to thank Ken and Wendell for their time, and Ken for the use of the KOSA chart and the photo as well as the constant badgering via email. And a thanks as big as a Marfa sunset to Little Danny for putting me in touch with Ken in the first place and the label scan and MP3s. Though Office Naps seems to be done, Danny has a new site in the works which looks and sounds t-riff and Danny can also be heard over the West Texas airwaves at the coolest radio station in the area, KRTS (93.5) out of Marfa. Thanks also to Brett Bates and Scott Schenkel who both provided information regarding Trans Global Studios (which is not associated with Odessa production company TransGlobal Media). Stories on Brett and Scott's bands are coming up soon...

The Spiritual Crusaders, Snyder

THE SPIRITUAL CRUSADERS - "I'm Going To Tell It" from We're Going To Tell It (TSC Records SLP-100)

As I've alluded to elsewhere here at LoneStarStomp I grew up Church of Christ. Many a Sunday morn n' eve as well as Wednesday night in the traditional Churches of Christ. This meant a firm upbringing in the tradition of singing done strictly acapella, without the accompaniment of instruments. So when it comes to praise and worship music my prejudices lie with the voice style rather than those featuring full bands. It's not that I necessarily feel it to be sinful to use a guitar when raising a voice to the Lord, but I so easily hear a pleading or praising purity in the lone, or grouped, voice. And don't want to go to hell because there's a guitar moving the Spirit along.

The Spiritual Crusaders came together in 1969 under the leadership of Virgil C. Mott in Snyder, Texas under the guise of acapella style praise. The group quickly began performing on local TV and radio in Lubbock, Abilene, Snyder, Post, and elsewhere. The 6 member group included C. Crayton (he sings lead on all of the songs), Johnnie Harrison, Sylvester McNight, R. J. Nelson, Tom Willis, and Billy Scott. As much as it pains me - a CoC'er- to say it, these Baptist men could really sing some praises. Crayton has a strong lead and Mott did a t-riff job producing the group in what must have been a primitive studio setting.

Los Paisanos, El Paso

LOS PAISANOS - Los Paisanos (Exeter S-100)

Most people who follow West Texas records or local hero Bobby Fuller are aware of the El Paso-based Exeter records. Best known for Bobby's own "I Fought The Law" (stomped HERE), "Shakedown" (WOW!!!), and "Wine Wine Wine" Exeter also saw releases on the Sherwoods, and the Pawns. But how many folks knew there was an lp release on Exeter as well?

In the mid-60s Bobby produced an album by an El Paso based folk trio called Los Paisanos. The Paisanos (that's Countrymen for you non-bilengualists) was made up of Dan Richey, Mexico-native Clarence Cooper, and dentist Don Dixon and while the group was part of the folk boom, the guys did hit it with a decidedly southwestern twist. The 12 selections on their 1st album ranged from traditional Mexico numbers to traditional mountain selections to hits of the then-current folk boom. The trio turns in a fine reading of the standard "Lil' Maggie", while "La Bamba" is very non-Chicano (ala Valens). I'm not a big Bob Dylan fan as I've never given Bob much of my time, but the cover of "Blowing In the Wind" is as one would expect (I will come back later to fix the skips, but I'm headed out for a few days of ceegar smoking up in the Colorado mountains).

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As mentioned I'll be away a short stretch, but expect Odessa's Friends of Mind pretty soon after I get back to el Rancho Westex.