Started a garage band in high school. We played dances and a couple of clubs. By the time we were 17 we got an contract with the American air force and played airbases in Europe. Three years later, and with a better drummer, we got an artist development deal with RCA records. We made a bunch of demos with them but nothing was released.
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Very first band...........
- Thread starter DWBass
- Start date
it was 1965 and I was 15-yrs old. Was 2 guitars, drums, and me on a terrible bass. We called ourselves "The Warlocks". We played 4 songs at a Battle of the Bands early in 1966. I remember some of the songs. We did Hey Joe - the version by The Leaves which was a big hit at the time, "Shapes" by the Yardbirds, "FOr Your Love" by the Yardbirds and I think we played "Heartful of Soul" by the Yardbirds too.
The local movie theater hosted the Battle of the Bands and I got free weekly movie admissions for two for two years for doing that. I also got noticed by a much better band that was already playing high-school dances and was asked to come play bass for them. I played with that group - The St. James Infirmary - throughout my junior and senior years in high school.
That group was aptly named after an insane asylum and morgue from a blues song of the same name by Louis Armstrong. our "Infirmary Wagon" was an old black Studebaker with suicide doors, a four speed on the column with overdrive switch for each gear. Back seat was so big you could have a party in it.
Here's the "Hey Joe" version by the Leaves. It was a hit well before Hendrix did his version - they actually released three versions of the song between November 1965 and June 1966. This performance was from 1966. Bass player looks like a young Eric Burdon. Crappy quality but pretty interesting if you haven't heard it before.
Here's that Yardbirds song "Shapes". It had what was considered a Psychedelic lead section. The Yardbirds cycled through a lot of musicians in the mid-60's and they were one of the first groups to move towards psychedelic rock. That's Eric Clapton on lead before he left the Yardbirds.
For your Love - Yardbirds. This song was the final straw for Clapton. He wanted to play pure Blues and this was The Yardbirds move into what he considered "pop". So he left in 1965 and Jeff Beck replaced him. And yes, that's Jeff Beck on guitar and that's Paul Samwell-Smith on Bass. Paul left the Yardbirds in June of 1966 and Jimmy Page filled in on bass for them for a few months after wardst. Then the rhythm guitarist took over bass and Page played 2nd guitar behind his buddy, Jeff Beck.
Heart Full of Soul - Yardbirds. I think this was the other song we played. We liked the Yardbirds a lot back then.
Because then, they wouldn't have been the Beatles!Top songs would have been easy. This was mostly obscure stuff, and a fair amount of Beatles. To this day... I hate the Beatles. Why couldn't they just write just 1 4 5 songs like every other simpleton.
I don't remember what my first band was called. We played Beatles, other British Invasion bands, and Ventures. We were all 16, and I'm sure we sounded like we were 16. My first gig was a Sweet 16 party. All I remember is the important stuff: I heard applause for the first time in my life, and I got paid some fantastic amount, like $10. Fortunately for all concerned, no images remain. By the time I was 17, I was backing up a folk group and playing week-nights in Manhattan clubs. That's when the bug bit hard! Staying out late on a school night and bringing home $15!
I was 16 and somehow (seriously don’t remember) obtained a Kay SG copy bass. Had a guitar player, drummer and singer. None of us were total noobs except the singer, who by definition had more charisma than talent because he had no talent at all.
We formed for a high school talent show. We played Stone in Love and Talk Dirty to Me, and brought the house down despite being somewhat south of good. As I recall the music wasn’t terrible, but the vocals were abysmal, which I guess will happen when you ask someone who’s pitch deaf to sing Journey tunes.
At one point during the show the singer got next to the guitar also they could both shout “talk dirty to me” into the mic, touched his lips with it, and shocked the hell out of him.
We formed for a high school talent show. We played Stone in Love and Talk Dirty to Me, and brought the house down despite being somewhat south of good. As I recall the music wasn’t terrible, but the vocals were abysmal, which I guess will happen when you ask someone who’s pitch deaf to sing Journey tunes.
At one point during the show the singer got next to the guitar also they could both shout “talk dirty to me” into the mic, touched his lips with it, and shocked the hell out of him.
My first band was as a drummer. We were all green, but actually not bad at all. Punk rock, so kinda hard to screw it up. We had a good sound. Always got the crowd going. Immature infighting led to the disbanding. Fun while it lasted, though.
I was 26. I started playing when I was 16, but had no pro gear and no connections. The band was OK. I still feel we wrote good songs, but the singer was pitchy and the band had pretty bad issues with consistent time. We wrote songs faster than we could learn to play them well.
The good part of starting when I was 26 is the doing stupid things for the band curve was a little easier to get over than if I'd been trying to make a name in a band at 18. Every band I've played live with since has been a step up from the previous. I've been in a few garbage situations where playing out never was part of the deal, though.
The good part of starting when I was 26 is the doing stupid things for the band curve was a little easier to get over than if I'd been trying to make a name in a band at 18. Every band I've played live with since has been a step up from the previous. I've been in a few garbage situations where playing out never was part of the deal, though.
1983/84. I was 16. I played drums and we were a really terrible Who tribute band. I had been dabbling on guitar, bass and drums for a couple of years at that point. We played in the third floor attic of a farmhouse. It was a lot of work getting drums up there every weekend! For some reason we called ourselves Indigo Quartz. That band lasted about a year and we did one gig.
7th grade spring party. April, 1975. Two songs. Three members: bass, rhythm guitar/vocals, lead guitar (me). We all had inexpensive instruments, small amps and a borrowed small PA. Set up in the gym. We had all been in school band since 5th grade, and had a few collective lessons from a high school student who was a good player, both guitar and school band, so we knew some music fundamentals: pitch, rhythm, how to play together. We actually sounded pretty good. We were in tune, in time, and remembered the words, chords, and riffs. Expanded later to include a separate vocalist and added a drummer, but never got another gig. The rest of the guys either didn't have what it took, lost interest, decided to focus on sports or other, um, er, "extra-curriculars" instead, or had to get a job. I am the only one still playing, 44 1/2 years later.
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21yrs old.......power punk/metal...guitar leads were iffy, drums were a 1/2 beat off at times......typical punk sound....but some people loved it
I was about 14 in 1972 when we formed our first "band".
Our set list was pretty much "In A Gadda Da Vida" which would more or less disqualify us as a band. We did own several fuzz pedals anyway and the drummer always took an extended solo with his bare hands which sometimes reduced fellow members to outbursts of laughter.
Next group was much better with legit Zep covers and decent players. The rest of that band was arrested for trespassing during a photo shoot at an abandoned missile site. I had decided to stay home that day.
Our set list was pretty much "In A Gadda Da Vida" which would more or less disqualify us as a band. We did own several fuzz pedals anyway and the drummer always took an extended solo with his bare hands which sometimes reduced fellow members to outbursts of laughter.
Next group was much better with legit Zep covers and decent players. The rest of that band was arrested for trespassing during a photo shoot at an abandoned missile site. I had decided to stay home that day.
13 years old....1972....
We were " Flash Edsel and the DeSoto kids"
( a shameless steal from Flash Cadillac and the Continental kids).
50's revival was red hot with sock hops, Sha na na and American Graffiti.
2 guitars, bass and drums. We were all in glee club, so we convinced the music teacher into letting us play after the glee club at a school assembly.
We learned 3 songs..
1.Pipeline
2.Kansas city
3.Sealed with a kiss
We greased our hair, cut the sleeves off our t shirts, and wore shades.
Girls screamed, kids danced, and I was in heaven.
We were " Flash Edsel and the DeSoto kids"
( a shameless steal from Flash Cadillac and the Continental kids).
50's revival was red hot with sock hops, Sha na na and American Graffiti.
2 guitars, bass and drums. We were all in glee club, so we convinced the music teacher into letting us play after the glee club at a school assembly.
We learned 3 songs..
1.Pipeline
2.Kansas city
3.Sealed with a kiss
We greased our hair, cut the sleeves off our t shirts, and wore shades.
Girls screamed, kids danced, and I was in heaven.
- Oct 18, 2012
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I was 16. It was me on guitar and vocals, another guitarist who also sang and a drummer. We couldn't find a bass player but we managed to play a lot of house parties. This went on for a couple of years. I switched to bass after the other guitarist had commented during several rehearsals that my "fills" sounded like bass lines. Within 6 months of me switching to bass, we were a 6 piece band and were playing clubs.
- Dec 21, 2007
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Will do! We celebrated his birthday (lots of great music and food) on Sunday.
first band ... high school rock stars - ha ... played our first bar gig when i was around 14-15 ... brought a note from my mom stating i wouldn't drink ..!! which was a green light to drink away ... Zecharia ... was actually a pretty good band of folks who went on to music school , and/or on to playing for decades ...! cut my bass chops on some Grand Funk , Deep Purple , Uriah Heep , Doobies , etc ...
yeah , that's me in the middle ... as usual , the youngest member
yeah , that's me in the middle ... as usual , the youngest member
In the summer of '73 I was 16 and working a musical at the local community theatre, as a stagehand. The pit drummer was 18 and just out of high school. He spotted me, we hung out a bit, and when he learned that I played a little guitar (emphasis on 'little') he demanded that I play bass in his band, because bass is so easy to play, you know. I said I'd give it a shot, he acquired an instrument for me (which I later learned was, erm, indiscriminately borrowed), I pulled together fifteen bucks for a Vox Kensington amp, and I got into the original prog-rock trade.
The drummer was a total madman, as was the guitarist. The keyboard player was rich and had a Hammond B-3 in his family rec room, so naturally we rehearsed there. The alto player was the studious sort, into jazz. Everyone was under 19, the alto guy only 15. We put together a set of weed-induced, stadium-sized tunes influenced by more or less equal parts Floyd and Zappa, and within eight weeks of what feels now like pretty intensive rehearsing I found myself onstage at the teen center in the rich part of town, playing for actual money and getting applause for it. At that point we already had a logo, posters and a developing fan network. By the following summer we were dragging that damn B-3 up endless concrete stairs to play the arts festival on the city plaza for a thousand people.
With no surviving recordings in my possession it's impossible for me to say how good the band was, nor can I say I remember a whole lot about it. (I recall one song title that offers a clue to what we were about: "Antland Insomnia.") But I can say it held together until I left for college the following fall, and we were putting a lot of tricky technical turns into the compositions that, iirc, we were usually able to pull off. I consider it a positive if improbable career launch.
It was in 1969. Hard to believe it's 50 years ago - I was 13!
We called ourselves "Iron Cross", and thought we were bad ass.
I'm the one in the turquoise bell-bottoms. I was the "bass" player, but didn't have a bass. I played the bass lines on my Montgomery Ward hollow body guitar.
Some of the songs I remember we played were "Gloria" (Shadows of Knight), "For Your Love" (Yardbirds), and "House of the Rising Sun" (Animals).
What, you never heard of us?!?
We called ourselves "Iron Cross", and thought we were bad ass.
I'm the one in the turquoise bell-bottoms. I was the "bass" player, but didn't have a bass. I played the bass lines on my Montgomery Ward hollow body guitar.
Some of the songs I remember we played were "Gloria" (Shadows of Knight), "For Your Love" (Yardbirds), and "House of the Rising Sun" (Animals).
What, you never heard of us?!?
Father Flannigan, this is my confession.
1968; I'd just turned 17, and had finally learned to play guitar with some proficiency after getting serious a couple of years prior. A guy in my music theory class wanted to start a band, I said I'd give it a try. I was playing a lot of Hendrix back then, which was popular.
We ended up as a 5 member band; guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, and singer, and no plans whatsoever for what we wanted to do. Decided to call the band Pressed Rat after a song on Creams Wheels of Fire. I had a metal flake green '59 Fender Duo Sonic, and a kind soul loaned me a Gretsch Tennessean for the duration. The bass player had a Vox Cougar. We played fraternity and sorority parties, graduation parties, and "teen canteens". LSD was becoming popular, and the acid heads really seemed to enjoy our "psychedelic" sound. We got stoned a lot, which was a new thing for me.
The band wasn't half bad, but we were so immature that the drama was constant. Also, we were all pretty much broke, and took to stealing things for the band; lights, a PA amp or 2, microphones, little stuff. (For the record, we never stole from another band.) We constructed a lot of our stage equipment; lighting, speaker cabs, etc. I was the band electrician by default. I only got electrocuted a few times. It was a fun time, for a dead end kid like myself.
I have to admit, that playing Time Has Come Today, Purple Haze, Hey Jude, Revolution, etc. in front of a couple hundred people dancing their brains out was a thrill for me, but we struggled to keep the band together. I don't remember why we called it quits (hey, it was over 50 years ago), but do recall that it didn't implode, just slowly fizzled out.
Fortunately, a local guy heard us play at one of the teen gigs, and after the rat band broke up I was invited to join a band made up of actual pros.
So that was my first working band.
Would I do it over again if it could be done? No bloody way! I cringe with embarrassment whenever I think about it. Did any good come out of the experience? Yes, I realized what a jerk I was and became hard working and somewhat conservative (for the 60's, anyway). Now I'm a part owner of a high tech manufacturing company, and sometimes think my ambition is in part due to compensation for my checkered past.
So, how many Hail Marys do I have to say to atone for my misguided youth?
Tom
1968; I'd just turned 17, and had finally learned to play guitar with some proficiency after getting serious a couple of years prior. A guy in my music theory class wanted to start a band, I said I'd give it a try. I was playing a lot of Hendrix back then, which was popular.
We ended up as a 5 member band; guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, and singer, and no plans whatsoever for what we wanted to do. Decided to call the band Pressed Rat after a song on Creams Wheels of Fire. I had a metal flake green '59 Fender Duo Sonic, and a kind soul loaned me a Gretsch Tennessean for the duration. The bass player had a Vox Cougar. We played fraternity and sorority parties, graduation parties, and "teen canteens". LSD was becoming popular, and the acid heads really seemed to enjoy our "psychedelic" sound. We got stoned a lot, which was a new thing for me.
The band wasn't half bad, but we were so immature that the drama was constant. Also, we were all pretty much broke, and took to stealing things for the band; lights, a PA amp or 2, microphones, little stuff. (For the record, we never stole from another band.) We constructed a lot of our stage equipment; lighting, speaker cabs, etc. I was the band electrician by default. I only got electrocuted a few times. It was a fun time, for a dead end kid like myself.
I have to admit, that playing Time Has Come Today, Purple Haze, Hey Jude, Revolution, etc. in front of a couple hundred people dancing their brains out was a thrill for me, but we struggled to keep the band together. I don't remember why we called it quits (hey, it was over 50 years ago), but do recall that it didn't implode, just slowly fizzled out.
Fortunately, a local guy heard us play at one of the teen gigs, and after the rat band broke up I was invited to join a band made up of actual pros.
So that was my first working band.
Would I do it over again if it could be done? No bloody way! I cringe with embarrassment whenever I think about it. Did any good come out of the experience? Yes, I realized what a jerk I was and became hard working and somewhat conservative (for the 60's, anyway). Now I'm a part owner of a high tech manufacturing company, and sometimes think my ambition is in part due to compensation for my checkered past.
So, how many Hail Marys do I have to say to atone for my misguided youth?
Tom
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1973. I was 15 and playing a Wurlitzer. We played covers of Creedence, Doobies, etc. w/keys, bass, drums, two guitars, we all sang. First paying job was in a foosball parlor / arcade. We played for the door. I think I made a few cents shy of five dollars. The girls thought we were groovy.
Pretty sure I was 17. I was one of the first in my neighborhood to start playing. Although I was very new myself, the first few friends I jammed with were not playing yet. I'd need to show their rhythm guitars parts first. We changed the band name every few days. The first name was gawd-awful "Alkaline Earth Metal" and later it would be "Radium 88" so I obviously had my Chemistry textbook with me. That trend would continue with equally horrible names until later, when I would meet others who already played and stuff/techniques would start making more sense to me.
