1966
I bought myself my next electric guitar and a new amp during the summer of '66. The guitar was a used Gibson Les Paul Jr. and the amp a used Fender Deluxe Reverb. (I had dumped my paper route and was now working a "real job" as bus boy at the Shawnee Restaurant for 85 cents an hour(!), so I was able to afford quality.) I still have the guitar to this day and it is in fact the only 6-string electric guitar I've ever owned! The Sands Of Tyme began practicing in the activities room at Portsmouth Receiving Hospital (aka "The Mental Hospital") Yes folks, we were working up Beatles, Monkees, and Stones tunes in a mental insititution! At any rate, the line-up of the band changed during this period to include Barry Lange on bass guitar, Mark Tindall on drums, (replacing Bob), and Kenny Tipton on lead guitar. Barry didn't know how to play a lick of guitar or bass so I taught him how to play his brand new Vox Cougar. It's interesting to note that in the process of teaching Barry how to play bass, I was basically teaching myself as well and years later it became my adopted instrument as far as bands go. But I'm getting way ahead of myself.
We booked our first gig, which was a birthday party at Jackie Rini's house. We were nervous to say the least but it was a real thrill. I think we made a total of $10 for the gig, thus confirming what we had already been told - that you'll never get rich playing rock and roll. But we didn't care, we'd played our very first money-making gig, the crowd loved us, and we were certainly on our way to stardom. (right!) Our next gig was at the Mormon Church. It was indescribable, really. To put it in a nutshell, we learned that Mormons don't drink pop because of the caffeine and the elders, like all grown ups, don't like loud music. (this is by no means intended to offend the Mormon faith, but is the perception through the eyes of a 14 year old kid at the time!) We were told to turn down so often that I finally got fed up and asked if they would prefer that we remove our strings since we were already at a virtually inaudible level. They didn't like that and the dance ended a bit early that night, never to be asked back to the place again. Oh well, that's show biz!
In fact, that gig was to be the last gig for The Sands Of Tyme. I was about to begin a rather long period of time when I all but gave up playing music altogether except for my accoustic guitar on a solo basis. In '67, I was a sophomore in high school and had found a new freedom that went beyond music: driving!
Capitol eventually changed their 45 label design, as seen here:
Songs from 1966 (chart positions in Billboard):
19th Nervous Breakdown - The Rolling Stones (#2)
634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) - Wilson Pickett (#13)
7 and 7 Is - Love (#33)
96 Tears - ? & The Mysterians (#1)
98.6 - Keith (#7)
The "A" Team - Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler (#28)
Ain't Gonna Lie - Keith (#39)
Ain't Too Proud to Beg - The Temptations (#13)
Alfie - Cher (#32)
All I See Is You - Dusty Springfield (#20)
All Strung Out - Nino Tempo & April Stevens (#26)
Almost Persuaded - David Houston (#24)
Along Comes Mary - The Association (#7)
Are You Lonely for Me - Freddie Scott (#39)
At the Scene - The Dave Clark Five (#18)
At the Zoo - Simon & Garfunkel (#16)
B-A-B-Y - Carla Thomas (#14)
Baby, Scratch My Back - Slim Harpo (#16) (instrumental)
Backstage - Gene Pitney (#25)
The Ballad Of Irving - Frank Gallop (#34)
Ballad Of the Green Berets - Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler (#1)
Band of Gold - Mel Carter (#32)
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - Cher (#2)
Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys (#2)
Barefootin' - Robert Parker (#7)
"Batman" Theme - The Marketts (#17) (instrumental)
Batman Theme - Neal Hefti & His Orchestra (#35) (instrumental)
Beauty Is Only Skin Deep - The Temptations (#3)
Billy and Sue - B.J. Thomas & the Triumphs (#34)
Black is Black - Los Bravos (#4)
Blowin' in the Wind - Stevie Wonder (#9)
Born a Woman - Sandy Posey (#12)
Born Free - Roger Williams (#7)
Breakin' Up Is Breakin' My Heart - Roy Orbison (#31)
Bus Stop - The Hollies (#5)
But It's Alright - J.J. Jackson (#22)
California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas (#4)
Call Me - Chris Montez (#22)
Caroline, No - Brian Wilson (#32)
The Cheater - Bob Kuban & The In-Men (#12)
Cherish - The Association (#1)
Cherry, Cherry - Neil Diamond (#6)Day Tripper - The Beatles (#5)
Dedicated Follower of Fashion - The Kinks (#36)
Devil with a Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels (#4)
Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? - The Lovin' Spoonful
Dirty Water - The Standells (#11)
Distant Shores - Chad & Jeremy (#30)
Don't Bring Me Down - The Animals (#12)
Don't Mess with Bill - The Marvelettes (#7)
Double Shot (of My Baby's Love) - Swingin' Medallions (#17)
Dum-De-Da - Bobby Vinton (#40)
East West - Herman's Hermits (#27)
Eight Miles High - The Byrds (#14)
Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles (#11)
Elusive Butterfly - Bob Lind (#5)
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) - Otis Redding (#29)
Flamingo - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (#28) (instrumental)
Frankie and Johnny - Elvis Presley (#25)
Friday's Child - Nancy Sinatra (#36)
Georgy Girl - The Seekers (#2)
Get Ready - The Temptations (#29)
Girl in Love - The Outsiders (#21)
Girl on a Swing - Gerry & The Pacemakers (#28)
Gloria - The Shadows of Knight (#10)
This was another one of my favorites in my growing singles collection:
