THE BACKGROUNDS - "Day Breaks At Dawn" b/w "Oh Baby Please Take Me" (Cenco – 110, 1967)

by Achille Brunet

Buried in the depths of time, the case of The Backgrounds had remained an unfathomable mystery. Only a couple of copies surfaced and soon became highly sought-after collector items mostly for the A side, "Day Breaks At Dawn", the mind-blowing fuzz riff of which had more than one head spinning. Drummer, vocalist and songwriter SY GORAIEB finally provides the story of the band.

The Backgrounds was formed as The Four Aces in 1965, first as a four-piece, by teens from Saint John the Baptist Catholic Elementary School in Norwalk, California when one of their teachers suggested they become a band.

Sy Goraieb: "The four of us were already friends, especially Johnny and me, so we did. I was the drummer and lead vocalist for the band. The others were Roland Bautista (guitar), Bobby Torres (bass) and Johnny Graveline (keys). For all of us, it was our first band, and like so many others at that time, it was the result of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964. It changed everything! On the block where we rehearsed, on Saturdays, you would find six other bands doing the same thing! Our first performance was for our student body. So much fun! It was a great time!"

THE BACKGROUNDS

From left to right: Sy Goraieb, Johnny Graveline, Bobby Torres, 

Roland Bautista and on the floor is Dick Harris (Courtesy of Sy Goraieb).

At some point, the band changed name to The Backgrounds. A year or so later, the members went to different High Schools in Gardena, Lawndale and Los Angeles, CA but kept playing together. It was then that Richard "Dick" Harris came into the picture.

SG: "Roland went to Serra High School, Johnny to Loyola High School and that’s funny, I can’t remember where Bobby went. Dick and I were Leuzinger High School students and he and I were involved in the music department. When he heard our band, he asked if he could join. He was incredibly talented. When he joined he and I shared the lead vocals. He was with us for one year in 1966-'67."

The band played at dances, parties, and private functions, but were too young to play clubs. They also shared a few concerts with other bands and participated in Battle of the Bands. The band was interested in different music styles, ranging from British Invasion material to Soul music and Rhythm & Blues.

SG: "Because of Dick and my very different styles of singing, we could cover a lot. Johnny was an incredible pianist, especially for his age, and that gave us much freedom to do songs by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Motown and so much more."

In late 1966/early '67, The Backgrounds recorded two songs at an unidentified studio in Los Angeles: "Day Breaks At Dawn", a great fuzz rocker written by Richard Harris, and "Oh Baby Please Take Me", a catchy soul ballad written by Sy. The pair was released on the Hollywood label Cenco, owned by Mike Gradney.

SG: "I learned how to play guitar at that time for one reason, to write songs. 'Oh Baby…' was the first song I ever wrote. Dick was a great songwriter, I learned a lot from him! Cenco was a label that a friend’s dad started and when he heard us, he wanted to record us. Normally I sang on my songs and Dick as well but we decided for the record to have one vocalist. Dick sang both songs. But we shared the vocals on all of the other material. Nothing came from it and the record slipped into oblivion. This was the only recording we did."

The single was released in February 1967 and never went anywhere. It was so rare Sy wasn't even sure the record existed. Shortly after a benefit concert at Leuzinger High in May 1967, The Backgrounds broke up.

(The Daily Breeze - May 25, 1967)

SG: "After Dick graduated from High School, he got more serious about acting and pursued it. At that time, he was an incredible actor."

In High School in 1965-'66, Dick Harris had sung in "Oklahoma" and "My Fair Lady". While in his senior year at Leuzinger, he won the role of the king in the musical play 'The King And I'. He also directed the comedy and held the romantic lead in "You Can't Take It With You" while attending rehearsals of "Guys And Dolls" at El Camino College. At 17, Harris was the first person to win a leading role at the College while still a student at Leuzinger. Sy lost touch with Dick Harris so it's not know what became of him afterward. (He's not to be confused with prolific movie actor Richard Harris, born in 1930.)

SG: "Bobby, I believe, continued in teaching guitar (although I’m exactly sure what he's been up to)."

In the following months, Roland Bautista stepped in in replacement of guitarist Dewayne Russell in The Velvet Illusions, a band from the Washington state that had relocated to Hollywood, CA. Roland's blistering lead guitar can be heard with certainty on "Lazy", "The Stereo Song" and "Minny Shimmy", and possibly "Hippy Town", all released in Nov 1967. Though his guitar tracks are less prominent in the mix than with the blasting fuzz of "Day Breaks At Dawn", his style is unmistakable.

SG: "In 1967, Johnny and I joined Al McKay and The Turbans, a ten-piece soul band with friends from our neighborhood. Al asked us both to join after Roland had left. We all remained friends. That was a great band also!"

Al McKay and The Turbans had made two records in 1966, including one on Cenco. Al McKay and drummer Ralph Johnson would later become key members of Earth, Wind and Fire. Lester Smith, leader of the Turbans, was a nephew of Louis Armstrong. More about it HERE.

SG: "Johnny and I toured and recorded together up through our late 20’s and are still very close friends to this day. In a latter band called Orion, Johnny and I wrote more and recorded a bunch. This was between 1973-76. Nothing was formally released at that time. Johnny went on to play with various bands and write songs for various projects."

SG: "I later played with different bands, signed with Capitol Records as the drummer and one of two lead vocalists of the group Future Flight, produced and songs written and co-written with Lamont Dozier (the famed Motown writers and producers Holland, Dozier, Holland) for one album in 1981. Since 1984, I’ve been involved in Church music as a worship pastor and songwriter and have written songs for Integrity Music. In 1993, I re-recorded "Oh Baby Please Take Me" for a music library album called "Remember The 50's" that I produced for Sonoton Music. The song has since had some activity in various TV and Film projects."

Roland Bautista went on to record as a not consistent full member of Earth, Wind & Fire in different periods of time. He also collaborated as session man and songwriter for The Crusaders, The Jackson 5, Lamont Dozier, Ramsey Lewis, Randy Crawford, George Duke, Wayne Henderson and Hubert Laws. He passed away in 2012.

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Many thanks to Sy Goraieb. More information about Richard "Dick" Harris would be appreciated.

MARTY KENNEDY AND THE MONARCHS - "Getting To Know You Better" (Lovett — 45-LV-69714, 1969)

by Achille Brunet

Marty Kennedy And The Monarchs was formed by Marty and Randy Kennedy, two brothers from Tucker, Georgia just Northeast outside Atlanta. 

Marty sung lead vocals and Randy was on drums (and possibly backing vocals). I'd appreciate info on the other members. The band was discovered by Atlanta producer and songwriter Tim McCabe who produced their single on Lovett in 1969. 

Both sides are fine teen soul songs but the real standout is "Getting To Know You Better", the A side, because of its most outstanding fuzz. The song was written by Tim McCabe.

James Timothy McCabe is a prolific singer, musician, songwriter, producer and label owner. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, he moved to Atlanta to study medecine.

He started to record singles under his own name in 1968, also recording over 800 commercials and hosted a TV musical contest on Channel 11 in 1968. He published over 75 songs and produced or recorded 15 albums over the years.

One of Tim's earliest contribution was songwriting and arrangements for the A-Side of the single by The Solid Soul, a band that evolved out of the cult classic garage band from Atlanta The Fly-By-Nites, universally known by 60s punk aficionados for "Found Love". The Solid Soul single was issued on the "123" label in 1968.

Tim McCabe - March 1972.

That year, Bill Lovett, a 22-year-old South Georgian who was a graduate in agriculture at the Abraham Baldwin College in Tifton, Ga. decided to establish a record company. 

Bill Lovett: "I chose the music-recording field after I met Tim McCabe from Nashville, Tenn. (one of the recording capitals) who is a fine singer. I like music but I don't know anything about it much—I don't sing or play any instrument—but he does. Although it's strictly a business venture with me, I feel that both Tim and I know what makes people laugh or cry, what stirs their emotions, and that's what song hits are made of. That's what we are looking for. Tim can write and arrange music, as well as sing it, but we also brought in Carlton Palmer, considered one of Atlanta's best arrangers, to put the music and musicians together for songs we accept." (The Atlanta Journal - Jan 23, 1969)

Tim also scouted talents in the area. The single by The Solid Soul was also picked by the label. On the dozen of singles released by Lovett Records Inc. between 1968 and 1970, four were by Tim, plus the one by the Monarchs he produced.

—

Thanks to Archive of Obscure Music 

for making this demo available.

— 

Tim McCabe wrote the A side for the Monarchs. The song has great horn arrangements and fine harmonies. Kee Kennedy (Marty's wife at the time) remembers a professional guitar guy was brought in for the fuzz track and it added much to the production.

A publisher's demo of the song was recently found, most likely played and sung by Tim himself with session musicians. As you can hear above, the demo differs from the version recorded by Marty and Randy, and is interpreted in a more traditional country/folk rock way.

The B-side was co-written by the two brothers. Although "I Love You Baby" doesn't feature fuzz guitar, it's just as catchy and lively as the A-side, sung with beautiful two-part harmony throughout the song (by Marty and Randy, I assume).

I found no real trace of concerts or release announcement in the press. I assume the single was sold locally and at venues.

In the early 1970s, the Kennedy brothers moved on to work in real estate. "Marty Kennedy & Associates" was established and handled real estate in Northeast Atlanta. It was a prosperous business for several decades. 

It seems Randy Kennedy later became a Reverand in Lawrenceville, Ga. and Marty Kennedy practised as a Doctor in Dalton, Ga.

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Many thanks to Kee Kennedy, BooBerry and Tim McCabe for precious info on this record. Other sources include my own research in the press and online. 

Lyrics sheet found with the publisher's demo.