FUGITIVE FIVE - "(I Ain't Gonna Give Up) My Way Of Life" (Cell Records — 111/112, 1966)

by Achille Brunet

Notably compiled on Last Of Garage Punk Unknowns - Vol. 4 with the great garage ballad "(I Ain't Gonna Give Up) My Way Of Life", the Fugitive Five long remained shrouded in mystery. Let's dig out some pictures and stories.

The Fugitive Five from Decatur, Illinois first formed as a six-piece in November 1964 as Eugene and the Fugitives in a more rock 'n' roll/soul style. The members met as they all worked in the mail room of the Decatur Herald And Review and drummer Steve Fisher suggested they form a band. 

Eugene And The Fugitives—first single lineup.

(Decatur Herald and Review - Dec 29, 1965)

They were led by Eugene King, a 17-year-old African American singer who was also an employee of General Electric Co. The other members were Phillip Jones (rhythm guitar, harmonica), Bruce Berry (bass), Clyde Sims (lead guitar), and Fred Boyer (organ). They were all between 16 and 18 and attended local high schools. In 1965, Clyde Sims and Steve Fisher were freshmen at Eastern Illinois University.

On April 17, 1965, the band traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to cut their first record, produced by Chuck Givens. Givens was a Decatur musician and producer. He had led numerous bands in the early 1960s including Chuck And The Cannonballs, the Chuck Givens Combo, and the Quintones. Givens seemingly relocated to Jackson, Tennessee around 1964 while still producing Decatur artists most notably on the Flame label.

Eugene And The Fugitives recording in Nashville.

(Decatur Daily Review - June 14, 1965)

For the recording session, Eugene and the Fugitives penned two songs, "I Asked Her", written by Clyde Sims, and "Girls, Girls", written by Eugene King and Fred Boyer, that were released in June on Cherry, a one-off label of Givens. 

Chuck Givens might have contributed some arrangements as he's also credited on the record, though not mentioned in the press article. 1,000 copies were pressed. "I Asked Her" is a cool garage/soul track. I haven't heard the flip yet.

The record was delivered in several record stores in Decatur. The band also made a special appearance at Shoppers World where they distributed free records to the public. The band grew in popularity and was booked at the end of the year to entertain the crowds at the Citywide New Year's Eve Teen-age Dance.

In early/mid-1966, the band went through lineup changes. Eugene King, Phillip Jones and Fred Boyer left. Terry Willis, a junior at Eisenhower High School, replaced King on lead vocals while Barry Edward, also attending Eastern Illinois University, took up the organ and the band kept playing as The Fugitives.

The Fugitives—second single lineup.

(Decatur Herald and Review - Sept 24, 1966)

William "Bill" Ridge, the record manager at Shoppers World, became the band's promoter. At a loss of a place to play, Ridge sponsored many dances for the band at the Eagles Lodge, soon playing twice a week for over five months and drawing great crowds. The band also played a couple of pool parties, Fashion contests and Police Night dances. Former Fugitives member Fred Boyer became manager for local band The Mystics (they would become The Meat Dept., "This Week's Children" on Polar Bear) and had them attend the Eagles dances as well.

During the summer, the band recorded their second and last single at Stereosonic Studios in Chicago, Illinois and released it on their own Cell label. It was only then that the band took up the name Fugitive Five, possibly to avoid confusion with other bands with the same name, while keeping playing locally as The Fugitives.

On the A side, the band taped a good version of "Route 66". But the true standout is the flip side, "(I Ain't Gonna Give Up) My Way Of Life", a garage rock original by Clyde Sims with slower pace and great organ background and break.

The single was put on sale in August 1966. While the band enjoyed great local popularity, the disc didn't sell "as well as expected, but good". The band also found regrettable that "most adults [were] apathetic or hostile toward the group" and teen music in general.

The Fugitives at an Eagles Lodge dance.

(Decatur Herald and Review - Sept 2, 1966)

No news were given about them after Sept 1966 and they possibly disbanded in the following months. Clyde Sims went on to form "The Fresh Clover Blues" and "Mother Fox" bands at Eastern Illinois University in the following years (but maybe they were only an evolution of the Fugitives). 

Later on, Clyde taught Art and French in the Jerseyville and Kansas school systems, and in his free time gave guitar and French lessons. Later, he was also a thirty-year member of "The Artistics" band in Charleston. He passed away in 2019.

Having been long-time friends, Terry Willis would join The Meat Department when reforming in 1996. More HERE at Downstate Sounds.

THE POSSUMS - "She's Loving Me" b/w "King In His World" (JM Records – 3824, 1967)

by Achille Brunet

Yet again a Tale from the Desert—another entry in the ever-expanding Phoenix, Arizona series!

Whether you know it for the mean punker "She's Loving Me" included on Sixties Rebellion and Teenage Shutdown or for the moody "King In His World" included on Shutdown '66, the Possums' single is a classic, while having remained a complete mystery for quite a while. This is a more complex case as it's in fact the result of the collaboration between two bands; one uncredited, the other misspelled.

The Possums were a local quartet of singers. The members are still unknown outside of Michael Hubbard, who wrote both sides. Hubbard sang lead vocals while the other three would do harmonies. However, as addressed a little later, the real band name was The Possoms.

Announcement of the release. 

Their name is misspelled even there.

(The Arizona Republic - Feb 4, 1967)

It seems these singers didn't play instruments, or maybe not good enough for a recording. One way or the other, The Possoms hired in late 1966 another local band, The Shi-Reeves, to play the backing tracks to their future single.

The Shi-Reeves started as a British Invasion cover band in the mid-1960s, first with Larry Walker on drums. The name derived from "shire reeves", the British 11th-century spelling of the word "Sheriff". In 1966, Larry obtained an audition for his older brother Ken Walker who soon took the head of the band as guitarist and keyboardist.

The Shi-Reeves at a later recording session.

(The Arizona Republic - Aug 6, 1967)

Ken Walker recalls the band going up to Encanto Park every Saturday to play in the outdoor bandshell. That's where they met Bob Narlock, who came up to them and asked if he could play some guitar.

Musically, something started to happen right away and Bob joined the band. They also started drawing more girls than ever before which was, from their own account, the main reason they were into music in the first place.

Shi-Reeves member is encouraged by Mod girls
at a later recording session.

(The Arizona Republic - Aug 6, 1967)

The band played at dances and bars in Phoenix and nearby towns. By the time of the Possoms recordings, the band was a 5-piece led by Ken Walker, and Bob Narlock had seemingly switched to drums.

Jerry Malouf, a party organiser from Scottsdale and likely the manager of the Possoms, financed the recording and pressing on his own JM Records. Malouf hired Ray Lindstrom, a label owner from Tucson, AZ, to produce the recording session at Audio Recorders of Arizona. The session was engineered by Tim Ramsey, son of Audio Recorders founder Floyd Ramsey.

The guys taped three takes of "She's Loving Me" and two of "King In His World". All the master tapes survived as of 2017, and bore the right spelling for the band name.

Five hundred copies were pressed at Wakefield Manufacturing in Phoenix and were delivered in February 1967. That's when The Possoms were justifiably bewildered to discover that their name had been misspelled, and they let it know.

(The Arizona Republic - Feb 18, 1967)

At the beginning of August 1967, The Shi-Reeves were back at Audio Recorders—under their own name this time—engineered by Dave Oxman and produced by Bobby Boyd. Acetates were cut and sent to record companies but nothing happened as far as I know.

In September, having graduated, Ken Walker became a redactor of the entertainment column of the Phoenix Gazette for several years. In the following couple of years, most of the Shi-Reeves members graduated, left for College or were taken by the draft, leading to lineup changes and leaving Ken and Bob as the real core.

The Shi-Reeves cut demos at Arizona Recorders.

Shadows of Dave Oxman and Bobby Boyd in the control room.

(The Arizona Republic - Aug 6, 1967)

In 1969 came the idea to change name. The main inspiration was Manfred Mann, but since Ken already had an unusual birth name (Kennélmus Walkiewicz), he simply got back to it instead of picking up an alias.

Ken and Bob started to record as Kennélmus in 1970. They would record a handful of singles, sometimes under their own names, and the classic Psych LP "Folkstone Prism" in 1971, all issued on their own Phoenix International label. They would also produce several local artists. A little on their engineer Stan Butcher HERE and HERE.

Any additional info on the Possoms and the Shi-Reeves would be appreciated.

____________

Sources include the Arizona Republic archives, The 'In' Groove notes on discogs and Jud Cost's notes to the 2020 reissue of the Kennélmus LP.