Power - Children Ask If He Is Dead Showplace WS 218

POWER

Personnel:
ROBIN JOHNSTON ld gtr, vcls A
JOE RODRIGUEZ drms, vcls A
JOE ROMERO bs, vcls A
JOHN ROMERO ld vcls, gtr A
JIM SANCHEZ keyb'ds, vcls A


45s:
1 Children Ask (If He Is Dead)/She Is The Color Of (Showplace WS 218) 1967
2 Children Ask (If He Is Dead)/She Is The Color Of (MGM K 13815) 1967


A strange one indeed. Whilst She Is The Color Of is a whimsical pop ballad, the topside is difficult to bag - it could be described as early MOR-ish Iron Butterfly with its quasi-religious keyboard doodlings ala Doug lngle. Add to that deep manly vocals ala Ingle (again) or Sean Bonniwell, religious lyrics and occasional fuzzy guitar and... well, it's touted as 'psych' by specialist dealers - but make up your own mind!

Robin Johnston recalls:- "The band was originally called The Wild Ones, and we were from the South Bay, mainly Torrance and Hawthorne, having started out as a surf band in the very early sixties. We worked our way into being one of the house bands at the Hullabaloo in Hollywood, playing there with some of the biggest acts in the world. The other house bands were The Palace Guard, The Yellow Payges, and The East Side Kids. The Hullabaloo was owned by Gary Bookasta, who was the manager of The Palace Guard and us, and I think The Yellow Payges. He worked very hard to mold all of us into hit bands and brought in professional songwriters to give us songs to record. Gary later bought KROQ radio station, but I don't know where he is now, maybe in Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist."

"Children Ask and She Is The Color Of were written by Bernie Schwartz who is given credit on the 45, but also by Morgan Cavet. We were presented the songs and rehearsed them at The Hullabaloo and recorded them at Paramount studios on Santa Monica Blvd., I think in the Spring or early Summer of 1967. The original title was Children Ask If God Is Dead, but we were told we couldn't use the name 'God' on the radio like that so we had to go back in and re-record the lyrics to say, Children Ask If He Is Dead. We then did a Summer tour from Southern to Northern California with The Standells and The East Side Kids. On the tour we passed through San Francisco and Haight-Ashbury, right in the middle of The Summer Of Love."

"Then, a small-time DJ from L.A. joined the Navy and became stationed at the Naval Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, and had taken our record with him where he started playing it on the air. It got some response so in November of '67 we went to Biloxi for four weeks and played there in clubs, also in New Orleans, including a couple of TV spots."

"Then we came back and played at the Hullabaloo for two more months and then broke up because of the draft, the bass player and I both going into the military."

"We had a good time back then, and as I look back now, we were only 16, 17, and 18 years old, so young and naive.

Max Waller

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Psychedelic
• West Coast
• Hullabaloo

[kub73158]

1. This version is not on record.

2. You must have some close connection with the group.

3. Some freak with the name stomachlining responds to this in super speed time. ?!

4. Anyway, please explain what you have and know on this, Thanks.

[stomachlining]

love that fuzz