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UNDER-APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER 2011: ULTRA
The Outcasts is one of the truly legendary garage rock bands from the fertile territory in Texas; one of my early Wikipedia articles was on this group. They always placed high in Battle of the Bands contests and actually won the statewide competition in the seminal year of 1966. Their song “I’m in Pittsburgh (and it’s Raining)” is the opening track on Pebbles, Volume 1, the second compilation album of 1960’s garage rock and psychedelic rock music (after Nuggets). In the original liner notes, Greg Shaw calls the song “a blistering punk-rocker, which has been compared to the Pretty Things at their best”.
Galen Niles became the second lead guitarist in the Outcasts when Denny Turner joined the U.S. Army in 1966, and he played gigs with the band throughout that summer. Their last single, “1523 Blair” (released in January 1967) took the band in a different direction and is a nearly unique psychedelic rock song in that it is played at a furious pace. The song inspired the name of a future entry in the Under-Appreciated Rock Bands, a marvelous British band who released one album as Blair 1523.
In 1967, Galen Niles went back to college and met Chet Himes, who was dating the roommate of his girlfriend. They started jamming together with drummer Gary Crapster after Himes had been bugging Niles to start a band with him. Himes brought in a friend of his, Frank Coy. Much as the Beatles had done before – when each new member brought in the next – Frank added his friend Pat Cosgrove. The band practiced throughout the summer and became a good cover band with a 12-song repertoire that included “She’s Not There”, “Hush”, and “Land of 1,000 Dances”. After a while, the band dubbed themselves Homer, though Niles is not sure why.
After Homer started getting some better gigs, they pressed a 45 in mid-1968, with a Willie Nelson song “I Never Cared for You” backed with an original composition called “Dandelion Wine”. In a happy coincidence, Galen Niles’ father knew one of the morning DJ’s in San Antonio, on radio station KONO; goaded by copious donations of prime beef from the supermarket that he managed, “I Never Cared for You” started getting extensive radio play and peaked at #2 on the station’s playlist. The band began opening for national acts that came to the area, including Blood, Sweat and Tears, Vanilla Fudge, and Strawberry Alarm Clock.
Before long, Columbia Records came calling and expressed interest in a national release. The A&R man’s request to know what was going to be on their next single caught Homer flat-footed. After quickly cutting two more songs, “On the Wall” and “Texas Lights”, Columbia blew them off and passed on the whole deal. They were released locally as the next two singles by the band but did not perform as well as “I Never Cared for You”.
Homer released an album called Grown in U.S.A. in 1970. Bandmembers by that time were Phil Bepko (vocals), Frank Coy (vocals), Galen Niles (lead guitar), Howard Gloor (lead, steel guitar), Gene Coleman (drums), and Chet Himes (bass). The music ranged from psychedelia to progressive rock, with instruments that included a Mellotron. Christopher Cross – who had several hits in the early 1980’s including “Sailing” and got the Grammy in 1980 for Best New Artist – also had some involvement with the album. (Christopher Cross was born on May 3, 1951, same as me!).
Homer was a popular band in the San Antonio area and hung in there until 1974; by that time, the line-up was Don Evans (vocals and drums), Chet Himes (bass), Van Wilks (guitar) and Galen Niles (guitar). Niles recalls: “Man, that was a smokin’ band then – the fact was, the only reason we had a vocalist was to take up some space between the guitar solos.”
Don Evans had earlier been in a band called the Water Brothers; fellow bandmember Robert Galindo (whose brother, Dan Galindo was the bass player for the 13th Floor Elevators) describes their music as “freestyle psychedelic blues/raga/fusion”. Chet Himes exited Homer in 1974 to become a recording engineer and worked with Christopher Cross as well as Ted Nugent; and Van Wilks left to start a solo career.
ULTRA was formed out of the ashes of Homer when remaining members Galen Niles and Don Evans (who was strictly the vocalist in the new band) added Larry McGuffin (guitar), Scott Stephens (bass), and Tom Schleuning (drums). As a departure from the Homer sound, Ultra was an old-fashioned hard rock band with twin lead guitars trading solos and playing in harmony. Some might describe it as heavy metal, but I wouldn’t. Their sole release was a 5-song promotional EP with just 100 copies and a plain white cover.
Much as Homer had often done, Ultra was conceived as a touring band that would open for national acts, rather than playing in small clubs, and this was in keeping with their big sound. Galen Niles has mentioned as examples that they opened for Be-Bop Deluxe and Pat Travers. (Frequent touring was difficult financially though; often the roadies collected what little money remained after expenses were paid). Their sound was clashing with the growing popularity of disco and punk rock; and in fact, their most high-profile moment came when they opened for Sex Pistols at Randy’s Rodeo on January 8, 1978. Niles stated recently: “We most definitely had no business being on the same bill as the Sex Pistols, as we were not in any musical sense of the word a ‘punk’ outfit”.
The Sex Pistols disintegrated just two weeks into their first American tour. Less than a week after their San Antonio date, Johnny Rotten left the Pistols and started a new band called Public Image Limited (often shortened to PiL); he also reverted to his real name John Lydon. Interestingly, the most notorious member of the Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious was a relatively new addition to the band who was not involved in either of their outrageous singles, “Anarchy in the U.K.” and “God Save the Queen”. Their sole album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols came out in 1978 and, as they say, changed rock and roll forever. For myself, however, I have always preferred American punk rockers to their Brit counterparts.
A remarkable reunion and awards ceremony for 1960’s and 1970’s San Antonio bands is scheduled to take place this Sunday, September 4, 2011. Besides the Outcasts and Ultra, bands that are scheduled to appear include Bubble Puppy (who had a national hit song called “Hot Smoke and Sassafras” that I haven’t heard in ages), Swiss Movement, the Laughing Kind, and Stone Soul Clique, whose members include Chris Gerniottis, formerly of Zakary Thaks. Should be a great time!
Although there is a decent write-up on Homer in Allmusic, there is nothing in Wikipedia on either that band or Ultra. Homer would have made a good choice for Under-Appreciated accolades, except that I don’t have any of their music yet. Ultra’s archived tracks though have been re-released twice – on Monster Records in 2000 and on Vintage Records in 2007. I picked up the latter collection last year; it features 16 fine tracks that were recorded in 1975-1977.
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The Honor Roll of the Under Appreciated Rock Bands and Artists follows, in date order, including a link to the original Facebook posts and the theme of the article.
Dec 2009 – BEAST; Lot to Learn
Jan 2010 – WENDY WALDMAN; Los Angeles Singer-Songwriters
Feb 2010 – CYRUS ERIE; Cleveland
Mar 2010 – BANG; Record Collecting I
Apr 2010 – THE BREAKAWAYS; Power Pop
May 2010 – THE NOT QUITE; Katrina Clean-Up
Jun 2010 – WATERLILLIES; Electronica
Jul 2010 – THE EYES; Los Angeles Punk Rock
Aug 2010 – QUEEN ANNE’S LACE; Psychedelic Pop
Sep 2010 – THE STILLROVEN; Minnesota
Oct 2010 – THE PILTDOWN MEN; Record Collecting II
Nov 2010 – SLOVENLY; Slovenly Peter
Dec 2010 – THE POPPEES; New York Punk/New Wave
Jan 2011 – HACIENDA; Latinos in Rock
Feb 2011 – THE WANDERERS; Punk Rock (1970’s/1980’s)
Mar 2011 – INDEX; Psychedelic Rock (1960’s)
Apr 2011 – BOHEMIAN VENDETTA; Punk Rock (1960’s)
May 2011 – THE LONESOME DRIFTER; Rockabilly
Jun 2011 – THE UNKNOWNS; Disabled Musicians
Jul 2011 – THE RIP CHORDS; Surf Rock I
Aug 2011 – ANDY COLQUHOUN; Side Men
Sep 2011 – ULTRA; Texas
Oct 2011 – JIM SULLIVAN; Mystery
Nov 2011 – THE UGLY; Punk Rock (1970’s)
Dec 2011 – THE MAGICIANS; Garage Rock (1960’s)
Jan 2012 – RON FRANKLIN; Why Celebrate Under Appreciated?
Feb 2012 – JA JA JA; German New Wave
Mar 2012 – STRATAVARIOUS; Disco Music
Apr 2012 – LINDA PIERRE KING; Record Collecting III
May 2012 – TINA AND THE TOTAL BABES; One Hit Wonders
Jun 2012 – WILD BLUE; Band Names I
Jul 2012 – DEAD HIPPIE; Band Names II
Aug 2012 – PHIL AND THE FRANTICS; Wikipedia I
Sep 2012 – CODE BLUE; Hidden History
Oct 2012 – TRILLION; Wikipedia II
Nov 2012 – THOMAS ANDERSON; Martin Winfree’s Record Buying Guide
Dec 2012 – THE INVISIBLE EYES; Record Collecting IV
Jan 2013 – THE SKYWALKERS; Garage Rock Revival
Feb 2013 – LINK PROTRUDI AND THE JAYMEN; Link Wray
Mar 2013 – THE GILES BROTHERS; Novelty Songs
Apr 2013 – LES SINNERS; Universal Language
May 2013 – HOLLIS BROWN; Greg Shaw / Bob Dylan
Jun 2013 (I) – FUR (Part 1); What Might Have Been I
Jun 2013 (II) – FUR (Part 2); What Might Have Been II
Jul 2013 – THE KLUBS; Record Collecting V
Aug 2013 – SILVERBIRD; Native Americans in Rock
Sep 2013 – BLAIR 1523; Wikipedia III
Oct 2013 – MUSIC EMPORIUM; Women in Rock I
Nov 2013 – CHIMERA; Women in Rock II
Dec 2013 – LES HELL ON HEELS; Women in Rock III
Jan 2014 – BOYSKOUT; (Lesbian) Women in Rock IV
Feb 2014 – LIQUID FAERIES; Women in Rock V
Mar 2014 (I) – THE SONS OF FRED (Part 1); Tribute to Mick Farren
Mar 2014 (II) – THE SONS OF FRED (Part 2); Tribute to Mick Farren
Apr 2014 – HOMER; Creating New Bands out of Old Ones
May 2014 – THE SOUL AGENTS; The Cream Family Tree
Jun 2014 – THE RICHMOND SLUTS and BIG MIDNIGHT; Band Names (Changes) III
Jul 2014 – MIKKI; Rock and Religion I (Early CCM Music)
Aug 2014 – THE HOLY GHOST RECEPTION COMMITTEE #9; Rock and Religion II (Bob Dylan)
Sep 2014 – NICK FREUND; Rock and Religion III (The Beatles)
Oct 2014 – MOTOCHRIST; Rock and Religion IV
Nov 2014 – WENDY BAGWELL AND THE SUNLITERS; Rock and Religion V
Dec 2014 – THE SILENCERS; Surf Rock II
Jan 2015 (I) – THE CRAWDADDYS (Part 1); Tribute to Kim Fowley
Jan 2015 (II) – THE CRAWDADDYS (Part 2); Tribute to Kim Fowley
Feb 2015 – BRIAN OLIVE; Songwriting I (Country Music)
Mar 2015 – PHIL GAMMAGE; Songwriting II (Woody Guthrie / Bob Dylan)
Apr 2015 (I) – BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 1); Songwriting III (Partnerships)
Apr 2015 (II) – BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 2); Songwriting III (Partnerships)
May 2015 – MAL RYDER and THE PRIMITIVES; Songwriting IV (The Rolling Stones)
Jun 2015 – HAYMARKET SQUARE; Songwriting V (The Beatles)
Jul 2015 – THE HUMAN ZOO; Songwriting VI (Psychedelic Rock)
Aug 2015 – CRYSTAL MANSION; Martin Winfree’s Record Cleaning Guide
Dec 2015 – AMANDA JONES; So Many Rock Bands
Mar 2016 – THE LOVEMASTERS; Fun Rock Music
Jun 2016 – THE GYNECOLOGISTS; Offensive Rock Music Lyrics
Sep 2016 – LIGHTNING STRIKE; Rap and Hip Hop
Dec 2016 – THE IGUANAS; Iggy and the Stooges; Proto-Punk Rock
Mar 2017 – THE LAZY COWGIRLS; Iggy and the Stooges; First Wave Punk Rock
Jun 2017 – THE LOONS; Punk Revival and Other New Bands
Sep 2017 – THE TELL-TALE HEARTS; Bootleg Albums
Dec 2017 – SS-20; The Iguana Chronicles
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