HOT ROD, SURF +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Your Biggest Fan Posted by Scott Thunder on April 10, 1996 at 13:45:37: Greetings, Chuck! You may remember me from the long conversation we had at GMA last year regarding the surfing and hot rod years... You also autographed my Hondell's album at KCMS in Seattle a couple of years ago. I just wanted to tell you about my new "treasures". I recently acquired The Super Stock's Complete Recordings (a double CD collection). I was disappointed to discover that you sang lead only on the song "School Is A Drag". Also, I bought a CD of The Revell's. Remember them? ;) Some great vocal performances from you. "My Little Slot Coupe" is a real departure from the usual Gary Usher tune. It said in the CD booklet that you complained about having to sing such ridiculous lyrics. Really? I think "My Baby Loves Slot Car Races" is the height of poetry :). But wait, there's more... Please confirm for me that you are singing background on the Surfari's tune "Take A Little Ride With Me". Ron Wilson sings lead, but I think I can pick you out in the mix. My latest find is a CD of various and sundry Gary Usher songs...some of which are priceless! I'd love to find out what you think of "Francis The Foul" and "Leaky Boat Louie". Almost as good as the Slot Car tunes. May I say to anyone interested in reading this, that I am a true fan of Chuck's, both during the Castells and Hondells era, and the Love Song era through the present. The first Christian song I ever heard was "Rock And Roll Preacher", and Chuck's first solo album was a big influence in my coming to faith in Christ. I love "Blessed Be The Name Of My Rock", "Fresh Bread", and others. But I still love Chuck's surfin' & hot rod stuff too. A couple of questions, Chuck, before I sign off... With what group did you sing "No Go Showboat" (you know, the one with Brian singing over your shoulder)? And, have you ever considered being involved in a Christian Surfing Band...maybe with Paul Johnson on guitar? I'd love it. Well, that's all for now...how come no one ever released you singing "This Bike Of Mine"? Great song. Love in Christ, Scott Thunder Director-CCM Radio CCM Communications --------------------------------------------------------- Your Biggest Fan Posted by Chuck Girard on April 24, 1996 at 01:34:28: In Reply to: Your Biggest Fan posted by Scott Thunder on April 10, 1996 at 13:45:37: Dear Scott, Well, you truly are a contender for "biggest fan", since your interest precedes even my Christian music. In years past I've avoided the subject as immaterial to what I am doing now, and barely mentioned it. But in recent years with the advent of so many re-releases on CD, and since the music I created in the '60s was basically so innocent in content, I've felt more comfortable in acknowledging this part of my past. I have seen the resurgent interest in this music as an avenue of evangelism, and have already enjoyed a few opportunities to inject my Christian witness into some secular interviews and other situations. For the uninitiated, I was lead singer in a group of studio musicians who worked for a guy named Gary Usher in the '60s. Gary, who died of cancer a few years back, had co-written a song with Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys called "In My Room". As a result of that success and other collaborations with Brian and other names of the '60s, Roger Christian among them, Gary began to make deals to record surf and hot rod type albums for many different labels . We recorded many albums under different names and most were lost to the cut-out bins of America. But one slipped through he cracks of obscurity to become a top 10 hit, the song "Little Honda" by the Hondells, on which I served as lead singer. An unexplainable phenomena then occurred in the '70's. Clubs began to form throughout the world that paid homage to this music, whether it had ever been really popular or not. Since I had sung lead on so many of these albums, I became something of a, pardon the phrase, "cult figure" among these collectors and fans. So there exists in the world enough of these fans, who put out fanzines with names like "Surfer's Rule", for some labels, most in foreign countries, to begin to hunt down the masters to these "works", and re-issue them on CD. Go figure. Which brings us to your posting, Scott. The Super Stocks album was my first encounter with Gary. Gary was fronting a group at the time called the Four Speeds I think, who had a minor hit called "RPM", and were doing the sock hop circuit in So. Calif. In was a member of The Castells at the time, and Gary and I met at such an event. Gary asked me if I'd like to get involved in some studio work he was doing, and with great caution, I agreed. To me it was a breach of contract, but I liked the idea of the money and decided to check it out. The reason I wasn't so prevalent on the first Super Stocks is because of this caution, but before long I became acclimated to the scene, and realized I could make more money singing lead, since the sessions were union. Soon I was installed as Gary's official lead singer, and over the years did countless albums from the surf/hot rod genre, and many demos which spanned just as many genres. I had the distinction of working with many of the greats of the day, most notably Brian Wilson, but Bruce Johnston, Terry Melcher, Glen Campbell, Hal Blaine, and even a young Leon Russell on different sessions. So that's why I am so scarce on the Super Stocks albums. The Revells was actually a very good album, with many of the songs and lyrics reworked in some way to change hot rod songs into slot car songs. Yes, I did feel the lyrics to be a bit pedestrian and even silly at times, but how can I argue that one man's ordinary is another's poetry? Sundazed Records recently released this album on CD in the states. All are very difficult to find, so don't expect to go into your local Tower or Sam Goody's, and find these on the racks. You have to go look for them in magazines like "Goldmine" . Yes, I am singing background on the Surfari's "Catch a Little Ride With Me" (assuming you are not referring to another song by the title "Take a Little Ride with Me") I think this is the cut you mean. "Francis the Foul" and "Leaky Boat Louie" were songs based on cartoon characters by Big Daddy Roth. I think these were by "The Weird-Ohs" These songs were really produced on a shoestring, and don't stand out in my mind as our best work, but I'll reserve that opinion until they appear on CD. I think the AVI label is planning to release them sometime. All of it was a lot of fun. "No-Go Showboat" was by "The Timers" on the Reprise label. The one with Brian singing over my shoulder is not "No-Go" but "My Buddy Seat" by the Hondells. Brian was nervous (as I had been) about his participation on several Jan and Dean hits ("Surf City" among them) which obviously featured his lead vocal, perhaps shaded a bit by Dean Torrance. Capitol records wasn't too happy about this, even though they couldn't actually prove it, so Brian was a little tentative about appearing on the Hondell's song. Thus, I sang the lead closer to the mic with Brian shading me from behind. The recording of "No-Go" , one of the first I ever did with Gary, is a little less clear in my memory. Brian was involved, and we both sang the same part, but it may have been overdubbed separately. Actually, you hear Brian's voice more dominantly on "No-Go: and mine on "Buddy Seat". A historic note: On several of the Gary Usher re-releases, there appear a few cuts by a young 13 yr. old singer who Gary produced for the Decca label. As usual, I appeared as a sideman and back ground singer on these sessions, which produced 5 singles, which were never officially released, as far as I know. That singer?....Keith Green. Haven't ever considered being in a Christian surfing band. I have been asked to do a gig or two here and there over the years, but never did. The drummer for the Surfaris recently died (not Ron Wilson, who died even earlier), and there is soon to be a memorial concert for him, which is supposed to bring out people like the Ventures, the Surfaris, etc. The Surfari's have asked me to sing "Little Honda" with them. ...I'm praying about it. "This Bike of Mine"...one of my favorites. I don't know why it was never released. Perhaps God knew it would have become a big hit, and I would have been sucked into the world and never have become a Christian and there never would have been a LOVE SONG, and then ................................ ....................nah. Thanks for some great questions, Scott. God bless you, brother. ************************************************************* "HONDELLS?? Posted by Sue Sebastiani on May 31, 1996 at 23:26:15: (Note from Chuck: Another lost post. Sue said she'd seen the Hondells perform in Seaside, OR in the '60s. She was asking if I was in the the group she saw.) Re: re: Hondells Posted by CHUCK GIRARD on June 10, 1996 at 21:18:02: In Reply to: re: Hondells posted by Sue Bastiani on May 31, 1996 at 23:26:15: Dear Sue, Though I sang lead on most of the songs on the first 2 Hondell albums, it wasnąt me you saw at Lower Columbia College. I never did personal appearances at all with the group. Interestingly, because of the fact that I did the leads on the records, when you see the HONDELLS in a movie, like "Ski Party", etc., it is my voice coming out of another guy's mouth. (Richie Burns) ####################################################### HOT ROD, SURF +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Your Biggest Fan Posted by Scott Thunder on April 10, 1996 at 13:45:37: Greetings, Chuck! You may remember me from the long conversation we had at GMA last year regarding the surfing and hot rod years... You also autographed my Hondell's album at KCMS in Seattle a couple of years ago. I just wanted to tell you about my new "treasures". I recently acquired The Super Stock's Complete Recordings (a double CD collection). I was disappointed to discover that you sang lead only on the song "School Is A Drag". Also, I bought a CD of The Revell's. Remember them? ;) Some great vocal performances from you. "My Little Slot Coupe" is a real departure from the usual Gary Usher tune. It said in the CD booklet that you complained about having to sing such ridiculous lyrics. Really? I think "My Baby Loves Slot Car Races" is the height of poetry :). But wait, there's more... Please confirm for me that you are singing background on the Surfari's tune "Take A Little Ride With Me". Ron Wilson sings lead, but I think I can pick you out in the mix. My latest find is a CD of various and sundry Gary Usher songs...some of which are priceless! I'd love to find out what you think of "Francis The Foul" and "Leaky Boat Louie". Almost as good as the Slot Car tunes. May I say to anyone interested in reading this, that I am a true fan of Chuck's, both during the Castells and Hondells era, and the Love Song era through the present. The first Christian song I ever heard was "Rock And Roll Preacher", and Chuck's first solo album was a big influence in my coming to faith in Christ. I love "Blessed Be The Name Of My Rock", "Fresh Bread", and others. But I still love Chuck's surfin' & hot rod stuff too. A couple of questions, Chuck, before I sign off... With what group did you sing "No Go Showboat" (you know, the one with Brian singing over your shoulder)? And, have you ever considered being involved in a Christian Surfing Band...maybe with Paul Johnson on guitar? I'd love it. Well, that's all for now...how come no one ever released you singing "This Bike Of Mine"? Great song. Love in Christ, Scott Thunder Director-CCM Radio CCM Communications --------------------------------------------------------- Your Biggest Fan Posted by Chuck Girard on April 24, 1996 at 01:34:28: In Reply to: Your Biggest Fan posted by Scott Thunder on April 10, 1996 at 13:45:37: Dear Scott, Well, you truly are a contender for "biggest fan", since your interest precedes even my Christian music. In years past I've avoided the subject as immaterial to what I am doing now, and barely mentioned it. But in recent years with the advent of so many re-releases on CD, and since the music I created in the '60s was basically so innocent in content, I've felt more comfortable in acknowledging this part of my past. I have seen the resurgent interest in this music as an avenue of evangelism, and have already enjoyed a few opportunities to inject my Christian witness into some secular interviews and other situations. For the uninitiated, I was lead singer in a group of studio musicians who worked for a guy named Gary Usher in the '60s. Gary, who died of cancer a few years back, had co-written a song with Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys called "In My Room". As a result of that success and other collaborations with Brian and other names of the '60s, Roger Christian among them, Gary began to make deals to record surf and hot rod type albums for many different labels . We recorded many albums under different names and most were lost to the cut-out bins of America. But one slipped through he cracks of obscurity to become a top 10 hit, the song "Little Honda" by the Hondells, on which I served as lead singer. An unexplainable phenomena then occurred in the '70's. Clubs began to form throughout the world that paid homage to this music, whether it had ever been really popular or not. Since I had sung lead on so many of these albums, I became something of a, pardon the phrase, "cult figure" among these collectors and fans. So there exists in the world enough of these fans, who put out fanzines with names like "Surfer's Rule", for some labels, most in foreign countries, to begin to hunt down the masters to these "works", and re-issue them on CD. Go figure. Which brings us to your posting, Scott. The Super Stocks album was my first encounter with Gary. Gary was fronting a group at the time called the Four Speeds I think, who had a minor hit called "RPM", and were doing the sock hop circuit in So. Calif. In was a member of The Castells at the time, and Gary and I met at such an event. Gary asked me if I'd like to get involved in some studio work he was doing, and with great caution, I agreed. To me it was a breach of contract, but I liked the idea of the money and decided to check it out. The reason I wasn't so prevalent on the first Super Stocks is because of this caution, but before long I became acclimated to the scene, and realized I could make more money singing lead, since the sessions were union. Soon I was installed as Gary's official lead singer, and over the years did countless albums from the surf/hot rod genre, and many demos which spanned just as many genres. I had the distinction of working with many of the greats of the day, most notably Brian Wilson, but Bruce Johnston, Terry Melcher, Glen Campbell, Hal Blaine, and even a young Leon Russell on different sessions. So that's why I am so scarce on the Super Stocks albums. The Revells was actually a very good album, with many of the songs and lyrics reworked in some way to change hot rod songs into slot car songs. Yes, I did feel the lyrics to be a bit pedestrian and even silly at times, but how can I argue that one man's ordinary is another's poetry? Sundazed Records recently released this album on CD in the states. All are very difficult to find, so don't expect to go into your local Tower or Sam Goody's, and find these on the racks. You have to go look for them in magazines like "Goldmine" . Yes, I am singing background on the Surfari's "Catch a Little Ride With Me" (assuming you are not referring to another song by the title "Take a Little Ride with Me") I think this is the cut you mean. "Francis the Foul" and "Leaky Boat Louie" were songs based on cartoon characters by Big Daddy Roth. I think these were by "The Weird-Ohs" These songs were really produced on a shoestring, and don't stand out in my mind as our best work, but I'll reserve that opinion until they appear on CD. I think the AVI label is planning to release them sometime. All of it was a lot of fun. "No-Go Showboat" was by "The Timers" on the Reprise label. The one with Brian singing over my shoulder is not "No-Go" but "My Buddy Seat" by the Hondells. Brian was nervous (as I had been) about his participation on several Jan and Dean hits ("Surf City" among them) which obviously featured his lead vocal, perhaps shaded a bit by Dean Torrance. Capitol records wasn't too happy about this, even though they couldn't actually prove it, so Brian was a little tentative about appearing on the Hondell's song. Thus, I sang the lead closer to the mic with Brian shading me from behind. The recording of "No-Go" , one of the first I ever did with Gary, is a little less clear in my memory. Brian was involved, and we both sang the same part, but it may have been overdubbed separately. Actually, you hear Brian's voice more dominantly on "No-Go: and mine on "Buddy Seat". A historic note: On several of the Gary Usher re-releases, there appear a few cuts by a young 13 yr. old singer who Gary produced for the Decca label. As usual, I appeared as a sideman and back ground singer on these sessions, which produced 5 singles, which were never officially released, as far as I know. That singer?....Keith Green. Haven't ever considered being in a Christian surfing band. I have been asked to do a gig or two here and there over the years, but never did. The drummer for the Surfaris recently died (not Ron Wilson, who died even earlier), and there is soon to be a memorial concert for him, which is supposed to bring out people like the Ventures, the Surfaris, etc. The Surfari's have asked me to sing "Little Honda" with them. ...I'm praying about it. "This Bike of Mine"...one of my favorites. I don't know why it was never released. Perhaps God knew it would have become a big hit, and I would have been sucked into the world and never have become a Christian and there never would have been a LOVE SONG, and then ................................ ....................nah. Thanks for some great questions, Scott. God bless you, brother. ************************************************************* "HONDELLS?? Posted by Sue Sebastiani on May 31, 1996 at 23:26:15: (Note from Chuck: Another lost post. Sue said she'd seen the Hondells perform in Seaside, OR in the '60s. She was asking if I was in the the group she saw.) Re: re: Hondells Posted by CHUCK GIRARD on June 10, 1996 at 21:18:02: In Reply to: re: Hondells posted by Sue Bastiani on May 31, 1996 at 23:26:15: Dear Sue, Though I sang lead on most of the songs on the first 2 Hondell albums, it wasnąt me you saw at Lower Columbia College. I never did personal appearances at all with the group. Interestingly, because of the fact that I did the leads on the records, when you see the HONDELLS in a movie, like "Ski Party", etc., it is my voice coming out of another guy's mouth. (Richie Burns) *************************************************************