Tim Leach with an
admirer (my sister Sandy).
The Hustlers
The Hustlers
ANCIENT HISTORY: From 1961 to 1967, I played lead guitar in several bands in the Santa Maria, California, area. First came the band, the Hustlers, named after the movie of the same name. We were just a bunch of junior high school kids at Fesler Jr. High School when we started in 1961. Some early members were Frank Lancer, Chis Lyman, Bob Piers, Micky Moshier and later, Tim Leach. Frank Lancer and I actually started the Hustlers as a "gang". When we finally figured out that being in a "gang" involved fighting with other "gangs", we dropped the idea and decided to become "musicians" instead. Besides, it was easier to get girls playing guitar than flashing switchblades and home-made weapons-of-destruction around town. So Frank Lancer and I bought Sears Silvertone guitars and practiced in his back garage. We plugged into his folks' record player for amplification. We had natural "fuzz" as the tiny speakers soon shredded and that was, by default, the only tone available. Our inspiration for guitar came from learning Duane Eddy and Link Wray instrumentals.
The early band went through several different configurations. Chris Lyman was a rhythm and bass player for a few gigs. Tim Leach was in the band as our rhythm guitar player for the later version of the Hustlers and then overlapping into the first year of Something Wild. Tim was, and still is, an excellent guitar player. To this day, I'm amazed at what tasteful stuff he can do on a guitar. Tim and his wife, Caroline, make their home near mine in Nipomo, California.
Tim Leach with an
admirer (my sister Sandy).
Very early on and through the remainder of the Hustler era and through to the very end at the breakup of Something Wild, Joe Geppi, now living in the Las Vegas area with his wife Melody, was our faithful bass player. Joe was (and still is!) an all around nice guy with a great sense of humor. As a bass player, Joe was one of the best. His steady right-on bass anchor along with the several drummers he got to work with in our line-up over the years, formed the signature Something Wild rhythm section. That rhythm shifted from blues to acid ragas and back again in the same song set. Joe's sense of humor and comic relief in the band and on stage in conjunction with Kal's antics helped to give Something Wild a reputation as somewhat of a comedy act too. Joe's garage, much to the chagrin of his parents' neighbors, also was one of our several practice sites. Joe and I have been in touch lately and are going to get together soon to jam and go over some of his original music together. He has just won the Las Vegas Songwriters Association's coveted Best Song of the Year Award for his song "Follow the River".
Joe Geppi - 1965
Mike "Mickey" Moshier was our first drummer. He was (still is!) an excellent drummer and performer. He now makes his home in Bakersfield, California, and remains active in music and is also a stand-up comedian. He's since been on numerous records and CD's and jams with local musicians when he can find the time. The Hustlers started out playing at some of our friends' private parties in the local area. As we improved, we started getting booked for dances and larger gigs. We won our first "Battle of the Bands" in Solvang, California, at the Blue Dolphin club. We got a major break by being on a local TV bandstand (KCOY -12) dance show. After the show, Karl Gebhardt (Kal-X-Blue), who had performed in another band on the same show, approached us after our set and asked if he could be our "lead singer". Since no one in our lineup at that time sang very good, we were pretty much open to his offer. Kal had been in prison for awhile in the Chicago area. To this day, I don't know the charge. The Judge apparently offered him the choice of "getting our of town" or going into the army. Well, I guess Kal chose moving to Santa Maria. He had an aunt in the area and lived with her on Railroad St. in Santa Maria. While in Chicago, Kal was in a band called The Gremlins. They had a record cut on the private Liverpool label and released "Treat Her Right" and "No Surf". Anyway, at the time, he was several levels above us musically and soon was whipping the band into shape as a Chicago style blues band.
Our band had another break when we were picked to open for the Byrds at Righetti High School in Santa Maria in 1965. That was a real thrill for us and an inspiration. Mickey Moshier remembers that day in that "...the guys in the Byrds came in to the dressing rooms with Wranglers and cowboy boots. They literally smelled of horse manure." (They must have had a tour of the Central Coast!) Roger McGuinn's work on the 12-string Rickenbacker that night has stayed with me to this day. He opened one set by dropping the low E strings to a D to go into the intro for "Bells of Rhymny". He played this de-tuning at full volume and went right into the dropped D lick. That was awesome. In fact, when I could finally afford it, I bought a sunburst Rickenbacker 12-string McGuinn signature model (RM 370) in 1991 at Voltage Guitars in Hollywood. I play it through a Scholz Rack Mount Rockman spilt into stereo and I run the two processed signals into 2 Marshalls and a third "dry" signal into a Vox tube amp with custom speakers. If musical instruments can make it into heaven, this is one that should be able to go right in.
Roger McGuinn
The Hustlers evolve into "Something Wild": At a band meeting in early '65, Kal-X-Blue (Karl Gebhardt) and I pushed for renaming the band "Something Wild". We had felt the "Hustlers" name was too dated. Since we were by then experimenting with psychedelic drugs, we wanted a band name with a little more hipness to it. Hence - Something Wild. With Billy Payne, of now Little Feat fame, on keyboards, and Bill ("Rufus") Peckham on drums, we became one very busy regional California psychedelic blues band. Billy Payne needs little explanation. As a classmate of mine at Righetti High School, (we both graduated class of '67), Billy was incredible on the keyboards and on the surfboards as well. If my memory is correct, he played organ at his family's church in Ventura before they all moved to Santa Maria. Bill Peckham had no equal on drums. His playing was as good as anything out there or better. Had he kept with it I have no doubt he could have been one of the music industry's greats.
Left to Right: Bill Evans, Joe Geppi, Bill Peckham, Billy Payne (his back!!) & Kal-X-Blue
Our first attempt at recording was done at Stars International Recording Studios in Hollywood in late 1965 or early 1966. We cut an acetate that had "She's Got a Hole in Her Soul" on one side and "The Blues" on the other. I don't recall how many of these acetates were pressed but today there are only a few left. One Swedish rock collector has offered one for $3,500 US along with several original photos of the band. (Gee, I wish I had saved all that stuff....who knew?). A few months' later, we recorded in a garage in Santa Maria with a local audiophile and had Capitol Records at their Santa Maria plant press a thousand 45's under our own label: "Psychedelic Records". In a short time, the regional radio stations played them including KRLA in Los Angeles. The two songs on our 45 rpm were "Trippin' Out" and "She's Kinda Weird". Many of the radio stations at the time had to stop playing "Trippin' Out" as parents would call in to complain the song advocated getting high (it did) on acid (LSD). Both songs have been re-released in the '70's. On BFD's (Australia) original vinyl compilation of singles on "Pebbles" Vol. 7-song # 1 and the B side, "She's Kinda Weird", is on Vol. 2 of a "Boulders" vinyl album compilation.
Cicadelic Records has just (6/15/98) come out with a CD compilation of '60's Garage Band Legends entitled "Thirteen O'Clock Flight to Psychedelphia" distributed by Collectables Records with "Trippin' Out", "She's Kinda Weird" and "Hole In Her Soul" (previously un-released) on it.
Plato & The Philosophers & Other Groups
COL 0714
Plato & Philosophers: I Don’t Mind * C.M. I Love
You * Thirteen O’clock Flight To Psychedelphia * Doomsday Nowhere City* Something
Wild: Trippin’ Out * She’s Kinda Weird * Hole In Her Soul * The Smoke:
Church House Blues * The Fortunes: I Like It Like That * Why Won’t You Wear My Ring?
* Heat Wave * Shop Around * Plato & Philosophers: Wishes * I Knew * Ima Jean Money *
Today I Died * Take It Easy * How I Won The War * In Good Time * Back Room Bar * Through
Your Heart * Thirteen O’clock Flight To Psychedelphia (Early Take)
Order from Tower Records by clicking Here and then entering "Trippin' Out" in their search box. Or, you can order from Amazon.com by clicking here.
Sundazed Records has just (7/2/98) come out with a single 7" vinyl Something Wild release with "Trippin' Out" and "She's Kinda Weird" on it. Check out Sundazed's announcement page of this release here.
 |
 |
| LtoR: Evans, Geppi, Blue, Payne & Peckham | LtoR: Moshier, Leach, Blue, Evans & Geppi |
There is other interest Stateside to re-release these as well in several different formats. I've recently corresponded with Greg Shaw from Bomp Records who is preparing a Northern California psychedelic band compilation for a CD release sometime soon. There may be some interest in our being included on it. Other garage and psychedelic record labels who have some interest include: Gear Fab Records and Delerium Records. Apparently there is a revival of interest in early US psychedelic punk "garage" bands from the '60's. Our "Something Wild" listing at Delerium Records in the UK can be seen by clicking here at http://www.delerium.co.uk/archive/us6070s/s7.html. Then scroll to the bottom of the page to Something Wild's listing.
After Something Wild broke up, one of our major gigs with the remaining players
and a few new ones was on Sunday, October 30th, 1966 which was billed as a Holloween
concert at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. The concert also featured
Captain Beefheart, the Chocolate Watchband and the Great Pumpkin.
For this, we played
as the Kal-X Blues Band. The
entire band played that day on acid wearing Holloween paint and disguises.
Willie Klearman played lead guitar that night while I played bass guitar and
electric violin. Willie still lives on the Central Coast of California and plays
lead guitar for Oasis.
That was the
last gig I played with Kal. I think we were all burned out on the whole scene by then. Kal
then played in a band in the San Francisco area called "The Wedge". They were
considered one of the original "flower-power" groups in the Bay area at that
time. Frank Zappa showed some interest in producing them but, apparently, nothing
happened. The band Wedge toured Europe in 1969 and Kal stayed there. He subsequently moved
to first to Germany and then later to Sweden where he lives today and played under the name of "Linus and
the Losers".
Kal's mailing address is: Up Front Productions, Attn: Kal X Blue, Lundberg, Fyrspannsg.65, 16564 Hasselby Beach, Sweden. Kal's new email address is:
Kal was featured in a 1976 Swedish Rock magazine article on Something Wild. Kal is currently involved in producing a band called "Sonic Freakshow". He has written seven songs and co-wrote three on a soon-to-be released CD. I might mention here that he is now an excellent guitar player having picked up this skill in his later years. The producer on this CD project is none other than Stevie Klasson, guitarist for Johnny Thunders! Stevie is also Kal's half-son as well as his friend. Kal has also gotten a couple of his songs on the new Hi-Tones CD in time for their April 2000 tour of the United States. More information on Kal to come!!
Recent Photos of Kal
Kal trippin' out on his guitar.
Jan Gerfast &
Kal X Blue "Linus" - "Prayin´ the Blues", 2004.
May '04 News Update for Kal: Linus (Kal's
Swedish name) & the Vindicators CD "Gone" will be available from Oct. 13th '04
by mail order from Up-Front Productions.
Kal is going on the "Praying the blues" tour with Jan Gerfast (www.jangerfast.com)
and his bass player, J-R Wells + the Voodoo Band in August of '04. The CD from
the live shows will be released in Spring of '05. Before that
he'll play Stockholm, Sweden, and a big festival in what used to be East
Germany.
Kal just did some vocal work on a new version of "Louie Louie" with "the Flying
Butchers" on their CD "Songs From the Slaughterhouse"
_____
To see some early photos of Something Wild, click here on: www.littlefeat.net/bill.html and scroll to
the bottom of Billy Payne's Little Feat Web page and click on the Something Wild Photos.
After Something Wild broke up in early 1967, I played in a acid rock band with Howard
Miller and a few others. Howard was one of the best ad lib guitar players I have ever had
the pleasure of playing with. You could lay down a rhythm and he would just play all over
it never repeating a single lick. Our band philosophy was to get high and play
unstructured droning ragas that could go for 10 to 20 minutes. That scene didn't last real
long. After this, I got into the Light Show business for various concert promoters. We
called ourselves the Family Cat as a variation of the Fillmore's Family Dog Lightshow. We
did lightshows for Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and others at the Santa Barbara Earl
Warren Showgrounds and elsewhere. We did one outdoor concert for the Seeds. (Some pretty
cheesy stuff) The lightshow business ended when I had to go back to school to keep my
student deferment. (The Vietnam "police action" and civil war was hot and heavy
by then and many of my friends were opting for Canada and Hawaii in lieu of touring that
lovely country) I enrolled at Santa Barbara City College and did gardening work on the
side.
While hitchhiking in the Mountain Drive area of Santa Barbara in the summer of 1968, I met a Christian who explained to me just who Jesus really was when stripped of "Christianity" and organized religion. Like Roger McGuinn subsequently found out, (read his story here) its pretty tough to resist that attraction. That abruptly ended my psychedelic lifestyle and my chemically enhanced music career. Today I'm working on an original series of songs and instrumentals that showcase the chimey sounds of the Rickenbacker 12 string. I've recently been jamming with local musicians including Canned Heat's Fito de la Parra who lives a few doors away. Hopefully, if everything else settles down, I might just put a new band together and just maybe.......
Scrapbook Photos
Something Wild - '65
Left to Right: Bob Piers, Bill Evans, Bill Peckham, Kal-X-Blue & Joe Geppi
Left: Kal-X-Blue (Lead Singer) Right: Bill Evans (Lead Guitar) Earl Warren Showgrounds, 1966
Early Shot of a "Hustlers" Practice Session
Left to Right: Mickey Moshier, Tim Leach, Kal-X-Blue, Bill Evans & Joe Geppi
Something Wild posing with Peter & Gordon 1966, Santa Maria, California
Left to Right: Joe Geppi (Bass), Bill Evans (Lead Guitar), Billy Payne (Keyboards),
Peter & Gordon ("World Without Love") & Kal-X-Blue (Lead Singer)
Press Clipping July 19, 1966. Left to Right: Billy Payne, Bill Evans, "Red" Libben, Kal-X-Blue & Joe Geppi
Blow-up of Record Label
Sample Some Something Wild Wav Files
Click Here: "TRIPPIN' OUT"
Stars International Recording Studios - Hollywood 1966
 |
 |
 |
Recorded first record here: "She's Got a Hole in Her Soul" and "The Blues".
Left Photo: L-Bill Payne R- Kal-X-Blue, Middle: Bill Evans, Right Photo: L-Joe Geppi, M- Bill Evans R - Bill Payne
Something Wild - 1966
Left to Right: Bill Evans, Joe Geppi, Kal-X-Blue, Bill Payne & Bill "Rufus" Peckham
Righetti High School - Santa Maria, California
|
Email Addresses for: Bill Payne, Bill Evans & Tim Leach
35 Years Later
Left to Right: Joe Geppi, Bill Evans, Bill Payne & Tim Leach
Photo taken backstage at Little Feat's April 29th, 2001 concert at Pozo, California
Reunion jam session later
that night
at the Evans' basement in Nipomo
Left to Right: Bill Evans, Joe Geppi, Bill Payne & Tim Leach
Tim Leach & Bill Payne Rockin'
Side Projects.....
Reeder, a central coast band which played from '91 - '94
Left to Right: Rick Reeder (Bottom), Carole Reeder (Top), Bill Evans (Top) & John Stinson (Bottom)
Links To This Page on Garage/Psychedelic Sites:
Steve Coleman's Prepare to Enter the Garage, London, England
Cutie Morning Moon in Tokyo, Japan
Greg Shaw's Bomp Records "Homepages of Cool Bands" in Burbank, CA
Beverly Paterson's Twist and Shake Magazine in San Mateo, CA
Hits....
Any submissions to this page are welcome. If you have any photos
that should be here or anecdotal stuff, please send them my way!
Evans Family Home Page? Click Here.
Disclaimer: I do not now use, advocate or countenance the use of drugs of any sort or in any way. Whatever you read here regarding that is history and is only mentioned as a fact of our experience of those crazy times. God had mercy on me as He has had many times over. Some of my generation and closest friends didn't make it because of the wasting effect of this scourge on their bodies and minds.
