| »The CALIFORNIA Story (As told by Les Fradkin) | ||||||||||||||||
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The story of the Laurie Records group CALIFORNIA has seldom,
if ever been told. I was an original member and the only
constant throughout the group's history from 1973 thru 1985. The group was originally formed by myself, Barry Butler and George Cameron (drummer of The Left Banke). Barry & I would write together on our matching Rickenbacker 12 string guitars and stumbled on a sound that, in some respects, predated the Fleetwood Mac sound of 1975 and, in other respects, shared influences of The Left Banke and The Beach Boys. Because of that trait, I asked George Cameron to be our drummer and third harmony singer and he enthusiastically agreed. We wanted to do big harmony pop. Went looking for a record deal in 1973 and after recording some demos at A-1 studios in NYC, landed a contract with Laurie Records. Their offices were on West 46th St in Manhattan, NYC. During the course of the contract negotiations, Barry got quite upset. He left the band and quit the music business. But he helped form the sound we used. Steve Martin from The Left Banke came onboard to replace him. Bev Warren was added at Laurie VP Gene Schwartz's suggestion. The first release came out in 1973 and was "See You In September" b/w "Ivy, Ivy". The B-side, although the same title as the Left Banke tune was one of my originals. The group originally was myself, Steve Martin & George Cameron (from The Left Banke) and Beverly Warren (Female Vocalist). Mike Brown (composer of "Walk Away Renee") guested on these sides but was not a part of the group. That A-side had a "Let's Go To San Francisco" Flowerpot Men meets Motown meets Beach Boys feel. It ended up on a Laurie Compilation called Collector Records Of The 50's & 60's Vol. 14. "See You In September" b/w "Ivy, Ivy" Lineup: Les Fradkin - Lead Vocal, 12-string guitar, 6-string Bass, Background vocals (A & B) George Cameron - Drums, Background Vocals Steve Martin - Electric Guitar, Background vocals Mike Brown - Piano, Harpsichord Eliot Greenberg - Background Vocals and String Arrangements ("See You In September") Beverly Warren - Lead Vocal ("See You In September") "See You In September" got to #111 on the Billboard Charts if I recall correctly. The group played a couple of shows and opened for Dion in New Jersey once. Then, the group broke up temporarily. Nothing further on the group until 1976. Gene Schwartz had the idea to revive the group and record a cover of "Jeans On" which at that moment, was NOT out in the US. Although he knew it was a risk, he plowed ahead anyway and asked me to put a new group together under the California name. Since George & Steve were unavailable and the Beatlemania show was still just in rehearsal with no real clue as to destination or possible success, I invited the Beatlemania group to participate. This single was recorded at Electric Lady Studios and is the ONLY California record I produced without Gene & Eliot. I insisted on the artistic autonomy and was granted the chance. The record gets a Top 60 pick in Cash Box, Billboard & Record World. "Jeans On" b/w "Doo Wop Music" Lineup: Les Fradkin - Lead Vocal (Doo-Wop) Background Vocals, Moog and Bass Diana Haig - Background Vocals (Jeans On and Doo Wop Music) Joe Pecorino - Lead Vocal and Background Vocals (Jeans On) Mitch Weissman - Piano and Background Vocals (Jeans On) Justin McNeill - Drums (Jeans On and Doo Wop Music) FYI: This lineup was the ONLY appearance by the Original Cast Of Beatlemania on record OUTSIDE the context of the Broadway show. "Jeans On" was a cover of the David Dundas hit tune. We thought we could beat it out in the US. Not quite! "Doo Wop Music" was written by Diana & I. "Song Of A Thousand Voices" b/w "Abraham, Martin & John" Lineup: Recorded 1973 > Released 1976 Les Fradkin - Lead & Background Vocals, 12-String Gtr, Bass, Mellotron George Cameron - Drums, Vocals Steve Martin - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals Barry Butler - 12-String Guitar, Vocals "Song Of A Thousand Voices" (my song) had already been an international hit single for Mireille Mathieu and Roberto Jordan in French and Spanish language versions respectively. We thought it could hit in the US. Not quite! "Abraham, Martin & John" was among the demos that got me my Laurie deal along with "Where Have All The Heroes Gone." Just as a side note, Barry Butler co-wrote "Where Have All The Heroes Gone" and "Everything Is Gonna Be All Right" with me. Those two songs were also among the first California demos. "Heroes" was eventually sung by my friend Tom Selden. I released "Everything" as the closing track on my solo "Jangleholic" CD in 2006. "I'm Just Thinking Of You" Lineup: Les Fradkin - Lead & Background Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Mellotron Drum Programming Diana Haig - Background Vocals JoAnne Calabrese - Lead & Background Vocals This was a song that Joanne Calabrese wrote that I liked. It reminded me of Spanky & Our Gang as JoAnne had that same sort of vocal timbre. It didn't chart, unfortunately. On to 1981: I returned to Laurie Records as a producer/artist after Beatlemania closed at the end of 1979. Gene & Bob Schwartz wanted to revive the group with a Stars on 45 type release. I suggested a Beach Boys type record and they said OK if I could find the right guys. I went searching in the Village Voice under the guise of "auditioning" for a band that was advertising. That was Tony Pernice and Richie Tuske. Their ad read: "Wally Bryson, where are you?" That, I thought, would be me. Needless to say, it was a great match up. I brought the guys to the attention of Laurie Records and we got working on the medley. As you can hear, it turned out to be a pretty exciting record. It took 100 hours to record and mix at Minot Studios in White Plains, New York. Gene & Eliot co produced but my production direction held sway throughout. Tony, Richie & I arranged the vocals. I arranged the track with Gene. By that time, all tunes that California recorded were arranged t my home studio before going up to Minot to record final takes. This gave us a very clear idea of what to expect in the studio when the clock was running. Things evolved from there as the record took off fairly quickly across the country on radio. It swept to #1 in several markets and, as you may know, Dick Clark gave it an airing on American Bandstand. There was even a story in Billboard about it. We were booked to open for Todd Rundgren & Utopia at The Last Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY. That was a pretty cool show. I played a Rickenbacker doubleneck at that time. In fact, the whole band used Ricks and matching Vox Amps. JP Patterson played drums with our live shows as Bob Miller had other work as the drummer of The Metro Men who recorded for Genra Raven's Polish Records label. "Summer Fun Medley" Lineup: Les Fradkin - Lead & Background Vocals, Lead Guitar, Keys Tony Pernice - Lead & Background Vocals, Bass Richie Tuske - Lead & Background Vocals, Rhythm Guitar Bob Miller - Drums The group had several more lineup changes and had run it's course by 1983 but Gene & I revived the name for the 1985 album "Electric Swing" which was the first Guitar Synthesizer album ever made and a very early MIDI programming miracle for those days. An interesting cross of pop, rock and big band arrangements were the chief highlight of that release. At that point, the book closed on California. "Little Brown Jug" b/w "String Of Pearls" Lineup: Les Fradkin - Guitar Synthesizer and all other instruments. (This was the FIRST Guitar Synthesizer album EVER made.) One of these days, EMI (who owns it all) will do a compilation, I hope. And when they do, I'll remaster it if they're interested.
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