Family Rock Band
Here's a fun group of slide scans, undated, but I am assuming that they are from the mid-to-late1960s. Maybe you'll spot a clue that will help to narrow things down! The photos feature a groovy musical act that seems to be made up of a mother and a bunch of kids, a lá The Cowsills (or the Partridge Family).
The ladies are featured in this photo (though little brother is rockin' the banjo). Those harvest gold dresses are interesting, probably home-made using a McCall's pattern or something similar. And how about those go-go boots! I'm assuming that the older woman is the mom, but she still looks awfully young to have so many kids. Maybe she's the oldest sister?
There's Julia again, blown out by the nuclear flash. I assume that she is playing a bass guitar? Like so many starting bands, this family probably played a lot of bingo halls and churches.
This velour-clad boy is named "Jamie", and he is loving being in the spotlight. Did this band write their own songs? Did they sing the hits of the day, like the bands at Disneyland did? I wish I had more information!
36 comments:
Major-
Ahhh - bingo night. I'm so sorry we've missed it-! Behind Julia and Jamie is a Hammond Leslie Tone Cabinet. Somewhere, there's a Hammond Organ lurking-about. We've seen several over the years on the Tomorrowland Stage.
Looks like a 'heat sensor' behind, and to (our) left of Jamie's head. And for real craziness - that pair of gray rectangles, with black knobs just behind "Mom's" head are actually Luxtrol, manually-operated auto transformer light dimmers - apparently the 1800-watt size. Fancy.
Thanks, Major.
In the 2nd pic, "Julia" looks a lot like Haley Mills in The Parent Trap. Let's get together, yeah, yeah, yeah!"
In the 3rd pic, despite my name being on the drum set, I've never had a drum set. Is that the brand name of the drums, or the name of the band?
I tried to read the brand name on that pre-amp (or whatever it is that everything is plugged in to), but no luck; it's kinda blurry.
Like you said, Major, these are sometime in the '60s. My blue-sky guess would be 1966. But who knows?
Nanook, HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT!! Thanks for nerding out with the technical stuff.
Thanks for this 'anything goes' Saturday, Major. Sorry I couldn't help solve the mystery of who, where, and when this was.
When I was little I wanted to play the banjo. But my parents said I could only play a instrument that was being taught at my jr. High school .... and in 1980 ... banjo was NOT being taught. I used to take tennis racquets and pretend I was playing the banjo .... this would annoy my sister because as siblings do , they argue and fight ... my sister would say “ you know just because you can do that on a tennis racquet doesn’t mean you could really play a banjo!” And just to be an annoying brother I INSISTED that I totally could play a REAL banjo BECAUSE I can pretend to play on a tennis racquet . ..... “ mom.... Mike’s lying saying he knows how to play the banjo again!!.....”
this really happened.
Is it me or do the instruments look to big for these people? I wouldn’t know : I can only play a tennis racquet.
Does anyone remember the “Prairie Family” at Disneyland in the 1990’s?? They were guests who dressed their daughters in three pastel colored ... prairie dresses complete with bonnets. They also all brought their fiddles and would play for guests!!!! The park management eventually had to stop them from wearing the dresses because they made guests think they were a Official Entertainment. But they were still allowed to bring and play their fiddles!!?!?! The parents did not bid the fact they were trying to marry off their daughters ( I swear I am not making this up) and eventually began kinda harassing male Disneyland cast members they thought were potential son in laws..... some cast members were becoming so annoyed Disneyland supposedly banded the family and their fiddles from coming into the park.
Correction : three pastel dresses = these pastel dresses . There were actually 5 daughters I recall.
Mike, by now you must be a pro at playing the tennis racket!
Soooo, the "Prairie Family" just showed up one day and started playing somewhere in Disneyland?... Crazy. I would guess somewhere in Frontierland. Did they call themselves the Prairie Family, or is that what the annoyed CMs called them?
@ JB-
It's easy: Experience-!
Hey, it's "The One And Only, Genuine, Original Family Rock Band!" The young girl in the first two pics is Goldie Hawn, as "Giggly Girl." The little boy with the banjo is Kurt Russell, as "Sidney Bower." He can't stop looking over at Goldie. But what he really wants to do is ditch that banjo, grab the microphone, and start singing "Sugar, Sugar."
Mike, that story is disturbing! So management had a problem with their "costumes," but allowed them to keep bringing their instruments into the park and perform for the guests? Maybe Paul Presler "liked" them.
Yes; my Banjos of choice are the Willson Kramer and the larger drummed Prince Pro.
..... I remember seeing the prairie family ( a name given to them by Disneyland CMs) mostly in the evenings. I distinctly recall them in the walkways between the Plaza Pavilion and Adventureland and the hub. And once during the day on a weekend near the popcorn wagon closest to the Mark Twain landing .... and the only time I think I ever saw them in the bonnets. Also the girls - the ones of age - were not bad looking .... but very plain .... I think this had something to do with their religion. The parents wore clothing typical of the times ( the 1990’s) and nothing that resemble their “costumes” I recall some friends of mine who worked at Disneyanna had heard the girls telling some guests once that they made the dresses themselves.
I was always surprised that Disneyland let them bring musical instruments into the park.
And now I want to know exactly how that pink Hula Hoop was used in the act.
Also, the dresses they wore were technically not costumes ... just long plain dresses in pastel colors - all with the same look giving the impression of a groups costumes. But with the bonnets, very prairie. It’s possible the bonnets we’re purchased at the park as during this time those kinds of things could still be purchased there.
Mike, say.....did one of the girls have large blond curls, and answer to the name, "Nellie?" ;-)
TOKYOMAGIC: they were definitely not that fancy. I’d say they hair was more like Tuesday’s from the Adam’s Family comics...,
One of the many many huge gaps in my knowledge and skills is anything having to do with music or musical instruments. I can’t play anything and rock & roll might as well be Sanskrit.
My tastes run to Mitch Miller, Lawrence Welk and Norman Luboff, with a little HeeHaw mixed in. Sorry, but I can’t help it.
These are awful photos technically, but everyone seems to be having a good time, and so they are redeemed. Major, I agree the young lady is more “older sister” than Mom. Thanks for the look back.
Mike Cozart, that’s a weird and funny story about the Prairie Family. I wouldn’t believe it if I heard it anywhere else. Now I’m imagining you playing backup for them on a tennis racket and Paul Presler clapping time in the background.
JG
(Hey gang. I haven't commented much lately but I still pop in everyday reading and enjoying everyone's posts. Keep 'em coming.)
Sharp eye Major, it IS a bass guitar :)
It looks like "Vargas" on the headstock but I've never heard of that make. Can't find a photo either. Can any other low-enders ID it?
Bass-girl is using a classic B-15 bass amp. A standard studio amp for decades. Note the short scale acoustic bass behind her. She has all the sounds covered.
I think the photos are from two different gigs. Blue drums in two and gold in one. Perhaps the bingo parlor was a regular gig. I guess "Bingo Parlor House Band" looks good on a family-band resume. LOL
I love banjo-kid. It's a huge one for him but I guess he'll grow into it.
My band tried using a banjo... once... on a surf song!?! Interesting but quickly abandoned.
Old musician joke: They arrested the accordion player but the banjo player got away.
Thanks for the pics Major.
JG- I can identify with you on the musical ability subject- I enjoy music very much, but I can only play 2 things, the radio & the stereo...
MIKE COZART- You're off by one day, that should be Wednesday from the Adams (Addams) family...
Major- Interesting pictures today- too bad we don't know more of the background information.
-DW
Hey, in the first photo, down in front! Hmm, I don't think brown and yellow is a good color combo for band outfits. Is it some party/celebration? -- notice the gold and pink bow garland at the top of the stage -- or maybe it's always a festive time when playing Bingo. I see Mom/Sis's purse on the floor next to an amp. I wish I could hear their song, especially with a banjo! Thanks Major.
Major-
When you first said a musical family, I was hoping it might be The “Primo’s”. Yes, a real musical family that appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, in the late 1960’s
Oh how I wish these pictures also came with sound. That would be such a hoot. Looking at Jamie, I'm reminded how proud I was to get my bell-bottom cords and wide belt...with a similar sized belt buckle. A popular mode of dress for us "young bucks" in High School looking to impress the girls. Having Mike Nesmith of the Monkees pictured as such didn't hurt either. That would have been in the '65-'67 era. KS
Nanook, "It's easy: Experience-!" [mic drop] OK Mr. Experience, what was the make and model of the mic that just got dropped? ;-)
Tokyo!, you left out E.J. Peaker as "roaming hostess". Huh, I didn't even notice the Hula Hoop. I probably saw it subliminally, couldn't make sense of it, and promptly forgot about it.
Mike, thanks for the extra info on the 'prairie family'. Still crazy.
Tokyo!, and two of the other sisters were Mary and Laura, whom their dad called "half-pint".
Grant, nice to see you commenting! And um... I don't get the joke. 8-\ Unless, "away" (or "got away") is some sort of banjo terminology?
Wow, what a day to log in late. I looked and looked online and could't find that headstock logo. Ok, my take on the bass. In the late 60s to early 70s there was a flood of inexpensive instruments imported from Japan. They had differing names, but most came out of just a few factories. My first bass, a "Kingston" was one. Now the kicker- my Kingston has the same tuning pegs as this girl's bass. I suspect they are somehow related, but with different brand names.
By the way, the reason I'm late is that I was getting stuff done because I'm playing tonight. FYI, Im using a Hofner 500/7 Verythin through an SWR Silverado special ;-)
@ JB-
I said I had 'experience', not 'clairvoyance'. (If only-!)
JB, the "joke" is a jab at banjo players, or accordion players by reversing who got away. Not that there aren't a few bass player "jokes" out there too. LOL
Stu, I figured you would do some research too. I'm thinking a 60s/70s Japanese bass as well.
Your Hofner is a very cool bass. I love hollow bodies. My bass of choice the last few years is a white Epiphone Jack Casady.
The SWR Silverado is a great amp. 500 watt 2x12, correct? Love SWRs!
Have a fun gig tonight!!
Major-
Ah, finally... HERE IS AN IMAGE of the Primo Family. Only missing is 'the Dad', who accompanied "Junior", on the electric guitar as he sang [about as poorly as Mark Lester did,] Where is Love? from "Oliver!" The family also sang I Dig Rock N' Roll Music and The Fool On the Hill.
(Just imagine this 1970 image in color).
Thanks!
That Epi is a killer bass, good choice.
Yep on all counts on the amp (plus a pizo).
Thanks again! We always have fun!
Bingo Boards, dangling curtains, and Prairie People. I can almost hear "Love American Style" being played. Back up the bus Mrs. Partridge, those boots rock! David Cassidy is rocking out...clearly enjoying every moment. Perhaps it's not David, maybe Danny. I have random connections to the Partridge Family, but for another time. After annual passes started at the Park, there were many "Prairie People" types, perhaps not the bonnet wearing or instrument toting, but bizarro all the same. We were "where are these people coming from?!" If anyone has a link to photos of these Prairie Peeps, I would love to see them. Maybe I did have some contact (?) I do remember that type of guest. Long dresses and bonnets. These photos are kind of brilliant actually. I think it was a good choice to not close those draperies completely so the bingo board could be seen. There is a screenplay here somewhere!
Nanook, clairvoyance probably wouldn't help anyway since the mic was imaginary.
Grant, Oh, OK. Now I get it. The lesser of two evils, so to speak.
Bu, I'll be waiting with bated breath to hear your Partridge Family connection, when that day comes. Let us know the day before so I can pop some popcorn.
It sounds like the Prairie People could have been a family of Mennonites. The womenfolk wear long dresses and a small type of white bonnet. I've seen some in the grocery store where I shop. (They weren't for sale, they were shoppers like myself. The menfolk dress normally.
It should come as a surprise to none of the Junior Gorillas that my sister and I had several sets of matching prairie dresses and bonnets over the years. Usually when we outgrew them, mom would cut the bodices off and make them into prairie skirts. I wish I’d made more of an effort to save at least one if the bonnets; would’ve made a nice keepsake.
It may just be the cut of the dresses, but it looks like Mom might be expecting a new little tambourine player there. Absolutely love how much fun Jamie is having; he must be the Keith Partridge of the family.
The band is Little Red and the Rocking Hoods.
They had one single "Rock Pebbles Rock" which you can hear on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZxC6rn6x38
One of the sons, Wayne McGee has posted 8mm films of the band on youtube and has a website with their history.
Wow!!!! LITTLE RED AND THE ROCKING HOODS are actually famous!! I have to admit I didn’t see that coming. I watched their vintage videos and their recent performances.... I never saw that coming either ... that the band in these images would still be active!!!! They are kinda a discount KING FAMILY.
How cool is that! (Melissa, there IS a little tambourine player!)
Hey guys, sorry, I was gone all day, only getting home at around 9:00. Now I am going to respond to 29 comments, holy moly!
Nanook, I need to watch a YouTube video on how those Leslie speakers operated. They rotated, yes? Crazy, man, crazy. Yes, that is a heat sensor, because the singers are robots, and they need to know when a warm-blooded hu-man is near so that they can eat them.
JB, I thought of Haley Mills shredding on her guitar when I saw that girl with her bass. I just assumed that you owned those drums, that’s the only explanation that makes any sense. And yes, I am sorry that these photos are not better, but I still thought that they had some entertainment value in spite of the poor quality. Nanook knows ALL!
Mike Cozart, hey, you could have taught yourself to play the banjo like Steve Martin did (supposedly by slowing down records and plucking out one note at a time, it sounds excruciating)! My mom and dad both played ukuleles, and my mom used to play acoustic guitar, and yet they never taught their kids to play either of them, which is a bummer. Maybe they knew that we were too lame. I don’t remember the “Prairie Family”, and am quite sure I have never even heard of them. And from the 1990s? How odd. It sounds like some weird cult thing, a classic “honey pot” situation. BUT TO WHAT END?
Mike Cozart, hey, you could do worse than marrying a prairie gal, I guess.
JB, I never made it past a badminton racket, I am so ashamed.
Nanook, never mind your positronic brain.
TokyoMagic!, I’m sure these kids rocked way too hard for me. If a song mentions kissing, I get too embarrassed. I thought that “Jamie” reminded me a bit of Kurt Russell, or am I crazy? Hey, I like the song, “Sugar, Sugar”! I agree, Mike’s story is really weird.
Mike Cozart, ha ha, spoken like a true tennis fan. So if they weren’t really called the Prairie Family, what WERE they called? I need to know! The whole thing about them trying to marry off the daughters would almost be funny if it wasn’t so creepy. “We need some new blood in the Prairie Family!”. Ugh, I’m sorry I even said that.
TokyoMagic!, the mind reels.
Mike Cozart, I honestly wonder if that family belonged to some cult! “Let’s go play at Disneyland, paw! They’ll just assume that we were hired by management!”.
TokyoMagic!, ha ha!
Mike Cozart, you mean Wednesday Addams!! Wednesday’s child is full of woe. I loved Christina Ricci’s take on Wednesday.
JG, I took piano lessons for years, but I was never any good at all, and now I have forgotten anything that I ever learned. Like I said, my mom and dad were both musical, and they liked to play their ukes at night after we went to bed, they’d sing songs like “Sweet Gypsy Rose”. Why didn’t they try to teach us something fun? My poor piano teacher, it must have been torture for her.
Grant, I’m glad you keep checking in! I sure don’t know anything about guitars, vintage or otherwise, though I do sometimes like to watch people restore them on YouTube. I don’t know, it’s just cool to see something that is falling apart, and then see it gradually being brought back to its original glory. Oh, good eye on the different drum kits. Like you said, they must have played that venue all the time. Hey, banjos can sound cool, Beck has used them in some of his songs to good effect.
DW, I’m sure that a musician can appreciate music on a deeper level than a non-musician, but music can move us a lot, anyway. There’s just something about it! I agree, I wish I knew more about this group, but that’s part of the deal with old slides. You get no context.
Kathy! I can’t say that I disagree, brown and yellow (let’s call it “gold”) isn’t great, but then again, they might have been totally in style for that time period.
Nanook, The Primos?? That’s new to me! I wonder if I ever actually watched The Ed Sullivan Show in my lifetime. I don’t remember it, but then again I would have been very young… it ended when I was 9.
KS, who knows, we might be LUCKY that there is no sound with these photos! It could sound like cats caterwauling at night. I remember having some velour shirts when I was around 7 or 8, at the time they were among my favorites, probably because they seemed fancy. To me, anyway!
JB, the Jimi Hendrix Experience?? Oh E.J. Peaker, if only I could have been your boyfriend.
stu29573, I just assumed that there were probably lots of brands of guitars that were not as famous as Gibson or Fender, or even Kay. I don’t know if I’ve heard of “Kingston”. Maybe the guitar was sold at a department store that had its own brand. Whoa, what kind of songs did you play tonight? “Anarchy in the UK”?
Nanook, ever since you had the Spice, you’ve been able to see the future.
Grant, musicians love to talk shop! ;-) Hey, I would too if I could. I could play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on the recorder though, they still talk about it at Carnegie Hall.
Nanook, I guess I need to look for film of the Primo Family. Was their last name actually “Primo”, or were they telling us that they were among the best??
stu29573, I prefer a Yogi Bear guitar with nylon strings.
Bu, I guess the idea of a “family rock band” really reached some sort of pinnacle around that time. I liked the Cowsills a lot, though I did think it was weird that they had their mom in their band, they would have been perfectly good without her. As for Shirley Jones in The Partridge Family, I had a crush on her even at my young age. There were hippies that adopted the prairie look, but you’d think that by the 1990s that craze would have long died out. I can’t recall anybody in ANY of my photos looking like they stepped out of a sod hut.
JB, yes, what in the world could the Partridge Family connection be? Did he know Danny Bonaduce? Did he date Susan Dey? Yes, the Prairie family sound vaguely Mennonite, I used to see Mennonites in Minnesota, it was always a slightly odd experience.
Melissa, you actually had bonnets? Other than the previously-mentioned Mennonites, and maybe some Amish women in Lancaster County (PA), I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody wearing a bonnet out in the wild! I hope it doesn’t sound like I am making fun of you, because I’m not, it’s just something that is interesting! I agree, that one dress does have that “maternity” look to it.
Anonymous, HOLY COW! How in the world did you know who they are? THANK YOU, that’s incredible! I definitely see the little girl on bass in some of the online photos, Too bad “Red” herself doesn’t show up in any of these. Again, thanks so much, I really would like to know how you identified them!
Mike Cozart, one article says that they hated being called the “Carolina Cowsills”, I wonder how they would have felt about being compared to the King Family?
Lou and Sue, you aren’t kidding, this really is incredible.
Looking again, I think we DO see a little bit of "Red" in the first photo!
Major, I like the song, "Sugar, Sugar," too! Really!
Thanks to "Anonymous," I found this video on YouTube, and at the 2:00 mark, it shows a photo of the family in these same costumes, performing in the same room, with the same "Bingo" sign behind them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hGqaDTSLH4
TokyoMagic!, amazing!
We only wore the bonnets at Easter.
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