Beginnings of the Bad Seeds – The Teddy Boys
Between 1963 and 1968, influenced by surf music and the Beatles, thousands of young people formed bands across the United States and Canada. Northern Kentucky, a region on the southern banks of the Ohio River across from Cincinnati, Ohio, was no different – it was a hotbed of musical activity. In 1965, a group of teen musicians from this area formed a band called the Teddy Boys. The Teddy Boys consisted of Charlie Brown on drums, Mike Wilshire on guitar, Jerry Foster on guitar, and John Reynolds on bass.
They recorded four songs at Bobby Bobo’s recording studio in Union, Kentucky, later called Boone Records. These remained unreleased.
- “Without Your Love” written by Jerry Foster
- “Why Can’t I Be Like You” written by Jerry Foster
- “They’ve Got Me Down” written by Mike Wilshire
- “All Because of You” written by Jerry Foster
Some time later, Mike Wilshire left the band to pursue other projects. The band graduated from playing sock hops to playing four nights a week at the Swing Bar on Vine St. in Cincinnati, with Lloyd McGlasson as the new guitar player. The Swing Bar was the only bar booking rock music and featuring go-go dancers on a street lined with country music bars. It was not a safe place for long haired rockers – the band had to fight their way out more than once.
The Bad Seeds
In 1966, the Teddy Boys had secured a spot at the Whiskey A Go Go on Walnut St. in Cincinnati as one of the two house bands. One evening, Vickie Spencer came to hear the band. Vickie was a singer and actress who came from a show business family. She was putting together her own band. She liked what she heard and asked the band if they would like to go on the road with her. The group jumped at the chance to get out of Cincinnati and see if they could they could make it big.
When the group got to New York, they changed their name to the Bad Seeds. The personnel consisted of Charlie Brown then later Ernie Banks on drums, Lloyd McGlasson on 12 string guitar, Jerry Foster on guitar, and John Reynolds on bass. Eventually, Charlie had to drop out because he was still in school and couldn’t play music full time.
The band wanted to do some song demos to present to record companies. A friend recommended a studio in Long Island, New York. It turned out to be Phil Spector‘s studio, located in the basement of his home. Phil Spector was a renowned record producer who had worked with groups such as the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers, and Ike and Tina Turner.
The session produced four songs:
- “King of the Soap Box” written by John Reynolds
- “She’s Not Going Anywhere” written by John Reynolds
- “He’s Lying” written by Jerry Foster
- “Why Can’t I Be Like You” written by Jerry Foster
This version of “King of the Soapbox” contained an extra verse not present on their subsequent single.
The band had compiled a list of record companies they wanted to contact. The first on the list was Columbia Records. With help from the band’s manager, they secured a meeting with Robert Mersey, Columbia’s house producer and arranger, who had worked with artists like Leiber and Stoller, Bobby Vinton, Dion, Aretha Franklin, Andy Williams and Barbara Streisand. They presented their demos, which Mersey proceeded to play on a variety of speakers, emulating the sound from small car speakers to larger home systems. Mersey said he liked the demos and signed them on the spot.
Two recordings were done at Columbia’s famed 30th Street Studio in Manhattan, New York City. The studio was a gigantic room housed in a converted church and is widely considered to be the best sounding recording studio of its day, if not of all time.
Lloyd McGlasson on 12 string guitar, Ernie Banks on drums, Jerry Foster on guitar and John Reynolds on bass performed on “King of the Soapbox” and “He’s Lying”. Vickie Spencer performed background vocals. These versions were released as a single (Columbia 4-43670) with “King of the Soap Box” as the A-side, and “He’s Lying” as the B-side. The session was produced by Robert Mersey.
The single was promoted in trade magazines such as Cashbox and Billboard and had radio airplay.
The band toured the East Coast to promote the single, playing college mixers and clubs. Sometimes they opened for other groups, such as the Shades of Blue, a blue-eyed soul vocal group, and the pop group, Jay and the Americans. Other times, groups such as the rock band the Beau Brummels, opened for the Bad Seeds. They also worked many times with the Vagrants, an R&B/Blue-eyed soul rock band with a Hammond B3 organ blazing in the background and vocal harmonies. The very talented Leslie West was the guitar player. West would later go on to form the group he’s most well known for, Mountain.
About six months after the King of the Soapbox was released, Donald Hodges replaced Lloyd McGlasson on 12 string guitar. An album was produced but was not released.
Unfortunately, after 18 months had passed, it became evident that Columbia was not putting as much effort into promoting and supporting the Bad Seeds as some of its other groups, such as the Byrds. According to Tommy James in his book, “Me, the Mob and the Music”, this was a typical practice for record companies of that time.
Eventually, the band members, disillusioned with the music business, came back home to Northern Kentucky, and disbanded.
Epilogue
After the Bad Seeds, John Reynolds was playing with a band called the Matadors.
In the later 60s or early 70s, they recorded two tunes at the renowned King Records studio in Cincinnati, OH. King was known for its early R&B and country records, racially integrated staff before it was common, and a complete in-house production line from a recording studio to finished vinyl records. The studio was run for decades by the pugnacious Syd Nathan, although he was probably deceased by the time these songs were recorded.
The songs recorded there were “Voice of the Lonely People”, and an interesting variation of “King of the Soapbox” beginning and ending with a bagpipe tune. Both songs were written by John Reynolds.
While originally unreleased, in 2004, the songs appeared on a Saxony Vaults compilation under the name the Teddy Boys.
Sometime in the 1970s, two songs written by John Reynolds in the 1960s were recorded at Rusty York’s Jewel Records studio in Cincinnati, Ohio with his band at the time, Ezra. The personnel were John Reynolds, Denny Davis, Steve Maloney, and Frank Smith. The songs were “Charlie Two Moons” and “Lonely People” (a different song from “Voice of the Lonely People”).
In 1983, “King of the Soap Box” was released in Germany on a Line Records vinyl compilation of 60s folk rock, garage rock and psychedelic rock called Mindrocker, Volume 7.
In 1984, a UK Group called the Blue Aeroplanes covered “King of the Soapbox”. The song was also covered by the German surf group, the Muffin Mates.
In 2008 Columbia re-mastered and re-released “King of the Soap Box” on a CD box set compilation version of the Mindrocker series, disc 7.
Reunion Concert
In 2000, several of the original Bad Seeds members reunited for a performance at London Hall at the Drawbridge Inn, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. The group consisted of Tom Moeller on guitar, Lloyd McGlasson on 12 string guitar, Jerry Foster on guitar, Gary Spaulding on drums, and John Reynolds on bass. Songs performed include “King of the Soap Box” and “She’s Not Going Anywhere”.
Awards
In 2017, the Bad Seeds were inducted into the Northern Kentucky Music Legends Hall of Fame for their contribution to music.