Five Bucks, Four Shades, and Five Peaks

 The Four Shades

Clockwise from top:  Gerald Gantt, Robert Stallworth

Casey Hynes, and Joel Scherzer

 Interview with Robert Stallworth and Joel Scherzer conducted January-March 2012.

Last year I received a cryptic e-mail from a record collector who told me about a doo-wop single recorded in Colorado, or one that had ties with someone in Colorado. The single, "Alone and Blue," by The Five Bucks, blew me away. In all of my years of collecting, I had never heard the single. But what caught me as odd was while the sound was something straight out of the 1950s, the actual single appeared to be, at least, issued in the 1970s.

I tried every possible avenue to locate information on the group. Who were these guys? Why was there absolutely no information on this record?

So, after almost a year of searching, I contacted my dear friend, and fellow Colorado record collector, Joel Scherzer.

"Yeah, I know about the Five Bucks," he told me. "I put out that record."

Well how about that...

In the mid 1970s, Joel and fellow music lover, Robert Stallworth, who was attending medical school in Boulder,  teamed up with Casey Hynes, a professor at CU-Boulder, and fellow student Gerald Gantt, to occasionally sing doo-wop tunes--a genre they all loved. They soon decided to form their own group, the Four Shades, and start up their own label, Race Records.

The first release from the group was "Yes Sir! That's My Baby," and the b-side, "Stormy Weather" (Race 1000).

Listen to a sample

Looking for additional material to release on their new label, Scherzer looked to Stallworth's extensive record collection--and several acetates of unused material from R&B groups, whose real names are lost to posterity.

"While looking for old records in Gary, Indiana in the 1970s, I came upon three acetates, possibly recorded in the 1950s, of unknown and unnamed singing groups," said Stallworth. "The songs were "I Got Goofed," "Just Rhymes," and "My Mama Done Told Me." When we were putting together our label, we decided to release these, and give the group the name of The Five Bucks."

"I Got Goofed" and the flip "Just Rhymes" was the second release for the label (Race 1001).

Listen to sample

Needing a fourth song to put out a third single, the duo used a 1971 recording Stallworth had made while a student at Millikin University.

"We never performed anywhere, we just sang together for fun. I had a radio program, and a crude way of recording at the station. So one night I asked the guys to come up and sing a song. We decided to do our version of the Delacardos, "Got No One."

Listen to a sample

Along with Stallworth, the members of the group were lead singer Gregory Purvis, Nelson Harvey, Ronald Thompson, and Charles Fields.

"After the recording, I decided to add a sixth voice," Stallworth said. "I added a falsetto tenor top to the background."

The song was renamed "Alone and Blue," and was the b-side to "My Mama Done Told Me" (Race 1002).

 The Four Shades would record just one more single, "Let It Please Be You"/"I Thought You'd Care" (Race 1003--red vinyl).

The group eventually broke-up, after Gantt headed off to graduate school, and the other members pursued other interests.

 In 1987, Stallworth and Scherzer teamed up again to release "Sittin' on the Porch"/"Hair-Net" (Jay-R 100). The record was credited as the 5 Peaks.

"I only minimally knew Maurice Simpkins at the time of the Race releases.  I was in Colorado and Maurice was in Chicago," Stallworth said.  "I did not really reconnect with Maurice until after I moved back to Illinois, which was in 1982.  Maurice and I were friends again by 1983.  One day while I was at this apartment, I noticed an acetate on the floor behind his living room couch.  It was "Sittin' On The Porch" as done by Maurice and his group, The Five Chimes.

"I asked Maurice if he could get some of his singing friends to record two songs and I would have them pressed up.  I asked Maurice if he could re-do "Sittin On The Porch" and he agreed, since it was a song which he already knew."

 "Sittin' on the Porch" was a departure for us in that the recording included instrumental accompaniment.  Robert sang lead and overdubbed the bass part.  I didn't sing on this one, but I came up with the name and design of the label, the name of the group, and also helped with the distribution," said Scherzer. "It got airplay on various radio stations around the country, most notably WCBS-FM in New York."

The song was released on the Jay-R label (JR 1000), and was later included in the Heavy on Doo-Wop CD series.  

 Listen to a sample

Joel Scherzer lives in Pueblo and runs a successful online used record operation. Robert Stallworth is now retired in Nevada, after a career in medicine. Casey Hynes divides his time between Colorado and Paris, France. Gerald Gantt's whereabouts are unknown.

Creighton Jazz Ensemble

Side One:
Spotlighter
Windsong
Getting Straight
Can't Take My Eyes Off of You
The Stripper
Close to You
Totem Pole
Spelunker's Folly

Side Two:
Black Magic Woman
The Swizzler
Suburban Soul
The Way You Look Tonight
Funky Turtle
Mantilla Lace
Easy Mover

Received this album from Dave Ray, owner of Beat Pharm, the uber-cool record store, located on Union Avenue, by the library, in Pueblo. Could spend all day in there.

Dated 1972, and under the direction of R.L. Bollig, the 32 member Creighton Jr. High Jazz Ensemble of Lakewood (saxophone, flute, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass, and drums) sounds more like a junior high assembly stage band, than an actual jazz group, but I won't judge the kids too harshly.

I usually don't go for school band things, but this one intrigued me, if only for the fact that the kiddos do an spirited version of "Black Magic Woman."

The album appears on the IM record label of Denver (IM-10641-1972). A quick search of the address finds that it's now home to an insurance company.

1863 S. Pearl - former home of IM Records

By the way...I grew up attending what was then called junior high school, so I'm not sure when they became "middle schools," or when they decided to go up to ninth grade in some parts of the country. Back in my day, ninth grade was high school, but I digress.

Evangelist Elma and the Children of Truth

Side One:
Get Ready
Fill My Cup
I Can't Help But Serve the Lord
O Happy Day
Sweet Sweet Spirit

Side Two:
Swing Down Sweet Chariot
God is So Real
Sermonette
Get Ready

I'm a sucker for gospel albums. While I haven't been a church-goer in decades, I nonetheless understand the heart and soul that goes into these records. That, and the fact that they're the most overlooked, and plentiful pieces of vinyl at most thrift stores will make the genre one I probably post more than occasionally on here.

The local gospel LPs I usually find are fairly generic, with Osmond-looking families, posed in matching clothes, and a matriarch in a gravity-defying beehive. As I almost always bring my portable turntable when I hunt for vinyl, it becomes apparent rather quickly that most of these albums will have sanitized songs, and really nothing worthy to write about.


Elma Howze began her preaching career in 1950. The first House of Prayer started in her living room in Colorado Springs, in 1974. It soon moved to 203 E. Bijou (the current location of the YMCA, and across the street from the First Presbyterian Church), and later located to 324 N. Wahsatch.

God Is So Real was pressed on the prolific Colorado Springs-based John Law Enterprises record label (4105N10--no year), which was known for releasing numerous local Christian recordings throughout the 1970s. Since the songs were recorded at the church, the production is pretty dismal, and obviously best experienced live.

Michael Harp is the stand out performer, as the lead tenor in the Children of Truth. He's backed by Denise Waldon, lead soprano; Eddie Philon, barritone; Deborah Vaughn, 1st alto; Metta Huff, 2nd alto, and Demitta Clausell, 2nd soprano. Musicians include Fred Huff, drummer (and album producer); Beverly Harp, piano; David Vaughn, lead guitar, and Paul Jackson, bass.

Elma Howze left Colorado Springs in 2001 to form the House of Prayer in Mcintosh, Alabama.

Mozart Festival 1972

 Johann Friedrich Reichart - Te Deum

Mozart Festival 1972

PSO 8125 (no label name)

Pueblo, Colorado

Side One:
Overture and "Te Deum Landamus"
Terzetto: "Te ergo quaesummus"
"Salvum Fac Populum Tuum"

Side Two:
"Dignare Domine"
In te Domine speravi"
March from The Magic Flute
Chorale and Fuge

Performed on January 23, 1972, Memorial Hall, Pueblo.

Listen to a sample of "Te ergo quaesumus"   Lori Von Gundy - soprano
Charlene Vecchio - mezzo soprano
Kathie Marcum - alto
John Pinner - tenor
Jerry Matthew - bass

Gerhard Track and Sid Rosen - conductors

The festival, which was started in Pueblo in 1971 by former Pueblo Symphony director Gerhard Track, returned the following year with a performance of "Te Deum," by Johann Friedrich Reichart (1752-1814).

The concert featured a 300 voice choir, made up of high school students from Crowley (Ordway), Fountain, Lamar, Las Animas, Lake County (Leadville), La Junta and Rye.  The Pueblo Youth Symphony accompanied the performance.

Trikk/Trick

Trikk (1988)
Clockwise from top: Patrick Smith, Donte' Smith,
Al Martinez, Mark Martinez

Al Martinez interview conducted March 2012.

In 1988 Al Martinez’s life changed forever when he received a phone call from a radio station deejay in Pueblo.

“Magic FM disc jockey JJ Valentine played a record we made, and he said the phones lit up,” he said.

That record was actually a cassette demo of “Tonight You’re Mine,” a song he and childhood friend Patrick Smith put together with Patrick’s brother Donte', and Al’s brother, Mark. The group sent out the demos to local stations in hopes of getting airplay.

Calling themselves Trick (Patrick’s nickname), the Colorado Springs-based group, which formed just a year earlier, quickly released “Tonight You’re Mine” as a 12” single (Upward Thrust - Trick01 - 1987). The disc was recorded at Startsong Studios, in The Springs, and produced Rich Mouser.

“We shot the cover of the single out at Prospect Lake. The original picture had us standing on the ice in the middle of the lake, but the shot really didn’t work. So we used my 1976 Corvette.”

Listen to a sample of "Tonight You're Mine"

“Tonight Your Mine” caught the attention of the Aanco record label (which in 1983 released Norbie Larsen’s I’d Rather Be in Colorado). The record brass liked the sound, but not the spelling of the band’s name – changing it to TRIKK.

Side One:
Tears
I Can't Wait Forever
Tonight You're Mine
Do You Like It

Side Two:
Never Say Never
Midnight Lover
I Can't Get Used to This Feeling
Still Waiting

Al Martinez, along with Rich Mouser, produced the group's first LP, Never Say Never (Aanco 28802-1988), and quickly released it to a national audience. After getting favorable attention from Radio and Records magazine, the album would generate three singles from the mellower cuts on the record, "Never Say Never," "Tears," and “Tonight You're Mine," and one of the dance tracks, "Midnight Lover."

“Tears” would go on to be #1 on Magic FM’s countdown,” he said.

The band caught the attention of Bertie Higgins (“Key Largo” fame), who wanted to record the song “I Can’t Get Used to This Feeling.”

“Our record company tried to put that deal together, then Bertie wanted us to sign the publishing rights over to him. I told Aanco, that if Bertie records a demo, and if it’s better than mine, then he could have it. He didn’t take the deal.”

In 1991, A&M records called a meeting with the group in Denver.

“They told us we were very marketable, and that our sound was good, but they were moving more toward alternative music, more grunge. They asked if we could go that route with our music. We tried that sound, but it just didn’t work. They ended up going with the Gin Blossoms and Blind Melon.”

"That same year we went to Seattle and recorded what was to be our next release, This Time."

The LP spawned two singles, “I Love Italian Girls,” and the title cut.

“Both got airplay in Iowa,” Martinez said.

After six years together, the band decided to take a break. Patrick headed to law school; Al got married and opened his own studio. The hiatus would last four years, when, in 1998, Trikk reunited with Eddie Adkins on guitar, and Dave Copeland on bass. The group would soon welcome Dave’s brother, Lyndon.

“About the time we went into the studio to record The Final Battle, I started concentrating on songwriting, engineering and production,” said Martinez. “The band felt that Lyndon brought a vocal style to the group that would elevate us up one more notch—which it did.”

“The album can be best described as kind of a 80s retro sound – stuff that influenced us when we were kids. We put out samplers around the Colorado Springs area, and felt really good about the project.”

But friction among the members started to unravel the group, and the final CD was never released.

“The real issue the group was having, was a divided loyalty over which songs would be on the album. I think Dave felt pressure to side with his brother, Lyndon. Hence you have a lost of interest, and that’s when Lyndon and I began to work on solo projects. I then had an opportunity to get to Los Angeles, and I took it, and that was pretty much it.”

Of the original members, Al Martinez went on to open his own studio (Innovative Studios), where he continues to record his own music. Patrick Smith is a lawyer in Portland. Mark Martinez has his own landscaping company in Colorado, and Donte' is an executive for Popeye’s Chicken.

Last year the band received a resurgence of interest, thanks to – Justin Bieber.

“His fans would Google his hit “Never Say Never” and our song would come up. Of course, they aren’t one in the same.”

Dave Jackson

Jerry Dolby and Clara Reida interviewed March 2012.

On my most recent trip back home to southern Colorado, Pueblo-based record dealer, and dear friend, Joel Scherzer presented me with an album for my collection – one that would turn out to be probably my favorite find of the weeklong record search.

Dave Jackson Singing Folk Style Music - Morning Town Ride (Valerie VR 7000) is a collection of 16 songs of the genre. "Many of the songs selected are personal favorites, but there has been no attempt to display any of my own views or personal feelings," he writes on the back cover.

Included are Jackson's renditions of songs penned by Donovan ("Colours"), Tom Paxton ("I Wonder Where I'm Bound"), Rod McKuen ("Two-Ten, Six Eighteen"), Pete Seeger ("Turn Turn Turn"), as well as several traditional folk numbers.

The LP isn’t produced well. In fact, I dare say there is any production whatsoever to this album. It almost sounds like the recording was made in a closet. But the sad, loner vocals, and the barely audible guitar easily makes the record memorable.

Listen to a sample of "Man of Constant Sorrow"

I had to find out who Dave Jackson was. But there were few clues to go on. The album appeared to be a product of the Custer County Independent School District, based out of Westcliffe. The school’s science teacher, Jerry Dolby, is listed as the school sponsor of the recording.


“I did find the 1969 yearbook for Custer County High,” Dolby said. “The picture of Dave Jackson is the same as the one for a sixth grade teacher of the same name. I can find no evidence of his being on the faculty for more than one year.”

According to Dolby, the annual also shows a “Mrs. Dave Jackson” on the faculty, who was the pep club sponsor.

“I'm confident the class sold Dave's album as a fund raiser for a class trip.”

The cover art was done by Margaret Locarnini.

“Margaret was quite an artist, she was a super talented person,” said Clara Reida, who also worked at the school, and later bought a ranch with her, to raise horses. I remember there was a big brewhaha in the area, and she had to leave her job at Custer County, to go teach in Florence. Apparently the valley was being developed and a billboard was cut down, and how it was pinned it on Margaret I don’t know. But she had to leave her job.”

Attempts to locate Dave Jackson were unsuccessful.

Daddy Ed's Original Children's Stories (Band Box)

A recent eBay purchase of some Colorado records put me in contact with a most generous seller, who loaded me up with some great state vinyl. In the box was a 7" 78rpm red vinyl children's recording, Daddy Ed's Original "Sammy the Skunk" / "Dummy the Duck," on Band Box. The record did not carry the familiar Band Box logo, and in all of the history I read on the label, there had been no mention of a children's recording.

Listen to a sample

The story of Band Box goes that, in 1957, Romanian immigrant Aurelia Vicky Morosan (1909-2006) saw a newspaper ad for a studio for sale - Columbine Records. She bought the company, and called it Band Box (after Columbia Records pitched a fit about the similarity of the names). The label churned out about 200 singles (and a few LPs) in the late 1950s through the 1960s, including from Orlie & the Saints, Lee Chandler & the Blue Rhythms, Jimmy DeKnight, and Freddie & the Hitch-Hikers.

With that knowledge in hand, I set out to find whether or not this Daddy Ed record was, in fact, on the same Band Box label as the one Vicky Morosan owned.

This is where the history gets fuzzy.

A search through Billboard magazine's 1957 archives found an advertisement for a studio for sale, in Lakewood Colorado. Viola! Could this have been the ad Vicky Morosan saw when she bought Band Box?


Wait up... this ad (dated 1957) says a label called Band Box, not Columbine, was for sale. The year is right, according to the archivists, but not the name.

The ad mentions that the buyer will receive, among the other holdings, Daddy Ed's Original Children's Stories. So I was able to confirm what I had was a Band Box record, but were there two Band Box labels in Denver?

The actual record information on this Band Box label is pretty sparse, minus a very lengthy patent number. After spending several hours on the phone with the U.S. Patent Office, in Washington D.C., I found that the number, "671-182-617-863," doesn't relate to anything in its files. Swell.

Next stop was my Complete Guide to Vintage Children's Records Identification and Price Guide (Peter Muldavin 2007). Nada. Not one single reference to any Band Box children's recording.

"I have never heard of it before," Muldavin told me, when I contacted him. "It's probably a local record issue, perhaps by a local radio or TV children's show personality. There were literally hundreds of these types of shows in the late 40's through the 60's. Many made their own records."

So I set out to find the contact person in the advertsement - "A.V. Pasca" in Lakewood. But calls to every single Pasca residence in Colorado resulted in another dead end.

I'm not one to give up, so I did some more searching. On a hunch (and some additional digging) I was able to find that Karl Zomar owned the Denver-based Columbine record label at least until 1954. There was no record of him owning it after 1954.


Lo and behold, after some additional phone calls to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., I found out that the name "Band Box Records" was registered in 1954, by, guess who? Aurelia Vicky Morosan - three years earlier than all of the history on the label had proclaimed.

So if Vicky bought Columbine from Karl Zomar, in 1954, and had the dust-up with Columbia over the name, and then changed it to Band Box, the Daddy Ed record would have to be dated sometime after 1954.
Furthermore, the familiar Band Box logo was officially trademarked in January, 1962, at least according to the patent documents.

So if Vicky owned Band Box in 1954, who is "A.V. Pasca," and what's with the 1957 advertisement posting a Band Box label for sale in Billboard? I have to admit, that one had me too, until it dawned on me - could the "A.V." stand for Aurelia Vicky?

Yup.

When Vicky's parents, Elena and Demeter migrated from Romania, in 1913, their last name was Pasca (the family later changed the spelling to Paskie).

In 1957, after apparently owning the label for three years, she decided to sell it. Hence the ad in Billboard. Thankfully she didn't have any takers, and groups such as Orlie and the Saints, Bill Goodwin, the Four Chevelles, Warren Robbe, and numerous others were able to put their songs on vinyl for all the world to hear.

In 1971 she tried to sell the label again.


Which left me just one piece of the puzzle to find. Who is Daddy Ed, the narrator of the two stories on the record?

For that answer I enlisted the help of 1950s era Denver disc jockeys, who seemed to think that it's Ed Scott, who was doing Denver radio around this time, before he moved over to television, and interestingly enough, starred in a long-running children's program as "Sheriff Scotty" on KLZ-TV (later KMGH-TV).

Unfortunately, it's not Ed Scott.

"I did record records at Band Box, but I'm not Daddy Ed," he told me. "I did record four songs there at the Band Box studios, but they were for the Moppet children's label. I recorded them with a trio of guys, including Art Gallo (sp?). We recorded "The Rocking Horse Rodeo," "Wonderful Land of New," "Wonderful Land of New, Part Two," and "If You Never Make An Enemy You Never Lose a Friend."

Oh well.