The Beau Brummels
Encyclopedia
The Beau Brummels were an American
rock
band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino
(lead vocals), Ron Elliott
(lead guitar), Ron Meagher
(bass guitar), Declan Mulligan
(rhythm guitar, bass, harmonica), and John Petersen
(drums). They were discovered by local disc jockey
s who were looking to sign acts to their new label, Autumn Records
, where Sylvester Stewart—later known as Sly Stone
—produced the group's early recording sessions. Initially, the band's musical style blended beat music
and folk music
and typically drew comparisons to The Beatles
, while their later work incorporated other music genre
s such as psychedelic rock
and country rock
.
The Beau Brummels broke into the mainstream with their debut single, "Laugh, Laugh
," for which they would later be credited for setting the aesthetic foundation for the San Francisco Sound
. The band's popularity continued with the subsequent album, 1965's Introducing the Beau Brummels
, and the Top 10 single "Just a Little
." The group's commercial success declined by the following year, at which time the financially struggling Autumn label was acquired by Warner Bros. Records
. After recording an album of cover songs, Beau Brummels '66
, the band released a pair of critically acclaimed albums: Triangle
in 1967 and Bradley's Barn
in 1968.
The band underwent several personnel changes, beginning with Mulligan's departure in 1965. Guitarist Don Irving
joined the band in late 1965 when Elliott began to suffer seizures resulting from a diabetic condition, leaving him unable to tour with the band. Shortly after the release of Beau Brummels '66
, Irving left the group when he was inducted into the armed forces
. Petersen left to join Harpers Bizarre
, reducing the Beau Brummels to a trio for the recording of Triangle. Meagher was drafted
for military service in 1968, leaving Valentino and Elliott as the only remaining band members. The duo worked with prominent Nashville
session musician
s to record Bradley's Barn before parting ways in 1969 to focus on solo material and participate in projects by other artists. The five original Beau Brummels reformed in 1974, and the band released an eponymous album
the following year.
section of San Francisco.
In early 1964, following a string of appearances as a singer on local television, Valentino received an offer to play a regular gig at El Cid, a San Francisco club.
Needing a band, he called childhood friend and songwriter/guitarist Ron Elliott, who recruited drummer John Petersen, rhythm guitarist/singer Declan Mulligan, and bassist Ron Meagher. The gig led to a more lucrative deal at the Morocco Room, a club in nearby San Mateo, California
. Meanwhile, San Francisco disc jockeys Tom Donahue
and Bobby Mitchell were looking for new acts to bring to their fledgling Autumn Records
label. Donahue and Mitchell wanted to capitalize on the Beatlemania
craze that originated the previous year in the UK and was spreading across the U.S. by this time. Rich Romanello, owner of the Morocco Room and the Brummels' first manager, asked Donahue and Mitchell to see the band perform at the club. Romanello recalled, "There were maybe four people in the place, and they set up and started playing, and that old hair on my arm goes up. And when the hair on your arm goes up, you got something. It was a big change, to go from saxophones and black singers to a white guitar sound, but I hired 'em."
The Beau Brummels signed with Autumn, where house producer Sylvester Stewart—later known as Sly Stone
, of Sly & the Family Stone
fame—produced the group's early recording sessions
.
The Beau Brummels took their name from a term used to describe a fop
, an excessively well-dressed person. The group liked having a British-sounding name, and since it so closely followed The Beatles in the alphabet, the group also knew their records would likely be placed immediately behind those of The Beatles in record-store bins.
Valentino dismissed this notion in a 2008 interview with Goldmine
magazine. "That's a total myth", he said. "We just needed a name, and that sounded good. We didn't even know how to spell it. Everybody now has a notion of what people were thinking back then, but we never thought of those kinds of things."
Al Hazan
, who produced the band's demo
recording, noted, "I never thought of the Brummels in terms of the Beatles—it was Ron Elliott's talent as a songwriter that caused me to want to produce them."
" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
singles chart in January 1965.
As the song climbed the charts, many listeners assumed The Beau Brummels were British, due to the band's name and musical style, which recalled such bands as The Beatles and The Zombies
.
The comparisons were bolstered by Donahue and Mitchell, who had the band dress in Beatlesque suits and spread rumors that the band was indeed British.
"Laugh, Laugh" peaked at number fifteen in February,
but Donahue believed the single would have gone to number one if the band was on a label with stronger distribution. The song was the band's highest-charting single in Canada, where it reached number two on the Canadian Singles Chart
. The band's followup single, "Just a Little
," became the band's highest-charting single in the U.S., peaking at number eight in June. Both songs were included on the band's debut album, Introducing the Beau Brummels
, which was released in April and reached number 24 on the Billboard 200
albums chart.
The band appeared as themselves and performed in the 1965 science-fiction
/comedy movie Village of the Giants
, (which was later featured in a 1994 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
), and also in the 1966 beach party film
Wild Wild Winter
.
The band appeared as The Beau Brummelstones on The Flintstones
television animated sitcom
in the season six episode "Shinrock A Go-Go," which originally aired on December 3, 1965.
When recording began for the band's second album, 1965's The Beau Brummels, Volume 2
, Mulligan was no longer a member of the group. In 1966, he sued the band for $1.25 million in damages, claiming he was wrongfully dismissed from the group.
"You Tell Me Why
," the album's lead single
, was the band's third and final U.S. top 40 hit, peaking at number 38 in August 1965. Another single, "Don't Talk to Strangers
," reached number 52 in November. While Stone is credited as the album's producer, his involvement, according to Sal Valentino and Ron Elliott, had diminished to the point that the band does not recall any producer being in charge. By the end of the year, Elliott began to suffer seizures from his diabetic condition that left him unable to perform.
Don Irving became Elliott's stand-in on guitar when the group performed live.
, a beach party
-inspired comedy film by Universal Pictures
which was released January 5, 1966. The band continued recording new material despite Autumn verging on collapse. Such songs as "I Grow Old," "Gentle Wandering Ways" and "Dream On," along with Valentino-composed tracks such as "Love Is Just a Game," "This Is Love," and "Hey, Love," would have most likely been included on the band's third album for Autumn. But before an album was completed and released, the entire Autumn roster, including the Beau Brummels, was transferred to Warner Bros. Records
. Warner Bros., however, did not control the band's publishing, and consequently the company chose not to have the band release an album of original material. The unreleased songs were later included on the 2005 three-disc compilation album
San Fran Sessions
. Instead, Warner Bros. opted to have the band record an album of cover song
s. Released in July 1966, Beau Brummels '66
was considered a commercial and critical disappointment. The non-album single "One Too Many Mornings
," a Bob Dylan
cover, was the band's sixth and final Hot 100 chart entry, peaking at number 95 in June. Petersen left the band after the album's release to join Harpers Bizarre
,
while Irving departed when he received an induction notice into the armed forces
.
The three remaining members quit touring to focus on studio work.
The band resumed writing original material for their fourth album, Triangle
, produced by Lenny Waronker
. Session musician
s, such as Van Dyke Parks
, who played harpsichord
on "Magic Hollow
," contributed to the album.
Released in July 1967, Triangle only reached number 197 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but it was praised by critics, including Australia
n journalist and author Lillian Roxon
in her 1969 Rock Encyclopedia.
In 1968, Meagher was drafted
for military service, leaving the Beau Brummels as a duo consisting of Valentino and Elliott.
The duo went to Tennessee to record their fifth album, and worked with prominent Nashville session musicians such as Kenny Buttrey
, a drummer on Bob Dylan
's albums from 1966 to 1969, and guitarist Jerry Reed
. The Beau Brummels were so pleased with the results at the studio that they named the album Bradley's Barn
, after the studio in which it was recorded.
Shortly following the album's release in October 1968, the Beau Brummels split up.
, Valentino assembled a new band, Stoneground
, which was associated with the hippie commune the Hog Farm
in the early 1970s.
The band broke up in 1973 after releasing three albums. Elliott, who in 1968 played guitar on Van Dyke Parks
' debut album, Song Cycle
, and arranged The Everly Brothers
' album, Roots
, released a solo album, The Candlestickmaker
, in 1970. During the early 1970s, Elliott produced albums by Levitt & McClure and Pan, and played on albums by Van Morrison
, Randy Newman
and Little Feat
. Meanwhile, Mulligan and Meagher were members of the Black Velvet Band. In 1969, Petersen married Roberta Templeman, sister of Harpers Bizarre's Ted Templeman
.
Petersen remained with Harper's Bizarre until the band broke up in the early 1970s.
In February 1974, Billboard
magazine reported that the Beau Brummels had reformed in San Francisco.
The band resumed touring, and a 1974 performance recorded in Fair Oaks Village near Sacramento, California
was released in 2000 as the Live!
album.
In April 1975, the band released a self-titled studio album
, which reached number 180 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. One of the band's previous singles, 1965's "You Tell Me Why
," was re-recorded for the album.
Although the band split up again soon after the album's release, the Beau Brummels continued to work in various incarnations from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, including shows with The Smithereens
.
The band also performed at shows such as the Baypop 2000 Festival
and the 2002 Summer of Love Festival, both in San Francisco.
In 2006, Valentino released Dreamin' Man, the first solo album of his 45-year career.
Another album, Come Out Tonight, followed later that year, and his third solo album, Every Now and Then, was released in 2008.
John Petersen died of a heart attack on November 11, 2007.
the Beau Brummels were most often compared, especially early in their career, to British bands such as the Beatles and the Zombies. The Beau Brummels were fans of these acts as well as The Rolling Stones
and The Searchers
, and originally patterned their overall style after the British Invasion
sound.
The melancholy, minor keys of debut single "Laugh, Laugh
" led many listeners to mistakenly believe that the band were indeed British.
As the band evolved, they incorporated different music genre
s into their works, ranging from hard rock
to country and western
to rhythm and blues
.
The Triangle
album exhibited the band's growing interest in country music along with elements of psychedelic pop
, including the use of strings, brass, woodwinds, harpsichord, and various types of unique percussion. Ron Elliott said the album was "sort of a mood swing into the world that was around us at the time. It was sort of dissolving into this drug culture. So the music became very ethereal, mystic, and mysterious." The band's country rock
fusion was most evident on their 1968 album Bradley's Barn
, which Elliott said was similar stylistically to Triangle, but with more country accents.
The band members have been hesitant to categorize their music, preferring to call it a combination of styles, according to Elliott.
"We don't play anything really different—we play melodically and rhythmically," he said in a 1965 interview. "I think that's why the [Rolling] Stones have made it. They don't do anything really fantastic but they have good taste, and good taste is more important than speed." Sal Valentino praised Elliott's vocal style, saying that "Ron had a great low register. He knew how to write in the best keys for me." Valentino added, "From the time I started singing in bands, I didn't really sing too many other people's songs other than Ron's. Being able to sing just one person's writing, who was a pretty able writer with ability to adjust to what he's working with, had a lot to do with the way I sang." Valentino also credited Sly Stone's input for the band's early success. "He had a lot to do with making our music relatable and anticipating how our records would sound on the radio, particularly on the bottom, rhythm end. Sly was very motivated to make a lot of money, and he was awfully talented."
, the Grateful Dead
, We Five
, Moby Grape
, Quicksilver Messenger Service
and Country Joe and the Fish
. At the height of the band's popularity, the Beau Brummels were regarded as teen idol
s, appearing on several television music variety show
s including American Bandstand
, Shindig!
and Hullabaloo
, as well as the teen film
s Village of the Giants
and Wild Wild Winter
. The band also appeared as the Beau Brummelstones in a 1965 episode of the animated television sitcom The Flintstones
. The band pioneered blending beat music with folk rock, as "Laugh, Laugh
" was recorded before The Byrds
recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man
". The group's Triangle
(1967) and Bradley's Barn
(1968) albums are considered early examples in the country rock
music genre.
"Laugh, Laugh" was included on 1972's Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968, a compilation double album
of American garage rock
singles that helped influence the development of 1970s punk rock
.
The song was also featured during a scene in the 1989 comedy-drama
film Uncle Buck
, starring John Candy
.
In 1994, "Laugh, Laugh" was named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
's exhibit showcasing The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
In the June 1997 issue of Mojo
magazine, "Magic Hollow
" was selected one of the "100 Greatest Psychedelic Classics".
Music journalist and author Tom Moon named Triangle
to his 2008 book of the 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino
Sal Valentino
Sal Valentino is an American rock musician, singer and songwriter, best known as lead singer of The Beau Brummels, subsequently becoming a songwriter as well. The band released a pair of top 20 U.S...
(lead vocals), Ron Elliott
Ron Elliott (musician)
Ron Elliott on October 21, 1943) is an American musician, composer and producer, best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of rock band The Beau Brummels. Elliott wrote or co-wrote the band's 1965 U.S...
(lead guitar), Ron Meagher
Ron Meagher
Ron Meagher is best known as bassist of American rock band The Beau Brummels. When guitarist-songwriter Ron Elliott was putting the band together in 1964, he asked a friend, Kay Dane, if she knew any good bass players....
(bass guitar), Declan Mulligan
Declan Mulligan
Declan Mulligan is an Irish rock musician, singer and songwriter, best known as a guitarist of American rock band The Beau Brummels...
(rhythm guitar, bass, harmonica), and John Petersen
John Petersen (musician)
John Petersen was an American drummer, most notably for rock bands The Beau Brummels and Harpers Bizarre. In 1964 he joined the Beau Brummels, whose first two singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", reached the U.S. top 20...
(drums). They were discovered by local disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s who were looking to sign acts to their new label, Autumn Records
Autumn Records
Autumn Records was a 1960s San Francisco-based pop record label. Its most prominent contract was considered The Beau Brummels, a band who released a pair of top 20 singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little"....
, where Sylvester Stewart—later known as Sly Stone
Sly Stone
Sly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...
—produced the group's early recording sessions. Initially, the band's musical style blended beat music
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and typically drew comparisons to The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, while their later work incorporated other music genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
s such as psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
and country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
.
The Beau Brummels broke into the mainstream with their debut single, "Laugh, Laugh
Laugh, Laugh
"Laugh, Laugh" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. Released in December 1964 as the band's debut single, the song reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the following February...
," for which they would later be credited for setting the aesthetic foundation for the San Francisco Sound
San Francisco Sound
The San Francisco Sound refers to rock music performed live and recorded by San Francisco-based rock groups of the mid 1960s to early 1970s. It was associated with the counterculture community in San Francisco during these years.- Stylistic Dimensions :...
. The band's popularity continued with the subsequent album, 1965's Introducing the Beau Brummels
Introducing the Beau Brummels
Introducing the Beau Brummels is the debut album by American pop rock band The Beau Brummels. It was produced by Sly Stone, lead singer of Sly & the Family Stone. Unlike most debut albums of the era, ten of the twelve songs on this album are originals. The album peaked at number 24 on the U.S...
, and the Top 10 single "Just a Little
Just a Little (The Beau Brummels song)
"Just a Little" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels. The song is included on the band's debut album, Introducing the Beau Brummels, and was released as its second single, following "Laugh, Laugh". "Just a Little" became the band's highest-charting U.S. single, peaking at number eight...
." The group's commercial success declined by the following year, at which time the financially struggling Autumn label was acquired by Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. After recording an album of cover songs, Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66 is the third studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels, and their first on Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of twelve cover songs and no originals...
, the band released a pair of critically acclaimed albums: Triangle
Triangle (The Beau Brummels album)
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together...
in 1967 and Bradley's Barn
Bradley's Barn
-Personnel:* David Briggs – keyboards* Kenny Buttrey – drums* Ron Elliott – guitar, vocals* Norbert Putnam – bass* Jerry Reed – guitar* Sal Valentino – vocals-External links:* [ Bradley's Barn] at Allmusic...
in 1968.
The band underwent several personnel changes, beginning with Mulligan's departure in 1965. Guitarist Don Irving
Don Irving
Don Irving is an American musician, best known as a guitarist for rock band The Beau Brummels...
joined the band in late 1965 when Elliott began to suffer seizures resulting from a diabetic condition, leaving him unable to tour with the band. Shortly after the release of Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66 is the third studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels, and their first on Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of twelve cover songs and no originals...
, Irving left the group when he was inducted into the armed forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
. Petersen left to join Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre was an American pop-rock band of the 1960s, best known for their Broadway/Sunshine Pop sound and their remake of Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song ."- Career :...
, reducing the Beau Brummels to a trio for the recording of Triangle. Meagher was drafted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
for military service in 1968, leaving Valentino and Elliott as the only remaining band members. The duo worked with prominent Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s to record Bradley's Barn before parting ways in 1969 to focus on solo material and participate in projects by other artists. The five original Beau Brummels reformed in 1974, and the band released an eponymous album
The Beau Brummels (album)
The Beau Brummels is the sixth studio album by the American rock band of the same name. Released in April 1975, the album features the work of all five original bandmembers for the first time since the band's debut album, 1965's Introducing the Beau Brummels. The album peaked at number 180 on the U.S...
the following year.
Formation (1964)
Sal Valentino grew up in the North BeachNorth Beach, San Francisco, California
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
section of San Francisco.
In early 1964, following a string of appearances as a singer on local television, Valentino received an offer to play a regular gig at El Cid, a San Francisco club.
Needing a band, he called childhood friend and songwriter/guitarist Ron Elliott, who recruited drummer John Petersen, rhythm guitarist/singer Declan Mulligan, and bassist Ron Meagher. The gig led to a more lucrative deal at the Morocco Room, a club in nearby San Mateo, California
San Mateo, California
San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
. Meanwhile, San Francisco disc jockeys Tom Donahue
Tom Donahue
Tom "Big Daddy" Donahue , was a pioneering rock and roll radio disc jockey, record producer and concert promoter....
and Bobby Mitchell were looking for new acts to bring to their fledgling Autumn Records
Autumn Records
Autumn Records was a 1960s San Francisco-based pop record label. Its most prominent contract was considered The Beau Brummels, a band who released a pair of top 20 singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little"....
label. Donahue and Mitchell wanted to capitalize on the Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
craze that originated the previous year in the UK and was spreading across the U.S. by this time. Rich Romanello, owner of the Morocco Room and the Brummels' first manager, asked Donahue and Mitchell to see the band perform at the club. Romanello recalled, "There were maybe four people in the place, and they set up and started playing, and that old hair on my arm goes up. And when the hair on your arm goes up, you got something. It was a big change, to go from saxophones and black singers to a white guitar sound, but I hired 'em."
The Beau Brummels signed with Autumn, where house producer Sylvester Stewart—later known as Sly Stone
Sly Stone
Sly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...
, of Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
fame—produced the group's early recording sessions
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
.
The Beau Brummels took their name from a term used to describe a fop
Fop
Fop became a pejorative term for a foolish man over-concerned with his appearance and clothes in 17th century England. Some of the very many similar alternative terms are: "coxcomb", fribble, "popinjay" , fashion-monger, and "ninny"...
, an excessively well-dressed person. The group liked having a British-sounding name, and since it so closely followed The Beatles in the alphabet, the group also knew their records would likely be placed immediately behind those of The Beatles in record-store bins.
Valentino dismissed this notion in a 2008 interview with Goldmine
Goldmine (magazine)
Goldmine, established in 1974, is an American magazine that focuses on the collectors' market for records, tapes, CDs, and music-related memorabilia. Each issue features news articles, interviews, discographies, histories, current reviews on recording stars of the past and present. Discographies...
magazine. "That's a total myth", he said. "We just needed a name, and that sounded good. We didn't even know how to spell it. Everybody now has a notion of what people were thinking back then, but we never thought of those kinds of things."
Al Hazan
Al Hazan
Al Hazan is an American pop-rock recording artist, songwriter, and record producer.-Biography:Al Hazan was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. To history fans of American pop-rock music he is sometimes called the “Mystery Music Man of the 1960’s” because of his tendency to use other names...
, who produced the band's demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
recording, noted, "I never thought of the Brummels in terms of the Beatles—it was Ron Elliott's talent as a songwriter that caused me to want to produce them."
Introducing the Beau Brummels and The Beau Brummels, Volume 2 (1965)
The band's debut single, "Laugh, LaughLaugh, Laugh
"Laugh, Laugh" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. Released in December 1964 as the band's debut single, the song reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the following February...
" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles chart in January 1965.
As the song climbed the charts, many listeners assumed The Beau Brummels were British, due to the band's name and musical style, which recalled such bands as The Beatles and The Zombies
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
.
The comparisons were bolstered by Donahue and Mitchell, who had the band dress in Beatlesque suits and spread rumors that the band was indeed British.
"Laugh, Laugh" peaked at number fifteen in February,
but Donahue believed the single would have gone to number one if the band was on a label with stronger distribution. The song was the band's highest-charting single in Canada, where it reached number two on the Canadian Singles Chart
Canadian Singles Chart
The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
. The band's followup single, "Just a Little
Just a Little (The Beau Brummels song)
"Just a Little" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels. The song is included on the band's debut album, Introducing the Beau Brummels, and was released as its second single, following "Laugh, Laugh". "Just a Little" became the band's highest-charting U.S. single, peaking at number eight...
," became the band's highest-charting single in the U.S., peaking at number eight in June. Both songs were included on the band's debut album, Introducing the Beau Brummels
Introducing the Beau Brummels
Introducing the Beau Brummels is the debut album by American pop rock band The Beau Brummels. It was produced by Sly Stone, lead singer of Sly & the Family Stone. Unlike most debut albums of the era, ten of the twelve songs on this album are originals. The album peaked at number 24 on the U.S...
, which was released in April and reached number 24 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
albums chart.
The band appeared as themselves and performed in the 1965 science-fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/comedy movie Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants is a 1965 science-fiction/comedy movie with many elements of the beach party film genre. It was produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon, and based loosely on H.G. Wells's book The Food of the Gods...
, (which was later featured in a 1994 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
), and also in the 1966 beach party film
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
Wild Wild Winter
Wild Wild Winter
Wild Wild Winter is a 1966 Universal Pictures comedy film in the beach party genre, starring Gary Clarke and Chris Noel. It is directed by standup comedian Lennie Weinrib and produced by Bart Patton and is notable for featuring Jay and the Americans and the duo of Dick and Dee Dee in their only...
.
The band appeared as The Beau Brummelstones on The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
television animated sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
in the season six episode "Shinrock A Go-Go," which originally aired on December 3, 1965.
When recording began for the band's second album, 1965's The Beau Brummels, Volume 2
The Beau Brummels, Volume 2
The Beau Brummels, Volume 2 is the second studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels. Released in August 1965, the album contains the U.S...
, Mulligan was no longer a member of the group. In 1966, he sued the band for $1.25 million in damages, claiming he was wrongfully dismissed from the group.
"You Tell Me Why
You Tell Me Why
"You Tell Me Why" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, from the band's second album, The Beau Brummels, Volume 2. The song was written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. "You Tell Me Why" was released as the album's lead single, and...
," the album's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
, was the band's third and final U.S. top 40 hit, peaking at number 38 in August 1965. Another single, "Don't Talk to Strangers
Don't Talk to Strangers (song)
"Don't Talk to Strangers" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, released as the second single from the band's second album, The Beau Brummels, Volume 2. The song later appeared on the band's 1987 compilation album The Best of The Beau Brummels 1964–1968...
," reached number 52 in November. While Stone is credited as the album's producer, his involvement, according to Sal Valentino and Ron Elliott, had diminished to the point that the band does not recall any producer being in charge. By the end of the year, Elliott began to suffer seizures from his diabetic condition that left him unable to perform.
Don Irving became Elliott's stand-in on guitar when the group performed live.
Beau Brummels '66, Triangle and Bradley's Barn (1966-1968)
The Beau Brummels made a musical guest appearance in Wild Wild WinterWild Wild Winter
Wild Wild Winter is a 1966 Universal Pictures comedy film in the beach party genre, starring Gary Clarke and Chris Noel. It is directed by standup comedian Lennie Weinrib and produced by Bart Patton and is notable for featuring Jay and the Americans and the duo of Dick and Dee Dee in their only...
, a beach party
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
-inspired comedy film by Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
which was released January 5, 1966. The band continued recording new material despite Autumn verging on collapse. Such songs as "I Grow Old," "Gentle Wandering Ways" and "Dream On," along with Valentino-composed tracks such as "Love Is Just a Game," "This Is Love," and "Hey, Love," would have most likely been included on the band's third album for Autumn. But before an album was completed and released, the entire Autumn roster, including the Beau Brummels, was transferred to Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. Warner Bros., however, did not control the band's publishing, and consequently the company chose not to have the band release an album of original material. The unreleased songs were later included on the 2005 three-disc compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
San Fran Sessions
San Fran Sessions
San Fran Sessions is a box set compilation which collects 60 demos, outtakes, rarities and unissued performances recorded by The Beau Brummels from 1964 to 1966...
. Instead, Warner Bros. opted to have the band record an album of cover song
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s. Released in July 1966, Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66
Beau Brummels '66 is the third studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels, and their first on Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of twelve cover songs and no originals...
was considered a commercial and critical disappointment. The non-album single "One Too Many Mornings
One Too Many Mornings
"One Too Many Mornings" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his third studio album The Times They Are a-Changin in 1964. The chords and vocal melody are in some places very similar to the song "The Times They Are A-Changin'". "One Too Many Mornings" is in the key of C Major and is fingerpicked...
," a Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
cover, was the band's sixth and final Hot 100 chart entry, peaking at number 95 in June. Petersen left the band after the album's release to join Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre was an American pop-rock band of the 1960s, best known for their Broadway/Sunshine Pop sound and their remake of Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song ."- Career :...
,
while Irving departed when he received an induction notice into the armed forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
.
The three remaining members quit touring to focus on studio work.
The band resumed writing original material for their fourth album, Triangle
Triangle (The Beau Brummels album)
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together...
, produced by Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker is a record producer for Warner Bros. Records.-Career:He produced recording sessions for Nancy Sinatra, The Everly Brothers, Van Dyke Parks, The Beau Brummels, Harpers Bizarre, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur, Gordon Lightfoot, Rickie Lee Jones, James Taylor, ...
. Session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s, such as Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
, who played harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
on "Magic Hollow
Magic Hollow
"Magic Hollow" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, from the band's fourth album, 1967's Triangle. The song, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and lead singer Sal Valentino, was released as the album's first single...
," contributed to the album.
Released in July 1967, Triangle only reached number 197 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but it was praised by critics, including Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n journalist and author Lillian Roxon
Lillian Roxon
Lillian Roxon was a noted Australian journalist and author, best known for Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia . Her niece Nicola Roxon, the Australian politician, is currently the federal Minister for Health....
in her 1969 Rock Encyclopedia.
In 1968, Meagher was drafted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
for military service, leaving the Beau Brummels as a duo consisting of Valentino and Elliott.
The duo went to Tennessee to record their fifth album, and worked with prominent Nashville session musicians such as Kenny Buttrey
Kenny Buttrey
Aaron Kenneth Buttrey was an American drummer and arranger. According to CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history"....
, a drummer on Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's albums from 1966 to 1969, and guitarist Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
. The Beau Brummels were so pleased with the results at the studio that they named the album Bradley's Barn
Bradley's Barn
-Personnel:* David Briggs – keyboards* Kenny Buttrey – drums* Ron Elliott – guitar, vocals* Norbert Putnam – bass* Jerry Reed – guitar* Sal Valentino – vocals-External links:* [ Bradley's Barn] at Allmusic...
, after the studio in which it was recorded.
Shortly following the album's release in October 1968, the Beau Brummels split up.
Solo works, other projects and reformation (1969-1975)
Following a stint in 1969 recording solo singles for Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, Valentino assembled a new band, Stoneground
Stoneground
Stoneground was a rock band formed in 1970 in Concord, California. Originally a trio, Stoneground expanded to a 10-piece band by the time of their eponymous 1971 debut album. The group appeared in two films, Medicine Ball Caravan and Dracula A.D. 1972 , and released three albums before singer Sal...
, which was associated with the hippie commune the Hog Farm
Hog Farm
The Hog Farm is an organization considered to be America's longest running hippie commune. With beginnings as an actual collective hog farm in Tujunga, California, the group, founded in the 1960s by peace activist and clown Wavy Gravy, evolved into a "mobile, hallucination-extended family", active...
in the early 1970s.
The band broke up in 1973 after releasing three albums. Elliott, who in 1968 played guitar on Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
' debut album, Song Cycle
Song Cycle (album)
Song Cycle is a 1967 album by Van Dyke Parks that encompasses a number of genres, including psychedelic, folk, baroque, and experimental rock and pop. The release was Parks' debut album, and was produced by future Dreamworks Records co-founder Lenny Waronker.The album's material explores...
, and arranged The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
' album, Roots
Roots (Everly Brothers album)
Roots is a 1968 album by close harmony rock and roll duo The Everly Brothers. Originally on the Warner Bros. label, the album was re-released on CD in 1995 by Warner Bros. and in 2005 by Collectors' Choice Music...
, released a solo album, The Candlestickmaker
The Candlestickmaker
The Candlestickmaker is the lone solo album by American musician Ron Elliott, released in 1970 on Warner Bros. It was recorded following the dissolution of The Beau Brummels, with whom Elliott had been the chief songwriter and guitarist...
, in 1970. During the early 1970s, Elliott produced albums by Levitt & McClure and Pan, and played on albums by Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
and Little Feat
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....
. Meanwhile, Mulligan and Meagher were members of the Black Velvet Band. In 1969, Petersen married Roberta Templeman, sister of Harpers Bizarre's Ted Templeman
Ted Templeman
Ted Templeman is an American record producer.-Career:He began his career in the mid 1960s in the Santa Cruz area as a drummer in a band called The Tikis. At the suggestion of Lenny Waronker, the group decided to change their name. Harpers Bizarre was born in 1966, with Templeman switching to...
.
Petersen remained with Harper's Bizarre until the band broke up in the early 1970s.
In February 1974, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine reported that the Beau Brummels had reformed in San Francisco.
The band resumed touring, and a 1974 performance recorded in Fair Oaks Village near Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
was released in 2000 as the Live!
Live! (The Beau Brummels album)
Live! is a live album by American rock group The Beau Brummels. The album, released in August 2000 by Dig Music, was recorded in February 1974 near Sacramento, California, shortly after it was announced that the band had reunited...
album.
In April 1975, the band released a self-titled studio album
The Beau Brummels (album)
The Beau Brummels is the sixth studio album by the American rock band of the same name. Released in April 1975, the album features the work of all five original bandmembers for the first time since the band's debut album, 1965's Introducing the Beau Brummels. The album peaked at number 180 on the U.S...
, which reached number 180 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. One of the band's previous singles, 1965's "You Tell Me Why
You Tell Me Why
"You Tell Me Why" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, from the band's second album, The Beau Brummels, Volume 2. The song was written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. "You Tell Me Why" was released as the album's lead single, and...
," was re-recorded for the album.
Although the band split up again soon after the album's release, the Beau Brummels continued to work in various incarnations from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, including shows with The Smithereens
The Smithereens
The Smithereens are a rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio , Jim Babjak , Mike Mesaros , and Dennis Diken...
.
The band also performed at shows such as the Baypop 2000 Festival
and the 2002 Summer of Love Festival, both in San Francisco.
In 2006, Valentino released Dreamin' Man, the first solo album of his 45-year career.
Another album, Come Out Tonight, followed later that year, and his third solo album, Every Now and Then, was released in 2008.
John Petersen died of a heart attack on November 11, 2007.
Musical style
Combining beat music and folk rock,the Beau Brummels were most often compared, especially early in their career, to British bands such as the Beatles and the Zombies. The Beau Brummels were fans of these acts as well as The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and The Searchers
The Searchers (band)
The Searchers are an English beat group, who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers....
, and originally patterned their overall style after the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
sound.
The melancholy, minor keys of debut single "Laugh, Laugh
Laugh, Laugh
"Laugh, Laugh" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. Released in December 1964 as the band's debut single, the song reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the following February...
" led many listeners to mistakenly believe that the band were indeed British.
As the band evolved, they incorporated different music genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
s into their works, ranging from hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
to country and western
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
to rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
.
The Triangle
Triangle (The Beau Brummels album)
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together...
album exhibited the band's growing interest in country music along with elements of psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
, including the use of strings, brass, woodwinds, harpsichord, and various types of unique percussion. Ron Elliott said the album was "sort of a mood swing into the world that was around us at the time. It was sort of dissolving into this drug culture. So the music became very ethereal, mystic, and mysterious." The band's country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
fusion was most evident on their 1968 album Bradley's Barn
Bradley's Barn
-Personnel:* David Briggs – keyboards* Kenny Buttrey – drums* Ron Elliott – guitar, vocals* Norbert Putnam – bass* Jerry Reed – guitar* Sal Valentino – vocals-External links:* [ Bradley's Barn] at Allmusic...
, which Elliott said was similar stylistically to Triangle, but with more country accents.
The band members have been hesitant to categorize their music, preferring to call it a combination of styles, according to Elliott.
"We don't play anything really different—we play melodically and rhythmically," he said in a 1965 interview. "I think that's why the [Rolling] Stones have made it. They don't do anything really fantastic but they have good taste, and good taste is more important than speed." Sal Valentino praised Elliott's vocal style, saying that "Ron had a great low register. He knew how to write in the best keys for me." Valentino added, "From the time I started singing in bands, I didn't really sing too many other people's songs other than Ron's. Being able to sing just one person's writing, who was a pretty able writer with ability to adjust to what he's working with, had a lot to do with the way I sang." Valentino also credited Sly Stone's input for the band's early success. "He had a lot to do with making our music relatable and anticipating how our records would sound on the radio, particularly on the bottom, rhythm end. Sly was very motivated to make a lot of money, and he was awfully talented."
Legacy
The Beau Brummels are considered the first band to achieve widespread success in response to the British Invasion from a burgeoning San Francisco music scene that included such bands as Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, We Five
We Five
We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian and Sylvia's "You Were on My Mind", which reached #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart...
, Moby Grape
Moby Grape
Moby Grape is an American rock group from the 1960s, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music...
, Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco.-Introduction:Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked...
and Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish was a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1966 to 1971, and also regarded as a seminal influence to psychedelic rock.-History:...
. At the height of the band's popularity, the Beau Brummels were regarded as teen idol
Teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...
s, appearing on several television music variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
s including American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
, Shindig!
Shindig!
Shindig! was an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz....
and Hullabaloo
Hullabaloo (TV series)
Hullabaloo is an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965 through August 29, 1966. Similar to Shindig! it ran in prime time in contrast to ABC's American Bandstand.-Overview:...
, as well as the teen film
Teen film
Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...
s Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants is a 1965 science-fiction/comedy movie with many elements of the beach party film genre. It was produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon, and based loosely on H.G. Wells's book The Food of the Gods...
and Wild Wild Winter
Wild Wild Winter
Wild Wild Winter is a 1966 Universal Pictures comedy film in the beach party genre, starring Gary Clarke and Chris Noel. It is directed by standup comedian Lennie Weinrib and produced by Bart Patton and is notable for featuring Jay and the Americans and the duo of Dick and Dee Dee in their only...
. The band also appeared as the Beau Brummelstones in a 1965 episode of the animated television sitcom The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
. The band pioneered blending beat music with folk rock, as "Laugh, Laugh
Laugh, Laugh
"Laugh, Laugh" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. Released in December 1964 as the band's debut single, the song reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the following February...
" was recorded before The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man
Mr. Tambourine Man
"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and...
". The group's Triangle
Triangle (The Beau Brummels album)
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together...
(1967) and Bradley's Barn
Bradley's Barn
-Personnel:* David Briggs – keyboards* Kenny Buttrey – drums* Ron Elliott – guitar, vocals* Norbert Putnam – bass* Jerry Reed – guitar* Sal Valentino – vocals-External links:* [ Bradley's Barn] at Allmusic...
(1968) albums are considered early examples in the country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
music genre.
"Laugh, Laugh" was included on 1972's Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968, a compilation double album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of American garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
singles that helped influence the development of 1970s punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
.
The song was also featured during a scene in the 1989 comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film Uncle Buck
Uncle Buck
Uncle Buck is a 1989 John Hughes comedy film starring John Candy, Amy Madigan, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby Hoffman, and Macaulay Culkin, and co-stars Jay Underwood and Laurie Metcalf.-Plot:Bob Russell Uncle Buck is a 1989 John Hughes comedy film starring John Candy, Amy Madigan, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby...
, starring John Candy
John Candy
John Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian. He rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle...
.
In 1994, "Laugh, Laugh" was named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
's exhibit showcasing The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
In the June 1997 issue of Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine, "Magic Hollow
Magic Hollow
"Magic Hollow" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, from the band's fourth album, 1967's Triangle. The song, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and lead singer Sal Valentino, was released as the album's first single...
" was selected one of the "100 Greatest Psychedelic Classics".
Music journalist and author Tom Moon named Triangle
Triangle (The Beau Brummels album)
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together...
to his 2008 book of the 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.
Original line-up
- Sal ValentinoSal ValentinoSal Valentino is an American rock musician, singer and songwriter, best known as lead singer of The Beau Brummels, subsequently becoming a songwriter as well. The band released a pair of top 20 U.S...
– lead vocals, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
(1964–1969, 1974–1975) - Ron ElliottRon Elliott (musician)Ron Elliott on October 21, 1943) is an American musician, composer and producer, best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of rock band The Beau Brummels. Elliott wrote or co-wrote the band's 1965 U.S...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
, occasional lead (1964–1969, 1974–1975) - Ron MeagherRon MeagherRon Meagher is best known as bassist of American rock band The Beau Brummels. When guitarist-songwriter Ron Elliott was putting the band together in 1964, he asked a friend, Kay Dane, if she knew any good bass players....
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals, occasional lead (1964–1967, 1974) - Declan MulliganDeclan MulliganDeclan Mulligan is an Irish rock musician, singer and songwriter, best known as a guitarist of American rock band The Beau Brummels...
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, backing vocals, occasional lead (1964–1965, 1974–1975) - John PetersenJohn Petersen (musician)John Petersen was an American drummer, most notably for rock bands The Beau Brummels and Harpers Bizarre. In 1964 he joined the Beau Brummels, whose first two singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", reached the U.S. top 20...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, occasional lead vocal (1964–1966, 1974–1975)
Subsequent members
- Don IrvingDon IrvingDon Irving is an American musician, best known as a guitarist for rock band The Beau Brummels...
- guitars, backing vocals (1965–1966) - Dan Levitt - banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, guitars (1974–1975) - Peter Tepp - drums (completed 1975 tour)
Discography
- 1965: Introducing the Beau BrummelsIntroducing the Beau BrummelsIntroducing the Beau Brummels is the debut album by American pop rock band The Beau Brummels. It was produced by Sly Stone, lead singer of Sly & the Family Stone. Unlike most debut albums of the era, ten of the twelve songs on this album are originals. The album peaked at number 24 on the U.S...
- 1965: The Beau Brummels, Volume 2The Beau Brummels, Volume 2The Beau Brummels, Volume 2 is the second studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels. Released in August 1965, the album contains the U.S...
- 1966: Beau Brummels '66Beau Brummels '66Beau Brummels '66 is the third studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels, and their first on Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of twelve cover songs and no originals...
- 1967: TriangleTriangle (The Beau Brummels album)Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together...
- 1968: Bradley's BarnBradley's Barn-Personnel:* David Briggs – keyboards* Kenny Buttrey – drums* Ron Elliott – guitar, vocals* Norbert Putnam – bass* Jerry Reed – guitar* Sal Valentino – vocals-External links:* [ Bradley's Barn] at Allmusic...
- 1975: The Beau BrummelsThe Beau Brummels (album)The Beau Brummels is the sixth studio album by the American rock band of the same name. Released in April 1975, the album features the work of all five original bandmembers for the first time since the band's debut album, 1965's Introducing the Beau Brummels. The album peaked at number 180 on the U.S...