Classically-trained indie-rocker and political activist Ben Sollee talks bicycle love and the making of his new album in advance of his Sept. 29 performance at The Orange Peel.
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Classically-trained indie-rocker and political activist Ben Sollee talks bicycle love and the making of his new album in advance of his Sept. 29 performance at The Orange Peel.
For teenagers in 1966, Beatlemania was on its way out, and the soul/funk train on its way in. In Part 7, the final part of our series, we talk to Johnny House, guitarist for The Centurions, one of the last high school rock ‘n’ roll bands of the era. Hear some of their recordings after the jump.
While Lee Edwards (now Asheville) High School was the heart of the local garage scene, the county schools churned out some great teenage bands as well. Meet Enka High’s The Misfits, who covered a mix of soul, British Invasion and American rock ‘n’ roll tunes. Basically, whatever the girls would dance to.
Part 5 of our series spotlights the Shaydz, a local teenage rock ‘n’ roll band that began in 1964 as a Ventures-like instrumental trio before evolving into a popular soul group that toured across the Southeast. And all before their 16th birthdays. Listen to one of their tracks after the jump.
Not all the local teenage rockers from the era were strict Beatle-ites. Take the soul-leaning Royal Spades. Frontman Carl Mott talks dive bars in the ‘60s, Asheville’s segregationist past, and gives his version of the night the band totaled a car while raising a little hell.
In Part 3 of our series, Steve Stewart—drummer for local teenage band Bee Bumble and the Stingers—reminisces about meeting Paul Revere & the Raiders, driving the neighbors crazy during practice, and the controversy behind the time they won the Battle of the Bands by beating up a microphone.
In Part 2 of our weeklong series, Bruce McTaggart of the Fabulous Wunz — the only other local garage band besides the Satyrs to record a 45 — talks about the rebellious Beatles look, opening up for Tommy James and the Shondells at the old Asheville Civic Center, and the time he wrecked a car with fellow teenage rock ‘n’ roll group The Royal Spades.