Like The Laymen, The 13th Hour Glass reunited within the past few years. As two of Pensacola’s more popular rock and roll combos of the 1960’s, the current reformations are not the only thing the groups have shared over the course of their existence. Bassist and backup vocalist Robert Lewis provides the group’s story.
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An Interview With Robert Lewis
60sgaragebands.com 60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Robert Lewis (RL): I was interested in music at an early age. I took trumpet lessons when I was eight years old. I played in my high school band and attended my first year of college on a music scholarship. I played bass trumpet in an R&B band in 1963.
60s: Was The 13th Hour Glass your first band?
RL: I started playing guitar in 1964 during my senior year in high school. I picked up bass since a couple friends were learning guitar. My freshman year in college in Mississippi I played guitar in a folk group, and put together a band with me on bass. I played a few dances at the college. I moved back to Pensacola in the summer of 1965 and started a band with my brother-in-law, Ed McNair. We played some jobs in beach clubs, but I don’t remember the band’s name.
60s: Where and when was The 13th Hour Glass formed?
RL: I started school, at Pensacola Junior College in the fall of 1965. I saw a band with Pensacola Junior College students named The Rogues. I really liked the band and put in to be a member. They fired the bass player and hired me. After a few practices and jobs the guitar player was a problem so they left his firing up to me, which I did. We were doing a lot of British music so we needed a better guitar player and wanted to add a keyboard. A group called The One-Eyed Jacks had just broken up so we picked up their guitarist and keyboard player. This band was good and we changed names to The Coventry Sextet. The personnel was: Tom Turner, lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Judy Warren, lead and backup vocals; Robert Lewis, bass and backup vocals; Alan Hinrichs, keyboards; Dave Dorman, lead guitar; and Rick Harris, drums. In late 1966 Judy left the band and we changed names to The 13th Hour Glass.
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| The Coventry Sextet |
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60s: At one time The 13th Hour Glass swapped personnel with The Laymen. How did that come about?
RL: Tom Turner left for graduate school at Florida State University. The Laymen were in doldrums so we hired Guy Pinney as lead singer. Then Forrest Higgins, The Laymen’s guitarist, got The Laymen going again and hired Tommy Ratchford from The Soul-7. After about six months, Guy wanted to go back to The Laymen so Ratchford came over to The Hourglass. A few months later Tom Turner finished his master’s degree at FSU and came back and rejoined The Hourglass. We had two lead singers so we added a lot of soul-type music like Sam & Dave so that the two Tommy’s could duo.
60s: How would you describe the band’s sound?
RL: We played a lot of British music covering The Beatles, Animals, and Stones and American groups like The Beau Brummels, Byrds, Lovin' Spoonful and Buffalo Springfield.
60s: What was the Pensacola rock scene like during the 1960s?
RL: It was great in Pensacola for bands in the middle 1960’s. There were great teen dances at sites like Fireman's Hall, National Guard Armory, The Place and The Floridatown Hotel. These venues usually drew a thousand to two thousand kids. It was great times.
We played at all the high schools, at Pensacola Junior College and were the first band to ever play at the new University of West Florida. They didn’t have an auditorium so we set up on the front porch of the library. We also played a lot of the teen dances in Ft. Walton Beach (we played a job in Ft. Walton with The Boxtops and blew them off the stage) and college jobs at FSU, Mississippi State, LSU, Northeastern Louisiana and Tulane. And we played a lot of club jobs in New Orleans and Baton Rogue.
We played battle of the bands with The Laymen, Phatons, Scoundrels, and Kords. We were all great bands but all had a different style and repertoire. We played with many big name groups like Question Mark & The Mysterians, Electric Prunes, Harpers Bizarre, The Candymen and Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels. The Pensacola groups were as good as any of these groups with hit records, but they got a break and we didn’t. Another local group I remember was The Dickens.
60s: Did the band ever work with a manager?
RL: We had managers who were local deejays: Thom Smith, Jerry Ray, Charlie Capri and Steve Remmel. They booked our jobs and promoted us on the local AM radio.
60s: How popular locally did The 13th Hour Glass become?
RL: We were very popular as were the other local bands. As I mentioned earlier, crowds of two thousand were common.
60s: What were the circumstances leading to the band's opportunity to record?
RL: When Thom Smith was our manager, he had some live tapes from The Sahara Club that he played on the radio as promotion for us. Then, when we were with Jerry ray, we figured having a record would be great promo. He had some connections in Memphis at a studio, so we went there and recorded.
The Memphis studio was a lot of fun. We cut a lot of tracks. The Hour Glass played and did backup for another of Jerry Ray's artists, Little Johnny Dynamite. So we had our session and another session with Johnny. Also, The Dickens came to Memphis and recorded at the same time. We used The Dickens on backup vocals on a couple of our cuts. Ratchford has the master tape from the session. He is going to make me a copy so I can put it on CD.
60s: Did The Hour Glass write any original material?
RL: We weren't really into songwriting. We tried a few but they were lame. We spent all our time being a cover band. We were doing a lot of complicated stuff that took all our time. There was no Lennon/McCartney here.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances?
RL: No.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
RL: In mid-1968 Rick Harris got drafted. We added Larry Kennedy on drums. In early 1969, Tom Turner went back to FSU for his doctorate.
60s: Did you join or form any bands after The 13th Hour Glass?
RL: Our manager at the time, Charlie Capri, decided to merge his two bands, The Hour Glass and The Phatons. Alan Hinrichs (keyboards), Dave Dorman (guitar) and I joined The Phatons. The Hourglass continued for a short time with Forrest Higgins coming into The Hour Glass. After about a year, Alan and I quit (when the drugs became a problem).
60s: The Hourglass will be reuniting this year. What was the impetus for the reunion?
RL: We saw the fun The Laymen are having and there seems to be a lot of interest in the old bands. Why not? We believe we may catch on with the younger people. Hearing a band that can actually sing and play their instruments may impress them.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The 13th Hour Glass?
RL: Playing in a band in the ‘60’s was a great experience. It’s what we all wanted to do. We worked hard and it was our way of life.
The current configuration of the 13th Hour Glass includes Tom Turner on rhythm guitar, bass and lead vocals; Robert Lewis on bass guitar, keyboards and backup vocals; Forrest Higgins on lead guitar and vocals; and Larry Kennedy on drums and vocals. For more information on the original line-up, see Tommy Ratchford’s comprehensive Pensacola memoirs here.
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| 13th Hour Glass Discography |
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'Try' b/w 'Young Blood' (Prestige 208)
'Keep on Running' b/w 'Indecision (Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It')(Format 5003)
'Baby Let's Wait' b/w 'Somebody Help Me' (Fiesta Five FF-101 )
'Reach Out And I Have You' b/w 'I Wish I Knew How To Make You' (Bell 736) (As Tommy Turner & The 13th Hour Glass) - According to Lewis, "The record by Tommy Turner and The 13th Hour Glass really had nothing to do with our band. It was just Tom and some studio musicians putting down a record for a local individual. We, as a band, were not on the recording."
Studio Sessions:
Recorded by Thom Smith at PJC Fine Arts Auditorium in May 1967. 'Somebody Help Me' and 'Baby Let's Wait' comprise the Fiesta Five release:
'Gimme Some Lovin'', 'Younger Girl', 'Six O'Clock', 'These Arms Of Mine', 'One By One', 'Do You Believe In Magic', 'Groovin', 'Help Me Girl', 'Hitchhike', 'Mr. You're A Better Man Than I', 'I'll Be Doggone', 'Taboo', 'Somebody Help Me', 'Baby Let's Wait', 'Security', ''Til There Was You', 'On Broadway', 'Since I Fell For You', 'Love Is A Hurting Thing', 'Ferry Cross The Mersey'.
Memphis Sessions July 1967. 'Keep On Runnin'' and 'Indecision' comprise the Format release:
'Keep On Runnin'', 'Indecision', 'The World Turns All Around Her', 'Queen Jane Approximately' (Tommy Ratchford contributed harmonica), 'He Was A Friend Of Mine' (Dave Dorman provided lead vocals), 'Knock On Wood', 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' (The Dickens provided backup vocals).
Note: During these sessions, Tommy Ratchford, Tommy Turner and Robert Lewis provided backup vocals on Little Johhny Dynamite's 'Fruit From Another Man's Tree.' Turner also sang backup on Dynamite's 'Baby (I Wish You Were Here)'.
Live Recordings:
Recorded at the National Guard Armory in November 1967 on a bill with ? & The Mysterians. Unfortunately, the below songs are only the portion of the performance that has survived:
'Sgt. Pepper' (Reprise), 'Sgt. Pepper' (Prologue), 'A Little Help From Friends', 'Purple Haze', 'Security', 'Hold On I'm Coming', 'Make It Easy On Yourself', 'Got To Get You Into My Life', 'Fire', 'Love Is A Beauitiful Thing' , 'Sgt.Pepper' (Reprise - Break Song).
Recorded at the National Guard Armory in Spring 1968 along with The Dickens and opening for The (faux) Zombies:
'Respect', 'Hitchhike', 'Got To Get You Into My Life', 'Fire', 'You Keep Me Hangin' On', 'I Thank You', 'Taxman', 'Midnight Hour', 'Hurts So Bad', 'Security.'
Recorded at the National Guard Armory in early summer 1968 with Larry Kennedy sitting in:
'Mustang Sally', 'Help Me Girl', 'Sunshine Of Your Love', 'Mighty Quinn', 'Summertime Blues', 'Since I Fell For You', 'The Wind Cries Mary', 'Hold On I'm Comin'.'
Recorded at the National Guard Armory in June 1968:
'I Thank You', 'You Don't Know (Like I Know)', 'Taxman', 'Midnight Hour', 'Security', 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg', 'Love Is A Hurting Thing', 'Swalbr', 'You Keep Me Hangin' On', 'Knock On Wood', 'Captain Soul', 'Twinetime - I'll Go Crazy', 'Do You Believe In Magic', 'I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better', 'It's My Life', 'Soul And Inspiration', 'Lady Madonna', 'Lonely Too Long.'
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