It's 1966. Bob Dylan is preaching about the ills of society, and Barry McGuire's forecasting of the inevitable "Eve Of Destruction" is still fresh in everybody's minds. In Vermont, however, Dom Melchiore informs the local paper The Critic - in an article about his rock and roll band - that "we have nothing against the world." Melchiore is a member of Mott's Men, and Mott's Men, as The Critic article continues, "are not typical of the Rockers or the Mods. Mott's Men are only typical of Mott's Men."
Mott's Men - Lyndon, Vermont's sole rock and roll band of the 1960’s - have reached legendary status on the basis of their classic and catchy stomping tune, “She's So Mean”. As Phill Marder recalls, "we didn’t know a thing, had no experience, no guidance, and still accomplished so much at such a young age."
By Mike Dugo
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Like almost everything else associated with Mott's Men, the group's origin was a bit different than that of your normal, every day typical '60's teen garage band. Formed in 1965 at Lyndon State College in Vermont, though all members were from New Jersey, Mott's Men evolved after Phill Marder attended a school party. While watching a band play, Marder noticed that the drummer disappeared during a break. "I was pretty ripped," Marder recalls, "and told the (other) guys (in the band) I knew how to play so they asked me to sit in until he came back. He never came back and when the night was over they asked me to join the band. I said yes. That was the foundation."
Eventually, two distinct versions of the group would form. Marder explains: "One version played during the summer. That featured the Gallo brothers - Mike on lead guitar and his younger brother Bobby on bass; George Saliola on rhythm guitar; me on lead vocals and a little harmonica; and a sensational 15-year-old drummer named Billy, but I can’t remember his last name. This band played New York City and The Jersey Shore during the summer breaks and was a real hot group." The second version of the band played together while school was in session, and was the line-up that cut their lone single. George Saliola took over as lead guitarist while Marder, though reluctantly, went back to the drums. Dominick Melchiore played bass and Winnie Thomas played rhythm guitar. While this version was perhaps more versatile as a musical ensemble than the summer group was (Marder performed most of all the lead vocals in the summer band, but every member in the school version happened to be a good singer), they would play together for less than a year.
Melchiore was initially brought into the fold after the Gallo brothers' summer stint ended. "We needed a bass player when we went back to school," Marder recalls, "So I asked Dom to play. We had been friends since junior high school and went to college together. He had never played an instrument, but in two weeks he was playing with us. And if you listen to the bass runs in “She’s So Mean” you’ll see he was no weak link." Thomas, meanwhile, had been a folk singer on the Lower East side of New York and had even recorded a demo of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” in 1963 or thereabouts. He had replaced another rhythm guitar player named John Howland shortly after the band became somewhat stable. Although Marder no longer recalls Howland, Thomas believes that he may have "flunked out of school and went to Burlington to work." Whatever the case, it was Marder, Saliola, Melchiore, and Thomas that formed the core group that today is remembered as Mott's Men.
And just what is a Mott? According to Marder, the name "came from the Italians in my home town calling me 'Matta' instead of Marder. Then it became 'Motty' and eventually 'Mott.'" With such a unique moniker, it wasn't long before the band quickly became well known in Lyndon - and it wouldn't be much longer before they were the top group in the area. Of course, when there are no other rock bands to compete with, the rise to the top can become much shorter. Neither Thomas nor Marder recalls any other local bands during Mott's Men's time in the spotlight; in fact, in Marder's words, they "were the scene."
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Mott's Men played at bars and parties and from their beginning was the regular band on Saturday and Sunday nights at Gracie's, a bar in Lyndonville. They eventually became the house band there and used to pack the place every weekend, resulting in the bar constructing a little stage solely for the band's use. In addition, Mott's Men also played most of the ski resorts during the cold months, while in the summer months played at different clubs in New York City and the Jersey Shore. They also regularly played many record hops with Jerry Blavat, one of Philadelphia’s top deejays and television personalities.
During their appearances, Mott's Men was occasionally billed as "America's Answer to The Rolling Stones". It's not certain who thrust that lofty label upon the group, but it's not something the band originated. Marder elaborates: "We didn’t even know The Rolling Stones were a question, but if they were I’m not sure we were the answer. More likely, we could have been Vermont’s answer to ? & The Mysterians. (Or) they could have billed us as 'America’s Answer to Petula Clark.' I have no idea who came up with that, but it wasn’t us."
There's no denying, however, that The Stones and other British Invasion bands eventually had a profound influence on the band's sound. Still, The Critic summed up the band's music as such: "The Mott sound is music with a unique beat. It envelopes and surrounds you from all sides. Variations of the beat can induce a fierce release of emotions or it can induce the sentimental emotion found in a romantic relationship." Okay. Moving right along...
While the earlier "summer version" of the group played mostly "vintage" rock - songs such as “Memphis”, “Johnny B. Goode”, “Night Train”, “It’s Only Make Believe”, “One Night”, and “Great Balls Of Fire” - they'd also mix in “Good Lovin'”, “I Do”, “Out Of Sight”, and “Summertime”. The "school version" of the band, on the other hand, routinely played songs by the English crop of bands. They performed “I Can’t Control Myself” and “I Want You” by The Troggs, “Goodnight Baby” by The Searchers, “Help”, “It’s Only Love”, “Norwegian Wood”, and “Daytripper” by The Beatles, and quite a bit of Kinks' material, including “You Really Got Me”, “All Day and All of the Night”, “Set Me Free”, and “Tired Of Waiting For You”, along with some of their more obscure album cuts such as “Don’t You Fret”. They even played “A Well Respected Man” before it was released as a single.
Perhaps surprisingly for a local band of the time based in Vermont, Mott's Men's set list also included “I Can’t Help Myself” by The Four Tops, “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, “Don’t Blame It On Me” by The Association, “Children and Flowers” by The Critters and even “Little Darlin’” by The Diamonds (or Maurice Williams and The Gladiolas) and “Workin’ In The Coal Mine” and “Holy Cow” by Lee Dorsey. Rounding out their set were songs by The Beach Boys, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Byrds, and the obligatory covers of “Wooly Bully”, “Money”, “Louie Louie”, “Midnight Hour”, and “Gloria”. In addition to being quite versatile, the combo also happened to be loud. "Phill never learned how to play softly no matter what size room we were playing," Melchiore relates. "If we didn't crank up the amps, people might have thought they were listening to a four hour drum solo."
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The group's mixture of popular dance songs and British Invasion oddities, as well as their high volume, may have endeared them to paying customers, but the locals around Lyndon had an altogether different opinion of Mott and his Men. According to Marder, "the locals hated us - (they saw us as) long haired freaks. We couldn’t even get served at local diners. But we were very popular with the students and like I said earlier we packed the local club every weekend. Plus, our record was on the local jukeboxes and was played on the local radio station."
That record, “Comin’ Or Goin’” b/w “She's So Mean” (misprinted on the label as “She Is So Mean”) was recorded in a store front studio for Loren Records in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The recording contract was the result of Mott's Men's victorious entry in a battle of the bands competition that was attended by Loren Phelps, the owner of a local record store and owner of Loren Records. Thomas describes the experience as "the high point of my time in Vermont. We were four guys from different parts of New Jersey who met each other in a small school only a few miles from the Canadian border. None of us were accomplished musicians yet (there we were) with a recording contract and girls chasing after us. Who would've thought? Certainly not me. None of us could read music so we would spend hours together listening to and practicing the songs we were trying to learn how to play."
Marder adds, "I had never really heard this band because I was always in the back. We did a sound check playing “Lies” by The Knickerbockers. Then I listened to the playback through headphones. I couldn’t believe it was us. It really sounded that good. On our stuff, we did the instrumental part first, and then overdubbed the vocals. That was tough because everyone had to imagine the vocals in their heads. We did ‘Comin’ Or Goin’’ first, which we all sang on, with Winnie doing a rare falsetto, then ‘She’s So Mean’, which I sang alone. Between takes the guys had gone out to get lunch and what I remember most is Dominick stuffing a hoagie (grinder up in those parts) into his face while I was trying to sing. You know how Cookie Monster eats cookies, with the pieces flying all over the place? Well, that was Dominick eating that hoagie. And he always had a classic deadpan, which made it even funnier. I was laughing so much, I couldn’t sing right."
"If you listen closely on the second verse, you’ll hear me trying to get through it without crackin' up. I got so screwed up I forgot the words. I sang, 'she said I guess you spent it out paintin' the town. I said I gave it to my girlfriend to get out of town.' I rhymed 'town' with 'town.' The first line was supposed to be, 'she said I guess you spent it out running around.' I never realized it until I heard it on CD, but the phrase 'she’s so mean' never appears in the song! Maybe it was supposed to, and I forgot that, too."
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While the band excelled at performing cover versions, both songs on the single were Mott's Men originals. Marder recalls that "I wrote the basic songs and George added the guitar flourishes. I told him I wanted ‘Comin’ Or Goin’’ to sound like The Byrds and I think he did it. Then I ripped off the beginning of ‘Get Off My Cloud’ to start it. The drum touch on the end of both sides was my affectionate nod to Dave Clark. George was an amazing guy. I could tell him I want to do ‘19th Nervous Breakdown’ and he’d come back two hours later playing it like he wrote it. Since all I played was drums, I’d just sing him what I had in my head and he would figure out what needed to be played, and then show it to Dom and Winnie." Two thousand copies of the 45 were pressed and all, eventually, sold. Summarizing the quality of the recording, Marder relates that "I’ve seen some reviews of the Mott’s Men 45, calling it 'almost polished', 'top drawer,' etc. and when I listen to some of the other stuff on the CDs our record is on they sound real amateurish next to ours."
Although somewhat accomplished recording artists, Mott's Men unfortunately couldn't parlay that success into television...and in a round about way that misfortune led to the disintegration of the band. Thomas believes that they once auditioned for the Red Rose Tea Amateur Program but didn't make the cut.
"We were actually so bad we couldn’t make a program called the Red Rose Tea Amateur Program?" Marder asks incredulously. "I don’t remember that show or that audition at all. But when we were playing with Jerry Blavat we had the connection every young band hopes for. My father’s business partner was a very close friend of Blavat’s. That’s how we got to play his hops. At the time our record was out he had a national TV show and he was talking about putting us on the same show with Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels. But George was from North Jersey and all this was taking place in South Jersey and his family and his girlfriend didn’t like him being away all winter and then all summer, too. The summer of ’65 was okay, because I lived in North Jersey with the Gallos. But the summer of ’66, he would have had to spend most of his time in the Philly area. So he left. I was heartbroken. That was it. As far as I was concerned our career was finished."
When they went back to school the next fall, Dominick decided to stay home due to girlfriend troubles. Phill was still was upset at George's decision and consequently Mott's Men never reformed. Looking back, Marder believes he should have handled things differently. "When I got older I could understand everything better. We were just kids. When we went back to school, I should have worked with George to put things back together."
After Mott's Men disbanded, Winnie found regular work playing a few nights a week up through 1981; after taking a short break, he now currently plays a couple of times a month at Legion Halls and VFWs. Phill has been playing with the same band since 1969 but George and Dominick never performed again. The Mott's Men experience, however, has had a lasting impact on all their lives. Thomas describes it "a springboard for a passion I still enjoy. I loved it."
Melchiore is a bit more sentimental: "For the short time we spent together, I think we actually liked each other. From time to time I sometimes think about what might have been if we had stayed together as a band; not for the music, but as friends. I've had very few real friends in my life, but those hours I spent in that back room with Winnie, George and Phill will remain an experience I wouldn't trade for anything."
And Marder concurs. "It might have been the most fun I’ve ever had. We didn’t know a thing, had no experience, no guidance, and still accomplished so much at such a young age. We didn’t realize at the time how much potential we had. And every guy in both versions of the band was a great guy, really a lot of fun, smart, and had a good sense of humor."
"We had accomplished so much in such a short time and at such a young age," he continues. "I had told everyone (the 45) was our first record. It never occurred to me it would be our only record."
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The Recording of Mott's Men classic 1966 single, “Comin' or Goin'” and “She's So Mean” - From Discophonic Scene (03/08/1966) - By Mott
"...I am now in a position to tell you what's it like to cut a record.
First, we set up all our equipment. The engineer then positioned six $400 mikes in various areas until he obtained a proper sound balance.
We then played the instrumental part of side A. After about five or six takes we finally had the one we wanted.
The mikes were then switched around for the vocal recording. We used three mikes to record. Dom, Winnie and I each had one. George ate some potato chips.
The music was played back to us and we sang along with it. The first try came out good except that I was tapping my foot. We tried again and Winnie was too loud.
On the third try, Winnie's voice cracked. I forgot the words the fourth time. On the fifth try we almost had it and on the sixth take we made it. A tambourine was dubbed in with the vocal.
We then went to work on side B. After five tries and the instrumental part was dubbed 'okay'. I sang the solo vocal on this one and it only required one take. A tambourine was also dubbed in on this side.
The result of the six hour session was a room that looked like a hurricane had passed through it and the recording of “Comin' or Goin'” and “She's So Mean” which will be released around the first of April..."
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