60sgaragebands.com (60s): Ron Pruitt described the Bare Facts' sound as "blue-eyed soul," yet the two songs that you wrote for the group are now highly desirable to garage rock collectors. How would you describe the band's sound? What were your influences while writing 'Georgiana' and 'Bad Part of Town'?
Boyd Williams (BW): It was a conglomeration of playing in local bars, watching Shindig on TV, and trying to incorporate the entertainment influences of the day. Of course we used the same instrumentation as The Beatles; we listened to those guys a lot. I was also listening to James Brown, Aretha Franklin, The Righteous Brothers, and then the English Invasion. So, we were just a bunch of kids in Appalachia who against all odds came up with a top 30 record.
60s: How many songs had you written during your Bare Facts stint? Both songs on the second single were written by Dave Craycraft. Had you written other songs at the time that could have been considered for that second single release?
BW: Just the two songs, but we did have many of our own arrangements of cover tunes. That’s all the original material we had.
60s: You recorded at Jay Gee/Jubilee Records. What do you remember about the recording sessions?
BW: I remember they had some good German microphones and they used the old Ampex recorders with those big, black knobs on them. I know we had multi-track recording because I mixed the background vocals on ‘To Think’ and ‘The Only Thing.’ So, we were using multi-track equipment.
I used my Fender Band Master amp and I also had a Gibson amp. I used a Gibson 335 guitar on all four recordings. On ‘Georgiana,’ I put one end of my harmonica in a Mason jar to try to get a more original sound out of it.
I remember they had a Hammond C-3 organ in the studio. It was the most professional recording studio we had seen at that time. We rehearsed in a rehearsal room that The Beatles used for rehearsal for The Ed Sullivan Show. John Lennon had scratched his last name into the wall with something sharp. We all thought that was kinda neat.
60s: I touched upon this with Ron...but you do recall if there are differences between the demo versions of 'Georgiana' and 'Bad Part of Town,' or were they the same recordings?
BW: They were all the same recordings. They were made from the same masters. I’m sure of that.
60s: Do any other '60's Bare Facts recordings exist? Are there any vintage live recordings, or unreleased tracks?
BW: No. Not that I know about.
60s: To what do you attribute the endearing popularity of both 'Georgiana' and 'Bad Part of Town'?
BW: Actually, I was shocked. I had no idea about the popularity until about three years ago. I do think that it captured the “sound” of an era. And, I essentially have the same “musical fingerprint” in my work today. You can hear some of my home studio recordings and demo work at my Web site, as well as my most sophisticated product recently released. It also is being very well received.
And…fans might be interested in my updated version of 'Georgiana,' which I recorded at my home studio. It’s on my Web site.
I’m a graduate of the world famous Recording Workshop and a life-long professional musician and hope to put up some recording tips that might help the garage band musicians a bit. Some of the best in the industry helped me over the years and gave me invaluable tips. I’d like to pass some things on, too.
Thank you for your interest in the music.
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