On November 1, 2009 I attended the big Rhino Records celebration at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood for their new box set Where The Action Is! L.A. Nuggets 1965-1968. My 1967 song 'Tomorrow's Girl' is in the set and was originaly recorded by my group Merrell And The Exiles and was on the 1967 Fapardokly album.
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The Real Fapardokly Album
Merrell Fankhauser
November 2009
The Fapardokly album still brings nearly $1,000 for a sealed copy and is one of the most sought after albums from the '60s. I thought it was a good idea to bring a sealed original Fapardokly LP to the autograph session at the Egyptian Theater. I was sitting at a long autograph table with John Charles of The Knickerbokers, Mark Tulin of The Electric Prunes, Billy Hinsche of Dino, Desi and Billy, Van Dyke Parks, Bobby Hart (Monkees songwriter), Kim Fowley, and the creator of the Rhino box set, Andrew Sandavol. I laid the Fapardokly album on the table and I was amazed at the crowd of people that were agasp to see the album! One young musician who appeared to be in his twentys said, "Is this a real Fapardokly album? Can I touch it"? My band and I idolize this record!" It was quite a surprise to me how so many young people knew who I was and knew about the Fapardokly album!
Then the questions started coming from older fans and one guy said, "I heard there really wasnt a band that played live called Fapardokly." I would then have to tell the story that, "Yes...there was a band called Fapardokly, and we played at a club in Pismo Beach California for almost a year". And I made up the name by taking letters from the last names of everyone in the group at the time: 'FA' (Fankhauser), 'PAR' (Parrish, a temporary bass player), 'DO' (Dodd), and 'KLY' (Dick Lee, our drummer).
The real Fapardokly story goes back to the end of 1963 when I quit the surf band The Impacts in Pismo Beach and moved to the high desert area of Lancaster, California. There I met a young guitar player named Jeff Cotton and together with Jim Furguson on bass and Greg Hampton on drums we formed Merrell and The Exiles. We were discoverd by Glenn Records in nearby Palmdale and started recording in the small Glenn studio. I recorded one of my first vocals I had written back in 1961, 'Too Many Heartbreaks' and a new song 'Please Be Mine.' It came out as our first single on the Glenn label and got airplay in the Antelope Valley and in L.A., reaching #9 on the local station KUTY April, 1964.
Glenn then released another single in 1965, 'Send Me Your Love' and 'Don't Call On Me;' in 1966, 'Sorry For Yourself' and 'I Saw Susie Cryin';' and in 1967 'Tomorrow's Girl' and 'When I Get Home.' This was our best selling single and got national airplay and was even played on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. The Exiles lineup of members had already changed by this time, and this would be the last recording released by Merrell and The Exiles.
From 1964 to 1967 The Exiles and various studio players recorded enough material for more than two albums and even did sessions in Los Angeles studios that all ended up on the shelves at Glenn Records in Palmdale. Around May of 1967 I moved back to the central California coast and formed Fapardokly and began playing at The Cove nightclub in Pismo Beach. About two months later Glenn Records called and said they would like to put out an album with some of the songs on the shelf and a few new ones. So we made the trip to Glenn's studio in Palmdale, recorded several songs and even went down to Gold Star studios in Hollywood and recorded a song and delivered it to Glenn and told him the band was now called "Fapardokly."
Glenn randomly selected songs from their archives and released the Fapardokly album on a subsidiary label UIP Records #2250 in late 1967. The confusing part is the songs were not in chronlogical order--mixing new and old together and not really saying who played on what track. It just had a list of musicians that contributed to the album. Below is a listing of the songs with dates, studio and musicians.
Side 1:
1. Lila
Recorded 1966 at Gary Paxton Studio, Hollywood.
Merrell - vocal and guitar; Mark Thompson - organ; Jody Cobb, bass; John Parr, drums; Don Aldridge - vocals; and Gary Lotspeich - vocals.
2. The Music Scene
Recorded 1967 at Gold Star, Hollywood as Fapardokly.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Bill Dodd - vocals and guitar; John Oliver - vocals and bass; and Dick Lee - drums.
3.Sorry For Your Self
Recorded 1965 at Glenn Records as Merrell and The Exiles.
Merrell - vocals and guitar, Larry Willey - vocals and guitar; Jim Furguson - bass; Greg Hampton - drums; John Day -organ.
4.Glass Chandelier
Recorded 1966 at Gary Paxton Studio, Hollywood.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Mark Thompson - organ; Jody Cobb - bass; John Parr - drums; Don Aldridger - vocals; and Gary Lotspeich -vocals.
5. Tomorrow's Girl
Recorded 1967 at Audio Arts Studio, Hollywood as Merrell And The Exiles.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Larry Willey - vocals and bass; Mark Thompson - organ; and Randy Wimer - drums.
6. I Saw Suzie Cryin'
Recorded 1965 at Glenn Records as Merrell and The Exiles.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Jim Furguson - bass; Greg Hampton - drums; John Day - organ; and Bruce Ulch - trumpet.
Side 2:
1. Mr. Clock
Recorded 1966 Paxton Studio, Hollywood.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Mark Thompson - organ; Jody Cobb - bass; John Parr - drums; Don Aldridge - vocals; and Gary Lotspeich - vocals.
2. Gone To Pot
Recorded 1967 at Glenn Records as Fapardokly.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Bill Dodd - vocals and guitar; John Oliver - vocals and bass; and Dick Lee -drums.
3. No Retreat
Recorded 1967 at Glenn Records as Fapardokly.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Bill Dodd - vocals and guitar; John Oliver - vocals and bass; and Dick Lee - drums.
4. Too Many Heartbreaks
Recorded January, 1964 at Glenn Records, Palmdale as Merrell and The Exiles.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Jeff Cotton - guitar; Jim Furguson - bass; and Greg Hampton - drums.
5. When I Get Home
Recorded at Audio Arts Studio, Hollywood, January 1967 as Merrell and The Exiles.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Mark Thompson - organ; Larry Willey - vocals and bass; and Randy Wimer - drums.
6. Supermarket
Recorded 1966 at Paxton Studio, Hollywood.
Merrell - vocals and guitar; Mark Thompson - organ; Jody Cobb - bass; John Parr - drums; and Bruce Ulch - trumpet.
There were actually only three songs on the Fapardokly album by the band Fapardokly; four songs by the studio group that were never released under any band name; and five songs by Merrell and The Exiles on the album. The remainder of the Merrell and The Exiles songs that were left on the shelves at Glenn Records eventually saw the light of day in the early nineties on two limited edition LPs and CDs. Nobody would have ever thought that the Fapardokly album would end up being one of the most valuable and highly sought after historical recordings of the 1960s!
Bill Dodd and I later went on to form HMS Bounty in 1968 and released an album titled Things on Uni Records. I later got back together with Jeff Cotton , Larry Willey and Randy Wimer and formed the band MU in 1969. I continue on a solo journey with new releases and have even recorded three new albums of instrumental surf music titled Rockin' and Surfin' Volumes 1, 2 and 3.
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