As primary songwriter for The Grifs, Barry Stacks penned some excellent songs including 'Catch A Ride' and 'Keep Dreamin.'' Now, some 40 years later, Stacks is still writing...but for the literary world. And, in June 2010, the future certainly looks bright for Stacks. He has a vampire series, All in Vein, completed and another book, The House on Marchant Street, that draws from his experiences while with The Grifs. Focusing on the era from the late '50s throughout the '70s, and concerning bands and music, the book figures to appeal to all fans of '60s rock and roll. Stacks graciously agreed to answer some questions for 60sgaragebands.com regarding his latest writing achievement...
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An Interview With Barry Stacks
60sgaragebands.com (60s): What inspired you to write a book that involves for a large part the '60s music scene?
Barry Stacks (BS): I had an idea about ten years ago; it was, I guess you could say, much like a “concept” album from back when we were kids. The “concept” album, like Sgt. Peppers, Days of Futures Past and the Bee Gees’ Odessa, always fascinated me. There’s this house back home in Gloucester that has had my attention since I was a kid. It’s a huge Victorian style home located on Marchant Street. It’s just stunning in its size and beauty. The idea I had was to build a “concept” book. I wanted to have each chapter in the book take place in a different room in the house. It would involve an old man looking back at his life through items found in the rooms, and through dreams. The music part was a given; I couldn’t avoid making the music of my bands, music I’d written, one of the main characters. Come to think of it, I’m not really sure I’ve ever read a book where the music discussed is actually a character in the book. The '60s and what happened to me during that decade was my frame of reference.
60s: Is a band a major part of the book? If so, what is the band's name?
BS: There are several bands that play major roles as the story unfolds. The old man in the book is sharing his memories with a teenaged neighbor, who has sort of become the old guy’s protégé. By the way, the old guy is Andrew Chamberlain. His young friend is Michael Khailenan. So, as the story opens, the first band introduced to the reader is Me and Them Guys. This is a band in transition. It’s the late '50s. They are the first band in their geographic area that incorporates vocals into their repertoire. Before they did vocals they were doing instrumentals like 'Telstar,' 'Walk, Don’t Run,' 'Tequila,' and stuff by bands like Johnny and The Hurricanes, Santo and Johnny and Link Wray and The Ray Men. As the story evolves Andrew ends up in the South, and later in California where a group called The Others finds some success--the kind of success The Grifs had. The Others later evolve into Jules Verne, which was the general direction I had in mind for The Grifs. Unfortunately, Jules Verne (in reality) became a group with no real members, but guests instead.
60s: How much of a factor did your experiences with The Grifs play when writing the book?
BS: The experiences I had with The Grifs were a huge part of the tapestry of this book. You need to understand that I always had a plan, much like Andrew’s plan. From 1958 through the early '70s each year brought me a little closer to my plan. Each year was a little better than the previous year. What happens in the book borders on an acid trip. The narrator, who loves to dream and has the ability to dial-a-dream, enters one of his favorite dreams. When he gets there he finds someone else (Andrew) inside his dream, dreaming his dream. It’s sort of a metaphor for what happened to The Grifs. After we broke up I looked around and saw all these musicians, all these bands, living my dream. I must say it was rather unsettling.
60s: Did you incorporate any true Grifs stories into the book (even if perhaps they were tweaked)?
BS: Oh, for sure…the tour stories, though embellished a bit in some situations, came right from my mental archives of The Grifs on the road. We’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth mentioning again. The years I spent with Bobby, Mike and Roy were the best years of my life. I was doing what I wanted to do. Until I recently retired and started seriously writing, the last 40 something years were just a waste of time, as far as I was concerned. Let’s be real here; all the time between the breakup of The Grifs and December 2009 was spent securing retirement benefits for myself so that I could do what I’ve always wanted to do. I really don’t see much difference between song writing and book writing. I wasn’t able to ever explain to anyone where the songs came from. The Grifs were a vehicle used to present songs that simply popped into my head. My books are pretty much the same thing. To be completely honest with you, there are characters in my vampire series that are there because of The Grifs. Had it not been for the time I spent with those guys I don’t think my life would have mattered very much. I learned so much from the experiences I had with those guys that The House on Marchant Street could never have been written without them.
60s: When will the book be available for ordering? How/where can it be ordered?
BS: As you know, I have another book out right now. It is, much like my songwriting days, something that almost wrote itself. I have no idea where the hell it came from; one day it was just there. My publisher said that The House on Marchant Street would be released about eight weeks after All in Vein. If folks go to my website, they can find links that will take them to ordering sources. Of course they can always order any of my books on amazon.com, but what would really be nice, if they don’t mind waiting, is to go to the local book store and get them to carry it. I’m not looking to get rich here, but I see film potential in both books. Neither book will ever get that far if I can’t get a buzz going, but you know that.
60s: If you could best describe the book in one sentence, what would it be?
BS: That’s a tough one, but I’ll give it a shot. If you’ve ever had the desire to kneel down by the front window on a tour bus in the 1960's and watch the lives of real rockers flash by before your eyes, The House on Marchant Street will put you right there kneeling next to the driver.
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Keep up-to-date on The House On Marchant Street and other Barry Stacks' projects by visiting his website...
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