Topeka's Burlington Express are best known for their two-sided winner, 'One Day Girl' b/w 'Memories.' Greg Hartline (aka Greg Gucker) had a hand in writing both songs. In addition to providing many of the band's originals, Hartline was the group's lead guitarist. Although a driving member of The Express, Hartline was asked to leave the group sometime in 1968, due to their leaning towards a bluesier sound. He harbors no ill feelings, however, and is quick to identify the group's--and each individual member's--particular strengths. Hartline would later join White Clover and, although he lost track of The Burlington Express, he looks back at his time with the band with great fondness.
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An Interview With Greg Hartline
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Greg Hartline (GH): I was thrilled with The Everly Brothers before The Beatles broke. When I first heard 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' I actually thought it was The Everlys with a new, more driving sound. When I subsequently discovered The Beatles, I was totally hooked--as were most of my peer group. It didn't take long to be consumed by the entire British Invasion. I loved it all. I quickly became a music junkie.
60s: Was Burlington Express your first band?
GH: I started playing guitar in what was essentially a duo. It was just my talented neighbor, Steve Ladner, and me. There were no gigs. Steve was more advanced than I and he introduced me to barre chords so I could back him up on various hits by The Ventures and other surf guitar bands. We played 'Walk Don't Run,' 'Perfidia,' 'Pipeline,' 'Wipeout,' etc.
I don't remember how I stumbled into The Mods, but the barre chords that Steve taught me turned out to open that door for me. It also helped that I was not afraid to sing. The Mods became The Burlington Express after a year or so. I remember that it seemed like every kid on the block aspired to play in a band at the time. There were lots and lots of garage groups in Topeka.
I was probably with The Burlington Express (and The Mods) from about 1965 to sometime in 1968. These were musically formative years for me.
60s: Where was The Burlington Express formed?
GH: I am not sure how it all came together. I just remember rehearsing in all of our homes and getting complaints from the neighbors about the volume. We were very dedicated. Probably because none of us could play football!
Blair Honeyman played bass and sang. Blair was always a fine vocalist and the young girls thought he was pretty hot. Mike West was originally trumpet player and actually played trumpet on one tune that I wrote, 'Black Hearted Woman.' Mike was a gifted multi-instrumentalist who performed on guitar, keyboard and harmonica. He also sang and, when he sang, he sang with lots of energy. He is a very talented guy. Eric Larson was our drummer. He was also a very spirited fellow.
In about 1967 (I think) Blair left the group and was replaced by Bruce Lynn, bassist and vocalist. Both of these gents are fine musicians and good singers. I enjoyed working with both Blair and Bruce.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
GH: We were a British Invasion influenced group. In those days, you tended to be either a Brit band or a soul band of some kind. I'm sure both of these types of groups played some of each genre, but The Burlington Express strongly identified with the whole English sound and the look of those bands. I remember doing songs by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Animals, The Dave Clark 5, The Who and quite a bit of material that we covered by The Yardbirds. We also wrote some tunes. Additionally, we did some R&B like 'Harlem Shuffle,' 'Midnight Hour' and a couple of James Brown numbers that Mike West sang quite well.
60s: What was the Topeka rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
GH: I could write a book on that if I had the time and the memory to make it happen. Due to the unbelievable force of The Beatles, music was of preeminent importance to our youthful culture. There was always something going on. There were many school dances and, when we drove to Lawrence, Manhattan or Emporia there were fraternity party gigs. We played sand bar parties and even a car wash once! We played a little restaurant gig at The Lucky 5 where they had a dance floor and lots of partiers.
One of the more high profile gigs to get in Topeka was at Meadow Acres. It was kind of an old school big band room that was slowly adapting to the wave of rock bands that were popular in town. There were a few other clubs in and around Topeka that we played frequently. It was always a kick when we got to play The Red Dog Inn in Lawrence. It is where so many of our high profile mentors performed.
Club Four Corners comes to mind as a frequent stop as well as Pop's Pizza Parlor in Concordia and some little clubs in Emporia, Holton and Mayetta. We also played regularly in Moberly, Missouri and we were in frequent rotation at The Place in Westport (in Kansas City). Breaking into the Kansas City circuit was of paramount importance to us because we played lots of Kansas City Art Institute parties and some auto shows and functions in the Kansas City area. We traveled a bit in Nebraska, South Dakota and Colorado as well. I think we may have played in Oklahoma a few times. But, all things considered, we were a Topeka-based band just trying to extend our reach into something bigger.
60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
GH: I only remember The Empress Club which was a Sunday night gig and the occasional Crestview Recreation Center job, which was decidedly a teeny bopper venue.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
GH: Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado and Oklahoma (I think).
60s: Did The Burlington Express participate in any battle of the bands?
GH: I do remember that we had some success at a battle of the bands at Meadow Acres. I believe that The Blue Things opened the show (but they were not in the contest.) I think that there was a group called The Soul Searchers with Larry Frost on bass that played in the contest. I have a vague memory of winning the battle but I think what put us over the top was the introduction of our "Psychedelic Strobe Lights." They were a big surprise and the audience seemed to be wowed by this visual effect. Amazing in retrospect!
I have some distant memory that we may have lost a battle of the bands at one time, but I really can't remember the particulars.
60s: Did The Burlington Express have a manager?
GH: Our manager was Jim Nash. He was a friend of a friend and we were introduced. Jim has, unfortunately, passed away, but we owe a great deal to his vision, his creativity and his aggressiveness. Jim was a genius. He was as important a member of our organization as anyone on stage.
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60s: What were the circumstances leading to the recording of the Cavern Records 45?
GH: I think that we decided that we ought to have a record in order to be real "recording artists." As I remember, Bill Honeyman (Blair's dad) and my father financed the whole thing and we eventually paid them back--slowly. The Cavern studio was a bizarre place built in a cave. It was our first attempt at making a record. Blair, Eric and I were still in high school at Topeka West when we did that. I think Mike West was studying music in his first year at Washburn University.
60s: How did you hook up with The Blue Things' Michael Chapman, who produced the record?
GH: I had taken a couple of guitar lessons from Mike Chapman. He was, probably, about 24, married, a father and a rock star. He was, by my standards, a man of the world! He even had a recording contract with The Blue Things on RCA. This made him pretty much "Rock Royalty" in our world. When we knew that we were going to try to make a recording we realized that none of us knew anything about this. (Remember, Mike West was probably 18, I was about 17, and Blair and Eric were probably about 16 or so). We were all pretty wet behind the ears, and we had zero experience recording. We asked Mike Chapman to come into the studio to help us with the process. He was our "Producer." I remember Mike to be a very talented guy. I also remember that alcohol was involved in the production of the record.
The band recorded our little 45 at The Cavern studios outside of Kansas City. We also did a few sessions at Audio House in Lawrence. I only remember that there was not much overdubbing, if any. I know that we overdubbed some vocals on 'I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better' at the Audio House sessions. We were, in my opinion, a much better live band than we were a recording band. We could never afford to spend enough time in a studio to get really good at it. That is unfortunate. It would have greatly impacted our growth as musicians in a profoundly positive way. We were a pretty exciting band live due to our youthful energy and all-consuming committment to the art.
60s: Were you the band's primary songwriter?
GH: We did not have a large book of originals. I suppose that I wrote more than most of the other guys. And I was, by no means, a prolific songwriter. I wrote a couple of tunes towards the end of the band's run that I liked but they were never recorded. I can't remember Mike writing anything on his own, although he would have been plenty capable. He was the most schooled musician among us at the time. We were all very young and caught up in the moment.
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60s: 'One Gay Girl' is credited to you and Mike. Did you write with Mike often?
GH: No. In retrospect, I wish I would have pushed him to do that. Then he probably would have pushed me back! And we would both have been better because of it.
60s: In addition to the 45, there are several other surviving Burlington Express demos/recordings, including the Audio House sessions you've allued to. Were you involved in all the band's recordings?
GH: Yes, I was always involved to the best of my knowledge. The only variable in the lineup would have been when Bruce Lynn replaced Blair Honeyman for the last year or so of the group's existence.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? Does any home movie film footage exist of the band?
GH: Sadly, there is none.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
GH: I left the group sometime in 1968, I think. I was not surprised when I was asked to leave, but it's all a little hazy. I have some memory that we had some serious differences about the direction that we were going in. My perspective is that I was a little more of a pop/rocker than a blues guy. The rest of the group was getting into the blues pretty heavy. Also, I was the only member who was living in Lawrence and attending Kansas University. The rest of the band was definitely Topeka based.
Almost immediately, I had the good fortune to hook up with White Clover for about a year. The year with Clover consumed my attention. I was also still a KU student and involved with all of that time consuming experience. Clover was wildly successful in ways that I couldn't have imagined largely due to our New Orleans experiences. White Clover was actually a real fine band. So, I didn't really keep up with The Burlington Express and what happened to them after I left but I don't think they lasted too long.
I think that the band had just kind of ran its course. After I was out, I wished the remaining members the best, but it was many, many years before I reconnected with any of the guys. At the time of this writing, I still haven't been able to locate Mike or Eric although I have tried. I've had some communication with Bruce and with Blair.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Burlington Express?
GH: The Burlington Express was a really fun young group. We had many great successes. We performed a lot. Every weekend we had gigs. We were regarded, I think, as a pretty hip band for our little world. I really enjoyed playing in Kansas City and, especially, opening for The Who. I learned so much by being a part of the whole experience. All things considered, even though there were some tough times and some disappointments, I greatly value the experience as a whole and would not want to trade it for anything. I hope that all the other members of the band feel the same way. I wish all of them my best. They are a bunch of talented fellows and we shared some unbelievable experiences.
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45s:
One Day Girl b/w Memories (Cavern Records No. 2207)
Demos:
Stroll On
I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better
Audio House Sessions (August 1968):
Black Hearted Woman (Greg Gucker)
If I Were Free (Greg Gucker, also later recorded with White Clover)
Listen Closely (Greg Gucker)
Mr. Destiny (Greg Gucker, also later recorded with White Clover)
Audio House Demo:
I Can't Keep From Crying
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Photos courtesy Bill Lee.
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