| The Cannons were among the most popular groups in Madison, Wisconsin - especially after recording the classic "Days Go By" at Cuca Records. As might be expected from a college town band, the group played many fraternities and university parties and opened for, among others, The Kingsmen and The Beach Boys. Bass player Jerry Cratsenberg and saxist and rhythm guitarist Peter Loeb formed the band and, although Loeb left to attend college and to get married, he was with them during their most popular period. |
An Interview with Peter Loeb
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Peter Loeb (PL): I've always been interested, since I can first remember. I started taking clarinet lessons when I was about eight (my father wanted a Benny Goodman). I started playing guitar when I was 12 or 13. When I was 15 I finally got a sax, which is what I wanted to play all along. I also started playing piano when I was 17 when my mother got one.
60s: Was The Cannons your first band?
PL: I started playing sax in a rock band when I was 17. That band was The Novells, in Madison. It must have been in about 1961-1962.
60s: Where and when was The Cannons formed?
PL: The Novells split up. The other guys included Shane Todd. They went on to form The Gentleman, then later Shane Todd and The Shane Gang. The Novells’ bass player, Jerry Cratsenberg, and I formed The Cannons. I’m not sure in what year - 1963 or 1964?
60s: Who all comprised The Cannons?
PL: Lee Larsen, singer; Mike Keilhofer, guitar; Mike Turk, drums; Jerry Cratsenberg, bass (replaced by Jim Perkins when Jerry went into the Army); Peter Loeb, sax and rhythm guitar.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
PL: We were a Top 40 cover band. We played whatever was popular and we were known for sounding "just like the record." We started out being influenced by R&B/soul/rock bands but after the British Invasion hit, we became more like The Beatles and Stones, and then slightly psychedelic, and so on. We also did pretty good country. I played in the band from about 1964 through 1967, so the sounds and bands that were popular in those years are what influenced our sound.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
PL: All over at many venues: teen dances all over Wisconsin and northern Illinois; beer bars (Wisconsin allowed 18 year olds to drink beer; there were lots of beer bars); frat parties at University of Wisconsin (major parties - remember, beer was legal at 18); special shows (we played on a bill with The Kingsmen and The Beach Boys); and backing up touring artists such as Jan & Dean
For six months or so we were the house band at a local bar four nights a week, and we toured during the summer to other Midwest music clubs, etc.
60s: What was the local rock and roll scene like in Madison in the '60's?
PL: It was very active. There were lots of local bands. They formed, swapped members, some members went on to later fame or careers as musicians, and some didn't. And there were several places to play: frat parties at the university, teen dances, and beer bars all over the state.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
PL: All over Wisconsin and northern Illinois, and once in a while a long trip to Michigan or Minnesota or Iowa.
60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
PL: Yes. They didn't necessarily have a name, just a local hall rented by whoever was putting on the dance. They would often be dances sponsored by the local radio station, or dances in northern Illinois sponsored by a Chicago radio station. These dances would feature a disk jockey from the station and a live band.
60s: Did The Cannons participate in any battle of the bands?
PL: Yes, a few times. We always won. I remember the biggest one also included my younger brother's band, The Grapes of Wrath. There were lots of bands. At the end, they declared it a tie between The Grapes of Wrath and The Cannons.
60s: Did The Cannons have a manager?
PL: No. The business manager of the band was Jerry Cratsenberg, the bass player. When he left to be in the Army, I became the business manager. We used to go through a booking agent, Ken Adamany, and then later on Gary Van Zeeland. Much of the time we did our own booking.
60s: How popular locally did The Cannons become?
PL: Very popular. For a while we were the top dog, but it depended on what venues you were playing. We might have been the kings of the teen dance circuit while someone else was the best frat party band, then we'd become the best frat band and someone else would be the most popular teen dance band. Then there was the beer bar circuit. We were most popular when we had our singles playing on the local radio station.
60s: What were the circumstances leading to The Cannons’ recording?
PL: There was three different situations: 1) A local music promoter wanted us to record “Sweet Georgia Brown” (b/w “Lonesome”). He produced the record. It was recorded at Cuca Records; 2) A local club owner where we played regularly produced a recording of an album's worth of cover tunes. It was never released; 3) After the British Invasion (resulted in) bands only recording originals, we recorded three original tunes and released two of them on a single 45 (“Days Go By” b/w “Love, Little Girl”). I guess it was produced and financed by the band, and released on one of the Cuca Records labels (Note: Night Owl).
60s: Where did The Cannons record?
PL: At Cuca Records in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. It was the only real recording studio around. Everybody recorded there. It was one great big room. I don't remember much about the recording, just that it was fun to be actually recording. Over the years since, I've done a fair amount of recording sessions with jazz and rock groups, and they were much more professional sessions, but in the ‘60s nobody really knew much about how to record so you pretty much made it up as you went along.
60s: Do you recall why wasn't the album of cover tunes was never released?
PL: (The album was recorded) while Jerry was still with the band, so it was in the early ‘60s - probably about 1963. It wasn't released because the guy who paid for it never could get a deal to release it. I think he wanted to retain control of the tapes/record and he could never get any interest in that. If he wanted to release it himself it would have cost a lot and he probably couldn't have gotten any distribution. Also, he may have been told by certain Chicago interests that the only way to distribute it was to sell it to them, and if he tried to distribute it himself, they'd make sure it went nowhere. This was the early ‘60s; music was controlled by bad guys.
60s: Did The Cannons write many original songs? Who was the band's primary songwriter?
PL: We started writing original songs after the British Invasion. The main songwriters were Mike Keilhofer (guitar) and Lee Larsen (singer). I don't know who did more of what; Mike wrote the music and probably some (most?) of the lyrics and Lee contributed to the lyrics. We recorded three of the original tunes, but I think they wrote several more.
60s: Do any other '60's Cannons recordings exist? Are there any vintage live recordings, or unreleased tracks?
PL: No live recordings and just the one unreleased track, an original titled “No Repetition”.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances?
PL: No.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
PL: I left the band in 1967 when I graduated college and went off to be married and go to graduate school at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The band continued for a little while without me, then broke up. Mike Keilhofer and Lee Larsen then started up playing again. I don't know what that band was called or when they played. (NOTE: According to Lee Larsen, Keilhofer and Larsen continued on as Libertine).
60s: Did you join or form any bands after The Cannons?
PL: I didn't start playing music again in bands until about 1974, in St. Louis. There were some informal, thrown-together improv bands called a number of things, one of which was The Martians. Then I moved to San Francisco where I've played off and on in a variety of bands. One was a jazz/rock instrumental band, Montara. Another was new wave originals, Dr. Woo Woo, and blues/soul/rock bands. One was The Tom Heavy Band. I've been playing in Wall of Blues for a few years now (www.wallofblues.com) and also have other side projects including a band that's been called, at various times, The Jukes, Whalebone, Get Rich, and probably some others that I can't remember
60s: How often, and where, does Wall of Blues perform?
PL: I'm what musicians call a weekend warrior now. We play a few times a month at clubs and other venues all around the San Francisco Bay Area.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Cannons?
PL: It was a great time. I learned to play rock 'n' roll sax in The Novells/Cannons, and I'm still doing it. We were a popular band, and we worked hard at it. The players were all good. Lee was a good singer/front man, Mike Keilhofer was a talented lead guitar, Mike Turk was the best drummer I ever played with, Jerry and then Jim were both reliable, solid bass players. I went from age 17 to age 22 playing in those bands, so that was my entire youth.
Special thanks to Lee Larsen for providing additional information… |
|
|
|
|
 |
