An Interview With Hank Mayberry
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Hank Mayberry (HM): My first interest in music began at the age of about 8-9 years old (I think) when I lived in my native state New Jersey. One night while watching The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Ricky Nelson closed the show singing ‘Be Bop Baby’ to a crowd of swooning teenage girls. It was that very moment I remember saying to myself, “Now that’s what I want to do.” ‘Be Bop Baby’ was also the first record I ever bought. I played trumpet for four years, but my real passion was singing. I had sung in school choirs, but enjoyed singing solo the most. Being shy I never forced the issue to do so while in a choir, but once I moved to Ohio I started to take a more active interest in joining a band and becoming what Rick Nelson had inspired me to do so long ago.
60s: Was The Daybreakers your first band?
HM: No. They weren’t the first or the last. My first real band was The Virtues, which was formed after I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in March of 1963, attending ninth grade at Greenhills High School. That is where I met Bob Monday and Earl Hamilton. The Virtues were my first real band and I remember one of our first gigs was a battle of the bands in Forest Park, Ohio and we won. The band received $35. We played the song ‘Kansas City’ to win it and it was our first paying gig! We then celebrated at Frisch’s Big Boy Restaurant and spent our $5 a piece winnings!
How long were The Virtues together?
HM: That band was together about four years and eventually morphed into The Daybreakers after some personnel changes.
The Daybreakers were formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1965. The Daybreakers started out in 1965-1966 as Billy Dawn and The Daybreakers: Billy Dawn, Hank Mayberry, Bob Monday, Earl Hamilton, Gene Cornwell and Jerry Hignite. Billy Dawn (Bill Lape) worked with Billy Joe Royal in the early days and was a fifth grade teacher. He gave his class his stage name “Billy Dawn” and asked them to choose a name for the band. The kids choose “The Daybreakers” and so the name was born. Billy Dawn was able to get us the Playboy Club and a few other choice gigs until we mutually decided to go our separate ways. It was during this period of time I learned to play organ with the band and Earl and I took turns on lead vocals when Billy Dawn was not on stage singing.
In 1966 we became just…The Daybreakers: Hank Mayberry and Bob Monday (Earl chose to leave us at this time) with Gene Cornwell and a new member from Bucyrus, Ohio, a fantastic drummer Davy Anslow. Eventually Gene was replaced with Jon Hargis on bass. In 1967-1968 Jon left the band and Wilgus Hicks took his place. During this time the band entered their most creative period and to this day I think was the best of all The Daybreaker bands. We started doing our own arrangements of other people’s music and with a lot of help from Wilgus, writing some of our own original songs together. In 1968 The Daybreakers recorded a demo for Capitol Records and we almost seemed to be on our way, but as happened to so many bands…we never got the record deal with Capitol nor a possible one with Epic Records either.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
HM: Ah, yes…our sound. In my opinion, The Daybreakers were loud, emotional, visual and consistent. What I mean by that is, yes, we were loud but we were powerful and emotionally tight together. We gave you something to look at as well as listen to, and in those days and even now most local bands lack any kind of visual performance. We paid attention to details, not only to our sound, but our stage clothes, etc. Both the band, and I as frontman, did everything we could to keep your attention and give you something to watch. As you can tell I am still proud of this band even today. We strived to play and perform our best with the same consistency at every performance. Influences were The Small Faces, Young Rascals and The Who. Also The Beatles, Cream, Hendrix and many others.
60s: What was the Cincy rock and roll scene like in the '60's?
HM: In the ‘60’s we were all trying to be very hip. Clifton was the area of town where most of the clubs we played were. Calhoun Street was the main drag to congregate, especially after dark. It was like a page out of San Francisco. Calhoun Street was on the out skirts of the University of Cincinnati campus. Up and down the street were head shops selling everything from psychedelic handmade clothes and boots to pipes and “supplies.” There was a very heavy open drug scene at the time but, as all of us know, it was innocent compared to what is going down on today streets. I saw the whole scene repeated somewhat in other towns—Mansfield, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky—but looking back I think Cincinnati was really the epicenter at that time for the tri-state area and did it best. I often wish I could close my eyes and go back.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
HM: Locally we played in Clifton a lot at The Round Table and we played The Mug Club. We played a teen club called Granny’s and another place called The Cellar in Forest Park, Ohio. I know there were other clubs, but I can’t remember them. We did University of Cincinnati and Miami University in Oxford Ohio, bars and frat parties. We also did a lot of dances for WSAI Radio, numerous high school dances and teen dances, and shopping centers anywhere and everywhere. I remember in 1969 playing at a Withamsville, Ohio teen dance and watching Ohio native Neil Armstrong walk on the moon on a small TV while on our break.
60s: Did The Daybreakers participate in any battle of the bands?
HM: By the time I was in The Daybreakers we were pretty much out of any battle of the bands stuff. We were hired to play whatever the gig was and no longer dependant on winning a competition to get paid. The radio stations used to love having those battles of the bands. You could get three to six bands all playing for a dance that charged admission at the door and the winning band (and the disc jockey) were the only ones to get paid!
Other local bands in Cincy at the time were: Ivan & The Sabers, Lemon Pipers, Haymarket Riot, Them, and The Us Too Group. I would have to say my favorite was Ivan and The Sabers. Some of the members of our two bands lived together for a time. A lot of nights after we arrived back at our apartment complex after both groups had finished their night’s work we would get together. Along with the apartment complex manager, Tim, we spent many memorable nights talking about and listening to music together. The Sabers were an excellent band and we really got along well together. Their drummer Artie is currently in a band in Nashville and is still our good friend.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
HM: The Daybreakers played all over Ohio and I mean all over Ohio. I had a map of the state of Ohio and would put a black dot over each town we played and that map had dots all over it covering everywhere in Ohio except a small area in the south east section. We booked ourselves and were booked through AJaye Entertainment and American Talent. We also played in Indiana, Kentucky and New York. And we recorded in Cincy, Philly and Nashville. Weplayed several concerts with well known bands including a show at the Kaleidoscope in Louisville with Steppenwolf.
60s: Did The Daybreakers have a manager?
HM: Originally Andy Apperson was our manager. He managed The Ohio Express and The Music Explosion and several other groups up in Northern Ohio. (He was from Ashland, Ohio.) When Andy came to Cincinnati he saw us and became our manager. American Talent was his and Bob Musselman’s booking agency. He was in large part responsible for us playing so much up in northern Ohio and less and less in Cincinnati. As we shared the same manager with The Ohio Express and The Music Explosion we became friends with both groups. We really bonded with The Music Explosion and had some great times together. We recorded an instrumental backing track for their album at Cameo-Parkway Studios in Philadelphia. Our next manager, Lou Bassett, would be the one to catch the attention of Buzz Wilburn of Capitol Records.
60s: Do you recall the name of the Music Explosion song?
HM: It was the album Little Bit O’Soul. It’s on side “B,” the second track called ‘Let Yourself Go.’ We were at the studio in Philly with hopes of signing a recording contract with Super K. They decided they didn’t like my voice because it wasn’t raspy like Jamie Lyons; it was too “sweet” sounding. I will never forget how devastated I was at the time sitting at the airport waiting to go home. My bandmates really rallied around me, they gave me their support and made me feel so much better saying, “they don’t know anything," and “you’re a great singer.” I felt I had let the band down. I will never forget them for that, because it meant so much to me. Getting back to your question, since we were already in the studio that day we were directed to play an instrumental arrangement back and forth of 'Tobacoo Road' and 'Shout.' I remember playing the studio Hammond B3 and wondering how many famous musicians’ hands had played those keys? We had no idea what they (Jeff & Jerry of Super K) could possibly want with it, until the record came out. We never minded it though because The Explosion were our buddies and I think we were all glad just to be a part of their album in some small way. I know we wished we had been listed in the credits, but they had nothing to do with that choice. Burton and Rick (of The Music Explosion) are still in touch and Bob and I saw Burton and the new band play last summer. Sadly Tudor and Jamie have passed away. Don’t get me started on Jamie Lyons; he just simply one of a kind.
60s: How popular locally did The Daybreakers become?
HM: Of course we were never as popular as I would have liked. We were always kept busy with gigs and people seemed to really have a good time when we played. Cincinnati was a pretty big town for bands, but we spent a lot of time out on the road so we weren’t here to work the area as much as some groups were. I will put it this way: We were never the number one band in town, but I considered us to be in the top three or four. We were really well received across the state when we played on the road.
60s: What were the circumstances leading to the Daybreakers' demo recording?
HM: Our manager Lou Bassett arranged the session for us so that he would have something to present to Capitol Records. It worked and the Midwest representative for Capitol, Buzz Wilburn (years later to become president of Capitol Records), started coming to our gigs and arranging for Capitol to send an A&R man out from Los Angeles to go over our original material with us. Some of the songs were ours and some were rearrangements of previous recordings. ‘Every Little Thing,’ ‘Baby Blue,’ ‘My Boat,’ ‘You’ve Got Me Humm’in,’ ‘I’m A Fool For Ya’ and ‘The Sky Last Forever.’ I recently dug the demo tape out of storage that we did for Capitol Records and transferred it to CD. I wish I had had the studio master to work with, but it is lost. It was recorded in 1968 at Jewel Studios in Mt Healthy, Ohio. I gave them as gifts to the members of the band and our friends and family (Yes…we are still friends after 40 years).
Jewel Studios in Mt Healthy is still in business today. They only had four-tracks which wasn’t uncommon in those days. You have to really work at it to get all you want crammed into just four tracks. I remember the studio had a set of drums made with solid aluminum shells that Davy really liked so he used them for the session. We also recorded at the Columbia Studio in Nashville, but I can’t remember what we recorded there. (You know what they say about the ‘60s.) I do remember the entire studio was said to be suspended on railroad car springs to dampen any vibrations from the surrounding area. As I recall it was a large studio too, much larger than most of the studios I have been in since.
60s: Why weren’t any of the songs recorded for the Capitol sessions ever released?
HM: We made the demo as an example of what we could do, but not as a “good enough to release” recording. In those days the record company put you in the studio, unlike business today. I think our manager paid for it and that is why none of us have the studio master but only a two-track copy. Capitol had seen our live shows many times at that point and wanted something to actually test our sound in a studio environment. Since they decided in the final end not to take the band we never had recordings really fit for release. Actually when we got the bad news from our manager and Buzz Wilburn they asked to next speak to me. They were both on the phone and both telling me that although they didn’t want the band they still wanted me and wanted to place me with another band in Los Angeles. I immediately refused because I felt a strong allegiance to The Daybreakers and at that point hoped we could still make it together. They asked, “Are you sure?” I said “yes” and that was the last I ever heard of it. At eighteen years old it never occurred to me that if I could have managed to get myself established with something maybe I could have later pulled all of us into it, but I didn’t take time to think it out.
60s: You also mentioned a possible deal with Epic Records. What happened there? Was this before or after the Capitol sessions?
HM: Whoa…now your trying to dig deep into my fading memory! Epic was kind of floating around town talking to bands that they saw playing and thought they might be interested in. I don’t recall much more than the fact it was one of those brief moments when we thought we might have a shot with them. It may have been around the same time as the Capitol dealings, but Capitol was the one actively seeking us out and showing up at our gigs and, hey, they had The Beatles!
60s: Did The Daybreakers write many original songs? Who was the band's primary songwriter?
HM: I had tried my hand at writing in the early on and we did a couple of my songs in The Virtues, but when Wilgus joined he was by far a head of the rest of us in composing. We each added to the mix to complete the process but Wil was able to bring us songs we all wanted to work on as a band. ‘Dexter The Method Actor’ was one of my favorites. It was a Who-style song about, well, drugs. What else was a better subject in the 1960s?
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? Does any home movie film footage exist of the band?
HM: Unfortunately back in the ‘60’s getting any film footage was hard to come by. I have nothing but photographs of The Daybreakers. I was fortunate to have appeared on many television shows over the span of my music career, but The Daybreakers only appeared on one TV show. It was a local Cincinnati Channel 12 show called House Party hosted by the late Gelnn Ryle, a much beloved local TV personality.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
HM: We played our last gig at The Mansfield Ski Lodge on July 22, 1969 (The first photo was taken that night). After having all our hopes dashed by losing out on the Capitol deal the energy level of the band was quickly reduced to zero. Maybe we could have held it together and now I wish we had, but the fact of the matter was we were young and foolish and thought the solution would be found in the next band yet to come, so we all moved on.
Right after the band broke up I joined The Ohio Express. (We had been offered the chance six months earlier to actually become The Ohio Express, but turned it down thinking we would make it as The Daybreakers and be much happier by doing so.) I went on tour playing my Hammond organ and getting out front to sing a few songs (but not the hits). Wilgus would join me shortly, but disaster struck just before leaving for a European tour and half the band stayed in the states and the other half went. (It’s a long story.) That was the end of The Ohio Express until later when more of the original members put it back together again.
I continued to play up until about five years ago. After The Ohio Express, I played in more of The Daybreakers in 1971 and also Allenby, Bluerock, Oz Bufu, Samson and Second Wind. I put The Daybreakers back together one more time in1985 with an all-new lineup. In my last band (1998-2003) I was fronting a nine-piece band (with a five-piece horn section). They are still playing here in Cincinnati and called Second Wind.
60s: How often, and where, do you perform today? What keeps you busy?
HM: I grew tired of playing out and now I have a home studio where I can play and record whenever and whatever I want to. After the 1968 Daybreakers ended I got married and started a family. From that time on I always somehow balanced my music career with working a regular job to make ends meet for my family. I have been employed for the past 30 years by a large aerospace company doing cad design/programming work.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Daybreakers?
HM: I’m glad you asked this question. Bob and I have been very close friends and constant since The Virtues in 1963. He still lives just a mile down the road from me. Wilgus moved away a longtime ago and no one knew where he was for decades, but everyone hoped to hear from him someday. Davy our drummer would come into and out of our lives over the years but in the past 5-10 years we lost touch with him also. In 2006 I heard that Davy had cancer and was dying. My wife diligently managed to track down Wilgus using the Internet and I was then able to make long distance contact with him and told him the bad news about Davy. In the summer of 2006 The 1968 Daybreakers once again took the stage together. Davy, although terminally ill, somehow managed to play the drums with us and he was amazing. We played some of the tunes from the CD for all our friends. It was the last time we would all take the stage together again because Davy died that November. I’ve been in many bands over the past 40 years, but the four of us shared something special during that short time in our young lives. The band was really not that important compared to the friendships that I still share with the remaining members and the memories we share together as brothers of The 1968 Daybreakers.
Daybreakers (1965)
Bob Monday - Lead six-string and twelve-string guitars, lead vocals and very strong back up harmony
Hank Mayberry - Lead vocalist, Hammond organ, harmonica and percussion
Earl Hamilton - Vocals and guitar
Jerry Hignite - Drums
Gene Cornwell - Bass
Daybreakers (1966)
Bob Monday - Lead six-string and twelve-string guitars, lead vocals and very strong back up harmony
Hank Mayberry - Lead vocalist, Hammond organ, harmonica and percussion
Davy Anslow - Drums, some lead vocal and harmony
Jon Hargis - Bass
Daybreakers (1968)
(This is the band that almost signed with Capitol Records)
Bob Monday - Lead six-string and twelve-string guitars, lead vocals and very strong back up harmony
Hank Mayberry - Lead vocalist, Hammond organ, harmonica and percussionDavy Anslow - Drums, some lead vocal and harmony
Wilgus Hicks - Bass, six-string guitar lead vocals and harmony
Daybreakers (1971)
Bob Monday - Lead six-string and twelve-string guitars, lead vocals and very strong back up harmony
Hank Mayberry - Lead vocalist, Hammond organ, harmonica and percussion
Larry Wallbrech - Drums
Don Hacker - Bass
Tom Hogaback - Bass
Daybreakers (1985) (w/o Bob)
Hank Mayberry - Lead Vocals and keyboards
Tom Goens - Bass, vocals, drums
Kevin Terry - Lead guitar, keyboard, vocals
Dan Conrad - Drums and vocals
Chris Tuell- Keyboards, bass and vocals |
