“Do you think we can get together now…time’s gone by and we’ve maintained somehow…” - Fragments” (Quatrain, 1968)
Quatrain’s sole LP has been rather obscure since its 1968 release. The band had recorded in an earlier incarnation (as The Human Jungle), but hoped that their new affiliation with Bill Cosby’s record label (which had recently scored with Deep Purple’s “Hush”) would lead to bigger and better things. Unfortunately, a small initial press run doomed the LP and it quickly faded away to the cut out bins. Thankfully, Sundazed Records will reissue the LP in the early part of 2007, where the band’s music may finally be introduced to a whole new audience. |
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| The Fourth Shadow |
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Jim Lekas Recalls Quatrain
Back in 1968, Tetragrammaton Records of Beverly Hills, Bill Cosby’s label, released a local Los Angeles group’s only recorded album, Quatrain. The group consisted of Don Senneville, one of Los Angeles’ more creative lead guitarists, Steve Lindsay on bass guitar, Rick Pease on rhythm guitar, and Jim Lekas on drums. The record album was produced and engineered by the late David Briggs, Neil Young’s producer for many years.
Those of us who were fortunate enough to be part of the excitement and enchantment of Los Angeles’ psychedelic and popular music movement between 1964 and 1969 gaze back glowingly and longingly upon those halcyon and magical times. Quatrain was part of the flow and pulse of the musical weaves in those politically and socially turbulent, but equally carefree and provocative moments in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles was truly something in the 1960s: Open, creative, still innocent, but growing bolder and openly seeking new musical and sociological paths. The Watts Riots, the Sunset Strip music scene, love-ins, sit-ins, free love, drugs, and the Laurel and Topanga Canyon scenes marked the bright side. Viet Nam dragged on, and Armstrong would soon walk on the Moon.
But the foreboding and chilling event that marked the culmination of the 1960s was the rude awakening brought about by the Tate and Labianca tragedies. Innocence in Los Angeles had been forever lost, and Quatrain went through the changes warily, like everyone else in the summer of 1969.
Quatrain was a garage band out of the San Fernando Valley and was originally formed in 1963 as The Fourth Shadow by founding members Senneville and Pease, with Lekas joining to play drums and sing in November of 1964 after a stint as an aerospace worker and part-time surf band drummer. Pease was a talented folk musician and excellent writer, as was Senneville. |
Bassist Mark Johnson and guitarist Bruce Epstein were added in early 1965 to complete the first version of the quartet after Pease had gone off to the military. The group was mostly a cover band then.
Tireless promoter and personal manager Billy Marcot provided direction and early gigs for the foursome. Roger “Turk” Anderson and a young but sagacious Russ Deck were the group’s spiritual advisors and close associates. The group, still called The Fourth Shadow at the time, covered a lot of British Invasion material, with the usual au fait and de rigueur black turtlenecks and sport coats. School hops, parties, and beer bars were typical venues for The Fourth Shadow.
From 1965 to 1967, personnel changed periodically and the band’s name changed several times. Other members in the Quatrain evolution included guitarist Tim “Rainbow” Bell, lead singer Cary Brent, backup singer Doug Webb, and most importantly, Steve “Buff” Lindsay, bassist from the popular San Fernando Valley rock group The Boss Tweeds. Lindsay became a solid part of the group on bass, replacing the departing Mark Johnson.
In 1966, the group, then known as The Berries, which was at the time holding court as the house band at The Middle Earth on Ventura Boulevard in Reseda, was signed by Doubleshot Records of Hollywood, but nothing materialized except for a national Pillsbury radio jingle for “Gorilla Milk,” a breakfast mix product that went nowhere, much like two singles released on Doubleshot by The Human Jungle, as the boys were known, with Joe Hooven and Hal Wynn as producers. Wynn and Hooven had previously struck gold with The Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction,” and Brenton Wood with “The Oogum-Boogum Song” and “Gimme Little Sign.”
The band was booked by Doubleshot to play a dance in Pasadena as The Plastic Zoo, and the embarrassment of performing under that name for one gig was obviated by the opportunity to share the bill as one of five groups with the then just-formed, talented, and up and coming Three Dog Night. |
The Plastic Zoo and The Human Jungle experiments, and the affiliation with Doubleshot Records, ended as quickly as they had begun, and the boys thankfully returned to playing clubs around Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley as The Berries.
In 1967, Lekas suggested “Quatrain” as a new name after spending a few weeks reading the quatrains of Omar Khayam. The group agreed to the change, and the new name stuck.
By mid-1967, Rick Pease had returned from a stint in the Army and rejoined Senneville, Lekas, and Lindsay. The die had been cast and Quatrain set about in earnest, covering heavier material such as Hendrix, Vanilla Fudge, the Spencer Davis Group, The Yardbirds, and Cream.
Quatrain began to imbibe more of the changing social scene and partake liberally of the naughty green herb that was plentiful and going around, and the group soon became a solid fixture at the old and new Topanga Corral, located in the hills of Topanga Canyon, between the West San Fernando Valley and Malibu on the coast to the west several miles away.
The Corral was a rustic, spacious beer bar and dance club that was packed on weekends with “flatlanders” from the San Fernando Valley and bikers alike. Quatrain was a big draw, and guitarists from all over Southern California would attend to take in Quatrain’s rock and blues-influenced sets and Don Senneville’s flashy and sultry virtuosity on lead guitar.
The group played at the club five nights per week, and club goers included a then relatively unknown Neil Young, Nils Lofgren and Grin, Janis Joplin, Alice Cooper, Russ Tamblyn of Westside Story fame, Steven Stills, Ritchie Furay, Canned Heat, Taj Mahal, Jesse Davis, Gene Clark, Joni Mitchell, and even occasional appearances by Charlie Manson and family members before the revelations of their infamy in late 1969. |
Quatrain also performed in Hollywood at the Sea Witch, Stratford-on-Sunset, the Whiskey, Bido Lido, ski resorts in Colorado, smaller festivals, the Aquarius Theatre, beer bars galore, and Jim Lekas would even augment his income as a drummer playing for such “notable” trios in local strip bars as Sammy and The Zig Zags! Anything to scrape by.
It was at the Topanga Corral in early 1968 where David Briggs and Quatrain would cross paths. Briggs was a Topanga resident, having migrated to Los Angeles from Wyoming in 1961. Briggs eventually helped secure a lucrative recording contract for Quatrain with the upstart Tetragrammaton Records of Beverly Hills, a wing of Bill Cosby’s budding empire, the Campbell-Silver-Cosby Corporation.
Soon the boys found themselves in the studio, spending lots of Tetragrammaton’s studio budget in typical David Briggs fashion. Recording sessions were fun, long, smoky, and expensive. CSC’s Ron Krietzman provided management and direction.
The label featured such artists as Elyse Weinberg, Tom Ghent, the late comedian Murray Roman, Biff Rose, Bobby Paris, Pat Boone, Rhetta Hughes, Deep Purple, who hit the charts big with “Hush,” the late Tiny Tim, Alan Parker’s group Summerhill, Ivory, Two Virgins (John and Yoko nude cover), and The Kingston Trio. It was an exciting time full of promise for Tetragrammaton Records and its artists.
Quatrain’s gatefold LP, Quatrain, was released in late summer of 1968, but the group never achieved any notable recognition at the time. A potential commercial hit on the album, a Lekas composition, “Fields of Love,” was never exploited and the album did not sell many copies.
Quatrain’s album and music have recently been re-discovered and have generated some underground buzz among hardcore collectors worldwide (in particular Asia) of late-1960’s psych rock and garage band vinyl. Quatrain albums are truly quite rare these days and somewhat steeply priced (75+ dollars), as the number of units originally pressed by Tetragrammaton Records was limited to only several thousand.
It just cannot be found. Good Luck! It is common to see it on want lists. A very limited number of eight-track Quatrain tapes was produced and command top dollar figures if found. They are more rare than the LP.
A complete overview of Quatrain’s 1968 album on Tetragrammaton Records can be viewed here. |
Where Are They Now? (September, 2006)
Don Senneville lives in Arizona. He received his Doctorate degree in Education in 1985 and is the founder and director of a revolutionary college prep academy. He has two grown daughters and plays folk and blues gigs around town for fun. He still plays electric guitar and has expanded his musical interests. Don has received some recognition and plaudits from guitarists around the world as they discover Quatrain’s music and Don’s ability. He enjoys Classic Rock and Blues styles.
Steve Lindsay lives in New Zealand with his wife and teenage daughter. He is head of a large graphics design firm and performs on bass guitar at gigs around town in his spare time. He accompanies a noted blues/rock musician from New Mexico to Europe each summer, playing large club and festival venues. Steve still loves rock music.
Eric Pease works as a computer technician for a large corporation in Northern California where he resides with his wife. He still proudly owns his original 1963 Gretsch Country Gentleman in George Harrison brown, a treasure from Rick’s The Fourth Shadow days. Rick enjoys Country and Rock music.
Jim Lekas resides in Southern California and spends most of his time interacting with his two teenage sons. He continues to write and record, and has expanded his abilities on varied instruments since his Quatrain days. Jim enjoys Heavy Metal, British Invasion, Classic Rock, The Beatles, and is an avid admirer of Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and Ozzie Osbourne.
David Briggs, Quatrain’s producer and recording engineer, regrettably lost his difficult battle with lung cancer in 1995. Unfortunately, Quatrain and Briggs were never again able to link forces in the studio for an anticipated second album. His long and illustrious association with Neil Young produced many memorable songs and hits, and Quatrain sadly lamented David’s passing. Many in the music field miss him.
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For more on Quatrain, visit Jim Lekas' website. |
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