One of the truly unsung groups of the ‘60’s, The Grains of Sand seemed to have everything it took to be nationally successful. In addition to an interesting band name, the group also recorded several classic songs, one of which (‘That’s When Happiness Began’) certainly should have been much bigger nationally than it eventually proved to be. In 1965, bassist Rich Brand persuaded the then three-man group to add him to their ranks, and stayed with the group until they parted ways in 1969.
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An Interview With Rich Brand
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Rich Brand (RB): I became interested as soon as rock and roll was being played on AM radio. I have an older brother, so I listened to what he listened to. At that point it was WKBW in Buffalo in 1955. The night DJ was George Lorenz, AKA "The Hound."
60s: Was The Grains Of Sand (or The Bugs at first) your first band?
RB: No. I formed a band my sophomore year in high school with a teammate on the JV football squad in Daytona Beach, Florida. His name was Van Harrison and he was all ready a pretty good guitar player when we met. Good thing, because I didn't know much at that point, but in a few weeks he had me playing rhythm so well we were ready to bring in a drummer, Mike Robinson, and The Tritons were born. In the early ‘60s, instrumentals were still popular, and since none of us had the gall to sing, we played The Ventures, Fireballs, miscellaneous surf stuff and anything you could twist to all night. We played a lot of school dances, private gigs and the Ocean Pier Casino teen dances a couple of times.
Here's a little side story: In '60 to ‘63 in Daytona, (Seabreeze High to be precise)…weren't The Allman Brothers around there then? Yes…they were. Duane and Gregg also went to Seabreeze and had their own little band going. I recall the last Tritons gig we did was the all night grad party and, on a break, the Allmans came in and showed us the guitar rifts they had just learned in Lonnie Mack's ‘Memphis.’ We were impressed. After I graduated and headed back to New York, Van joined Gregg and Duane to play bass with them in a group called The Escorts. This was in 1963-1964.
60s: Where and when was The Grains Of Sand formed then?
RB: The band was formed as The Rockin' Bugs in 1964 by Doug "Red" Mark and Dave Hodgkins when they mustered out of the Navy in Long Beach, California. I joined early in 1965, shortly after I arrived in California from New York. The band was playing in a small club in Redondo Beach without a bass player, so I persuaded them they should hire one. The line-up was:
Rich Brand - Bass
Douglas Mark - Lead guitar
Willie Schider - Drums
David Hodgkins - Guitar/harmonica
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60s: Where there personnel changes during the group's history? Rumor has it both Michael Lloyd and Jimmy Greenspoon were later members. Were you with the band the whole time?
RB: There were changes in personnel and, no, Lloyd and Greenspoon were not members. That came from Fowley playing loose with his promotional material. Red left us in (about) 1967 to join the Sunshine Company, a folk-rock group made up of friends of mine at L.A.Harbor College who needed an additional singer/electric guitar player to fill out the group. Red was replaced by Jerry Yearwood, a very strong guitarist who came by way of the pre-Music Machine, Ragamuffins. (I'm hoping I have those facts right.) About the time we signed with Mercury/Phillips, Willie left the band and was replaced by Kent Eaton. Again, another upgrade, though we dearly missed Willie's great wit and sense of humor, not to mention his '57 Cadillac limo.
I was a student at L.A. Harbor College during this time and hung out in one corner of the cafeteria with a bunch of talented young musicians such as John Bettis, who later worked with The Carpenters and wrote TV theme songs, the previously mentioned Sunshine Company members, and Larry Carlton (who's had) some fame in the guitar world for many years now, and was a regular session player for one of my all-time favorite groups, Steely Dan.
Some more related band trivia: Before we signed with a record label, we wanted to change the band's name…which was The Bugs by that time. At that table in the cafeteria we were brainstorming for ideas for a name when one of the girls who was reading her chemistry text said, “Hey, how about this, 'filtration systems that typically use Grains of Sand?’" I said, “Not bad. I'll see what the guys think.”
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
RB: We definitely did the British sound, but we all liked all types of rock and roll, and some R&B, soul, and blues. Without question, The Beatles influenced us; others such as Cream, Traffic, The Byrds and The Doors did, too.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
RB: We played in bars for the over-21 crowd.
I (recently learned) and was saddened to hear that drummer Buddy Miles has passed away. The band and Buddy briefly enjoyed some good times together during the Buddy Miles Express era. Some mutual friends introduced us while he was playing at the Whisky in L.A. and he would periodically come down to The Attic in Newport and sit in with us for a few tunes. I think he enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere of the small club venue and and was a real crowd pleaser there. One night he came in with ex-Mitch Ryder guitarist Jim McCarty who he hired to play with the Express in May of '68. Buddy invited all of us and ours to be his guests when he opened for Cream and Deep Purple in San Diego. When we met up with him after the show, he presented our drummer, Kent, with a brand new Zildjian ride cymbal as a token replacement for a bass drum head he had destroyed one night while playing with us. What a night that was! We were indeed fortunate and pleased to be able to play with a musician such as Buddy Miles and I'm sad to hear of his passing.
60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
RB: No.
60s: What about clubs on The Sunset Strip?
RB: One night (actually early morning) I recall vividly was at The Hullabaloo club. Donnie Brooks ('50's hit 'Mission Bells') used to do a club circuit act doing comedy and vocals where he would come in for one night and do his shtick for a couple of sets, with whatever band was playing there at the time. Over the span of a year or so, we encountered Donnie a few times at different venues. For whatever reason, he liked us, and asked us to play at an after hours extravaganza he was producing there at The Hullabaloo. This was most likely a Saturday and after a regular five-hour night, we packed up the gear in Orange County and headed to Hollywood. The Hullabaloo was originally a large supper club (The Moulin Rouge) and had a revolving stage, so there was no lost time between bands. We decided to open our set with 'Gimme Some Lovin'' and I had my amp up so loud I thought it was going to explode on the opening bass line. Details are a little fuzzy (we probably played at four or five in the morning) but Larry Carlton's trio did the backup for the single artists, including Donnie, and The Doors were definitely there. I recall watching them do 'Crystal Ship' from backstage. We also did some semi-regular gigs at a private club for celebrity wannabes called The Other Place but I'm not sure if it was on the Strip or not. I think we did one night (it may have been one set) at The Red Velvet on Sunset.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
RB: We only toured north as far as San Francisco, and south to San Diego. In San Francisco we did a two-week stint at the Whisky A-Go-Go. At the Santa Barbara County Fairgrounds in Santa Maria we played a pretty big show with The Strawberry Alarm Clock. I say "with" because we didn't open. There were two stages on opposite sides in this large hall and we alternated sets. We also did a big show in Stockton at the civic auditorium there.
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60s: Did The Grains Of Sand have a manager?
RB: The Bugs originally had a manager who was a business man in Long Beach and he helped the band get started but bowed out as the band moved up and was replaced by a friend who had initially introduced me to the band. Jay Coder didn't have prior music business experience, but he did pretty well for us.
60s: How popular locally did the Grains of Sand become?
RB: I would say we had a good following locally. We always seemed to bring in good crowds.
60s: What were the circumstances leading to the The Grains Of Sand's opportunity to record?
RB: I'm not really sure if Jay hooked us up with Valiant or quite how that happened. I just remember sitting in Barry DeVorizon's office at Valiant, talking about what we were going to do for our first record and thinking, "This is pretty cool. This guy is the president of this label."
Hal Blaine of The Wrecking Crew played on our first record (the Addrisi Bros. side, 'That's When Happiness Began') for Valiant. The recording engineers and producers like to have a known quality when it comes to drums, particularly because there is a big difference between the set up for live work and studio sessions. To avoid spending a lot of time trying to dial in the drum sound for the recording, they would bring in a session guy (and Hal was one of the best) and he was good to go. It went something like this: A guy comes in and sets up the drum kit. About five minutes before the tape starts rolling, Blaine comes in with a briefcase and a jar of sunflower seeds, takes out his sticks and the chart. He exchanges pleasantries with everyone, looks at the chart, counts it off and away we go. Needless to say, as relative newcomers to studio work, we thought this guy was very cool.
60s: Where did The Grains Of Sand record?
RB: We recorded our first record at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. What there was of the Genesis )record label) stuff done at Kim Fowley's office/studio/house. We did quite a lot of studio time for Phillips but I don't remember the name of the studio (it was 40 years ago).
I'm a bit of a tech geek, so I really enjoyed the whole process in the studio. The band had a lot of fun in sessions, with a lot of joking around between takes, and even a little during takes.
60s: You earlier mentioned Kim Fowley’s promotional efforts. What are your recollections of him?
RB: My recollection is he was a hyperactive egomaniac. But that's just me. He had a habit of waving at objects or a sound source and yelling, "My balls" at regular intervals. He seemed intent on us doing a "cover" for him. He had recently returned from England where The Who had a hit with ‘I'm A Boy,' which was not released in the U.S., and he thought it would be a good one to have a shot at. He evidently decided he couldn't make that happen. I did like ‘Alley Oop’ though; I'll give him that.
60s: What was the band's interaction with Michael Lloyd? Did he produce one or more of your 45s?
RB: The band didn't have any interaction with Michael Lloyd. Maybe if we had, things would have gone differently at the time, recordwise. Kim Fowley had instrumental tracks done previously (probably by Lloyd) and needed vocals for them. It was easier and cheaper than getting the band into a studio and doing our material; plus he owned the songs, so to speak. If I sound somewhat negative in my responses regarding Fowley and Genesis, there are a couple of reasons for it: One; these are the kind of transactions that exploit young musicians and possibly curtail their careers. I didn't view our experience there as creative or productive. Two, and probably more to the point, I am disappointed that we let it happen and weren't smarter about dealing with these guys on our terms. After all, it is (was) the record business. We should have been wiser by then.
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60s: Why do you believe 'That's When Happiness Began' wasn't a bigger hit, especially considering it was written by The Addrissi Brothers, who had certainly experienced a large degree of success at that point in time?
RB: I believe Valiant was limited as to how much promotion they could do for a single by an unknown band. They told us up front that they would put the record out unsupported and see what happened. We certainly did all we could do to promote it locally, including showing up at radio stations unannounced with the record to try to gain some favor. In those days, at least at the big stations (KRLA, KHJ, KFWB, etc.), the deejays had no power. The program director was the deal maker or killer, and they were next to impossible to get to. When we would walk into some dinky little thousand-watter out in the hinterlands (like Bakersfield), the guy would cue it right up and say, "Hey kids, is this a hit or a miss? Call in, the lines are open." We did pretty well out in those venues.
I recall going to Florida to visit my mom, and took the record to one of the local AMs, WMFJ in Daytona Beach. When he heard I was from California, all he wanted to talk about was the Count Five's 'Psychotic Reaction' and (wanted to know if) it getting air play our west. Apparently it did get some airplay in Florida, though, judging by some comments I've read. Valiant was also probably in the early stages of buy-out negotiation with Warner Bros. at that time and maybe that played into it some--who knows?
60s: Were you familiar with The Montanas' version of 'That's When Happiness Began'? If so, what did the band think of it?
RB: We were aware there was a cover version, but I don't think any of us had heard it. I hadn't heard it until I saw the Ironleg download. I actually think it was pretty good (it has a good beat and you can dance to it. I give it an 8. Sorry, couldn't resist that one).
60s: Which of the band's songs is your favorite?
RB: That's a tough one. Naturally I have a soft spot for 'She Needs Me' because it was our first and we all collaborated on it. It's kind of raw, but some like it that way. 'Happiness' and 'Nice Girl" were good tunes and well produced for the era and they got the air play, so it's a little hard for me to commit.
60s: Did The Grains Of Sands write many original songs?
RB: Dave Hodgkins was the primary writer for the group and probably wrote over a dozen songs while in the band.
60s: Do any other '60's Grains Of Sands recordings exist? Are there any vintage live recordings, or unreleased tracks?
RB: We had about an albums worth of music recorded for Phillips Records when that association came to an end, but ‘Nice Girl’ / ‘Drop Down Sometime’ was the only record released. I don't know what the fate of the other material was.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances?
RB: The Grains of Sand appeared twice on Los Angeles (KHJ-TV) dance shows: Ninth Street West, that one with Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs, and later on Groovy, which was shot on the Santa Monica beach. We did two similar shows in San Diego also. I have little bit of amateur 8mm footage taken at a beach party in probably 1968.
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60s: What year and why did the band break up?
RB: Officially the band disbanded in 1969, although, with the departure of Hodgkins in '68, the band began to lose its creative direction and essentially became another good cover band. Hodgkins was replaced by a very talented singer/songwriter/guitarist named Jim "Dutch" Marshall, who became a good friend of mine, but never quite jelled musically with the band.
60s: Why did Hodgkins depart?
RB: To be truly accurate, I think Dave would have to answer that one, but my feeling is Red was working on getting him involved with The Sunshine Company or they already had plans in the works for the new band, which would become Redeye.
60s: Did you join or form any bands after The Grains Of Sand?
RB: No.
60s: What about today? What keeps you busy?
RB: I haven't played professionally since 1970. I have been a homebuilder (general contractor) since the late seventies. I enjoy spending my free time with my family (I have a two-year old grandson) and I like to sail race. I still enjoy seeing live music whenever I have the chance.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Grains Of Sand?
RB: It was a great time for me and I enjoyed working with all of these people. I met my wife during this period and have a lot of great memories I feel fortunate to have experienced.
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