1960s Garage Bands

Monty Sprague Recalls Greenstone Ivy

I became interested in music as a lad of ten after tuning up and down the radio dial in Chicago and landing on WLS in Chicago. James Darren’s 'Goodbye Cruel World', Barbara George’s 'I Know,' The Shirelles’ 'Baby It’s You,' and The Tokens’ 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' were topping the charts at the time. I was hooked on Top 40 radio! I awoke to Mort Crowley and fell asleep to Dick Biondi. After school, I didn’t want to miss Gene Taylor’s Silver Dollar Survey, and listened to Bob Hale and "The Hale Hassle" each evening after supper.

When the family moved to Los Angeles, the Top 40 station there was KFWB. Nothing notable there that I can remember. I did, however, begin piano lessons.

Then the big move to West Palm Beach, Florida. I found “The Mighty 1290...W-I-R-K...in the Palm Beaches!” I was back on track with The Beach Boys’ 'Surfin’ USA' and 'Little Deuce Coupe.' The night-time deejays changed frequently, but, oddly, their initials were always J.D: Jerry Davis, Jeff Douglas, “Bwana” Johnny Dollar. Hmm…something going on there...

Then, in 1964, something huge happened. We all know what it was: The Beatles! Instantly, teenage boys wanted to pick up a guitar. I was no different. I thought piano lessons were girly and wanted to learn guitar. My friends and I bought Beatles' wigs and “strummed” tennis rackets as we played 'I Saw Her Standing There' on the hi-fi. My Dad said no, but Mom overrode him and bought me my first acoustic guitar from Brubaker’s Music Store in downtown Lake Worth. I still remember the two old ladies that ran the place. They weren’t exactly hip, but carried some decent stuff. Before long, after listening to those three distinctive electric guitar chords on 'She Loves You' and the repeating lead riff on the Stones’ 'Last Time,' I needed an electric. That’s what we called them, omitting the word 'guitar.' Just, 'electric.' Again, Dad said no, but Mom came to the rescue again. We went back to Brubaker’s and my first Kay electric guitar. And, a nice Univox amp with a 12" speaker, volume, tone and vibrato controls. Looking back now, that little amp would be great to have today!

Now I had room to expand! While attending my first dance at the Lantana Civic Center, a little event held each Friday night for teeny-boppers and hosted by a Mr. Conlin, I talked around to some guys who also had electrics and wanted to start a band. We couldn’t play anything, but cobbled together a trio of two guitars, and one borrowed set of old drums. It was fun for a few nights. The guy who borrowed the drums knew a real drummer with a real trap set, and would gladly hand off that duty and become our singer. Well, the drummer part worked out, but our man couldn’t sing very well and we still couldn’t play the guitars. The new drummer, Ronnie Arbour of Lantana, knew of a bona fide guitar play down the street named Dave Palulmbo. Dave was the real deal. The other guys dropped away, and the trio became Ronnie, Dave and me, Monty. Dave was really the one who taught me to play the guitar. While he played lead and Ronnie drummed, I played rhythm guitar and...sang. Who knew? We got our first job at that little Lantana Civic Center dance and ended up playing there often.

The trio was named The Cascades, after the dishwasher detergent. Ronnie’s parents came up with that one. We heard a constant refrain: “You guys are really good…for three guys!” The idea of a quartet, ala The Beatles, made sense to people. The concept of a rock trio, however…well, we were just ahead of our time. Eric, Jack and Ginger showed everyone a couple years later!

The Cascades played regularly at the Lantana teen dance and at junior high school dances, church youth groups and private birthday parties; a trio fits easily into your living room! Pay was usually $15--five bucks a piece, which was big money in those days for kids just having fun!

The Cascades actually lasted a while, from 1965 until 1967. Monty met Fred Findling, a neighbor friend in Atlantis, who played piano and was willing to invest in a Vox Continental organ, and Fred knew Martin Zobel, a bass player. The trio added these guys and The Eleventh Hour was born. We practiced in Fred’s parents’ living room. The band debuted at the same Lantana Civic Center for Friday nights. Monty initially was still the lead singer, but soon a guy with immense vocal talent became band member number six: Larry Pitman. A bit of a "greaser," Larry loved his role as front man and put on a show. To quote Archie Bell and The Drells, “He not only sings, but he dances just as good as he walks!”

The Eleventh Hour had their greatest fame as regulars at the Boynton Beach Civic Center dances, the facility being significantly larger than the Lantana venue. We shared the stage with some notable bands of the time, like The Birdwatchers and The Proctor Amusement Company. The band had some longevity, too, lasting until late into 1968. Although five of the lineup remained constant, the band changed drummers several times. After Ronnie Arbour, in succession, were Dusty Milling, Jim Miller and Paul Crate. Near the end, another band that had done some recording and released a record, The Dantes, successfully recruited Larry Pitman away. Unable to replace him with an equally capable talent, the band was unable to perform and, ultimately, broke up. Although going their separate ways and never performing together again, four decades later Monty, Dave, Fred and Martin have “reconnected” via email in the past year.

Steve had previously played with The Insex, a group that was popular at the Palm Springs town hall teen dance every Friday night. Monty had played with The Eleventh Hour and Cascades, bands that performed primarily at the Boynton Beach Civic Center and Lantana Civic Center teen dances, respectively. Kenny Robinson had played with The Invaders. Stan Herring and Ken Smith were relative newcomers to the business.

Steve was a very talented bass player and singer. Kenny Smith was a good lead singer, and Monty also sang on most songs. Greenstone Ivy's songlist included musically complex, harmony-rich numbers like The BeeGees' 'I've Gotta Get a Message to You,' The Hollies' 'Can't Let Go,' The Association's 'Six Man Band,' and The Byrds' 'My Back Pages.' Three-part harmonies were standard fare for this band.

The top of the ladder, as far as venues, in West Palm Beach was the Musicaster, located at the Northwest corner of the ill-fated Bazaar International Plaza Mall in Riviera Beach. Greenstone Ivy played their first engagement there and never left. They became the "house band", if you will, supplanting The Villagers, who had recently broken up. The buzz spread quickly and the house was regularly packed on Friday and Saturday nights. The band also played the special Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve gigs that year at the Musicaster.

Greenstone Ivy was also booked at some of the area high school winter dances, sock hops and proms, notably North Shore High School and Riviera Beach High School. A couple of exclusive private parties in Palm Beach also featured this band.