An Interview With Stephen Frary
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Stephen Frary (SF): I played piano at age seven and two years later organ and then trumpet. I hated it. I bought a guitar in 1963 and played with the neighborhood kids. They needed a bass guitar player so I took off two strings. In 1964 I took bass lessons and bought a Vox Cougar and an Ampeg Portaflex (I think that’s what it was). I still take bass lessons.
60s: Was The Monks your first band?
SF: The Monks was my first band. We formed in 1964 and played through 1971. I left the band in 1968.
The Monks was started by me, Peter Lund, Mike Echert, and Tom Barbrick. We still needed a singer and another guitar player. Mike and I were walking thru Woodvale and we heard another band in a garage and the singer and guitar player were really good. This was in 1964. The band was called The Iguanas, with lead singer was Brad Delp (Boston and RTZ fame) and guitarist Steve Cohen. Mike and I asked if they wanted to join our band and they said yes. We practiced at Peter Lund’s house. The original band members were Brad Delp (vocals, harmonica); Tom Barbrick (lead guitar, vocals); Steve Cohen (rhythm guitar, vocals); Mike Eckert (keyboard, vocals); Peter Lund (drums); and Steve Frary (bass).
Bob Hayes took Steve Cohen's spot in 1966. Brad brought Ann Butman, a female singer, into the band around 1967. Peter Tucker was brought in as a replacement drummer for Peter Lund, also in '67. When Mike Eckert moved to Laredo, Texas in 1967, Ron Morelli took his spot. Roger Kimbal took my place in 1968, so Brad really was the longest active member in The Monks.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
SF: The Beatles! As a band we all went to the August 18, 1966 Beatles concert at Suffix Downs in Revere, Massachusetts. We were also influenced by The Stones and The Animals. We definitely were influenced mostly by The Beatles. Brad was consumed by them. His room was from the floor to the ceiling Beatles! When he was not touring with Boston he had his pet band Beatlejuice, which he loved.
60s: What was the Danvers rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
SF: The scene in Danvers was limited to dances at The Great Oak School. I approached the Salem YMCA about playing there (it was a much bigger venue and held 400 people). The Director of the Y was Bob Raiche. He got a kick out of our band and asked if he could manage us, which was a big break for us. He had connections with all the YMCAs and we were soon playing every Friday and Saturday night. We even got a rehearsal room at the Salem Y. It was great. We played a lot of Y-sponsored dances that went out to Western Massachusetts and included other cities. We played weekends at U Mass Amherst (We were 15 and it was very interesting—a page out of Animal House). We were fortunate to play as opening acts for Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels at The Salem Armory and opened for Barry Sadler (‘Battle of the Green Berets’). It was kind of strange—a bunch of long hairs in Nehru shirts opening up for him. We played for local colleges. We didn't play any clubs because we were all underaged.
60s: Did The Monks participate in any battle of the bands?
SF: We did a couple of battles but we really played just about all the time. For a small area there were bands like Teddy & The Pandas, The Warlocks, and Jack & The Spades. It always was a competition between the Salem-based bands and the Beverly-based bands.
60s: Why didn’t The Monks release a 45-rpm single?
SF: We were going to record a song written by Roger Carmody and Brad. It was called ‘Father John’ but it never happened. Our keyboard player, Mike, discovered some old recordings of us doing ‘Rain’ and ‘Nowhere Man’ by The Beatles that for the day were really pretty good. We did some local radio interviews that we recorded The Beatles tunes for. They were always a lot of fun.
60s: Why did you leave The Monks?
SF: I left in 1968 after graduating high school. I went to college for a very short time. The band broke up in 1971. At the time, Y dances had died out. Brad played in some different bands—Mothers Milk was one and then in ‘76 he made it! I remember hearing ‘More Than A Feeling’ for the first time on Charles Laquidara’s show. I called up and asked if Brad Delp was singing that song; he said yes and was a little puzzled on how I knew. I knew the voice! He had a great talent!
We got together in July 2, 2001 for a Monks reunion in front of 1,000 people. Mike and Tom could not make it but the rest of us had a ball. The players were Brad Delp, Ann Butman, Steve Cohen, Bobby Hayes, Peter Lund and Adam Soref playing drums. Adam had played for most of The Monks and high school dances. Peter had a leg injury and Peter Tucker was out west playing in his band along with Mike Eckert. Brian Maes (RTZ) filled in on keys and Roger Kimbal and I shared bass.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Monks?
SF: It was the best time of my life—getting to play music that I loved with a bunch of guys that really became family. It got me out at night during school for rehearsal. At 16 I bought a 1956 Corvette. I made a lot of money for kids our age. I got to meet all kinds of people and a lot of pretty girls (very important). We had a lot of laughs and some nasty fights here and there but managed always to get through them. I would never trade those days for anything. They are memories I'll always remember. I still am involved with my cellar band and help out with sound for other bands.
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