To kids in the East Bay in the '60s, the name Mother's Cookies was associated with not only a tasty snack but also with one of the area's top rock-n-roll bands. Founded by rhythm guitarist Ken Kahrs and drummer and lead vocalist Robert Buckner, Mother's Kookies landed several high profile gigs and became very popular across the area. Although they recorded some demos at Fantasy Records, the songs were never released. After Mother's Kookies, Buckner would join another successful local band in The Blue Light District.
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An Interview With Robert Buckner
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Robert Buckner (RB): At the age of six or seven I began listening to records and singing along. Big band, The Ink Spots, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and all of the emerging rock-n-roll artists. At about age 10, I got a paper route to make money to buy my first set of drums. I paid $50 for an old Slingerland drum kit. $50 was a lot of money back in 1958. I would practice about four to eight hours a day, playing along with records.
60s: Was Mother's Kookies your first band?
RB: No, The first band I started was The Troys. It was truly representative of all that “is”…the first band--poor quality equipment playing parties, etc.
60s: Where and when was Mother's Kookies formed?
RB: We lived in Oakland, California and I’m thinking it began around 1964. Initially my friend Ken Kahrs and I started the band. Mother’s Kookies was together for a couple years max.
60s:The band grabbed its name from an actual cookie company, and you used the company's logo on your drum head.
RB: Yes, we purposely fashioned the logo to be recognizably similar.
60s: Did you actually have any affiliation with the actual Mother's Kookies company at all?
RB: No legal affiliation with the cookie company Mother’s Cookies. The cookie company did allow us to come to their factory in Oakland to shoot publicity photos on and in their trucks, etc. with the letter "C" crossed-out and replaced by the letter "K." The name was obviously a take on the cookie company name, however, our brilliant intent was to project the fun, the zany aspect of kids playing rock-n-roll. We were fun, we were "kooky." We were mother’s little Kookies. I'm quite sure we were influenced by the playful nature of The Beatles (like exhibited in their movies, Hard Day’s Night, etc.).
60s: Who all comprised the band?
RB: Robert Buckner, drums and lead vocals; Ken Kahrs, rhythm guitar; Carl (Duke) Silva, bass guitar; and Chuck Torres, lead guitar and organ.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound?
RB: We tried to mimic the sound of late 1960’s popular contemporary rock-n-roll: Animals, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Them, Yardbirds, John Mayhal and (at the time) obscure Blues artists.
60s: What was the Oakland rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
RB: It was the best possible place to be to be young, in a band, and playing live music! There was many, many venues and not enough bands. It was a perfect climate and environment for the serious beginning musician to develop professionally.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
RB: Initially we played at parties, school dances, and sponsored teen-events at churches, etc. We then played at more commercial venues for promoters such as Bill Quarry in the East Bay and Bill Graham in the San Francisco area.
60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
RB: There were a few clubs in the Hayward and San Leandro, California area which we played, but I cannot recall the names. The Penthouse, Hayward, I.D.S. Hall, Hayward or San Leandro?
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
RB: We never went further than a couple hundred miles of the Bay Area.
60s: Did Mother's Kookies participate in any battle of the bands?
RB: Yes. Battle of the bands were very popular. I can’t really recall any of the groups we competed against. We usually did pretty well. We had a decent sound and a better-than-average stage-presence. Our bass player, Duke, was a very good front-man.
60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall?
RB: Epics, Spyders, Harbinger Complex, The Baytovens, Just Six, and Mark & The Up-towners. Other groups of the day that we were billed with were The Animals, Neil Diamond, Them, Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, The Turtles, Jefferson Airplane, Mojo Men, Beau Brummels, Yardbirds, Sir Douglas Quintet, and more.
60s: Did Mother's Kookies have a manager?
RB: Initially no, but then my girlfriend’s mother, Paula Martin, developed an interest. She was quite active as I recall. She started Martin Promotions and was quite good at securing us really good gigs and even began promoting concerts.
60s: How popular locally did Mother's Kookies become?
RB: I honestly couldn’t say how popular we actually became. Being a part of it, I was just completely blown-away at where we got to play; who (the name bands) we got to play with, and the money we made. We were very popular within our universe of friends and our local area for sure.
60s: Did Mother's Kookies record?
RB: Yes. We recorded some demo tracks at Fantasy Records in Berkeley. I think it was (there).
60s: Do you have any recollections of the demo song titles you recorded at Fantasy?
RB: Sorry, no. It was just too long ago. To tell you the truth, we were just having fun; we were not truly serious about what should have been going on. We did two or three of our own material, but as I mentioned, none of us were very serious. I’m not sure what happened to the tapes. In that day they used like two-Inch tape and it was pretty expensive. I don’t know who ended up with it.
60s: What do you remember about the recording session(s)?
RB: Everything was coming to us at the time and I don’t think that we took it too seriously at that time. I think the feeling was that there was plenty of time to think about serious recording in the future.
60s: Did Mother's Kookies write many original songs?
RB: We played more covers than our own original music. We had a few originals and I think Ken Kahrs, rhythm guitar, was responsible for most of them.
60s: Do any other Mother's Kookies recordings exist? Are there any vintage live recordings, or unreleased tracks?
RB: I think there were tapes that were made but I couldn’t say where they are if they are still intact somewhere.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? Does any home movie film footage exist of the band?
RB: No television appearences. There may be photos, and home 35-mm; however, I couldn’t say for sure or where.
60s: What year did the band break up?
RB: We broke-up around 1964 or 1965 I think.
60s: Did you join or form any bands after Mother's Kookies?
RB: Yes. The Blue Light District.
60s: How would you compare Blue Light District to Mother's Kookies?
RB: The Blue Light District was made up of technically more talented musicians; a higher degree of musical skills. There was a more defined purpose as to the quality of music played. This interest in actually making “better” music was something that was happening in the entire music community-at-large at this time. It was around this time when we began to notice that people coming to dances and concerts would come up front and sit on the floor in front of the stage to actually listen to the music…instead of just dancing or using music as the backdrop and incidental reason for being there.
We would have been (more successful than Mother’s Kookies) but the band was only together for a year or so. At this point in time (around our graduating from high school), people were getting called away by way of the draft to go into the Army and doing their all-expense-paid-gig in sunny Southeast Asia.
Blue Light District was Robert Buckner, drums and lead vocals; Kirk Sunderlund, lead guitar; Mike Frisbee, organ; and John Maurer, bass.
60s: Did Blue Light District record?
RB: No. We were in the studio a couple of times but never kept anything we did. We were mostly trying to get some scratch-tracks down to check balances and techniques for a future serious session with our own material.
60s: What keeps you busy today?
RB: I am in investments, and financial planning. I do not perform currently. A few years back I played solo gigs with just myself singing and playing guitar but not for some time now. I play only for my own pleasure now.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with Mother's Kookies?
RB: Fun! Pure, exciting, exhilarating, fun!
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