Although the top group in Rhode Island during the mid-sixties, it wasn't long before The Others conquered New York City. While in the Big Apple, the group recorded and became the house band for Scott Muni's incredibly popular Rolling Stone disco. The Others' three singles are all amazing examples of Beatles-influenced pop/rock/pysch, and have made the band well known amongst '60s music collectors. Lead guitarist/vocalist and founding member Jim DeStout graciously shared his recollections of his days as a 17-year old rock and roll star.
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| Jim DeStout (photo courtesy Linda Walker Hill) |
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An Interview With Jim DeStout
60sgarage bands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Jim DeStout (JD): I started guitar lessons at age of 9, in 1956, and played in wedding combos starting at age 13.
60s: This was prior to The Others...
JD: My first band was a four-man combo of guitar, accordion, sax and drums called The MoonGlows, playing weddings, etc. This was followed by a rock band formed in 1963 (?) to do Beatles music. The band was called The Regions, and was quite popular in Rhode Island. The members were Butch Giachelli (lead singer), Russ Sevigny (drums), Dave Riccio (rhythm/vocals), Jerry DeFazio (bass) and myself (lead guitar/vocals). The Regions were together for about two years, until I joined The Others.
60s: Where and when was The Others formed?
JD: During Freshman week at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Kingston, Rhode Island in 1964, I met two guys named Pete Shepley and Mike Brand. They heard I was in a band, and invited me back to their room where Mike had a guitar, and we played songs (Pete was a singer). Being in a current band, I knew all the latest songs, and Pete and Mike immediately wanted to form a band. I was reluctant, as I was already in a band, but they persisted and finally persuaded me to form a group to "play on campus." I went to high school with Mike Patalano (drummer), and we had played together in the past, so I got him to try a session with Pete and Mike. I remember that first session, and we didn’t sound very good. But Pete had a friend from New Bedford, John Costa, who he said could play bass and sing. John went to Brown University, so we drove down there and I remember singing Beatles songs in the parking lot with three-part harmony, and it sounded great. That was the beginning of The Others. The first time we performed publicly was at "Rhody Night," a talent show at the college (we sang 'When I Get Home' by The Beatles). So I guess you could say the band was formed by all of us.
The Others consisted of Pete Shepley (lead vocals), Mike Brand (rhythm guitar), Mike Patalano (drums), John Costa (bass and vocals) and Jim DeStout (lead guitar/vocals). John Costa left the group in late '65 to concentrate on his studies, and Bob Johnson replaced him as bass player/vocalist.
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| Mike Patalano and John Costa |
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| Jim DeStout and Bob Johnson (photo courtesy Linda Walker Hill) |
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60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
JD: Definitely "British Invasion." We started as a cover band, doing primarily Beatles songs, but we also did Rolling Stones, Zombies, Kinks, Byrds, Lovin' Spoonful, and other British band songs. Our influence was 99% Beatles. We once drove from Providence to New York City (four and a half hours), and sang Beatles songs the entire time. In fact, 'The First Time I Saw You' was written soon after we heard either the Beatles VI album (or Beatles For Sale), and you can definitely hear the influence. While playing at Scot Muni’s Rolling Stone in New York City, we did songs from the Help album a day after the movie came out.
60s: What was the North Providence rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
JD: Probably same as everywhere. And as Rhode Island is not big, people played all over the state. Folk music was big in the early '60s, and Hootenannies were the thing. I and a couple of guys would play and sing folk songs and then take out electric guitars and do instrumentals (Ventures, etc). We were doing this one night at a gig after the first couple Beatles songs came out, and the crowd kept yelling for Beatles songs. We faked two songs. They were awful, and we had to play them over and over and over while the crowd screamed! We realized there was something there, and grabbed two other guys to form The Regions. People today don’t realize how huge The Beatles were. You’d go to parties where everyone just sat around and listened to Beatles music. By the time we formed The Others, the British Invasion was in full swing.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
JD: I would say primarily school (college and high school) parties and dances, except in the summers of '65 and '66, when we played clubs in New York City.
60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
JD: I don’t remember any teen clubs.
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| The Others |
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| Mike Brand (photo courtesy Linda Walker Hill) |
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60s: How did you land the gig as house band at The Rolling Stone?
JD: The progress of The Others was astounding. Mike Patalano and I had been playing music for years, but I believe it was the first band for the Pete, Mike and John. Heck, John started out playing bass parts on a regular guitar. But in two to three months, The Others had surpassed any previous band I played in. It "clicked." Anyways, about three to four months after we formed the band, Mike Brand's father (an attorney) met a guy named Bob Marshall at a party. Bob was the manager for acts such as Myron Cohen, the comedian, and The Ames Brothers, and his office was in the CBS building in New York City. He told him his son was in a rock band, and Bob said, "If they're ever in New York City, I'll listen to them." We drove there the next week, and after hearing us, he offered to manage us. We signed with him. He got us the gig at The Rolling Stone, sight unseen, a week after it opened in 1965, and we were there for the entire summer of 1965.
I admit that I'm a little confused by the article on your website, where The Teemates interview said they opened The Rolling Stone and gave the impression they were there for awhile. As I remember, the initial band was called Fish and Chips, and we replaced them as the main band (six nights a week) and they played on our night off. They wanted us to stay there for a year (allowing some touring out of there), but we were all in college, and subject to the draft/Vietnam, and decided to go back to school. It sounds online like The Vagrants became the band soon after. Perhaps it's a "remembering the timeframe" issue, but I'm pretty sure the above is accurate. The Rolling Stone was one of the "in" clubs that summer, and had many celebrities frequent the club (Joey Dee of 'Peppermint Twist' fame was a regular). Regulars also included casts from shows such as Hullabaloo.
When we got to The Rolling stone, we had fairly small amps and no sound system. We turned on the house system, it sounded like "Donald Duck and The Mickey Mouse Five." It was really bad , and we were playing that night. So Bob Marshall made a call, and took us to Thomas Organ, who was the New York City distributor for Vox. We endorsed Vox, and they gave us a few amps to use for the summer at The Rolling Stone.
I believe our going back to school in 1965 really restricted Bob Marshall's ability to (fully) promote the band.
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| Pete Shepley |
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60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
JD: Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York City.
60s: Did The Others participate in any battle of the bands?
JD: Not really. As I said earlier, the band's progress was swift. We recorded our first single six or seven months after we formed the band. That record and our summer in New York City kind of made us the top group in Rhode Island. We were the "featured" supporting act whenever established groups came to town (Lovin' Spoonful, Animals, Byrds, Left Banke, etc), and no one ever asked us to participate in a battle of the bands.
One of the Providence radio stations would have a "Battleline" once a week, using records. I remember one week they had 'Lonely Street' versus what I believe was a Turtles song, and 'Lonely Street' won. That's the closest (we came to competing in a battle).
60s: What were the circumstances leading to the band's opportunity to record your 45s?
JD: After Bob Marshall signed us, he had us audition for a producer (Clyde Otis, former producer for Brook Benton). Clyde liked us and was instrumental in our signing with RCA Records, and we recorded 'Can't Stand This Love Goodbye' in RCA Studio A in New York City in June of 1965. Clyde was our producer.
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| The Others in concert, opening for The Animals |
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60s: Where did The Others record? What do you remember about the recording session(s)?
JD: The first two records ('Can't Stand This Love, Goodbye/ 'Until I Heard It From You' and ''Lonely Street' / 'The First Time I Saw You') were recorded at RCA studios in New York City. The final record ('Morning' / 'My Friend The Wizard') was recorded at Jubilee Studio in New York City.
Recording in a beautiful, big studio like RCA Studio A was one of the greatest rushes I've ever experienced. It still amazes me that 'Can't Stand This Love, Goodbye' was done on one track (all instrumental and singing done at same time).
Note: 'Morning' was the A-side and 'Wizard' the B-side. Many articles have reversed the two (maybe we should have).
60s: Did The Others write many original songs? Who was the band's primary songwriter?
JD: Not a great deal of originals, but a number of them (all on the records except for 'Until I Heard It From You' were originals). Pete Shepley and Mike Brand were the primary songwriters, but John Costa also wrote some (with some help from Mike Patalano).
60s: Are there any other Others recordings? Are there any vintage live recordings, or other unreleased tracks?
JD: The three records mentioned above are all the recordings I know of that exist.
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| The Others endorse Vox |
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60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? Does any home movie film footage exist of the band?
JD: We were on a local TV show in Providence (I don't remember the name) in 1966, lip-synching 'Lonely Street.' Unfortunately, I know of no film footage.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
JD: The '60s were wild times—Viet Nam loomed over all of us kids in college—every guy who was not eligible for a medical deferment had to make plans as to how he was going to deal with the military after graduation. Mike Patalano joined the ROTC program and served two years in the Army after graduation in 1968. Mike Brand went off to law school. The band added two replacement members (Bob Angell, rhythm guitar and Joe Parisi, drums) to play that summer, but the band just broke up after the summer (I don't remember the actual reasons).
Mike Brand and Pete Shepley later went on to form a group in New York called Chelsea, and their drummer was none other than Peter Criss, who became the drummer for KISS. I taught school for a year, and then went into the Air Force, became a pilot, and spent 26 years in the Air Force. John Costa became a corporate attorney, Mike Patalano became an accountant and CFO, and Mike Brand is a videographer. I'm not sure where Pete Shepley and Bob Johnson ended up.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Others?
JD: It was tremendous! I was seventeen when we worked in New York City and cut our first record, and the experience was awesome. We never become national "stars" but we experienced much of it on a smaller scale, hearing our records on the radio, having fan clubs, etc. Money was (also) on a much smaller scale but it helped me pay my way through college. Many group musicians are never in a group that truly "clicked." We were all fortunate. It was truly a great.
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