Scoundrels “I just saw that very little was said about The Scoundrels, and we were very much a driving force from 1966 until 1970.  We weren't the preppies; we were the others.  We certainly weren't like The Laymen, who were gone more or less when we were rising.” We received the above comment in reaction to Tommy Ratchford’s excellent article on the Pensacola scene in the 1960’s.  In order to share his recollections, and to provide more information on The Scoundrels, we asked Chip Mayes a series of questions, and he enthusiastically responded… The Scoundrels, Halloween 1968: Bottom left roadie (name forgotten), Paul Garcia (head is almost totally cut off), standing left to right is John Sadler, Bob Taylor, Fred Garcia, Dick Boyden and Chip Mayes (leaning on the far right) Chip Mayes An Interview With Chip Mayes 60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music? Chip Mayes (CM): When I joined The Clubbs Jr. High School Band.  I played the Baritone horn and then migrated to Pensacola High School and came under the direction of Bill Holston--one of the only other adults that had significant influence on my life other than my parents. The band (students) wanted a "rock" band, so Mr. Holston said to have a "rock" band but what he meant was a Big Band-style jazz band.  He had to have a bass player, so I learned how to play the Kay Upright String Bass, and we got our jazz band. It was all down hill from there. 60s: Was The Scoundrels your first band? CM: No.  (My first band) didn't have a name, but did play one gig at the Whiting Field Enlisted Men's Club--or it may have been Softly Field, I can't remember.  We were together about two months.  (I thn moved on) to a union band, The Clearance Shank Orchestra.  That was scary.  Then a country band called Freddy Baker and The Dough Boys...also very scary. I was introduced to my first real roadhouse then complete with the chickenwire in front of the stage.  It was near Atmore Al. I was playing a Silvertone Bass (I wish I had it now). I later paid $50 and a damaged 10-foot Hailey surf board for a 1960 Fender Jazz Bass. I still have it and have been offered ridiculous amounts of money for it. I had several other bass guitars including a Vox Teardrop and a Gibson Thunderbird... 60s: Where and when was The Scoundrels formed? CM: In Pensacola, some where around 1965, by Fred and Paul Garcia. 60s: Who all comprised the band? CM: We went through several sets of players but when I joined there was Fred Garcia on lead vocals and tenor sax; Paul Garcia on lead vocals and trumpet; Robert Foster on lead guitar and backup vocals; and Jim Turtle on organ and backup vocals.  I think Bob Taylor was the drummer, and I played bass and contributed backup vocals.  Louie Boylston later took over as lead guitar and then John Russell also played lead guitar; John Sadler took over keys.  Dick Boyden also played guitar for us and was with us at the end. He was a very talented guitarist. 60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you? CM: At first we were pure R&B with Fred and Paul adding harmony sax and trumpet riffs.  They played very well together. Then, as the Beatles influence heightened, we became more psychedelic and rock-oriented, even playing some Santana--which was a perfect vehicle for Fred and Paul. They were awesome during that time. 60s: What was the Pensacola rock and roll scene like in the '60's? CM: During 1964 the music was still very heavily influenced by R&B artists, but as the British Invasion progressed we all let our hair grow and partook of the sacraments of the time.  The music became more jamming--for a lack of a better description. We would learn a cover from say, Steppenwolf, and then jam with it for ten or fifteen minutes, letting all in the band express themselves musically. Part of that was the need for long tunes at the clubs. They wanted to get the people dancing and keep them dancing so they'd get hot and buy more drinks.  We were good at it, and at the same time we were entertaining. We always had regulars show up where ever we played.  60s: Where did the band typically play? CM: Everywhere and with everyone:  The Friday night dance at the Armory, The Place out on the beach, Fireman's Hall, schools, colleges, all of George's nightclubs, The Skylark, The Sahara Club and in to Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, New York City, Palisades Park and WABC. 60s: "George's nightclubs." Who was George? CM: Oh Lord…I can't remember that far back.  I had very little to do with him.  Fred handled all the booking. Paul Garcia would know his last name. George started out promoting the armory dances every Friday night, and then he opened the Band Box on West Gregory Street, and then another club down on Palafox across from the park. That's where we often played with The Candymen who would later merge and become The Atlanta Rhythm Section. We also played a lot at The Club on the beach where the Boardwalk currently sits.  We played there one summer and most of the fall one year. Another place we regularly played was Grannie’s Place up at Ft. Rucker. 60s: What was the WABC show? Radio or TV? CM: We were playing at Trudy Heller’s down in the village, and then we played at Trudy's Trick uptown right off Times Square. We played an afternoon gig at Palisades Park that was sponsored by WABC Radio and after the show they interviewed the whole band and of course the girls (The Sandpipers). 60s: How did you land gigs as far aways as New York? CM: We played Big Bam one year.  The New York gig was through Fran Kilpatric and then through one of her friends, Trudy Heller. But the credit is mostly Fred's and his development of his network, and the quality of the band. We played almost every weekend and as we all got a little age on ourselves we started playing almost every week the last couple of years. 60s: Did The Scoundrels participate in any battle of the bands? CM:  Yes.  Sometimes we would win and sometimes we would lose.  We played against all the bands during the 1966-1970 era.  We usually just wanted it to be over; they were mostly a joke. 60s: Did The Scoundrels have a manager? CM:  You could hardly call him that, but we did have one. Papa Don Schroeder saw us working all over Pensacola and figured he could make a buck off of us.  He came to us. It was kinda like watching a tree grow; He got his money and we got his promises...and not even any Vaseline.   60s: How popular locally did The Scoundrels become? CM:  Very...we had a great following. We were as popular as any other band and more than some but we had a different crowd. We were popular with the surfers...and the hippies. The Scoundrels' Cadillac Hearse 60s: You've indicated that The Scoundrels were not a "preppy band."  What were some of the preppy bands you recall?  CM: The Laymen were early on our greatest competitors and they were the Greek’s favorites.  We were pretty much the antithesis. We had long hair, and I drove a ‘56 black Cadillac Hearse and then a Harley Chopper. Fred and Paul were Latino; John Russel, Jim Turtle and I were all surfers.  We didn't cater to the Greek geeks, and we socialized with our fans... 60s: According to an article by Jeff Lemlich, The Scoundrels backed The Sandpipers on their version of ‘Dancing In The Streets’. CM: Actually... I seem to remember that Fran had a studio band lay the tracks for that. We never recorded the tune as The Scoundrels. 60s: Fran? CM: Fran Kilpatric, mother of Debby and Char, and the push behind The Sandpipers. She helped us buy some new equipment, took us to New York, and we spent a lot of time over at her house with the girls and my girlfriend.  Paul was dating Char and I was dating Dodie Pate, also friends with the girls.  Louie was dating Debby, etc. 60s: How did you become associated with The Sandpipers? CM: When The Allman Joys ditched the girls, Fran had to have another band.  We were it as we were playing on and off at The Sarah Club with The Joys. 60s: Did The Scoundrels make any other recordings? CM:  Only on reel-to-reel at a club...or for practice. 60s: Did The Scoundrels write any original songs?  CM:  No.  We were making too much money playing covers.  We didn't know we were supposed to write our own tunes. 60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? CM: Yes. WEAR (Channel 3, Florida) took 16mm of us for news bits when we played for some events around town.  I have no idea if any of it still exists. 60s: What year and why did the band break up? CM: The band broke up in the late spring of 1970. I graduated from college and was headed to Europe on my Harley.  I left, then I think Bob the drummer left...and Fred and Paul started another group with one of their sisters. 60s: Did you join or form any bands after The Scoundrels? CM:  Yes, one called Shovel with David Dorman, Forest Higgens and a drummer whose name I'm sorry slips my mind. When I moved to Atlanta I helped form a glam band Called Circus; we were weekend warriors and made a killing doing proms and show sets. When I moved to Richmond after selling my business in Atlanta, I joined the Clan McNiel Pipe and Drum Band. After that when we moved to Hickory, North Carolina.  I joined The Lock Norman Pipe and Drum Band.  Later--much later (last year)--I formed a band called Ceol Leinn.  It's a Celtic band. Ceol Leinn is Gaelic for "Music with Us."   We perform all over and our next concert is in Morganton, North Carolina at The Morganton Municipal Auditorium on July 10th. The band has two bagpipes, violin, guitar, and two percussionists.  The violin player also plays keys and mandolin, and I also play guitar and bass. We invite friends as guest pipers, or guest guitarists, to perform with us on some of the shows. I also will invite local choral groups to sing with us on our second show set. It makes a very entertaining evening. In my everyday career I am a producer/director and technical producer which keeps me busy. I've worked with three presidents, and too many artist and groups to even try to remember--in almost every state, and several countries overseas: Addas Abba, Ethiopia, Cardiff, Wales, Tokyo and Canada.  60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Scoundrels? CM:  At the end we had some personality conflicts, which I think is the natural outgrowth of adolescent teens maturing, but my overall memories are fond and joyful. I have a great deal of respect for what Fred did for us. It was a wonderful learning experience. It's just a bit of a shame that we didn't know more about the music business then as I think the group could have been much more successful than it was. All in all we had a great time playing together.  We developed our own musical language with which we communicated on stage.  I remember many fun weekends and then the week-by-week playing in clubs which paid for my college...and a bunch of surf boards, several motorcycles and a lot of funny looking clothes.