Paul Hess has recently compiled a CD featuring the music of his two '60's groups, The Sound Barrier and Thanks. The CD comes with an informative booklet with many group photos and a band history. To whet your appetite for the disc, we've printed a brief bio on the band below.
The CD is available for purchase for $20 directly from Paul. Email him for further details.
|
Paul Hess Recalls The Sound Barrier
It began when Paul Hess and Larry Davis were in the junior high school band in Salem, Ohio in the early 1960’s. The duo knew that they wanted to form their own music band outside of school, but although Larry played the drums, Paul played an old trombone that had been passed down from his grandfather. It just did not seem like a good fit. That all changed on February 9th, 1964, when The Beatles made their first of three appearances to over 73 million viewers on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City.
Paul saw the excitement created by the Liverpool Four and told his parents that he needed to take up the guitar. They bought a low cost black Silvertone guitar with white trim. The two practiced constantly, learning songs by listening to records over and over until they got the chords, lead, and rhythm down. Needing to fill out their sound, they added guitarist Chuck Jackson and bass player Kevin “Dusty” Rhodes. The group first played a talent show as The Spectrums in 1965 at their junior high school. Wanting a name more English sounding because of their heroes The Beatles, they chose the expression Zounds and the band began to rock!
|
After a few months of practice and a few small performances, it became apparent that the band needed more in the way of vocals. Terry Davis replaced Kevin Rhodes on bass and Mike Riffle was added to play keyboards and sing. Terry handled lead vocals along with Paul and the band’s sound began to solidify. Paul had written two original songs called “Hey, Hey” and “My Baby’s Gone”, but before they went into the studio to record them, they felt that a new name was needed.
In order to keep their old fans, they would use a record label with their old name “Zounds” and, after much soul searching, the group decided on a name that would show the force and scope that they
intended to explore with their new music. The Sound Barrier was the new name that they felt covered where they wanted to go musically. The group began to play in teen nightclubs and for school dances in the area. With the recording of their first 45 RMP single, The Sound Barrier built a huge following in Northeast Ohio. Chuck Jackson left the band shortly after the recording studio session.
The band needed a “harder image”, so publicity photos were taken to promote the group and their new record. By this time they were sporting a more Mod '60’s style look. The first 45 RPM record featuring “Hey, Hey” and “My Baby’s Gone” was a big success, selling thousands to their fans. There are very few of the original records left.
|
Doing mostly cover songs that were danceable, The Sound Barrier added a new dimension by adding vocalist Patty Pshsniak and played the best clubs in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Fans were quite loyal to The Sound Barrier.
The Sound Barrier enjoyed success playing a four state area and playing with other bands like Joe Walsh and The James Gang, Phil Keaggy and The Glass Harp, The Human Beinz, The Pied Pipers, The Lemon Pipers, and Keith Emerson and The Nice from England. That was just prior to Emerson forming Emerson, Lake, & Palmer.
The band decided to do cover songs for their next 45 RPM single. Paul was a Pete Townsend fan and the group actually played excerpts from the Tommy album in their live performances. They went for an early Who release and recorded “I Can’t Explain”. With Patty, they did an album cut from Jefferson Airplane, “Greasy Heart”. The single became famous for its silver foil cover that featured a picture of the band in mod clothes. In their debut on a Battle of the Bands on a Youngstown radio station, they beat out the current champion The Human Beinz who had been voted the champion for several months. The Sound Barrier had arrived, and had hundreds of fans following them at every performance.
|
Changes were in store as Terry Davis, bass player and singer, left the band. There were no good options to find a new bass man so Paul made the decision to switch to bass, allowing the band to try out new guitarists. Mike Riffle also left for college and was replaced by Danny Hall on keyboards. The band tried out Wayne Smith on guitar and a new name as well. Flesh Web made its debut, but did not last long. Mark Scheuring became a great addition on guitar and lead vocals. The group went through a few more name changes, calling themselves Rain, and then Noah. The band began writing its own songs and was soon ready to take them into the studio. They did an album at the Cleveland Recording Studio, the place where Grand Funk Railroad had recorded its hits. The studio engineers were quite amazed that the band was able to lay down all the music in one live take! The vocals were also done in a one-take overdub. The work was later put out on a bootleg album shown below. The songs on part two of this CD were recorded while the band was called Noah, but performed live when the band changed their name to Thanks.
After writing over four hours of original material and recording as Noah, the group chose their final name as a tribute to their fans. Thanks was born, and thrust itself into the progressive concert rock scene. Over time they added Lloyd Meadows on vocals and harmonica and a second drummer, Donny Woolf.
Thanks saw its best days as a concert band, opening for acts such as Canned Heat, Trapeze, and B.B. King. They shared the headline at the Point Park Festival in Pittsburgh in 1973 playing before a crowd of over 30,000. Thanks got to play big clubs in Cleveland, Youngstown, Pittsburgh, and had their local favorites such as J.B.’s Club at Kent State, Leo’s Place in Salem, and the Freak Out in Youngstown. The band continued to draw large crowds and be creative. Thanks was the only band that attempted to do Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and songs like "America" from West Side Story (covered from Keith Emerson & The Nice).
|
|
|
|
|
 |
