I first got interested in music in third grade grammar school. Since I was ugly, I knew I would have to become a teenage rock star to garner up some woman. I wanted to play the guitar but my brother wanted to play the drums. My parents couldn't afford both. Since my brother was older than me, and my parents loved him, I ended up with no guitar, and had to play the drums.
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Don Meyers Recalls The Torquays
The Torquays were formed around 1961 by me (Don). We were originally an instrumental group and then later reformed into a vocal group.
The longest standing members of the Torquays were Pat Cohan, Jim Carter and me, Don Meyers. Pat played lead guitar and sang. Jim Carter played rhythm guitar, sang, and wrote songs. I played the drums and had to keep my mouth shut. I also had the honor of working the lights. I met Jim at Calumet High School and somehow Pat showed up at one of our practices and joined in.
Some of the other guys that played with us at one time or another were Jim Esposito, Tom Javers, Rick Espinosa, Lorrie Katz and a guy named Dave whose last name I can't remember.
We were influenced by Little Richard and Duane Eddie and some beer. We were the first band to introduce rock and roll to the popular St. Sabina's Teen Dance on South Racine Avenue in Chicago, replacing the Benny Goodman-type brass band. We also played lounges on Western Avenue, teen clubs, schools, parties, and appeared in my basement quite often. We did play a dance at Little Flower High School emceed by WLS disc jockey Dex Card with an appearance by Bobbie Goldsboro.
We usually played on the Southside of Chicago and Southern Suburbs. We participated in one battle of the bands where we were the only band. We lost.
We never had a manager. Brian Epstein said he was too busy.
We recorded three songs at Oren Stembel Studios in downtown Chicago. None of them were ever released. The three songs we recorded were 'Shortnin' Bread', 'Summertime' and one of our first songs written by Jim called 'Never Pay No Mind'. We tried to help out Paul McCartney and give him 'Never Pay No Mind'. Evidently he was too stubborn to accept our help and was content to struggle on his own.
The song 'Cause I Want You' (recorded in a basement) was played by Jim, Rick, Tom and me. The other three from Stembel's studio were played by Jim, Pat and me.
The main thing I remember about the recording session was having to carry our equipment about two miles through a lobby and into an elevator up to the tenth floor. I couldn't imagine The Beatles having to do that. I also couldn't figure out if Oren Stembel was the owner or the janitor. We worked long and hard at it and was a lot of fun.
We had about ten original songs written by Jim. We have one of Jim's original songs along with two remakes on a CD. The rest are probably with the missing sock from our dryer. I sold one to my sister for two dollars and retired. The other one I painted gold and put on my wall. The third one I'm saving for my granddkids since my kids didn't want it. I may download it to my iPod but first I have to learn how to turn my iPod on.
The band never made any TV appearances. I don't believe any of the movies are still around. We were taped for several hours at a dance one night. I think it was by the F.B.I. I heard they thought we were gonna change 'Never Pay No Mind' to 'Never Pay No Taxes'. Either that or they thought we were trying to send messages to some deranged person in England. We offered to appear in Elvis Presley's first movie for free but they never got back to us.
One of my fondest memories was the night we were in a hotel room and these girls kept screaming and banging on the door. I finally had to get up, unlock the door and let them out. Our fan club wasn't very big. As a matter of fact, I remember talking to her one night. I said, "Mom, you gotta stop complaining about us playing too loud."
The band broke up in 1965 when Jim got drafted and sent to Vietnam. I decided to play street drums with the rest of the dudes on the street by Wrigley Field where the Chicago Cubs play. Thought some people would toss some money in my hat. I didn't make any money. They stole my hat. I am still very involved in music. Every weekend I appear in Rock Band on Playstation. Since I am now 65, I have finally given up the idea of becoming a teenage rock star. Maybe I can go back and join the Benny Goodman band from St. Sabina's that we replaced. I did end up with a beautiful woman.
My experience with the Torquays was fantastic! I think I'm gonna start writing my new book Chicken Soup for the Band.
Thanks for spending some time with The Torquays. Hope you had some fun; that's what we were all about
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