It was 1965 in Piscataway, New Jersey when Laszlo Reti, his brother Tommy, and Dominick Cortez and Tony Barletta fooled around in Tony's basement hoping to get a band together. Laszlo played lead guitar, Tommy played bass, Dominick played rhythm guitar and Tony played drums. Tony Barletta invited Roger Gary to join them as their lead vocalist. This "new group" became The Continentals. Their ages ranged from 12 to 16.
Roger Gary Recalls The Witches Bru
|
 |
| The Continentals, 1965: Tommy Reti, Dominick Cortez, Tony Barletta, Roger Gary and Laszlo Reti |
|
|
The band decided that they needed to add a keyboard to complete the band and in 1966 brought in Ed Figiel. Ed traded his accordion in for a Farfisa mini-compact organ. The band changed its name to The Ultraviolet Shades.
Shortly thereafter, Dominick left the band and Tony was replaced by drummer Bob Giglio. Once again the band changed its name and Witches Brù was born!
Witches Brù played the local scene in the Piscataway and Plainfield area of New Jersey. Venues included Piscataway High School, the South Plainfield PAL and the Hullabaloo in Manville, New Jersey.
Witches Brù had their last gig at The Cave in New Jersey on December 31, 1968. The boys went their separate ways—college, armed forces, marriage, etc. However, Ed and Roger remained close friends.
|
Witches Brù had their last gig at The Cave in New Jersey on December 31, 1968. The boys went their separate ways—college, armed forces, marriage, etc. However, Ed and Roger remained close friends.
On July 10, 2004 Roger, Laszlo, Ed and Bob got together socially to reminisce about the good-old-days. Tommy Reti was unable to join due to a debilitating disease. One thing led to another and, after attending the Doughboys reunion gig in February 2005—and with some coaxing—the guys decided to get together to make some noise.
The band had its first reunion on April 2, 2005. The four remaining members joined forces at Bob's house in Piscataway. Bob had all the equipment—drums, guitars, amps and a console organ. Roger brought a borrowed PA system. They played songs like ‘Gloria,’ ‘Midnight Hour,’ ‘Ain't Too Proud To Beg’ and ‘96 Tears.’ It was just as though it was yesterday. The chords, the lyrics, the beat...it all came back to them.
The band now needed a bass player to replace Tommy Reti. Roger approached his son-in-law, Chris DeMarco, about playing bass guitar. Chris is a trained classical pianist and can also play six-string acoustic guitar and drums. Chris decided to give it a go and became the fifth member of Witches Brù. The boys got together on May 14, 2005 for their first official practice.
The next few years were somewhat of a struggle. Laszlo and Bob decided to back out of the group due to personal reasons. After many, many auditions and exhausting searches, the band found replacement musicians. Jeff Marlon, a drummer from Bridgewater, New Jersey, joined the band in March 2007. Fred Nelson, lead guitarist from Spotswood, New Jersey, joined the band in January 2009. Both had significant exposure in various bands in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Since then, the band recorded a demo CD of five cover tunes, increased their set list and played at various venues in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Witches Brù describes their current music as an “eclectic mix of ‘60s and ‘70s Rock & Roll. The objective is to bring the audience back to the decade of peace and love…another time…another place…another world.
|
 |
| Witches Bru, 1968 |
|
|
For more on Witches Bru, visit their Web site...
|
 |
| Witches Bru, 2008 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
