Although he had no formal musical background, and was never in a band, Rick Forbess wrote the song ‘Collision Course’ for the Coleman, Texas group The Wry Catchers.
Rick Forbess Recalls The Wry Catchers
60sgaragebands.com (60s): What was your musical background before writing the songs for The Wry Catchers?
Rick Forbess (RF): None at all. I just loved rock n roll.
60s: Were you in and bands either prior to The Wry Catchers' recordings, or after?
RF: Never.
60s: How did you become associated with The Wry Catchers?
RF: We were high school friends.
60s: Who comprised the band?
RF: Dewayne Berry and Johnnie Berry (cousins), Jan Larson and Tim Bullock.
60s: Where were ‘Collision Course’ and ‘When I Met You’ recorded?
RF: The songs were recorded in Tommy Allsup's studio in Odessa. I tagged along and was there the night in August 1966. It was just Tommy, me, and the band. We had no idea that he'd played with Buddy Holly. He was gracious with no pretensions at all, and we were 18-year-old kids who'd never been in a recording studio before. ‘Collision Course’ was (originally) a slower tempo song with an early Rolling Stones sort of vibe before that night, but Tommy wanted it more up-tempo. When he could see that the band just couldn't kick it into gear, he asked to play bass. Of course there was no argument, and he really laid down the line that gave the song any drive that it has.
A few weeks later a couple of boxes of the 45s arrived. They were peddled to local radio stations, given to friends, and largely forgotten.
The song came to me all at once as I was cruising the main drag in Coleman, Texas one night alone in my 1956 Plymouth. A couple of days later I sang it for Dewayne Berry, the lead guitarist for the band. He added the bridge and the band learned the song. Shortly after that he wrote ‘When I Met You’.
60s: Did the songs receive any airplay, or did The Wry Catchers perform them in live performances?
RF: I believe there was very limited play (once or twice) on the local radio station in Coleman, Texas. The band did perform the song live a couple of times, but within a month of the song being recorded, we all went to college, and I don't think the band ever played together again.
60s: Two other songs are attributed to The Wry Catchers: ‘She’s The One’ and ‘Take A Walk.’
RF: I'm not aware that the band recorded any more, but I wasn't a band member, just a friend of the guys who came up with the melody and lyrics to ‘Collision Course’, so they may have recorded those two songs without my knowing it.
60s: Did you write many songs during that period? Were any others recorded?
RF: Sadly, and this is a tremendous loss to American music, I've never penned another.
During the two-three years prior to the recording, we became fairly well acquainted with Dean Beard. He was a local boy who had returned to Coleman after a career that got off the ground and then floundered. He had been in The Champs of ‘Tequila’ fame, but had badly broken a leg in a car accident while traveling with the band in California and still walked with a limp. Earlier he'd recorded some rock-a-billy material and when we knew him his band, Dean Beard and The Crew-Cats, did mostly country and western songs. At any rate, he sort of took the band under his wings; got them a few gigs, gave tips on all sorts of things, and linked them to Tommy Allsup. One of the jobs was at some little joint in San Angelo, and I went along. The place was a typical little West Texas bar with a little bandstand and dance floor. The owner was a guy named Bev Boyd. This was a weeknight during the summer, and maybe ten paying customers were in the place. After a couple of numbers (probably Beatles covers) Bev came up and told the band, "Angelo ain't ready for that Go-Go shit." (One of my all time favorite quotes.) To accommodate Bev, the band played the two or three country and western songs they knew, but finally slipped into ‘Wipe Out’. This brought two or three couples to the dance floor. After a couple more repeats of the country and western songs, Bev came up again and said, "Play that one where the drummer goes crazy." Great memories!
Thanks to Todd Gardner of Turn Me On Dead Man for suggesting that Rick contact us to provide the story on his association with The Wry Catchers.
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