Hailed as Charlotte, North Carolina’s first hard rock band, The Young Ages formed in 1966 and still continue to perform in 2010. Although very popular in and around the Charlotte area, the band was destined for greater things—including a national TV appearance—after winning a talent contest. Unfortunately, as was so often the case during the era, the Vietnam War put an early end to things. The Young Ages did leave behind an ureleased demo (a cover of The Four Tops’ ‘Reach Out’ b/w ‘In My Own Time’) and, although they never issued a record, their recent performances are still drawing large crowds whenever they perform. Keyboardist Bob Robinson offers his recollections.
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Bob Robinson Recalls The Young Ages
I started piano lessons at four years old, for 12 years. I played strictly classical music. I then played the clarinet in marching band and orchestra in junior high school and high school.
My first band was The Abbadons: Larry Duckworth, drums; Jim Charles, vocals; Cliff Davis, guitar; Gaines Brow, bass; and I played organ. We played '60s psychedelic rock, but were together for less than a year.
The Young Ages had a ball. There were a lot of really good musicians in Charlotte, a lot of them still here. We had a lot of pretty good venues to perform at. It was a blossoming scene, growing from the hippie times and the awareness of all of the new ideals that were coming about. And we cannot forget the enthusiasm and full support from Melvin Cohen/Reliable Music and Calvin Walker, who pioneered FM rock in Charlotte. He exposed us to more alternative music to experiment with.
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We played all of the local venues: The Web, Crescent Moon, Jo's Go-A-Go, and The American Legion Huntersville. We also played a few small bars, several Greek parties (those were fun!), and some college parties. We played every Friday and Saturday night in the region. We played at The Purple Penguin (until ABC found out we were under age). We travelled in an old Lay's Potato Chip truck. Would go to Boone to make $35 to $50 for the whole band, then stop by Athens Restaurant or Whatta Burger and spend most of. We also played in Asheville, Cheraw, and Greensboro.
We appeared on Kilgo's Canteen, a local teen show. We played a few band battles, too. When we started participating, the Detroit sound and soul music were in full stride. Many groups were choreographed and wearing tuxes and uniforms. We'd straggle in, long hair, Beatle boots, paisley and stripes, and then crank into Hendrix. We’d receive some boos, and comments like, "That boy's guitar must be broke; it's all fuzzy sounding." But changes came and there were more bands like us in the battles. We did win the Big WAYS Teen Contest. That landed us a contract and an appearance on a national televised talent show. It never happened. Dickie was drafted for Vietnam. Mike enlisted, after being drafted, to have a choice.
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Other bands of the era that I remember include The Paragons, August, Modulation Blues, Larry's Sound Department, Sound Garden, Crisis, Tempests, Catalinas, Aqualads, and The Villagers.
We were so excited to be able to record! We recorded at Arthur Smith Studios on Monroe Rd. Roger Branch recorded and produced. J.W. Morgan, the deejay at WAYS, promoted it. We recorded on a 4-track machine. J.W. may still have the master; I wish we could find him. It was the first time I got to play a Hammond Organ, and was a personal thrill!
We didn’t usually write original music but our style was original. The ‘Reach Out’ intro was a diddy from Pat Walters; it was kind of a Vanilla Fudge thing.
Being a member of The Young Ages was the time of my life. It was fun as a teen, being a "rock star," though none of the attitude. We couldn't go anywhere in town without bumping into someone that I knew.
The reunion was way beyond my wildest dreams. I had just moved back to Charlotte, after 35 years in Atlanta, and was wondering about the guys. They found me first. I couldn't believe it! The first practice, we made decent music. We still remembered some of the old songs. After the second practice, we did a self-promoted show, and it sold out! A couple of days later, we played The Double Door in Lake Norman. It put us on the map. We’ve played on The Smokin' Blues Radio Show, live. We’ve performed at The Double Door in Charlotte many times, to several packed houses. We still pull them in. One thing that is so cool is that we had a large fan base that followed us around in the '60s, and they still come and see us now. Their children are fans. A comment was made that our shows are like a big reunion of old friends from 40 years ago. Someone told me that they couldn't remember what they had done that day, but could remember the words to every song that we played. That makes me smile!
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