Last Voyage Home
Thu 13 Nov 2014, 2:02 pm
I'll make my last post here before the move about music.
When I was a teen in the mid-1960s, there was a local band from a nearby high school that was pretty damn good. They were called The Soul Benders and they later changed their name to Phlegethon. Their version of "Hey Joe" (in '67 or '68) was the first version of the song I ever heard and was #1 in our local area for many weeks. They had another song, "7&7 Is," that was a big hit too.
The band leader, Aris Hampers, recorded Last Voyage Home, his last song, in 1971. He did everything on a shoestring budget with none of the technology available today, e.g., the backup vocals were kids from a local high school madrigals choir. The song hit #1 for a few weeks then after the song ran its course, I never heard it again until I found Aris on the Internet last year and ordered a CD from him. "Last Voyage Home" was part of what he called "The Odyssey," an unfinished suite of songs, very ambitious. The band broke up because they got tired of all the work, the rehearsals, for little or no pay.
I just discovered a YouTube of the "Last Voyage Home," and also his "Prelude to an Odyssey," which sounds Emerson, Lake and Palmeresque. Also stuck in "7&7 Is." Great to again hear this garage rock band again after all these years.
When I was a teen in the mid-1960s, there was a local band from a nearby high school that was pretty damn good. They were called The Soul Benders and they later changed their name to Phlegethon. Their version of "Hey Joe" (in '67 or '68) was the first version of the song I ever heard and was #1 in our local area for many weeks. They had another song, "7&7 Is," that was a big hit too.
The band leader, Aris Hampers, recorded Last Voyage Home, his last song, in 1971. He did everything on a shoestring budget with none of the technology available today, e.g., the backup vocals were kids from a local high school madrigals choir. The song hit #1 for a few weeks then after the song ran its course, I never heard it again until I found Aris on the Internet last year and ordered a CD from him. "Last Voyage Home" was part of what he called "The Odyssey," an unfinished suite of songs, very ambitious. The band broke up because they got tired of all the work, the rehearsals, for little or no pay.
I just discovered a YouTube of the "Last Voyage Home," and also his "Prelude to an Odyssey," which sounds Emerson, Lake and Palmeresque. Also stuck in "7&7 Is." Great to again hear this garage rock band again after all these years.
Re: Last Voyage Home
Thu 13 Nov 2014, 3:12 pm
Cool. On the basis of that small sampling, I'd go with the "Soulbenders" version of the band.
_________________
Australians don't mind criminals: It's successful bullshit artists we despise.
Lachie Hulme
-----------------------------
The Cold War ran on bullshit.
Me
"So what’s an independent-minded populist like me to do? I’ve had to grovel in promoting myself on social media, even begging for Amazon reviews and Goodreads ratings, to no avail." Don Jeffries
"I've been aware of Greg Parker's work for years, and strongly recommend it." Peter Dale Scott
https://gregrparker.com
- Bigjohnaz
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Join date : 2017-08-11
Re: Last Voyage Home
Fri 11 Aug 2017, 11:30 pm
Hi Stan, long time lurker. Since it seems you are also from the Midwest, do you remember a band called Pavlov's Dog out of St. Louis area?
Re: Last Voyage Home
Sat 12 Aug 2017, 12:46 am
Bigjohnaz wrote:Hi Stan, long time lurker. Since it seems you are also from the Midwest, do you remember a band called Pavlov's Dog out of St. Louis area?
Pleased to meet you. Michigan boy here.
I do not remember this band. I see they got started in 1972. I left Michigan not long after this where I would spend the next eight years in the US Navy, and when not overseas, I was stationed primarily on the West and East Coasts so that was a band I missed out on.
- Bigjohnaz
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Join date : 2017-08-11
Re: Last Voyage Home
Sat 12 Aug 2017, 1:14 am
Pleased to meet you, also! Thanks for the reply.
I'm 5 years younger than you and from a south suburb of Chicago, been here in AZ for 17 years. Loved the video and did a quick peak on Google about Aris and watched the Hey Joe video. They did a great job, one of my favorite songs. Johnny Rivers did his cover a year later.
Not trying to hijack your thread, but we vacationed in Michigan often, and when we go back to visit family, we try to fit in a day or so in Michigan.
Another local band you may have heard of it the Buckinghams, one of the members actually taught guitar to one of my friends!
Thanks for sharing your story of the Soul Benders, 60's and 70's still my favorite music.
I'm 5 years younger than you and from a south suburb of Chicago, been here in AZ for 17 years. Loved the video and did a quick peak on Google about Aris and watched the Hey Joe video. They did a great job, one of my favorite songs. Johnny Rivers did his cover a year later.
Not trying to hijack your thread, but we vacationed in Michigan often, and when we go back to visit family, we try to fit in a day or so in Michigan.
Another local band you may have heard of it the Buckinghams, one of the members actually taught guitar to one of my friends!
Thanks for sharing your story of the Soul Benders, 60's and 70's still my favorite music.
Re: Last Voyage Home
Sat 12 Aug 2017, 1:47 am
Bigjohnaz wrote:Pleased to meet you, also! Thanks for the reply.
I'm 5 years younger than you and from a south suburb of Chicago, been here in AZ for 17 years. Loved the video and did a quick peak on Google about Aris and watched the Hey Joe video. They did a great job, one of my favorite songs. Johnny Rivers did his cover a year later.
Not trying to hijack your thread, but we vacationed in Michigan often, and when we go back to visit family, we try to fit in a day or so in Michigan.
Another local band you may have heard of it the Buckinghams, one of the members actually taught guitar to one of my friends!
Thanks for sharing your story of the Soul Benders, 60's and 70's still my favorite music.
The Buckinghams? Yes I remember them!
I am suddenly transported back to 1967 sitting at the local Rexall drug store soda fountain talking to this girl I had a screaming crush on while "Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)" is playing in the background.
OK, I'm back. Damn.
When I started my Exoneration of Lee Harvey Oswald series of videos a few months ago, I asked Aris for permission to use an unpublished rock instrumental, "Ship in a Bottle," for my theme song and he graciously approved. It has a raw, retro feel that I love. I later made a tribute video featuring this number.
I'm with you; I like 60s and 70s music best.
- Bigjohnaz
- Posts : 17
Join date : 2017-08-11
Re: Last Voyage Home
Sat 12 Aug 2017, 2:50 am
This is one of the things that I truly love about the internet-getting to know people on an JFK assassination forum about their music memories!
Just so you know, I try to read everything I can regarding the JFK/RFK/MLK murders. I have about 25 books and go to the other forums for info and insight. As I said, I have been lurking this forum for a couple of years.
Our shared tastes in music makes me love this forum even more lol \m/
Just so you know, I try to read everything I can regarding the JFK/RFK/MLK murders. I have about 25 books and go to the other forums for info and insight. As I said, I have been lurking this forum for a couple of years.
Our shared tastes in music makes me love this forum even more lol \m/
Re: Last Voyage Home
Sat 12 Aug 2017, 9:56 am
Even I know the Buckinghams. Kind of a Drag is a classic.
Welcome aboard Bigjohn.
Welcome aboard Bigjohn.
_________________
Australians don't mind criminals: It's successful bullshit artists we despise.
Lachie Hulme
-----------------------------
The Cold War ran on bullshit.
Me
"So what’s an independent-minded populist like me to do? I’ve had to grovel in promoting myself on social media, even begging for Amazon reviews and Goodreads ratings, to no avail." Don Jeffries
"I've been aware of Greg Parker's work for years, and strongly recommend it." Peter Dale Scott
https://gregrparker.com
- Bigjohnaz
- Posts : 17
Join date : 2017-08-11
Re: Last Voyage Home
Mon 14 Aug 2017, 12:37 am
Thanks, Greg.
One of my Uncles bought me a transistor radio when I was pretty young and I used to go through 9v batterries like water (to my Mother's chagrin lol) because I would have the radio on with the little plastic earphone on and fall asleep at night only to find the battery dead in the morning.
Music has always meant a lot to me, and still does. To me, music is also a time machine, when I hear songs from my past I get transported for a millisecond and remember the joy of what I was doing then.
One of my Uncles bought me a transistor radio when I was pretty young and I used to go through 9v batterries like water (to my Mother's chagrin lol) because I would have the radio on with the little plastic earphone on and fall asleep at night only to find the battery dead in the morning.
Music has always meant a lot to me, and still does. To me, music is also a time machine, when I hear songs from my past I get transported for a millisecond and remember the joy of what I was doing then.
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