The Chocolate Watchband - Biography
By Nick Castro
The Chocolate Watchband are one of the most iconic bands to be associated with the San Francisco of the 1960's. They have become darlings of the garage revival scenes since the Nuggets compilations contained their song "Are You Gonna Be There". The band formed in San Jose in 1965 by Mark Loomis and Ned Torney. They enlisted drummer Pete Currey, bassist Rich Young, organist Jo Kemling and singer Danny Phay. Some members were drafted right away though and the lineup dissolved shortly after its creation. Loomis found himself in another group, but dissatisfied with their sound, took their bassist, Bill Flores and found singer David Aguilar singing in a local group called The Early Morning Rain.
With their new lineup The Chocolate Watchband began performing in San Francisco again building a reputation for their tight blues covers. The turning point in their careers though was when they opened a concert for the band the Mindbenders at the Fillmore Auditorium, a place that Aguilar later recalled as his favorite to play. Bill Graham offered them a chance to record but going with the advice of their manager, Ron Roupe, they decided to go with Green Grass Productions. They recorded with producers Ed Cobb and Ray Harris and recorded the songs "Sweet Young Thing", by Cobb, and "Baby Blue", by Bob Dylan, for the Uptown label. Both recordings are considered amongst their finest works still. The band's popularity was growing quickly and they soon started playing less blues and covers and began writing their own material. They also began to get a lot of radio airplay for their single and spent the time honing their sound and perfecting their song writing craft.
The next year would prove to be a busy one for The Chocolate Watchband and they began by releasing their second single, "Misty Lane", backed with, "She Weaves a Tender Trap". Both songs are good but lacked the hard rock sound the band achieved with their live sets. Their next single though, also their most famous, was "Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)", backed with, "No Way Out". This single marked their change to the Tower record label. "No Way Out" began in the studio as an impromptu jam. Another major event of the year was their appearance in the films Riot on Sunset Strip and The Love-Ins. They were featured on the soundtrack album Riot on Sunset Strip (1967 - Tower) along with The Standells. By the end of the year, Tower Records was ready to offer the group a full length record. They released No Way Out (1967 - Tower), which was met by both accolades and accusations that they were a Rolling Stones copycat band. Today this is often considered a classic of the genre and original copies, when they can be found, of the LP change hands for large sums of money. The album features soaring feedback guitars, blues rock riffs and eastern touches to achieve a proto-psychedelic sound. it was also at this time that band broke up and several of the members went their own ways. Loomis, Aguilar and drummer Gary Andrijasevich continued on with with new members. Although they continued to get work, the buzz from the their initial success was gone. They did manage to still get some prestigious gigs, like opening for the Doors.
1968 saw The Chocolate Watchband's controversial album, The Inner Mystique (1968 - Tower), which was mostly recorded, without the band's knowledge, by session musicians who were performing material that was not chosen by the band either. The album was rushed for completion, to recoup costs and make one last sale, in the end of 1967, by the record label and engineer Richie Podolor, amidst the news of the band's breakup. Singer Don Bennett, who had recorded some vocals on the first album, also without the band's knowledge, again made an appearance and recorded some songs where Aguilar's vocals were deleted. Most of the first side does not feature one member of the group, instead featuring hired guns. The second side though does showcase the band, still keeping true to the psychedelic punk blue that made them famous in San Francisco. The band did an amazing cover of the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" as well as a ripping version of I Ain't No Miracle Worker". Ironically, the album is often considered a good psych garage album, regardless of all of the scandal that went along with its conception.
By 1968 though The Chocolate Watchband hired their original singer Phay, and continued to play and record. They teamed up with Cobb once again and recorded their third album, One Step Beyond (1969 - Tower). This would prove the be the group's last studio effort of the era. Many of their fans have displayed disappointment with the album though, as Aguilar's voice was a key element in the sound of the group. The sound of the band, along with the lineup, had changed as well. Most of the songs on the album were written by members of the group, like the record's opener "Uncle Morris", written by Andrijasevich and Loomis, and "Flowers", written by Andrijasevich and Phay. They even did a cover of Ashford & Simpson's song "I Don't Need No Doctor". This was also their shortest album; less than 30 minutes.
The music of The Chocolate Watchband has been reissued many times by labels like Rhino Records and Sundazed. Rhino released a compilation of their songs called The Best of the Chocolate Watchband (1984 - Rhino). In the late 90's the band reunited, due in large part to the overwhelming demand of their fans, and even recorded another album, Get Away (2000 - Orchard). Most of the songs were written by Aguilar and the style if sometimes awkward as the band tries to find a sound after their 30 year hiatus. They also released the live album At the Love-In Live! (2001 - Roir), which was recorded live in 1999. This found the band doing much of their old material, satisfying the cravings of their die hard fans. Most recently the band have performed with the Electric Prunes, The Seeds and The Strawberry Alarm Clock at the Fuzzfest Northwest, in August of 2007.
