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1/5/2009
Monday morning
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| There must be something unique about a band that can maintain a
considerable following nearly 15 years after their demise, and without
any hit records to their credit. Such a band is San Franciscos
Chocolate Watch Band. Their 1966-1967 singles for the Uptown label
exchange hands for anywhere from ten to fifteen dollars on the record
collectors market, while their three long-deleted albums on the Tower
label command prices as high as $100 in mint condition. |
| I made a watch band six months ago for a watch whose band had died,
following directions from the above book. Ive worn it daily since,
and its been fine. |
| Much of the Chocolate Watch Bands aesthetic success can be attributed to
their producer, Ed Cobb. Having served as bass singer with the vastly
underrated Four Preps from 1956 to 1965, Cobb fashioned a highly
successful career for himself in the mid-1960s as a
songwriter/producer/mentor for such garage bands as the Standells, the
E-Types and Stark and the Car Thieves. Cobbs experimental
instincts (combined with a penchant for the aesthetics of rock and rolls
glorious founding days) inspired him to constantly be on the lookout for
promising up-and-coming talent whose musical persuasions were not
necessarily in step with the norm. |
| One problem is that my watch face is heavier than the beads, so its
always on the other side of my arm, forcing me to use both hands or
ungraceful contortionist exercises of the arm and neck in order to see
what time it is. Im considering adding some kind of weight to my
next band, presently in progress. Or maybe putting two watch faces on
it--that way at least one watch face should always be visible!!! |
| The Chocolate Watch Band--one of my favorite sixties psych-garage
bands--hailed from San Jose/San Francisco in the mid-1960s. Following is
a complete transcript of the liner notes from A.V.I./Rhino Records 1983
Best of compilation, which I believe is still available. Alternately,
their complete three sixties (with lots of bonus tracks) are available on
CD from Sundazed records. Those LPs are 1. No Way Out (1967); 2. The
Inner Mystique (1967); and 3. One Step Beyond (1968). Although
subsequent stuff Ive read contradicts some of the things in Mike
McDowells band bio below (especially Ed Cobbs raves about the third
album--One Step Beyond--which didnt feature vocalist Dave Aguilar, and
which, IMHO, is by far the weakest of the three), the following is
nevertheless a pretty good who/what/where piece about a band that
definitely deserves to be remembered. |
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