TheBadSeeds were the first rock group of note to come out of Corpus Christi, Texas, itself a hotbed of garage-rock activity during the middle/late 1960s. They started when guitarist/singer Mike Taylor and bassist Herb Edgeington, then member of a local band called the Four Winds, met up with lead guitarist Rod Prince and drummer Robert Donahoe, who had been playing in a rival band called the Titans until its demise. Prince wanted to form a new group, and he, Taylor and Edgeington became the core of theBadSeeds, who were signed to the local J-Beck label in 1966. They stayed together long enough to record three singles during 1966, of which two, "A Taste of the Same"/"I'm a King Bee" and "All Night Long"/"Sick and Tired," are unabashed classics of blues-based garage-punk, three of them originals by Taylor (who wrote most of their originals) or Prince. Even their normally maligned second single, "Zilch Part 1"/"Zilch Part 2," has some worth as a pretty hot pair of throwaway tracks. The band's sound was the raunchy Rolling Stones-influenced garage-punk typical of Texas rock groups in the mid-'60s.Following the breakup of the group after the summer of 1966, Mike Taylor became a writer and producer for the the Zakary Thaks, another Corpus Christi-based band (who were signed to J-Beck after being spotted playing on a bill with theBadSeeds), and also recorded singles in a folk-like mode as The Fabulous Michael. Rod Prince went on to become a key member of the legendary band Bubble Puppy, who were signed to Leland Rogers' International Artists' label, and the post-psychedelic group Demian. ~ Bruce Eder & Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
With a few breaks, the Liberty Bell might have been America's Yardbirds -- as it worked out, however, the group suffered the undeserved fate of being a footnote in the history of Corpus Christi rock bands. Formed in Corpus Christi, Texas in the mid-1960s, they were originally named the Zulus and played a mix of blues-rock drifting toward psychedelia, driven by some fairly ambitious guitar work by lead axeman Al Hunt. In 1967, they hooked up with Carl Becker, the co-owner of J-Beck Records, which, at the time, was recording the hottest local band, the ZakaryThaks. Becker signed them to his new Cee-Bee Records, and suggested a name change to the Liberty Bell.The group's lineup at the time of their first single, a cover of the Yardbirds' "Nazz Are Blue" backed with a cover of Willie Dixon's "Big Boss Man," included Ronnie Tanner on lead vocals, Al Hunt on lead guitar, Richard Painter on rhythm guitar, and Wayne Harrison on bass. This record did well enough locally to justify further recording, and these sessions yielded the best songs of the group's entire history, "Something For Me," "For What You Lack," "I Can See," and "That's How It Will Be." Fast-tempo, fuzz-drenched pieces with catchy hooks, these numbers made the group sound like an American version of the Yardbirds with more of an angry punk edge, courtesy of lead singer Ronnie Tanner. But the real star of the group was lead guitarist Al Hunt, who wrote most of the material in those days and played like Jeff Beck on a good day.Tanner exited the group in early 1968 and was replaced by Chris Gemiottis, formerly of the ZakaryThaks, who also brought a quartet of original songs with him, which were somewhat less punk-oriented and attempted to be more profound. The group switched to the Back Beat label, which specialized in R&B flavored material. The Liberty Bell continued in its psychedelic/garage direction before releasing a soul-style number, "Naw Naw Naw" (on which only Gemiottis participated, with a studio band backing him) for their final single, late in 1968. The Liberty Bell came to an end in 1969 when Gemiottis returned to his former band. In 1995, however, Collectables Records released a 14-song collection of their music. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
A few months later Dennis Fehler [Faylor] sent us an e-mail which I think it might be of interest :
"I play / perform with some guys that call themselves TheBadSeeds from McGregor, TX. The odd thing is I didn’t know there were any other Bad Seeds until the late 1990’s. Way back when in 1968…, we had to stop performing because several of the members had to serve in the Vietnam war [and we didn’t get back together until 1999]. "
"In the past few years we have tried to make up for lost time, and we are really enjoying the music."
It has taken 40 years but theBadSeeds have finally released their original music "The Bad Seeds - Return”. Unlike other bands that "made it big” way back in the 1960’s and 70’s, theBadSeeds had to wait until 2007 for their time in the sun.
TheBadSeeds are a garage band formed by guitarist Allan Jansen in the fall of 1966 at Kilgore College, in Kilgore, Texas. Allan and college roommate and keyboardist Dennis Fehler immediately began the search for band members. Soon, Kilgore classmate and vocalist Larry Drennan joined Allan and Dennis and the beginning of the band formed quickly. During most of the fall of 1966 other Kilgore musicians auditioned but the band didn’t jell until McGregor, Texas High School classmates Skip Spoonts and Mike Rushing joined to play guitar and bass. The last need was for a good drummer. Over the years, theBadSeeds have performed with numerous drummers and the band joked about having to always find a drummer on "short notice.” In Kilgore [Allan’s Freshman year] the band came to be quite popular with the Kilgore Rangerettes, who arranged for theBadSeeds to play at several football pep rallies, a few fraternity and sorority parties, and some private parties as well.
TheBadSeeds play cover music by The Kinks, The Doors, The Animals, Wilson Pickett, The Rolling Stones, The Kingsmen, ZZ Top, Jonny Lang, Jimi Hendrix and many more.
In addition to the cover music, forty years later, theBadSeeds perform many original songs that reflect the youthful 1960’s and chronicle the 21st century with the sounds that are uniquely Bad Seeds. TheBadSeeds – Return is the current album that features sixteen of the best of the best Bad Seeds sounds.
TheBadSeeds - Return 1. The 60's (2:53) 2. TV2 (3:29) 3. All Night Baby (3:04) 4. Make Me Feel (2:26) 5. The 4 Bar Blues (4:08) 6. If I Had Known (3:25) 7. Get It (2:48) 8. Don't Know (3:12) 9. Get In or Get Out (3:05) 10. Mad Dog Killer (2:59) 11. My Job (2:06) 12. Heaven (1:54) 13. More or Less (3:18) 14. Romeo (2:52) 15. You Won't Change (3:36) 16. Bo's Place (3:56)
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