THE DOVERS - WE'RE NOT JUST ANYBODY (SIDE 2), 1966

Here's part 2 of the article/interview included with the Misty Lane Dovers' compilation, We're Not Just Anybody.  This section highlights the two singles they cut for Miramar Records in 1966.

In The early months of 1966, a shake up in the Dovers lineup occured.  Seems the two clean cut guys had had enough of the drug scene and agreed to bail on the group together.  Both Goosey and Rick have told me via phone interviews done back in 1995 that it (the band) wasn't fun anymore, and that there were a few scrapes with the law that almost got the whole band in trouble.  It was the emergence of LSD, thanks to Robbie, who encouraged everyone to 'trip on out for the good of the band', or something like that.  Bruce, always the curious one, took his first hit, and was blown away.

Throwing a Ravi Shankar LP on the hi-fi, Bruce began fleshing out a psychedelic tune that told of his trip: 'magic curtains of green and blue light pass by moon and sky' and 'no wings for my flight, I drift through the night' were two of the lyrical lines which became what Bruce titled 'The Third Eye'.  Musically he borrowed the Ravi Shankar style of middle eastern tones, and created the 'tripadelic' riff played as a hypnotic, trance-like break following each verse.  Bruce showed it to the band, who were concurrently getting settled with their new drummer, Randy Busby, who vacated his seat in Ernie And The Emperors so that he could, in Bruce's words, "get wasted with his buddies."  "I knew Randy from high school, as I've said.  he wanted in our band bad, cuz the Orosco brothers were all straight as an arrow.  I remember when he came to sit in with us for the first time - we got him loaded, and he still kept perfect time!"  A few more suggestions were added and the Dovers had another stellar original, completely unlike anything they had attempted musically to date.  Tim came up with another jangly love song, 'Your Love', for the next Dovers 45.  But something very strange happened.  The radio began playing a song in a similar vein to 'The Third Eye'.  Though not as wild, the tune 'Eight Miles High' featured that Ravi Shankar type middle eastern break.  Though not anywhere near an exact copy of his tune, Bruce was shocked when he heard the song for the first time: "We had already worked on the tune and everything.  A few weeks later I'm in the car and 'Eight Miles High' came on.  I was crushed, I thought I had something unique.  Oh, well..."  And speaking of the Byrds, Bruce did actually come in contact with one caped crusader, or should I say caped egomaniac, David Crosby, during the time of the Dovers.  "David Crosby actually was a friend of Robbie Ladewig.  Crosby saw us play, since his hometown was Santa Barbara."  I had to ask Bruce if Crosby was (in my words) the &*%$@#) people say he was/is, to which Bruce replied, "you bet."

April of 1966 saw the release of 'The Third Eye' / 'Your Love' on the Mirimar label, but this time, the record didn't do as well as the previous two releases.  Mysteriously, copies of the single show no writers credit for either tune, probably Cary's shortsightedness rising to the fore again.  Gigs were still only once a week "if we were lucky" lamented Bruce.  One good show saw the Dovers driving down to Oxnard, the closest venue they ever got to Los Angeles.  (Note: Assertions have been made that the Dovers played in LA, and on the Sunset Strip, but Bruce assets that is not the case: "We did go down to check things out from time to time, but we never played in LA.  We don't know if Cary tried to get us booked in down there or not either."  The Oxnard gig had the Dovers on a bill with a very professional group called the Rising Sons, featuring the soon to be guitar wunderkind Ry Cooder.  Perhaps they played 'The Devils Got My Woman', their lone single recorded for the Columbia label.  But the stars of the show, recalled Bruce: "...were a bunch of 10 to 12 year old black kids.  They were great.  They were better than us!"  The Dovers also found themselves playing in a big battle of the bands gig at the University of California at Santa Barbara.  they finished either third or fourth, depending on who you talk to.  "Battles were never good to us, we never one any of those," laughed Bruce.  

With 'The Third Eye' never really getting off the ground, the Dovers worked on what was to become their final opus, the astounding 'She's Not Just Anybody', which to the author's ears, showcase the penultimate Dovers tune.  Another minor-key melody, featuring Bruce's blonde 12-string Rickenbaker ("A rare bird, they didn't make too many of the model I had") and his reverberated jangly lead on the break that builds to a crashing crescendo, while Randy Busby kicked the skins double time to keep up with the frenzy.  Robbie snaked down a fuzz riff on his bass (It didn't sound good with the guitar, so we tried it on the bass" recalled Bruce.), and Tim again emits a haunting vocal which would make the Dovers famous twenty plus years after the fact.  Tim also penned another original for the flipside of the single, the defiant 'About Me', which again features his trademark vocal quaver.  Bruce also uses the 'harmonic' technique of plucking the strings on the tune, giving it a ringing 'doorbell' like chiming effect.

Released in late May, 1966, 'She's Not Just Anybody' sold better than 'The Third Eye', but failed to match earlier record sales or interest.  By this time Bruce was growing disenchanted with the group: "the drugs, while fun, were starting to become a serious hazard toward whatever momentum we would have going.  Robbie and Tony began doing hard drugs, which I didn't really know about at the time - I still had a full time job, plus a family.  I knew we had something, but Cary started to grow real distant.  Neither he or Robbie would show up for rehearsals, stoned out of their gords.  I began to cause trouble to vent my frustrations".

No one was more surprised than Bruce when he himself got the boot at the end of the summer: "They decided to kick me out, because I was causing trouble, getting aggravated with the situation and all.  So I decided to quit playing altogether.  Nick Hoffman replaced me".  (Note:  This is the same Nick Hoffman who recorded the rollicking 'King of The Moon', and 'Blind And Leaving Blues' on the Miramar label in 1965).  Nick says that the band changed the name at this point, but did not really last for any given length of time.  A sad end, but oh so typical of the times.

Fast forward to recent years - I confirmed the home base of location for the Dovers as Santa Barbara in 1995 via research, after years of guesses and speculations.  A reclusive, hoarding record collector found Tim Granada in the late 1980's and interviewed him for his recollections on the Dovers, but neither I, or anyone else could get this vilified collector to share his findings.  I spoke with members of Tim's family, all of whom informed me that Tim had gone through rough times, and had not contacted anyone in a long time.  Attempts to reach him have failed.  I finally found Bruce after a few years of digging, and after a brief contact, we fell out of touch until the dreaded Napster brought us together again: "I was going through Napster, and I fell out of my chair when I saw Dovers songs up there!  I couldn't believe it!"  Bruce contacted your friendly proprietor of the Misty Lane record empire, who in turn sent him onto me.  We spoke at length for a planned interview, which comprises the basis for this Dovers retrospective.

Thanks again to Bruce for his time, Nick Hoffman for his memories, as well as the other guys I spoke with many moons ago, Tony Rivas, and Rick Morinini.  Robbie Ladewig passed away in 1988; Tony Cary died of an overdose in the early 1970's.  And Tim Granada continues to elude all who wish to acknowledge his contributions as a member of Santa Barbara, California's folk rock icons, The Dovers.

Mike Markesich 
June, 2001

THE DOVERS - WE'RE NOT JUST ANYBODY (SIDE 1), 1965

I'm kicking off the new year with one of the crown jewels in my collection; The Dovers singles collection issued by Misty Lane Records in 2001.  These recordings have proven to be a most influential part of my musical upbringing and one of my greatest discoveries.  I've easily listened to this set hundreds of times over the ensuing years and continue to get fully wrapped up in the excellence of each track.  This post will focus on side 1 which compiles the two singles released in the latter half 1965.  I'll leave it to the experts to provide the details.

Here's part one of the article/interview insert conducted by Mike Markesich with original band member Bruce Clawson:

Bruce Clawson can recall the exact time frame for when the rock & roll bug flew in his ear...

"I was a freshman in high school.  A rock & roll combo performed during an assembly, and I was blown away!  I thought right then that looked like the cool thing to do."

So, circa 1960, Bruce began entering the world of rock & roll via various groups, all of which lasted seconds, if not minutes, the typical norm of the day.  His first "real" band saw Bruce on lead guitar, along with his pal Alex Nova on keyboards, accompanied by other members, names eroded by time.  This grouping found regular gigging opportunities at the two high schools in their home town of Santa Barbara, California, namely Santa Barbara High and San Marcos High.  By the time Bruce graduated in 1963, he became a co-founder of a combo dubbed the Van Dels, which included Tony Rivas, a big, burly teen affectionately christened "Goosey" by friends.  Performing what is now dubbed "frat-rock" by the garage cognoscenti, along with the instrumental sounds so in vogue for the day, the Van Dels became a popular combo for parties, dances, and record hops.  A year later, the Van Dels acquired Rick Morinini to man the drum seat for the group..  "He was just a baby," recalled Bruce.  "A freshman in high school.  Rick came by the garage where we rehearsed, sat in, and impressed us.  My friend from school, Randy Busby, who I wanted to get into the group had joined the Orosco Brothers, who became the town's most popular combo, Ernie & The Emperors."

A change was on the horizon, thanks to a chain of events which typify the times... Tony Rivas introduced the group to a local Hispanic tough (as Bruce described him) named Tim Granada, who brought along his well-to-do pal Robbie Ladewig.  In turn, Robbie knew a local hipster with cash and connections named Tony Cary.  "Tony wanted to be the next Phil Spector, or Andrew Loog Oldham.  He financed his own record label, made friends with some session guys in Los Angeles, and recorded a single on his own which bombed.  He couldn't play a musical instrument, so Tony decided to check us out."  The 'us' in question was now the grouping of Bruce on lead guitar, Tim on lead vocals/rhythm guitar, Robbie on bass, Tony Rivas providing harmony vocals as well as saxophone, and the youngster Rick on drums.  Cary came by, liked what he heard, and agreed to manage the group, renamed by Cary as the Dovers.  "I hated that name, we all thought it sucked," lamented Bruce.  "Tony Cary told us to adopt a name that sounded British.  I think we were all to lazy to bother coming up with a name ourselves."

It is interesting to note that all of the guys in the group had graduated from high school at this juncture; only Rick was still yet to graduate (class of 1966).  Bruce himself had gotten a job (a map maker), and was already married, his wife expecting a child.  Tim and Goosey also held down day jobs, while Robbie, the son of affluent parents, hung out with Cary, and began experimenting with (egad!) drugs.  rehearsals where often interrupted for a "break" which sometimes included smoking grass.  Bruce reflected: "I was a newbie to drugs at that point.  I was always a curious sort, I'd try anything once.  Goosey and Rick, they were clean cut guys.  I tried to get the others to cool it while they were around."  Neverless, the beginnings of a faction within the Dovers began to take hold, and the group hadn't even begun to record as of yet.  The Dovers relied on Cary to get them gigs, but according to Bruce, all Tony was interested in was "...driving around LA in his Continental and going to parties." 

Whenever Cary did attend a group rehearsal, he strove to get the guys to perform sould and R&B sounds: "We played, at that point, a lot of Beatles, some of the bluesy Rolling Stones tunes, any of the British Invasion type stuff.  Then here comes Cary, always critical of our selections and playing anyway, and he pressures us to go in another direction.  We in turn kept telling him what we really needed was to make a record."  Cary finally acquiesced, and told the guys to come up with some original material.  Tim came up with the sublime "What Am I Going To Do," which utilized Goosey's high harmony vocal range.  The Dovers worked on the song at rehearsals, which became established at the mansion of Robbie's parents.  Bruce remembers: "Robbie's parents had BUCKS!  He lived in this estate, a mansion which all of us 'poor boys' couldn't relate to.  really swank.  We had one whole wing of the place to keep our equipment and rehearse."

With "What Am I Going To Do" taking shape, Bruce struggled to pen his first 'real composition, titled "She's Gone" :  "I really had a hard time with that one.  I had the music, it needed a little something, which the guys helped out with (the bridge part).  Then I came up with simplistic words."  Cary then booked some studio time down in Los Angeles at the famed Gold Star Studios in the summer of 1965.  The guys recorded both of their originals, along with possibly 4 or 5 other tunes.  Bruce seems to recall other tunes cut at this session, but isn't sure.  He does remember watching Jim Messina work the board, engineering the session, then during a break, playing some of his own stuff for them.  Cary noted upon playback that "What Am I Going To Do" needed some keyboards to fill it out, but since he wasn't good enough to play, the talents of a jazz session player named David Wilson were tapped.  Satisfied with the results, Cary sent the master tape off to Monarch pressing, while Bruce got his mom, a professional graphic artist, to design the cool-looking updated Miramar record label logo.  (Note: The first record to display the new logo was the Road Runners "I'll Make It Up To You", on Miramar 116 released in August).

In mid September, the records arrived back from Monarch, and Cary immediately fired off his copies to his buddies in radio, namely on Johnny Fairchid, a disc jockey at KTMS in Santa Barbara.  On the local level, "She's Gone" sold well, and battled the other local guys, Ernie and The Emperors, who had a regional hit breaking with the Gerry and The Pacemakers inspired "Meet Me At The Corner".  But "She's Gone" failed to break out of Los Angeles despite some success there.  The Dovers began to feature both songs at live shows, which according to Bruce, "were few and far in between  ...especially for somebody that needed the money.  We all wanted to make the band more than just a fun thing, but Cary wasn't a good influence there.  Seems Cary and his buddy Robbie were hanging out on the strip quite a bit, and getting more immersed in the drug scene."

On the upbeat side, since Ernie and company's disc did so well for the Reprise label, albeit at a regional level, the Dovers found their next release picked up by the big label a couple of weeks after it appeared on Miramar.  Again at Goldstar, the two tunes recorded were the jangly, ebullient "I Could Be Happy" countered with the haunting, downtrodden "People Ask Me Why", both tunes again courtesy of the neighborhood tough guy, Tim Granada.  Rick recalls overdubbing the drum parts on "People" to give the tune added dynamic tension.  The guys were elated with the results, and the disc came out on Cary's Miramar label in November.  But none of them even knew the record was picked up by Reprise, at least in the beginning; "We never met anybody from the Reprise label.  We took no promo pictures or anything," said Bruce.  Regarding photos, it seems any surviving pictures of the Dovers are as rare as those of Robert Johnson!  Bruce does recall that Robbies older brother did take quite a few pictures of the group, but none of them can be found.