OTHER SIDE-chocolate watch band-Skip Spence-BRENT-PSYCH

$

47

THE OTHER SIDE • walking down the road / streetcar
1965 original white label USA BRENT records T5KM-3087 / brent 7061
CONDITION : vinyl VG++

***Nice Promo California garage psychedelia on the legendary Brent label.
Some members connected with Chocolate watch band, and some
Interesting trivia is Skip Spence (moby grape, jefferson airplane) may play on this single, there seems
to be conflicting information floating around...He definitly was in the Other Side (see his bio below)
at one time,
but I cannot prove at this point in any manner he played on this release.Solid and quickly becoming
a collectable garage classic, with psychedelic edges. This was also featured on the mainstream "pot of flowers"
LP, and also recently on the newest Rhino Nuggets release, as I was informed by a fellow ebayer.

'eers a bit o' info:

Inextricably linked with the Chocolate Watchband -- by virtue of a dizzying personnel swap in November 1965 -- the Otherside are today far less known than their sister group, but were no less talented. the Otherside evolved from the Topsiders, a surf combo formed at Fremont, CA's Washington High School in 1964. The quartet included Jim Sawyers (lead guitar), Ken "Toad" Matthew (drums, vocals), Tom Antone (bass), and David Tolby (b. David Phelps; second lead guitar). This lineup's high-water mark was a mid-1965 appearance at a KLIV Battle of the Bands at ~San Jose's Civic Auditorium. Joined briefly by rhythm guitarist Skip Spence, the Topsiders -- upon Spence's departure -- adopted a new handle. Spence, drafted to drum for The Jefferson Airplane, gave Sawyers and company the alternate moniker that The Airplane had rejected. Thus was the Otherside born, and the band began a whirlwind series of personnel shifts. Citing personal differences with Tolby, Sawyers -- after a final show at ~the Oakland Civic Auditorium -- accepted the Vejtables' offer to replace Reese Sheets. Enter Edward Johnston "Ned" Torney III, lead axe of the Chocolate Watchband. Torney, whose keyboard and string-bending skills had been honed through an impressive succession of apprenticeships -- including stints with future Remains member Barry Tashian and East Coast surf-instrumentalists the Roadrunners -- had already been asked to join the Otherside at an earlier November gig where both bands had played. Torney decided to jump ship and take Sawyer's place. His defection temporarily slew the Watchband, whose phoenix soon rose again from the ashes with Tolby (now calling himself Sean) in tow. Meanwhile, original Watchbanders Jo Kemling (keyboards) and Danny Phay (vocals) followed Torney and joined the remaining two Othersiders -- Matthew and Antone. The new Otherside, runners-up at a KEWB sponsored Battle of the Bands at t

-he Oakland Civic Auditorium in late November 1965, gained the endorsement of radio deejay Johnny G, and the band began drawing huge crowds. Stylistically, they emulated the British Invasion groups the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Animals, Yardbirds and, perhaps most notably, The Who. From January to May 1966, however, Torney -- drafted and stationed at Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco -- was merely a weekend participant. To help fill his shoes, Martin Van Slyke Battey III (harmonica, guitar, vocals) came aboard. Battey had been a former bandmate of Torney's in the short-lived Van Slyke. At this juncture, the Otherside shared billing with the pre-Creedence Golliwogs at The Brass Rail. Torney's return in May 1966 made the quintet top-heavy and rendered Kemling superfluous. His departure was soon followed by that of Phay. Guitarist Alan Graham -- pilfered from the Lord Jim Quintet -- was recruited to assist on vocals. It was this lineup of the Otherside that cut the group's sole recording, the single "Walking Down the Road" b/w "Streetcar" (Brent 7061, December 1966). "Road," a turbo-charged remake of an old Kingston Trio tune, features a jangly, dissonant bridge -- conjuring images of a Keystone Kops paddywagon on acid.

"Streetcar," a Who-inspired Battey/Graham original, had an intriguingly psilocybic middle eight as well, and compared favorably with Townshend's best efforts on the My Generation LP. The session was engineered by Bones Howe at Hollywood's Sunset Recorders. A third Otherside original, believed lost, was also cut. "Road" and "Streetcar" subsequently appeared on the various artists' compilation A Pot of Flowers (Mainstream S-6100; 1967 -- reissued in the 1980s as part of Mindrocker Volume 10) and Sound of the Sixties: San Francisco, Part 2. Separately, "Streetca showed up on Boulders, Vol. 2 and "Road" on The '60s Choice, Vol. 2. With the arrival of Antone's draft notice -- and Battey's departure -- the Otherside took in former Van Slyke bassist Wayne Paulsen and rechristened themselves Bogus Thunder. The tumultuous saga of the Otherside is chronicled in Cost and Palao's ~Cream Puff War magazine (number two, February 1993; Santa Clara, CA). ~ Stansted Montfichet, All Music Guide

Alexander Lee Spence, 18 April 1946, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, d. 16 April 1999, Santa Cruz, California, USA. Alexander "Skip" Spence played a pivotal role in the history of several San Franciscan bands. He first attracted attention as folk singer in a San Jose club, Shelter, and was briefly member of local punk attraction the Topsiders (aka the Other Side), an act with close links to the Chocolate Watch Band. In 1965 Spence answered an advert for a guitarist in the group which became Quicksilver Messenger Service. While awaiting his audition he was spotted by Marty Balin, who invited Skip to drum in Jefferson Airplane. Although he had never played the instrument before, Spence quickly developed a rudimentary, but exciting, percussive style. He also proved himself a skilled songwriter, but was ousted from his position in 1966 after missing rehearsals.He then became a founder member of Moby Grape

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for sale with an approach that is on line with a forensic scientist. Thanks for looking and good luck if you bid!