"Terry Knight's Brown Bag Years" - Book Excerpt by Barry Stoller
Published October 03, 2005
I remember Knight at one of our recording sessions, showing us the cover. He said it was one of his publicity stunts, like the billboard for Grand Funk in Times Square. He had it all planned, the record would get recalled and it would be a big deal. It was 30,000 albums covers that were recalled.
I was 19 at the time. My older brother was a two-term Vietnam veteran; I was the one with the long hair. I took that album home to show my parents and - I'm embarrassed. My father looks at it and he says, "well - it's not that bad."
It's ridiculous; I remember Saturday Night Live and the host was Geraldo Rivera - and he flashes the album cover over the air, live.
I also remember Knight saying "I can take a piece of shit and turn it into gold." Meanwhile, I'm famous - for an album cover.
I asked Knight if Mom's Apple Pie was his best record design. Chuckling, he said:
Well, that was some slice of pie, eh? We sent out piping hot apple pies in brown paper bags to all the DJs throughout New York to promote that record. That was a good campaign.
It didn't take long before "the establishment" banned it (or, at least, censored the offending section in trade advertisements). Knight was prepared with his equally snide follow-up. In the "second" version, the young mom holds the pie - only now the slice space is filled with a prison wall, barbed wire and, center front, the American flag. Peering into the kitchen window are a couple of flatfoots.
Contrary to popular misconception, Mom's Apple Pie was not named by Knight; he simply took their existing name and warped its meaning.
The official Mom's Apple Pie press biography:
Mom's Apple Pie can be predated to its initial formation during August of 1970 as a group whose membership fluctuated in number, from six to eleven, presently ten musicians averaging nineteen years of age. All born and reared in Warren, Ohio, their individual backgrounds portray a perfect example of what constitutes an "all American boy" - thus originated the group's name, Mom's Apple Pie.After several months of coordinating, arranging and forming a solid unit, Larry Patterson (the group's manager) booked a "demo" recording session in Cleveland with Kenneth Hamann, the recording engineer who (unknown then to Larry) had worked in the studio with Terry Knight on all of the now historic Grand Funk Railroad albums.
That demo would very likely have gone unnoticed as the group itself, had it not been for fate which brought Knight back into the Cleveland studios several months earlier. In fact it was Terry Knight's wife, Pia, who actually "discovered" Mom's Apple Pie.
- "Terry Knight's Brown Bag Years" - Book Excerpt by Barry Stoller
- Published: October 03, 2005
- Type: News
- Section: Books
- Filed Under: Books: News, Books: Entertainment, Books: Biography, Music: News
- Writer: Eric Olsen
- Eric Olsen's BC Writer page
- Eric Olsen's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
did you see the recent bob johnston interview in the austin chronicle?
here
thanks Sonny, Knight scored The Incident, hence it's inclusion. Barry didn't want to emphasize the more obvious work like GFR this time around
wanted to say hi! to Roger Force. He was The
Force!!!! behind Moms Apple Pie.. The kid who bugged me at National Record Mart. Remember??
if you could download me some of the MAP tunes...
would appreciate it. maybe we could get #3 out of the can........and re issue it, hope you get this message... larry patterson. former manager.the guy who put the $200.00 up for the demo in Cleveland Recording Company but I did get $10,000 from Terry Knight
THis is a very interesting article about Mom's Apple Pie. I remember the music, the album cover and the guys in the band. Just to mention, my brother, Larry Patterson managed this group and had Mom's Apple Pie put on the map. I remember all the stories he had to tell and he remembers those days very well. We talk about it all the time. Thanks for mentioning him as he did work very hard with the group. They all were very young at that time and headed in the right direction.
It is good to see that LArry and the Mom's Apple Pie group are still remembered for what they brought to the music industry.
Thanks again for a great article.
Marlene Weinberg
Tierra Verde, FL
Hi, again.
I have one of the original posters hanging on my wall. How can I get the albums that were published. Mine somehow got lost over the years.
Thank you.
Marlene Weinberg
MAR Aunt K or Mary Miller send this to them
and add comments for me thanks Larry Patterson
Rodger! Fred! Dave ! contact me want to re-issue MAP inc. on the Mom's Apple Pie Record Label will send copy of design. but need downloads of albums (3) and any publishing rights you signed over to Knight or Storybook Publishing a Grand Funk Company Take care all
10 or more of you Larry in Treasure Island, FL
I know John Hambrick and the album he did with Terry Knight is brillant,, it should be re-issued again,,, John was looking for Terry Knight but couldn't find him,,, put johns name in Google and get his email address that way.. I have recorded johns tunes and love the material he gave me too.. is Terry knight dead? anne bartee
Terry is gone John Hambrick was very good Larry
Hi, this is Larry Patterson Jr. Sharpsville PA.
I can remember the whole Mom's Apple Pie cover controversy from when I was just a kid. I just didn't uderstand what it was about until I was a little older. I still have a poster and album covers from Apple Pie #1 and #2. I would really like to see my dad Larry Sr. do something with Mom's Apple Pie #3.I didn't realize how big a deal this thing was until I found this web page while searching for details on Mom's Apple Pie. I was very impressed when I found my father's name and comments made by him on this web site. I haven't seen my father in years but it's nice to know that I still have a reason to be proud of his accomplishments. Rock n' roll was something he passed on to me. -------Larry P Jr.
Larry Patterson Jr. contact me. DAD!!
Anyonne happends to know what happend to Pia Knight or what her sirname was or is today , It would be intressting to ask her a couple of question then I in fact is Swedish myself. (på ren svenska)
VBR & TACK [Personal contact info deleted]
I would like everybody to read this The Band MOM'S APPLE PIE were more than the Album Cover, even though it is famous, they were and are still GREAT musicians including Roger Force
from Larry
former manager of MOM'S APPLE PIE!!!
I can't find these albums anywhere. Are they still available . . . somewhere . . . maybe??? I don't care what format, though I would prefer the vinyl.
I have the MAP albums 1 & 2. I bought them because I loved the sound, but mainly because I knew Tony & the organist from former Warren band, "The Shaddows," who played in Cleveland a lot. Larry, I hope you find Roger or vice-versa. Would love to hear #3. MAP, no matter what the critics say, your sound was the sound of that time when we were all young and "Happy to Be." Tony/Pepe, thanks for Utopia, the songs, and the memories.
PS I have photos of Terry Knight & the Pack that I took in April 1966 when TK&P opened for Peter & Gordon at the Hippodrome in Cleveland, OH at a WHK "Good Guys" concert. Photos are not the best and individuals only identifiable because I wrote captions beneath them all. Who ever knew that they would be part of a legacy of sorts.
Pia Knight's maiden name was Cedric. She was originally from Sweden. I was TK executive secretary during Brown Bag. I, too, have often wondered what happened to Pia. TK dictated every thing that poor girl did....
this is the official MOM'S APPLE PIE page.
feel free to join and send comments.
Thanks,...Larry former manager of MAP
The official Mom's Apple Pie page
by former manager Larry
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cool! thanks, eric.
is the Amazon link to the movie 'the incident' an error?