"Terry Knight's Brown Bag Years" - Book Excerpt by Barry Stoller
Published October 03, 2005
Knight remembers:
I was mixing one of the albums with Ken when Pia came running into the control room yelling about this fantastic group she heard on a tape in one of the back studios. I later learned that one of the other studio engineers had been playing the tape for himself when Pia overheard it by accident. I couldn't get her to leave me alone until I'd listened to it. I think Pia's Swedish social background where her weekends were often spent in discotheques developed an incredible ability to pick out sensational dance music. The raw potential was right there on that demo - it's just that she was the only one who had been able to hear it.
Without ever hearing another note of their music, Knight signed the group to recording and songwriting contracts with his new record company, Brown Bag Records. Ken Hamann was assigned the task of producing their debut LP, Mom's Apple Pie.
Roger Force continues the narrative:
Next thing we know, there's Howard Beldock, Terry Knight's attorney, talking things over with Larry. We were back and forth in cars and soon enough we're sitting in Cleveland, the whole band, with our mouths dropped down to the ground as Larry tells us: "Terry is starting a record label, it's called Brown Bag - and he wants to sign you to a contract."There's two or three meetings and next thing we're in New York, sitting in Terry Knight's office. Here comes Knight, he's walking up to us, with his salt & pepper hair and his big glasses and - I remember the exact words he said: "Here looks like a future bunch of rock stars if I ever saw 'em."
There I was with my David Cassidy haircut, I was 19 but I must have looked all of 14 - real innocent, no drugs, no booze. The guitar player, he was 16 at the time - he had to get permission from his parents to leave school. We were stoked! We signed the recording contract that day. I just said: "I can't believe it!"
Mom's Apple Pie is a curious, often entertaining, mix of horn-powered funk with the occasional prog-inflected, philosophic rumination. There are dance floor workouts, such as "I Just Wanna Make Love To You" (the Willie Dixon rave up immortalized a few years later by Foghat) featuring libertine sax blowing and "Lay Your Money Down," boasting a wicked bass & drum breakdown. The band also proffers spiritual guidance, as found in "The Secret Of Life" (which, according to the band, "lies in the Lord and His ways").
The snappiest track was chosen for the 45. "Dawn Of A New Day" mixes ballroom and bubblegum to good effect; it's an infectious upper with unrelenting riffs. Unfortunately, the single only charted in the imagination of Pia Knight.
- "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?