Sometimes the story is better than the music. Rock 'n' roll has always been rich in good stories, and some of the best come from bands whose legacies are slim, or whose talents were ordinary. Collectors of 60's garage bands are well versed in many of the stories of very ordinary musicians whose moment in the spotlight was brief, but whose story contained the nuggets of a mini-heroic epic; bands whose triumphs and failures played out in miniature. One band whose famous story outweighs any real impact they had on the evolution of music is the Barbarians, from Provincetown, MA. Still, they did manage to leave a small musical imprint as well.
In the pantheon, they are a footnote; a garage band that recorded one album and a handful of singles. A handful of misicologists suggest they were the very first punk band ever, pre-dating The Seeds. The high point of their career together was a single appearence on a filmed musical variety program, and a very peculiar single. Less well known is the band's metamorphosis into Black Pearl, an acid-rock band of some reknown among collectors, but forgotten by the public at large. Yet their story has become part of rock legend; the footnote will always be there.
![The Barbarians: Hey Little Bird (1964) [45]](http://img321.imageshack.us/img321/3853/barbariansheylittlebird4ha.gif)
The lineup consisted of Jeff Morris, Jerry Causi, Bruce Benson and Victor "Moulty" Molten, who formed The Barbarians in 1963. Their debut single was "Hey Little Bird" recorded for the small local label Joy Records in 1964, the same year Beatlemania was breaking out across America. Their sound was primitive in the sense that all amateurs are primitive, and it borrowed heavily from the British Invasion groups; it lay somewhere between the Kinks and the Hollies sonically but with a vague menace to it, it featured a heavy-for-1964 fuzz guitar, one of the first ever on record.
The band had something going for it. Image-wise, they were something new. Their name was chosen to reflect their primitive playing and their shaggy looks. Their hair was longer than anyone else's at the time; they wore leather sandals. Most striking of all was drummer Moulty; the victim of a childhood accident, he had a hook for a left hand; he drummed despite his disability. Live, they weren't fancy. They'd play tried and true cover versions of popular favorites of the day. Among their setlist regulars were "Memphis" "House of the Rising Sun", "Susie Q", and "Bo Diddley"; these would be delivered in an r&b style that could get hard when they were cooking.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
i'll get these listed stage right tomorrow
2 - Oak OConnor
Thanks for the write up on Black pearl and of course the Barbarians. More information can be found http://www.dirtywater.com/a2z/t/tallysmen/
3 - uao
Woah! Oak O'Connor! Thank you for making those two great Black Pearl albums.
That essay of your you've linked is a fascinating one. I had always dug Black Pearl and could find so little info on them. I came across your piece several times, and found it a great read.
Here's Oak's history of Barbarians/Black Pearl. His is better; he was there.
Thanks for dropping by Oak!
4 - GPC
JUST A LITTLE CORRECTION, IF YOU DON'T MIND. THE ORIGINAL BARBARIANS CONSISTED OF MOUTLY, BRUCE, JERRY AND RONNIE ENOS WHO YOU SEE IN THE BOTTOM LEFT SIDE OF THE TOP BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO (MOULTY HAS HIS HAND ON RONNIE'S SHOULDER).
HE PERFORMED WITH THEM IN THE TAMI SHOW AND LATER WAS REPLACED BY JEFF. THANKS
5 - John Harrelson
Nice to have some blanks filled-in. I saw Black Pearl more than once. Bernie had an approach similar to mine. They opened the third or fourth night of he Palm Springs Pop Festival [w/Ike and Tina Turner]. My band, Hard Luck Boy, had opened the first night[Procul Harum, Mayall, Butterfield]. Southwind was booked to open one of the other nights.
If any of you other survivors can tell me anything about the Heathens [seen on a 'battle of the bands' on KTLA or KHJ ca.9/66-- female vocalist/bass--performed "Help"] or Riverside's "Woolies" please forward that. JWfH
6 - Oak
I welcome any comments, questions or contacts from the old days. The Palm Springs Pop Fetival was a gas and I remember driving down to it with Big Brother and The Holding Company in a white Bentley. Much more than that - the first night at the drive in theater was shut down when fans knocked down the fence. They moved it over to the ball field where the Angels practiced. They needed a fork lift driver that first morning there and Geoff Morris had experience so he did it and then played with Black Pearl.