The Blue Things
Encyclopedia
The Blue Things were a folk-rock and, later, psychedelic
band from Hays, Kansas
that existed from 1964 to 1968, recording one LP
and several singles for RCA Records
in '66 and '67. The RCA recordings remain their best-known material, although they had previously released singles through Ruff Records, a tiny Texas
label. Today the Blue Things are remembered as one of the best bands to come out of the Midwest in the 60's, although they were unheard of outside of the Midwest in their brief lifespan, and remain largely unheard to this day.
around the college, successfully auditioning for the band in May 1964.
On their ensuing summer tour, the band found a manager in Jim Reardon, who in turn got the band signed with John Brown's Mid-Continent Co. booking agency. Reardon used what was left of his old sweatshirt business to manufacture Blue Boys sweatshirts, in addition to starting a fan club
, complete with membership cards. Keeping true to their name, the Blue Boys wore matching blue suits and played blue guitars. The group reportedly earned fees as large as $1200 for playing colleges and high schools throughout Kansas
, Nebraska
and Colorado
.
Although their live set was mostly Top 40 and British Invasion
covers, Stoecklein, Scott and Chapman began composing songs for the band to record, which they did in the fall of '64. At Damon Recording Studios in Kansas City
, the Blue Boys demoed five Stoecklein originals and two covers (Dale Hawkins
' "La Do Da Da" and Buddy Holly
's "Love's Made a Fool of You,". "La Do Da Da" would eventually be re-cut for their RCA album). (Several of these demos have since surfaced on Cicadelic Records' and Collectables Records' "The Blue Things Story" series.) The demos attracted Texas' Ruff Records, who subsequently signed the group.
: Ronnie Hawkins
"Mary Lou" and Val's own "Your Turn to Cry." But by the time of the single's February 1965 release, the Blue Boys had now become the Blue Things, in order to avoid confusion (and possible legal wrangles) with the late Jim Reeves
' backing group. The single charted in the Top 40 in Oklahoma City, thanks to 50,000 watt radio station KOMA, whose publicity of the group would subsequently help the band sign with RCA.
Their next single, "Pretty Things-Oh" b/w "Just Two Days Ago," was cut in Texas, and once again was a Midwest smash. After recording another six-song demo in Texas (this time with only two Stecklein and one Scott originals), the band left Ruff Records over a royalty dispute (They reportedly received no royalties from either of their singles, however, this did not stop Stecklein from working with Ruff's Ray Ruff later in his solo career).
At this point, John Brown managed to get the Blue Things a deal with RCA, based on their reputation as Midwest superstars of-sorts. Before they could record for RCA, one more change was made to the band: Drummer Rick Lazarele left the band to focus on school. After several unsuccessful replacements, Bobby Day from Salina, Kansas
was chosen.
), as Larzalere had left and Day still had yet to join. Ray Walker, the bass singer from Elvis Presley
's backing group The Jordanaires
was used by producer Felton Jarvis to augment the group's vocal sound on "I Must Be Doing Something Wrong." and was the only non-Bluething vocal ever recorded. Once again, the single charted locally, but failed to chart outside of the Midwest.
The following single, while repeating the chart action of the band's previous RCA single, at least gained the band some notoriety. The A-side, "Doll House," sympathetically told the story of a prostitute, and criticized the role of a "Doll House" (read: brothel
) in society. Although it was a bold statement at the time, the single stiffed when Time Magazine did a feature on supposedly obscene lyrics in rock music, citing "Doll House" as an example. The B-side, "Man on the Street," took a similar social-critique theme. It is interesting to note that while the two sides were wholly representative of the Blue Things now fully formed "folk-rock" sound ("Doll House" remaining one of their signature tunes), both songs were from outside sources: "Doll House" was penned by little-known country
songwriter Marge Barton, and "Man on the Street" by equally obscure rockabilly
artist Ronnie Self. The LP "Listen and See" was released shortly after the Doll House single from June 1966. While this album was popular with Blue Things fans, by the time it came out the band had moved past the folk rock/Merseybeat sound, that RCA favored, to a more psychedelic sound. For a group that was always defining the cutting edge for bands on the plains, music didn't stand still for the Blue Things. The Blue Things' January 1967 Nashville session and last with Val Stecklein produced one of the finest examples of psychedelia ever--"Orange Rooftop Of Your Mind" b/w "One Hour Cleaners". Both sides were written by Val & Mike, with Richard helping write "One Hour Cleaners". Bobby Day's backward countdown on "One Hour Cleaners" is his only recorded vocal. In May, 1967 Stecklein left for a solo career, signed with Dot Records and released an album, "Grey Life" in 1968. The remaining Blue Things moved to California and continued to perform concerts, also signed with Dot Records and toured for 14 months before disbanding entirely. In 1971 Stecklein co-wrote a double-LP biblical rock opera, Truth Of Truths, with producer Ray Ruff and former Them
bassist Alan Henderson, which featured "Orange Rooftops Of Your Mind" re-recorded with new lyrics as "John the Baptist".
The Blue Things have never held a reunion concert. A collection of their song catalog was released on CD in 1995 and a reissue of ther 1966 album on CD was released by BMG in 2001. To demonstrate the respect the Blue Things commanded in their native land, bassist Richard Scott mentioned in the 2001 reissue of their sole album that Barton "asked that we do "Doll House" because we were the only people that she knew that would do it the way she wanted it." Unfortunately, Val died in 1993 in Kansas. Mike has continued to write and perform and has had a successful career in the audio industry in Georgia. Richard has a successful career in the audio industry as well as continuing to write and record his own music and Bobby owns a cabinet company in Kansas.
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
band from Hays, Kansas
Hays, Kansas
Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. It is also a college town, home to Fort Hays State University...
that existed from 1964 to 1968, recording one LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
and several singles for RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in '66 and '67. The RCA recordings remain their best-known material, although they had previously released singles through Ruff Records, a tiny Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
label. Today the Blue Things are remembered as one of the best bands to come out of the Midwest in the 60's, although they were unheard of outside of the Midwest in their brief lifespan, and remain largely unheard to this day.
Beginnings
The Blue Things formed as The Blue Boys at Fort Hays State College from the ashes of a Hays R&B band, the Barons. From the Barons came Mike Chapman (lead guitar and vocals)formerly with Pat and Lolly Vegas, Richard Scott, bassist and vocalist formerly with the Flippers (Later known as The Fabulous Flippers) and Rick "Laz" Larzalere (drums and vocals). With a summer tour booked the trio decided they needed a fourth member and soon found a lead singer and rhythm guitarist in Mike's roommate, Val Stoecklein. Stoecklein had previously released an album with a college folk group, the Impromptwos (in which he was featured on lead vocals), and cut a demo of two original compositions ("Desert Wind" and "Nancy Whiskey") with another group, the Hi-Plains Singers. At the time, Stoecklein had been singing folk musicFolk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
around the college, successfully auditioning for the band in May 1964.
On their ensuing summer tour, the band found a manager in Jim Reardon, who in turn got the band signed with John Brown's Mid-Continent Co. booking agency. Reardon used what was left of his old sweatshirt business to manufacture Blue Boys sweatshirts, in addition to starting a fan club
Fan club
A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well-known person, group, idea or sometimes even an inanimate object . Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to supporting them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the person...
, complete with membership cards. Keeping true to their name, the Blue Boys wore matching blue suits and played blue guitars. The group reportedly earned fees as large as $1200 for playing colleges and high schools throughout Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
and Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
Although their live set was mostly Top 40 and British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
covers, Stoecklein, Scott and Chapman began composing songs for the band to record, which they did in the fall of '64. At Damon Recording Studios in Kansas City
Kansas City Metropolitan Area
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
, the Blue Boys demoed five Stoecklein originals and two covers (Dale Hawkins
Dale Hawkins
Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie...
' "La Do Da Da" and Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
's "Love's Made a Fool of You,". "La Do Da Da" would eventually be re-cut for their RCA album). (Several of these demos have since surfaced on Cicadelic Records' and Collectables Records' "The Blue Things Story" series.) The demos attracted Texas' Ruff Records, who subsequently signed the group.
From the "Blue Boys" to the "Blue Things"
In December 1964, the Blue Boys cut their first single for Ruff at Gene Sullivan's studio in Oklahoma CityOklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
: Ronnie Hawkins
Ronnie Hawkins
Ronald "Ronnie" Hawkins is a Juno Award-winning rockabilly musician whose career has spanned more than half a century. Though his career began in Arkansas, USA, where he'd been born and raised, it was in Ontario, Canada where he found success and settled for most of his life...
"Mary Lou" and Val's own "Your Turn to Cry." But by the time of the single's February 1965 release, the Blue Boys had now become the Blue Things, in order to avoid confusion (and possible legal wrangles) with the late Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
' backing group. The single charted in the Top 40 in Oklahoma City, thanks to 50,000 watt radio station KOMA, whose publicity of the group would subsequently help the band sign with RCA.
Their next single, "Pretty Things-Oh" b/w "Just Two Days Ago," was cut in Texas, and once again was a Midwest smash. After recording another six-song demo in Texas (this time with only two Stecklein and one Scott originals), the band left Ruff Records over a royalty dispute (They reportedly received no royalties from either of their singles, however, this did not stop Stecklein from working with Ruff's Ray Ruff later in his solo career).
At this point, John Brown managed to get the Blue Things a deal with RCA, based on their reputation as Midwest superstars of-sorts. Before they could record for RCA, one more change was made to the band: Drummer Rick Lazarele left the band to focus on school. After several unsuccessful replacements, Bobby Day from Salina, Kansas
Salina, Kansas
Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
was chosen.
RCA (1965-1967)
The Blue Things first RCA single, "I Must Be Doing Something Wrong" (written by the three remaining band members) b/w a remake of "La Do Da Da," was released in October 1965. A session drummer was used for the single sessions (in NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
), as Larzalere had left and Day still had yet to join. Ray Walker, the bass singer from Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's backing group The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires are an American vocal quartet, which formed as a gospel group in 1948. They are best known for providing vocal background for Elvis Presley, in live appearances and recordings from 1956 to 1972...
was used by producer Felton Jarvis to augment the group's vocal sound on "I Must Be Doing Something Wrong." and was the only non-Bluething vocal ever recorded. Once again, the single charted locally, but failed to chart outside of the Midwest.
The following single, while repeating the chart action of the band's previous RCA single, at least gained the band some notoriety. The A-side, "Doll House," sympathetically told the story of a prostitute, and criticized the role of a "Doll House" (read: brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
) in society. Although it was a bold statement at the time, the single stiffed when Time Magazine did a feature on supposedly obscene lyrics in rock music, citing "Doll House" as an example. The B-side, "Man on the Street," took a similar social-critique theme. It is interesting to note that while the two sides were wholly representative of the Blue Things now fully formed "folk-rock" sound ("Doll House" remaining one of their signature tunes), both songs were from outside sources: "Doll House" was penned by little-known country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
songwriter Marge Barton, and "Man on the Street" by equally obscure rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
artist Ronnie Self. The LP "Listen and See" was released shortly after the Doll House single from June 1966. While this album was popular with Blue Things fans, by the time it came out the band had moved past the folk rock/Merseybeat sound, that RCA favored, to a more psychedelic sound. For a group that was always defining the cutting edge for bands on the plains, music didn't stand still for the Blue Things. The Blue Things' January 1967 Nashville session and last with Val Stecklein produced one of the finest examples of psychedelia ever--"Orange Rooftop Of Your Mind" b/w "One Hour Cleaners". Both sides were written by Val & Mike, with Richard helping write "One Hour Cleaners". Bobby Day's backward countdown on "One Hour Cleaners" is his only recorded vocal. In May, 1967 Stecklein left for a solo career, signed with Dot Records and released an album, "Grey Life" in 1968. The remaining Blue Things moved to California and continued to perform concerts, also signed with Dot Records and toured for 14 months before disbanding entirely. In 1971 Stecklein co-wrote a double-LP biblical rock opera, Truth Of Truths, with producer Ray Ruff and former Them
Them (band)
Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...
bassist Alan Henderson, which featured "Orange Rooftops Of Your Mind" re-recorded with new lyrics as "John the Baptist".
The Blue Things have never held a reunion concert. A collection of their song catalog was released on CD in 1995 and a reissue of ther 1966 album on CD was released by BMG in 2001. To demonstrate the respect the Blue Things commanded in their native land, bassist Richard Scott mentioned in the 2001 reissue of their sole album that Barton "asked that we do "Doll House" because we were the only people that she knew that would do it the way she wanted it." Unfortunately, Val died in 1993 in Kansas. Mike has continued to write and perform and has had a successful career in the audio industry in Georgia. Richard has a successful career in the audio industry as well as continuing to write and record his own music and Bobby owns a cabinet company in Kansas.