The class of '65 may have felt like they'd tripped through the looking glass at the sight of the Sixties-hip youngers who turned out to help kick off the Baypop 2000 Festival with a salute to the groundbreaking super-pop label, Autumn Records, at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
Between sets, Baypop organizer Paul Kopf announced with the earnestness that only a true "record geek" could muster, "Some of the bands who aren't playing are in the crowd tonight!" encouraging guests to mix, mingle and pay tribute. A cute gig guide for the five-day festival was handed out at the door and it even included a back page specifically designed to be filled with autographs. Anyone seeking signatures would've needed more than a page since there was enough power in the house from the Sixties and Seventies generations of San Francisco underground rock to blow all circuits -- which ironically, in the face of a Bay Area heat wave, had been reported as a real threat by the gas and electric company earlier in the day. Sixties rock advocates like concert promoter Chet Helms, Bomp Records' Greg Shaw and Flamin' Groovie Roy Loney came out for the night as did the era's recording artists like the Baytovens, the Shillings and the Tears.
Autumn Records was founded by Tom Donahue and Bob Mitchell in 1964 to capitalize on the Bay Area pop scene that sprung up in the wake of (who else but) the Beatles. It was home to acts like the mixed-gender Vejtables, the Mojo Men and most significantly, the Beau Brummels. The Beaus were first band from the pre-psychedelic SF scene to chart Top 20 nationwide in 1965 with "Laugh Laugh," a folk-rock side produced by a pre-fame Sly Stone; the song and its follow-up, the Top 10 "Just a Little," helped to define the folk-rock sound of the mid-Sixties, though the band is often overlooked in the history books. Limited to what can only be described as an obsessive cult following, perhaps owing to a limited run on the live circuit (just one year), the Beau Brummels count Bay Area native Tom Hanks among the devoted. The actor based the idea for his fictional band the Wonders from That Thing You Do!, on the Brummels' feel and sound (come to think of it, dark and handsome actor Johnathon Schaech bears more than a passingresemblance to Beau Brummels vocalist Sal Valentino).
Before calling the original Beau Brummels to the stage, former Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres read a punchy memoir of the period and his teenagehood; the reading drew cheers at any mention of names relevant to the festivities: "Coast Recorders," where the songs were generally cut; "The Tikis," an obscure Autumn favorite and "Big Daddy Tom Donahue."
The evening's chief cook and bottle washer was musician and archivist Alec Palao. The bassist for power-pop's Sneetches and Autumn specialist served as musical director, between-set DJ and bassist for the night. "The highlight for me was coaching Dick Scoppettone on vocals," says Palao, who guided the former Tikis/Harper's Bizarre vocalist through one of his own old songs. Palao's band, the Cuban Heels, was joined by former Flamin' Groovie Cyril Jordan for renditions of "Anytime at All" and "Ticket to Ride." Though Jordan's band debuted in '68, he admits to being almost singularly influenced by the Autumn scene and its convergence with the British Invasion sound. The Beatles numbers were only the bookends to a treasure trove of Bay Area music by the Vejtables, Tikis and Baytovens.
After one of the Vejtables' songs, "I Still Love You," Palao joked, "Ladies and gentlemen, Jan Errico," referring to former Vejtables and Mojo Men drummer who was unable to attend because she was rockin' at another gig; her part was being played for the evening by Mick Martin. Errico and the Mojo Men scored a Top 40 hit in '67 with the definitive version of "Sit Down, I Think I Love You," the Stephen Stills/Buffalo Springfield song. The band's old-timey pop vocal and harmony-driven folk-rock sound would be taken into the mainstream by acts like the Mamas and the Papas.
Baypop continues in area clubs throughout the weekend; highlights include Kyle Vincent, formerly of power-pop group Candy; Steve Barton, formerly of Translator; and the Orange Peels on the same bill as the reunited Sneetches (with Jordan sitting in during their Flamin' Groovies set). Things wind down on Sunday with visiting dignitaries and pop giants the Posies performing a rare acoustic set.
DENISE SULLIVAN
(August 5, 2000)