As young boys, the Smith
brothers, Terry (age 12) and younger brother Larry
(age 10), both learned to play guitar on their own
after their father showed them how to make a few
basic chords on their father's guitar. Their father
was very musically inclined and had the ability to
play several musical instruments, as did most
members of his family. The Smith boy's father,
uncle's and grandfather all played musical
instruments, so I guess it must have been in the
genes for the Smith brothers to play too. The Smith
brothers did inherit the ability to play music by
ear on the guitar, and both eventually learned to
play several musical instruments between them.
Terry Smith ended up teaching the brother's friend,
Larry Music to play guitar in 1962. In 1962 the two Smith
brothers along with their best friend Larry Music,
formed a small combo consisting of three electric
guitars. They boys never thought of playing out
anywhere but only played for their own enjoyment
and for a few of their neighborhood friends. They
thought they needed a name and so they started
calling themselves Terry and the Blasters. They
played around back then with a lot of instrumental
stuff by The Ventures and other rock instrumental
acts of the early 1960's. In 1963 THE BEATLES took
America by storm. Soon, on the heels of the Beatles
came the other English groups that became known as,
the "British Invasion." All of these groups changed
the face and sound of Rock N' Roll forever. The
songs by the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The
Animals inspired the three guitarists. They soon
learned to play cover songs of their favorite
groups and in early 1963 a drummer was added to the
group. The drummer's name was Terry Fitzsimmons.
With the addition of a drummer and the three
guitars, they now had a full-fledged band and that
was when the group changed their name from Terry
and the Blasters, to "THE IMITATIONS." About that
same time, Larry Smith switched from playing
electric guitar, and started playing a bass guitar.
The four teens became quick friends with the local
radio DJ's and started playing at local teen dances
on the weekends with an occasional high school
dance performance thrown in. The IMITATIONS soon found
out that there was to be a series of "Battles of
the Bands" to be held at the Toledo Sports Arena,
with the chance to win a recording contract. The
name the group had chosen soon fit because "THE
IMITATIONS" performed the latest cover songs of all
of the popular big British bands of the early 60's.
THE IMITATIONS entered the first series of the
"Battle of the Bands" at the Toledo Sports Arena
for three years in a row, 1963, 1964 and 1965. In
1963 as Larry Smith says "we just plain out and out
sucked as a band." In 1964 they had improved so
much that they came in 2nd place in the Battle of
the Bands. In 1965 the IMITATIONS finally won the
Toledo area Battle of the Bands at the Toledo
Sports Arena. The IMITATIONS were
rewarded with the opportunity to record a 45-RPM
record in Toledo, Ohio. The record was to be
distributed on the PECK record label. The
IMITATIONS felt they needed a better name to record
under, and chose the name "THE MODS." The group did
not know at the time that there were several other
groups in the USA using the same name. Also at this
time, (late 1965/early 1966), Terry Fitzsimmons
left the band and was replaced by Fred Jablonski,
who is is the drummer heard on the
single. THE MODS recorded two
songs on the PECK label in the basement of "Buzz
Jamison" sometime in 1966. Mr. Jamison, (I am sure
Buzz was a nickname) was the engineer on this
recording. So "THE MODS" were really not a Garage
Band, but a basement band! Hehe! I don't know if
Buzz Jamison is still alive but he later founded
Jamison Stereo, a Toledo mainstay in stereo
equipment repair. The PECK label was owned by
George Peckinpah, a Toledo area businessman. Later
in the 1980's I think I remember reading something
about George Peckinpah in "The History of Rock N'
Roll." He supposedly took advantage of many early
rock groups in the sixties and never gave them any
money for the recordings they made for him. I know
we never received any monies from him. I also think
I remember George Peckinpah saying he was related
to Sam Peckinpah a Hollywood director. Not sure if
he really was or not. As for writing credits
listed on the 45-RPM PECK record label, if you look
at the label on the (A-side) "I GIVE YOU AN INCH
(AND YOU TAKE A MILE)" the writing credits under
the title reads (T. Smith - L. Smith) with
copyright by Terry Smith. The (B-side). On "YOU'VE
GOT ANOTHER THINK COMING", the writing credits read
(T. Smith) only. But Larry Smith say's he did
co-write both songs and does not know why his name
was left as co-writer on side-B. Larry says he
wrote the chord structure, the melody and some of
the lyrics for each of these songs at age 15. Terry
Smith was 17 years of age when he co wrote these
two songs on the record. Larry says, "We did
co-write several other songs before and after the
PECK record. The only other original songs that we
recorded were put onto a demo for ourselves only.
Those two songs were titled, "A PLACE WHERE LOVERS
GO" and "NIGHT AFTER NIGHT". Both of these songs
were recorded prior to the PECK recording. In fact
an interesting fact about the demo was that these
two previous songs were recorded in early 1964 or
1965 at Attila Records in downtown Toledo. Attila
Records was owned by another Toledoan, John Pocisk
aka' Johnny Paris, of Johnny and theHurricanes.
Before THE MODS did those
recordings we played the average gigs that high
school garage bands play at, high school sock hops,
proms, roller rink dances, CYO dances etc, local DJ
sock hops, county fairs, private parties. After the
PECK recording in 1966, we played a lot better
venues and finally started to make some good money
for playing music. We started playing in many
nightclubs in the Toledo, Ohio area. For a while we
were the house band at the Peppermint Lounge in
Toledo on Jefferson Ave. While there we backed up
Chuck Berry when he came to town. We also heard
lots of other groups that toured at the Peppermint,
THE McCoy's (of "HANG ON SLOOPY", fame), Fats
Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis. We also played in the
tri-state area of Ohio, Michigan and Indiana at
many events. We played one large gig in Battle
Creek, Michigan in 1966 with so many kids we could
not hear ourselves play. With the success of that
first 45-RPM record, my brother Terry tried getting
us an audition with some record companies in
Detroit, Michigan. Believe it or not, he talked us
into an audition with a major label in Detroit. The
A&R people of the label we auditioned for liked
what they heard and we were signed to a two-year
recording contract. The label for that record
company was called, "Impact Records." Again,
another name change. The name THE MODS was already
being used by another group recording records. We
had to pick a name quickly to record under. We
threw a bunch up in the air and came of with the
name "THEY", and that is the name of the group when
we signed with IMPACT RECORDS. We were very excited
because our group (THEY), would be recording at
"Golden World Studios" in Detroit, Michigan. We
finally did record around 20 hours of music at the
studio. I wish I knew what happened with those
studio tapes as none were ever released and I would
like to hear them again. Golden Worlds Studios
recorded a few of the major radio hits during the
1960's. Two of the groups that had recorded there
were, "Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels", and the
"Shades of Blue." The "Shades of Blue" had a number
one hit song out at that time called. "Oh, How
Happy!" Our recording on the PECK
label made us local celebrities for a while.
Altogether THE MODS played together from early 1962
through 1970. Both our rhythm guitar player and our
drummer left the group early 1969 because they both
married and started families. My brother Terry, and
I kept the group together for about another year
with another drummer and another guitarist. The
group THE MODS finally came to an end sometime in
late 1969 when my brother got his draft notice and
that ended our recording contract with IMPACT
RECORDS. As I previously said, the group recorded
several sessions for Impact Records at Golden World
Studios in Detroit, Michigan. None of the
recordings from these sessions were ever released
due to the lead singer of the band, Terry Smith;
receiving a draft notice and subsequently joining
the naval reserves. Because of Terry's duties with
the reserve and his additional duties with his
regular day job, the group eventually disbanded as
each member went their separate ways. Terry Smith
passed away in 1999 due to complications from
surgery. Terry's brother Larry Smith continues in
music singing Southern Gospel Music. While the two
other members, Larry Music and Fred Jablonski each
pursued separate careers other than
music. Personnel: Influences: Setlist
Sample: Equipment:
Rehearsal
Space: Band
Vehicles: Fashion
Statement: Best
Gig: Gig
from
Hell!: Last
Gig:
Information contributed by Larry Smith themods1966@yahoo.com |
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