GARRY BONNER
Songwriter and drummer Alan Gordon was playing in an inter-racial Greenwich Village band called Tex and the Chex; other members included Mike Appel (guitar) – who was later the manager for Bruce Springsteen early in the Boss’s career – and Everett Jacobs (bass). Gordon had co-written “An Invitation to Cry” with Jimmy Woods (who was not in the band), and Tex and the Chex had recorded the song. They were discovered by record producers Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus; the producers wanted a stronger vocalist, so they brought in Garry Bonner. The band later dubbed themselves the Magicians.
The resulting recording of “An Invitation to Cry” (released in October 1965) was described by Richie Unterberger as “superb moody pop/rock with a touch of blue-eyed soul, enhanced by an imaginative production highlighting ominous distorted guitar riffs, graceful tempo shifts, accomplished vocal harmonies, and Bonner’s anguished lead vocal.” Most of their songs though are not as psychedelic but are more mellow pop/rock.
Following the break-up of the Magicians in 1967, Alan Gordon and Garry Bonner became successful songwriters, particularly with the Turtles; they composed two of the band’s biggest hits, “Happy Together” and “She’d Rather Be with Me”. Allan “Jake” Jacobs later recorded as Bunky and Jake, and also as Jake and the Family Jewels.
(December 2011)
