UNDER-APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR JULY 2011: THE RIP CHORDS
Back in junior high, I was really enamored with Jan & Dean (not so much with the Beach Boys, but I liked them also), and the various other one-hit wonder surf rock bands of that time period. I loved the hot rod songs and the surfing songs and all the cool lingo about woodies, shooting the curl, shutting someone down, etc. Jan & Dean were the hosts as I recall of one of the first big rock concert films, The T.A.M.I. Show (it stands for Teen Age Music International). I was starting to tire of the duo though, particularly when they resorted to covering British Invasion songs and started releasing tripe like Jan & Dean Meet Batman. I didn’t know about the harder edged surf rock that was out there – e.g., Dick Dale – and it might have held my interest better if I had. But in retrospect, the surf music that I knew then was nothing but fun, and I have a lot of fond memories of it all.
In actuality,
the Rip Chords – not related to a
doo wop band from the
1950’s called
the Rip-Chords (with a hyphen) – were founded by
Ernie Bringas and
Phil Stewart, who began singing together in
1957. After auditioning with
Terry Melcher (
Doris Day’s son), the band was signed to
Columbia Records in
1962 – that’s just one year after
the Beach Boys were founded, for those who think that the
surf craze started with them. (For that matter,
Jan & Dean didn’t form until
1958, so
surf didn’t completely start with them either). According to
Bringas, despite personnel changes over the years, only he and
Stewart are signed with
Columbia, and they collect all of the royalties.
The first single by
the Rip Chords, “
Here I Stand” was moderately successful, reaching the
Top 20 in some regional markets including
Los Angeles and peaking at
#51 nationally. Glen Campbell handled the lead guitar on the track. Most people know of Campbell’s string of fine hits in the mid-1960’s – “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Wichita Lineman”, “Gentle on My Mind”, “Galveston”, and many more – but might not realize that he was one of the best session guitarists around for many years previously and had the most successful individual career among the loose aggregation of session players known as the Wrecking Crew. Campbell recently embarked on a farewell tour after acknowledging that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
On the next single by
the Rip Chords, “
Gone”,
Bruce Johnston (who later became a member of
the Beach Boys) was brought in as a secondary vocalist, though
Ernie Bringas still sang lead.
Terry Melcher’s role was strictly as producer on both of these records. This single was not widely promoted but performed well where they received airplay; for instance, in the week of
August 1, 1963,
“Gone” made it to
#2 in
San Antonio, TX.
Meanwhile,
Ernie Bringas had graduated from college and was about to go into
United Theological Seminary for training as a minister. (
Bringas did become a “Rev.” and served as a minister in the
United Methodist Church for almost 20 years; presently, he is a college professor teaching religious studies). He would be able to go back to the recording studio in
Hollywood, but his ability to tour would be limited, so two additional members were brought in to tour with the band:
Rich Rotkin and
Arnie Marcus. They were never involved in any of their recordings, but – together with
Phil Stewart – they were the public face of
the Rip Chords, since
Ernie Bringas was unavailable, and
Bruce Johnston and
Terry Melcher were much too involved in record production to tour with a band. These
Rip Chords had an appearance on
Dick Clark’s
American Bandstand and joined his
Caravan of Stars; they were even in a
Hollywood movie,
A Swingin’ Summer.
There was one other little problem that readers who remember the era could well envision: The conservative
Christian denomination that was affiliated with the seminary was averse to his continuing to record and perform with
the Rip Chords, and one bishop flatly told
Ernie Bringas to leave the band. However, and somewhat surprisingly, that pronouncement was over-ruled; and
Bringas was able to rejoin the band after only three months’ separation. Again, this is not well known; most sources, including
Allmusic state that
Bringas left the band for keeps.
Like many (I am beginning to think
most!)
1960’s bands,
the Rip Chords reformed in the
mid-1990’s, led by the two men who were brought in for the touring band,
Rich Rotkin and Arnie Marcus, with a rotating line-up of five other men.
I purchased
the Rip Chords’ first album a long time ago, but I came across their second album just recently, and I have really been enjoying it. Unlike the first album,
Three Window Coupe doesn’t recycle a lot of the same old
surf songs; instead, the songs are all unfamiliar to me – except the title song, which I definitely remember – and that makes it a lot more special. That “
California Sound” a la
Jan & Dean and
the Beach Boys is there in force, and it was fun to refamiliarize myself with all those good times.
* * *
The
Honor Roll of the
Under Appreciated Rock Bands and Artists follows, in date order, including a link to the original
Facebook posts and the theme of the article.
Dec 2009 – BEAST; Lot to Learn Mar 2010 – BANG; Record Collecting I Jul 2010 – THE EYES; Los Angeles Punk Rock Mar 2011 – INDEX; Psychedelic Rock (1960’s) Jul 2011 – THE RIP CHORDS; Surf Rock I
Nov 2013 – CHIMERA; Women in Rock II Jan 2014 – BOYSKOUT; (Lesbian) Women in Rock IV Apr 2014 – HOMER; Creating New Bands out of Old Ones Jul 2014 – MIKKI; Rock and Religion I (Early CCM Music) Sep 2014 – NICK FREUND; Rock and Religion III (The Beatles) Mar 2015 – PHIL GAMMAGE; Songwriting II (Woody Guthrie/Bob Dylan) Dec 2016 – THE IGUANAS; Iggy and the Stooges; Proto-Punk Rock Jun 2017 – THE LOONS; Punk Revival and Other New Bands Dec 2017 – SS-20; The Iguana Chronicles
