![]() The Music of Merrell Fankhauser |
The
Impacts, Fapardokly, HMS Bounty, Mu & Fankhauser/Cassidy Band
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Introduction
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Fapardokly Personnel: After the break-up of The Exiles Merrell headed back to the Californian Central Coast where he ...
Here he formed a band with Bill Dodd (who had been in The Impacts), Dick Lee and Dan Parrish. They began gigging within the local area using an assortment of names until Merrell came up with the extraordinary name of Fapardokly. Strange indeed, but makes sense when you realise it's made up from the band's surnames (sort of!) - FAnkhauser, PARrish, DOdd, dicK LEE. The name remained but Dan Parrish left, to be replaced by John Oliver on bass. The band was playing in the Cove Club in Pismo Beach around 1966 when Glen MacArthur (who had started a new record company, UIP Records) came over for a visit and said he wanted to put out an album of Merrell's songs and use a few of the old Exiles tunes, and maybe Merrell had some new material he could include? Making the 200 mile trek back to Glen's studio in Palmdale the band recorded "No Retreat", "Gone To Pot" & "The War", then went down to Gold Star Studios in L.A. and recorded "The Music Scene". Merrell recalls:-
Which explains the difference in styles of the songs on the Fapardokly album - ranging from the innocence of the early Exiles material through the folk/psychedelic Aldridge, Fankhauser & Lotspeich tracks to the rockier newly recorded songs. Merrell was not very impressed by the album - he thought a better cover could have been done and more older photos of The Exiles and history of the changing line ups should have been included. None of them ever thought that the Fapardokly LP would go on to be one of the most valuable and sought after collectors items from the 1960s!
When Bill Dodd was interviewed back in 1989 for 'Unhinged' magazine he was asked about the photograph on the back cover of the album and he said:-
However the album did get Merrell noticed by people in the music business. One guy in particular named George Tipton was an arranger and producer who worked on many of Harry Nillsons LPs. Merrell continues the story:-
So, there was yet another new lineup of musicians. Jack Jordan on bass and Larry Myers on drums came in and with Bill Dodd, that group eventually became H.M.S. Bounty. |
Introduction | The Impacts | The Exiles | Fapardokly | HMS Bounty | Mu | The Man From Mu | Discography © Text copyright Steve Froy 2003-2015 |