The Sweet - Smash Records

[Anoraks Corner]

The Sweet...had two fabulous Northern discs on Smash out of Chicago during 1967...the flipside of their second release, "Broken Heart attack" is well remembered as being a popular cover up spin for Richard Searling at the Casino...aka "Chester Pipkin". Thought I'd go digging...came up wit the following:

 

The band line-up was:

Bobby Howard - vocals/organ

Jimmy Johnson - lead guitar

Tommy Guitar - guitar

Curt Johnny - bass

Marvel Thomas - piano

Mike Kennedy - drums

Roger Hawkins - percussion

(No mention of any members being on brass,)

 

SMASH 2116 You Can't Win At Love / Got To Have More Love

SMASH 2136 Don't Do It / Broken Heart Attack

 

 

Found this on the Rockin' Records list:

Bobby (Bobbie) Howard, aka The Kid, aka Mordechai Jones...he is in the picture attached leading the dog!
Born in Florida in 1942, he moved to Arlington, Va. in the 1950's. In late 1958 (age 16), along with guitarist Johnny Sneed, he began playing with Link Wray, on keyboards, guitar and vocals. He made his first recordings for Ray Vernon's Rumble label:
Rumble 1347 The Kid True Love(Is Hard To Find)/Sleep Tight

(It's been suggested that there was another release on Rumble under the name Bobby Howard, but this is not confirmed; it may the same as
the above). Howard also probably appears as a musician on other Rumble releases.

Howard also had a single released on Okeh as "The Kid and Ponies", which was also Howard accompanied by Link Wray and the Raymen:
1960 Okeh 4-7139 The Kid and Ponies Pony/Stupid Pony
(B side by the Ponies only, written by Wray-Cooper)

Howard-led bands in the early 1960's were the Dial Tones, the Ponies, and the Hi-Boys. In 1964, the Hi-Boys evolved into the British Walkers, with Howard on lead vocals and Roy Buchanan on guitar (later replaced by guitarist Jimmy Carter). The band recorded singles for the Try, Charger, Manchester, and Cameo-Parkway labels.

Howard then formed a band called the Sweet in 1967, which recorded singles in Chicago for the Smash label. Howard returned to the Washington, D.C. area around 1970 and began recording with Link Wray again at the Wray family studio in Accokeek, Md., some of these tracks were released on a
Polydor album:
1971 Polydor 5010 Mordecai Jones

(Interesting footnote: the use of the pseudonym "Mordecai Jones" to market essentially a disguised Link Wray record, under Link's contract with Polydor, was an inside joke with Link and Bobby Howard. It was the name of George C. Scott's character in the film "The Flim Flam Man", about a con man who gets thrown off a train in eastern North Carolina (Link's boyhood area) and a young fugitive who lends him a hand and gets caught up in his schemes-a
perfect analogy, they thought, for Link's mentoring of former juvenile delinquent Bobby).

Bobby Howard can also be heard on various tracks by Link Wray and the Raymen during the early 1960's (Swan, Missing Links series on Norton, etc).
The Ray Vernon studio where Rumble label releases were recorded was initially (1959) located in room 327 of the Portland Building, 1129 Vermont Ave. NW, in Washington, D.C., then moved (in 1961) to 527 9th Street, NW, before moving in 1963 to the Wray family farm at 16706 Livingston Rd. in Accokeek, Md.

Bobby Howard moved to Florida in the 1970's...te above reported him as still being there in 2006, though no longer active on the music scene.

 

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Also, on this link there is a more comprehensive look at his recordings, including the Bunker Hill Mala tracks:

https://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/linkwray11.htm

 

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Then there is the fact that Bobby Howard is also the guy behind the legendary, "Sh'mon" instrumental on UK Sue records as "Mr.Dynamite & The Dynamite Orchestra"! The outfit was basically out of the British Walkers (as mentioned above): Bobby Howard - Lead Vocals; Jimmy Carter - Lead Guitar; Jack Brooks - Bass; and Steve Lacey - Drums.
From: https://mrdynamiteshmon.blogspot.jp/ we have:
Conducting and Arranging on "Sh'mon" was done by Charlie Hampton, who was the Leader of The Howard Theater Band in Washington, D.C. at the time. A renowned Jazz musician in his own right, Charlie Hampton left his magic touch on the horns (especially the saxophone) on the single.

 

 

 

[jocko]

Interesting info Dave, not least they used Muscle Shoals musicians, would never have picked that up from the record, with my admittedly not very educated ears!

[Jerry Hipkiss]

Yes, the names of Jimmy Johnson and Roger Hawkins jumped out at me as well, yet the article says that the recordings were done in Chicago? Can't see the MS boys schlepping all the way up there!

[Venus]

Thankyou so much for this...I couldn't find any information about them when I needed it but came across your thread on here just now