The Belairs

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The Belairs were an American surf band that formed in 1960 with Eddie Bertrand ( electric guitar ), Paul Johnson (electric guitar), Richard Delvy ( drums ), Chas Stewart ( saxophone ) and Jim Roberts ( piano ) formed in South Bay , California . With their instrumental piece Mr. Moto , the band reached the top 20 of the Billboard charts in the United States in 1961 . Mr. Moto is considered the first single of the 1960s surfing era. The band split up in 1963 and gave revival concerts repeatedly in the 1980s and 1990s .

biography

Eddie Bertrand and Paul Johnson were still in high school when they began playing rock 'n' roll instrumental tracks from Duane Eddy , Johnny and the Hurricanes and The Fireballs together in 1959, and later wrote their own pieces. Initially, they performed as a duo in various local music clubs; a little later they were joined by Richard Delvy, Chas Stewart and Jim Roberts. In 1961 they appeared for the first time under the name The Belairs: the band organized regional (school) dance events (high school dances) in southern California , which became a success with attendance figures in the four-digit range.

In the summer of 1961, the band booked the recording studio Liberty Recording Studios in Hollywood for an hour and recorded the five tracks Mr. Moto, Vampire, Little Brown Jug, Three Blind Mice Make It To Santa's Village and Kamikaze . After the Belairs had negotiated with various record labels , their first record was released on Arvee Records: Label owner Sonny Bono remixed the band's studio recordings and released the single Mr. Moto / Little Brown Jug . The single was regularly played on regional radio stations, and after some teething problems, Mr. Moto reached the top 20 in early 1962. By 1962, the Belairs became one of the most popular bands in California. They appeared on television shows and had their own music club called The Belair Club .

Richard Delvy left the band in 1962 after unsuccessfully demanding more money for his work as a manager. He founded the band The Challengers . A little later Eddie Bertrand and the new drummer Dick Dodd also left the band because they could not agree on the guitar sound with Paul Johnson. Bertrand and Dodd founded the band Eddie & The Showmen , a very successful live band in the instrumental surf genre. In late 1963, Paul Johnson left the band and formed the group PJ & The Galaxies . The Belairs then dissolved. In the 1980s and 1990s, the band came together for occasional stage appearances in the original line-up, but then stopped their musical activity.

Discography

Belairs singles

  • 1961 Mr. Moto / Little Brown Jug
  • 1962 Volcanic Action / Runaway
  • 1963 Vampires / Kamikaze
  • 1963 Baggies / Charlie Chan
  • 1963 Rocking Pants / Giggling Girl

Appearances on compilations

  • 1976 Rock 'n' Roll Instrumentals - Vol 02
  • 1982 The History of Surf Music
  • 1989 surf hits
  • 1993 Surfer's Mood II
  • 1996 Cowabunga! Surf box
  • 1997 Kahuna Classics
  • 1998 Hard Rock Records - Surf
  • 1998 Surf Sand Sun
  • 1998 More Surf Legends (and Rumors)
  • 2002 Totally Tubular
  • 2004 curl rider
  • 2005 Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar - Vol. 04
  • 2005 Quite A Party

Members of the Belairs

The Belairs were founded in 1960.

Founding members

  • Eddie Bertrand - electric guitar
  • Paul Johnson - electric guitar
  • Jim Roberts - piano
  • Chas Stewart - saxophone
  • Richard Delvy - drums

Other members

  • Dick Dodd - drums
  • Art Fisher - electric guitar
  • George Dumas - drums
  • Steve Lotto - electric bass
  • Dennis Lindsey - electric guitar
  • Terry Hand - drums

literature

  • Martin Schmidt: Surf Beat - the who's who of surf and instromusic . Ventil Verlag, Mainz 2007. ISBN 978-3-931-555-85-6 .
  • John Blair (Ed.): The Illustrated Discography Of Surf Music. 1961-1965 . J. Bee Productions, Riverside CA 1978, ISBN 0-9601880-0-2 .
  • Robert J. Dalley: Surfin 'Guitars. Instrumental Surf Bands of The Sixties . Surf Publications for RJ Dalley, Azusa CA 1988.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Martin Schmidt: Surf Beat - The Who's Who of Surf and Instromusic, p. 21 f.
  2. ↑ a b Michael Koltan: What is surf music? (accessed on June 23, 2012)
  3. ↑ Vintage Surf - website of Belairs guitarist Paul Johnson at pjmoto.com (accessed June 23, 2012)