During the late '60s -- a period forever distinguished as rock's most radical, innovative, and far-reaching -- Gary Puckett and the Union Gap forged a series of massive chart ballads almost otherworldly in their sheer earnestness and melodrama. Likely the only pop band of the era to play two nightly shows in the Catskills -- the early gig for their younger fans, the later appearance for the fans' parents -- the group pioneered the hip-to-be-square concept two decades before spiritual descendants Huey Lewis and the News; clad in Civil War-era get-ups (complete with fictitious military ranks) and bizarrely pedophilic lyrics, Puckett and the Union Gap were in their own way as far-out and singular as any other act of the period.
Frontman Puckett was born October 17, 1942, in of all places Hibbing,
MN, (where Bob Dylan went to high school). Raised primarily in Yakima,
WA, he picked up the guitar as a teen, and while attending college in
San Diego played in a number of local bands before quitting school to
focus on music. Puckett eventually landed with the Outcasts, a hard rock
group comprised of bassist Kerry Chater, keyboardist Gary "Mutha"
Withem, tenor saxophonist Dwight Bement, and drummer Paul Wheatbread.
Despite earning a strong local following, in 1966 Wheatbread relocated
to Los Angeles to serve as the house drummer on the television series
Where the Action Is; the remaining members of the Outcasts toured the
Pacific Northwest, and on their return, Wheatbread also moved back to
San Diego and rejoined the lineup. For reasons unknown, manager Dick
Badger -- convinced his charges needed a strong visual hook -- then sent
the group to Tijuana, where they were outfitted with Union Army-style
Civil War uniforms.
A demo was soon cut in L.A., and Badger
arranged a meeting with CBS producer Jerry Fuller. Though impressed by
Puckett's soaring baritone, Fuller believed the band's gritty,
R&B-influenced approach was all wrong, but agreed to check out their
live show at the San Diego bowling alley the Quad Room. Believing
Fuller was due to arrive on Saturday, the Outcasts opted to save their
energy, delivering an atypically mellow set on Friday night. Fuller, who
was in the crowd for both shows, signed the group contingent on their
willingness to foster their latent soft rock leanings. Re-christened the
Union Gap in honor of a suburb of Yakima, on August 16, 1967, the band
recorded its first single, "Woman Woman." Suggesting a mellower
Righteous Brothers sans producer Phil Spector's majestic firepower, the
single reached the Top Ten late in 1967 and was a million-seller by
February of 1968; concurrent CBS press releases gave each member his own
imaginary military rank -- Puckett was the general, Bement the
sergeant, Chater the corporal, and both Withem and Wheatbread were
relegated to privates.
In the spring of 1968, the Union Gap
scored their biggest hit, "Young Girl," written by Fuller in the style
of "Woman, Woman," but exchanging the age-old theme of infidelity for
the age-old theme of the temptation of underage romance: "My love for
you is way out of line/you better run, girl, you're much too young,
girl," an anguished Puckett wailed. The juggernaut rolled on, and the
group continued rattling off hits -- "Lady Willpower," "Over You," and
"Don't Give in to Him" among them -- and also headlined at the White
House and Disneyland. But there was dissension in the ranks: the Union
Gap wanted to write and produce their own material, and Puckett found
himself increasingly confined within the CBS-mandated ballad formula. In
1969, stalemate: Fuller assembled a 40-piece studio orchestra for a new
song he had written, but Puckett and the Union Gap refused to cut the
tune. The session was ultimately canceled, and Fuller never again worked
with the group. For the Union Gap, it was a pyrrhic victory.
The
band immediately returned to the Top Ten that autumn with the Dick
Glasser-produced "This Girl Is a Woman Now," but it was to be their last
hit. The follow-up, "Let's Give Adam and Eve Another Chance," tanked,
and after management dictated that Puckett's bandmates now receive a
weekly salary instead of a percentage of the revenue, Chater and Withem
left the band. Bement assumed bass duties, keyboardist Barry McCoy and
horn player Richard Gabriel were added, and gospel vocalists the Eddie
Kendrick Singers also signed on. The Civil War gear was soon jettisoned,
but even so, prospects did not improve. In 1970, Puckett began
recording as a solo act, but his efforts were not well-received; the
Union Gap remained his live backing unit, until they were dismissed
following an appearance at the 1971 Orange County Fair. Puckett's
contract with CBS was terminated one year later.
Puckett
continued making solo appearances in the months to come, but by 1973 he
had essentially disappeared from music, opting instead to study acting
and dance. He performed in theatrical productions in and around L.A.,
but his acting career never really took off, and in 1984 he signed on
with the Happy Together oldies package tour. Two years later, Puckett
was tapped to open for the Monkees on their 20th Anniversary tour, and
he remained a staple of the revival circuit into the next century. Among
his original bandmates, Bement later joined the oldies act Flash
Cadillac and the Continental Kids, while Chater relocated to Nashville,
where he plied his trade as a songwriter. Wheatbread, meanwhile, turned
to concert promotion, and Withem returned to San Diego to teach
high-school band.(Jason Ankeny, allmusic.com)
Since the first time i heard the band i really loved their sound. Hope you will have fun, too.(Frank)
Flac
mp3@320
To say it first: This is really a great collection by The Creation music. 46 tracks, a lot remixed and an exhaustive book with nearly 90 sites full of pics, discography, biography etc..Very well done cd box set. I don't tell you something about the music of the band because it's all said in the review byTim Sendra. Only this: They were one of the finest pop bands of the sixties and completely underrated. It's a pity. Enjoy.(Frank)
The Love Exchange grew out of some teenage surf and garage bands in the
Los Angeles suburb of Westchester. It was teenage singer Bonnie Blunt
who was the group's strongest asset, giving them the competent vocals in
the soaring, folky Mamas & the Papas/early Jefferson Airplane
style. (As an interesting trivial note, the first woman singer in the
Love Exchange was Laura Hale, daughter of actor Alan Hale, famous as the
skipper on Gilligan's Island.) They weren't accomplished writers,
though, and on their sole album, much of the material was penned by
producer Larry Goldberg. These were garage-psych-folk-rock efforts with
their utopian, rose-colored lyrics and organ-modal-guitar combinations,
like a minor league Peanut Butter Conspiracy. The aura of psychsploitation was enhanced when Goldberg took some of the
LP's backing tracks and added vocals by non-group members to create a
Christian rock album credited to the Crusaders. Some of the album's
songs were also used on a soundtrack album for a musical titled How Now,
Dow Jones, credited there to the Floor Traders. And, finally, the songs
did come out in their original form on an LP actually billed as a Love
Exchange record, as it should have been all along.
