(Psychedelic Pop Rock) The Rainbow Press - There's A War On & Sunday Funnies (1968-1969) (2 albums on 1 CD) - 1997, MP3, 320 kbps

There's A War On, the first LP (1968) by The Rainbow Press, has recently been reissued on CD by Radioactive Records. While not entirely a "garage" or "psych" LP, the album is a very solid '60's pop/rock artifact and a true representation of the era during which it was recorded. Comprised of college students from separate universities, The Rainbow Press evolved in to a studio-only group, and recorded a second LP, Sunday Funnies, also in '68. While we hope that Radioactive reissues it, too, in the near future, we sought out the story on the band from drummer Bill Yergin.
An Interview With Bill Yergin
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Bill Yergin (BY): I remember always being interested in the music from when I was very young. Even before my parents had a record player that could play 45s, I listened to their 78s and LPs of big bands, Dixieland, show tunes and the like. But I really enjoyed music from AM Top 40 stations, specifically remembering Bobby Darin, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. The first 45 record I bought was Good Golly Miss Molly by Little Richard because my mother refused to allow me to buy Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire. I started playing the accordion (why, I could not say) by seven years old and took lessons on it for a number of years. When I was entering the fourth grade I signed up for the school band to play the drums and that is the instrument that I played in The Rainbow Press and still play today.
60s: Was the Rainbow Press your first band?
BY: The first band I was in was in high school and it was named The Specs. We stayed together until graduation from high school (Mamaroneck High School in the suburbs of New York City). One of the members was a future member of The Rainbow Press, guitarist Marc Ellis. We were called The Specs because we all wore glasses.
60s: When and where was The Rainbow Press formed?
BY: I was in college in Ohio in the fall of 1967 and Marc wrote me a letter (he was at Ithaca College in New York as a freshman, too) to tell me that he had met a fellow freshman who had an interest in putting a band together over the following summer (1968). His name was Dave Troup and he knew three other guys who he had done things with in their high school (Suffern High School in New York, north of the City). Marc told me they harmonized well and played various instruments. Marc asked if I was interested in being their drummer and, of course, I was. We decided to jam together over Christmas break to see how we sounded and got along. Of the six members of the band, five were at this session. As a result, we decided to get together to play in the summer break of 1968 (since we were all college students at various colleges). This was to be a summer "job" of sorts.
60s: Who all comprised the band?
BY: Marc Ellis - electric (lead) and acoustic guitar, vocals; Dave Troup - electric bass guitar, vocals; Dave Groff - lead singer, percussion, oboe and recorder; Larry Milton - electric piano, acoustic guitar, vocals; Charlie Osborne - electric organ, vocals; and Bill Yergin - drums.
60s: How did you settle on the name, The Rainbow Press?
BY: The name Rainbow Press was a group effort, but I think I was the one who originally came up with the idea of something based on a newspaper, my first idea being The Front Page. But, since this was the '60s and in the era of psychedelics, something like "rainbow" seemed to fit. Actually, our first name under which we started as a band was The Continental Divide, a very lounge act-sounding name. When we signed on with Mr. G Records we decided we had to change it into something more memorable and original, and I think we succeeded. Also, the cover of There's A War On we thought of when we came up with the name...the headline page with the rainbow colors underlying it.
60s: How did you become associated with the Mr. G label?
BY: Mr. G was the "pop" label created by the label Audio Fidelity. They have been credited with the first commercial stereo LP released in the '50s. They were a very respected label that was known for high quality recordings. The Mr. G (presumably executive producer Herman Gimbel was their attempt at entering the pop/rock field. The label and Audio Fidelity no longer exist. The association with the label, I believe (although I am not certain), came through people that Marc's father, Ray Ellis, knew in the industry.
60s: Did the Rainbow Press have a manager?
BY: No, not in the traditional sense. We got our own band dates, but after going in to record, we took a bit of recording advice from Marc's father, who was much known as a recorded orchestra leader and arranger and who had worked with many singers: Lena Horne, Barbra Streisand, Billy Holliday, Tony Bennett and others.
60s: Both your singles and the two LPs were released on Mr. G. Where were the songs recorded?
BY: The singles came out of the sessions for the two LPs. The first LP, There's A War On, was recorded in a four-track studio that was above Radio City Music Hall in New York City. We actually went up the stage elevator with the Rockettes! We recorded at night because all of us had summer day jobs! The room we recorded in was huge, as I remember. All of the songs were actually produced by the band without any direction or influence from the record company. The only time the record producer, Herman Gimbel (The mysterious "Mr. G") made us change something was when he stopped in at a vocal session over the song Cyclic Epic.
Larry, who wrote and sang this song, had a line about a "colorful box" in it and Mr. Gimbel said that absolutely that word "box" had to be changed due to possible sexual references and that no radio station would ever play it with that in it. We were all flabbergasted, but Larry agreed to change the word to "top" and in that recording I can hear him pronounce that word with a kind of disgust in his voice. The funny thing was that the song Girl Who Cannot Love was all about sex, in fact the building noise and feedback in it was supposed to be orgasmic. But, Mr. Gimbel was not there for that song! The single, There's A War On, was released quickly from the first few songs that we got recorded because the record company wanted to get something out fast. It ran over four minutes long and did not fit into the 2-3 minute window that AM radio wanted at that time. After it was chosen and released, I always thought the song Lightning Streak which we recorded after There's A War On, was a much more commercial pop/rock AM radio song.
After the first single and LP were released at the end of the summer of 1968, we received album pick, sleeper pick of the single by Cash Box and Record World Magazines - record trade magazines. Apparently, the LP sold well enough that the record company asked us to go back quickly into the recording studio to cut another LP. So, again, since we were all college students, we got together over Christmas break and practiced and recorded ten more songs that comprised Sunday Funnies. This time, the company got us into a state-of-the art eight-track studio named A & R Recording Studios in New York City.
The difference in facilities was amazing. We were able to use a Hammond B3 organ and were able to put the guitar through the Leslie amp of that organ for some unusual effects. Because of the eight-tracks, my drums were recorded in stereo as well, with different parts of my kit coming out of the two speakers. We rented a harpsichord to use in one of the tracks, but the guy who was tuning it, did not tune it to the Hammond, so we had to ditch that idea. We were able to use different vocal effects like echo and wah-wah vocal sounds in some songs. Joe played his Oboe to great effect in Smitty's Rainfall. On this LP we covered a Beatles song and a Dylan song, but especially reworked the Beatle song I'll Cry Instead into a completely different song (except for the words). On the first LP, Joe sang most of the songs, but in Funnies, Marc, Larry and Dave also sang lead. The song, Great White Whale was released as our second single and was sung by Marc...his only lead vocal in either album. On the flip, Charlie sang in his unique high vocal a chant to the dead to start and end The Lost Platoon. He also adds at the end of Smitty's Rainfall his organ playing - a classical piece over the rest of the band - as we ended the song.
I remember walking with my future wife from Grand Central Station to the studios when I did not have to play, to hear the vocals and overdubs being laid down. I truly did not realize at the time how special all of this really was and how much I would enjoy remembering it all.
60s: You stated that the first album sold well, but how much radio play did the singles receive? Due to the high quality of the songs, was the band disappointed that they didn't perform better commercially?
BY: I was told that there was radio play on mainly FM stations in cities of the East Coast, with at least one picking the There's A War On single as a "pick of the week. I never became fully aware of how much (radio play), except there must have been enough, because the LP sold between 15,000-20,000 copies. For some reason, a lot of them were sold on the West Coast, especially in California. (The first album) was successful enough to have the record company come back to us immediately for another LP.
I have no idea about the Sunday Funnies album. I never heard any figures and by its release, we were no longer a band anyway. I was just glad to have the released album in my hands just for my self by then! You know, since we never seriously considered the possibility that we might become a "hit" with the first album, and because it all happened so fast for us, none of the band members felt any amount of disappointment as far as commercial success. The fact that we were able to be signed to a recording contract, record two LPs in three months, do whatever we wanted on both albums, have both released in less than a year was reward enough! Only recently have I come to realize by conversing with collectors and enthusiasts of music of that era that our recordings are thought of as "good" or as you so kindly called our songs being of "high quality". I truly thought that the only ones who knew anything of The Rainbow Press' recordings were the members of the band.
60s: Was the Mr. G label able to afford any type of promotion on the band?
BY: Mr. G did not have a lot of money to promote us. I saw a full page ad for There's A War On in the industry magazine Record World. I know they sent demos to radio stations. Other than that, I do not know of any other promotions. As a band we never were called on to promote it by the company.
60s: Did The Rainbow Press write the LPs original songs? Who was the band's primary songwriter?
BY: Yes, except for the two songs mentioned, the rest on the LPs were written separately by band member Marc Ellis and Larry Milton. One song, The Last Platoon was co-written by both of them with the music by Marc and the words by Larry (He disliked Marc's original words, so he wrote his own). Before we recorded, when we played out, we covered other band's songs, with a couple of our own thrown in.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
BY: Our sound was pretty mainstream rock/pop until we went into the recording studio. Even though the band is classified today as a "psych" band, at the time, we thought of ourselves as just doing music that we liked to do. Our songs on the two LPs went from pop-type songs to ballads to protest songs to jazz related songs to "acid" influenced rock. The bands that had some influence over various members was The Doors, Hendrix, Beatles, and Cream.
60s: Do you personally prefer There's A War On or Sunday Funnies? Which LP do you think is stronger?
BY: I think that the Sunday Funnies album, for me, is technically superior and stronger due to the recording techniques that were employed and our greater experience in the studio. But, There's A War On is more of a period piece of 1968 (even though Sunday Funnies was only recorded three months later than War On). It has a freshness to me that I find compelling. I guess you always treasure the first one...but how do you choose between your own children? It is as hard for me to choose between these two LPs.
60s: Did the band gig much? Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
BY: We did not. The Rainbow Press had a very unique (I think) history as a band. After we came back for summer vacation from college, we had one week to put together six hours of songs for a high school senior prom. And after that for about a month we played at various school type dances around Suffern, New York. We auditioned in New York City for a rock booking agent to see if we could get some gigs in the city, however the agent said that he liked us, but our sound did not "fit in" anywhere in the rock clubs of New York City. Out of this however, came the recording contract with Mr. G. At this point, we had about one month to record a full LP of songs before college called us all back. We immediately quit any gigs and wrote and practiced the songs that would go into the first album.
60s: How popular locally did The Rainbow Press become?
BY: Actually, we never did become popular locally because we truly became a recording studio band. With all of us in various colleges, too far to get together and no one wanting to quit to go "on tour", we never built up a local following like that. We just never anticipated that we would be a recorded rock band!
60s: Initially, you did perform out. How far then was the band's "touring" territory?
BY: In the beginning of the summer of 1968 - the Suffern, New York area and at the end of that summer it was the confines of the recording studio.
60s: Do any other Rainbow Press recordings exist?
BY: No, everything we recorded went into those two LPs, although I would love to have the alternate versions and outtakes!
60s: What year and why did you all it quits?
BY: Our final get-together was that final recording session at A & R in late December 1968. By the time the Sunday Funnies LP came out in the spring of 1969 the "Suffern 4" had decided to not try to recapture what we had done the summer before. I was all for playing again, but without all of us, it didn't seem worth trying to reform the band with new members. So, I kept up with Marc, but said goodbye to the other four.
60s: Do you communicate at all with any of the others (besides Marc)?
BY: After the breakup, I lost contact with Marc and only recently have found him again. He actually has continued his musical career as a songwriter for TV and Motion Pictures for Sony in California. The other four members I have no personal information about, although Marc may have a limited knowledge of them. Actually, Marc and I plus the other two members of my band in high school, The Specs, are planning a reunion and may play again in California this spring if everything works out. I will probably propose to Marc that we try to contact the other members of The Rainbow Press about a similar get-together in the future.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Rainbow Press?
BY: It was a once in a lifetime experience that I will always remember. When everyone was up at Woodstock in the summer of 1968, I was practicing at home with my band, The Rainbow Press, and that is where I wanted to be. The stuff we did still sounds fresh to my ears and I am proud of what we did as 19 year olds in such a short time. I never regretted not "making it" as a fulltime professional band. What we did was more than I could ever have dreamed of. Just to see two albums of your band with your names on it was enough!
And now, to know that there are websites like yours that find this interesting enough to search out bands and their experiences really blows me away. Both LPs, by the way, were re-released as bootlegs in Europe on vinyl in the '90s and both LPs were released as a two-on-one CD bootleg CD by Hipshaft in 1997. And, as you know, Radioactive Records in the UK just released the CD of There's A War On in December of 2004, over 36 years after we recorded it. That in itself, is the most amazing thing to me...that the music we played, mainly for ourselves, is still out there for anyone interested to listen to. It was, and continues to have been to me, a magical time of my life, that summer of 1968.