The Buckinghams
are an American rock band that saw enormous radio popularity from 1966 to 1968, becoming one of the top-selling rock groups of 1967. The band dissolved in 1970 but reformed in 1980 and still tours as part of "oldies" shows in America.
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History
In 1965, two
high school musicians in
Chicago, Illinois,
guitarist Carl Giammarese
and
bassist Nick Fortuna
joined forces in a band called The Centuries.
Drummer John Poulos and
singers George LeGros and
Dennis Tufano were in another band called The Pulsations where they were soon joined by Giammarese and keyboardist Dennis Miccolis. LeGros, unfortunately, was forced to leave by early 1966 after being drafted. Fortuna soon followed his friend Carl and came aboard The Pulsations as well. The Pulsations soon won a Chicago battle of the bands competition and secured a job as the house band on local (
WGN-TV's)
variety show called
All-Time Hits
in 1966. The show's producers suggested they adopt a more "contemporary" (i.e., British) name, and thanks to the suggestion of a security guard at the television station,
The Buckinghams
were born (the name is also that of a notable Chicago landmark,
Buckingham Fountain).
[1]
In early 1966, the band signed their first record contract with local
USA Records and recorded twelve songs that year. Several were released as singles, including "
I'll Go Crazy,"originally recorded by
James Brown &
The Famous Flames,
The Beatles song "I Call Your Name," and "I've Been Wrong", which received extensive airplay in Chicago. The Buckinghams gained national exposure with "
Kind of a Drag
," written by Chicago-based songwriter,
Jim Holvay, who had been performing with a group called
The Mob. "Kind of a Drag" raced up the local charts then caught fire nationally, eventually spending two weeks at No. 1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in February, 1967. That single's success also led to USA Records' hasty release of an album,
Kind of a Drag with the band's early recordings. This was followed up by a cover of
Lloyd Price’s "
Lawdy Miss Clawdy", but USA Records had a problem with distribution, which hurt the single's chances for better sales.
[2]
As the group's contract with USA Records came to an end, Miccolis was replaced in late 1966 on keyboards by Larry Nestor, who only stayed a short time before
Marty Grebb came in by early 1967. The band members were also introduced to
James William Guercio, formerly the bassist and road manager for
Chad and Jeremy, who then signed them to a management contract with his new California-based management company, Ebbins-Guercio Associates, formed with Garrick Ebbins. The Buckinghams were courted by several record labels before deciding on promotion specialist Jim Scully, who quickly got them a new contract with
Columbia (CBS) Records. Guercio signed on as the group's producer as well and the William Morris Agency was inked to handle national bookings for tours and TV appearances.
[3]
Although The Buckinghams had already been using horns on many of their earlier recordings, arranged by big band leader Dan Belloc and arranger Frank Tesinsky, Guercio continued the group's "brass-rock" approach and helped to make it the group's signature sound on their records. And the partnership produced four more Top-20 hits in 1967: "Don't You Care" (#6), "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (#5), "Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)" (#12) and "Susan" (#11), (three of which were written by Jim Holvay and Gary Beisber). Thanks to Columbia promotion men including Jim Scully, Ron Alexenburg (later President of Epic Records) and Steve Popovich (later president of
Cleveland International Records), in 1967 The Buckinghams were named by
Billboard Magazine
as "The Most Listened to Band in America."
[4]
By mid-1968 The Buckinghams found themselves disagreeing with Guercio on both creative and financial issues, and so they parted company. Afterwards, Columbia assigned staff producer Jim Wisner to work with the group on their third, and arguably best, album ("In One Ear and Gone Tomorrow"). Featuring material written by Marty Grebb, Carl Giammarese and Dennis Tufano, the album had modest success with the single, "Back in Love Again," but after the break with Guercio, they were unable to duplicate their 1967 success while Guercio went on to explore the "brass rock" concept further and take
Blood Sweat and Tears and
Chicago to the top of the charts.
In late 1968 Marty Grebb & Nick Fortuna left and were replaced by keyboard man John Turner and bassist Curt Bachman(who had been with The Centuries, then The Pulsations before Fortuna joined). There were no more hits, though, and band dissolved in early 1970,
[5] with Tufano and Giammarese forming the
Tufano-Giammarese Band
, and recording three albums for
Lou Adler's Ode Records.
A Greatest Hits CD was released in 1975 by Columbia called "Made in Chicago," with songs produced by Guercio.
[2] Drummer John Poulos, who had become a manager of several rock bands, including "The Boyzz", died of a drug related heart failure on March 26, 1980.
Reformation
Later in 1980, Chicago's WLS radio programming executive
John Gehron
called Carl Giammarese with an invitation to reunite The Buckinghams for Mayor
Jane Byrne's ChicagoFest event. Setting attendance records, Giammarese, Fortuna and Tufano appeared with drummer Tom Osfar and keyboardist John Cammelot on the Navy Pier rooftop stage. Marty Grebb declined the opportunity to join them, as he was touring with the group
Chicago at the time. For the next two years, the trio of original members performed at selected concerts in Chicago. When Tufano decided to return to California to resume a career in film voice work in early 1983, Giammarese and Fortuna committed to tour full-time as The Buckinghams.
[7]
The 1983 Buckinghams featured an expanded group that included Carl, Nick, John Duich(guitar), Tom Taylor(keyboards), Tom Scheckel(drums, percussion) and two female singers Laurie Beebe(vocals, keyboards) and Barbara Unger(vocals, keyboards).
In 1984 Duich, Taylor and Unger were dropped and Carl, now doing lead vocal duties, went back to playing guitar as well as John Cammelot rejoined on keyboards.
In early 1986 both Beebe and Cammelot left to be replaced by Bob Abrams (guitar, vocals)
[8] and Bruce Soboroff (keyboard, vocals). These five have been the lineup of The Buckinghams continuously since 1986, and have been together over four times longer than the original group was together in the 60s. The band continues to make appearances in various concert venues throughout the U.S., Canada and overseas and has released several albums on independent labels.
Former singer Dennis Tufano still makes appearances in a Bobby Darin Show he created, "As Long as I'm Singing" and also sings their classic hits. Former keyboards/vocals/songwriter Marty Grebb has played with The Fabulous Rhinestones, Chicago,
Bonnie Raitt and
Dave Mason and has also produced CDs for independent musicians, including Peach.
The Buckinghams were the first group to initiate "Meet and Greets" after concerts where Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna meet the fans and sign autographs after each show. That quickly caught on with other classic rock bands, who also started staying to meet the fans after shows.
In 1985, The Buckinghams were part of the "Happy Together 85" Tour, sponsored by Members Only. This was one of the Top Ten Grossing tours in the United States, traveling to over 150 cities, and also included
The Turtles,
The Grass Roots, and
Gary Lewis and the Playboys. In 1991, Sony/Legacy (formerly Columbia) released a compilation greatest hits CD, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," which included an unreleased solo song, "You", recorded by Tufano.
In 1996, The Buckinghams celebrated the band's 30th anniversary with a concert at The Vic Theatre in Chicago. The show was filmed and released as a video, "Off Their Rockers" and included two Chicago favorite DJs as hosts:
Dick Biondi
and
John "Records" Landecker
.
Guitarist John Duich, who'd played with The Buckinghams in 1983 and with The Bad Examples after that, died in 1998 at age 44 of heart failure.
In 2001 The Buckinghams were part of the Solid Gold 60s Tour along with Tommy James, The Turtles,
Gary Puckett and The Grass Roots. PBS featured The Buckinghams on "The Sixties Pop Rock Reunion" in 2004. In January 2005 they performed at the Twilight on the Prairie Ball, for one of President
George W. Bush's
Inaugural Balls in Washington, DC.
In 2007 The Buckinghams signed with national label, Fuel Records, to release their latest studio CD,
Reaching Back
, that includes eight new original songs written by Carl Giammarese, and new recordings of five of their top hits. A second CD, "Standing Room Only" (previously released as "Alive and Well") was also released on the Fuel Label.
XM Radio recently recorded The Buckinghams in concert for their XM Performance Series on the 60s on 6 channel. The Buckinghams' music from yesterday and today remains in regular rotation on classic rock stations in U.S. formats as well as satellite radio, streaming Internet and Wi-Fi radio stations.
Recently, The Buckinghams were nominated to the
Hit Parade Hall of Fame
,
[9] which was co-created by award-winning program director,
John Rook, acclaimed former Program Director at Chicago's WLS and WCFL radio stations. The Buckinghams released their latest CD, a Christmas album on the BML label, "The Joy of Christmas" in November, 2008. In December 2008 The Buckinghams debuted the single, "Have a Little Faith" on WGN-TV in Chicago.
The Buckinghams perform regularly to festival audiences of over 10,000, to sold-out shows in theatres such as the
Westbury Music Fair, Ram's Head, the Star Plaza and others. They remain popular acts for casino venues throughout the country, and frequently perform the national anthem for
Chicago Cubs,
White Sox, and
Bears home games.
In 2009, The Buckinghams performed at the Bipartisan Illinois Agricultural Ball for the inauguration of the nation's 44th President,
Barack Obama. This was a unique distinction for a 60s pop band to receive a repeat invitation to perform at a presidential inaugural in both 2005 and 2009.
Discography
Albums
- Kind of a Drag
(1967, USA Records)
- Time and Charges
(1967, Columbia)
- Portraits
(1967, Columbia)
- In One Ear and Gone Tomorrow
(1968, Columbia)
- A Matter Of time
(1985, Red Label Records)
- Terra Firma
(1998, Nation Records)
- Live and Well
(2006, BML Records)
- Reaching Back
(2007, Fuel Records)
- Standing Room Only
(2008, Fuel Records)
- The Joy of Christmas
(2008, BML Records)
Compilations
- Greatest Hits
(1969, Columbia)
- Mercy, Mercy, Mercy: A Collection
(1991, Columbia/Legacy)
U.S. Chart Singles
- "Kind of a Drag" (1967, #1)
- "Lawdy Miss Clawdy (1967, #41)
- "Don't You Care" (1967, #6)
- "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (1967, #5)
- "Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song" (1967, #12)
- "Susan" (1968, #11)
- "Back in Love Again" (1968, #57)
References
- The Buckinghams' official web site www.thebuckinghams.com
- Nite, Norm N. (1978). Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock N' Roll, volume II. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, p. 58, Norm N. Nite's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock N' Roll.
- The Buckinghams' official MySpace Page, www.myspace.com/TheBuckinghams
- Editor interview with Carl Giammarese, March, 2008, Carl Giammarese Wikipedia page
- Classic Rock Connection web page for The Buckinghams, www.classicwebs.com/bucknham.htm
- Nite, Norm N. (1978). Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock N' Roll, volume II. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, p. 58, Norm N. Nite's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock N' Roll.
- Dahl, Bill, Allmusic entry for The Buckinghams, www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifoxqw5ldde~T1
- Bob Abrams' official Web site.
- Hit Parade Hall of Fame nomination link for The Buckinghams, www.thebuckinghams.com/hit_parade.html