Greetings, seekers of the rare, the weird and the unbelievably cheap! I come to you in cheerful mood, realizing that this is the twentieth episode of RTH’s popular Thrifty Music series, in which I share scratched-up slabs of vinyl I find in thrift stores, flea markets, and garbage cans around our nation’s fine capitol.
To mark this auspicious occasion, I’ve decided to post one new track every other day, until we arrive at the commemorative number of 20 — count ’em, TWENTY — new and wonderful songs I’ve rescued from perdition. Today’s track is one of many I found while combing through (no fooling) about 3000 singles I purchased from a little old lady in rural Maryland. It’s a real head-scratcher to me, because — well, why on Earth wasn’t this song a hit? And why on Earth does nobody know who The Phaetons are any more? And why can I not find a single record geek trying to sell this ultra-rarity for an absurd amount of money? It’s totally worth it, as you’ll hear. A true lost gem, in my opinion.
The only image I could find of The Phaetons is shown above. I grabbed it from this page, at which you’ll learn all there is to know — and I man that literally — about this band. But shit! Singles on Warner Brothers! Produced by Jerry Ragavoy, and co-written by “Doc” Pomus! *Great* singles, great songs, great arrangements, and… nothing. Weird.
Anyhow, enjoy the first of two Phaetons numbers I’ll be sharing as the month unfolds: “Three Weeks, Four Days and 15 Hours,” by Long Island’s own… The Phaetons!
I look forward to your comments, and I thank you for your patronage over the years.
HVB
Tuneful, if not quite catchy (especially since the main phrase is a mouthful). The earnest massed vocals started to cloy at a certain point. I like the energy but am mixed on the repetition. I give it a B.
I think mwall nails the limitations of this song perfectly, but I like it. I sounds like The Byrds if they had a better/cheesier (which for me sometimes means better) production; however, it falls short of the heights of The Turtles. Kind of reminds me of The Millenium. Do you own their album? It’s excellent WHITE MUSIC from that era.
Looking forward to this upcoming run of Thrifty finds, HVB!
Let me just say that — as much as I appreciate the quick feedback — both Mod ad Mwall are falling prey to the kind of instant 21st-century gratification that would probably make it impossible for bands like (insert fave 1960s/1970s band here) to thrive in today’s interactive music world. Seriously, give this tune time to breathe, and you’ll see why it’s as great as it is.
The name ‘Phaetons’ seems like a good (partial) explanation for the lack of success.
Right on HVB! I sometimes lament the Pandora’s box that the internet has opened when it comes to musik in general. Having virtually everything & anything available 24-7 does have its downsides. I’m almos’ starting to look back fondly on the era of when an album had to take some time grow on me.
Hey, HVB, do you think Jerry Wexler had to calmly reflect on every potential hitmaker that came his way?:) I just listened a couple more times. Like mwall said, the title phrase is repeated frequently but after a while I can’t tell what he’s saying – it becomes garbled and loses its intended meaning. It’s supposed to be like the great soul song that Dexy’s Midnight Runners did, “7 Days Too Long,” right? In that song I can follow the plot and feel the drama. This song is GOOD – don’t get me wrong – and has some excellent elements, such as the Motown-style rhythm guitar that kicks it off, but after the EXCELLENT start to the second verses it gets stuck on an endless cycle of that ascending chorus, as if the whole point of the song came down to working well on a lip-synched variety show performance, in which the camera would pull back while the brightly dressed singers stood in their mod tv variety show set, making grand hand gestures and looking off into the distance before taking a nervous bow as the audience APPLAUSE sign turned on during the final strains of the song’s fadeout. It’s a GOOD song, in my now pipe-tamping opinion, hrrundi, but there was only so much room on the charts for this style of song. Would I rather hear it than the hits by The Buckinghams, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, et al? YES! Would I rather hear it than any hit by The Turtles or The Association? Definitely not The Turtles, but there are some lesser Association hits that could be replaced.
It’s nice enough and has a few cool elements, but it is missing the big hook to make it truley memorable.
It definitely should have been a lower-tier/regional hit though. I prefer it to the Left Banke
I like it and I enjoy these posts!
So let’s get this straight. He’s been gone for three weeks four days and fifteen hours. *He* broke up with *her*. He’s been thinking about her since the break up and can’t live without her. So what the hell is he waiting for? My guess is that when he left her far behind he went on some sort of rampage and is in jail for public intoxication or vagrancy or something, otherwise he’d be with her right now. And he can’t wait to get back to her loving arms? Dude, after you’ve made a girl cry like that and been gone for over three weeks you think she’s gonna want you back? Completely delusional, if you ask me.
bostonhistorian takes that little thing, lines it up over the nailhead, hammers, and drives the nailhead under the surface of the wood!
Thanks for this. Very enjoyable little number. Way better than the Association, which might be damning with faint praise. I think the comparison to the Buckinghams is apt, or even to one of my faves, the Grass Roots. Let’s hear more.
And, Mr. Mod, I say (whilst puffing on fine briar), there are ONLY lesser Association hits.
The Grass Roots are another apt comparison. I’m not a big Association fan but I’ve got a soft spot for “Windy,” “Along Comes Mary,” and I believe one other hit.
Speaking of the Grass Roots!
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/the-secret-rock-and-roll-life-of-creed-bratton/
Oats, that’s great! Geez, they were a faceless bunch, those Grass Roots. But truly they are a group for which the Greatest Hits collection was invented.
Cool. I think this is b-side Monkees level.
This band consisted of Gerard Kenny (bs, kb, v), Lee Grayson (g,bs), Alan Axelrod (kb), Bobby George (d); don’t remember the name of the fifth guy. They were hot stuff in my high school (North Shore High in Glen Head) when we were all students there. They took a few swings and split up. Gerard went on the singer-songwriter path, Lee did sessions and a lot of stage work, primarily as a bassist.
Plutarch, thanks for checking in!!! This is very cool to hear. I’ll make sure that hrrundivbakshi, the author of this post and our resident Thrifty Music expert, sees your note. If you ever find yourself in touch with these gents, send them our way. It could make for a fun interview.
I knew these guys in high school and college – a great band! This was actually their second recording. “I should have realized” was their first.
The guy that Plutarch could not remember is Tony Martino.
Gerard Kenny is a singer in the UK – many albums, Lee Grayson played as a studio musician on many albums and passed away a number of years back. I don’t know where the other guys are.
As with Plutarch, very cool of you to check in with your memories! Thanks.
Exciting news! Rock Town Hall has established contact with the Phaetons’ lead singer, Gerard Kenny, and we hope to share his thoughts and reflections on a remarkable musical career soon. Stay tuned!
Did you ever share the promised second Phaetons track? The site search isn’t turning up anything.
To whom it may concern,
My father Doc Pomus wrote “Three Weeks Four Days And Fifteen Hours.” I can’t find a copy of the song. Can you e-mail me an mp3 version? I’ll be happy to pay a reasonable transfer fee…
Thank you,
Geoffrey J Felder
gjfelder@felderpomus.com
Wow, finally someone with the same memories I have of The Phaetons. I used to see these guys at The Knotty Knee in West Hempstead, and I recall they did great rendition of “Every Little Thing” by The Beatles.
Great nights at The Knee at drinking beers and of course the occasional jay…well maybe more than occasional…
Does anybody remember The Hot Soup that also played there?
The Phaetons were my all time favorite Long Island band back in the ’60’s. I was playing drums in Grey Blue Theory and kept hearing about this “band” that was incredible and would blow me away. I went to The Westbury Music Fair one night to see The Young Rascals and got the suprise of my life, The Phaetons opened and were unbelievable live. Bob George their drummer was incredible and stood toe to toe with Dino Danelli who was the man back then. I don’t remember how I made the connection, but somehow got to meet Bob as I was looking to take drum lessons from him. He turned down the lessons as he was in college along with playing with the band and just did not have the time to spare, but instead, let me come to Phaeton rehersals at Lee Graysons house and any gig I could make it to, he let me sit off to the side of him on stage and just watch, learn and take it all in – and I did. Bob was an incredible drummer and always very kind to me and I have never forgotten that and have had the opportunity to pass along to other drummers from the graciousness he showed me as a young teen drummer. I have tried for years to try and find him so that I could thank him personally, but with a name like Robert “Bob” George, it has so far been impossible. Gerard is in England and is a hit there. I know that Lee passed away sadly a few years ago. Alan Axelrod was the Keyboard player and the bass player was Tony Martino. “3 Weeks, 4 Days & 15 Hours” always means alot to me and I’m glad you guys posted it because it was at that time that I saw them with The Rascals and I will never forget watching Bobby on drums that night playing to that song. Live it really flew and these guys were great.
I’m also interested in getting this song. Would it be possible for one of you kind and caring admins to send me the file or put it up somewhere? I would be eternally grateful. Thanks!
I will see that you get it when I’m home and get some time. Thanks for finding us!
to Grey-Blue Theory (aka Greg S – Rogers Back Diamond Pearl if I recall correctly?) – just came across your 2012 post about the Phaetons. Was at the Westbury show with Rascals as well. Loved Phaetons – they did a Vanilla Fudge type arrangement of “Walk on By” as I recall. “You Better Come Home” was my favorite Phaetons song.Still have the 45.
I was a year behind you at Roslyn but remember Grey-Blue – Ricky Rini, John Zacharias, Phil was your bass player….there was one more.
Cool!