People! (The band who covered "I Love You")

[Patrick]

Hi,

I was just bemoaning the bad luck that beset the Zombies by times, and started down the related trail of the group People! who covered Chris White's "I Love You" which turned into a kind of hit and run hit in 1968.

Reading through, the name John Riolo began appearing, small switch turns in my feeble mind and I check to see if he was the drummer. Yup, one and the same of American Drum Parts. Sorry if you all have seen this before. Over the years I have been knocked out by some of the I was there kind of knowledge John brings to his anecdotes, no wonder:

Zombies' Version of I Love You:

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People's version:

Patrick

 

[DanRH]

John was in the band but I believe didn't record I Love You or tour with them. Right John? If I am, let me know. BTW, miss you bud!

Also, I saw People open for the Who in '69 in Miami. They were great from what I remember.

 

[Patrick]

I think you are right about the recording. (I am still reading up on the boys--lively history).

Those shows with the Who must have been a treat.

cheers,

Patrick

 

[DanRH]

I think you are right about the recording. (I am still reading up on the boys--lively history).

Those shows with the Who must have been a treat.

cheers,

Patrick

And 1910 Fruitgum Company opened for them (People were the middle slot). Watching Keith throw his drums in the Bay was fun (the concert was at the Miami Marian Stadium where boat races are held). Those Premiers were bobbing up and down in the water.

 

[jriolo]

Here's a decent cut of their single "I Love You", that video's audio is the worst ever.

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Right ! I was a founding member of PEOPLE! and we fought our way up the ladder for 2 years in the San Jose local scene at church dances, teen clubs, roller rinks, parties, surfing safaris, and battle of the bands. I was still finishing high school so I had to leave and was replaced by Denny Fridkin right before the record. Years later the group invited me to be at their San Jose Hall of Fame Induction to honor me for my groundbreaking efforts establishing the product. I wasn't fired for not joining Scientology or eating too many atomic soybeans or anything, just had to finish my Jesuit education. I was surprised to be included in the Induction and had not seen any of the boys for centuries. I was flattered to be included in our hometown affair and found out the road to fame for them was bumpy and gruesome after I left. Maybe I was lucky to miss some of that, but I wish I had been able to go along anyway on the adventure.

Did some cool shows with PEOPLE! including a Dave Clark Five concert(yes, Dave Clark can play his his frigging ass off!), 5 nights with Van Morrison and THEM, the Fillmore opening for Arthur Lee and LOVE, and opening for other local San Jose charters THE COUNT FIVE, SYDICATE OF SOUND, CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND, and E-TYPES. All this at age 16, what a dream !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%21

http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/People_Drummer_and_songwriter_Denny_Fridkin_recounts_his_life_in_music/28810/p1/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jriolo

Here's the video and I played electro tympani and tamborine on stage.

http://www.sanjoserocks.org/v2b.htm?vn=people_iloveyou1b.flv&vt=People%20-%20I%20Love%20You&ttime=260

The Reunion/Induction was right before the unfortunate passing of singer Larry Norman who is known as the Godfather of Christian Rock. Larry did an album with George Martin "Only Visiting This Planet" a year or so after he left PEOPLE! in about '68. He quit PEOPLE! the day the single "I Love You " was released. Check out the Beatlesque production of George Martin on the cut from Larry's album. http://amdrumparts.com/songs/01_-_I've_Got_To_Learn_To_Live_Without_You.mp3

The Zombies are absolutely one of my fave groups ! Their album "Odessey and Oracle" is an absolute monster, and they were one of the very few groups to have the unheard of free reign of ABBEY ROADS STUDIO. Some of the best song writing and vocal harmonies of all time in my book. Their drummer Hugh Grundy is one of the best ever and has some of the coolest fills the planet has ever seen or heard. Part Ringo, part Moon, part exploding Bobby Elliot.
Here's me singing a cover of the Zombies "Tell Her No".
http://amdrumparts.com/songs/Tell_Her_No.mp3


Here's a PEOPLE reunion photo, that's me in the white to left of center
That's me with the maracas and the cool shades in our original promotional poster circa 1966.
Hugh Grundy and the Zombies

 

[avedisschwinn]

John, I saw People! a bunch of times, but not sure which version. People! and The Otherside (Bogus Thunder) were the most happening local bands, by far.
I remeber two things - People! used to do the Monkees theme, but inverted: "hey hey we're the People!, monkeys say we people around" and I remember the drummer had a huge kit,
maybe a Ludwig sky blue pearl with a floor tom mounted in front him on a stand. Could that have been you?

 

[jriolo]

Hey avedisschwinn, what par of the south bay were you from and what high scholl did you go to ?

That was Denny by that time. He actually inspired Tommy Aldridge with his Double kick stuff on "Apple Cider". Yes, I did quite a few shows with "Bogus Thunder" with Ned on the guitar, quite a good group. Another "PEOPLE!" vet is John Tristao who now sings lead with Creedence Revisited. John was from another band we use to do shows with called "The Chosen Few" and then later with "Uncle Wiggley".
APPLE CIDER
http://amdrumparts.com/songs/09_Apple_Cider.mp3

From Denny's webpage....
"I have a comment for Dennis Fridkin. So, you are the composer and drummer on the song "Apple Cider." I still have that 45 RPM record, and in 1968, I played it for my friend and fellow aspiring drummer Tommy Aldridge when we both lived in Jackson Mississippi. We were hip to the Cream and the Who, but that song was a milestone event for us as it was the first song we had ever heard on the radio that had the two bass drums doing 16th notes, even if briefly. We both flipped over it. We immediately combined our drum sets in my garage and set out to master that beat, and Tommy soon thereafter got his first double-bass drum kit. And, as they say, the rest is history. Tommy has gone on to distinguish himself as a paragon and exemplar of double-bass drumming, and is famous for it all around the world, playing drums with Pat Travers, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, etc. So, Denny, look what you unleashed! And it all started with "(I know a girl with lips like) Apple Cider." I just thought you might like to know this little anecdote from a fan, and what an influence you were on the drumming world. -- Bobby in Atlanta "

 

[Rufus T Firefly]

I miss Larry Norman. Loved his music. Listen to it on a regular basis.

 

[avedisschwinn]

Hey avedisschwinn, what par of the south bay were you from and what high scholl did you go to ?

I went to Mango Jr High, and Fremont High, and did my senior year at Cubberley in PA graduating in 1970. Saw bands at school, teen club dances, and the Bold Night.
It was a great time. By midway through my junior year I was going to Winterland.

 

[BennyK]

John, good to hear from you again.

" Jesuit education "...you are one interesting traveler. As drummers, many of us take a vow of poverty anyway...did you go the extra mile ?

BTW, your drumming is crisp, clean and to the point. Has it always been this way ?

 

[EvEnStEvEn]

The Reunion/Induction was right before the unfortunate passing of singer Larry Norman who is known as the Godfather of Christian Rock. Larry did an album with George Martin "Only Visiting This Planet" a year or so after he left PEOPLE! in about '68.

Hi John,
Upon This Rock was actually Larry's first post-People release in '69.
"Only Visiting This Planet" came later in 1972.

 

[shuffle]

Cool history John!
miss Larry too!
played several tunes of his.
BTW,folks,John makes some mighty fine drums!
Owned 2 toms and a snare built by John,fine work sounded killer!

 

[jriolo]

The Outlaw by Larry Norman
http://amdrumparts.com/songs/Theoutlaw.mp3

Pardon Me by Lary Norman
http://amdrumparts.com/songs/08_-_Pardon_Me.mp3

Gene Mason/Larry Norman PEOPLE! singers
Larry Norman and John Riolo
Hall of Fame San Jose
John Riolo on Drums back then

 

[Rufus T Firefly]

Some great pics John. Thanks!

 

[thebeebe5]

Thanks for this cool history lesson! I'm a huge Larry Norman fan. Have been for years. I knew he had been in PEOPLE! But never sought any of their music out.


I guess it's time I did!

 

[Patrick]

Hi again,

John, your comments about Dave Clark practically deserve another thread. He gets a lot of stick (way more than Ringo and Charlie) about his abilities on the kit:

"Did some cool shows with PEOPLE! including a Dave Clark Five concert(yes, Dave Clark can play his his frigging ass off!)"

thanks,

Patrick

 

[jriolo]

When I did the show opening for the DC5 Dave was playing a Red Sparkle "Rogers" Londoner kit with a 20 inch bass drum and two mounted toms and a floor tom. The dynasonic snare was tuned completely well to get those metalic trademark roll sound heard on "Bits and Pieces" and the rest. He played aggresively and it sounded just like the record.

The group was a well polished act all the way around. According to the best sources he used Bobby Grahm in the studio so that he could produce and get the overall production right. I believe Dave's father (given credit somewhere on early DC5 album somehere)was a producer so it makes sense that Dave would be following in his footsteps.

Dave was a working club drummer for many years with earlier groups around London and was very experienced and really knew what he was doing. The myserious thing is that there are no videos of the DC5 performing live (except the one below**) that I know of which leads to the common suspicion that they were a manufactured fad group like the Monkees or something. The DC5 did lip sync their videos and TV performances,which was common in that era,but could easily pull it off live. They always had the best elaborate backgrounds and camera work on film but they were all fine live performane musicians. Mike Smith was a fantastic lead vocalist and played his Dual Vox Continental very well live. They absolutely ROCKED the night I saw them and Dave came down front for a special number and played three floor toms in kind of a Bo Didlley/Mombo thing with special lighting on the drums, maybe they were lit from inside. I like that song "Try too Hard". Those records were produced wonderfully !

Hang in there with this or fast forward to the songs from Mike Smith Last TV Appearance

**JUST SCORED A LIVE DC5 YOUTUBE CLIP ! CAN DAVE PLAY OR WHAT ? Out of sync here and there but it looks live to me check it out, comments ?

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AN INTERVIEW WITH
Ron Ryan
Ron co-wrote some DC5 songs, and his brother Mick was an original member.
He shares some first-hand insights into the early years of the British Invasion and the DC5.


"Now back to the Dave Clark Five. I'm going to ask you a question that's been a burning issue for some fans for several years. And if you're not comfortable answering, just say so and we'll move on. But here it is: Did Dave Clark actually play the drums on the DC5 recordings?
Did Dave play drums on the records? YES HE DID!!! Dave by his own admission was no Buddy Rich, but he could play, and played on most of the records. He did bring a drummer along to play some parts at rare times, but only because he wanted to be at the control desk. What you must remember is in those days, we used four-track machines, as that's all we had! And there were no Rock and Roll producers, these were early times, and Dave knew what he wanted, and made sure he got it! Remember, I was there, I saw with my own eyes what went on, and seeing that there was only me and the boys there: where were all the freaks who said he did not play? I did not see them in the Studio! And all the live Shows they did: that's Dave playing, and when The Queen invited them to Play at Buckingham Palace (there's something not many DC5 Fans know) Dave played the Drums, and when the Boys took America by storm and played many, many, many live shows in the States, Dave played the drums."

 

[Patrick]

Thank you John. Remarkable reading and history.
All the best.
Patrick