The Weeds - It's Your Time (1966)

Formed in 1966 in Las Vegas, Nevada by Nevada-born garage rocker Fred Cole, this band released one single before having their band name changed. Having previously been in the R&B band known as The Lords, Cole got together with fellow Lords-member Hans Grebner to create this band in early-1965. Although Grebner would leave the band by the end of the year and the other musicians would shuffle around a bit, the band reached a great amount of local success, playing two gigs per weekend and selling out to crowds of three hundred or more. That success resulted in them having their first record pressed by the small Las Vegas label known as Teenbeat Club Records. The members of the band at that time were Fred Cole (vocals), Eddie Bowen (lead guitar), Ron Buzzell (rhythm guitar), Bob Atkins(bass), and Tim Rockson (drums). The local success of the record got the attention of Uni Records (an affiliate of MCA and Decca) and the band was soon signed. Their manager at the time, Lord Tim Hudson, was working with another garage band, The Seeds, and didn’t want to have another band with a similar name. Also, attempting to avoid the possible drug reference in their name, Hudson chose a name that he hoped would cash in on the bubblegum pop fad, dubbing them The Lollipop Shoppe.

Written by Eddie Bowen and a man named Wynne, this song was from the only single released during the band’s use of “The Weeds” name. It was backed by the B-Side “Little Girl” and released in 1966. Sometimes erroneously credited as a band from Portland rather than Las Vegas, you can read below from Fred Cole himself as to how that story came about.

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A Special Edition post with Fred Cole from The Weeds & The Lollipop Shoppe!
You may know Fred Cole from the popular Portland punk band Dead Moon; but long before Dead Moon came about, Cole was creating edgy garage rock in the 1960s with bands such as The Weeds and The Lollipop Shoppe. Today's exclusive story comes from the singer, songwriter, and guitarist Fred Cole, who was kind enough to share a story about an occurrence he shared with The Weeds in 1966.

A Bit Like You And Me and readers,

At the beginning of summer 1966, The Weeds became all the members of what would become The Lollipop Shoppe a little over a year later. We'd gotten well established in Las Vegas and all lived in a two bedroom apartment near The Teenbeat Club. It was a constant party.

We had a local DJ who was like a manager to the band. His name was Jeff Coleson and he claimed to be [the English actress] Hayley Mills' fiancé. We believed this idiot because he was playing our 45 “It's Your Time” on his show every night and turned it into a local hit.

On my eighteenth birthday, he told me he had talked to Hayley about getting us on The Yardbirds’ gig at The Fillmore in San Francisco, which was going to be around October 1st. This gave us about a month to get the money together for gas and buy something that would get us that far. We'd just blown the engine up in our old grocery truck.

We went to a used car dealer and bought a '61 Ford Fairlane for six hundred dollars. It had bald tires and had been in a wreck, but the engine sounded good. We gutted it and got all the amps and drums and my funky Atlas horns and Bogen PA top into it. We laid blankets over the whole mess so two could sleep on top with the other three in the front seat. We had enough money to get to San Francisco- like forty or fifty bucks. Gas was twenty cents a gallon then. So we got to the Fillmore the day of the gig and went to load in.

Some big Hell’s Angel, possibly security, asked, “What the fuck do you guys think you're doing?”

“We're The Weeds from Vegas, we're opening for The Yardbirds.”

“Get the fuck outta here, you aren't on the bill!”

We were devastated and headed north [toward Vancouver] until we ran out of gas and money in Portland, Oregon.

Fred Cole

And as you may or may not know, once they arrived in Portland, the band began playing at a club called the Folk Singer, where Fred would meet his future wife who worked there at the time, Toody Conner. Although they've done a bit of traveling, they continue to live in Oregon to this day.
I'd like to give a huge thanks to both Fred and Toody whose generosity gave this exclusive story life. Another great story from a '60s music artist.

To visit Fred's site, which features his latest work with the band Pierced Arrows, click here.

And now that you've enjoyed this exclusive story, why not check out what other exclusive stories we've received?

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The Weeds - It's Your Time (1966)

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Lyrics:

Say goodbye to your life, you’ve had your ride
You can try to escape, but there’s no place to hide
There’s no one there to buy what you’ve got
But I’m trying to help you, but you never stop

I’m not gonna help pack your trip
You’re a prisoner of an unsound mind
I’m dyin’ to help you, but you’ll never quit
It’s your time
It’s your time
It’s your time

Oh, yeah!

Say goodbye to your life, you’ve had your ride
You can try to escape, but there’s no place to hide
There’s no one there to buy what you’ve got
But I’m trying to help you, but you never stop

I’m not gonna help pack your trip
You’re a prisoner of an unsound mind
I’m trying to help you, but you’ll never quit
It’s your time
It’s your time
It’s your time

Oh, yeah
I’m sayin’ baby, it’s your time
Aw, I gotta say goodbye now baby because I know-
I know you gonna leave me sometime
Woah, yeah, it’s your time baby, oh, yeah, it’s your time
Oh, no…

The Lollipop Shoppe - You Must Be a Witch (1968)

Originally formed as The Weeds in Portland, Oregon, this group never managed to appear on any charts. They were managed by “Lord” Tim Hudson, who was also the manager of The Seeds and would later be a voice actor for characters in the Disney films The Aristocats and The Jungle Book. Once under the tutelage of Hudson, the group was convinced that they should change their name to something that would fit in with the popularity of bubblegum music and that wouldn't sound so similar to his other group, The Seeds. The name seen above is what resulted, but the band still continued to play their garage/psychedelic material that they preferred. Although they never managed to score a hit song, they did open for acts such as The Doors and Janis Joplin, as well as appearing on the soundtrack to a ‘60s biker movie called Angels from Hell. Releasing only one album and a handful of singles, the group decided to call it quits in 1969 soon after their last single was released.

This song, arguably the most “successful” by the group, was released in 1968 as the single to the group’s only full length album, Just Colour. The band was clearly attempting to make listeners think they were from England, as they chose to spell “color” with its English spelling. Unfortunately for the band, the album passed by with only lukewarm attention. Luckily for us, the song is a great garage rocker that sounds nowhere near what the band’s bubblegum-sounding name would suggest.

[Update: Fred Cole of The Lollipop Shoppe provided us with an exclusive story. Check it out.]



The Lollipop Shoppe - You Must Be a Witch (1968)

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Lyrics:

Why do you try and look into me?
Why do you always look and never see?
Always look and never see
Always look and never see

You plea and decree
You're talking obscene
You’re making my life into a dream
You're wearing your colors
To be like the others
An easy life in heaven
With a thousand other guys
Yeah, yeah

The place, the time
Don't seem to matter much
'cause “guys” to you
Is pushing people with your touch
Pushing people with your touch
Pushing people with your touch

Your willing decree
You're talking obscene
You’re making my life into a dream
You're wearing your colors
To be like the others
An easy life in heaven
With a thousand other guys
Yeah, yeah

You must be a witch
I don’t need your love now
You must be a witch
I don’t need your love now
Yeah, oh

Easy life in heaven
With a thousand other guys
Yeah, yeah

Your eyes can't see
There's something wrong with you
It's sad to say
I never wanna be like you
I never wanna be like you
No, no, no
I never wanna be like you