GONN

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GONN
Origin	Keokuk, Iowa
Genre(s)	Garage rock, psychedelic rock
Years active	1966-1968 1990 to present
Label(s)	Emir Records MCCM Records
Associated acts	The Pagans Ilmo Smokehouse Smokehouse Eyes Ready Steady Go Craig Moore's Russian Spies
Members
Craig Moore Rex Garrett Dave Johnson Gerry Gabel Gary Stepp Larry LaMaster Brent Colvin
Former members
Nick Bloom Jerry Ison Alfred Boyer Dana Georges Slink Rand Jerry Heath

GONN is a garage rock band from Keokuk, Iowa whose signature song, "Blackout of Gretely" is one of the greatest examples of the genre. Although releasing only two singles in 1966-67, the band also recorded numerous other tracks that have been collected on three retrospective albums. Following a 1989 solo album released by bandleader Craig Moore, GONN reunited in 1990 and released a 30th-year reunion album in 1996. In 2004, GONN was inducted into the Iowa Rock'n'Roll Music Association Hall of Fame.

Contents 1 Early history of the band[1] 2 Reunion and Later Fame 3 Musical Highlights 4 Retrospective Albums and Reissues 5 Induction in the IRRMA Hall of Fame 6 Life away from the Band 7 Band members 7.1 1966 lineup (first single) 7.2 1967 lineup (second single) 7.3 1996 Reunion Band 8 Discography[29] 8.1 Retrospective albums 8.2 Albums 8.3 Singles 9 Compilation Albums[30] 10 References 11 External references

[edit] Early history of the band^[1]

Bandleader Craig Moore (born September 20, 1946 in Keokuk, Iowa) began hanging around with other high school rock bands even before he learned to play an instrument, particularly the Gallows and the Outcasts. Moore was taught how to play bass guitar by one of the members of the Outcasts. Together with Gerry Gabel (the younger brother of a friend), Moore organized a band called the Pagans in 1965 with Larry LaMaster and a schoolmate on drums. By the summer of 1966, the Pagans consisted of founding members Craig Moore (bass guitar) and Gerry Gabel (organ), plus Gary Stepp (rhythm guitar), also from Keokuk. Rex Garrett (lead guitar) and Brent Colvin (drums) from Fort Madison were in a band together called the Rogues and were added to the band after an impromptu meeting.^[2] Garrett's mother did not like the band name, so after some discussion, the bandmembers finally settled on "gone" but with a "psychedelicized" spelling, in tribute to a band from Ottumwa that the band admired called MADD, which had a similar all-caps, double-letter spelling (and predates the anti-drunk driving organization MADD). Craig Moore put it: We were throwing words and names around; we were almost the Trees, after The Leaves.^[3]

It was this line-up that recorded the band's classic first single, "Blackout of Gretely" (written by Craig Moore and Rex Garrett), which was initially released on the Burlington, Iowa label, Emir Records in a pressing of just 600 copies.^[4] In early 1967, this same line-up recorded (twice) what would have been their second single, "Doin' Me In", but it was not released until many years later.^[5]

Later in 1967, Larry LaMaster – who had been a guitarist in an earlier incarnation of the Pagans – was added, and the band also brought in a different drummer, Dave Johnson (who was only 14 when he joined GONN). A second, lesser known single was recorded in Freddie Tieken’s IT Studio of Quincy, Illinois. (After GONN broke up, the last two original members, Craig Moore and Gerry Gabel became members of Tieken's band, Freddie Tieken & the Rockers, which became Ilmo Smokehouse in 1969-70).

The band appeared at the Iowa State Fair from 1966 to 1968 and finished second in the 1967 competition (behind Echos V). GONN opened for several national acts at the Burlington Memorial Auditorium, including the Trolls, the Mob, the American Breed and others. GONN put in many appearances in teen centers and Knights of Columbus halls throughout the region, traveling everywhere in a 1951 (or 1952) hearse. They gained renown as the "loudest band in town" and notoriety for performing in front of a large Nazi flag. Following three additional line-up changes in the latter years,^[6] the band finally broke up in 1968.

According to AMG: "Like many garage bands of the '60s, [GONN] achieved (slight) international fame beyond anything they attained in their lifetime when their single 'Blackout of Gretely' was rediscovered by collectors and reissued in the '80s. . . . Probably the toughest garage band in Iowa (not that there was an enormous amount of competition), [they] took their inspiration from the raunchiest aspects of the early Rolling Stones, adding the raw, throat-shredding screams that American groups of the kind were wont to use during this period."^[7]

[edit] Reunion and Later Fame

The bandmembers kept in close contact even after their breakup, and most of the members remained in music. The band's fame grew over time as "Blackout of Gretely" became better known, and the band began receiving letters and telephone calls from fans around the world. The song was included on a number of bootleg compilation albums, and a live version of the song was included on the first EP by the Fuzztones, Leave Your Mind At Home (1984).^[8] At length, the release of a 1985 retrospective album of GONN's mid-1960s recordings on Voxx Records brought numerous mostly unreleased gems into the open.

However, "Blackout of Gretely" and their other recordings were slow to appear on legitimate garage rock compilation albums, especially those released in America. For instance, other than the British release Best of Pebbles, Volume 1, no songs by GONN were ever released on any of the LPs in the Pebbles series, although "Blackout of Gretely" would eventually appear on the CD reissure of Pebbles, Volume 1. Since Iowa was not one of the regions featured, the band also missed out on inclusion in the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series. One reason may have been the unusually long timing of the song (4:29); typical garage rock records are less than 3 minutes in length. In 2000, Lenny Kaye told Craig Moore in person at a Patti Smith Group concert that "Blackout of Gretely" would have been included on the original Nuggets #1: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 double LP in 1972 except that it was too long.^[9] The song was, however, featured on the Nuggets box set released by Rhino Records in 1998.

After an abortive attempt in the fall of 1969, ^[10] a few mini-reunions of GONN occurred in the early 1980's, along with various friends of the band. The first featured Rex Garrett, Gary Stepp and Brent Colvin; another a week later reunited Craig Moore, Larry LaMaster, and Dave Johnson.^[11]

On the heels of the successful reception of a 1989 album by Craig Moore and Friends called Agonnagain, GONN held a reunion concert in 1990 on the riverfront in Keokuk. In 1996, six of the seven core members in 1966-67 (excepting Brent Colvin, the band's original drummer) returned to the recording studio for a 30th-year reunion album, Gonn with the Wind. The album features a mix of well-crafted familiar and obscure covers with several original songs, plus a new song, "In the Wind", written by Craig Moore and Rex Garrett especially for the album as a tribute to garage rock fans everywhere. This was their first songwriting collaboration since "Come with Me" in 1967. The release of this album was followed by a two-week tour of Italy, France and Holland in 1997, along with an appearance that year at the Fuzz Fest in Atlanta, where GONN was able to meet a new generation of garage rockers.^[12]

Another European tour followed in 2001; this time, only Craig Moore, Gerry Gabel and Dave Johnson were able to tour, so they were joined by Jeff Jacks of the Chocolate Watchband (whom Craig Moore had met in New York in 1999) and Massimo del Pozzo of an Italian band called the Others. The band played 8 dates in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and France.^[13]

On July 4, 2004, GONN played a concert in their hometown for the first time in years at Rand Park, and then embarked on an American tour through Alabama and Louisiana, ending at a New Orleans club called the Circle Bar.^[14]

In 2005, GONN received an invitation to appear at a special event sponsored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Cleveland Browns Stadium.^[15] (The photo above of Craig Moore is taken from that performance). A 40th year reunion album is in the works as of mid-2007. ^[16]

On January 5, 2008, GONN reunited for a show in St. Louis, Missouri, and all five original members were featured in the lineup. The band is planning to return to St. Louis for another show in the summer of 2008.

[edit] Musical Highlights

Over the years, "Blackout of Gretely" has acquired a life of its own, not least because of its unusual structure and startling originality. Singer Craig Moore begins by intoning: "The universe is permeated with the odor of kerosene" over Gerry Gabel's muscular Vox organ, followed by his "blood curdling scream".^[17] Rex Garrett's infectious, fuzz-drenched guitar riffs take over at that point, which might be described as an amped-up interpretation of the opening guitar chords on "Satisfaction", or The Standells' "Dirty Water", which it closely resembles. The influences of the Standells and Count Five are also apparent.^[18] The howling vocals by Craig Moore are a tale in several verses where the singer cannot understand why everything looks so dark, only to discover when he arrives home that he has been wearing sunglasses the whole time. Greg Shaw states flatly that "'Blackout of Gretely' is without doubt one of the Top 10 great punk records of all time" and noted that it had sold for as much as $1000.00 by the mid-1990s.^[19]

At the risk of de-mystifying this achievement, the unusual title is taken from a 1942 mystery thriller written by J. B. Priestley called Blackout in Gretley. Gerry Gabel had been reading it and had the book with him, so with a few minor changes, it inspired the name of the song. Craig Moore took the opening lyric from a throwaway line used by Peter Tork in an interview segment in an early episode of the Monkees television show, except that Tork had said "turpentine". Moore altered the line somewhat, since he thought "kerosene" sounded more sinister. The remaining lyrics were Moore's attempt to tell a short story with a twist at the end, in the manner of O. Henry, since he had been a long-time admirer of the famous author. Considering all of the literary and science fiction elements, along with the disparate musical influences, it is not surprising that this garage-rock classic would not comfortably fit into the sub-3 minute mold of a typical rock song.

If anything, their intended second single, "Doin' Me In" is even more remarkable and certainly features more screaming: "Girl . . . what are you doin'???" is the opening line of a long litany of love-life complaints. About this song, Greg Shaw continues: "[T]he planned follow-up single, 'Doin' Me In' . . . was just as homicidal as the previous monster and much [too] good to languish for 20 years before being heard."^[20] This song is more accessible and has been covered by numerous garage rock, punk rock and post punk bands, such as the Cynics, the Untamed Youth, Hellbilly Storm, the Fingers, the Mourning After, the Dutch band the Beavers, the Swedish band the Blacks, and many more. One particularly memorable cover occurred when a copy of "Doin' Me In" was spirited out of the Bomp! Records studios by Greg Shaw and presented to the late Paula Pierce. A few nights later at a club in Chinatown, she introduced Craig Moore as the "godfather of punk" just before her band the Pandoras tore into a screaming rendition of "Doin' Me In."^[21]

In his on-line article "Sifting through the Pebbles", Brent Bozman says of this song: Of all the gems unearthed in the Pebbles series, this one is the most stunning – a tense back-and-forth over two chords on the verse, building into an explosive call-and-response chorus. “Doin’ Me In” stands up next to “I Can See For Miles” [by the Who] or “You Really Got Me” [by the Kinks] or any other 60s rock anthem you’d care to name, and it’s a perfect example of why the garage rock genre still fascinates listeners today. . . .^[22]

[edit] Retrospective Albums and Reissues

Perhaps because GONN was from a somewhat isolated community, musically speaking, that was removed from the more active garage rock scene in northern part of Iowa, ^[23] the musical treasures from this band were slow to reach the collector community. Greg Shaw contacted Craig Moore in 1984 and offered the band an LP deal once he learned about a reel of unreleased songs that were recorded in the mid-1960s. The result was Gonn: Blackout of Gretely on his Voxx Records label, the ninth volume in the Rough Diamonds series that spotlights garage rock and psychedelic rock bands having more than just a couple of singles to their credit. Additionally, a remastered LP was released by Sundazed Records in 1998 as part of their Beat Rocket series.

Coincident with the release of their 1996 reunion album, a CD of the band's 1960's recordings was released called Frenzology; although it is out of print, a 2007 reissue is planned. The album features a 28-page booklet containing considerably more GONN lore.

The band has also issued numerous 7" singles, including reissues of "Blackout of Gretely" in 1988 and 1994 that both sold out.^[24]

[edit] Induction in the IRRMA Hall of Fame

The Iowa Rock 'n Roll Music Association (IRRMA) was formed in 1997 and is a non-profit educational and entertainment organization honoring Iowa rock and roll music. The organization's headquarters in Arnolds Park, Iowa is about 100 miles West of the cornfield where an airplane crash took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and their young pilot on February 3, 1959, "the day the music died".

Spurred by "Project GONN" of The PSPOT (an internet-based resource dedicated to the 60's music underground), a grassroots campaign led to the nomination of GONN in The Iowa Music Association Hall Of Fame And Museum. The band was inducted in a ceremony in 2004 and, as with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was celebrated with a live concert by the inductees.

The IRRMA post on the induction of GONN describes the band this way: "GONN quickly evolved into a heavily English and West Coast-influenced no-holds-barred garage band; taking their sound and attitude from the likes of the Yardbirds, Rolling Stones, Chocolate Watchband, Doors, and Raiders."

[edit] Life away from the Band

Craig Moore has remained active in music throughout his life and has been involved in numerous bands over the years and presently, although he has not been a full-time member of a rock band since 1987. He met his wife Marina while touring Volgograd, Russia (formerly Stalingrad); they have a son and daughter Erik and Kimberly, and 4 grandchildren: Kara, Roger, Erika, and Brittney.^[25] He is the owner of a collectible records/pop culture shop called Younger than Yesterday and lives in Peoria, Illinois. His most recent solo album is Still Tomorrow Yesterday, which came out in 2004.

Gerry Gabel is the head of the music department at Texas Christian University and has authored and produced several orchestral compositions.^[26] He was also in Ilmo Smokehouse with Craig Moore in the early 1970's.

Rex Garrett and Dave Johnson performed with several bands through the 1970s and early 1980s. Each has children that now play in rock bands,^[27] among them Dana Johnson whose band Urban Discipline is featured on a bonus cut on Gonn with the Wind performing a Craig Moore song.

Larry LaMaster works at an insurance company; Dave Johnson is with JCPenney; Rex Garrett works on the Santa Fe Railroad like his father before him; Gary Stepp is a foreman at a plant in Keokuk; and Brent Colvin is working in construction.^[28]

[edit] Band members

[edit] 1966 lineup (first single)

• Craig Moore, lead vocals, bass guitar

• Gerry Gabel, keyboards, vocals

• Gary Stepp, rhythm guitar

• Rex Garrett, lead guitar

• Brent Colvin, drums

[edit] 1967 lineup (second single)

• Craig Moore, lead vocals, bass guitar

• Gerry Gabel, keyboards, vocals

• Gary Stepp, rhythm guitar

• Rex Garrett, lead guitar

• Larry LaMaster, rhythm guitar

• Dave Johnson, drums

[edit] 1996 Reunion Band

• Craig Moore, lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion

• Rex Garrett, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, fuzztone

• Dave Johnson, drums and percussion

• Gerry Gabel, Vox organ, keyboards, lead and backing vocals

• Gary Stepp, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, 12-string guitar, lead and backing vocals

• Larry McMaster, rhythm guitar, stun guitar

[edit] Discography^[29]

[edit] Retrospective albums

• Rough Diamonds, Volume 9 / Gonn: Blackout of Gretely; Voxx Records (#200.029) – March 1985 release on LP

• Frenzology 1966-1967 – Punks along the Mississippi; MCCM Records (#MCCM 9602) – 1996 release on CD

• The Loudest Band in Town; Sundazed Records (#BR-108) – 1998 release on 180-gram LP

[edit] Albums

• GONN with the Wind; CME Records (#KE/LP 12001) – 1996 release on LP

• GONN with the Wind; MCCM Records (#MCCM 9602) – 1996 release on CD with 3 bonus tracks

[edit] Singles

• "Blackout of Gretely" b/w "Pain in My Heart"; Emir Records (#SS-9217); original release (1966)

• "Doin' Me In" b/w "I Need You"; unreleased / acetate only (1967)

• "Come with Me (to the Stars)" b/w "You're Looking Fine"; Merry Jaine Records (#IT-2316); 1967 release

• "Blackout of Gretely" b/w "Doin' Me In"; Emir Records (#SS-9217); 1988 reissue

• "Blackout of Gretely" b/w "Pain in My Heart"; MCCM/Emir Records (#MCCM-9401); 1994 reissue

• "The Prophecy" b/w "Cry to Me"; MCCM Records (#6696-1); 1996 release

• "Head in the Clouds" b/w "Pretty Girl"; MCCM Records (#6696-2); 1996 release

• "The Wind" b/w "Fellow Slave"; MCCM Records (#9701EP); 1997 release (studio and live in Italy)

• "Doin' Me In" b/w "I Need You"; CME Records (#CME 9802); 1998 release (remastered acetate versions)

[edit] Compilation Albums^[30]

• "Blackout of Gretely"

1. Nuggets #1: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 (CD box set)
2. Pebbles, Volume 1 (CD)
3. Pebbles, Volume 3 (CD – ESD Records)
4. Best of Pebbles, Volume 1 (LP)
5. Best of Pebbles, Volume 1 (CD)
6. The Chosen Few, Volume 1 (LP)
7. The Chosen Few (CD)

• "Doin' Me In"

1. Pebbles, Volume 10 (CD)
2. Pebbles Box (LP box set)
3. Trash Box (CD box set)
4. Essential Pebbles, Volume 1 (CD)

• "Signed D.C."

1. Sixties Rebellion, Volume 8 (LP)
2. Sixties Rebellion, Volume 8 (CD)

[edit] References

1. ^ Website on the induction of GONN into the Iowa Rock'n Roll Music Hall of Fame (unless otherwise noted).
2. ^ "GONN66" blog on MySpace.com.
3. ^ PSPOT interview with Craig Moore, PSPOT Tribute to GONN (several webpages), groups.msn.com/PSPOT.
4. ^ PSPOT Tribute, op. cit.
5. ^ GONN66 blog, op. cit.
6. ^ Ibid.
7. ^ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide, quoted on an entry on www.mp3.com.
8. ^ GONN66 blog, op. cit.
9. ^ Ibid.
10. ^ Ibid.
11. ^ Rex Garrett's comments, liner notes, Gonn with the Wind.
12. ^ GONN66 blog, op. cit.
13. ^ Entry on 2001 tour, bugpop.com/bands/GONN/
14. ^ GONN66 blog, op. cit.
15. ^ Ibid.
16. ^ Craig Moore's blog on myspace.com.
17. ^ Greg Shaw, liner notes, Pebbles, Volume 1 CD.
18. ^ GONN66 blog, op. cit.
19. ^ Liner notes, Pebbles, Volume 10 CD.
20. ^ Pebbles #10 liner notes, op. cit.
21. ^ GONN66 blog, op. cit.
22. ^ Quoted on www.thehighhat.com/Pops&Clicks.
23. ^ Liner notes, Pebbles, Volume 10 (CD).
24. ^ GONN66 blog, op. cit.
25. ^ Craig Moore blog, op. cit.
26. ^ IRRMA entry, op. cit.
27. ^ Ibid.
28. ^ Craig Moore's comments, liner notes, Gonn with the Wind.
29. ^ PSPOT tribute, op. cit.
30. ^ "Searchin' for Shakes" on-line database, Ugly Things fanzine.

[edit] External references

Craig Moore's MySpace.com blog

MySpace.com "Gonn66" blog

PSPOT Tribute to Gonn (first webpage)

2004 IRRMA Hall of Fame Inductee Gonn