The Bad Roads

Revered for their classic garage band song “Too Bad”, the Bad Roads are still going strong in 2005 and have recently received very positive reviews for their performance at this year’s Ponderosa Stomp. The group still regularly performs throughout the New Orleans area, and plays the same type of primal music that has endeared them to collectors and fans for over 40 years. As the band’s slogan so aptly states, the “Roads gone on forever”…and here’s to hoping that it never ends.

An Interview With Briant Smith

60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?

Briant Smith (BS): My mother encouraged my brother and me to play instruments. She was the epitome of southern social grace - like Scarlett O'Hara - whereas my father was Davy Crockett. She wanted ballrooms and he wanted to live in the woods.

60s: Your first band was The Avengers. Was this the same band that eventually became The Bad Roads? Where do The Shadows fit in?

BS: Yeah…kind of. The Avengers became the Bad Roads. The Shadows was the first little neighborhood band that Danny (Kimball) and I (and Perry Gaspard) were involved in. It was four guitars, one trumpet...and drums.

60s: When and where was the band formed?

BS: Like 1964, in the Summer I believe. The Avengers didn't last long...maybe six months. I really only remember one Avengers gig...at a bar in a bowling alley. The members were me, Terry (Green), Danny (Kimball), and Mike (Hicks).

Eventually, the Bad Roads consisted of:
Mike Hicks - Bass
Terry Green - Lead guitar
Briant Smith - Guitar
Danny Kimball - Drums
Buz Clark – Vocals

The original band was Terry, Danny, Mike, and I. We were an instrumental group who backed local vocalists. One day Terry said, “Hey...we can sing. Let's do that and keep all the money.”

60s: Various sources also list a Kenney Cooley on tambourine. Who was he? Did he participate in the recordings?

BS: Kenney was one of our 'Goons'. He was a roadie who loved to fight...and we needed the protection. Ya gotta remember...having long hair in 1965 in Louisiana was like being black back then. We had people refuse to serve us food...sell us gas...etc. And a couple of times, the local rednecks lined up outside to kick our asses. At a gig in New Iberia, we had to get a police escort out of town after the gig, so having goons around helped.

60s: Buz Clark was previously with The River Rats. Were you very familiar with that band before Buz joined The Bad Roads?

BS: No. The only contact I had with the band really was that I went to hear them one night, said something to Buz to piss him off...and he picked me up and threw me out of the place. As an interesting aside, the River Rat's drummer was Kenny Blevins who has gone on to play with Sonny Landreth and John Hiatt.

60s: Where did the Bad Roads typically play - the usual schools and parties?

BS: Yeah. We played a lot of dance gigs at the CYO and YMCA and shit like that. Most of the skating rinks threw dances and we played those, too.

60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?

BS: Mississippi through mid-Texas...and as far north as Shreveport.

60s: Did you play any of the local Louisiana or New Orleans teen clubs?

BS: Oh hell, yeah. We were very big on the LSU frat circuit.

60s: Did the Bad Roads have a manager?

BS: For a while, we had a guy named Ray McCollum who was the local big-time DJ on KLOU Radio. He used the name Tony Taylor. He got us a lot of gigs, which he promoted on the air for free. He also set up our first record deal. We were approached by Huey Meaux who wanted to take us under his wing. We were too bigheaded and turned him down...so he went on and started ZZ Top. That shows how smart we were.

60s: How would you describe the band's sound?

BS: The band's sound is very, very heavy into real rock & roll without effects on anything; it’s so very primal. The only effects I ever use are distortion and reverb. Music ain't about what you play...so much as it is what you don’t play, ya know? I go into music stores and see these kids, 14 or 15 years old, and they're just burning up the fret board. It’s incredible. But...I was at a blues jam a few weeks ago and this kid got up on stage in the middle of a song and took a ride...and he was hot. Then I started another tune and I told him, "Okay...1, 4, 5...in A...the 1 and 4 are minors...with a quick turnaround to the 5". He looked at me like I was nuts. He said, "Dude - I don't know that shit...I just play." The best thing about the Roads is that everybody in it has been playing 30 - 40 years...and we all know music. We feel it. I know when Danny is gonna throw something in...Or when Bruce is gonna take a ride. We listen to each other...and try to never walk on what anyone else is doing.

60s: What bands influenced you most?

BS: Our biggest influences were the Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds and Animals. The Avengers actually started out as a Ventures copy band. The best thing that I can say about the Roads is that it is truly a good rock & roll band - like Tom Petty's band, or Rod Stewart's band, or the Stones. It is a good band.

60s: What was a typical Bad Roads performance like?

BS: Outrageous. We stood on the speakers... and rolled on the floor. When Perry Gaspard was playing keyboard with us, he'd fall back...take the organ with him...and hump it on the ground. A couple of times we threw cans of silly string into the crowd and got them shooting each other. We had to quit that after some club owners complained about the mess. After the record came out we'd get mobbed by girls, screaming, fainting...and all that shit.

60s: How popular locally would you say The Bad Roads became?

BS: Infamous is more like it. We were, in all modesty, the best rock band in that genre from the state...and we still are.

60s: The Bad Roads won the National Guard Amory Battle of the Bands. Were you "uglier" than the other bands, or was much of the competition similar?

BS: The other bands were like big (7-8 piece) blue-eyed soul horn bands - Charles Mann; guys like that.

60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall? Any specific recollections on The Gants, a favorite here…

BS: Wow…the Gants. Yeah…we knew them. Well...the Coastliners, Fever Tree, Greek Fountains...a ton of them. We played double bills with guys like the Chessman (Jimmy Vaughn) and Moving Sidewalks (Billy Gibbons).

60s: What were some of the national bands you played with/opened for?

BS: Question Mark & the Mysterians, Music Maine, Sam the Sham, Five Americans - everyone that came to our area.

60s: That first single (Blue Girl" / "Too Bad") was recorded at Floyd Soileau's studio in Ville Platte. How did that come about?

BS: Man...I just showed up and played and sang.

60s: What do you remember about the recording session?

BS: It was a dark little studio and we recorded everything but the vocals at once...in one or two takes. I think we used a four-track machine.

60s: Did the Bad Roads write many original songs other than that first single?

BS: Yeah - a few...especially after Bruce joined us. Everyone kicked in (writing) but Buz was probably the head guy. He wrote a song called "Nothing" once; I think we recorded it at Sam Montel's in Baton Rouge. Montel's was a funny studio. It was an old fruit warehouse downtown right on the railroad tracks. I mean the tracks were five feet from the back wall...and they had a train schedule posted in the control room so you wouldn't start a recording and then have a train come by and ruin it. The place always smelled like bananas.

60s: "Too Bad" typifies everything that is great about '60's garage punk. What was the inspiration for that song? And what type of reaction did you receive when performing it live?

BS: Well, the song was written primarily by Terry. He brought it in and we worked it up. And, in actuality, “Blue Girl” got a lot more attention.

60s: Your second single was recorded at Jay Miller's Studio in Crowley. Whose idea was it to record two cover tunes ("Til The End of the Day" and "Don't Look Back")?

BS: Buz picked “Don't Look Back” and it was just filler, ya know. “Til The End

Of The Day” was a very big tune for us live and our manager wanted us to get something out – anything - to keep us on the radio.

60s: What do you recall about that session?

BS: It was a nice studio and there were great people to work with. Perry was with us then. We took a break and everybody went out for a coke or a joint or whatever. I stayed behind. The main studio had a huge ceiling - like 20 feet - and there was a ladder going up to a skylight that led to the roof. I climbed up there to look around...and then Perry came back in. When he walked below me, I said...real quietly, "Perry? This is the Lord..." He looked around...and looked around...and never thought to look up. It totally freaked him out. Now that I think on it, I probably gave him the inspiration to become the fundamentalist preacher he is today. Another aside...my fuzz unit was broken so we scrambled and found this little fuzz box that plugged into the guitar jack. The only problem was it had a switch you had to manually flip to turn it on and off and I couldn't get to it in time during the song to switch from rhythm to lead and back (remember...it was four tracks only) so Perry sat beside me and flipped it at the appropriate times.

60s: That single was released on your label (Rain Tyre). Whose idea was it to form a label?

BS: It was a band decision. We thought it was funny...because a 45 looks like a tire.

60s: Were there any other singles were released on Rain Tyre?

BS: That was the only one.

60s: Do any (other) '60's Bad Roads recordings exist? Are there any vintage live recordings, or unreleased songs?

BS: Yes - but we can't find them. Damn it!

60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances?

BS: Yeah...we were on (live) on a number of stations. We played the LARRY KANE SHOW in Houston once. The Beach Boys were supposed to be on it with us but they didn't show so they put Jack Jones on instead. I liked him; he had a nice tan.

60s: When and why did the band break up?

BS: Danny is the band historian and he probably will dispute this but I want to say in ‘67. We had a long month of one-niters - like 25 in a row - and everybody was fried. Buz had lost his voice and we were down to letting Danny sing...and that's baddddddd (just kidding, Dano!). Anyhow...acid rock was on the scene and some of us wanted to go with that raspier noise...and some didn't. Buz and Danny and I formed the Lemon Blue with John Knipmeyer on bass. From there, Danny and I moved to Lafayette, Louisiana and along with Bruce and Benny Graef (bass) kept the Blue going for another year or so.

60s: What about after Lemon Blue?

BS: Jeez...the list for all of is endless. Bruce has played all over with everybody. I worked off-Broadway in New York to Los Angeles studios. I played behind Zach Richard and Wilson Pickett. For the last couple of years, I did a blues trio down in south Texas, then came back here and am doing a blues thing now. The great thing about the Roads is that none of us ever stopped playing. Unlike all of the old timers I see getting back together at the 'Stomp' and other such deals we've all kept on playing so the band is very, very good, very loose, very professional...and very cool.

60s: When did the Bad Roads reunite for the first time?

BS: I believe it was ‘85? Danny would know.

60s: What inspired the band to get back together?

BS: Money…I believe...

60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with the Bad Roads?

BS: It’s been the best and strangest time of my life...and it still going on. A band like this is family and all of the guys in it are my best friends. We fight and argue but stand beside and support each other. And make great, fuckin’ music.

"The Roads gone on forever..."

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