The Fifth Row Bac

Our goal here at 60sgaragebands.com is to trace the many bands from the 1960’s that recorded a great single or two but that still remain anonymous - as well as elusive - to today’s collectors and researchers. One such band was the Fifth Row Back, the Pacific Northwest group that recorded the classic “Please Don’t Go”. As the Internet continues to shorten the distance between the corners of the world, however, more and more bands are either being tracked down or coming out of the woodwork. Hans Kesteloo, founder and owner of Beyond The Beat Generation - a website that plays and shares rare ‘60’s recordings via an Internet stream – is often contacted by members of formerly undiscovered bands who discover their songs are part of the stream’s regular rotation. Such was the case when the Fifth Row Bac’s Eric Chandler contacted Hans, and agreed to provide more information on his revered ‘60’s combo. Thanks to Hans for hooking us up with Chandler, and to Eric for agreeing to share his story.

Eric Chandler Recalls the Fifth Row Bac

The original Fifth Row Bac was made up of guys from Lebanon and Sweet Home, Oregon. That band started in the summer of 1965, and was originally called the Six Pack, for beer of course, and had a good time playing at Oregon National Guard Armories and other venues that could sport enough room to let people dance. That band broke up in August 1966 after I went to Oregon State University in Corvallis; the travel distance from Corvallis to Sweet Home (about 40 miles one way over winding, curvy mountain roads) was just too much for frequent practices.

Around September 1966 Ferroll Smith, the drummer, who had heard I was a rock singer, approached me. I don't recall how he knew that, but he said he was interested in forming a band. I said I was interested, and so one Saturday we had our first practice at the Lamda Chi fraternity. We all hit it off famously. Our first gig was playing for that fraternity, and we were a hit. We also played at a "battle of the bands" in Grants Pass, Oregon where Ferroll and Rex Morton, lead guitar, were from originally. We didn't win, but had a hell of a good time, including my meeting Paula Fisher...more on her later.

We also played for a couple of other fraternity parties, and then were offered a regular spot at a Corvallis nightclub; I can't remember the name, other than it was also a Chinese Restaurant. We played there for several months, pretty regularly, and gained quite a reputation as a darn-good dance band. Based on that notoriety, we started getting all kind of offers at various and sundry places. We decided to do the nightclub gig when we had an off weekend and didn't have another place to play. The management was willing to do this since we had made them all kinds of guilders (or, should I say Euro's now) for quite some time. During this period we played in other places including Portland and Cottage Grove, Oregon as well as a stint in White Salmon, Washington. We played several other places, but I can't recall all of the locations.

I do remember well a Friday night we were supposed to have a practice session, but our planned location got axed. Bruce Snapp, our rhythm guitarist (we called him "Zipper") was from a small town just north of Corvallis, and said we might be able to do some practicing at his former high school gym. It just so happened the gym was being used for an after-football (American)-game dance, being performed by some no-nothing group. Well, we walked in and offered the group the use of our much-better equipment if we could play their breaks. When they saw our equipment (Polaris amps and speakers and other fantastic goodies), they almost begged us to play. Well, after we played the first break, the high school student-body president asked us to do the rest of the dance...so, we did. During that time we played the tunes of our soon-to-be recording, along with some other new songs we had adopted and needed to practice.

It was shortly after this that we did the recording of our two songs (“Please Don’t Go” b/w “Destination Train”). One of the band members, I don't remember who, had an "in" with the recording studio owner, so we decided to give it a whirl since we had established a good reputation as a dance band, and had come up with a couple of songs. We recorded at Graves Studios in Eugene, Oregon. We recorded the instruments first. That, of course, necessitated my/our singing along with the music...many, many, many times. Then with headphones on, I recorded into a mike, and the other guys gathered around another. That, of course, necessitated many, many, many, many, many takes. Unfortunately, I had a bad cold on that day, so by the time we did the final take, my voice was pretty much shot. I clearly remember the studio (had) cardboard egg crates attached to the recording room walls. Talk about doing things "on the cheap"! At the end of the recording I was given a "wax" copy...not the high-end plastic copy that was to come later on. I never did get one of those, and I don't recall why. Interesting...as I've listened to that song on a CD I have, I have noted where I could have done some more stuff. Ah…well, hindsight is 20-20.

In the meantime, I became deeply involved with Paula Fisher...the young lady I had met in Grants Pass. Interestingly, she was the twin sister of Ingrid Fisher, who was Rex's girlfriend. Paula and I became formerly engaged in the early spring of ‘67.

We continued to play at a lot of places, and were gaining quite a reputation as a first-rate dance band. Our efforts to have our record played by the local AM radio stations met a lot of resistance, but I finally got it played on one of the Corvallis stations. I think it was KLOO. Since then I've found out that most radio stations of that era were beholding to the major record companies, and even to the Mafia in some cases...ergo, Three Dog Night. So, it was really tough to make any kind of in-roads if you were on an unrecognized label, like Graves of Eugene, Oregon.

Anyway, in the late spring of '67 Bruce, who was in the Reserves, announced that he was going to join the Regular Air Force. That kind of put a damper on things since we were going to have to find another rhythm guitarist. Then on June 7, 1967, Paula and Ingrid were on their way back to Grants Pass and they were involved in a car accident. I was called to go to the hospital in Corvallis. When I got there an Oregon state trooper met me outside the emergency room entrance. He asked me to go into the emergency room and identify who was there...it was Ingrid. We then went back outside. He then told me that Paula did not survive the accident. Needless to say, I was devastated. The next three weeks was a blur...a funeral in Grants Pass, and many a sleepless night.

In early July I went to Albany, Oregon and enlisted in the U.S. Army. The death of Paula, coupled with less-than-satisfactory grades at Oregon State University, said that my life was falling apart, so the Army looked like a good alternative. By the way, I enlisted for the Infantry...almost like a death wish when I look back on it. It was at this point that the band fell apart...a natural outcome of all the turmoil.

To the band...Ferroll was an absolutely extraordinary drummer. He could extemporize in a flash. He was also a very good back-up singer. Rex, lead guitarist, and Norm Persons, bassist, were also extraordinary extemporizers, and very decent singers. Bruce was a good rhythm guitarist, but stuck much to the original music. Our organist, damned if I can remember his name, was from Ontario, Oregon - the far Eastern part of the state, and was so-so. We frequently took the original music of whatever recording we had and added our own "take" on it. That included adding additional time to the song by repeating verses and/or extra-long solos by Rex, Norm, and/or Ferroll. One time when our organist wasn't able to make a gig, we had a stand in. He was really good, but he didn't want to be a part of the team; he was much taken with himself, so we didn't ask him back...even though he was exceptionally gifted.

Norm picked up the bass guitar when he started with the band. He had previously played tuba and other bass-oriented horns in high school, and somehow that experience translated to some fantastic “ooomph” in our songs. Listen carefully to his riffs in our song...if we had had a better recording studio, his playing would have really come out. Of course, Rex's playing is outstanding - both in the recording and in all of our other songs. Ferroll's work in the song is the foundation of the work. By the way, at dances he would break at least six drum sticks in each gig...he was so "into" making the beat come through.

The songs we chose were all meant to give our audience something to dance to. Anything that had a heavy, driving beat and rhythm were our forte. This included songs by Paul Revere & the Raiders, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, the Stones, Beatles, Kinks, Animals, soul music of almost any sort, etc. We took three renditions of “Louie, Louie” - the original, “Louie, Louie ‘66” and “Louie Go Home” and made it into a medley that lasted 15-20 minutes. Our audience dancers were exhausted at the end...and so were we! We also did this with three of the Mitch Ryder songs. We of course had some "slow" songs interspersed to give the dancers and us a break.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Not only did we play and sing the songs, but we also borrowed the movements frequented by Paul Revere & the Raiders. That translated to us "dancing" and moving to the music as well. The energy we displayed during our songs was absorbed by our audience...we all moved to the same beat. It was an exciting and wondrous time and one I will always cherish.

Since that time, I, by the Grace of God was fortunate to leave the Infantry and moved into the world of computers. In 1969 I was trained as a computer repairman for the Army. I spent 20 years in the computer field with the Army eventually retiring as a Data Processing Chief Warrant Officer. During those 20 years I was a computer repairman, operator, programmer, systems analyst, and manager of data processing systems in a variety of organizations. That includes a stint at SHAPE headquarters in Mons (actually, Nimy), Belgium. While there in 1980-‘82 my family and I traveled all over that area, including the Netherlands. We spent some time in Amsterdam, as well as other lovely places. We especially enjoyed Kuckenhoef in the spring...what splendid aromas from the hyacinth fields! I also served two tours in Germany, one in Viet Nam (that's a whole other story) as well as five assignments in the U.S: three in Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey; one in Fort Knox, Kentucky; and the last in Ft Lewis, Washington.

Since leaving the Army, I've been an Information Technology instructor for a Technical College here in Lakewood until this April. Since then I've been the Institutional Researcher for the college, and will probably do that until my retirement in 2007.

I married Jennifer Lore, a girl from Albany, Oregon, that I met before Paula. In fact, I "dumped" Jennifer after I met Paula. However, Jennifer somehow heard about what had happened to Paula, and contacted me. She was instrumental in getting me through my time of grieving. Because of that, I married her. We have had two wonderful sons (Kirk and Jason) since then and three grandchildren - two girls (Ahleena and Kira from Kirk) and one boy (Iain from Jason).

As you can see, I've had a full, happy life. An important part of that was my time with the Fifth Row Bac. I look back on that short timeframe with many fond memories and am thankful I had the opportunity to belong to the great, rockin' ‘60's.

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