Four More
One of the many great rock bands of the ‘60’s that called Corpus Christi, Texas home, Four More are best remembered today for their
excellent double-sided single Don’t Give Up Hope and Problem Child. The single is a very favorable document of the band’s versatility;
Don’t Give Up Hope is a great Beatles-influenced song, while Problem Child presents the band in a much tougher mode. In 1967, Four More
changed names to The Chosen Ones, and continued playing throughout Corpus Christi. Rhythm guitarist Jerry Chandler graciously provided
the band’s story to 60sgaragebands.com.
Be sure to also check out the band’s brand new
website
An Interview With Jerry Chandler
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Jerry Chandler (JC): Our grandfather, Tom Murray, lived with us while we were growing up. He played fiddle and guitar. He taught older brother, Jim, to play and Jim taught me. I taught Kenny the basics of bass guitar, although he learned more from my friend Danny Johnson, who played bass for the Gary Middleton Combo. Our dad liked to sing and had a pretty good voice. He sang Gene Autry and Jimmie Rodgers blue yodel tunes. Music was part of our lives from the get go. We used to like to sing Kingston Trio and Everly Brothers stuff when we were in grade school.
60s: Was Four More your first band?
JC: Four More was our first band. We were together from October '65 until early '67.
60s: Where was the band formed?
JC: We formed the band in October, 1965. Kenny and I had been practicing together for a year or so and decided it was time we found a lead player and a drummer. We found Chuck Carter. He was a senior at King High School in Corpus Christi, Texas where Kenny and I also went to school. Kenny was a sophomore, and Chuck and I were seniors. Chuck played surfer type music - not exactly what we were looking for - but he was alright and he owned a Fender Mustang and a Twin Reverb amp, and he had a place where we could rehearse - the clubhouse at the apartments where he lived with his parents.
Chuck knew a few drummers so we decided to audition a few. First on the list was a 14-year old junior high kid named Mike Burrows. We went to Mike’s house where he had his drums set up in the living room and he was sitting on his couch; he didn't have a drum stool. We played a few songs with him and knew he was the one. We didn't need to audition the others. Mike was our drummer and would play with me and Kenny and Jim off and on for many years to come.
The band was: Chuck Carter - lead guitar; Mike Burrows -drums; Kenny Chandler- bass guitar and vocals; and Jerry Chandler - rhythm guitar and vocals.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
JC: Our first gig was at The Jewish Community Center in Corpus Christi. We played in November or December, I can't remember exactly when. They liked us and we got a couple of private party gigs from that. One I remember was at a big house on Hewitt Drive. We had a great time. We also played for the King High Senior Prom in '66, the Carroll High Senior Girl’s Dance, and several times at the Carousel Club - until Jim West, the manager, hired us and then "forgot" to pay us. I refused to play the Carousel after that, especially when the owner, Mr. Harrow, also refused to pay us for playing at his club. We also played the Dunes Club on Mustang Island, Cody's Volcano and Frenchie's, both on Padre Island, and the Maison Rouge Club in Corpus Christi. Funny story: When we set up our gear at the Maison Rouge and started to play I noticed there were no women in there. Then a couple of guys started dancing together, and it finally dawned on us that we were in a gay night club. It shocked us so much we couldn't play and we couldn't sing. Remember, this was in south Texas in 1966! It was hilarious!
We also played Peppermint Lane in downtown Corpus Christi, the Sand Dollar Hotel and the Duck Inn, both in Rockport. We played all the places a teen band could play in Corpus Christi in those days.
60s: Did you ever become a house band at any of those clubs?
JC: We were a house band in 1967 at The Stork Club in Corpus Christi; however, we were billed as The Chosen Ones. We played Tuesday through Saturday nights. Chuck had left by then, and my brother Jim was playing and singing with us. We played to standing room only crowds on weekends at the Stork Club. It was a great gig, although it was tough going to 8A.M. class after playing until the wee hours. Four More was never a house band, but did play all the teen clubs.
60s: Why did the band change names to The Chosen Ones?
JC: People were constantly referring to us as "The Four More". We were Four More...no "the"...just like Steppenwolf or Led Zeppelin. We got tired of correcting people and changed our name to The Chosen Ones in early '67. This was just before Chuck left the band and Jim replaced him.
60s: Why wasn't Jim originally a part of Four More?
JC: Jim had played as a single act beginning in early '67. He played and sang at the Embers Club in Corpus Christi alternating nights with Tony Joe White. Jim also played as a single at the Rogues Club in Corpus Christi. He had just gotten out of the Navy in early '67 and had been in the Navy for the previous four years so he wasn't available to play with me and Kenny...although he did sit in with Four More once or twice when we played Peppermint Lane and the Carousel while he was home on leave.
60s: Why did Chuck drop out of the band?
JC: Chuck Carter was feeling heat from the local draft board in early '67 so he opted to join the Air Force and dropped out of the band. The timing was right, so Jim joined The Chosen Ones. We promptly became the house band at the Stork Club and dropped out of the teen scene to play night clubs. The audiences were a little older and not as wild, but the money was better. I never worked at a hamburger joint or other teen-type job after we started playing music. We played and sang and made more money than other teens and had a lot more fun.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
JC: We were a mix of the British sound with a little Everly Brothers thrown in. We were influenced early by Jimmie Rodgers, The Kingston Trio, Elvis, Buddy Holly, and The Everly Bros. We were later knocked out by The Beatles. We also listened to The Byrds, those rockin' Rolling Stones, The Lovin' Spoonful, and CCR. I'm still a huge John Fogerty fan.
60s: Did Four More participate in any Battle of the Bands?
JC: We did one Battle of the Bands. It was in January, 1966. Two other bands battled Four More to see who would win the right to front for the upcoming Valentine's concert at the Corpus Christi Coliseum in February. One of the bands was The In Crowd (later known as The Buckle) but I can't remember who the other band was. Four More won. We fronted for the Valentine's concert which featured Billy Joe Royal and Charlie Rich as headliners. We played for several thousand people at that concert and really had a great time. We were signing autographs after the concert just like the headliners. I'll always remember that gig.
60s: How did you hook up with Dennis Fairchild?
JC: Dennis was my best friend. We had been buds since seventh grade. He looked older than 17, which he was when we started playing, and could score beer at a few places that didn't check IDs too closely. This made him imminently qualified to manage our band. He did all our bookings and attended all our gigs. He did a credible job for a teenage manager. We're still friends today. We honored Dennis by naming our first record label Fairchild Records.
60s: How popular locally did Four More become?
JC: No band was more popular than Four More while our song was played on local radio stations KEYS and KRYS during May, June, and July 1966. We were booked constantly. We did a lot of benefit performances for local KEYS deejay Charlie Brite. Charlie was a good guy and promoted us a lot, but I finally had to tell him we couldn't do any more benefits until we got some paying gigs. The teen gigs were fun to play but rarely paid much if anything. We needed paying gigs. We enjoyed the private parties and frat parties; they were really fun but crazy.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
JC: Corpus Christi and a 50-mile radius thereof. The furthest I remember traveling as Four More was to Falfurrias, Texas. The Chosen Ones used to play in Corpus Christi plus Kingsville and Alice a lot. The Chosen Ones used to play The Inferno Club and Hoggie Land, both in Kingsville, The Chandelier Club in Alice, and also the enlisted men's club at the Navy bases in Corpus Christi and Kingsville, and the Officer's Club in Beeville. The Officer's club was too sedate for us; we liked the rowdy crowds at the enlisted men's clubs. Sometimes a couple of chicks would get into a catfight over some sailor and start mixing it up. It was great fun for all.
60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall? What about Zakary Thaks?
JC: The Bad Seeds were first on the teen scene. I remember seeing them play on Peppermint Lane at Christmas time in '65. Then we started playing publicly a little while after we first saw them, although we had been playing private parties since November '65. I remember The Zachary Thaks and Four More playing on the same Sunday afternoons at the Carousel Club. Also, The Thaks and Four More both fronted for The Ventures at the Navy Relief Festival in May '66. They used to watch us and we would watch them when we could...not too often, though, because usually we were all playing at the same time somewhere and couldn't watch the other bands as much as we would have liked. I also remember The Buckle, The Liberty Bell, and Tony Joe White. The Chosen Ones used to play the same clubs as Tony Joe White did.
60s: Four More released one single. Where was the 45 recorded? What do you remember about the recording session?
JC: We recorded Don't Give Up Hope and Problem Child in February or March '66 at Jimmy Nichols' studio in McAllen, Texas. It was a two-track studio in his garage and literally had egg cartons on the wall like the set of Hee-Haw, the TV program. Kenny had to plug his bass directly into the board and couldn't hear himself play while we recorded. We paid for the session ourselves from money we made playing. We couldn't spend much time because we didn't have much money; we probably cut both songs in an hour. We played the tape for Charlie Brite when we got back to Corpus Christi and he said "It sounds commercial. We'll play it." We were knocked out. We were actually going to have a song played on the radio and we weren't even out of high school yet!
60s: Who wrote the songs that comprised the single? Did Four More write many original songs?
JC: Kenny wrote most of the original songs we recorded. Four More recorded four songs, three of which are originals. Don't Give Up Hope got most of the airplay in '66. We heard it was played at Garner State Park at the teen dance pavilion there. I got a call from a guy in New York one time in 1966. He said he wanted to bring us to New York and get a really quality recording and push the record nationwide. Of course, it never happened. Problem Child got most of the play on the Internet and underground radio since the ‘80's. Kenny would write the words and sing the song to me acapella because he couldn't play guitar. He played a mean bass, but very little guitar. I would arrange the chord progressions and add a few licks here and there. But the songs were mostly Kenny's, although we agreed to share authorship on all the Four More songs. The best song we ever wrote and recorded is entitled It's So Hard. It, along with a cover song called Bad Boy, were recorded in early '67 at Cuttler's studio in Corpus Christi. We are putting all four Four More songs recorded in '66-'67 on a CD and will offer the CD for sale on our website.
The '67 original recording of It's So Hard and Bad Boy were never released. We are now releasing them plus re-releasing original '66 recordings of Don't Give Up Hope and Problem Child. If the Four More four-song CD does well, we plan to release some of The Chosen Ones recordings done at Jones' Studio in Houston in the summer of ‘67. Stay tuned.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? Does any home movie film footage exist of the band?
JC: We were on TV twice as Four More. Our first appearance was on Teen Time, a local American Bandstand imitation, on a Saturday in May, June, or July (I can't remember the exact date) in 1966. We did a cover of The Rolling Stones' Get Off My Cloud. Our next appearance was the Crippled Children's Telethon on Labor Day '66. We were on about 3A.M. I'm not aware of any home movies or footage of the band. We have very few still pictures, even, and none of The Chosen Ones. It’s a pity.
60s: Where was The World's Dark Side b/w Bald-Headed Lena single recorded by The Chosen Ones recorded?
JC: Kenny wrote World's Dark Side. Jim sings lead on it. Kenny and I sang back-up vocals. It was recorded at Jones' Studio in Houston in the summer of '67. Bald-Headed Lena was a cover song we took off of a Lovin' Spoonful album. It was written by Edward Snead and Willie Perryman. Listen to the end of the song...we dumped out a sack of empty beer cans from beer we had consumed during the session. These songs were released in '67 but got very little airplay. I don't really know why, although the quality of the recordings is not what we would have liked. Again, limited funds means limited studio time...plus, the recording engineer was an idiot.
60s: What did he do to leave you with that impression?
JC: We never had a competent recording engineer/producer for any of our recordings; they were unqualified jack-legs. The guy in Houston was totally incompetent. He let the lead guitar ring at some too high treble pitch that really diminished the quality on the songs we recorded there. What might we have accomplished if we had ever had enough time in the studio with a qualified engineer/producer? We'll never know unless we go back and record a reunion album. Hmmm...maybe.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
JC: The Chosen Ones broke up in early '69 when Jim decided to give up on the music and get a real job in Houston. He was 25, married, had a daughter, and thought it was best. Kenny, Mike and I continued to play as a "power trio" for a while, but we didn't like it; playing as a trio is too much work. Mike quit about mid-'69 and moved off to North Carolina or somewhere. Kenny and I continued to play with sit-in guitar players like Robert Spoon, Eban Wood, Jeff Burke (later played for Bubble Puppy), and Richard Dixon played with us on drums. We played until I won the first military draft lottery in December 1969. After that I spent all my spare time trying to join the National Guard or Reserves, but in the end I had to enlist in the Air Force in July 1970. I ain't no fortunate son. I served the next three years, nine months, and nine days in Uncle Sam's Air Force wishing every minute I was a civilian playing rock ‘n roll. I will always regret that Kenny and I didn't get to move to Austin like we had talked about and become part of the music scene there in the early '70's. Who knows what might have been?
Kenny later played with Sandy's Six Pack, a C&W regional band from Kingsville, from 1974-79. I played in a little C&W band in Corpus Christi in 1977 called Band-X for a few months. Kenny and I formed The Chandler Bros. Band, a Southern Rock band, in 1983. We played until late 1984 in the Houston/Pasadena, Texas area. Our last professional gig was 1984. Kenny played with Keith Smith and the 8 Second Ride, a C&W band in Houston in '97-'98. Jim played a single act for a while in Houston after he moved there in '69. I haven't played for money since 1984 when The Chandler Bros. Band folded. I still sit in occasionally if I know the band, and I play at church sometimes on an acoustic.
60s: What else keeps you busy?
JC: None of us play music professionally anymore. We will get together sometimes at family gatherings and BBQs and play acoustic guitars and sing a little. We drink a few beers and remember the old days. We all have full-time jobs, wives, kids, and grandkids. Most of our kids play and/or sing...it's a family tradition. My son’s, Drew and Greg, had a grunge band while they were in college. Kenny's son plays guitar. Jim's daughters sing, and Jim's son, Jimmy, has a rock band called The Beauty School Dropouts. Life's been hard at times, but good, too. Dennis lives and works in Florida. I don't know where Chuck is; I haven't seen or heard from him in many years. Mike's living out in West Texas somewhere trying to get his life together. I'm blessed to have married my high school sweetheart, and stayed married all these years. I'm also fortunate to have been able to make music with my brothers and some good friends. My only regret is we never got what I would call a quality recording. We were always rushed and never had a good engineer or producer.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with Four More and The Chosen Ones?
JC: It was a magical time. The Beatles had changed not only the music scene, but the entire world. It was the most confident and optimistic period of my life. We were indestructible. How many kids get to experience driving down the road with your girl and/or your buddies and hear your song playing on the radio? I always smile when I remember those days and those times making music. Every once in a while, when the guitars were tuned right, and all the equipment was balanced and set just so, and we weren't fighting like brothers often do...it would just blow us away. It felt so good when we sounded right...it was worth all the hassle. There's nothing quite like it.
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