Archie Bell & The Drells--Tighten Up (1968)

     Archie Bell was from a family of high achievers. His brother Jerry was a karate champion and lead singer of the the Dazz Band. Another brother, Ricky played in the NFL with Tampa Bay and San Diego.
     In 1967, the T.S.U. Tornadoes had developed a cool instrumental riff, but nothing else beyond that. Skipper Lee Frazer, a Houston disc jockey who worked with T.S.U. and the Drells suggested they get together and build a song around that riff. Thus was born, "Tighten Up".
     Shortly after it was recorded in 1967, Bell was drafted into the army. While he was serving, the song became a huge hit in Houston and was picked up by Atlantic Records and released in early 1968, and it soon reached #1 in March of that year. Interestingly enough, Archie was in a hospital bed while that was happening, as he had been shot in the leg during his tour of Vietnam. Upon recovering, he was allowed to tour some and was discharged in April of 1969.
     Archie and the Drells continued to perform until 1980, when Bell left to pursue a solo career...

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The Beau Brummels--Laugh, Laugh (1965)

     The Beau Brummels was a group out of San Francisco who had a couple of hits in 1965. The group should have done better, but a combination of internal strife, the attempt on the part of their management to position them as a Beatles-like group, and some plain back luck (like poor distribution on some singles) kept undermining their potential. As it was the group stayed together until 68, broke up, reformed for a couple of years in the mid-70's then finally called it a day.

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