MERKIN MANOR - Music From Merkin Manor (Windi Records WLPS-1003, 1973)
Provo, Utah in March 1967 was not like the many other American towns
during this period. While the air was a buzz elsewhere with new sounds
of garage, psychedelic, and hard rock music and long hair was becoming
the norm amongst rebellious youth, the small town of Orem remained
staunchly Mormon and Conservative. Rocky Baum and Ralph Hemingway were
buddies in High School and from time to time, Ralph would vocalize tunes
to Rocky's accompaniment. But there was something missing; They sorely
needed a beat and other instruments to complete their sound. By the
summer of 1969, they enlisted the services of Alan Newell on drums, Kent
Balog on bass, and Doug Hinkins on lead guitar. And they needed a name:
Rocky tells me this came from flipping through countless pages of an
unabridged dictionary until the name “Merkin” jumped out at the band;
Rod conveys quite a different story; the name was derived from an
obscure offbeat movie,"Can Huronyomous Merkin Succeed with Mercy Hump ?".
As in the case in any developing band, someone's parents house became
the rehearsal hall for the band; in this instance it was Doug's living
room. Despite all the antics that teenagers would go through (like a
friend sticking his head in the bass drum to hear better), it wasn't
long before they realized playing original music was much more exciting
than copying the popular songs of the day. It was soon after this that
their high school friend Rod Olsen assumed the part of manager, getting
them jobs at the local schools, colleges, bowling alleys, etc. He also
got the band more structured by providing them business cards, posters,
flyers, promo tapes, and all the other things to promote a band.
It was obvious as things progressed that Ralph was the consummate
entertainer. As lead vocalist, he became the conduit between the band
and the audience. His rapport with the audience was outstanding and
engaging. He had an uncanny ability to entertain(and shocking with the
ad lib song about Mary Ellen walking under a bridge at a Halloween
dance). Ralph would swing the mic over his head wildly never losing
control.One time he had himself auctioned off as a door prize and
dressed up inside a wrapped box wearing leotards and big lips!!
In 1970, Al was replaced by Kent's twin brother Gary to continue on as
their drummer and Doug was replaced by Robert Barney as their lead
guitarist. They then added a sixth member, Richard Leavitt, on keyboards
through a want ad. Merkin was now emerging with a new and fuller sound,
and the close bond between the Balog twins gave them a stronger
foundation. It was becoming evident that Robert, though youngest &
smallest, was the best musician and Richard had been trained as a
classical pianist. It was at this time the bonus and previously
unreleased tracks "Maybe Someday" and "Cry On My Shoulder" were recorded
at Brigham Young University Recording Operations Department on a 4
Track system.
By 1971,Rod felt it was time to get them more exposure, and soon after
embarked on a project to record them live, and send out tapes to
potential producers and record companies. In late January that year,
they were contacted by gay Young of Kommittee Productions and were on
their way to Los Angeles for a recording session at Walden Sound
Recorders in Redondo Beach. It was an exciting experience tor them; all
the instruments, recording gear, and talented engineers, etc. Rocky
recalls an engineer by the name of Rolf who did an outstanding job on
special effects. The sessions were completed in just 4 days and the band
did their best to minimize the drug intake. The first documented airing
of the LP came soon after in San Francisco. Sundaze Music arranged a
tour of Colorado which included stops in Vail,and Leadville.
New Year's Eve 1972 was the crowning moment of their trip;20 below
outside, bikers, local, tourists, and even a few friends from Utah
showed up-the place was packed! Rocky thinks someone may have slipped
something into the kegs of beer, as everyone was dancing wildly and the
girls were climbing onstage to dance with the band. The band returned to
Utah and began playing the ski areas (Snowbird), local colleges and
clubs. In February 1973 the Merkin Manor album was finally released.
When the band reviewed the song writing credits, it became apparent that
the other members were upset that Rocky was solely given this credit.
To this day, Rocky believes he did nothing wrong; he had written the
lyrics and melodies but never intended the other members to be left out.
However the band's feelings were could not be changed, and Rocky was
asked to leave the band. Rocky's pending prediction of this sentiment
can be heard on Track 9 "We're all here together., through all this bad
weather". The band played on for a few years under the name Merkin but
broke up in 1974. Ralph, Kent and Gary started a new band, Robert
started his own group. Rocky went back to school, Robert returned to the
church, and Rod became a ski bum at a local ski resort. The final track
on this record, "A Father's Song" was written by Rocky during the
recording sessions but not included on the LP. Rocky recorded this in
1983 with "The Rocky Baum Project". It is a stunning recollection of his
relationship with his father. Rocky put it very eloquently "A Father's
Song" exemplifies some of the emotions that arose between fathers and
their hippie sons during that very difficult time of social
realignment.(i.e., long hair, loud music, differing political views, and
recreational drugs).
