THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,110) The Piece Kor – “Words Of The ‘Raven’”
This ’68 “legendary 45” (Chris Bishop, http://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hangmen-bitter-sweet-1966-us-fine.html?m=1) from Bel-Air, Maryland’s Piece Kor is “one of the 1960s deadliest platters . . . . a Byrds-like psych-garage lament driven by Mick Ball’s desperate crooning and eerie group harmonies. [Lead guitarist Jack] Bandoni[, Jr.] delivers a cosmic raga that mirrors the song’s ambitious aims”. (Mike Apichella, https://www.splicetoday.com/music/a-deadly-platter) The song “pay[s] homage to the local legend Edgar Allan Poe . . . provid[ing] commentary on contemporary American politics . . . and the sense of foreboding is underscored by tremolo guitar and references to Poe’s most famous work.” (Matt Ryan, http://strangecurrenciesmusic.com/an-introduction-to-mid-atlantic-garage-rock/) It was arranged by “punk hepcat Tom Guernsey of [Washington DC’s] Hangmen [see #560, 621]”. (liner notes to the CD comp Back from the Grave: Volume Eight: Over 30 Cuts of Utter Snarling Mid-60’s Garage Punkrock)
Mike Apichella goes deep into the cask of the Piece Kor:
Ray Scott . . . was close with Lou Larosso, [manager of regional broadcast celebrity] Kerby [Scott] . . . . Through their friendship The Piece Kor were booked on WBAL’s The Kerby Scott Show twice . . . . They made many appearances at live events promoted by Kerby . . . . Scott also booked them on bills with hit makers Gary Puckett & The Union Gap and The Human Beinz. . . . The Kor were becoming one of the biggest teen rock combos in northern Maryland, a fact that soon caught the attention of Larry Sealfon . . . . Sealfon worked as manager for DC 1960s punk legends The Hangmen. Scott had been hyping up The Piece Kor for years and invited his fellow impresario to one of the group’s rehearsals. Their electric attack hit hard—Sealfon decided to start up a new record label purely for the purpose of releasing the band’s music. Ray Scott dug the idea and offered to financially back the enterprise in a partnership. . . . [T]he pair christened their new endeavor as LaRay Records—a moniker that combined their first names. Sessions for The Piece Kor debut got under way in winter 1968. Sealfon tapped The Hangmen’s Tom Guernsey to produce the record . . . . [Drummer] Charley Clark: “. . . . I ate cheap hamburgers so I was sick as a dog… I had about a 103 degree temperature. I was drinking terpin hydrate and codeine, taking medicine… I was dying but we had the studio time.” What emerged was . . . LaRay Records’ only 7” release “Words Of The Raven” b/w “All I Want Is My Baby Back” . . . . Both cuts were co-written by Jack Bandoni and Charley Clark. [“Raven]” was an anti-Vietnam War anthem originally titled “The Great Draft Disaster.” [M]ost of the members were Bel Air High School kids . . . . [and o]nce Bandoni’s father discovered their plan to cut a radical protest tune he threatened to yank his son (the group’s main songwriter) if “The Great Draft Disaster” was released. A compromise from Charley Clark saved the day. Charley Clark: “Jack’s father just absolutely lost it. He said it was an un-American song… so I sat down and took another song that we’d done called ‘In The Words Of The Raven’ and basically left the content of the [original] song there, but changed some of the lyrics a little bit and that’s the song that ended up getting released.” . . . Even with Poe-inspired elements and less overt nods to Vietnam, the message remains righteous: . . . [“]Til they stop all the fighting we’ll say ‘Nevermore!’ ” . . .
The Piece Kor attracted attention from the bigwigs at United Artists Records. . . . after Larry Sealfon sent the major label a copy of [their single]. At the time U.A.’s competitors were putting out releases by noisemongers The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, and Alice Cooper, all artists who shared The Kor’s penchant for avant-garde innovation, bizarre showmanship, and fuzzed-out blasting. . . . Unfortunately the chance to get big label support came at the wrong time. . . . Charley Clark: “I had a financial responsibility because I had a [young] son and some of the other guys were doing other stuff and it just got to the point where we had to go on the road and promote this group which I don’t think anybody at that point and time was ready to do.” . . . The Piece Kor slowly disbanded . . . .
https://www.splicetoday.com/music/a-deadly-platter, https://www.splicetoday.com/music/the-band-that-just-won-t-die
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