The Brogues

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This day-by-day diary of the Brogues' live, studio, broadcasting, and private activities is the result of three decades of research and interview work by Bruno Ceriotti and Michael Lester Kennedy, but without the significant contributions by other kindred spirits this diary would not have been possible. So, we would like to thank all the people who, in one form or another, contributed to this timeline: Ed Rodrigues, Patti (Rocha) Coffee, Ross Hannan, Alec Palao, Vicki Vogt-Lindoerfer, Gary Duncan (RIP), Greg Elmore, Shelley Duncan Haslouer, Mike Somavilla, Garrie Thompson (RIP), Jerry Fuentes, Tom Salles, Klemen Breznikar, Roger Parker, Eric Christensen, Bill Fiset (RIP), Chris Cole, Skip Johnson, John, Billboard, Cash Box, Record World, and The Oakland Tribune.

December 1964
Mostly known for the presence of pre-Quicksilver Messenger Service's Gary Duncan and Greg Elmore in their lineup, the Brogues were a very underrated band that blended rhythm 'n' blues with British-influenced rock ("American music with a British accent," once said their late manager Garrie Thompson). They were formed in Merced, in the San Joaquin Valley, California, by two Atwater High School's former pupils, singer and guitar player Edward Joseph 'Eddie' Rodrigues (b. Wednesday, October 18, 1944, Merced), formerly of the Rhythm Knights, and drummer Gregory Dale 'Greg' Elmore, aka 'El Gregmore' (b. Wednesday, September 4, 1946, Naval Air Station San Diego, Coronado, San Diego County, California), formerly of the Pendulums (he also played snare drum in the high school marching band), plus Bill Edgar Whittington (b. Wednesday, June 14, 1944, Merced) on bass, formerly of the Continentals (later the Merced Continentals; where he played guitar), and a former Merced High School student named Richard James 'Rick' Campbell (b. Saturday, May 1, 1943, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois) on organ, harmonica, and vocals. "Rick and Greg came to our house and said they were starting a group and wanted to know if Bill was interested. Eddie, I believe, had already joined," recalls Bill Whittington's wife Patti Rocha (who eventually became the president of 'The Brogues International Fan Club').

THE BROGUES #1 (DECEMBER 1964 - LATE JUNE or EARLY JULY 1965)
1) Eddie Rodrigues vocals, lead guitar
2) Greg Elmore drums
3) Bill Whittington bass, 12-string acoustic guitar
4) Rick Campbell vocals, organ, harmonica, bass
+
5) Vicki Vogt lead vocals (she sang with them a few times in 1965)

The Brogues #1, 1965 - from left: Eddie Rodrigues, Rick Campbell, Greg Elmore, and Bill Whittington

The Brogues #1, 1965 - from left: Rick Campbell, Eddie Rodrigues, Bill Whittington, and Greg Elmore

Thursday, December 31, 1964: 'New Year's Eve Party', unknown venue, unknown city, Merced County, California
The Brogues' debut gig. To carried their instruments for this show, and for all their upcoming shows, the band used a traveling red van which Bill Whittington's dad, Ed, aka the 'Pepsi Bottler of Merced', loaned to him. According to Eddie Rodrigues, the van was named 'Mandy' by Bill, after the late Mandy Rice-Davies, a Welsh-born model and showgirl best known for her involvement in the infamous 'Profumo Affair' in 1963, a British political scandal that originated with a brief sexual relationship between Mandy's friend, another model and showgirl named Christine Keeler, and a married man, John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government. The incident cause Profumo to resign from the government, and brought attention to Mandy and Christine that were alleged to have been mistress of several powerful people. "I remember the moment that Mandy was named by Bill," recalls Eddie. "He pointed out because the entire band (and equipment) traveled in the van, that Mandy the van was a lot like Ms. Rice-Davies because, 'She took us all on'. After saying that Bill let out that crazy and goofy Bill Whittington's laugh which once heard was not forgotten."

Merced, summer 1965 - Greg Elmore and Bill Whittington inside "Mandy"

Thursday, May 20, 1965: 'Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars', Gymnasium, Merced High School, 205 West Olive Avenue, Merced, California
The famous Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars national package tour headlined by a British Invasion band called the Zombies, arrived in Merced tonight and the Brogues were added as a last minute local opening act, on a bill that also featured national acts such as Del Shannon, The Larks, Ikettes, DeeDee Sharp, Shangri-Las, Tommy Roe, Ad Libs, Jimmy Soul, Executives, Jewel Aikens, Mel Carter, and Mike Clifford. By the way, due to the lack of a "real" lead singer, the Brogues, especially for big shows like this one, hired an up-and-coming female singer named Vicki Lynn Vogt (b. Thursday, April 25, 1946, Moline, Rock Island County, Illinois). "I remember one song that I sang with them: 'You're My World' by Cilla Black," recalls Vicki. A former Merced High School student and a former stand up bass player for a girl's folk trio called the Viclindee Three, Vicki was known as 'Kandi KYOS' at that time because she worked for the local KYOS radio station. "I did talk to one of the [Zombies'] roadies [that night]," recalls Bill Whittington's wife Patti Rocha. "At the time the book Candy was out. Vicki Vogt was called Candy [sic] KYOS because she worked for the station, [so] the one question he asked me [was], 'Is she anything like the book?????', No and I had to laugh." After sang a few times with the band, Vicki later moved to Hollywood where, under the nom de plume of Vicki Vote, she signed a deal with Imperial Records and released her first and only single, 'Angel Baby / Look For A Star', in 1969.

May or June 1965: Victory Recording Co., Fresno, California
The Brogues headed into the late engineer Richard N. 'Dick' Terzian's studio and recorded a couple of tracks, an instrumental titled 'Journey', which sounds like the theme for a TV game show (i.e. not a very good one, so it remained unissued), and a lightweight folk-rock number penned by Eddie Rodrigues (who also sang on it) and titled 'Someday', which was good enough to be later included on a Various Artists' compilation titled 'The Hush Records Story'. The demo tape was shopped around the record companies to little or no response, until the late Clara A. Thompson, general manager of Duane Music Inc. (BMI), heard it and eventually instructed her son, the late Garrie Emory Thompson, president of Duane Music Inc. (BMI) but also of Hush Records (both located at 382 Clarence Avenue in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara County, but with a branch also in Albany, Alameda County), to sign the band.

Wednesday, June 23, 1965: Coast Recorders Inc., 960 Bush Street, Nob Hill, San Francisco, California
The Brogues recorded a new version of their abovementioned lightweight folk-rock song 'Someday' (with Rick Campbell who switched from organ to bass for this one, so Bill Whittington can played a 12-string acoustic guitar), plus a new Kinks-influenced song titled 'But Now I Find' penned by Greg Elmore and Rick Campbell (who also on sang on it).

Late June or Early July 1965: unknown venue, Stockton, San Joaquin County, California
A garage band from Modesto called the Ratz was also on the bill tonight. Their frontman, Gary Ray Grubb (b. Eugene Duncan Jr., Wednesday, September 4, 1946, San Diego, California), left the band right after this gig and subsequently joined the Brogues, after the latter convinced him that his gritty-voiced, punky-looking, would fitted in perfectly with their style. After joined them in Merced, Gary adopted a nom de plume, Gary Cole, and also shared a tiny apartment with Greg Elmore at 230 West 20th Street.

THE BROGUES #2 (LATE JUNE or EARLY JULY 1965 - AUGUST 24, 1965)
1) Eddie Rodrigues
2) Greg Elmore
3) Bill Whittington
4) Rick Campbell
5) Gary Cole lead vocals, rhythm guitar, tambourine

The Brogues #2, Summer 1965 - from left: Rick Campbell, Bill Whittington, Eddie Rodrigues (kneeled), Greg Elmore, and Gary Cole

The Brogues #2, Summer 1965

The Brogues #2, Merced, Summer 1965 - Patti and Cindy (Bill Whittington's wife and daughter), Bill Whittington, Gary Cole, and Greg Elmore

The Brogues #2, Merced, Summer 1965 - from left: Bill Whittington, Cindy Whittington, Gary Cole, and Greg Elmore

1965: Italo-American Lodge, 1351 West 18th Street, Merced, California
The Brogues played here that year, although I'm not sure if it was before or after Gary Cole joined them.

Saturday, July 3 or 10 or 17 or 24, 1965: Merced Women's Clubhouse, 18th Street, Merced, California
During a break and through a mutual friend named Jan Williams, Gary Cole meets his future wife that night, a 16-year-old Merced High School student named Shelley Lynne Eidson (b. Saturday, July 2, 1949, Whittier, Los Angeles County, California). Shelley was hooked within minutes of meeting 19-year-old Gary, who was both arrogant and obnoxious. The next day she visits Gary at his apartment, and begins a romance that lasted for ten years.

July 1965: Gymnasium, Los Banos High School, 1966 South 11th Street, Los Banos, Merced County, California
The Brogues played at a dance sponsored by the Future Farmers of America (FFA). "I would like to apologize to those Los Banos High School farm boys who took umbrage and offense to the Brogues band appeal," says Eddie Rodrigues, "an appeal which apparently positively affected at least some of the local high school girls. After the event, as retribution for our perceived affect on their hometown girls, those farm boys chased us out of town in what was probably their mom’s car and wanted to fight. I think our long hair and Beatles boots made them obsess. Three of the band members, Rick Campbell, Greg Elmore and myself, were in Rick Campbell’s white 1960 Chevy El Camino pickup and were pursued down Highway 140 just outside of Los Banos going towards Merced by that car full of Los Banos farm boys. They were hanging out of the car windows indicating quite forcefully that they wanted to 'go at it'. It was side-by-side vehicles at about 70 MPH down 2-lane Hwy 140 with a Hammond organ, a Leslie speaker and guitar amps in the back the flying El Camino. Just when I thought we were doomed, Rick Campbell who was driving, apparently decided that the farm boys had just pushed him too far (this impresses me to this day) at which time he got a crazed look on his face and veered the old El Camino complete with musical equipment left towards the other vehicle. The Los Banos boys responded by also whipping their car to the left where they subsequently went off the road, through a barbed wire fence and out into an alfalfa field at 70 MPH! The last we saw of them was in a giant cloud of dust, their presence marked only by their headlights going up and down as they crossed the 9 inch tall raised levies in the alfalfa field. So sorry boys - hope mom and dad didn’t get too excited about the car."

July 1965
The Brogues' debut single, 'Someday (2° version) / But Now I Find' (Twilight 408), was released only in the US. The disc, which came out on Twilight, a sublabel to Hush Records, was immediately a regional hit, peaking at No.31 on KAFY, a radio station in Bakersfield, and at No.13 on KYOS, a radio station in Merced.

Cash Box (August 14, 1965)

Sunday, August 1, 1965: The Coffee Gallery, 1353 Grant Avenue, North Beach, San Francisco, California
"My actual favorite gig of all times was at a wine house in North Beach in San Francisco that normally featured non-amplified live folk music and had a large acoustic-loving following to match," recalls Eddie Rodrigues. "While setting up amplifiers and drums at the wine house, we were throughly BOO'ed by the folkies because we had the audacity to bring evil amplifiers into their acoustic domain. However, after about 5 minutes of english-style r&b we had them screaming and dancing. The crowd went very visibly from the 'We hate you - please die' mode to the 'We love you - let's party' mode during those 5 minutes. That night we actually saw 1950s 'pre-Hippy, beat-type' San Francisco people dancing on top of little round bar tables while screaming like crazy people".

Friday, August 6, 1965: 'Annual Mercy Gulch Days', 17th Street and N Street, Merced, California
The Merced Breakfast Lion's Club sponsored the Brogues and other entertainment groups in the second of two Mercy Gulch celebrations today from 8:00pm to 10:00pm (originally scheduled from 6:00pm to 8:00pm), in a kickoff for the August 10-15 Merced County Fair. "The Brogues played there on the back on a flat bed trailer," recalls Tom Salles (guitarist of a "rival" band called Crystal Syphon) in an interview with Klemen Breznikar for It's Psychedelic Baby! magazine in June 2012. "I remember the crowds, hundreds of teenagers packed around the stage to watch them play. I walked around the back of the trailer to watch them. I could see that Greg Elmore had his front bass drum head that had the Pendulums printed on it and had moved it to the back beater side so he wouldn't be advertising his former band to the crowd."

Tuesday, August 10 - Sunday, August 15, 1965: Pavilion Hall, Merced County Fairgrounds, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Merced, California
The Brogues played at the annual Merced County Fair which was held from August 10 to 15 that year, although I'm not sure if they played there for one or several days.

The Brogues #2, Merced County Fair, August 1965

August 1965
The Brogues journeyed to Los Angeles to sign a new record deal with a national label called Challenge Records. While there, the band also recorded their second and last single, and also appeared on a local television show.

August 1965: '9th St. West', KHJ-TV (Channel 9), KHJ-TV Studios, 5515 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California
The Brogues appeared on 9th St. West, a 30-minute (6:00 to 6:30pm) weekday afternoon teen show hosted by Sam Riddle. After lip synching 'Someday', the Brogues, or at least Gary Cole, was interviewed by Sam Riddle. "So Gary, I hear the band's been travellin' all over?," asked Sam. "No," answered Gary. "Well, that's not what I heard," replied Sam. "Well, you heard wrong!," concluded Gary. Following further lip from the lead singer, the band were chased out of the studio by producers screaming "You'll never work again!"

August 1965: Sunset Sound Recorders, 6650 Sunset Boulevard, downtown Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California
The Brogues headed into Sunset Sound to lay down a couple of new songs, 'I Ain't No Miracle Worker' (penned by Annette Tucker & Nanci Mantz, a songwriting duo from Los Angeles) and 'Don't Shoot Me Down' (penned by all the five members of the band), which were both arranged and thrown together in a few minutes right there in the studio that day. "I don't know about the other guys, but I was pretty impressed about being there," recalls Eddie Rodrigues. "On 'Miracle Worker' the rhythm guitar playing was double tracked. I think they used an 8 track recorder on 1-inch tape. The original rhythm track was sort of a Byrds' jangle rhythm thing. The interesting part is that the second rhythm track line added was my response to the producer asking 'could you put some Stones Satisfaction fuzz stuff on a track?' The producers actually sang a 'suggested fuzz tone line' to me that they were thinking about and I got to tweak and implement it. Welcome to the world of record producing." "I re-listened to 'I Ain't No Miracle Worker' today," he continues, "and it's clear to me at least that influences on this 'almost made it' record came from one of the finest bands produced in Merced - the Merced Blue Notes. The general groove, drive and 'pop' of the song is very Blue Notes derived. Four of the five members of this band were Merced Blue Notes fans. You’ve heard nothing unless you had the pleasure of hearing the full 1960's Merced Blue Notes in Stockton complete with horns and female singer doing 'If You Should Lose Me' through chief coolures rather advanced for the 1960's sound system. It was Amazing."

August 1965
The Brogues' debut single, 'Someday (2° version) / But Now I Find' (Challenge 59311), was reissued in the US.

Wednesday, August 25, 1965
Rick Campbell was forced to leaves the band because he got drafted today [a year later, after he was discharged, he briefly played with Beau Brummels in 1966 (along with his former bandmate Bill Whittington), and then the Collage in 1967 (with Lydia Pense), before enrolling at Fresno State College where he eventually earned his Associate Degree in Art]. "If you know anyone who has hair down to his shoulders, about 20 years old, who can wear pointed Italian shoes and tight pants, who plays both organ and harmonica - I NEED him!," declared the band's manager Garrie Thompson the very next day in the Oakland Tribune daily newspaper.

THE BROGUES #3 (AUGUST 25, 1965 - SEPTEMBER ??, 1965)
1) Eddie Rodrigues
2) Greg Elmore
3) Bill Whittington
4) Gary Cole

Saturday, September 4 - Sunday, September 5, 1965: Drag' on A' Go-Go, 49 Wentworth Alley, Chinatown, San Francisco, California
The Brogues filled in at last minute for the advertised the Liverpool Five. One show each day, from 8:00pm to 2:00am on Saturday, and from 9:00pm to 2:00am on Sunday.

Monday, September 6, 1965: The Committee (300-seat cabaret theatre), 622 Broadway, North Beach, San Francisco, California
The show, which started at 9:00pm, was presented by Howard Hesseman, founder member of the San Francisco-based improvisational comedy troupe the Committee, under the alias of 'Don Sturdy in association with The Big Snake Hunters' (from Don Sturdy With The Big Snake Hunters, a children's adventure novel illustrated by Walter S. Rogers and published in 1925). Also on the bill: Larry Hankin (comedian), The Queen Bee (a female singer whose real name was Chris Brooks). According to an eyewitness named Eric Christensen, the Brogues also backed up the Queen Bee tonight.

September 1965
The Brogues' second and last single, 'Don't Shoot Me Down / I Ain't No Miracle Worker' (Challenge 59316), was released in the US.

Record World (October 9, 1965)

September 1965
Apparently, back in August, the Brogues were booked to appeared somewhere in September on Shindig!, a national television musical variety series which was filmed in Los Angeles and aired on ABC network once a week from September 14, 1964 to January 8, 1966. However, the band disbanded in the meantime so eventually they never appeared on the show.

September ??, 1965
Eddie Rodrigues got drafted, so he was forced to leaves the band too. The late Bill Fiset, a nattily dressed columnist for the Oakland Tribune, reported the "sad" news in the September 22 edtion of the newspaper where, in the behalf of Garrie Thompson, he said: "If you know someone with shoulder-lenght hair and tight pants, Garrie needs him. It will help if the guy can play a little, too. As Garrie says, 'these young musicians stand to make thousands'." Apparently, desperate attempts were made to fill both Rick and Eddie's shoes by holding auditions up in San Francisco, but it was to no avail, because the others quickly realised there was a special chemistry in the line-up they had, that could in no way be recreated. So, at that point, the Brogues disbanded for good. Gary Cole and Greg Elmore, as everyone knows, were soon involved in the formation of Quicksilver Messenger Service, while Bill Whittington went to play with the Family Tree, Beau Brummels, and as sessioman. However, Bill real passion had always been magic rather than music, so at some point he retired from the music business and, since 1982, he first managed The Update, a newsletter sent out to members of a magic co-op keeping up to date on the latest in magic publishing, then in 1984 he started performing close-up magic professionally, specializing in the Cups & Balls and rope effects, and last but not least in 1985 he owned a mail-order magic shop in San Francisco called 'Golden Gate Magic Company'. Sadly, on Monday, November 12, 2012, Bill passed away in San Francisco in unknown circumstances. Later, on Wednesday, January 25, 2017, at 8:45am, Rick Campbell, who after his art degree had become a widely regarded painted artist and illustrator designer, also passed away peacefully at his residence in Flagler Beach, Florida, from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Last but not least, on Saturday, June 29, 2019, Gary Cole (by then better known as Gary Duncan) passed away too, in Woodland, Yolo County, California, after suffering a seizure and multiple cardiac arrests that put him into a coma that he never regaining.

Fall 1965
The Brogues' second and last single, 'Don't Shoot Me Down / I Ain't No Miracle Worker' (London HL 1562), was released in Italy (with a picture sleeve). A jukebox-only version also exist (London 45-HL/JB 1562).

jukebox version

1981
The Brogues' 12-inch posthumous album, 'The Brogues' (Line Records LMS 3012), was released only in Germany. The vinyl contained the four songs previously released as singles in 1965.

1996
The Brogues' poshumous EP, 'The Brogues' (Sundazed Music SEP 114), was released only in the US. The coloured vinyl contained the four songs previously released as singles in 1965.

1997
The Various Artists' CD compilation, 'The Hush Records Story' (Big Beat Records CDWIKD 154), was released only in the UK. The compact disc contained five songs by the Brogues, the four previously released as singles in 1965, plus the previously unreleased first demo version of 'Someday' (which was, by the way, 13 seconds longer than the second version later released as single).