The Vagrants: The Great Lost Vangrants Album... Plus 1987 + I Can't Make A Friend (1965 - 1968) 2011

 

The Vagrants were an American, Long Island-based rock and blue-eyed soul group from the 1960s. The Vagrants started when Peter Sabatino and his buddy Larry Weinstein saw The Beatles at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in August 1964 — literally next door to Sabatino's apartment building — and he and

Weinstein decided that this was what they wanted to do. Weinstein's older brother Leslie was a good guitarist, so he joined up. Jerry Storch, whom they knew as a champion bowler at the local lanes, revealed one day that he played piano and had some songs, so they invited him to join. The group was composed of Peter Sabatino on vocals, harmonica, and tambourine, Leslie West on vocals and guitar, Larry West (Lesie's brother) on vocals and bass guitar, Jerry Storch on organ, and Roger Mansour on drums.
                                      

A girl at the bowling alley got them a gig playing a Sweet 16 party, and they got paid $100 for it. More

gigs followed, and by early 1965 they were playing one of New York City's coolest clubs, Steve Paul's Scene. Sabatino, Weinstein and Mansour enrolled at Quintano's School for Young Professionals, a high school for performers, and by the summer of 1965 they were approached by two guys with a label, Southern Sound, who asked them if they wanted to make a single. Naturally, they did.
                               

Formed in 1964, by the following year, the group had developed a professional press kit, had gained the interest of the semi-professional Southern Sound record label and soon released a single: "Oh Those Eyes" b/w "You're Too Young". The single gained the attention of directors Vince Scarza and Douglas

Hickox, who were directing a Beach Party film called Disk-O-Tek Holiday, which featured various music artists performing songs throughout the film. The clip that featured The Vagrants performing "Oh Those Eyes" is now considered a classic piece of mid-1960s history. The Vagrants were best known for their regular appearances at The Action House in Island Park; one of the late 1960s premier rock clubs on Long Island.
                                    

The Vagrants often appeared on stage with such other iconic bands of the period as The Door's, The

Who, Vanilla Fudge, The Rascals, The Illusion and The Hassles (with Billy Joel on keyboards). The band's rock/cover of the theme from Exodus was often the highlight of each performance. Best known for their powerful covers of "Gimme Some Lovin'" (The Spencer Davis Group), "Hold On I'm Comin'" (Sam and Dave), and other Motown hits; there are no known recordings of these songs in the limited Vagrants' catalogue.
                                    

The Vagrants then signed to the Vanguard label, something of a departure for them as their roster consisted mainly of folk and jazz artists. Vanguard released their first minor hit "I Can't Make a

Friend", which is frequently found on garage band compilations and is one of their most recognizable early efforts. Record producer Felix Pappalardi, who would later work with Cream, The Youngbloods, and Jack Bruce, worked to sign the group to Atco Records, then a subsidiary label of the Atlantic Recording Corporation, and their cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" became a hit on the East Coast in 1967. In 1969, guitarist Leslie West left to form the post-Cream power-band Mountain, that became famous with Felix Pappalardi, on bass and vocals.
                              

The single, "Oh Those Eyes," is a bratty, paranoid garage rocker, with snappy guitar work by Leslie Weinstein, but it went nowhere. They got a summer-long gig in Hamptons Bay, on Long Island, and

became friendly with a band working one of the other clubs, The Young Rascals. One thing The Rascals had that The Vagrants didn't was a Hammond B-3 organ, an expensive instrument Storch coveted. Returning to Manhattan at the end of the summer, the band wound up at another hot spot, The Rolling Stone — a club run by popular disc jockey Scott Muni — where they played for 18 weeks. A wealthy fan learned that Storch wanted the B-3 and took him to a music store, whipped out $2,500 cash and asked that it be delivered to The Rolling Stone.
                            

The Vagrants' members were hot. They got residencies in all of Manhattan's best clubs and visiting rock

stars sat in with them. One of their gimmicks was to take a hit, like The Beatles' "No Reply," and slow it way, way down and turn it into a white soul showcase — a trick Vanilla Fudge later built a career on. A tall, skinny, troubled songwriter, Bert Sommer, began writing material for them, and they made some singles for Vanguard Records, but again, nothing.
                         

They became the house band at The Action House in Long Beach, a place with mob connections,

getting $1,500 a show and working 28 days a month. They added pyrotechnics to the show: Bombs would go off at the climax of one of their songs. One night, one of the bomb-boxes under Storch's organ wasn't completely out at the end of the night, and the entire stage — with the B3 — burned, taking The Vagrants' equipment with it. Their booking agency didn't flinch: They re-outfitted the band the next day, so The Vagrants could keep making them money.
                              

A compilation of all of the group's singles (excepting both sides of the "Oh Those Eyes" 45) was issued

on an Arista Records release titled The Great Lost Album in 1987, on which both Leslie and Larry West are credited by their birth names, Leslie and Larry Weinstein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEMBERS

 
            

Leslie West - Guitar, Vocals
Larry West - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Peter Sabatino - Vocals, Percussion
Roger Mansour - Drums
Jerry Storch - Hammond Organ, Vocals

THE VAGRANTS - THE GREAT LOST VAGRANTS ALBUM... PLUS
All their Vanguard & Atco singles and outtakes plus their ultra-rare indie 45

 
                    

The Vagrants – The Great Lost Album
Label: Arista
Year: 1987
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Classic Rock
    
TRAXS

                          

01. Oh Those Eyes
02. You're Too Young
03. Respect    2:13
04. I Can't Make A Friend    2:31
05. Beside The Sea    2:16
06. I Don't Need Your Loving    2:52
07. Young Blues    2:13
08. And When It's Over    2:14
09. A Sunny, Summer Rain    2:49
10. The Final Hour    2:23
11. My Babe    2:56
12. I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)    2:38

MP3 @ 320 Size; 73 MB
Flac  Size: 186 MB

THE VAGRANTS - I CAN'T MAKE A FRIEND (1965 - 1968)

 
                       

The Vagrants – I Can't Make A Friend 1965-1968
Label: Light In The Attic – LITA 059CD
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: Jan 25, 2011
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock

TRAXS

                          

01. Oh Those Eyes    2:36
02. You're Too Young    2:06
03. I Can't Make A Friend    2:36
04. Young Blues    2:16
05. The Final Hour    2:27
06. Your Hasty Heart    3:00
07. Respect    2:15
08. I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)    2:39
09. Beside The Sea    2:18
10. A Sunny Summer Rain    2:51
11. And When It's Over    2:20
12. I Don't Need Your Loving    2:54

MP3 @ 320 Size; 72 MB
Flac  Size: 169 MB