Posted by: Joe @ 11:16 am
John “Moon” Martin, composer of Bad Case of Lovin’ You (Doctor, Doctor), a big 80’s hit for Robert Palmer, must have played the Pop House in the mid-sixties with his band from Oklahoma named The Disciples. They were booked there by Wisconsin agent Ken Adamany, whose name is printed on the photo. It couldn’t have been too much longer before the band moved to California, changed their name to Southwind and recorded their first album of country-rock tunes on the Venture label. Moon Martin’s story is well-documented on the Web (http://moonmartin.com/), but this photo includes a couple of band members not often mentioned elsewhere. Deciphering the signatures, standing from left to right are: Milton Sanders, Jim Dooley, John “Moon” Martin, and Jim Pulte. Kneeling to the right is: Jim Walker. If you remember The Disciples or their Pop House appearance, leave a comment or send me an email.
**UPDATE** Please see the comments to this blog entry for further information about Southwind, formerly known as The Disciples.
(Photo courtesy of Stankewitz family)
Bonus… Here’s a label scan from the Southwind 45 recording of Get On Board the Train…
(Label courtesy of Mike Matheson)
November 1st, 2006 at 11:26 am I remember going to see “The Disciples” play in 1967… In 1968-1969 they came to Madison and played at the a club called “The Black/ Purple Onion.” At that time, the line-up was: Phil Hope (drums ) John “Moon” Martin (guitar) Jim Pulte (bass) Fontaine Brown (electric piano). They actually recorded 3 albums under the name “Southwind.” Jim Pulte went on to do some work for a group called the Tractors, and he also recorded 2 solo albums. The first guy w/ blond hair in your picture is Phil Hope (drums). Dave Hz
November 1st, 2006 at 11:33 am Hi Dave, Great to hear from you. Thanks for the additional information. I was going by the signatures on the photo for identification. Hmmmm…. Joe
November 1st, 2006 at 10:46 pm Correction: far left; the guy w/blond hair is Eric “Deputy” Dalton (drums). John “Moon ” Martin is standing right of the camera (guitar). Jim Pulte (bass) is on his right side. The guy next to Dalton to the left of the camera is unidentified and so is the guy kneeling… from Promo Shots that I have this is one version of the band… “The Disciples” Dave Hz
November 13th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
Mike Matheson made some further observations on Southwind in an email to me…
“I have some more Southwind/Disciples input. I recall a lot of the same info that Dave did concerning personnel. Here’s what I remember. The makeup of the band when I saw them at DJ’s in Sun Prairie was: Milton Sanders, drums; Jim Pulte, bass: John Martin, guitar; Phil Hope, keyboards.
That was the same lineup as on their Venture album, “Southwind.” For some reason, Milton Sanders changed his name to Eric Dalton on the album credits. From the cover photo, it’s clear that it’s the same guy. I have a banged-up DJ Promo copy (!) of that on vinyl. The credits are kind of interesting. One of the writing credits on “Get on Board the Train” is “D. Brown.” He’s given writing credits (along with the group) for a few other tunes as well. The producer is listed as “Dugg Brown.” Unusual spelling. Don’t know if that’s the same person or not.
I also have a rough copy of their first album on Blue Thumb, “Ready to Ride,” where they clearly shifted from the 60‘s semi—psychedelic thing to a very down home country image. Perhaps heading back to their Oklahoma roots? A great album cover. The personnel on that record is the same as the Venture, with the exception of Phil Hope, the keyboard player, who is nowhere to be found. Unless, of course, he changed his name, too. But there’s very little physical resemblance in the picture to the new keyboard player, Fontaine Brown. Curious if that’s the D. Brown or Dugg Brown with several credits from the Venture album. With the exception of one Johnny Cash (Ruby Eileen) one Hank Williams (Honky Tonkin’) tune, a majority of the writing credits are Fontaine Brown and Jim Pulte. Also, apparently Milton Sanders (Eric Dalton) wasn’t quite content with his new name, because on the “Ready to Ride” album, he’s changed the spelling of his first name, and added a nickname. For this album he is: Erik “Deputy” Dalton.”
June 7th, 2007 at 7:12 pm I knew these guys as ‘Southwind’ in Topanga Canyon, California in the late ’60s and early ’70s after Phil hope was replaced by producer Dugg Brown. I was good friends with this band, and, yes Dugg Brown was the songwriter (a very good songwriter at that) listed as D. Brown on the first album which still included Phil Hope. I met the guys not long after Dugg had replaced Phil, when the band was playing inpromptu concerts from the back of that old pick-up from the inside cover of their 2nd LP ‘Ready To Ride. The band then was comprised of Dugg Brown, Eric Dalton, Jim Pulte and John Martin. Very often, during their live performances, a now well-known guitar player, Rick Vito (Juke Rhythm Band, Bonnie Raitt, Fleetwood Mac), would sit in with Southwind for some really hot shows. Later on, in the late ’70s, Dugg Brown changed his name to Fontaine Brown, and the band morphed into Fast Fontaine, which included Fontaine Brown-guitar & vocals, Erik Dalton-drums (note the change in spelling), Dan Rothchild-bass, Gary Johnson-keyboards, Kris Farris-saxophone, and Doug Matthews-lead guitar. Fast Fontaine released one self-titled LP (Epic America SO-17044) which failed to capture an audience. My wife and I saw this band live many times and they were incredibly fine performers who put on a great show, but for some reason Southwind and Fast Fontaine could never capture their raw live energy in the studio. Rick Vito also sat in with Fast Fontaine on many occasions and those shows were phenomenal too. We all know about the success of John ‘Moon’ Martin, and last I heard, Jim Pulte was somehow involved with the old Leon Russell/J.J.Cale studio in Oklahoma City, but I have no idea whatever became of Fontaine Brown or Erik Dalton. I still have all three Southwind LPs and the Fast Fontaine LP too. They were among my favorite bands and I truly believe if Southwind/Fast Fontaine could have put out records that sounded as great as their live shows that they’d be one of the legendary bands of the era.
June 19th, 2007 at 4:05 pm It’s basically true re: the last message…Fontaine is Dugg…Doug originally from Ann Arbor area….taught Bob Seger how to rock & wrote his first tunes….when he had Doug Brown & The Omens….also wrote & performed with Del Shannon, early on…Pete “Slugger” Stanger played lead in Southwind in the 70’s….played with Seger in high school …a band called The Decibles….hhhhmmmm…what else…I could tell you a lot about this subject….seeing I managed a version of Southwind in the 70’s…Pulte left @ that time & Fontaine played bass , Gary (from Norman OK) on keyboards, Dalton on drums & Slugger , lead ….Didja’ ever hear “Is your Heater Hot Tonite, Mama”….The other Doug mentioned as lead in “Fast Fontaine”, was the sound man…after a “dust up” @ The Collins Hotel in Dundas Ont. Can., around 79 or 80…Slugger left the band & Doug (the sound man) replaced him…….they then signed (a little later) with American EMI….did Midnite Special with Wolfman Jack & had “Heater” used as the intro song on a ABC movie of the month entitled “For Ladies Only”, starring Gregory “Gonzo” Harrison….Fontaine’s an old n’ dear friend…rock on forever….George “Faster ” Johnson
July 21st, 2007 at 9:20 pm My sister Carol was chili queen approx. 1957 or 58. I know she has a picture to send you. Your efforts on this are wonderful, THANX so much. Very interesting & love every bit of the nostalgia. George was the best, a great guy. Hoping to see more of your finds & from what others send.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:39 pm A blast from the past. I had the good fortune to be associated with Southwind for a while in the late 60′ as well. I did some bookings for the band and evangelized them whenever I could. Musically, Southwind was a tight unit with a great stage thing. Simply, they cooked. It was one of those special interactions that some bands achieve with their audiences. Live, they got in to a musical groove that brought the audience right in. When I was working in Stigwood’s LA office, I brought Atlantic’s Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler out to see them in a club in the Valley one night. Close. But no cigar. Atlantic’s loss. It would have been a good match at the time - what with Buffalo Springfield closing down, etc, etc. I know that Ahmet and Clive both kicked themselves occasionally back in those days for letting one get away. Stewart Little Band from UOP is another great group that falls into that category. Now, a bit more seasoned, I look back and no doubt that the likes of Martin & Fontaine and Dalton & Pulte really had what it took to go all the way. But just not enough percentage of luck. I gotta go find where I can buy their LPs or CDs. Life, after all, is still just a magazine. Thanks for this blog . . .
April 18th, 2008 at 10:55 pm Friends, I had the pleasure of working with Eric Dalton in San Diego around 1982-84. We worked at a health center and Eric was studying to become a Rolfer (healing). He is an awesome dude and talked a lot about his days with Fontaine Brown etc…He was a great friend and I haven’t seen him since. He was headin’ up to Denver to study and become certified in Rolfing…God is blessing Eric…
July 5th, 2008 at 1:29 am Hello, I interviewed Doug Fontaine Brown (aka Dugg Brown) in Laguna Niguel, Calif. He’s a great guy. He just recorded a new album that will be coming out I think on Manatee Records. Produced by Don Dixon. His own version of “Closer To The Flame” is featured on the CD, a tune that he wrote for Dave Edmunds in 1990. Doug/Dugg goes by Fontaine Brown these days. Doug Brown and The Omens evolved to Bob Seger and the last Heard. Doug produced some of Seger’s early records. He also produced “The Wanted” on A&M. Striking a deal with Mickey Stevenson, Doug became “Dugg” and moved from Michigan to California where Venture Records was formed and Dugg produced the group Southwind. When Phil Hope left, Dugg became a part of the band. He co-produced some great psychedelic stuff with Bug Music’s Dan Bourgoise, including Del Shannon’s “The Further Adventures of Charles Westover” album, and a 45rpm single for Brian Hyland, “Come With Me” / “Delilah”.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:06 pm Hey, I saw Southwind open for Spirit in early March of 1970 at the Palladium in Birmingham Michigan. The backstory makes sense of the fact that they played there. It seemed like an unusual line up at the time. I enjoyed Southwind though, and I even bought their album. I still have it.
January 10th, 2009 at 5:26 pm I always wanted to thank the guy (Jim Pulte?) for “upgrading” his bass back in 1968, thereby allowing a 14 year old aspiring bassist to pick up his “discarded”, traded in, 1963 Fender Precision Bass, stamped January inside the neck. I bought that bass for $150. at Harmony Music in Reseda, CA, and I have never let it out of my sight since. I have used it on countless recordings. I saw the band at the pre-Woodstock 3 day festival held at Cal State Northridge, Devonshore Downs, 2 months before Woodstock.
March 20th, 2009 at 6:32 am I am doug fontaine dugg brown– It’s 4AM and I googled myself (Cad! Vain Dog! I admit it!) I’ve got a new CD out for the first time in many years and I’m getting a HUGE kick out of trolling around the internet and seeing myself back in the music scene- I know, I know I’m just an ego-tripping jerk… but enuff! I see names on here of wonderful people who shared my deep love of music all those years ago. It does my heart good to see they’re still goin strong and still remember! Oh, man, we had fun. I mean, really. A special shout out to Geo. Johnson, a beautiful guy who was really good to us and BELIEVED- back in our Band With No Fixed Address period. He’s a Noble Son of Canada. And the 2 Brians– great music people. & Hi Jim! The Tales told here are basically all true and you can see from what’s written here what great folks they all are. These are the guys who keep the true spirit of music so Great Ghostly Alive! Hey I’m with ya, sittin here listenin to my jillions of CDs and thinkin music is a great big wonderful rock my soul thing!! Love– Fontaine Brown
March 20th, 2009 at 9:47 am Glad you found this humble blog entry, Fontaine. Coincidentally, I was listening to Southwind’s Ready to Ride just the other day! Been enjoying your new music too. Readers, check out Fontaine Brown’s MySpace page. Also, you can purchase his new CD, Tales From the Fence Line on Amazon.