12/6/2023 0 Comments Merl reagle![]() It was like a Mozart kind of gift,” Haley said from her Florida home, where the couple had lived for years. Haley said she reminded Reagle of his reluctance years earlier to putting out puzzle books and how his doubts turned out to be unfounded. Purdy said Reagle was initially hesitant about the idea of putting out a Greylock Mansion album, but his wife, Marie Haley, finally convinced him. Farrell Wymore, who replaced Lorenzen in the band’s final few years, worked in engineering and designed guitar amps for Fender, while Ball worked as an ombudsman and later director of transportation for Tucson Unified School District. Zornes took his University of Arizona computer science master’s degrees to California, where he became a leading architect and “godfather” of the $15 billion global master data management industry. In addition to his syndicated work, Reagle published several puzzle books. He still plays regularly with Still Cruisin’, a 1950s-’70s cover band. We had other things we could do,” said Ball, who never really left music. The band continued playing gigs until late 1971 before deciding it was time to pursue their adult lives. But when the label never materialized, a disgruntled producer fled with the demos. They sent the label, a planned rock offshoot of the country singer’s production company, demos with songs to be considered for an album project. They also had been entertaining an offer from a Bakersfield, California, startup label affiliated with Buck Owens. But Capitol wanted to install its own lead vocalist, so Ball said he and boys walked out. The song’s success led to a flirtation with Capitol Records, which dangled the prospect of a record deal. Their song was being played on the radio - it was the pre-corporate radio world, when playlists were determined by DJs - and it was being sold at record stores. In the summer of 1970, Greylock Mansion had a huge regional hit with their song “Amazon.” The band members, all barely into their 20s, were playing gigs in New Mexico and Phoenix. “We even had regional hit records - 45 singles then - and we were the first opening act at the first official concert at the Tucson Community Center in the ’70s, opening for Ike & Tina Turner.” (spending) many many nights in Merl’s dad’s pickup truck hauling our band equipment around Arizona as our manager - the late Perry Baker - promoted us as a heavy-rock alternative to the Doors, Iron Butterfly, Deep Purple, et cetera,” Zornes recalled at Reagle’s memorial service in 2015. “We spent our Tucson teenage and early UA years touring and performing. We don’t want to be known just in Arizona or in the United States. “One of our lines was we don’t want to be known just in Tucson. “If they had had better promotion they would have been household names.”īall said that had been the plan when he joined Greylock Mansion in 1968, a couple years into the psychedelic rock garage band’s run. “When you consider that this album was done in 1968 or 1969 by a bunch of high school kids in Tucson, Arizona, that was in the middle of nowhere, that was outstanding,” said Purdy. Thus began the journey that led to this week’s release of “Greylock Mansion,” a nine-song vinyl collection that Purdy released on his Lysergic Sound Distributors label. So he went back to Reagle to see if there were any more gems waiting to be discovered. People who bought the album loved the song and Purdy said the feedback was remarkable. Albert’s Dream,” a compilation album of Vietnam era garage/psychedelic bands. So much so that Purdy reached out to Reagle three years ago and asked if he could include the song on “St. Tucked among literally thousands of records was this dusty vinyl single, which he bought and became enamored with. The members went on to greatness outside of music, including Reagle, whose puzzles were syndicated in newspapers around the country.Īnd that would have been the end of the story if Tucson record collector and producer Steve Purdy had not come across a long forgotten 45 rpm recording of Greylock Mansion’s “Catafalque” in a Tucson DJ’s collection. But when it fell apart at the end of 1971, they decided that perhaps they had run their course. They had a regional hit record and at one point interest from Capitol Records to release two singles - that’s how they did it back then.
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