EASTSIDE BANDS - THE AMBERTONES

The Ambertones, from left: Jimmy Alvarez (on drums), Eddie Delgado (above on bass), Mike Sandoval (guitar), Frank Vasquez, Danny Medina, Tony Cardenas (sax), and Henry Hernandez (guitar).

The original lineup was:
Ray Arriola - sax
Henry Hernandez - lead guitar
Mike Sandoval - rhythm guitar
Eddie Delgado - bass and vocals
Danny Medina - keyboards
Jimmy Alvarez - drums

Later members included:
Frank Vasquez (Frank Olvera?) - vocals
Charlie Muñoz - vocals
Tony Cardenas (or is it Tony Duran?) - saxophone
Henry Sarnoff joined on piano and organ in 1966
Ruben Alvarez - drums

Next to Thee Midniters probably my favorite Eastside band. The Ambertones were major contributors toward the Eastside Sound because of their diverse playing styles. Blues, R&B, soul, garage, doo wop, surf.  The Ambertones could play them all.

The Ambertones began as as a band called The Scepters while the members were attending Roosevelt & Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Like many other Eastside bands they started playing surf music.

The first Ambertones record was a surf instrumental "Hang Ten" recorded late 1963/early 1964 for the Revolvo label.

 By 1963 they started doing R&B covers. They came up with a new name, The Ambertones because one of the members wore an amber jacket.They played at high school teen dances & at local venues like the Union Hall and would win the first Battle of the Bands held at the Hollywood Palladium. The group also appeared at the famed Salesian High School Rock & Roll Show.

The group did go through several member and label changes from 1963-1969.

The Ambertones second recording was for the G.N.P Crescendo label in 1964. "Charlena" (a remake of the Sevilles classic written by Chavez & Chaney) and "Bandido" (written by Manny Chavez) (GNP 329).

For their third single, The Ambertones moved to the Dottie label owned by their manager Leonard Mamola. "Chocolate Covered Ants" (written by Mamola) and "One Summer Night" (The 1958 Danleers doo wop classic written by Danny Webb (but mistakenly credited to Mamola). The record was released in 1965 (Dottie 1129)

Their fourth single and second single for Dottie was "I Need Someone" and "If I Do" released in October 1965 (Dottie 1130). "I Need Someone" is in my top ten of all Eastside classics and was also recorded by Thee Midniters. "If I Do" is a "garage sound" classic which makes this record highly sought after.

Because of the immense popularity of "I Need Someone" the record was reissued/bootlegged in 1969 on a pale blue Dottie label.

For their fifth single The Ambertones would record two more Leonard Mamola tunes, "Clap Your Hands" and Cruise" for the very rare Rayjack label in December 1965 (Rayjack 1001). "Cruise" is a take-off of Thee Midniters "Whittier Boulevard"

 The songs would be picked up by the Newman label in 1966 (Newman 601)

For their sixth single, The Ambertones stayed with the Rayjack label and recorded "I Can Only Give You Everything" (another garage classic) and a remake of "I Only Have Eyes For You" (Rayjack 1002) in 1966. The record was picked and released on Treasure Chest (Treasure Chest 001) in the same year but I do not have a scan of this record.

In 1967, The Ambertones moved to the White Whale label hoping for more national exposure. Their seventh single and first for White Whale was "Ninety-Nine And A Half" and "You Don't Know Like I Know" (White Whale 242). "Ninety-Nine And A Half" is a remake of the Wilson Pickett classic. "You Don't Know Like I Know" is a remake of a Sam & Dave tune. Around this time local disc jockey Casey Kasem had become their manager who got them a job as the house band at pacific Ocean Park. They would also tour the United States with Dick Clark's Rock & Roll Revue.

For their eighth single, The Ambertones recorded their second single for White Whale. "A Million Tears" and "Little Bit Of Lovin'" were released in 1969 (White Whale 302). "A Million Tears" is an absolutely fabulous ballad written by Ambertones member Frank Vasquez. "Little Bit Of Lovin" is a great mix of pop, soul & garage. This is a very underrated record.

FOR MORE ON THE AMBERTONES PLEASE CHECK OUT CHAS KITT'S POST ON THE GARAGE HANGOVER SITE FOUND HERE:

http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=ambertones


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Solely for historical and educational purposes and for listening pleasure.