The Chantays, sometimes credited as Chantay's, is an American
surf music
Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental s ...
band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
*Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
* Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
from
Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
, United States, known for the
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
"
Pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
" (1963).
Their music combines
electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...
s and
surf guitar
Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental su ...
, creating a unique ghostly sound.
History
The Chantays were formed in 1961 by five high-school friends. Bob Spickard, Brian Carman (co-writers of "Pipeline"), Bob Welch, Warren Waters and Rob Marshall were all students at
Santa Ana High School
Santa Ana High School is the oldest and largest high school in Orange County, California, United States. The school was established in 1889.
Notable alumni
* Original members of the surf band The Chantays
* Barry Asher, professional bowler
* Ton ...
in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
In December 1962, the group recorded and released "Pipeline", which peaked at No. 4 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in May 1963. The track also peaked in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in 1963 at No. 16.
The Chantays recorded their first
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
in 1963, also titled ''Pipeline'', which included "Blunderbus" and "El Conquistador". Their follow-up album was ''Two Sides of the Chantays'' in 1964.
The Chantays toured Japan and the United States, joining
the Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los ...
and
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
on a few occasions, and they were the only rock and roll band to perform on ''
The Lawrence Welk Show
''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...
''.
"Pipeline" (published as
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...
in 1962 by Downey Music Publishing) has become one of several surf rock hits. The tune has since been
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
by
Bruce Johnston
Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bru ...
,
Welk
WELK (94.7 FM) is a classic hits formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Elkins, West Virginia, serving North Central West Virginia. WELK is owned and operated by West Virginia Radio Corporation
WVRC Media is a media corporation compr ...
(on the Dot album ''Scarlet O'Hara''),
Al Caiola
Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of ...
(on the United Artists album ''Greasy Kid Stuff''),
the Ventures
The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...
,
Takeshi Terauchi
, also known as Terry, was a Japanese instrumental rock guitarist. His preferred guitar was a black Mosrite with a white pickguard. His guitar sound was characterized by frenetic picking, heavy use of tremolo picking and frequent use of his gu ...
& Blue Jeans,
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the "tactical use" Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. It ...
,
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the ba ...
,
Lively Ones
The Lively Ones were an instrumental surf rock band from USA, active in Southern California in the 1960s. They played live mostly in California and Arizona. They recorded for Del-Fi records with production from Bob Keane. They recorded mostly cov ...
,
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
,
Dick Dale
Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...
with the help of
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...
(Grammy Nominated), by the
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
band
Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
,
Bad Manners
Bad Manners are an English two-tone and ska band led by frontman Buster Bloodvessel. Early appearances included ''Top of the Pops'' and the live film documentary, ''Dance Craze'' (1981).
They were at their most popular during the early 1980 ...
and
Johnny Thunders
John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played with ...
. "Pipeline" has been used in many
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
s,
television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
s and commercials, and appears on numerous
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
s.
The Chantays have been honored for their contributions to music. Highlights include being honored on April 12, 1996, by Hollywood's Rock Walk, that was founded to honor individuals and bands that have made lasting and important contributions to music. "Pipeline" is listed as one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Along with
Bill Medley
William Thomas Medley (born September 19, 1940) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as one half of The Righteous Brothers. He is noted for his bass-baritone voice, exemplified in songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Med ...
of the Righteous Brothers and
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton ('' née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Gl ...
, the Chantays were honored by the City of Santa Ana, California, and Santa Ana High School when they named a street after them, Chantays Way. ''OC Weekly'' magazine also named the Chantays as one of the Best Orange County Bands.
The Chantays are still playing. Original members Bob Spickard and Bob Welch are joined by longtime members Ricky Lewis and Brian Nussle. More recent albums include ''The Next Set'' (live recording) and ''Waiting for the Tide''. Some of the tracks are the new songs "Crystal T" and "Killer Dana", along with remakes of "Pipeline", "El Conquistador" and "Blunderbus".
Brian Carman died at his home in Santa Ana, California, from complications of
Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension ...
on March 1, 2015. He was 69.
Another longtime member Gil Orr died on September 19, 2017. He was 79.
Members
*Bob Spickard — guitar: original member
*Brian Carman
(born Brian Craig Carman; August 10, 1945 – March 1, 2015) — guitar: original member
*Bob Welch — drums: original member (not the Fleetwood Mac member).
*Warren Waters — bass guitar: original member
*Rob Marshall — piano: original member
*Ricky Lewis — guitar: longtime member
*Gil Orr
(July 17, 1938 – September 19, 2017) — guitar/bass guitar: longtime member
*Brian Nussle — bass guitar: longtime member
Discography
Albums
* ''Pipeline'' (
Downey Downey may refer to:
People
*Downey (surname)
*Robert Downey Jr.
Places
*Downey, California, US
*Downey, Idaho, US
*Downey, Iowa, US
Businesses
*W. & D. Downey, photographic studio
*Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant
Schools
* ...
DLP-1002, 1963;
Dot DLP-3516/DLP-25516)
* ''Two Sides of the Chantays'' (Dot DLP-3771/DLP-25771, 1964)
* ''Next Set''
ive(Chantay Productions CPD-3164, 1994)
* ''Waiting for the Tide'' (Vesper Alley/Roctopia VRA-80003, 1997)
Singles
* "
Pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
" / "Move It" (Downey 104, 1/63; Dot 16440)
* "Monsoon" / "Scotch Highs" (Downey 108, 5/63; Dot 16492)
* "Space Probe" / "Continental Missile" (Downey 116, 1963)
* "It Never Works Out For Me" / "Maybe Baby" (XPANDED Sound 103, 1964) as 'Leaping Ferns'
* "Only If You Care" / "Love Can Be Cruel" (Downey 120, 6/64)
* "Beyond" / "I'll Be Back Someday" (Downey 126, 11/64)
* "
Three Coins in the Fountain" / "Greenz" (Downey 130, 1965)
* "(I Won't Cry) So Be On Your Way" / "Fear of the Rain" (
Reprise
In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repea ...
0423, 11/65) as 'The Ill Winds'
* "A Letter" / "I Idolize You" (Reprise 0492, 7/66) as 'The Ill Winds'
Live TV performances
* "Pipeline" (Lawrence Welk Show, May 18, 1963)
* "Runaway" (Lawrence Welk Show, May 18, 1963)
Awards
*
Hollywood's Rockwalk
Guitar Center is an American musical instrument retailer chain. It is the largest company of its kind in the United States, with 294 locations. Its headquarters is in Westlake Village, California.
Guitar Center oversees various subsidiaries in ...
, inducted April 12, 1996
See also
*
The Ventures
The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...
*
The Astronauts (band)
The Astronauts was an American rock and roll band, which had a minor hit in 1963 with "Baja" and remained successful for several years, especially in Japan. They have been described as being, "along with...(the) The Trashmen, Trashmen, the premi ...
References
External links
www.thechantays.comnbsp;— The Chantays official site
OC Weekly Magazinenbsp;— history and booking
Bob Spikard Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chantays, The
Surf music groups
Instrumental rock musical groups
Rock music groups from California
Dot Records artists
Downey Records artists
Musical groups from Orange County, California