The Castells were a male vocal quartet from
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose.
Santa Rosa may also refer to:
Places Argentina
*Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city
* Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca
* Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca
* Santa Rosa, La Pampa
* S ...
, California best remembered for their hits "Sacred" (No. 20 in 1961) and "So This Is Love" (No. 21 in 1962), both released on
Era Records.
[ Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000] Their sound blended light
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
with elements of collegiate vocal harmony and
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
.
History
The Castells were formed at Santa Rosa High School around 1959. They were booked for a performance at a local teenage "canteen". They did not have a name and their pianist, Jeff Bush, suggested one. It had no meaning other than they thought that it sounded good, and the intent was to be more thoughtful and change it later.
Through a Santa Rosa KJAX disc jockey who went by the name of Dan Dillon, they got Hollywood contacts. Chuck Girard's mother financed a demo for a hundred dollars, which was recorded in a San Francisco studio. They took their demo and went door-to-door in Hollywood, first to Crystalette Records, which seemed to be defunct,
Aladdin Records, and then
Era Records. They were excited that Aladdin seemed interested, as they considered themselves to be R&B, but eventually it was Era who signed them.
Their first release "Little Sad Eyes", went to "Bubbling Under" on the ''Billboard'' chart, then came "Sacred", which reached the charts.
,peaking at #20 in the early summer of 1961. "Make Believe Wedding" went "Bubbling Under", then "So This Is Love" again charted, reaching #21 in the spring of 1962. They played shows for a few years, and shared the stage with
Jackie Wilson,
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...
,
Bobby Vee
Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to ''Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty-ei ...
, and
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed onl ...
. They never charted again but did continue to record for a few years, first for
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
and then
Decca Records.
They disbanded around 1964.
Chuck Girard
Chuck Girard (born on August 27, 1943) is a pioneer of Contemporary Christian music. He moved to Santa Rosa, California in his young teens and was a member of the Castells and later the surf-rock band The Hondells. In 1970 he was a founding membe ...
later joined the
surf rock group
The Hondells
The Hondells were an American surf rock band. Their cover of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.
History
The Hondells were a band manufactured by Gary Usher, originally consisting of session musicia ...
and, in the 1970s, became a popular
CCM artist.
Members
The band's original members were
Chuck Girard
Chuck Girard (born on August 27, 1943) is a pioneer of Contemporary Christian music. He moved to Santa Rosa, California in his young teens and was a member of the Castells and later the surf-rock band The Hondells. In 1970 he was a founding membe ...
, Tom Hicks, Warren Hays, Bob Ussery, and Jeff Bush. Bush did not sing, but played piano on all the gigs. Hays left when the group was signed by Era Records. The group planned to move from Santa Rosa to southern California. Hays, a minor, was not allowed to move with the boys, and his parents also objected on religious grounds. When Hays left, Joe Kelly replaced him. When the group signed with Era Records, label president Herb Newman insisted on session pianists, and Jeff Bush was edged out.
In 1963 Bob Ussery got married, left the group, and moved out of California. He was temporarily replaced by Greg Van Krugel, Chuck Girard's roommate and high school friend, because he knew the material from attending rehearsals. After a few live performances as a substitute, he was elected to permanent membership. By late 1964, The Castells were still recording and doing public appearances, but their popularity was waning. By 1965 the group members remained friends but went their separate ways.
Most often produced by
Gary Usher
Gary Lee Usher (December 14, 1938 – May 25, 1990) was an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer, who worked with numerous California acts in the 1960s, including the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and Dick Dale. Usher also produced fict ...
, Chuck Girard and Joe Kelly went on to record as a duo under their real names, Chuck and Joe, recording blue-eyed soul covers of earlier popular songs like "Harlem Shuffle" and "Feel So Fine." They recorded a few edgy pop-folk singles as the Devons. They worked for Usher for several years and recorded a number of hot rod and surf albums under many different group identities.
Tom Hicks began a family with a new wife and went on to become a successful businessman in southern California.
Greg Van Krugel also married. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966. In 1968, after active duty, he returned to his wife and daughter in southern California and made his career in the defense and aerospace electronics industry.
Other performers of note with whom the Castells shared the stage include
Bobby Rydell,
Dick and Dee Dee
Dick and Dee Dee (or Dick and Deedee) is an American singer-songwriter duo that reached popularity in the early to mid-1960s. The group was founded by California classmates Richard Gosting and Mary Sperling. They eventually changed their names t ...
,
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music style ...
,
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
,
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 Lo ...
.
The Rivingtons
The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop band, known for their 1962 novelty hit " Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". The members were lead vocalist Carl White (June 21, 1932 - January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (d. November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris, and ba ...
,
Donnie Brooks
Donnie Brooks (born John Dee Abohosh; February 6, 1936 – February 23, 2007) was an American pop music singer. Brooks is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Early life
Born in Dallas, Texas, Abohosh moved to Ventura, California in his te ...
,
Dobie Gray
Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Darrow Brown; July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter whose musical career spanned soul, country, pop, and musical theater. His hit songs included " The 'In' Crowd" in 1965 and "Dri ...
,
Gary Lewis & The Playboys,
Ted Neely and
Larry Verne.
Session musicians the Castells worked with later became known as
The Wrecking Crew. They included
Billy Strange
William Everett Strange (September 29, 1930 – February 22, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and an actor. He was a session musician with the famed Wrecking Crew, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and M ...
(guitar),
Barney Kessel (guitar), Ray Pohlman (bass and arranger of one of the group's sessions),
Frankie Capp
Francis Cappuccio (August 20, 1931 – September 12, 2017), known professionally as Frank Capp, was an American jazz drummer. Capp also played on numerous rock and roll sessions and is considered to be a member of The Wrecking Crew.
Biography
...
,
Plas Johnson
Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sa ...
(saxophone),
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...
(guitar), and
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...
(drums).
Partial discography
*A: "Little Sad Eyes" B: "Romeo" (1961)
*A: "Sacred" B: "I Get Dreamy" (1961) #20 on
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...
*A: "Make Believe Wedding" B: "My Miracle" (1961) #98 on
Bilboard Hot 100
*A: "So This Is Love" B: "On the Street of Tears" (1962) #21 on
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...
*A: "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" B: "Stand There Mountain" (1962) #91 on
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...
*A: "Life Goes On" B: "I Thought You'd Like That" (1966)
References
External links
Chuck Girard's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castells, The
Musical groups from California
Era Records artists