The Knaves were an American garage rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1964. The band released two singles during their existence, including the song "Leave Me Alone", which is now considered a classic of the musical genre of garage rock. In addition, the group's sound was particularly unique for combining elements of

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

and proto-punk, making the Knaves stand out among their contemporaries.

History

The Knaves line-up consisted of Howard Berkman (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Lubin (drums), Neal Pollack (bass guitar), and Mark Feldman (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), and was assembled in the fall of 1964. Berkman possessed the most experience in music, previously performing in a group called the Jesters, and initially had to instruct the other band members to play their instruments, particularly Feldman, who was added more for his resemblance to a member of

the Dave Clark Five The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...

. The band sustained a sizable local following in Chicago based on a repertoire of

cover versions In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

by musical artists such as

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

, and

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

. It was then the Knaves attracted the interest of recording agents known as "The Thriller Brothers", who became the group's managers and, through their connections, got the band in contact with

booking agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

Keith Wheeler. Wheeler scheduled the band mainly in

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...

venues, and clubs, particularly the Bunnylounge, whose regular patrons were associated with the American Mafia. The band's popularity was attributed to their heavy use of the drums, combine with hard-rocking renditions of "

Paint It Black "Paint It Black" is a song recorded in 1966 by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it is a raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European in ...

", "

Get Off of My Cloud "Get Off of My Cloud" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for a single to follow the successful " (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Recorded in Hollywood, California, in early Se ...

", "

Louie Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and ...

", among others. In 1966, the Knaves were introduced to Terry Sachan, road manager for

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 ...

, and who was making demos with fellow Chicago-based garage rock group, the Flock, to record tracks with the band at Boulevard Studios, for Dunwich Records. The band recorded seven songs, which resulted in one single in mid-1966. Feldman was replaced during

recording sessions The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the case of Broadway m ...

as a result of his inexperience by Johnno Hulbert, who also played harmonica, and take part in

vocal harmonies Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chora ...

. The resulting single included the now-classic garage rock, anti-authority anthem, "Leave Me Alone" and its B-side, "The Girl I Threw Away". "Leave Me Alone" became a top five hit in Chicago, and, while it is featured on more compilation albums than its flip-side, "The Girl I Threw Away" was particularly unique for its combination of

Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

-inspired

and

protopunk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wi ...

. Pollack was

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

and sent into combat in

the Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and ...

later in the year. He was replaced by Stewart Einstein, however, the loss of Pollack impacted the band's image and overall sound. They recorded a second single, "Inside-Outside", but the release was nowhere near the success of the Knaves' debut. The commercial failure of the single did not impact the group regionally as the expanded their touring throughout Illinois, and they appeared on local television programming. Though the band still held a loyal following in Chicago, the group was struggling financially, and was forced to disband in early 1967. On November 6, 2001,

Sundazed Records Sundazed Music is an American independent record label based in Coxsackie, New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 2000, Sundazed had a staff of 15 and two mixing studios, including a vintage audio ...

released an eight-song album on LP, called ''Leave Me Alone!'' that is composed of all the Knaves' recorded material from their two singles and previously unreleased tracks.

Discography

Singles

* "Leave Me Alone" b/w " The Girl I Threw Away" – Glenn Records (106), 1966 * "Leave Me Alone" b/w " The Girl I Threw Away" – Dunwich Records (45–147), 1966 * "Inside – Outside" b/w "Your Stuff" – Dunwich Records (D-164), 1967

EP

*''Leave Me Alone!'' –

(SEP 10-166), 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knaves, The Musical groups from Chicago American folk rock groups