The Sentinals were a surf rock band from San Luis Obispo, California (1961–1965). The band is notable for a Latino influence in some works, such as "Latin'ia" (1962). Notable band members included Tommy Nuñes, drummer

John Barbata John Barbata (born April 1, 1945) is an American drummer who was active especially in pop and rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s, both as a band member and as a session drummer. Barbata has served as the drummer for The Turtles, Crosby, Stills, ...

(later of

The Turtles ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and Jefferson Starship) and

Lee Michaels Lee Eugene Michaels (born Michael Olsen, November 24, 1945) is an American rock musician who sings and accompanies himself on organ, piano, or guitar. He is best known for his powerful soulful voice and his energetic virtuosity on the Hammo ...

(then known as Michael Olsen) on keyboards.

Background

Even though a surf group, they added an appealing Latin accent to their music. According to band member John Barbata, as mentioned in Craig Fenton's ''Take Me to a Circus Tent: The Jefferson Airplane Flight Manual'', the group was actually rhythm and Blues.

Career

1960s

In the summer of 1962, the group toured the country and opened for bands including

The Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with " Searchin'" and " Young Blood" in 1957, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producin ...

and

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 ...

. Also that year, through

Norman Knowles Norman Knowles is a surf musician, band leader, and record producer from California. He is the composer of several classic surf songs, including as co-writer of the surf classic "Church Key", which was a hit for The Revels. He also has been invol ...

, the group came across

Tony Hilder Anthony J. Hilder (1935 - April 26, 2019) was an American author, film maker, talk show host, broadcaster, news correspondent and former actor. In the late 1950s to the mid-1960s he was also a record producer, producing music mainly in the sur ...

, whose company Anthony Music would later become involved in legal action with Del-Fi records, slapping the label with a $122,000 lawsuit as a result of royalties not being paid. This was relating to an alleged agreement for the masters of albums by The Sentinels, The Centurians, Dave Myers and the Surftones, etc. In 1963 the band was featured in the March 16 issue of ''Central Coast Living'' section of ''

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *'' Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *'' Kokomo Tribune'' *'' Peru Tribune'' * ''The Tri ...

''. Kenny Hinkle was pictured on the cover. Also that year, their ''Big Surf'' album was released on the Del-Fi label. According to Robert J. Dalley's book '' Surfin' Guitars: Instrumental Surf Bands of the Sixties'', the 1965 line up consisted of John Barbata, Ron Gornell, Kenny Hinkle, Norman Knowles, and Tommy Nuñes.

1970s to 1980s

In August 1984, they got together and played at the San Luis Obispo Officer's Club. This live reunion was for their twenty-year class reunion.

1990s to present

In 1996, Del-Fi released the ''Big Surf Hits'' various artists compilation album, featuring their track "Big Surf". Other artists on the album were The Impacts, Dave Myers and The Surftones and

The 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 ...

Members

: drums, 1961–66 * Ron Gornell: organ, 1965–66 * Peter Graham: guitar, 1961–66 * Kenny Hinkle: bass, 1962–66 * Bobby Holmquist: saxophone, 1961–64 *

: saxophone, 1965–66 * Lee Michaels (Michael Olsen): organ, vocals, 1966 * Tommy Nuñes: guitar 1961–66 * Ronnie Page: vocals, 1966 * John Ryan: bass * Harry Sackrider: guitar, 1964–65 * Mike Scott: drums * Gary Winburne: bass, 1961–63California Gold Coast Dreamin'
The Sentinals, San Luis Obispo County
/ref>

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sentinals, The Surf music groups Rock music groups from California Musical groups established in 1961 Musical groups disestablished in 1965 Del-Fi Records artists Era Records artists 1961 establishments in California