Saturday, August 22, 2020

The Roustabouts - Culver City 1967



The Roustabouts - Culver City 1967

Arena Room, Culver City – August 25, 1967

Important note: I have serious doubts about the date, place and artists. Although this is obviously Clarence playing, I hear no drummer, bass player, pedal steel player… Comments and info welcome.

One track only – excellent audio quality for a 1967 recording of a then-unknown band

Left to right on the front picture:

Denny Mathes (pedal steel guitar)
Bo Wagner (drums)
Richard Arlen (guitar, vocals) (leader)
Jim Alley (bass, vocals)
Clarence White (lead guitar)

From Thomas Aubrunner’s excellent Clarence White pages at:

http://www.burritobrother.com/reasons.htm

“Early in 1967, The Roustabouts were formed with singer-bassist Richard Arlen, Dennis Mathes on pedal steel guitar, drummer George Stevens and Clarence White.

Dennis Mathes recalls that Richard Arlen formed the band: "I joined the Roustabouts in early 1967 they had a gig at the "Arena Room" in Culver City. I was playing with Eddy Rae Prater in Inglewood when Richard Arlen offered me the job."

Richard Arlen had played with various club bands around the Los Angeles area, and travelled in the same circles as Clarence, who had immersed himself in the L.A. country clubs through 1966.”

Clarence White plays on a single released by Richard Arlen on the ION label in 1967 (ION 104)


Richard Arlen: I'm Tied Down To You / Keep Givin' In To You

Side A of the single appeared in 2003 on the Clarence White compilation CD “Tuff and Stringy: Sessions 1966-1968”.

Richard Arlen was mainly an actor who appeared in many movies.

3 comments:

Rocking--Byrd said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jason Odd said...

Clarence's guitar amp was where the recorder was placed for this show, hence the lack of other audible instruments. This was not the case with other shows Bob Warford taped. When they played the Arena Room when Warford taped the band/Clarence over several nights, the Roustabouts were actually Richard Arlen on bass and vocals, Clarence on guitar, Dennis Mathes on steel guitar, George Skinner on drums, with singers Lee Ross, and Jerry Inman.
Inman didn't stay after they moved, Skinner was later replaced by Bo Wagner, and Lee Ross would sing with them one night a week at the Nashville West at the end of 1967.

Jason Odd said...

The Richard Arlen who was an actor who appeared in many movies, is an entirely different person to the singer, guitarist and bassist who led the Roustabouts, which remained the name of his band after the Clarence White group folded when they were fired from the Nashville West in early 1968.