Simon Stokes
Musician Nick Stokes was born 10 June 1937, in Reading, Massachusetts; he would later adopt Simon Stokes as his professional name when he became a recording artist in the 1960s. Raised by his grandparents, Stokes developed a keen interest in music and started his own record hop, spinning discs under the guise of Count Coolbreeze, the Baron of Bop. He had his first taste of success in 1958 after penning a song for The Tornados, a local group from Peabody Ma., which was subsequently entered into a Boston song writing competition. A few months later when Stokes was surprised to discover that his song, "Breaker of Dreams", had won first prize. A recording of the song by Johnny Mann & the Tornados was issued on the Donnie label, subsequently becoming a number one hit in Boston.[1]
After this brief brush with success Stokes teamed up with songwriter Alonzo B Willis III, penning a number of songs for the Rubies, the Tri-Lites, the Ex-Cel Five's, and the Spats. At the end of 1965 Stokes made the transition from songwriter to singer, releasing his first record as Simon T. Stokes, "Big City Blues"/ "Pow! Zap! I'm The Bat!", in January 1966. This was followed by a number of releases variously attributed to Simon T. Stokes, the Flower Children, the Perpetual Motion Workshop, and Rock Bottom & The Candy Kisses.[2]
In 1968 Stokes was employed as a songwriter for Elektra Records, which led to the label releasing the "Voodoo Woman"/Can't Stop Now" credited to Simon Stokes & The Nighthawks, with the 45 peaking at number 90 in the Billboard Charts in December 1969. Splitting with Elektra, Stokes & The Nighthawks landed a new deal with MGM Records, releasing a self titled album in July 1970. The group comprised of Randall Keith on rhythm guitar, Donald "Butch" Senneville on lead guitar, bassist Bob Ledger, and Joe Yuele on drums. A number of tracks from the album were included on the soundtrack of The Outlaw Riders, a low budget biker movie released in 1971.[1]
By 1973 The Nighthawks had evolved into Simon Stokes and the Blackwhip Thrill Band, recording an album for the Spindizzy label under the direction of producer David Briggs, an old friend of Stokes who had also been a part of the Perpetual Motion Workshop. By this point in his career Briggs had produced a number of high profile albums, including Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, Alice Cooper's Easy Action and The Twelve Dreams of Dr Sardonicus for Spirit. The album's sleeve art, a scene of scantily clad women being tortured by monks by artist Joe Garrett, caused controversy leading to some stores refusing to stock the record.
In 1974 Stokes signed a deal with Casablanca Records, releasing two 45s for the label later that year. The first was "Captain Howdy", loosely based on the demonic entity in The Exorcist, which reached number ninety in the Billboard Hot 100, although the follow up 45 "Play It Again Sam" wasn’t as successful. A proposed album release was canceled part way through recording. Stokes' next outing was the The Buzzard of Love, released by United Artists in 1977.[1]
During the 1980s Stokes concentrated on writing material for movie soundtracks, beginning with Under The Rainbow in 1981. After penning songs for Vice Squad and Homer & Eddie. Stokes and Joe Renzetti wrote a theme tune for the first Child's Play movie but it was rejected by the film's producers, although it did appear as a promotional 45 on the Apache label. Over the next few years Simon wrote material for a number of low budget productions, often working with former Black Whip Thrill Band members Harry Garfield and Chris Pinnick, including Poltergeist III, My Mom's A Werewolf, Beach Babes From Beyond, and Tammy & The T-Rex, culminating with Head of the Family in 1996.[3] That same year Stokes recorded the Right To Fly (AKA Leary Stokes Duets) album with Timothy Leary and was involved with writing material for Russell Means' album The Radical. In 2002 Stokes recorded a come back album, Honky, which was followed by Head in 2008 and then by Simon Stokes & The Heathen Angels in 2011.[4]
45 Discography[edit]
- Simon T Stokes Big City Blues/Pow! Zap! I'm The Bat! Warrior 1966
- Simon T. Stokes Big City Blues/Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction HBR 1966
- Rock Bottom & The Candy Kisses Candy Is Dandy Pt 1/Candy Is Dandy Pt 2 Bullfrog 1966
- The Flower Children Mini Skirt Blues/Marching Lovers Castil 1966
- Perpetual Motion Workshop Infiltrate Your Mind/Won't Come Down Rally Records 1967
- Simon T Stokes Cobwebs/Big City Blues In Sound 1968
- Simon Stokes and the Nighthawks Voodoo Woman/Can't Stop Now Elektra 1969
- Simon Stokes and The Nighthawks Big City Blues/Jambalaya MGM 1970
- Simon Stokes and The Nighthawks Ballad Of Little Fauss And Big Halsy/Where Are You Going MGM 1970
- Simon Stokes and The Nighthawks Southern Girl/Rhode Island Red MGM 1970
- Simon Stokes Captain Howdy/I Fell For Her, She Fell For Him, He Fell For Me Casablanca 1974
- Simon Stokes Play It Again Sam/I Know I'll Get Fed Casablanca 1974
- Simon Stokes Earthquake/Who Could Have Told You UA 1977
- Simon Stokes Endless Sleep/Air Conditioned Nightmare UA 1977
- Simon Stokes Chucky/Chucky Apache 1988
LP Discography[edit]
- Simon Stokes and the Nighthawks MGM 1970
- Simon Stokes and the Blackwhip Thrill Band Spindizzy 1974
- The Buzzard of Love UA 1977
- Right To Fly PsychoRelic Records 1996 (With Timothy Leary)
- Honky Upper Cut Records 2002
- Head (Self Released) 2008
- Simon Stokes and The Heathen Angels (Self Released) 2011
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Simon Stokes | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
- ↑ "simon t stokes - 45cat Search". www.45cat.com. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0831389/
- ↑ http://www.laweekly.com/music/heathen-angel-2133388
Simon Stokes, musician[edit]
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