ALERT: Obscure Starfire I Bass sighting!

[Minnesota Flats]

Stumbled across these guys while trawling the 1960s Psych vault. They seem to have recorded 3 or 4 singles and then disappeared into obscurity. I dig the oddball lyrics and jagged fuzz. The SFI sighting is an added bonus. Curly cords and groovy matching threads, baby. Brings back memories of 1966, the year I graduated high school.

 

[SFIV1967]

The band was active until not long ago!

Here's the story of the band and that recording:

Fab Four | Garage Hangover

The bass player was Jeff Mann.
"On March 22, 2008, The Fabulous Four Band (Bob Theen – Jeff Mann – Mike Myers – Mark Higbee & original drummer Alex Love) was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame.
Jeff Mann passed away in 2012."

Ralf

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Thanks SFIV, really appreciate the info. I had never heard of them since I grew up in CA. I've been wading through a bunch of obscure 60s psych stuff lately and so much of it is dreck. "Pretty" was a refreshing exception, especially the tune I linked. Plus the sound quality of the recording is far better than on a lot of those low-rent 45s, so many of which sound like Dixie-Cup-and-string technology. (There's another reference that dates me!)

 

[Guildedagain]

May the fuzz be with you.

Ends too abruptly, more please ;]

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Is that a Sunn "Solaris" head behind the keyboard player?

 

[fronobulax]

To be clear, obscure refers to the band and not to the bass.

The PU position puts it after some time in 1966. The straight bridge and absence of the tone switch puts it before some time in 1967. It is possible that the thumb and finger rests have been removed or that the thumb is gone and the finger has been shifted or that the lighting is hiding details. I could be persuaded that the bridge has been swapped but that is not my first impression.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

May the fuzz be with you.

Ends too abruptly, more please ;]

For me, "Moustache in Your Face" is the pick of the litter, but I'm open to being convinced otherwise if somebody else finds a better tune that I missed.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

To be clear, obscure refers to the band and not to the bass.

Correct: "obscure" was intended to modify "sighting", not "Starfire I Bass". Otherwise, the title might've been worded, "ALERT: Sighting of Obscure Starfire I Bass".

 

[SFIV1967]

Is that a Sunn "Solarus" head behind the keyboard player?

The logo on the head and cabinet clearly looks like Sunn. Compare:



So it has to be the Solarus head with the 2x12 cabinet.

Ralf

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Here's another effort under a different name. Pretty *meh...* to my ear: