West Michigan 45 rpm: The Barons (1965)

LISTEN: “Try a Love With Me” b/w “Don’t Come Back No More”

BY RICH TUPICA

The Barons, one of the first teen-garage bands to form in Grand Rapids, Michigan, got together in a pre-Beatlemania 1963 and played their first gig by that Halloween — a string of packed shows followed.

Soon, there was no shortage of venues for garage bands to play in West Michigan, but before The Beatles hit in the United States, local music venues across the country were 21 and over bars. Live music catered to adults looking to hear music suitable for their tastes, not teenagers screaming into microphones. But The Ed Sullivan Show changed that overnight. So, along with the burst of British-obsessed garage bands came a surge of newly opened, all-ages teen clubs willing to host these well-attended, dance-friendly concerts.

When The Barons was not honing its live set on weekends, the band was working on original tunes, which would be peppered into each live show. Though like all teen bands from this era, their shows consisted mainly of hot Top 40 covers. From Motown to The Kinks.

With its early formation, the group’s “Try a Love With Me” single delivers a chirpy, teenybopper sound. The flipside, “Don’t Come Back No More,” is a tad moodier. The August 1965 record was released on Jafes Records, a Fenton Records offshoot-imprint named after the band’s manager, Jim “Jafes” Kent.

The Barons, which also recorded in Kent’s home studio, comprised guitarists Dick Steimle, Dave Rutkowski, Bill McNamara (bass) and drummer Steve Carpenter, aka “Mandrill Fern.” A high point for the band was opening a show for the legendary Chubby Checker. After the guys parted ways, Steimle went on to play in The SoulBenders while Rutkowski joined up with The Pedestrians in 1967. More on those bands later.

LISTEN TO THE BARONS:

”Try A Love With Me”

“Don’t Come Back No More”