The Jades (Michigan band)
| The Jades | |
|---|---|
.JPEG.jpg) |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Sparta, Michigan, United States |
| Genres | Garage rock |
| Years active | 1965-1968 |
| Labels | Fenton Records |
| Past members |
|
The Jades were an American garage rock and band from Sparta, Michigan who were active in the 1960s (not to be confused with several other bands from the period also named "the Jades"). They were one of the most popular bands in Sparta and West Michigan and cut two singles for Fenton Records owned by Dave Kalmback, who eventually became the group's manager. They are remembered for songs such as "Please Come Back" and the topical "Confined Congregation", and their work is highly regarded today by garage rock collectors and enthusiasts.
"Memories about the band are still crystal clear after 45 years. Four kids that lived more in four or five years than most people do in twenty, I remember so many other groups in the Greater Grand Rapids area and all around Michigan having shared the same kind of experiences. We were lucky with out even knowing it. In our heads we were the Stones, Beatles, Animals.....every time we got on stage and played these great new tunes. It was so easy to play all night and tear down, load it up, take home, and get up early and practice the next day and then do it all over again that next night. Then school on Monday and walking through the halls with a grin on your face just remembering how much fun you had last weekend, knowing no one would believe you if you told them. Except for the boys in the band. Those truly were the good old days. My hat is off to my dear old friends in the band that are fortunately still around. The Jades."
The Jades formed in the fall of 1965 by students from Sparta High School in Sparta, Michigan. Their original membership consisted of Rich Seigel, who was blind, on vocals and rhythm guitar, Craig Clarke on vocals and bass, Phil Succop on lead guitar, and Roy Johnson on drums. Siegel and Clarke usually handled the vocals. Drummer Johnson left the band six months later and was replaced by Dan Preston. Floyd Johnson, a country music fan, would occasionally play on the piano located on the stage in the schools' gym while the band was practicing there in hopes that they would ask him to join, which they eventually did—he later became their official keyboard player. The Jades' primary influences were British Invasion bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Yardbirds, and Them, featuring Van Morrison. Clarke was fourteen when the band formed and, unlike the other band members who were self-trained, he had taken lessons in classical guitar, but switched to bass. Lead guitarist Phil Succup had a truck and provided with transportation. Sparta High School's choir director Bob Stiles and Arnie DePagter, a Spanish teacher and coach, helped the band get gigs. The Jades first performance was at the Spanish Fiesta event held at the Sparta High School gym. The band worked occasional parties and became popular in the Tri-County region, regularly playing at high school dances in Rockford, Sparta, Rogers, Cedar Springs, Coppersville, Lowell, and other elsewhere and eventually toured statewide. For two summers they performed three nights a week at a club in Hess Lake and competed in a several Battle of the Bands contests, winning one held at the Grand Rapids Civic Auditorium (also attended by the Quests form Grand Rapids) and coming in second in another held at the Black & Silver Room to a crowd of over a thousand, where they reached the semi-finals in the playoffs and were awarded $150.
...
Wikipedia