4.05.2006
In Research
Research 1 6 12 In Research LP (Flick City, 1968)
Welcome to the world of Research 1 6 12. This ellusive record has long been a staple of psychedelia collector want lists and for good reason. At its best, Research 1 6 12's In Research is moody psych cut with Them like guitar fuzz and smart ass pranks.
According to the Rabbi Morrie Yess, who played guitar in the band, Research 1 6 12 formed as the result of a gig in an Oxnard, California bowling alley. Somehow they made their way to Flick City, the record label of David Rollnick, who clawed his way into the music biz by managing the Cleftones. They recorded this one album which "aired on 75 FM stations across America" and promptly broke up. Rabbi Yess asumes that "sales were rather weak" and states that none of the band received any royalties from the record.
After the band broke up, Yess went to the "Holy Land...and studied Torah for about 7 years in a Rabbi College. [He has] been uninvolved with rock since 1978." Dick Bozzi went into radio, pioneered the oldies/classic rock format, headed a major label subsidiary specializing in bringing back classic rock acts, and was last seen helping Kansas revive their career. Don Burns, "born in the backwoods of Tennessee" (according to the liner notes), disappeared, perhaps to back to the woods? Rabbi Yess mentions the "other two band members" besides Bozzi and him. So perhaps there is a fourth uncredited member. I don't know. This is all the information I could get out of the Rabbi.
I got this record at least 10 years ago. Fished it out of a dollar bin. It had been marked down from $5. Didn't know what it was at the time but who wouldn't spend a buck on a record with a song called "Lookin' in the Toaster" on it?
Please check out the comments as Rabbi Yess has contributed a little more history to this mystery....
Rabbi Yess here.
Well...as long as my album is under review here's some more gritty.
It was a 1960's album made before 1969 because in 1969 I went to NYC for a position at WCBS-FM which lasted 6 months.
Research 1-6-12 played the junkiest possible no frills gigs that the West Coast had to offer. The bowling alley in Oxnard was the high point of a career that nosedived as Iron Butterfly's soared. We weren't even close. I recall one gig in Lancaster, CA where we did one set and the manager told us to go home. He preferred the juke box. (great for one's self esteem). We were so poor (All together now-"How poor were you Rabbi Yess?)that I actually had to get a day gig to keep the band alive. David Rollnik, our label owner, was married to the daughter of Sabicas, a very famous flamenco guitarist. Rollnik had strong ties to several radio stations. "gifts" were sent to certain jocks and bingo we got played. We sold maybe 3 records. My mother bought one. My sister bought the second. I bought the third.
We took a 1500 mile trip up the coast to Seattle stopping at every imaginable rock station and doing the ususal interview stuff. Underground FM radio was just the rage at that time in Frisco. We met and did a show with Guss Gossert at KMPX (not sure of the letters). He went on to revamp CBS's national FM network with oldies. Many years later I learned that Gud had been shot in a car in Miami. The FEDS found a brick in his safety deposit box. What a waste of a true talent.
The group had three founding members Dick, Dewey and myself and we rotated drummers. The album was cut in one day...quickly..at a decent 8 track studio in Anaheim.
While all of that was happening (here comes the name dropping) I was bopping around Hollywood. Some of the highlights included a few live jams with Feliciano and David Crosby in the side jam room at the Troubadore. I was asked to be in the Association by Gary Alexander. Turned that down. Matt Katz told me of a group he wanted me to join. He told me it would be the hottest group in just a year. But I had heard that before and no money was offered. I was expected to live on air alone I guess. The group was Jefferson Airplane.
In all honesty those days, while having the appearance of being special and romantic, truth be told...they were pretty shallow. I never was into drugs. I was terrified by them. To this day I have never smoked a joint. Most people don't believe that...but its true.
There comes a time when one wakes up to realizing that a Higher Power makes us move in directions we do not necessarily want to go. When that awakening happened to me I headed to Israel to get some Jewish education I never had as a kid. Best move of my life. Most of the guys I knew back in California really screwed up their lives. Crosby especially.
BTW..we've got some serious stuff coming down from Heaven. I know of what I speak. You may want to check my website out at www.rabbiyess.com
I can be reached at myess@charter.net
No..I wouldn't do Hollywood all over again if I had the choice and my youth back. The fame game is really shallow and sickly self indulgent. Better things in life to pursue.
Rabbi Moshe Yess
The Highway song is my persona fave, along with Omar and looking in the tlaster...But Juicy will always rock as well.
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