Well, well!! How has this band dodged my radar for so long? A little bit soulful, a little bit funky, a little bit ‘loner’ at times, but a whole lot of interesting!
Originally consisting of members Ward May, Skip Henshaw, Nelson Miller, Roger Mercer, Sharon Copeland (née Henshaw), Linda Quinlan, and Bing Greeson, the Monzas emerged from North Carolina in 1961. Named after the car, “Corvair Monza Spyder”, their primary goal was to play dances at local high schools and private parties.
Over the ten years they were together, there were several line-up change. Big John Thompson joined in around 1963 to lay the bass track down on Hey I Know You and he ended up staying with the band. Mickey Coombs and Johnny Andrews came in around 1963-64 and Rick Mitchell came in around 1966. Mike Griffin was added on Sax in 1965. Sammy Fowler came in around 1966, with Billy Carden, Don Baker, and Nelson re-joining in 1967-68. I guess this disrupted their releases as it would seem it took nearly four years to issue their first single!
I love the vocal harmonies this band create and how they (seemingly) flit between upbeat soul, groove funk and a ‘smoky’ blend between the two! Where today’s song came from, I don’t know, because it sounds quite different to their other material! It’s a little bit eerie and troubled, but that’s what really sold it to me! It captures a lost and lonesome feeling, bottling it up in a potent blend of hushed vocals, shuffling beats and a haunted melody. It quietly gets under your skin!
Issued on North Carolina Label, Pacific Records, Forever Walks A Drifter was the B-side to the band’s 1965 debut 45, Hey, I Know You (which I have mentioned and included a link for above). The track lives up to its name and has that ‘outsider’ feel to it, standing out from their otherwise rather soulful repertoire, but this is why I appreciate the song even more….
Numero Records reissued some of the band’s material back in 2017 and I am currently working my way though this record. It’s definitely worth checking out – I’ve pasted it below so that you can do just that! Enjoy!
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