Brotherhood is what Phil Volk, Drake Levin and Mike “Smitty” Smith feel for each other and it may very well turn out to be the name of their group. Phil, Drake and Smitty are now very busy working together and creating their own particular sound. Though they have many offers, they do not want to record until they’re able to present their many loyal fans with the kind of music they hope you will find important and enlightening. Their day will come soon, so stay cool. You’ll be wacked out when you hear what the Brotherhood comes up with . . . By the way, it is not unlikely that Harpo may join his former Raider buddies—Phil, Drake and Smitty—in their new enterprise. Whether Harpo joins them or not, you can rest assured that he—oh, yes, and we all have to remember to call him Jim Valley from now on—will also be presenting you with music that comes straight from his heart.
As you know, Charlie Coe of Don & the Goodtimes is now a Raider. Big Don McKinney decided to drop out of Don & the Goodtimes and the two new Goodtimes are Jeff Hawks and Joey Newman. The boys are recording on Columbia and will soon have an LP out plus a single follow-up to their hit record, I Could Be So Good To You . . . Gary & the Hornets—Gary, Steve and Gregg, all brothers from Chicago—are destined to make it big, even though they are very, very young. Look for them to come up with a single hit on their Smash label by the end of the summer . . . The Walker Brothers (all of whom are American) split up at the peak of their career as the top teen idols of England. They just couldn’t get along with each other.
Groups to watch (cos they’re really groovin’ with some good sounds): Tremeloes, Harpers Bizare, Lamp of Childhood and Every Mothers’ Son (pictured here with an airline stewardess at J.F.K. Airport in New York City) . . . Next season, when you’re looking at The Monkees and you catch a glimpse of a happy face playing a harp and you think you recognize it, you’ll be right—it’ll be Jim Valley!
