Customer Reviews

The Fraternity Years

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Until now, I have vaguely even heard of this psychedelic / garage band from Tyler, Texas. Apparently, the band put out plenty of good singles between 1965-69. But, no albums. No problem, this twenty-five track compilation says it all. Tunes I found myself playing over many times are "Public Execution" (sounds SO much like Bob Dylan, it's almost scary), "Maid Of Sugar,Maid of Spice", "I've Got Her Love", "I Am The One", the Monkees-like "Promises,Promises" and "I Satisfy". Line-up: Ronnie 'Mouse' Weiss-vocals, Doug Rhone-guitar&vocals, David Stanley-bass, Randy Fouts-keyboards and Don Garrett-drums. Should appeal to most fans of the Standells, Chocolate Watchband, Gentrys, Kingsmen and the Outcasts. Essential.

This Tyler, TX band achieved their greatest international fame a half-decade after they first laid down the Dylanesque "A Public Execution" in the mid-60s. The exposure came from the song's inclusion on Lenny Kaye's legendary "Nuggets" double LP and revitalized interest in the group's entire catalog of singles. The resulting interest spawned early vinyl-mastered reissues on New Rose, and finally, this authoritative CD release drawn from the original master tapes.

Mouse is Ronnie Weiss, a singer whose normal singing voice is a dead-ringer for Dylan's nasal delivery. "A Public Execution," Weiss' 1966 kiss-off to an ex-girlfriend, found the sort of disjointed regional radio success that never gained the critical mass needed to chart nationally. The band developed fans in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ohio and Kentucky, but never graduated beyond their contract with the Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records. The single's B-side, the horn-lined "All for You" is perhaps more indicative of the R&B material the band turned out in live performances across oil patch towns in East Texas. Still, this was the mid-60s, and like Jim Sohns of The Shadows of Knight, Mouse lent a cocky edge to the band's blues.

The follow-up single, "Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice," sounds even more like the Shadows of Knight, with bedspring-twangs of fuzz guitar punctuating the mile-a-minute vocals and R&B band rave-up. It's a truly sweltering piece of mid-60s garage rock. The flipside, "I Am the One" introduced the band's proclivity for folk-rock, which also included the Byrds styled buzz and jangle of "I've Got Her Love" and the Dylanesque "Like I Know You Do." The latter was the flipside of a novelty (written by one of the label's investors) "Would You Believe," that's been omitted from this collection (and by all reports, to everyone's advantage).

Mouse tackled other styles, including the baroquely styled "Hand in Hand" and "As Far as the Sea," and the twangy production pop of "Promises, Promises." Even further afield, the record company's search for commercially viable sides resulted in the bubblegum "L.O.V.E. Love," the wistful "Sometimes You Just Can't Win" (also recorded by the band's studio mate, John Fred of Playboy band fame), and the 1968 organ-led psych sides "I Satisfy" and "Look at the Sun." None had much sales impact, but they did provide space for infectious B-sides like the rocking "Lie, Beg, Borrow and Steal" and the harmony laden "Requiem for Sarah."

Big Beat's 25-track collection sports seven previously unreleased tracks, including a ripping cover of The Yardbirds "I'm a Man," a funky, James Brown styled take on "You Are My Sunshine," the party-time arrangement of Dallas Fazer's "Mohair Sam," and the original protest folk-rocker "Nobody Cares." One might have hoped for the band's non-Fraternity sides (originally released on Hanna-Barbara and Epic), or the novelty "Would You Believe," but their absence is a nit. An introductory essay from the band's producer and detailed liner notes from reissue producer Alec Palao round out a solid package documenting a mid-60s Texas garage band that should have been more widely known in their own time. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]

The first song, "Public Execution," delivers the predominant message in the music, Texas garage strongly influenced by Dylan's early electric period. Specifically, vocals heavily borrowed from the man himself and "Highway 61 Revisited" instrumentations, particularly in the organ and guitar. The police siren even makes an appearance later in the CD. The guitar licks in "Public Execution" are pure "Like a Rolling Stone."
To be sure, other influences abound, the CD is like a musical "Where's Waldo." Doors keyboards, psychedelic Donovan, lush pop arrangements ("Requiem for Sarah") and a James Brown treatment of "You Are My Sunshine" (!). The title "Fraternity Years" refers to the record label on which these originally appeared, not the maturity level of the performances.
Lots of material here, enjoy!!!

I was 25 when this was released in 1967. I was a singer/songwriter with a record contract. I kept up with what people were doing, the recordings, the movies and press that drove the hippie culture. Bob Dylan was the fountainhead of sixties cultural movement whether he wanted to be or not.

I remember hearing on the radio a guy named Mouse, the lead singer on this album, singing his song Public Execution which owes a lot to Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone, to many, Dylan's signature song. I only heard Public Excecution once on the radio but I was taken with it. My comment was that Mouse out-Bob Dylaned Bob Dylan. Mouse had every Dylan nuance down pat, accent, his soaring sharp, wailing refrains which defied musical convention, so distinctly Dylan. If you can imagine Dylan with a strong pop voice, this is it.

The album is of great historical significance. It features the guitar virtuosity of Bugs Henderson who, in my mind, is one of the top guitar players that ever lived. After all these years he's filling up some club and blowing minds. The record was cut at Robin Hood Brian's famous studio in Tyler, where everyone in or near Texas that was ever anybody recorded. James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner, ZZ, Stevie Ray and many others.

I bought it for historical value and play it often for friends who don't know about Mouse. I always enjoy it. There are several voices dwelling within Dylan himself, from the brash Like a Rolling Stone Dylan to the tender Just Like a Woman Dylan. Mouse has them all down.

I wonder... There are many Elvis impersonators, some of whom I presume make a good living. Why weren't there ever any Dylan impersonators? You could say some like Petty, Knopfler, the Byrds made their bones by channeling Dylan. But no one did Dylan as well as Mouse.

Ronnie Weiss should have gotten more exposure for his group Mouse & the Trapps, who had 3 really excellent originals, among others, but I think only one made it to the national airwaves. Very creative and a voice for the times (the 60s) who could mimic Dylan as well as John Sebastian in his vocal stylings. This album was the greatest!

Unless you a huge fan of this group, most questions regarding them would probably be met with blank stares, and listening to this lengthy compilation leaves you wondering why. This group is responsible for some of the best psychedelic garage rock ever. The first song I ever heard from this group was "Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice" which has some brilliantly piercing guitars. I always assumed that these guys were British because I first heard of them through a psychedelic-rock compilation featuring mostly British groups, so now, finding out that these guys are actually from Texas makes their music even more appealing, because much (but certainly not all) of the British psychedelic rock of the 60s is admittedly superior to what came from America. These guys, however, can adeptly hold company with all of those British greats.