The Innocents

They were one of the most prolific rock and roll groups of all time - producing a string of their own hits, hits with Kathy Young, and providing backup work for other artists.   The Innocents will be remembered for the terrific music they created that provided cherished memories for all.
 
 
 

We had a chance to chat with original member Jim West.  West has so many great memories and stories of the original days of rock and roll and of the history of the Innocents.   As to his overall impression of his days in the world of rock and roll, West comments that "its been a long time and we had some ups and downs but some really good times, no doubt about it."   The original members were West, Al Candelaria and Darron Stankey.  The group started in the San Fernando Valley of California.  West recalls meeting Al and Darren in high school around 1958.  He went to a party one night and met Al and Darren who were singing.  "I didn't even know they sang and I walked up and started singing the third part of "Cherry Pie" (ironic considering who they would be working with later on - see below).   Al and Darren already had a band called the Echoes (no relation to the Brooklyn Echoes) with another member - Larry New.  They invited West to join them at a recording session for the Andex label (Herb Albert and Lou Adler's subsidiary of Keen).  The group was recording Dee Dee Di Oh (Andex 22101 - 1959 B side to Time).   West recalls that "I put sort of a high vocal "uwww" pre-Beach Boys background and everyone liked it.  We got done with it and Lou Adler asked if I knew any songs."  Jim said "yes" and told him about his composition called Time.  Adler asked West to stay and work the song out with the guitar player and they would come back in an hour.  Upon Adler's return, they did the song.  Larry New was "kind of upset" with West because he had stolen the show at the last minute.  However, Al and Darron were apparently impressed with West and asked him to join the group.  They went on without Larry.   The group needed a better name and decided on the Innocents after the name of their High School car club (for those that love the car stuff - West drove a 1951 Ford - "lowered with spinners").

That was it for Andex.  West recalls what happened next.  "We had some really good practices and we were writing songs.  We were at Al's house and Darron played guitar while we were going over songs."  He suggested they go to Hollywood and get a record deal.  Everyone agreed.  They went down to Hollywood and made the rounds literally knock on doors.  They finally made it to American Recording Studios owned by Don Podler.  Working for American at the time were two guys - Gary Paxton and Kim Fowley.  Paxton was half of Skip and Flip (Cherry Pie - see the irony now?) and later teamed with Fowley to form the Hollywood Argyles.  The day they went to American, Fowley was at a desk with his feet propped up.   "He's a tall, lanky guy with kind of an attitude," says West.   "He says - 'what do you guys want?'  We said - we're singers and we want to get signed," probably a line Fowley heard dozens a time each week.   Fowley told them to "go away."   He told them to go talk to other people.  They insisted that Fowley to listen to them.  When they started playing, Fowley "sat up in his chair and his eyes got big," remembers West.   Fowley called Paxton in to listen.   Paxton liked the group as well.  "It was just blind luck," says West.

Fowley and Paxton asked the group to play some of their material to find something to record.  They asked if they had anything new and the group told them about a new composition - Honest I Do.  The song was not finished at the time.  They played it and both Paxton and Fowley said "yeah - that's got the sound."   The guys were told to come back at 8 o'clock to record and finish the song.  They left and drove their cars home to get ready.  They were so excited that on the Hollywood Freeway they sped along (with only about 8 cars!) and shouted lyrics back and forth to each other's cars!  By the time they got home the song was ready.  They returned to the studio.  "We went in the studio for 4 or 5 hours," says West.  They recorded Honest I Do, Tick Tock  and an instrumental called the Rut (commonly referred to incorrectly as the Rat).  Interestingly - after the group found success, Paxton and Fowley took the later two recordings and released them on the Trans World label (Trans World 7001 - 1960).

In March or April 1960, Paxton called the owners of a new label - Indigo Records - who wanted to start releasing some recordings.  The first release was Honest I Do b/w My Baby Hully Gullys (Indigo 105 - 1960).  Three to four weeks, the group was #1 in Los Angeles.  The song went to #28 nationally.  "It was totally amazing and it totally changed our lives, says West."  "We all had plans to do other stuff."

They signed a contract that was full of holes (not to mention the fact that they were all under age).   Paxton and Fowley left the scene.  "I guess they really didn't know what to do with us," says West.  At that point Jim Lee of Indigo took over handling the group.   "We were really at home there (Indigo)." The label bought an office in Burbank and the group hung out there.  Given their considerable talent, Indigo took advantage of the guys and used them as session musicians on many of their other artists' recordings including the Inspirations.

Off the success of Honest I Do, the guys found themselves actively performing shows.  They were hugely popular on the West Coast.  "There was a place in Santa Monica called Pacific Ocean Park and there was a live television show every Friday night hosted by Wink Martindale, " remembers West.  They were on that show 10-15 times along with all the big name artists of the time - Sam Cooke, Neil Sedaka, Connie Francis.   Those performances vaulted the group's image and popularity.  "When anybody heard us sing, their jams would drop," says West.  "It was an unusual sound."

After Honest I Do, they were playing a gig at Pacific Ocean Park one night when a cute little teenage girl came up to them.  "I can sing," she said.  West and the guys thought to themselves sarcastically:  "sure you can."  They probably heard that a lot from female fans.  "No really, I can."  That girl, of course, was Kathy Young.  They introduced her to their producer who asked Young to join them in the studio.  Later, Young came into studio and sang a few songs.  At the time, the Innocents were working on a version of the Rivileers song A Thousand Stars.  Their producer thought it might be a good song for Young.  Young sang it and the Innocents started listening and putting together some background vocals.  Everyone thought it sounded it fabulous.  "Three or four hours later - there was the song," recalls West (check out the studio out take of one take below).  "It really has that life and spontaneity to it."  Innocents ended up doing all of Young's background vocals.  "We were so aggressive with each other - we would go 'uwww' and then say 'tighten it up,'" says West.  "We never got upset with each other but it was really zeroed in to the exclusion of everything else."

A Thousand Stars was a mega-hit for the group going all the way to #3.   Meanwhile, the group went back to making their own records and followed up Honest I Do with Gee Whiz b/w Please Mr. Sun (Indigo 111 - 1960) that also went to #28.  "That was a song that we did all along," says West.  "It came out so good and had such a good feel that they decided to release it as the follow-up."

 They also backed Young on her follow up records such as Happy Birthday Blues.  They had quite a following on the West Coast.  "We would play places and the (all black) audience wouldn't know we were white," says West.  Then they'd play Honest I Do and Gee Whiz there were standing ovations.  West recalls working with and watching many black artists at Pacific Ocean Park (the Innocents' regular hang-out) such as the Paradons, Sam Cooke and Shep and the Limelites.  West recalls one show performing with the Untouchables (You're On Top) that left a memorable impression on him and his wife to be.

The group's next record was Kathy (b/w In The Beginning - Indigo 116 - 1961) - a song about Kathy Young.  It started out as a song written by West.  "My song was much more like an ode to Kathy Young."  The group's producer took it home and changed it and they used the producer's version. West's version was much more innocent and from the teen perspective.  The producer's was more of an older perspective.  Their next record was  the Jesse Belvin song Beware b/w Because I Love You (Indigo 124 - 1961).  And they followed with a rare album offering on Indigo called Innocently Yours (Indigo LP-503).  That, in and of itself, tells you how talented this group was as it was a rare at the time for a label to allow a group to producer albums.  Their last Indigo recording was the Richie Valens record Donna (b/w You Got Me Going - Indigo 128 - 1961).  Indigo dug out some previously unreleased material and managed two additional releases in 1961 and 1961.

West wanted out of his contract but Indigo was reluctant to let him go.  THey had already let Al and Darron out of their contracts.  West made a deal - he would record one record as a solo artist and they would then agree to give him his contract (which he still has - by the way).  West recorded as Bobby James and it was produced by Skip of Skip and Flip.  Richard Perry played piano and sang in the background on one song and the Blossoms can be heard singing background vocals as well.   The two songs - 5000 Tears Ago and Memories Linger were released on Indigo in 1962.  After that, West left the label.

West rejoined Al and Darron and it was off to a new label - Reprise.  Nick and Steve Benet (of Hondells fame) took over the group's career.   That resulted in Oh How I Miss My Baby b/w Be Mine (Reprise 201112 - 1962) and re-released as Oh How I Miss My Baby b/w You're Never Satisfied (Reprise 201125 - 1963).  At the time, Reprise was making a lot of changes and the group got lost in the shuffle.

After that, it was off to Warner Brothers where they did My Heart Stood Still which was a reunion with former Indigo producer Jim Lee and Lee Hazelwood. "It was really lush 30's song."  It was a #1 hit record in the Midwest like Pittsburgh and still gets played on many oldies stations.  And then off to Decca Records for one last recording Come On Lover b/w Don't Cry (Decca 31519 - 1963).   The Beatles hit and that was that!

West kept on writing and was involved in building Mama Joe's Studio with producer
and boyhood friend, Freddie Piro.  He did background vocals for the Southern California 70's and 80's rock group Ambrosia (Holdin On to Yesterday, Biggest Part of Me) and formed his own band called Fortress and recorded for Atlantic Records with the release of Hand In the Till in 1980.  After that, West left the business and went into antiques.
 
 

After many years of doing revival shows and reunions, including a performance on one of the PBS Doo-Wop specials, the group got together a few years ago to record some new material, including some of their original Innocents songs.  The result is a new CD with four songs!  See below!  "Its much more produced than anything we've done and more modern but it still has that oldie but goodie sound," says West.  Featured are the selections are an original called  Our Love (written by West);  the Johnny Ace selection Pledging Our Love;  Angel with a Heartache (kind of a country sound) and a remake of Oh How I Miss My Baby (their Reprise recording).

West kept writing and has even more new material which the group anticipates recording on a new CD in the near future.  We can't wait to hear more from this fantastically talented group of guys.

Current Information

Click here for the Innocents Web Site and to order their new CD:  Link

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