The Frantics & The Frantic

This group came out of Billings, Montana to establish themselves in Colorado.  The band is cited as being an early pioneer of psychedelic music.  They made their way around the country – for a time in New York City and then a stint in New Mexico before finally finding a base in a Colorado Springs nightclub called “Kelker Junction”.

During their time in New York they would mingle and jam with east coast musicians – one in particular of note – Jimi Hendrix!  I am thinking  that during their stay in New York they somehow hooked up with the Sunco Records label and this is where they released their Sunco single probably in 1966.  Another group who transplanted to Denver around this same time – and who also recorded three singles for Sunco was the “Fantabulous Jags”.

Like many Colorado-based bands, the Frantics would find their way into Norman Petty’s studio in New Mexico.  The band had two sessions in Clovis, the first in the summer of 1968 and the second in December of that year.  They were working with Petty on recording a full long play.  Two members of the Frantics composed a few songs which Petty recorded with other bands.  One of these was titled “Think About It”, but the effort lacked the power of the Frantics’ version and went nowhere.

The tracks that the Frantics laid down for their LP eventually first surfaced in 1994 with the release of the “Relax Your Mind” CD on the Collectibles label 

In 1966 and 1967 the group performed on the same billing as many prominent touring acts including England’s “Yardbirds” and “The Who”,  “The Young Rascals”, “The Everly Brothers” and the “McCoys” to name a few.

Eventually the group would relocate to Los Angeles modifying their name slightly to “Frantic” in 1970. During that time the lineup underwent nearly total overhaul with Byfuglin and Sherman being joined by four new members.  One of their first appearances out west was as the famed “Whiskey-A-Go-Go”.

They would finally get to take a shot at a long play when they signed on with the “Lizard” record label and one resulting 45 rpm release (both shown below).  By 1971, things were cooling off and several members moved on while others continued playing around Los Angeles.

Fortunately, the Frantics’ “Route 66” from Clovis made it onto a couple of releases from the “Garageland” label

  The Frantics - Relax your mind 1968

THE ORIGINAL FRANTICS’ LINEUP FROM 1966:

Max Byfuglin ~ Vocals, Tambourine

Don Kingery ~ Drums

Bill Koglashak ~ Bass

Doan Moak ~ Rhythm Guitar

Kim Sherman ~ Lead Guitar

1.The Frantics - Her And Her Mountain (3:26)

2.The Frantics - Lady Of The Night (3:38)

3.The Frantics - Child Of The Universe (5:28)

4.The Frantics - Sweet Mary (2:38)

5.The Frantics - Think About It (2:59)

6.The Frantics - Relax Your Mind (3:22)

7.The Frantics - Just For Awhile (2:53)

8.The Frantics - Stranger (3:28)

9.The Frantics - She (4:24)

10.The Frantics - Great Tomato (2:42)

11.The Frantics - Scitnarf (2:36)

12.The Frantics - Stone Goddess (4:41)

The group released a pair of singles, "La Do Da Da" b/w "Route 66" and "Midnight to Six Man" b/w "Shady Sam." They also cut two albums, Relax Your Mind, which dated from 1968 and was unreleased until the '90s, and a second album, Conception, late in their history. At around that same time, they dropped the "s" from their name and worked as the Frantic.

The Frantic -  Conception 1970

THE 1970 LINEUP AS “FRANTIC”:

Max Byfuglin ~ Vocals, Tambourine

David Day ~ Bass (Wanderers – 1966 Montana Group – joined The Frantics in 1967 – later to “Whitehorse”)

Dennis Devlin ~ Guitar

Jim Haas ~ Keyboards

Phil Head ~ Drums

Kim Sherman ~ Lead Guitar

No wonder they were Frantic, this was a band with a personality crisis. Inspired by Beatlemania, the Frantics, as they were initially known, sprang out of the non-existent Billings, MT music scene.

Numerous lineup shifts and a move to New Mexico ensued, before the band, then calling themselves Frantic, settled briefly in Oklahoma City in 1966. There they linked up with the Rascals and hit the road, eventually landing in NYC. When it all went south, the group returned to New Mexico before California beckoned. There, Frantic finally landed a deal with Lizard Records, resulting in their debut Conception album. Unfortunately, all those years touring hadn't helped the group develop their own sound, which remained beholden to their many idols, nor had it left them time for songwriting -- only half the set was penned by them. That said, the covers are the most astonishing tracks on the set. The high point is definitely "Hey Joe," built around Kim Sherman's melancholy surf guitar and Jim Haas' cathedral organ. A garage-psych take on the Doors "Little Girl" is different, if nothing else, while "Morning Dew" starts in poppy Jefferson Airplane territory before taking off towards British prog-dom. The Pretty Things' "Midnight to Six Man" gets the ultimate workout as the band bang through garage-psych into

prog rock and British Invasion territory. The Yardbirds don't get covered, but do get an homage on Frantic's own "Scitnarf," featuring Dennis Devlin' rollicking harmonica. Of their own numbers, arguably "Shady Sam," with its Eastern influences and intriguing use of percussion, is the most interesting. It doesn't, however, hold a candle to anything the British prog rock scene was currently unleashing. And that was Frantic's problem: so much great music, so little time to learn and regurgitate it all. Barrelling from boogie to psych, R&B to pop, the group were jacks of all sounds and master of none. Bet they kicked butt live, though.

01.Frantic - Baby (3:11)

02.Frantic - Wicked Woman (3:15)

03.Frantic - Scitnarf (1:55)

04.Frantic - Hey Joe (5:13)

05.Frantic - More Of A Man (3:47)

06.Frantic - Little Girl (2:58)

07.Frantic - Shady Sam (3:43)

08.Frantic - Her And Her Mountain (2:35)

09.Frantic - Morning Dew (3:59)

10.Frantic - Midnight To Six Man (4:05)

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1369551-The-Frantics-4

https://kimsloans.wordpress.com/2019/12/16/the-frantic-frantics-frantic/

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