The Revels
The Revels were an American rock band, associated with the 1960s surf music craze. Their most famous song was "Church Key".[1][2]
History
The group started in the mid-to-late 1950s as a high school band in San Luis Obispo, California [3] called Gil Serna & The Rockets, before changing their name to The Revels in 1959. Although their instrumental style predated the 1961-65 era of surf music, their success came during that period.
They are usually considered a "pre-surf" band and were the original Central California coastal instrumental band. Other bands from the area later included the more popular groups named The Sentinals and The Impacts.[3]
The Revels singles were collected on their sole album, Revels on a Rampage (1964).[4] They also composed music for the soundtrack of the 1961 film The Exiles.
Their 1961 song "Comanche" has been featured on two soundtracks.[5] It first appeared as the "Detoured Theme" in The Exiles.[2] It was later included along with several other Surf music hits on the soundtrack of the film, Pulp Fiction (1994).[6]
Another member, Norman Knowles, had offered to manage the Sentinals who had a hit with "Latin'ia".[3] In addition to managing The Sentinals he wrote "Church Key" and "Intoxica".[7]
Band members
- Norman Knowles (saxophone)
- Dan Arnold (rhythm guitar, 1959-60)
- Merrell Fankhauser (rhythm guitar)
- Brian England (bass)
- Sam Eddy (piano)
- Jim Macrae (drums),
- Gil Serna (lead guitar, 1959)
- Dave Davis (lead guitar, 1960)
- Dean Sorensen (lead guitar, 1961-62)
- Paul Sorensen (rhythm guitar, 1960-62)
References
- ↑ "The Best of The Revels - Intoxica". All Music.
- 1 2 "Intoxica: The Best of The Revels". Music City.
- 1 2 3 Patrick S. Pemberton (March 1, 2012). "Surf music: SLO County's radical history". The Tribune.
The rise of surf rock in the 1960s was spearheaded in part by local teen bands including The Impacts, The Sentinals and The Revels
- ↑ "Revels on a Rampage". All Music.
- ↑ Davis, Kevin (3 December 1995). "Rock 'n' Roll Memories: If You Like Surf Music, Then You Have a Link to Robert Hafner's Musical Roots". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- ↑ "Surf Music and Seventies Soul: The Songs of 'Pulp Fiction'". Rolling Stone magazine. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ↑ Answers Exotic and Rockin' Instrumentals 1963-1964
External links
- Discogs.com The Revels at Discogs
- Exiles Film Website
- The Revels biography by Michael Jack Kirby at Way Back Attack