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THE CHOSEN FEW
The Famous 1960's Band from Winnetka/Chicago, Illinois
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THE CHOSEN FEW
"Raw 'n Roll"
THE SONGS
1. Play With Fire 02:23
2. You Made me Cry 03:12*
3. Summer Love 03:11*
4. Stay Away 03:20*
5. Bye Bye Love 03:25
6. Johnny B. Goode 03:01
7. Great Balls Of Fire 02:22
Executive Produced by
Chet Nichols and Stephen Barncard
for Magic Garage Productions
Re-mastered and digitized by
Stephen Barncard,
House Of Cubes, SF, CA
Produced by Chet Nichols,
Tom Peck, Wayne Welch
Jeff Weinstein and Bill Bradley
Engineered by Bill Bradley in 1964 in his
3-story home in Wilmette, Il
* Songs composed by Chet Nichols.
Copyrights by Chet Nichols (ASCAP)
Special thanks to Stephen Barncard,
Greg Welch, Susan Peck MacDonald
and Mrs. Peck for their time and
contributions
Dedicated to the memory of
Thomas O. Peck, Jeffrey Weinstein
and Bill Bradley
Copyright 2007 by Chet Nichols.
All Rights Reserved.
Cover design and photos by Chet Nichols
If you want to reach Chet Nichols
please email us. Click Here.
To Purchase this CD please CLICK
on the ADD TO CART button below.
You will be sent to my secure site at
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Chet, Jeff & Tom at The Rolling
Stone in Winnetka-1964  Wayne Welch at the drumset
at a basement practice  Jeff, Tom and Chet at a basement
practice.  Jeff chilling out during a break
from practice.  Tom working it out on bass. |
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Here is an article that appeared in May of 2008
in THE CHICAGO READER
Below is an article from the website.
http://www.60sgarageband.com.
Click Here For The Site
Please visit this site for some cool
articles about bands from the 60's.
http://www.60sgaragebands.
Click Here For This Article
Chosen Few
| Chet Nichols has been performing music for over forty years and first found major success with his teen band The Chosen Few. Performing
in and around Winnetka, Illinois, the band separated themselves from
the rock and roll pack by performing a mixture of the popular songs of
the day and originals written by Nichols’ himself. Some of these originals have been compiled on a CD that Nichols has released and that is available at his Web site. Nichols
will be inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in March, an
achievement that recognizes not only his accomplishments as a solo
singer/songwriter, but his stint as a member of The Chosen Few as well. |
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| The Chosen Few at The Rolling Stone |
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An Interview With Chet Nichols
60sgaragebands.com 60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Chet Nichols (CN): My dad and mom met in the church choir at St. Mary’s in Evanston, Illinois. Dad
was an opera singer and known as “The Singing Dog Warden.” Our house
was filled with music, records and people who’d gather around the
family piano to sing. So, I guess, “music was in the air” at the
Nichols’ house. All my brothers and my sister were into music. I began
singing by the time I was three. I began playing piano when I was six
and I began studying cello when I was seven. I eventually began
competing in piano and cello competitions. When I was twelve, I was
picked to be the concertmaster in the Chicago Archdiocese Orchestra as
the first cellist, an honor usually bestowed on the first violinist.
60s: Was The Chosen Few your first band?
CN:
No, I had a couple other bands. The first was a rock-a-billy,
Elvis-type band. It didn’t last too long - five to six months. Then I
had another band, The Fruits Of The Loom, which stayed together
throughout high school and we usually played some high-school events.
This was more of a “get-together band.” I also played in a folk-duo
called, The Baymen for a few years, usually playing high school events
at New Trier High School. I played in a folk-trio, too.
60s: Where was when was The Chosen Few formed?
CN:
The band started in my sophomore year at New Trier in 1963. The band
was the brain-trust of Phil Hagenah, who played bass, and I. We had a
few other guys who were dying to get into the band. It was tough to
turn some guys away but the rule was they had to be able to sing, too.
The
initial line-up was: Chet Nichols – vocals, harmonica, and lead guitar;
Phil Hagenah, – vocals and bass; Eric Schroeder – vocals and drums; and
Mark Springer – vocals and guitar. Mark didn’t last too
long because he hated to practice and he was replaced by Jeff Weinstein
on vocals and guitar. Eric was a jazz drummer and didn’t have time for
the band and we replaced him, with Phil Hagenah moving to drums and we
added Tom Peck on bass. Initially Tom didn’t know bass at all, but he
could really sing and he and I sounded great together. Phil taught him
to play. Dang if he didn’t learn the song list in two weeks. It was
amazing. This eventually led to a big problem though.
Phil
was a good drummer, but not great. We found a new guy, Wayne Welch, who
was a cross between Keith Moon and Dennis Wilson. He was a great
singer, too. So, we pondered how to tell Phil he was going to be
replaced. We drew straws and I drew the short straw and had to tell
Phil. I know it hurt him, but he was cool about it and we are friends
to this day. So the final and long-running line-up was: Chet
Nichols – lead singer and lead guitar; Tom Peck – vocals and bass; Jeff
Weinstein – vocals and rhythm guitar; and Wayne Welch – vocals and
drums.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
CN:
We played songs by The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The
Kinks, Elvis, Them and The Yardbirds—most of the popular bands of the
day. What really set us apart from the other bands were the songs I
wrote, “You Made Me Cry,” “Over and Over,” “Million Dollar Sandbox,”
“If You See Kaye” and “Summer Love”...to mention a few.
Eventually, our shows consisted of half the songs I wrote and half
popular cover songs of the day. I actually had other area bands that
approached me about playing my songs during their sets.
60s: What was the Winnetka rock and roll scene like in the '60's?
CN:
It was very vibrant and very competitive. The competitive part bugged
me. The old line of “Who was the best instrumentalist or vocalist” made
me laugh. To me, it was all about the band sounding good and writing
good songs. For us, it was all about “having soul.” Still, as a
“scene,” we all respected each other and would go and catch each
other’s shows. It was cool to see the diversity of sounds coming from
all the bands in the area.
60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall?
CN:
The Dell-Vetts, The Flock, The Dharma Bums, The Shadows Of Knight, The
Buckinghams, and Mark Hannon’s band; it’s a rather long list. There
was a lot of great music and great bands. Again, I loved hearing what
other people were doing and appreciated what people were creating.
60s: How far was The Chosen Fews’ "touring" territory?
CN: We went into Chicago, the western and northwestern suburbs and, of course, the North Shore.
60s: Where did The Chosen Few typically play?
CN:
We played everywhere. We played a lot of private high school and
college parties. We played a lot of frat parties at Northwestern,
debutante parties, Beautillions…you name it. We played at many events
at New Trier, too. Also, we played all the clubs throughout Chicago.
Our home club was The Rolling Stone in Winnetka. We
played many battle of the bands and usually won them on the strength of
my original songs. I don’t remember us ever losing one.
Tom
Peck kind of acted as our manager, too. His mom helped out. Bob, the
guy who ran the Rolling Stone, booked us a little bit and really wanted
to be our fulltime manager. My mom balked at this. She knew the music
biz and was a bit scared that I would go off and be a musician and not
go to college. So, the band was sort of doomed. Wayne eventually went
off to the Army and Tom, Jeff and I went off to college. We did play
some dates during the summer when we were in college. But my solo
career started to take off during my sophomore year at Kansas
University, so I concentrated on it because I was playing great
“listening clubs,” halls and colleges all across the country.
60s: How popular locally did The Chosen Few become?
CN:
We were in high demand and played almost every Friday and Saturday. We
made good money, too. I rarely ever had to ask my mom for money. When
we played the clubs the places were packed, which was cool. It was
great to play to a big crowd that was digging the music.
60s: Were any of the Chosen Few songs released on the CD that you offer released as 45s?
CN:
No. Unfortunately, the tape that spawned the CD is the only one in
existence. We did do another tape recorded in 1965, but it has been
misplaced. I really want to find it because it has a bunch of our later
originals and some really great covers.
60s: Where were the songs recorded?
CN:
The first tape we recorded was recorded at Bill Bradley’s three-story
house in Wilmette one Saturday afternoon. Bill had us spread out
throughout the house to help separate the sound. His mom unexpectedly
came back home in the middle of the session and almost flipped out. But,
she let us finish. Bill went on to be the top engineer at the famed
Universal Studios in Chicago. Eventually, he moved to Los Angeles were
he recorded many artists and eventually ran Madonna’s record company,
Maverick Records, before he passed away a few years ago.
60s: You were the band's primary songwriter. Where did you typically find your inspiration?
CN:
As mentioned earlier, half our show was originals. I was the only
writer in the group. I found my inspiration at that time about the life
around me. Since we were all interested in girls, girls and girls…a lot
of inspiration came from that.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? Does any home movie film footage exist of the band?
CN: Naw, we never did TV. I think there is some movie footage that was taken, but where it is is still a mystery.
60s: What year did the band break up?
CN:
Our final shows were in the summer 1967,with college and the armed
services taking us in different directions. Tom Peck went to Boston,
Jeff went to Colorado, Wayne went into the army and was stationed in
Oklahoma. I went to Oklahoma City University to study theater arts for
a year. Wayne and I re-united a couple times while we were there.
60s: Which bands did you join after The Chosen Few?
CN:
I went on and had a successful solo career for many years. I still play
solo. I had a jam band in Lawrence, Kansas for a few years where we
played long psychedelic sets at Be-Ins. But the band never went
anywhere and I continued to play solo, which is where I had the
success, writing outside-alternative-folk-rock songs.
60s: How often, and where, do you perform today?
CN:
I still write and perform these days as a solo performer. I also write
instrumental songs for use in films and TV. I have recently release two
new instrumental CDs, Red Mesa Sunset and Earthways. I have a new release coming out in 2008 entitled, Peak To Peak.
One of the songs on that CD, “Beijing Dawn,” was recently awarded a
Special Mention in the Music Aid International Song Competition. I also
have a new singer-songwriter CD which is scheduled to come out in 2008.
To pay the bills, I act in films, on TV and work as an Interactive
Producer producing Web sites.
60s: You were recently voted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. That had to be a tremendous honor.
CN:
Actually, I am very honored and excited about this. The induction
ceremony is on March 23, 2008. Being voted into The Kansas City/Kansas
Musician Hall Of Fame really acknowledges my twelve-year touring career
that followed my time spent in The Chosen Few. I recorded two records,
“Time Loop” and “Waving Prairie,” for Kama Sutra Records. In the past
25 years, I have produced numerous singer-songwriter CDs. I met a lot
of great people in Kansas City and in Kansas who are still good
friends. Kansas City had a very vibrant music scene in the late ‘60s,
‘70s and beyond. I am still very active in music and love writing,
performing and playing.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Chosen Few?
CN:
It was one of the best times of my life. We had a band where everyone
contributed to its success. We didn’t experience the friction I saw
that took place in other groups. I learned a lot about writing songs
and playing covers in The Chosen Few. I miss those guys. Wayne Welch
and I are the only surviving members. Tom Peck and Jeff Weinstein have
passed away. The CD, Raw ‘N Roll, that I just released contains
the only surviving music from the band. I dedicated this CD to the
memory of Tom Peck, Jeff Weinstein and Bill Bradley.
If people are interested in hearing my music they can visit:
http://www.broadjam.com/chetnichols
General information about my careers is available at http://www.chetnichols.net.
There is also a Web page at the site above with all the history of The Chosen Few.
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| Jeff Weinstein, Tom Peck and Chet Nichols |
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| Tom Peck |
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| Jeff Weinstein |
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| Wayne Welch |
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Record Reviews
"Thanks, Chet, I did receive the CD. Without question, your originals are the best songs on the CD and really are equal or better than a lot of what was played on the radio during the time they were recorded. I greatly enjoyed them.
All is well. I'll be in touch when the interview is live on 60sgaragebands.com."
Thanks again.
Mike Dugo - Webmaster for 60sgaragebands.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Forget "Ten Years After" with Alvin Lee,
how about "Forty Three Years After with
The Chosen Few"!
Chicagoland's Quintessential
Mid-Sixties Rock Band
Like discovering a diamond in the rough,
Musician Extraodinare Chet Nichols
unearthed a long thought lost 1964 taping
of his band The Chosen Few. Thanks to
Chet's perseverance, he had it
re-lobotimized, cleaned up and digitized,
reproduced and packaged. Considering
the primitive conditions under which it was
recorded on 1/2 inch tap, as well as it's
forty three years of entombment in a long l
ost music graveyard, the sonic clarity and
quality remained intact! Chet must have
employed a kitchen magician, the ghost
of Houdini, and a clone of George Martin,
the producer of The Beatles, to bring this
baby back to life. (Actually it was Chet's
buddy and David Crosby producer,
Stephen Barncard).
Thank the Music Gods for miracles.
What we have before us now folks,
is the only known recording of one the
hottest mid-sixities bands to grace the
Chicagoland area and The North Shore.
This band had a following that always
backed the venues where they played.
In spite of the young age of the members
of the band (17-18), they displayed a
sense of musical professionalism, far
beyond their years. Additionally, their
vocal talents were top notch, and
balanced in true harmony. They
played the various covers of that era,
that ran from The Beach Boys to The
Stones to The Beatles, and on and on.
With Tom Peck on bass, Jeff Weinstein
on rhythm guitar, Chet Nichols on lead
guitar and lead vocals, and Wayne Welch
on drums, they were a together group
with a very tight sound. The biggest
surprise of the group was Chet Nichols's
song writing ability, which led him to a
long and highly successful career as a
highly acclaimed performing artist,
proficient song writer and well noted
author. Chet's self-penned songs on
this CD are well written, highly evolved
and perfectly vocalized and were a
highly positive harbinger of things to
come for him in his music career.
Having seen this band blast out their
many great songs on many occasions
in those music filled years, I now have
a piece of music history that I had
longed for many a year. Anyone
from that era needs this CD for their
music collector. In addition, anyone
who has ever lived or went to High
School in the Chicago area, the North
Shore, Wilmette, Winnetka, Kenilworth,
Evanston and Highland Park, etc, is
required to have this album. It's too
bad that we don't have any more of
the music that The Chosen Few
played. However, this sonic taste of
that time is like a whole musical
feast! Chet, many thanks for giving
us a piece of the past that we had
longed for such a long time. It is a
true Mid-West Musical Masterpiece!.
.......GW, Marquette, MI
Background Notes About
The Chosen Few
The Chosen Few was an important rock ’n roll
“basement band” based on the North Shore of
Chicago in the early 1960s. Basement band?
Well, they practiced in basements. All of the
initial band members attended New Trier High
School, a school that has spawned many great
creative artists, musicians, actors and
producers. The North Shore was a hot spot for
developing rock’n roll bands and artists in the
area. The Chosen Few began playing together
in the Fall of 1963. The co-founders were Chet
Nichols, who played lead guitar and sang lead
vocals, and Phil Hagenah, who initially played
guitar. A friend of Phil’s, Tom Peck, was
begging to join the band, so Chet and Phil
taught Tom to play bass and Phil graciously
moved to the drums. Mark Springer joined to
play rhythm guitar. Like many bands, there
were changes in personnel until the final
nucleus was solidified. Along the way they
added Wayne Welch on drums and vocals and
Jeff Weinstein on rhythm guitar and vocals.
Phil Hagenah, went on to be a very successful
film producer and Mark Springer went on to be
a singer in The New Christie Minstrels.
They were one of the “house bands” at the
famous Winnetka rock ’n roll nightclub,
The Rolling Stone. What set the band apart
from other bands was the fact that they played
originals penned by Chet Nichols and mixed
them in with danceable cover songs. Chet’s
songs were influenced by The Beatles,
The Kinks, The Beach Boys and The Rolling
Stones. He wrote songs that people still
remember today; “You Made Me Cry”,
“Million Dollar Sandbox”,“Stay Away”,
“Over and Over”, “Summer Love” and
“If You See Kaye”, to name a few.
They played together until the summer of 1967,
when college and the Armed Services finally
split the band up for good. Tom Peck headed
to Boston and lived there for several years until
migrating to San Diego, where he lived as a
free-lance writer and cared for his mother until
June 2005 when he passed away. Jeff
Weinstein moved to Colorado and played in
bands in the Boulder area until he passed
away in the 1980’s from complications of
diabetes. Wayne Welch went into the Army
and took his basic training near Oklahoma
City where Chet first attended college. Wayne
now lives in Bonanza,Oregon and his band,
"The Usual Suspects" plays in the Klamath Falls,
Oregon area. Wayne has two sons, T.J., a bank
executive in Illinois and Bob, an artist. Chet
transferred to Kansas University and was
“discovered” in a coffee house in Kansas City.
This led him into a long-running solo career as
a performer, recording artist, singer, songwriter,
multi-instrumentalist, actor, writer, designer and
composer that is still going strong. Chet has
produced 11 CDs of material that runs from
Outside Folk Rock to Americana to Alternative
Country to New Age/World Fusion Instrumental
compositions. Chet has been married for 27
years to Nancy and they have two sons,
Chet III, a system administrator and web
developer at AOL and Ben, a college student.
Chet thought he had lost this tape, but found it
in a box of old tapes stored in his garage in
December of 2006, He turned to his old friend
and respected San Francisco producer, Stephen
Barncard, to salvage the tape and digitize it. The
tape was recorded on a 1/2 machine and is
in mono. It was engineered and recorded by
Bill Bradley in his 3-story house in Wilmette
one Saturday afternoon. Bill went on to being
one of the best engineers in the music business,
eventually working with Madonna and running
her record company.
There is distortion and a raw feel to this tape
because the pre-amps on the mixing board were
not built for loud drums and amplifiers and The
Chosen Few played loud AND fast. But the vocals
are clear and out front. This CD is un-cut and
un-edited. It is an honor to be able to bring to
you this little gem of the history of an important
band that was part of such a vibrant and exciting
time of emerging music in the 1960’s.
We want to send out very special thanks of
appreciation to Stephen Barncard, Greg Welch,
Susan Peck MacDonald and Mrs. Peck for
their time, enthusiasm and contributions to this
production. Their help has truly enriched
this project.
Also thanks to Mr. Hagenah, Mr. and Mrs. Peck
and Mrs. Nichols for letting the band practice in
their basements, drink cokes and empty the ice
boxes of food. Also, thanks to Mrs. Bradley for
letting us trample her beautiful home in East
Wilmette on one fateful Saturday afternoon.
This CD is dedicated to the memory of
Tom Peck, Jeff Weinstein and Bill Bradley.
Chet's Music :: Contact Chet
      
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