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0:00/3:56
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If You See Kaye 4:520:00/4:52
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You Made Me Cry 3:300:00/3:30
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Stay Away 3:230:00/3:23
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I Come From Chicago 4:040:00/4:04
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Summer Love 4:020:00/4:02
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0:00/5:15
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0:00/5:04
"Band In The Basement" 2016
CD: Band In The Basement
The CD cover to the album, "The Band In The Basement"
An article from The Reader in Chicago. Written by Steven Krakow
Artist & Album Notes
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
All Lyrics and Music by Chet Nichols
All song copyrights by Chet Nichols (ASCAP) and Magic Garage Music (ASCAP)
All Global Rights Reserved
Produced, arranged and recorded by Chet Nichols for Magic Garage Music (ASCAP) & Magic Garage Records
All Instrumentation & Vocal Performances by Chet Nichols
Cover and CD Design by Chet Nichols
Recorded at The Magic Garage Studio. USA
CONTACT: MagicGarageMusic@protonmail.com
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
NOTES ABOUT THIS ALBUM:
Dedicated to the memory of Thomas O. Peck, Jeffrey Weinstein, Wayne Welch, Lee Keating and Bill Bradley
Copyright 2007 by Chet Nichols. All Rights Reserved. Cover design and photos by Chet Nichols
Record Review
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 lost 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, Wayne Welch,
Leo Keating and Bill Bradley.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
All Lyrics and Music by Chet Nichols
All song copyrights by Chet Nichols (ASCAP) and Magic Garage Music (ASCAP)
All Global Rights Reserved
Produced, arranged and recorded by Chet Nichols for Magic Garage Music (ASCAP) & Magic Garage Records
All Instrumentation & Vocal Performances by Chet Nichols
Cover and CD Design by Chet Nichols
CONTACT: MagicGarageMusic@gmail.com
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
NOTES ABOUT THIS ALBUM:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Song Chartings, Awards & Acknowledgements:
1. "
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
SONG AND ALBUM REVIEWS:
Review for the song, "I Come From Chicago".
"I was just listening to your wonderful song, "I Come From Chicago" TERRIFIC BLUES tune!!
Is that you vocalizing on the composition?? Is that you playing that Killer guitar??
Is that you writing that incredible song?? If so...U is a genius...Ma Main Man!!!
Great feel and story line!! If there is a movie being made about the Blues..... .this would be perfect!!
Super Job Sir!!!
M & A Corey
Peace out...."
November 2016
___________________________
Contact Us: MagicGarageMusic@gmail.com
Website Designed and Produced by Chet Nichols for Magic Garage Productions and Zero Axis Creative Labs.
All Rights Reserved.
Chet Nichols - Lead guitar and vocals
Tom Peck - Bass Player & Vocals
Wayne Welch - Drummer & vocals
jeff Weinstein - Rhythm guitar & vocals