Fred Cole (musician)
| Fred Cole | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 28, 1948 |
| Origin | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Singing, guitar |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Associated acts | Pierced Arrows, Dead Moon |
Fred Cole (born August 28, 1948) is an American rock singer and guitarist who has played with several bands since the 1960s, most notably The Lollipop Shoppe, Dead Moon and Pierced Arrows. He is associated mainly with the garage punk genre though he is also influenced by hard rock, blues, country and folk music. The majority of his recorded output has been self-financed and independently released on his own record label.
In 1964, Cole began his recording career in Las Vegas with his band, the Lords, at the Teenbeat Club, releasing a single titled "Ain't Got No Self-Respect." His next single, from 1965, was a promo-only called "Poverty Shack" b/w "Rover," with a band named Deep Soul Cole.
In 1966 Cole's band The Weeds gained notice in garage rock circles, and their only single, a 60s punk track called It's Your Time (b/w Little Girl, Teenbeat Club Records), has become a collectors' favorite. The A-side appeared on one of the Nuggets anthologies. The band was promised an opening slot on a Yardbirds bill at the Fillmore in San Francisco, but on their arrival found that the venue hadn't heard of them.
Angry at management and fearing the military draft, the band decided to head up to Canada, but ran out of gas in Portland, Oregon. There, they started playing at a club called the Folk Singer, where Kathleen "Toody" Conner worked. Cole and Toody soon fell in love and were married in 1967, though The Weeds' manager insisted they keep the marriage secret.
Another manager required The Weeds to change their name to The Lollipop Shoppe because he also managed The Seeds and thought the names were too similar, and to fit the current bubblegum trend (although their 1968 LP on UNI Records (a now-defunct subsidiary of MCA), titled Just Colour, is more a mix of garage rock and the psychedelia of bands such as Love). The album and its single "You Must Be a Witch" didn't chart, but remain underground favorites. The band also released another single, "Someone I Knew" b/w "Through My Window," played many shows in San Francisco with performers such as Janis Joplin and The Doors, and had two tracks on the soundtrack LP to the film Angels from Hell.
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