Merrell Fankhauser

Merrell Wayne Fankhauser (born December 23, 1943, Louisville, Kentucky, United States) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s with bands including the Impacts, Merrell & the Exiles, HMS Bounty, Fankhauser-Cassidy Band, and MU. In addition, 12 songs recorded by Merrell & the Exiles were later released under the group name Fapardokly, even though that group never actually existed.

After moving to San Luis Obispo, California in his teens, he began playing guitar, and got his first break playing in movie theaters and talent shows. In 1960, after one of these shows, he joined a local band The Impacts as lead guitarist. Their Ventures-influenced sound developed a strong following at the start of the surfing scene. In 1962, the saxophone player from The Revels (Norman Knowles) met Merrell and his bandmates after a show at The Rose Garden Ballroom and convinced them to record a session with Tony Hilder at a backyard studio in the Hollywood area. As much as this seemed like a notable event for the band, it was more of a lure than a lucky break. After recording the songs Wipe Out, Fort Lauderdale, Tears, Revellion, Blue Surf, Impact, Steel Pier, Tandem, Sea Horse, Beep Beep, Lisa, and Church Key the recordings were taken by Norman Knowles and Tony Hilder to Del-Fi records where owner Bob Keene signed the album for immediate release. Knowles and Hilder never revealed to the band how much money they made by doing this, however, they also tricked the young band into signing a contract for one dollar. Merrell and his band was unable to collect royalties on this music for 36 years thereafter, as Hilder and Knowles claimed both artist and publishing royalties with Del-Fi Records. Unfortunately, Merrell would encounter many more of these so-called song sharks during his musical career, although he and his bandmates were wiser after this hard lesson.

Fankhauser left the band and moved to Lancaster, California. There he met Jeff Cotton (later of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band), and in 1964 they formed The Exiles. The band - which also included John "Drumbo" French - had some regional success with songs including "Can't We Get Along", but then broke up. Fankhauser moved back to the coast, formed a new band, Merrell and the Xiles, and had a minor hit with "Tomorrow's Girl" in 1967. An album followed which included old Exiles songs and newer psychedelic folk material. For the album the band was credited as Fapardokly, taking its name from the surnames of the original members - Fankhauser, Dan Parrish (bass), Bill Dodd (guitar) and Dick Lee of The Brymers (drums).

...
Wikipedia