The Cryan Shames

The Cryan' Shames
The Cryan' Shames in 1966. This picture was taken in Piper's Alley, Old Town-Chicago, IL. Front Row - Denny Conroy. Back Row, Left - Right Gerry Stone, Jim Fairs, Jim Pilster, Tom Doody and Dave Purple.
Background information
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Garage rock, pop rock
Years active	1966–present
Labels	Columbia, Sundazed
Website	www.cryanshames.com
Past members	Tom Doody Jim Pilster Gerry Stone Dave Purple Denny Conroy James Fairs Lenny Kerley Isaac Guillory Dave Carter Alan Dawson Bob Stroud Ron Kaplan Ron Brandt Larry Coveny Tim Rutter Ted Kalamatas

The Cryan' Shames are an American garage rock band from Hinsdale, Illinois. They originally formed as The Travelers, with founding members Tom Doody ("Toad"), Gerry Stone ("Stonehenge"), Dave Purple ("Grape") of The Prowlers, Denny Conroy from Possum River, and Jim Fairs from The Roosters, Jim Pilster ("J.C. Hooke", so named because he was born without a left hand and wore a hook), and Bill Hughes. The band's most successful moment came with their cover of The Searchers song, "Sugar and Spice".

In 1966, upon learning that another band already had the name The Travelers, they needed to find another name; J.C. Hooke remarked that their difficulty in doing so was "a cryan' shame," and thus named the band. After signing with Bob Monaco, the promotion manager for Destination Music, their first single was supposed to be George Harrison's song, "If I Needed Someone", but was not released in the US (but included on their debut album) due to publication issues. It was soon followed by "Sugar and Spice," a Tony Hatch song that was a hit in 1963 (everywhere but in the US) for the English group The Searchers. The Shames' version reached number 49 in the USA (while reaching number four on local radio WLS AM). Another single was released just before the end of 1966 called "I Wanna Meet You" b/w "We Could Be Happy". That record made it to number one in Chicago and number 85 nationally. Both songs on the single were Jim Fairs compositions and further spotlighted the harmony capabilities of the band's singers.

They signed to Columbia in 1966, and while they never were to become a national success, their singles and three albums continued to sell well in the Chicago area. The band focused on their first album release, which was heavily influenced by The Byrds. Their album, Sugar and Spice was recorded in just two days, but strengthened by cover versions of popular songs of the period like "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "Hey Joe". Overall, the album, upon its October 1966 release, became a hit in Chicago and charted at number 192 nationally.