The Gentlemen (Dallas band)
| The Gentlemen | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Dallas, Texas, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1964-1968 |
| Labels | Vandan |
| Associated acts | The Chessmen, The Briks, Kenny and the Kasuals, Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie Ray Vaughan |
| Past members |
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The Gentlemen were an American garage rock band from Dallas, Texas who were active from 1964-1968. They are best known for their 1966 song, "It's a Cry'n Shame," which has been recognized as one of the greatest songs in garage rock. The band is noted for the contributions of guitarist and songwriter, Seab Meador. Jimmie Vaughan, later a member the Fabulous Thunderbirds and brother of Stevie Ray Vaughan, served a brief stint for several months in the Gentlemen in late 1965 and early 1966, but did not appear on any of their recordings. He went on to play in another Dallas garage rock band, the Chessmen.
The Gentlemen formed in 1964 and were from Oak Cliff, a section of Dallas, Texas. The band went through several lineup changes, but the band's musical direction was largely guided by guitarist Seab Meador, who spent several years in the band and was recognized by those around him as a genius on his instrument. Meador's tastes gravitated towards bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Kinks, and the Yardbirds, whose lead guitarist, Jeff Beck greatly influenced his playing. Consequently, the band's sound owed more to the blues-based approach of the Rolling Stones and the Animals than the pop ballads of the Beatles and Dave Clark Five. The band's original bass player, Jimmy Randall announced his departure and would go on to play with L.A.-based Jo Jo Gunn. Lonnie Taylor came in, and would eventually succeed him, but for a transitional period the band had two bass players.
In 1965 the band went to Sumet Recording studio and recorded an unreleased actuate of two songs, "Beg, Borrow of Steal" and "Here I Cannot Stay." According to former drummer Tim Justice, "Jimmie also remembers something that I didn’t, that he played bass on our first and earliest recordings, ‘Beg Borrow and Steal’, and ‘Here I Cannot Stay’, both written by Seab Meador. Boy, were we young. Must have been 15 at the time. In the session, Seab was on guitar and singing, I was drumming, Jimmie Randall was on bass and Mike Kelly was on guitar. The later three sang backup." The Gentlemen also cut a demo acetate of the song "It's a Cry'n Shame," which would be re-recorded the following year for official release. They also made an appearance on Channel 11 (KTVT) playing at the popular teen nightspot, the Panther Club in Fort Worth. This unit (with and without Jimmy Randall) played throughout 1965. Towards the end of the year fellow Oak Cliff musician Jimmie Vaughan, later of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, did a several month stint with the group and would later play for another garage rock band, the Chessmen. Meador and Vaughan forged a solid friendship during this time."
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