The Montells
| The Montells | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Miami, Florida, United States |
| Genres | Garage rock |
| Years active | 1963-1967 |
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The Montells were an American garage rock band from Miami, Florida who were active in the 1960s. They briefly operated under the name H.M. Subjects and recorded a version of the Pretty Things's "Don't Bring Me Down," which while in the process of becoming a local hit, became embroiled in a controversy involving Morton Downey, Jr., then a disc jockey at Miami's WFUN and later of talk show fame. The song was criticized for its apparently sexually suggestive lyric and the contention that Downey allegedly took payola for the song, an allegation which was never proven. The band went on to record another single, once again as the Montells, featuring an A-side for which they are remembered, "You Can't Make Me." They broke up in 1967, but reunited for a performance in 2008.
The Montells began as the Impalas in 1963 and were made of up students from Southwest Senior High School in Miami Florida. In the 1960s, the school served as a major breeding ground for Miami's thriving rock scene and hosted a number of fellow garage bands, such as Evil and the Shaggs, and had earlier been the Alma Mater of Charlie McCoy, who had by then become one of the most in-demand session musicians in Nashville, playing with a number of famous artists including Bob Dylan. The lineup of the Impalas consisted of John Weatherford on rhythm guitar, George Walden on lead guitar, George Hall on bass, and Jeff Allen on drums. They would occasionally bring in Gene Murray as a part time vocalist. Walden and Weatherford had taken classical guitar lessons and Hall had played bass in the school band. The two would get to together and hold rehearsals in the afternoon. Jeff Allen lived in the neighborhood and asked them if he could join. They told him that he could under the condition that he by a drum kit. Allen purchased a drum kit that had the logo of another band "the Impalas" printed on it, so they just decided to use the name Impalas. The band played for about a year as a largely instrumental surf group, often playing at parties. Eventually the group was threatened with a lawsuit over their use of the name "the Impalas," so they re-christened themselves as the Montells. According to Carter Ragsdale, "...on the way to get the bass drum painted we passed a dance studio called the House of Montell. We thought that would be a good name so we became the Montells." In 1964 the Montells enlisted Carter Ragsdale to be their lead singer, who was recommended by Gene Murray who was departing. The band would increasingly tailor their sound to fit the kind of hard rocking, blues-based approach of British bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Animals." Drummer Jeff Allen, later to play with Evil, would make occasional trips with this family to England and when there would check out many of the hottest bands such as the Fairies, Downliners Sect, and the Pretty Things, and upon his returns would bring back records and share his observations with fellow bandmates.
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