NEAL FORD & THE FANATICS

NEAL FORD & THE FANATICS were a 1960's rock band from Houston, Texas.    They released one LP on the Hickory label, along with a number of singles on Hickory and other labels.   Their songs were strong and the band was tight, playing regularly at skating rinks, shopping malls and night clubs like The Catacombs and The Living Eye.   I was fortunate to see the band play a set at Memorial City Mall in 1968.  
It was the era of hip huggers, bell bottoms and miniskirts, and the crowd had a great time listening to the groovy sounds of
NEAL FORD & THE FANATICS!




This web page is my tribute to NEAL FORD & THE FANATICS.
E-mail me if you have suggestions or comments.

YouTube video (thanks Jonny!)




PERSONNEL (in 1968; left to right in photo)
Click on link for profile from LP liner notes

NEAL FORD INTERVIEW by Bill Thompson (July 2008)

NEAL FORD INTERVIEW by Vicki Ayo (excerpt from her forthcoming book)

SELECTIONS FROM THE RICHARD AMES MUSIC COLLECTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS (rare photos and archival material)


FAN CLUB BOOKLET:


Booklet from Caped Crusader #74:
1966 magazine "VARSITY TATTLER":  

OTHER PHOTOS and scans:


Flyer #1:  for appearance at Carousel Skating Rink (10-16-65)

Flyer #2:  for appearance at Carousel Skating Rink (9-18-65)

Flyers for concert appearances by the Fanatics (courtesy of Dr. Dennis Hickey):   
          
    10-14-66 and 10-15-66: with The Outsiders and The Moving Sidewalks (Catacombs Club)      
    10-18-67: with Eric Burdon, The Moving Sidewalks (Sam Houston Coliseum)
    8-31-68: Catacombs Festival (with The Mothers, Canned Heat, Country Joe, Moving Sidewalks)

Early promotional portrait (8 x 10 glossy)

Letters from The Catacombs Club regarding a Fanatics benefit concert:   Letter 1     Letter 2

Promo ad for 45 release "I Have Thoughts Of You"

Promo ad for 45 release "Mary Wanna Marry Me"

KILT 610 AM STAR OF THE WEEK:  NEAL FORD & THE FANATICS (JANUARY 11-18, 1967)

KILT 610 AM: NEAL FORD AND THE FANATICS REACH #1 (JANUARY 18-25, 1967)



NEAL FORD & THE FANATICS DISCOGRAPHY

NOTE: Click on song title to hear a low quality audio file of the song

Albums
Released Title Writers Vinyl Label Cat# CD Label
Cat#
1968 "Neal Ford & the Fanatics"        Track List:   Side 1     Side 2

 Hickory 141

 
 

1
Gonna Be My Girl
Jon Pereles                                      

             



2
Nothing Left To Do
Jon Pereles





3
Bitter Bells
Ford, Stringfellow & Johnson





4
That Girl Of Mine
Jon Pereles





5
Get Together With Me
Jon Pereles





6
Get In The Rhythm
Lanier Greig





7
One Times One Ain't Two
Mickey Newbury





8
Contrary Mary
Jon Pereles





9
(I've Got A) Brand New Girl
Ford, Pereles & Greig





10
Wait For Me
Pereles & Greig





11
I Have Thoughts Of You
Jon Pereles






Singles
Released Title  Writers  Vinyl Label Cat# CD Label
Cat#








1963 Teenage Dream [The Ramadas]
(comments by Neal Ford on these early releases: ""The Ramadas"  had two single releases in 1963. The first was "Teenage Dream" written by Kim Espy, Ronda Espy and Neal Ford and the second release was "Summer Steady" written by Neal Ford.  Both were on Philips Records, the same as Paul and Paula and produced by their producer Major Bill Smith of Ft. Worth, Texas.  That was our first experience in the recording studio. It was recorded in Ft. Worth.  I remember that Ronnie Dawson played drums on our session and Bruce Channel of "Hey Baby" fame and Delbert McClinton were there also."
Kim Espy, Ronda Horn

(link with info on Kim & Ronda Espy)
Philips
40097




My Angel Eyes [The Ramadas]
Marvin Montgomery
Philips
40097



1963 Summer Steady [The Ramadas]
Neal Ford
Philips
40117




Lonely Tears [The Ramadas]
Kim Espy, Ronda Horn
Philips
40117



1964
The Very First Time [Neal Ford solo]
    Ford & Espy                 
Pablo
7013
7013
iTunes
Collectables



That Time of Year (Sweet Valentine) [Neal Ford solo]                       Ford & Espy              
Pablo 7013




I'm Going To Be Blue [as The Ramadas]
Ford, Espy & Hogan
New World
2000
2000




Walking Down The Hall [as The Ramadas]
Neal Ford
New World
2000
2000




Cindy [as The Ramadas]
traditional
New World
2007




Sweet Valentine [as The Ramadas]
Ford & Espy
New World
2007




Life Is So Tough [as The Ramadas] Ford & Espy
New World 2008
iTunes
Collectables



The Very First Time [as The Ramadas] Ford & Espy
New World 2008


1965 I Will Not Be Lonely [as The Fanatics] Ford & Greig
 Gina 1118
Spalax
14606


Be Mine [as The Fanatics] Neal Ford
Gina
1118



1966 Good Men [as The Fanatics] Lanier Greig
Caped Crusader
CC74
CC74
Sundazed
SC11186


For You [as The Fanatics] Ford & Greig
Caped Crusader
CC74
CC74



1966 Woman [as The Fanatics] Rod Argent
Caped Crusader
CC75




I Can't Go On [as The Fanatics] Ford & Greig
Caped Crusader
CC75



1966 Bitter Bells Ford & Stringfellow
 Tantara T1101
T1101

  


Don't Tie Me Down
Ford, Stringfellow & Johnson
Tantara
T1101



1966 All I Have to Do is Dream
B. Bryant
Tantara
T1104
T1104




Searchin'
Lieber & Stoller
Tantara
T1104


1966 I Will If You Want To Ford & Greig
Tantara T1107
Spalax
14606


Woman Who Turns Away
Ford & Johnson
Tantara
T1107



1966 She Is All There Is Ford & Greig


GearFab
Spalax
GF-197
14606


I Can't Believe (aka "Woman" - see Caped Crusader CC75)
Rod Argent


Spalax 14606
1967
Shame on You

comments by Neal Ford:
"Here's the real story on "Shame On You".  I wrote the song around 1965 (I think). We recorded it at Jones Sound Recording in the Heights. The owner Doyle Jones and Mickey Gilley were the engineers. I took the tape to Nashville and got an offer from Hickory Records owned by Acuff/Rose Publishing. At the time they were being very successful with acts like The Newbeats-"Bread and Butter", Sue Thompson and other pop acts. The main song that they were interested in was "Shame On You".  If you look on the single you will see that it was released as the "A" side and was being promoted as the single until Joe Ford at KNUZ flipped it one day and played "Gonna Be My Girl" which was written by Jon Pereles.  The phones lit up and KILT jumped on the flip side also and it leaped to # 1 staying on top of the charts for weeks. This changed the whole direction of our album and future recording efforts. Prior to that we were doing a harder rock oriented music like "Woman", "I Will Not Be Lonely", "Pain" etc.  "Gonna Be My Girl" took us to doing more of Jon's compositions which was a much lighter pop/rock sound. I called it Hard Bubblegum.  In retrospect, I wish we had stayed more in the original style.  "I Will Not Be Lonely" was my original direction for us and the real me at the time.  I never intended to sing "Shame On You" as you hear it on the record. It just developed to that in the studio. I'm totally shocked to see it on so many internet sites and on so many compilation CD's. It and "I Will Not Be Lonely" are getting more play and recognition now than back when we did them."
Ford, Stringfellow & Johnson
 Hickory P1433
P1433
Archive
Essential Pebbles Vol.2


 



Sundazed
SC11139

Gonna Be My Girl       
(scan of KILT 610 Top 40 Survey - January 18-25, 1967: #1 position)
Jon Pereles
Hickory
P1433



1967 Wait for Me  Pereles & Greig
 Hickory P1450
P1450
P1450

  


(I've Got A) Brand New Girl Ford, Pereles & Greig
Hickory
P1450
P1450
P1450



1967 Pain 
Ford & Cravey
Hickory
P1468



Get Together With Me
Jon Pereles
Hickory
P1468
P1468



1967 I Have Thoughts Of You         Promo ad for the single
Jon Pereles
Hickory
P1490
SPX12


That Girl Of Mine
Jon Pereles
Hickory
P1490
P1490
SPX12

1968 Little World Girl
John D. Loudermilk
Hickory
P1500




Movin' Along
Jon Pereles
Hickory
P1500
P1500



1968 Mary Wanna Marry Me         Promo ad for the single
Neal Ford & The Fanatics' recording of "Mary Wanna Marry Me" was used in the soundtrack for the 2001 film "Last Orders" starring Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren.   The scene appears at about the 42:28 mark.  In a flashback, Ray (Bob Hoskins) is standing in the doorway of his daughter's room as the record is playing on her phonograph.  As they begin a conversation, she picks the needle up off the record.  The scene lasts about 20 seconds.
Click here to read the IMDB entry for the soundtrack music
Click here to see the video clip (NOTE: you will need to download the free FLV player to see the clip)
Click here to see a screen shot of the ending credit showing information on the recording
M. Newbury & Don Gant
Hickory
P1506




The Jones
John D. Loudermilk
Hickory
P1506
P1506



1968 I'll Put My Boots on Backwards Dewayne Blackwell
 Hickory P1516




Buttercup
Mickey Newbury
Hickory
P1516



1969 You Made Me a Man  [as Neal Ford Factory] Jeff Barry & Andy Kim
 ABC 11184
11184

  


I've Got To Find Me A Woman   [as Neal Ford Factory]
Jeff Barry & Andy Kim
ABC
11184











Misc
Vox Commercial

Caped Crusader
CC75




Links

THE NEAL FORD FOUNDATION (1971 LP)

1960's Texas Music site - info on Catacombs Club, Fanatics, and other Houston groups (multiple pages)

Dr. Dennis Hickey's web page about The Catacombs Club (with several posters for Fanatics appearances!) including other related links

Interview with Steve Hammond

60's Garage Bands site

Vicki's Texas Music Writer page

"Beyond The Beat Generation" - Playlist (includes several Fanatics tracks)

Back to the Thompsonian Institution