Southwest F.O.B.

Last updated

Southwest F.O.B. ("Freight On Board") was a 1960s psychedelic rock group from Dallas, Texas, now perhaps best remembered because it featured Dan Seals and John Colley, who later found great success as the duo England Dan and John Ford Coley. The Southwest F.O.B. also included Michael (Doc) Woolbright on the bass.

Contents

Started by guitar player Larry "Ovid" Stevens when they were students at W. W. Samuell High School in Dallas, the band secured a minor hit in 1968 (reaching number 56) with a cover of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band song "Smell of Incense", nationally released on the Stax subsidiary label Hip Records. The band's sole LP was also called Smell of Incense; it has been reissued as a remastered, expanded CD by Sundazed Music, now out of print. Later success eluded them, and the band broke up in 1969.

Dan Seals died on March 25, 2009. He and classmate John Colley, who later changed the spelling of his last name to Coley, formed a group with three other Samuell students called the Playboys Five. That became Theze Few, which morphed into Dallas high school band Southwest F.O.B.

"We were very popular in the late 1960s", Coley said. "We even opened for Led Zeppelin and Three Dog Night, and remember, we were just high school kids". [1]

Discography

Album

YearTitleLabel
1968Smell of IncenseHip

Singles

YearTitle Billboard Hot 100 Label
1968Smell of Incense#56Hip
1969Nadine
As I Look At You
Feelin' Groovy#115

Related Research Articles

Balch Springs is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 23,728 at the 2010 census, and 25,007 at 2019's census estimates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Seals</span> American singer-songwriter (1948–2009)

Danny Wayland Seals, also known as England Dan, was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals and Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, who charted nine singles between 1976 and 1980, including the No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ford Coley</span> American singer-songwriter

John Ford Coley is an American singer, classically trained pianist, guitarist, actor, and author most known for his partnership in the musical duo England Dan & John Ford Coley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band</span> American psychedelic rock band

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (WCPAEB) was an American psychedelic rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group created music that possessed an eerie, and at times sinister atmosphere, and contained material that was bluntly political, childlike, and bizarre. Representing different musical backgrounds among band members, the group, at times, resembled a traditional Byrds-esque folk rock ensemble, but the WCPAEB also, within the same body of work, recorded avant-garde music marked by multi-layered vocal harmonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seals and Crofts</span> American soft-rock duo

Seals and Crofts were an American soft rock duo made up of James Eugene Seals and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" (1972), "Diamond Girl" (1973), and "Get Closer" (1976), each of which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Both Seals and Crofts were publicly outspoken advocates for the Baháʼí Faith. Though the duo disbanded in 1981, they reunited briefly in 1989–1992, and again in 2004, when they released their final album, Traces. Seals and his younger brother, the charting singer-songwriter "England" Dan Seals, later performed publicly together as Seals & Seals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. H. Adamson High School</span> School in Dallas, Texas, United States

William Hardin Adamson High School, formerly Oak Cliff High School, is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It is part of the Dallas Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school by the UIL. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.

Pleasant Grove is an area located in the southeastern section of Dallas, Texas, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunset High School (Texas)</span> High school in Dallas, , Texas, United States

Sunset High School is a public secondary school located in the North Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. The school enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD). The school serves a portion of the Dallas and Cockrell Hill catchments. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.

W. W. Samuell High School and Early College is a public secondary school located in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, Texas, US. Samuell High enrolls students in grades 9–12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. The school serves portions of southeast Dallas and a portion of the city of Balch Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skyline High School (Texas)</span> Public school in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, United States

Skyline High School is a public magnet school in the Buckner Terrace area of Dallas, in the U.S. state of Texas. Skyline is a part of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and serves grades 9 through 12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">England Dan & John Ford Coley</span> American soft rock duo

England Dan & John Ford Coley were an American soft rock duo composed of Danny Wayland "England Dan" Seals and John Edward "John Ford" Coley, active throughout the 1970s. Native Texans, they are best known for their 1976 single "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight", a No. 2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and a No. 1 Adult Contemporary hit. After they disbanded, Seals began performing as Dan Seals and launched a country music career through the 1980s which produced 11 No. 1 country hits.

<i>I Hear Music</i> (England Dan & John Ford Coley album) 1976 compilation album by England Dan & John Ford Coley

I Hear The Music is the third studio album and a compilation of songs by American pop rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, released by A&M Records several years after the various A&M recording sessions. Four songs, "Tell Her Hello", "New Jersey", "Mud and Stone" and "Miss Me", had already been released on the 1970 album England Dan & John Ford Coley. The other songs were recorded around 1970–72 for the album Fables (1971) or other shelved projects. After showing only minor success in the US with "New Jersey" and better results in Japan with "Simone", the duo was cut from the A&M roster in 1972. A&M kept testing the market, though, releasing "I Hear the Music" as a promotional single in September 1973. England Dan & John Ford Coley were left without a record company for a few years, but they participated in various projects including two Seals & Crofts albums.

<i>Dowdy Ferry Road</i> 1977 studio album by England Dan & John Ford Coley

Dowdy Ferry Road is the fifth studio album by the pop rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. The album's single "It's Sad to Belong" was a moderate pop hit and a #1 smash on the Adult Contemporary chart. A second hit from the LP, "Gone Too Far," reached #23 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Being from the Dallas, Texas area, England Dan and John Ford Coley named Dowdy Ferry Road after a street in the southeastern part of town. Dowdy Ferry connects with Interstate 20 in Texas.

The Goodees were an American pop music girl group who enjoyed brief popularity in the late 1960s. Formed in Memphis, Tennessee, the group is best known for the minor hit "Condition Red", a teen melodrama that bore a striking resemblance to the Shangri-Las hit "Leader of the Pack".

Gordon Perry is an American who has served in the music industry as a record producer, manager, concert promoter, video director, publisher, label executive and recording studio owner since 1968.

Jackson Hawke was a Canadian pop rock band, principally active during 1976-1978 and most notable for its song "You Can't Dance", which became an international hit for England Dan and John Ford Coley.

<i>Vol. 2</i> (Breaking Through) 1967 studio album by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

Volume 2 (Breaking Through) is the third album by the American psychedelic rock group, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, and was released in October 1967 on Reprise Records (R 6270 mono, RS 6270 stereo). At the time of recording, Michael Lloyd was not present so the group was reduced to Bob Markley and the Harris brothers, with additional uncredited contributions from Ron Morgan. On the back of original LP release appears 'Breaking Through' and the declaration: "Every song in this album has been written, arranged, sung and played by the group. No one censored us. We got to say everything we wanted to say, in the way we wanted to say it".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smell of Incense</span> 1968 single by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

"Smell of Incense" is a song by the American psychedelic rock band the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, written by Ron Morgan and Bob Markley, and was released as a single on Reprise Records in 1968.

<i>Garage Beat 66 Volume 3: Feeling Zero...</i> 2004 compilation album

Garage Beat '66 Volume 3: Feeling Zero... is a compilation album featuring rare material recorded by American psychedelic and garage rock bands that were active in the 1960s. The album's contents are sourced from the original master tapes. It is the third installment of the Garage Beat '66 series and was released on April 27, 2004, on Sundazed Music.

Jerry Parker McGee is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, originally from Meridian, Mississippi.

References

  1. Granberry, Michael. "Dan Seals, Pleasant Grove youth who grew up to be a music star, dies at 61". Dallas Morning News , March 27, 2009.