| The Continentals |
Dallas, Texas |
May 1959 |
As the treasured three-month summer vacation approached, two cousins, Fred Raulston and Bob Shumate, aged 14 and 15 respectively, sat glued to Fred's Hi-Fi, as they were called in those days.
"You know," Fred said matter of factly as the boys listened to Little Richard wailing from the little speakers on the record player, "I'm buying me a drum set tomorrow."
"Cool," Bob replied, "I'm still playing my clarinet in the school band but I hate it."
"You hate what?" Fred inquires, "the clarinet or the school band?"
"Both," Bob states flatly. "My dad's helping to get a tenor sax and as soon as school is out I'm done with band."
"Hmmm.." the analytical Fred says. "I'm getting drums, you're latching onto a sax; you know, WE SHOULD START A COMBO!"
With these words an idea was born that would take Texas and the entire southwest by storm.
The boys searched for a band name that would set them apart from the predictable names of the day, the ones named for cars or the likes. They both wanted a name that was 'cool' yet possessed a touch of class.
It was only a couple of weeks when Fred approached Bob with an idea for a band name. "What do you think of 'The Continentals'?" Fred asked.
"Another car name?" Bob asks in return.
"A way of life name," Fred asserts. "It would give us a more worldly flair than most bands have," Fred states.
Worldly was the last thing these two guys were, but it sounded good to Bob as well.
"Yeah, that's us alright," Bob mutters as he quietly ponders how this name might be conceived by the most important factor to them both: GIRLS!
"That's it, then," Fred trumpets. "We are The Continentals!"
And so as the summer of '59 wore on, Fred and Bob began their search for other players for their 'combo'.
It was slim pickings at first with a revolving door of 'would be' musicians filing in and out of the rehearsal room (Fred's den), most of the players of sub-par talent. As new musicians were 'tried out' for the band, The Continentals played a few gigs in the north Dallas area with these players. The results were less than dramatic. At long last, in the early 1960's, the cream began to surface and a good little four piece group emerged.
The first band is the one Bob and Fred still consider as the 'real' Continentals. It included:
As the Continentals became better known around the north Texas area, they soon attracted the attention of the hottest record label in the state. VANDAN RECORDS, and their owner Tom Brown, came knocking at the door of the talented young men, and signed them to a four-record contract (pretty hot stuff in those days). Vandan had just signed the Nightcaps, recording their smash hit 'Wine, Wine, Wine' and were lookingfor a band to tour with them. All that was needed by the Continentals was a 'top notch' record producer.
In late 1960 the band was to meet the best known Dallas DJ at the time , Bob (GIT IT) Kelly. BK, as the group called him, was doing a live all-night radio show for station WRR at the locally famous Cotton Bowling Palace, when the band's manager Burt Raulston (Fred's dad) booked them on the show to play a live performance. It was at this venue where Bob Kelly first expressed the desire to produce some records on 'The Continentals.'
Soon, an agreement was struck, and the guys were off to the best studio in Big D to cut those four sides that would result in 'The Continentals' first venture into the national charts. There would be more to come...
'Michael Ray' was the final release on Vandan Records and rose to #47 with a 'bullet' on Billboard in 1964 despite lack of interest by the label. It was #18 locally and was considered to be on its way to the top when Vandan curtailed its access to RCA, the distribution company.
*All VANDAN recordings by THE CONTINENTALS were produced by Bob Kelly in association with Jody Lyons.
The next songs were recorded 14 months after the VANDAN numbers. THE CONTINENTALS had undergone major changes in personnel. Ronnie Floyd, the lead singer, was now performing as a solo act, and David Maxwell, the bass player, has taken a day job, playing music on rare occasions.
The original CONTINENTALS were never to perform together again! These songs will show the direction Fred Raulston and Bob Shumate tried to take the 'new' CONTINENTALS. It was a valiant effort, but soon fate would draw these two kindred spirits in separate directions as well.