The Revels were an American rock band from California, associated with the 1960s surf music craze. They had hits with "Six Pak", and "Church Key" which was their most famous single.AllMusic - The Revels, Intoxica!!! The Best of the Revels, AllMusic Review by Cub KodaReal Life Rock: The Complete Top Ten Columns, 1986-2014, By Greil Marcus - Page 403 9 = The Exiles, directed by Kent McKenzie (Milestone) and Revels, Intoxica! (Sundazed)
Background The group started in the mid-to-late 1950s as a high school band in San Luis Obispo, California.The Tribune, March 01, 2012 - Surf music: SLO County's radical history - Patrick S. Pemberton They were originally called Gil Serna & The RocketsThe Golden Age of Rock Instrumentals, by Steven Otfinoski - Page 142 before changing their name to The Revels in 1959. Although their instrumental style predated the 1961-65 era of surf music, their success came during that period.
They are usually considered a "pre-surf" band and were the original Central California coastal instrumental band. Other bands from the area later included the more popular groups named The Sentinals and The Impacts.The Tribune, March 01, 2012 - Surf music: SLO County's radical history - Patrick S. Pemberton
Some of The Revels singles were collected on their sole album, Revels on a Rampage (1964) which was produced by Anthony John Hilder with the assistance of Howard Bowers and Norman Knowles.Discogs - The Revels – On A RampageAllMusic - The Revels, Revels on a Rampage
Their 1961 song "Comanche" which was written by Robert Hafner has been featured on two soundtracks.The Chicago Tribune, December 3, 1995 - ROCK 'N' ROLL MEMORIES By Ken Davis It first appeared as the "Detoured Theme" in The Exiles (1961).Billboard, May 8, 1961 - Page 4 HollywoodThe Chicago Tribune, December 3, 1995 - ROCK 'N' ROLL MEMORIES By Ken DavisCalifornia Gold Coast Dreamin' - The Revels It was later included along with several other surf music hits on the soundtrack of the film, Pulp Fiction (1994).Rolling Stone -- Surf Music and Seventies Soul: The Songs of ‘Pulp Fiction’Take a song-by-song tour of the groundbreaking film’s bestselling soundtrack, 'Pulp Fiction,' A to Z, The Revels, ‘Comanche’
The group had been playing and appearing locally since 1957.Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood, Domenic Priore - Page 1961 They were originally part of a larger San Luis Obispo High dance band. From that a smaller group was formed to play Rock 'n' Roll. Their career took off when Norman Knowles took over as leader and changed their name from Gil Serna and The Rockets to The Revels.The Golden Age of Rock Instrumentals, Steven Otfinoski - Page 142
History Gil Serna & The Rockets They were five members who were part of an 18-piece San Luis Obispo high school dance band called The Dreamers. Breaking away from the band, they formed Gil Serna & The Rockets.Intoxica!, The Best Of The Revels - Sundazed Music SC 11020 CD booklet, Page 3 An Introduction by Sam Eddy of The Revels - Sam Eddy (August 1994) This happened around Norman Knowles' third year at San Luis Obispo. He and the other members wanted to form their own combo to perform at dances and parties and make some money as well. An early line-up of the performing band Gil Serna & The Rockets, consisted of Serna on guitar, Sam Eddy on piano, Dan Darnold on guitar, Jim Macrae on drums and Knowles on sax.Intoxica!, The Best Of The Revels - Sundazed Music SC 11020 CD booklet, Page 4 It's Party Time, Norman Knowles and The Revels In 1957, there was a line up made up of Knowles, Serna, Jim Macrae, Darnold and Ron Fanunkin.Intoxica!, The Best Of The Revels - Sundazed Music SC 11020 CD booklet, Page 4 It's Party Time, Norman Knowles and The Revels, 1957 pre-Revels: With his graduation behind him and now a married man, Knowles was eventually elected as band leader in late 1958. Knowles was already handling a good deal of the band's bookings and business affairs. In early 1959, Knowles changed the name of the group to The Revels.Intoxica!, The Best Of The Revels - Sundazed Music SC 11020 CD booklet, Page 5 It's Party Time, Norman Knowles and The Revels
Members Dan Darnold: guitar, vocals Sam Eddy: piano Ron Fanunkin: saxophone Norman Knowles: saxophone Jim Macrae: drums Gil Serna: guitar Vince Tempesta drums Dave Davis guitar Early years In October 1959, the group released "Six Pak" bw "Good Grief" on Lynn 1302.45Cat - The Revels (California) - Discography, Six Pak / Good Grief Lyn 1302Surf & Hot Rod Music of the 60's: Collectors Quick Reference, By R. Duane Cozzen - Page 103 THE REVELS, Singles (45's) The A side was written by Norman Knowles who had been inspired by Dan Darnold's reputation for drinking a beer in just four seconds.The Golden Age of Rock Instrumentals, Steven Otfinoski - Page 142
Early in 1960, The Revels were in San Luis Obispo at a Chevrolet dealership, playing for a March of Dimes benefit. Tony Hilder had come into town to promote Billy Watkins and Charles Wright who were two of his artists. He was looking for a band to back his artists while on tour. Knowles wanted Hilder to think about The Revels as the backing band. Not that impressed, Hilder didn't consider them but still left his business card. The second time meeting Hilder was in the summer of 1960. The group had driven down to LA to record at a small studio located on the corner of Santa Monica and Western for what was their second recording session.Intoxica!, The Best Of The Revels - Sundazed Music SC 11020 CD booklet, Page 7 It's Party Time, Norman Knowles and The Revels The session wasn't going too good for the group so Knowles decided to ring Hilder to come over to help them with the experience he had. Soon Hilder arrived with Robert Hafner who was his partner and songwriter. Hilder was focused on guitarist Dan Darnold's playing around with the vibrato bar. Hafner helped with a melody centering around a hook with the vibrato. An arrangement was developed and later the title "Church Key" was given to the piece. Barbara Adkins, Hilder's girlfriend and future wife provided the giggles on the recording. Among the other tunes that Robert Hafner brought with him was "Vesuvius". The band learned it there and recorded it. Not having a label of his own at the time, Hilder and Norman Knowles started their own company as partners, splitting the costs as well as the profits.Intoxica!, The Best Of The Revels - Sundazed Music SC 11020 CD booklet, Page 8 It's Party Time, Norman Knowles and The Revels Mid Years In 1960, the group released "Vesuvius" bw "Church Key" on Tony Hilder's CT label.Who Put the Bomp, No.14, Fall 1975 - Page 13 "The Tony Hilder Story" by John Blair & Bill Smart - CT LABELPopsike - Rare Surf 45 The Revels ' Church Key ' on CT from 1960The Illustrated Discography of Surf Music, 1961-1965, John Blair - Page 65 A single release on the same label by another artist could cause confusion as to that which act had the first release on the label as they share similar catalogue numbers.Popsike - West Coast TEEN R&R VI HALL Endless Love/It's Graduation Time CT 1 M- HEAR BOTHPopsike - VI HALL: Endless Love / It's Graduation Time 45 (red wax, obscure Teen, plays fWho Put the Bomp, No.14, Fall 1975 - Page 13 "The Tony Hilder Story" by John Blair & Bill Smart - CT LABEL The catalogue number for "Vesuvius" bw "Church Key" on CT was 1-IM, 1-IMX.Discogs - The Revels – Vesuvius / Church KeyPopsike - Rare Surf 45 The Revels ' Church Key ' on CT from 1960The Illustrated Discography of Surf Music, 1961-1965, John Blair - Page 65 The other artist was Vi Hall. The release by Hall was a Robert Hafner, K.C. Reeth composition, "Endless Love" bw "It's Graduation Time", with the catalogue numbers, CT C-1, C-1X.Popsike - West Coast TEEN R&R VI HALL Endless Love/It's Graduation Time CT 1 M- HEAR BOTHPopsike - VI HALL: Endless Love / It's Graduation Time 45 (red wax, obscure Teen, plays fWho Put the Bomp, No.14, Fall 1975 - Page 13 "The Tony Hilder Story" by John Blair & Bill Smart - CT LABEL In 1960, "Church Key" bw "Vesuvius" was released this time on Impact Impact 1-IM, 1-IMX.45Cat - The Revels (California) - DiscographySurf & Hot Rod Music of the 60's: Collectors Quick Reference, By R. Duane Cozzen - Page 103 THE REVELS, Singles (45's)Billboard, November 21, 1960 - Page 54 Reviews of THIS WEEK'S SINGLES It was credited to The Revels with Barbara Adkins. The track featured an emotionless "Church Key", announcement, the sound of a beer can being opened and giddy laughter by Adkins.Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963, By James B. Murphy - Page 260 The August 1960 issue of Cashbox Magazine reported that Al Chapman of Modern Distributing had high expectations for a couple of singles. One of them was "Church Key" and the other was a release on the Spry label, "Tall Quiet Stranger", by Nick Green and Don Jackson.Global Dog Productions - 45 Discography for Spry RecordsCashbox, August 27, 1960 - Page 20 Ramblings, LOS ANGELES: Later that year, Impact Records said in the November 26 issue of Cashbox that the track was starting to click in several midwest areas.Cashbox, November 26, 1960 - Page 43 Record Rambings, LOS ANGELES: In the December 24 issue of Cashbox, it was noted that The Gonzos had their version out on the Donna label and gave it a B+ rating while The Revels were making some noise with theirs.Cashbox, December 24, 1960 - Page 14 Record Reviews, THE GONZOS (Donna 1330) "Church Key" became a hit for The Revels.New West, Volume 6, Issues 5-9, 1981 - Real Life Rock * Greil Marcus, The First WaveSurfin' Guitars: Instrumental Surf Bands of the Sixties, Robert J. Dalley - Page 259Real Life Rock: The Complete Top Ten Columns, 1986-2014, By Greil Marcus - Page 403 9 = The Exiles, directed by Kent McKenzie (Milestone) and Revels, Intoxica! (Sundazed)
Also in 1960, Serna left the band to join the Coast Guard. He was replaced by guitarist Save Davis.Intoxica!, The Best of The Revels - Sundazed Music SC 11020 CD booklet, Page 7 It's Party Time, Norman Knowles and The Revels
In 1961, they released two singles, "Intoxica" bw "Tequila" and "Rampage" bw "Comanche", both on Impact. Then there was "It's Party Time" bw "Soft Top", released on Impact 13-IM, 13-IMX.Popsike - 1SS IMPACT 13 THE REVELS SURF ITS PARTY TIME SOFT TIMWho Put the Bomp, No.14, Fall 1975 - Page 3 "The Tony Hilder Story" by John Blair & Bill Smart, TONY HILDER DISCOGRAPHY, IMPACT SINGLES
In 1962, they had another Impact single, "Revellion" bw "Conga Twist", which was their last Impact single release.Surf & Hot Rod Music of the 60's: Collectors Quick Reference, By R. Duane Cozzen - Page 103 THE REVELS, Singles (45's)Who Put the Bomp, No.14, Fall 1975 - Page 3 "The Tony Hilder Story" by John Blair & Bill Smart, TONY HILDER DISCOGRAPHY, IMPACT SINGLES Later that year was reported in the December 1, issue of Cashbox that Nico Records had acquired an instrumental of theirs from the Daco label. Nico records which had offices in Dallas and Hollywood was headed by Bobby Boris Pickett, Ned Ormand and R.B. Chris Christensen. The instrumental by The Revels was to be Nico's first release.Cashbox, December 1, 1962 - Page 30B Pickett A Partner In New Disk Firm They had some other singles were released on different labels, they were "Intoxica" bw "Comanche" on Downey D-123 and "It's Party Time" bw "Soft Top" on Westco WC-3.45Cat - The Revels (California) - Discography In 1962, following their involvement with The Exiles, the group was looking to secure a deal for a film that they would star in. Sam Eddy had also taken over from Norman Knowles as the band leader. Then in late 1962, Eddy and Dean Sorensen were drafted into the military. Knowles had also left the group to pursue his own ventures. This signalled the end of the group.Intoxica! The Best Of The Revels, Sundazed Music SC 11020, 1994 - Page 8 - John Blair author of The Illustrated Discography of Surf Music, 1961-1965