Feb. 24, 1973: A band called Abagail
A band that was making a splash during the winter of 1972-73, but the ripples seem to have disappeared completely. The internet doesn’t remember the group at all.
Feb. 24, 1973
Abagail Rock Band
Pushed and Grew
Mellow, Popular
THE FICKLE FINGER OF FATE first jabbed the rock band Abagail on their debut
engagement a couple years ago in
Coming back for their second night, they found a few things
missing. Stuff like a new Vox Super Beatle amp and an electric organ – about
$1,000 worth.
“We wound up borrowing stuff from another band up there
whose guitar player had drowned in a swimming pool that day,” recalls Jim
Elmore, one of Abagail’s lead singers.
“For that night,” Jim says, “we made $1.34 apiece. We were
taking a percentage of the door. If we stuck through that, we figure we’ll
stick through anything.”
* * *
THAT CRISIS
passed after a couple months of borrowing amplifiers and, finally, a loan. It’s
made other problems seem minor as the group has become among the more widely
sought-after heavy music-makers in the area.
“That’s how we got John Sansone to do some booking for us,”
says Jim. “I’d been after him for two years and finally there were so many
people asking for us that he decided to take us on. He’s still never seen us.”
Jim handles the group’s promotion and booking (with a
little help from his father, insurance man Bernard Elmore). Like with the
group’s business cards, which now have Sansone’s phone number stamped on the
back. At club dates, he puts two on each table.
“To get what you want,” Jim says, “you’ve got to keep
pushing.”
* * *
MOST PEOPLE
who seek after them are high school and college dance chairmen, who figure that
their constituents will be satisfied with nothing less than generous helpings
of Deep Purple, Humble Pie, Uriah Heep, Yes and The Who, among others.
The only detractors have been the kids at Jim Elmore’s
hometown
In contrast, there’s
* * *
A COUPLE
weeks back Abagail returned to the nouveau medieval glow of the Poorhouse West,
where they played extensively last year, and found the crowds hadn’t forgotten.
The Poorhouse was Abagail’s standing gig for a while, a place
where they could cultivate fans and exercise their weird sense of humor. Like
the time some guy fell out from too much of something and the band serenaded
his exit on an ambulance stretcher with Bloodrock’s “DOA.”
Any meek soul who silently slips a request to them most
likely will be unmasked and pointed at. Bob Foos, the other lead singer,
occasionally will take to the floor and dance.
“We don’t have a show,” says Jim Elmore, whose stage antics
include twirling tambourines, “but we get into what we’re doing in our own
individual way.”
First things you notice about the band musically are Curt
Smith’s guitar playing, elaborate and well-balanced as a room in a 19th century
mansion, and Bob Foos’ singing. Bob, without warning, unleashes a high-pitched
scream that’ll stop you in your tracks.
* * *
JIM ELMORE’S
voice, while less spectacular, gets more of a workout. He’s lead singer on most
of the songs, a serious tenor without affectations, riding the masses of sound
put out by organist Ray Dennison, bass guitarist Jack Havens (playing
upside-down bass because he’s a lefty) and drummer Larry Kotlik.
During a Sunday afternoon practice session at Jim Elmore’s
house in
The loudness debate cost them a guitarist and a drummer,
one of them Jack Havens’ brother.
“These guys didn’t think it was possible to play heavy
music without playing really loud,” says Bob Foos. “The guitar player used a
power booster on an Acoustic 260 amp and with a horn this big, he was just
sending daggers out of it.”
* * *
THINGS DIDN’T
quiet down until a gig in Clarence last summer. The rest of the band left the
two power-lovers to solo, staying away for better than an hour. After that,
they went looking for replacements.
“We used to play too heavy for too long,” Jack says. “The club owners didn’t understand what we were doin’. We have the same equipment now, we just don’t turn it up so far.”
The box/sidebar:
Named by a Misprint
The beginnings of Abagail date to when singer Jim Elmore
wanted to enter the
Jim and Bob worked together with a drummer at first,
playing Yardbirds stuff and all. Then, after the drummer disappeared one day
(they heard he got married and split for
Jim Elmore, 24, vocals, conga drums and guitar. St. Mary’s
High in Lancaster,
Bob Foos, 23, vocals and rhythm guitar, Cardinal Mooney
High in
Curt Smith, 19, lead guitar, attending North Tonawanda
High, single.
Jack Havens, 21, bass guitar, North Tonawanda High, diesel
mechanic, married.
Ray Dennison, 19, organ, North Tonawanda High, freshman at
UB, single.
Larry Kotlik, 19, drums and vocals, JFK High in
Curt, who works out basic musical arrangements, and Larry
joined the band a few months ago, Larry being chosen from among 35 drummers who
answered the group’s newspaper ad. Larry once played with Court, a rock band,
and The Varitones. He says in 1968 it was the best Polish band in
The group was named by a former guitarist who, one foggy
night, suggested: “Why not use a chick’s name like Abigail?” By the next day,
when everyone else wanted to change it, Jim’s father had the name printed on
1,000 cards. Printed with a typographical error. Abigail, thus, became Abagail.
* * * * *
IN THE PHOTO:
From left, front, Curt Smith, Ray Dennison, Bob Foos and Jack Havens; rear, Jim
Elmore and Larry Kotlik.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE: When it comes to tracking these fellows, I’m
batting .500. First success was singer Bob Foos on Facebook. He’s a
former national sales manager for Cantol Ltd., in
The second was keyboardist
Ray Dennison. LinkedIn tells us got his degree at UB in electrical engineering,
became an engineer at Moog Music and went on to become a principal engineer at
Calspan. Now he’s in
Third was singer and guitarist Jim Elmore. He became a deputy director of administration for the Orleans County Department of Mental Health and later was the county's Head Start administrator. Sadly, he died in 2004.
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