Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Those Wastrels from Hoover High...

The day after the release of Led Zeppelin's first album, the band made its S.D. debut at the Fox Theatre on January 13, 1969. Later that year, less than a week before Woodstock, the Brits were back to rattle the San Diego Sports Arena on August 10. And in May of the following year, one of the first known Zep covers was cut by Hoover High School's Stage Band.

For years, word of an inspired if slightly addled S.D. teen version of "Good Times, Bad Times" had circulated globally, though few had ever heard it or anything off the Hoover High band's 1970 Gets It On LP. ("High school band doing stoned covers of Led Zep and more" is how the online Acid Archives of Underground Sounds 1965--1982 [www.lysergia.com] itemized it.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

Yet, since L.A.-based record collector Jonathan Ward posted an mp3 of it on New Jersey--based radio station WFMU's "Beware of the Blog" section last month, people have listened and liked. Ward, a designated contributor, does an intriguing setup on the blog:

"Good lord! Those wastrels from Hoover High must have been dipping into the orange sunshine! This has been on a few psych lists over the years and for the most part, the bulk of the LP is fair to decent, with the usual high school covers of 'Spinning Wheel,' 'Stormy,' and even some Bach. However, the classic cut is their rockin' Zep cover (although their lumbering version of Jethro Tull's 'Nothing Is Easy' is good for a spin) for its studied, imitation Bonham beats, and its screechy vocal distortion."

"I found this on eBay a bunch of years ago," elaborates Ward by e-mail. "Paid a good amount for it -- somewhere between $70 and $100. Don't recall where it was coming from. Overpriced probably, but it does have some rock/psych covers, so..."

Ward confirms that the record's label has a "Led Leplin" typo but also that, aside from songs and original artists, no other personnel or information is listed anywhere.

"Typical of high school band records in general: there are no credits except what you see on the front cover. The back cover, like most everything on the Century label [a defunct Saugus, California, specialty imprint] is blank except for the Century logo."

No success yet identifying any Hoover High Stage Band players on the Zep track, but corroborating sources at the S.D. Unified School District (as well as a Dias Cardinales school yearbook) have confirmed band director William R. Carlson's 1970 employ as an "instructional music teacher" at the Mid-City campus, adding that he was deemed "a really nice guy [who] did a really good job."

An anonymous June 5, 1970, article entitled "Stage Band Has Rock Beat," discovered in Hoover's newspaper, offers more: "The group, according to Mr. William Carlson, 'has ventured into a combination of rock and jazz.' Although this is its first year, the band seems to be popular with the students, if their applause is any indication.... Mr. Carlson stated that 'the educational department is starting to realize that Jazz and Rock have to take an important place in teaching...' "

Listen to the Hoover High Band's "Good Times, Bad Times" at http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04/365_days_099_th.html

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024

The day after the release of Led Zeppelin's first album, the band made its S.D. debut at the Fox Theatre on January 13, 1969. Later that year, less than a week before Woodstock, the Brits were back to rattle the San Diego Sports Arena on August 10. And in May of the following year, one of the first known Zep covers was cut by Hoover High School's Stage Band.

For years, word of an inspired if slightly addled S.D. teen version of "Good Times, Bad Times" had circulated globally, though few had ever heard it or anything off the Hoover High band's 1970 Gets It On LP. ("High school band doing stoned covers of Led Zep and more" is how the online Acid Archives of Underground Sounds 1965--1982 [www.lysergia.com] itemized it.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

Yet, since L.A.-based record collector Jonathan Ward posted an mp3 of it on New Jersey--based radio station WFMU's "Beware of the Blog" section last month, people have listened and liked. Ward, a designated contributor, does an intriguing setup on the blog:

"Good lord! Those wastrels from Hoover High must have been dipping into the orange sunshine! This has been on a few psych lists over the years and for the most part, the bulk of the LP is fair to decent, with the usual high school covers of 'Spinning Wheel,' 'Stormy,' and even some Bach. However, the classic cut is their rockin' Zep cover (although their lumbering version of Jethro Tull's 'Nothing Is Easy' is good for a spin) for its studied, imitation Bonham beats, and its screechy vocal distortion."

"I found this on eBay a bunch of years ago," elaborates Ward by e-mail. "Paid a good amount for it -- somewhere between $70 and $100. Don't recall where it was coming from. Overpriced probably, but it does have some rock/psych covers, so..."

Ward confirms that the record's label has a "Led Leplin" typo but also that, aside from songs and original artists, no other personnel or information is listed anywhere.

"Typical of high school band records in general: there are no credits except what you see on the front cover. The back cover, like most everything on the Century label [a defunct Saugus, California, specialty imprint] is blank except for the Century logo."

No success yet identifying any Hoover High Stage Band players on the Zep track, but corroborating sources at the S.D. Unified School District (as well as a Dias Cardinales school yearbook) have confirmed band director William R. Carlson's 1970 employ as an "instructional music teacher" at the Mid-City campus, adding that he was deemed "a really nice guy [who] did a really good job."

An anonymous June 5, 1970, article entitled "Stage Band Has Rock Beat," discovered in Hoover's newspaper, offers more: "The group, according to Mr. William Carlson, 'has ventured into a combination of rock and jazz.' Although this is its first year, the band seems to be popular with the students, if their applause is any indication.... Mr. Carlson stated that 'the educational department is starting to realize that Jazz and Rock have to take an important place in teaching...' "

Listen to the Hoover High Band's "Good Times, Bad Times" at http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04/365_days_099_th.html

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.