The Mauds

The Mauds were an influential band in the 1960s, 1970s Chicago jazz rock, blue-eyed soul, blues rock, garage rock scene that included The Buckinghams, Chicago, Shadows of Knight, and The Ides of March. The Mauds was founded in 1964 by Bill Durling, rhythm guitar. Bill knew Jimy Rogers from 1964 and convinced him to start singing lead for Bill's band. Jimy and Bill then asked Billy Winter, bass, Robert “Fuzzy” Fuscaldo, lead guitar and Craig Baumgard, drums to join and the Mauds were born. These musicians built the Mauds unmistakable Chicago Blue-Eyed Soul Sound c.1965 to 1967. The name Mauds was a play on the 1960s British slang expression "mod", which meant modern. Bill Durling went off to college in Storm Lake, Iowa and was replaced by Timmy Coniglio on rhythm guitar and brass. Then, Craig Baumgard was replaced by Phil Weinberg on drums, and later, Denny Horan replaced Weinberg, and Bill Winter was replaced by Bill Sunter. It was Shadows frontman/vocalist Jimy Sohns who first discovered and championed The Mauds in 1966. Sohns helped them find gigs and was instrumental in their signing with Dunwich Records distributed by Mercury Records, where in 1967 they gained fame with their debut single, a cover of the Sam & Dave hit "Hold On" penned by David Porter and Isaac Hayes. The song was recorded at the original Chess Studios in Chicago, home to blues giants Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. The Rolling Stones had recorded their second album there in 1964. The single charted locally at No. 15 on WCFL and No. 11 on WLS radio. The single might have gone higher, but a censorship controversy erupted when WLS got complaints about the lyrics, “Reach out to me for satisfaction; on my knees for quick reaction.” A cleaned-up version was recorded for WLS but the songs momentum was slowed. The Mauds recorded "HA HA HA" in 1967. Full album of material was recorded called “Hold On” that yielded several other blue-eyed soul songs, including “When Something is Wrong with my Baby,”“He Will Break Your Heart,” and “Knock On Wood”. The Mauds version of “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” an instrumental jazz hit by Cannonball Adderley, written by Joe Zawinul had soulful lyrics written by Curtis Mayfield (though credited to Vincent & Gail Fisher Levy) especially for them. Mayfield was so happy with the way they did his “You Must Believe Me,” complete with Impressions-styled harmonies, that he promised to write several songs just for them. Jimy Rogers often lamented that unfortunately, their version was recorded around the same time (1967) as the Buckinghams more famous version, which had different lyrics and ended up being a No. 5 national hit. Two originals were included, “C’mon and Move” by Rogers and Fuscaldo, and “You Made Me Feel So Bad” by Horan and Fuscaldo. "I rehearsed the first line-up of The Mauds when Jimy was still in high school and hand-picked them to replace us (the Shadows of Knight as the house band) when we left The Cellar (the famous teen club in Arlington Heights, IL) to play other places," said Jimy Sohns while remembering his friend. "Jimy even toured and sang (in my place) with The Shadows when I was sick." Following "Hold On," in 1968 the Mauds released the biggest single of their career, "Soul Drippin'," which featured the horn section of Walter Parazaider, Lee Loughnane, and Jim Pankow, as well as keyboardist Robert Lamm. “These musicians were so inspired by the recording session that they went on to form their own group, C.T.A., later to become Chicago” Rogers said in an interview. The song charted at "No. 85" on the Billboard singles chart and locally at No.16 on WCFL and No. 12 on WLS radio. With Jimy Rogers as the leader of the band throughout its lifespan, the band personnel grew and changed in 1969 when Richard Tufo joined on organ, Tim Coniglio left and Denny Spiegel was added with his “outasight screech trumpet” according to an old fan club newsletter. Frank Laurie also played trumpet, and trombone was added with Jim Zollers. Bill Sunter left and was replaced by Mike Schwab. The single “Satisfy My Hunger” featured Rogers on acoustic guitar, and the flip side, “Brother Chickie” was an instrumental featuring Rich Tufo's jazzy organ. Sam Alessi was also on keyboards for a while during this period and again later in 1999 at the Cellar Reunion concert (Arlington Heights, IL). Unlike his Chicago contemporaries who had a more pop sound and were mostly inspired and influenced by the Beatles, Rogers cooked up a much more soulful musical stew that worked well with his raspy vocal style. Along with other 1960s–1970s rockers, Rogers was a disciple of rhythm and blues and what became known as "the Chicago Sound". While the 'British Invasion' was overtaking American rock music, the Mauds were different from other area bands, according to Bob Stroud's biography, because of the inspiration they found in soul music. "Lead singer Jimy Rogers possessed the beginnings of a truly legitimate set of blue-eyed soul pipes," wrote Stroud. "Under the cover of night, these five teenage, suburban white boys were sneaking into the various South side soul emporiums to bear witness to their heroes … Sam & Dave, [Otis] Redding and [Curtis] Mayfield." Rogers worked with a variety of stars including Carole King and Stephen Stills, telling friends that "one of the greatest honors" of his career "was being asked to sing at a memorial concert the night Otis Redding was killed". "I remember watching Jimy and The Mauds back in 1970 at the Wild Goose at an outdoors show in Oak Lawn," said Jim Peterik, of Ides of March. "What a supreme frontman Jimy was. He was one of my role models from that moment on and "Soul Drippin'" is still one of my all–time favorite songs." Dick Biondi, broadcasting legend of WLS (AM), has continued to state “wherever I’ve gone, wherever I’ve worked, one of the best recordings to ever come out of the city of Chicago is “Soul Drippin’ by the Mauds.” It was written by Dick “Daddy Dewdrop” Monda, who sent Jimy an email a few months before Rogers' death, saying: “I just wanted to thank Jimy for his incredible readings of my songs. It changed my life and gave me the impetus to go on with my career.” In 1970, the band included Marv Jonesi on guitar, Sam Alessi on Hammond organ, Mike Schwab (Groucho) on bass, and Denny Horan on drums. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd were frequent visitors to the Mauds shows during this period, particularly in the Rush Street bars. It is rumored that the original Blues Brothers skit on Saturday Night Live was a “take off” of the Mauds “White Soul.” The Mauds signed with RCA and recorded a single of Carole King's ballad, “Man Without A Dream.” This proved to be prophetic, as the single failed to get airplay and suddenly it was Jimy Rogers who had become the man without a dream. The Mauds disbanded in 1971, after just a few years and a handful of hits together and the band changed their name to "Flash", leaving Marv Jonesi on guitar, John Christy on Hammond Organ, John Hardy on bass and Marc Coplan on drums playing around Chicago, recording a demo for Columbia records, and trying to make it in L.A. When they played the legendary Whisky a Go Go in 1971, a review written on May 1, 1971, in Billboard magazine said, “Flash’s set here April 13 was a model for other groups to follow…the final number saw something quite unusual for the Whisky. Rogers walked into the crowd like a troubadour and went from table to table, eventually got the usually staid Whisky crowd harmonizing with the band.” Al Kooper called Rogers, “the next Mick Jagger” and started on a project with Columbia Records that never came to fruition because of Kooper's legal difficulties with the label over Lynyrd Skynyrd. Rogers then retired from the music business temporarily and spent a decade as a hairstylist in L.A. He cut the hair of many celebrities and it is said that he created Barry Manilow’s famous mane. Returning home from California to care for his