So maybe we Nebraskans never made it far into the Nuggets collection. But who needs Lenny Kaye anyway? We had the Coachmen.
So maybe we Nebraskans never made it far into the Nuggets collection. But who needs Lenny Kaye anyway? We had the Coachmen.
In 1965, they set foot into the Sears Studio in Omaha to lay down their original composition, “Mr. Moon.” Once it was committed to wax, they chose one of two options: a national label with national distribution but lower pay (MGM) or a regional label (Bear Records, a London subsidiary) with higher pay but no chance to hit the national charts.
They chose the latter. This relegated them to local TV shows, like “The Coachmen Hour” on an Omaha television station. But the steam of “Mr. Moon,” a great R&B infused track, soon ran out, so they did what any fine upstanding band of the 60s did – fled to Calfornia and took on a goofy name. In this particular case, it was Professor Morrison's Lollipop, who registered a little with 1968's “You Got the Love.”
A few years ago, I had a chance to talk with most of the remaining members of The Coachmen and write a history of the band. To this day, it's one of the works I am most proud of. But there's a quote that stands out, from a man named Clark Besh: "At least one record says it for Nebraska garage rock, and that is 'Mr. Moon.'"