1960s TEEN BEAT
Interview Site
THE TREES (Chelmsford)
The Trees were Paul (J.R.) Wilbur (g), Rick Lombard (g), Al Briere (dr) and Dana Benoit (b).
It's the year 1966. A couple of friends come together in the house of Al's uncle. Paul and Dana had been childhood friends, Al and Rick were cousins. They started playing songs.
Paul: "We liked Beatles, Stones, and Motown mostly along with whatever else that was on the radio that we liked and could learn by ear."
A monicker for the group was found quickly:
Paul: "I was riding in a car one day and thought to myself, what do you see every day that will stick in people's minds as a band name?"
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The fist songs the Trees would learn were "Louie Louie", "In The Midnight Hour" and "Gloria".
By that time, other groups around in the area were The London Mist and The Prophets.
The group played the gear they could afford at the time. Paul had an Ampeg Gemini 2 amp and a Teisco Del-Ray guitar.
The group was a "small-time outfit", Paul remarks, playing mostly teen dances and parties, but had their big moment when they opened for Little John and the Sherwoods at the Commodore Ballroom in Lowell.
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Paul: "All the big names of that time played there at one time or another, and I also played on that same stage. The room held a couple of thousand, I think."
Of all the songs The Trees played, Paul remembers "Rain", "Get Off My Cloud" and "I Feel Good". They did a lot of practicing, once a week, on Saturday afternoon, but The Trees would do more practicing than they played out.
Paul: " I brought in the songs that I had learned, by ear, from the radio. We did only covers, and did not record".
The band folded after a last gig at the Chelmsford JC's Battle of the Bands in 1968. The Trees came in 3rd.
Paul: "We thought that we'd won it, because we sounded best. But the group that sold the most tickets won. They were The Tweed Ring. I left the band after this in disgust."
After that, the boys went into the army.
The Trees reunited in 1986 for a gig you can watch on Youtube.
Today, Paul and Dana still play as a duo.
TALKING
Teen
Beat
TALKING
Teen