Jungle (4)

The story begins in 1963 in Belmont, California when Virgil "Butch" Daniels and schoolmate James Ryan Clark meet. Realizing they are both guitar players, they start a band. The California surf rock craze is in full-swing, so they begin learning the signature surf tunes. They name this band "The Knight Riders". Butch and James parents both grew up in the southern US, and with the civil rights movement going strong, the band name was a sarcastic reference to the Klu Klux Klan. This initial line-up consisted of Butch on lead guitar/vocals, James on rhythm guitar, and Greg Mahoney on drums. The band was popular with their high school peers with them often being invited to play at parties. That year The Beatles had their first hit, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and the band decided that they had to keep up with the times by adding Rod Pearce on bass, and Jay Mierly on backing vocals. Greg Mahoney was also replaced by the 15-year old drum prodigy, Mike Lentos.

The year is 1965. The band manages to secure a recording session at Coast Recorders in San Francisco for the Autumn Records label, with Sly Stone on A&R. A demo is cut with the band playing live in the studio. These recordings were unheard until 2015 when they were released by Break-A-Way Records. The Knight Riders gain notoriety in the Bay Area, most notably in a teen club in San Carlos called "The Cinnamon Tree". In early 1966 Rod Pearce is replaced by John Dawson who plays harmonica and sings harmonies along with playing bass. John had already become friends and even sung a few times with Butch And Jay, so they were familiar. Later that year Butch is drafted into the army and sent to Worms, Germany to be a clerk for an officer. Taking the advice from another soldier while on leave, he travels to Ibiza, Spain.

Butch, now married, corresponds with John about Ibiza, saying that the band must exist in Ibiza, nowhere else. In the meantime, band members are pursuing music in different places. Jay with his brothers Rich and Tom Martin, and John, Mike and James traveling, playing wherever they go. Butch finally returns from the army in 1968, with new song ideas and a drive to get the band going again. Mike Lentos is replaced by Delbert Lang on drums, and the band's name is changed to "Jungle". A high school friend of Butch takes the band back to Ibiza in vague plans to record with a European label. After months of no replies from record companies, the band returns to the US on the east coast. Renting a farmhouse in Waitsfield, Vermont, the band takes on it's final lineup.

A demo is recorded in November 1969 at Allegro Sound Studios in NYC. Pressing the tapes onto 50 vinyl copies, most in plain black sleeves, band attorney George Seaton uses the demo to land a record deal with Polydor, $30,000 (roughly $220,000 today) for 3 albums in 3 years. However, Butch and Jay leave the band for unexplained reasons, going to Amsterdam and meeting with friends. It is believed that Butch, being shut up in the Army for 2 years had a fear of commitment with Polydor.

Years later, with the demo and band long forgotten, the Little Indians label acquired an original demo copy and created an unofficial 1997 reissue. The band would likely not be recognized today if not for this reissue, and as such these original Little Indians reissues are highly valued, usually selling for $100-$200. Original first pressings are extremely hard to come by as well, with only 3 known surviving copies, one of which was sold on eBay in 2009 for nearly $3,000.