PCA Event Board – The Happy Together Tour: Catching Up with Carl Giammarese

May 20, 2010 in Uncategorized by Sam Tweedle | 1 comment

There is something special about the music of the 1960s. Innovative, original and fun, the 1960s wasn’t about big business and being cool. It wasn’t about image and videos. It was about great musicians writing and recording likeable songs for the love of their craft. As a result, the listening audience embraced the music and the songs themselves became timeless. That’s why the music of the era has endured. While the spirit of the 60’s seems to have faded, the songs of the era are replayed, rerecorded and continue to inspire generations of listeners.

Tonight five of the biggest acts of that classic era of rock n’ roll will be coming together in Santa Ynez, CA to kick off a summer long tour. Flo and Eddie from The Turtles, Nick Fortuna and Carl Giammarese from The Buckinghams, Rob Grill and The Grass Roots, Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees and former Raiders lead singer Mark Lindsey will be teaming up for The Happy Together 25^th Anniversary Reunion Tour. First developed in the 1980’s, The Happy Together Tour was one of the most successful rock tours of the decade. Together on one stage, the current tour is a unique chance to see these beloved entertainers all at the same time in an incredible two and a half hour show!

The Buckinghams' Carl Giammerese and Nick Fortuna

In March 2009 I had the chance to interview Carl Giammarese, the original guitarist and current lead singer for The Buckinghams, who landed Billboard hits with Kind of a Drag, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, Don’t You Care and Hey Baby, They’re Playing Our Song in the mid 1960’s. Carl and I have stayed in touch ever since and he remains to be one of the most pleasant and enjoyable people in the entertainment industry to visit with. His stories are always enjoyable, and he is a treasure trove of information, insights and knowledge. Carl is one of the nicest guys in music. Between packing and making final arrangements for the tour, Carl took the time to talk to me about the upcoming tour, as well as some major changes in The Buckinghams line up and his future projects

Sam Tweedle: So this is the 25^th Anniversary of the Happy Together Tour! What can you tell me about the original tour from the 1980s?

The Buckinghams' classic line-up circa 1967 including Carl Giammarese, Nick Fortuna, Marty Gribbs, Dennis Tufano and Jon Poulos

Carl Giammerese: The original tour [featured] The Turtles, The Grass Roots, The Buckinghams and Gerry Lewis from the Playboys. This tour is a little different because we still have The Turtles, The Grass Roots and The Buckinghams along with Mickey Dolenz and Mark Lindsey. It’s different because, thank God, it’s not as long as the last tour. That was seven months and I think we had on a week off in the middle of that thing, but then of course I was still in my thirties. But it was a great tour! It was the number one grossing tour that year and we played everywhere. 180 cities in the United States and different parts of Canada. We got around quite a bit.

Sam: Who put together this tour?

Carl: It was put together by David Fishoff and Howie Silverman. David Fishoff, at the time, was mainly in the sports business as a rep. He represented a lot of major athletes. He decided he wanted to get in the music business and hooked up with Howie Silverman who was a New York promoter. They saw the excitement and renewed interest in 60’s music and in 1984 did a Happy Together Tour with The Turtles, Gary Puckett, Spanky and Our Gang and The Association and was so successful that they decided to do it again in 1985, which is when they got The Turtles, The Grass Roots, The Buckinghams and Gerry Lewis. They went on the year after us and did The Monkees tour.

Carl Giammarese's publicity shot for the 1967 Buckinghams album "Portraits"

Sam: Who was behind putting the reunion tour together?

Carl: Howie Silverman started an agency that became Paradise Artists. We’ve been booked exclusively through Paradise for the last twelve years. So it was Silverman’s idea to reunite us for the anniversary tour. He got Flower Power Inc., who also did Hippie Fest, to be the producers of the show.

Sam: The format to The Happy Together Tour is different then the way you guys usually work. What are those differences?

Carl: Basically the difference is that [all the groups] are using one backup band, which is very different for me and Nick Fortuna. When they first approached me and said they were going to use one back up band I was a little leery about it because I don’t like to do that. I don’t want to start being like those 1950s bands, where they shuffle guys on stage and shuffle them off and its one backup band because you begin to lose your identity. That was always my fear, but I understand what’s going on here. It’s more economical and the idea is to create a whole show that lasts about two and a half hours. If you brought in full bands you’ve got set ups between groups and everything kind of slows down and it turns into a four hour show. They’ve got some excellent players and singers with us and I think the authenticity of the songs will be there and you’ve got enough of the original members from each group. It should be great.

Sam: Over the last month you made some huge changes to The Buckinghams’ line up after over twenty five years with the same members. What was behind the changes, and who are your new members?

Carl: Our long time drummer Tom Scheckel just put up a “goodbye” on facebook. It was a tough thing to lose him because Tom is not only a great drummer but a great guy. He is a really good friend of mine and an important player in The Buckinghams. He’s an exciting drummer and was with us for twenty seven years, which is a long time. But Tom saw an opportunity and had been talking to Paul Revere and Tom is going to be joining the Raiders. It was a chance to move up the ladder and he reached a point in his life where he needed a change and we understood and applauded him for doing it and wish him the best. For various reasons, with the main reason being to go a different direction musically, Bob Abrams is no longer with us. Bob has a large fan base as both a solo performer and duo performer in Brock and Abrams in the Chicago area and we wish him the best.

Sam: So Carl, in the last few years The Buckinghams have been more prolific then they have been in decades. You did the live album, a Christmas album, Reaching Back which was full of new material, the concert DVD, the Obama Inauguration and now you’re on The Happy Together Tour. What’s next for the Buckinghams, and what’s next for you?

Beyond The Buckinghams and The Happy Together Tour, Carl has a book and a solo project in the works

Carl: I’ll be honest with you. I don’t have a plan for The Buckinghams for the immediate future. I know their will be other projects. I want to write new songs and come up with a cohesive Buckinghams sound and have it sound a little more progressive. When I was doing Reaching Back I was really reaching back for that sound we had in the sixties. Dawn Lee Wakefield and I are still writing our book. I am halfway done with an album right now that I’ve been working on as a solo project. Right now I’m just calling it Journey. It’s a very simple recording but I’ll tell you more about that when its completed.

Sam: Well thanks so much for talking with us Carl, and we’ll be in touch after the tour.

Carl: Thanks Sam. We’ll talk again.

We’ll be following Carl, Nick and the rest of the bands on The Happy Together Tour throughout the summer. For more on Carl and The Buckinghams be sure to read my 2009 interview with Carl – Hey Baby They’re Playing Our Song: Reaching Back with Carl Giammarese, and don’t forget to check out their web-site. Finally, if The Happy Together Tour is in your area don’t miss this rare opportunity to see these great acts in one show. Complete tour dates are available below –

May 20 – Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez CA

May 25 – Dodge Theatre, Phoenix AZ

May 26 – Orpheum Theatre, Omaha, NE

May 27 – Fox Theatre, St. Louis

May 27 – Potowatomi Casino, Milwaukee, WI

May 28 – PNC Pavilion Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH

May 29- Time Warner Cable Amp Tower City, Cleverland OH

May 30 – DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston MI

May 31 – Centennial Terrace, Sylvania OH

June 2 – Toyota Presents Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, CT

June 4 – Paramout Theatre Convention Hall, Ashbury Park, NJ

June 5 – North Ford Theatre, Westbury, NY