[bomp] R.I.P.: John Peterson of The Beau Brummels

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>From BLITZ Magazine's web site:
===================    
HEART ATTACK CLAIMS BEAU BRUMMELS/HARPERS BIZARRE DRUMMER JOHN  PETERSON
By Michael McDowell 
 
The painfully short list of legendary bands whose entire original line up  is 
still living has sadly diminished by two groups with the 11 November passing  
of Beau Brummels and Harpers Bizarre drummer, John Peterson.
 
Known for their inventive use of minors, San Francisco's Beau Brummels  (lead 
vocalist Sal Valentino, lead guitarist Ron Elliott, rhythm guitarist Dec  
Mulligan, bassist Ron Meagher and drummer Peterson) signed with the late Tom  
Donahue's Autumn Records and made their label debut with the monster hit single,  
Laugh Laugh in December 1964. In May of the following year, the Beau Brummels 
 scored a number one hit with Just A Little. They then released the finest 
single  of their career; the haunting, mid-tempo You Tell Me Why in August 1965, 
 followed soon after by the upbeat Don't Talk To Strangers and a cover of the 
 Lovin' Spoonful's Good Time Music. The Beau Brummels also recorded two 
highly  acclaimed albums for Autumn in 1965, Introducing The Beau Brummels and The 
Beau  Brummels, Volume Two.
 
However, Autumn Records folded not long after the release of the Good Time  
Music single. The Beau Brummels subsequently headed for the Warner Brothers  
family of labels, as did such other Autumn alumni as the Mojo Men.
 
By 1967, as the Beau Brummels were earning accolades with such  
groundbreaking albums as Triangle, Peterson was to enjoy a career rebirth as the  drummer 
for the much loved Harpers Bizarre. The Santa Cruz, California-based  Harpers 
Bizarre also came from the Autumn stable, where they were known as the  Tikis. 
The Tikis likewise made the transition to Warner Brothers and cut the  classic 
garage band single, Lost My Love Today in 1966. With Peterson on board,  the 
Tikis changed their name to Harpers Bizarre and underwent a radical change  in 
musical direction that would forever ensure their legacy as innovators of the 
 highest order.
 
The revamped Harpers Bizarre made their chart debut in the Spring of 1967  
with a breezy rendition of Simon And Garfunkel's The 59th Street Bridge Song  
(which, interestingly enough, was issued with the Tikis' version of Lost My Love 
 Today on the flip side, but credited to Harpers Bizarre). Drummer Peterson, 
lead  vocalist Dick Scoppetone, bassist Dick Yount, lead guitarist Ted 
Templeman and  rhythm guitarist Eddie James followed suit with their debut Warner 
Brothers  album. To put it mildly, it was an album that confounded expectations.
 
Gone was the garage band drive of Lost My Love Today. In its place was a  
lavish and almost surreal atmosphere, fueled by snippets of cylinder era music.  
It was coupled with a lush, sweet band setting in the Eddy Howard and Francis  
Craig vein and vocal harmonies that at times surpassed the works of such  
virtuosos as the Association and the Beach Boys. Therein, sympathetic originals  
from Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks and others were interwoven to perfect an  
entirely new genre that was hinted at in contemporary works by the New  
Vaudeville Band, Dana Rollin, the Sopwith "Camel", Susan Christie and labelmate  Stutz 
Bearcat. Parks' absolutely stunning Come To The Sunshine emerged as the  
follow up 45, coupled with the theme song to Rick Nelson's highly acclaimed  
Malibu U television series.
 
Harpers Bizarre took this new direction a step further by the end of 1967  
with their second album, Anything Goes. Kicking off the Cole Porter-penned title 
 track with a dream-like, muted simulation of a 1920s-style radio broadcast 
that  featured a brief vocal interlude seemingly inspired by the late Russ 
Columbo,  the Anything Goes album brought new meaning to the concept of sustained  
euphoria. Covers of the Glenn Miller Orchestra's Chattanooga Choo Choo (which 
 gave Peterson and Harpers Bizarre another chart hit in late 1967 and earned 
them  a guest shot on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour television series) and 
their  sublime interpretation of Pocketful Of Miracles meshed well with such  
sympathetic originals as Two Little Babes In The Woods (featuring an  
irresistible, double-time bridge) and The Biggest Night Of Her Life. The  Anything 
Goes album was included in Blitz Magazine's list of the one hundred  best albums 
of the twentieth century.
 
Harpers Bizarre persevered throughout 1969 with two more albums for Warner  
Brothers, The Secret Life Of Harpers Bizarre and Harpers Bizarre 4. The band's  
music also surfaced during that period in the soundtrack of Peter Sellers'  
motion picture, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas. They then embarked upon an 
extended  hiatus, re-emerging in 1976 for one last album (sans Templeman), As Time 
Goes  By. In the interim, Peterson participated in the Beau Brummels' early 
1970s  reunion album for Warner Brothers.
 
In the 1980s, Peterson had entertained an offer from the Beau Brummels (who  
at that time were touring with co-founders Valentino and Mulligan) to rejoin 
the  band, when he was involved in a serious automobile accident. Peterson 
survived  and subsequently joined his Beau Brummels bandmates for a one-off 
concert (with  Harpers Bizarre's Dick Scoppetone in attendance) to celebrate Autumn 
Records'  legacy several years ago. Sadly, Peterson succumbed to a heart 
attack on 11  November 2007.
 
Acquaintences of Peterson have described him as a true gentleman; one who  
was fully aware of and humbled by his immense legacy. Peterson was 65 and is  
survived by his wife, Roberta, who is the sister of bandmate Ted  Templeman.



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