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SYNDICATE OF SOUND
“LITTLE GIRL”
(Bob Gonzalez, Don Baskin)
Bell 640
No. 8 July 9, 1966
Bassist Bob Gonzalez, keyboardist/guitarist John Sharkey (b. June 8, 1946, Los Angeles), lead singer/
saxophonist Don Baskin (b. Oct. 9, 1946, Honolulu), lead guitarist Larry Ray, and drummer John
Duckworth (b. Nov. 18, 1 946, Springfield, Mo.) were the San Jose-based Syndicate of Sound; students
at Camden High, initially billed the Pharoahs. At the San Mateo Teenage World’s Fair, this aggregate of
guys showed up to play in the Fair’s “Battle of the Bands.” Bob, John, and the others won first prize-free
recording time with Bob Keen’s Dei-Fi Records–home of the hits by RON HOLDEN and LITTLE CAESAR &
THE ROMANS.
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A Syndicate single entitled “Tell The World” was issued in small quantities by Dei-Fi, and illegally reissued
on the Scarlet label. Garrie Thompson, who would later become the guys’ manager, wanted to issue
something on his Hush label and asked the group if they had anymore original material on hand.
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As Sharkey told RPM ‘s Don Rogers, “We didn’t have very much, but we had gotten wind of THE LEAVES
‘Hey Joe.’ They were said to be the latest and greatest. We were already into the Byrds and that kind of
stuff, so we just made something up. We didn’t even have the words till the day we went in to record.
Well, we had some words, but lost them and made up some new ones.”
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It was January 9, 1966, when the group and Garrie entered Leo de Gar Kulka’s new Golden State Recorders
in San Francisco. Basken, in liner notes for The History of ., has said, “I had no idea how I would interpret
it [‘Little Girl’] vocally. It didn’t really work putting a melody on top of the changes we had, so we agreed I’d
do it without a melody, but with attitude.”
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Divinely sloppy, and created on the spot, in 15 takes, “Little Girl” had a raw garage/punk sound. Initially
issued on Hush, Bell Records noted the Bay Area sales of “little Girl” were hyper and acquired the national
distribution. As the record broke members elbowed out Larry Ray, for a more sedate guitarist Jim
Sawyers. Brian Epstein offered the act a slot on the Beatles Summer tour; management, without,
notifying the guys turned Epstein down. They touring exhaustively, appearing on Clark’s “Bandstand”
and “Where The ACtion Is” and opening for James Brown at the Cow Palace.
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For a follow-up, the Syndicate of Sound dreamed up “Rumours” (#55, 1966), a much smoother number.
“Bell gave us three weeks and fifteen hundred dollars to come up with an album,” said Baskin. They spent
all summer cutting it. “What we should have done was have Neil Diamond showed us ‘I’m A Believer.’
After a show in Houston he asked if he should record it himself or give it to the Monkees. If I’d been smart,
I’d have said, ‘Hey, give it to us, pal.”‘
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Two more Bell releases rang no bells. The boys bought a band house in Cambell, soon named “The
Beaver house,” for no reasons relating to the buck-tooth rodent. “We never played there,” said Baskin,
“but believe me, we put those Haight-Ashbury guys to shame.” Duckworth was drafted; replaced by
Carl Scott, of the San Jose Bees. JOHN PHILLIPS’ asked the band to play the Monterey Pop Festival;
but they turned it down when told it was a free gig.
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Capitol Records tried the group on for size for a lone single. “We were in the forefront of thrashing
hotel rooms, ” claimed Baskin. “There was BB guns, strobe lights, togas and adult films, and a dress
dropped 18 stories into Time Square.”
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Buddah Records issued two Syndicate sides. The first of these, “Brown Paper Bag” (#73, 1970), did
mildly well. But the joyfully crude group sound of “Little Girl” could not be coaxed again from the
group, and worse still, internal problems beset the Syndicate. Sharkey left the group; Gonzalez was
gone and Sawyer rejoined the Otherside.
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The Syndicate of Sound name kept playing concerts and club dates into the early ’70s, but no further
records were issued after the Buddah releases in 1970. John Sharkey is currently teaching music for
a living, and reports having recorded a few solo albums. John Duckworth left the military and
refurbishes homes. Don Basker was spotted in the mid-’80s playing bars with a C & W band. Bob
Gonzalez manages a furniture store. And here and there, Jimmy Sawyers still plays rock’n’roll.
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