The “Golden Hits Of The 70s“
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CROW
EVIL WOMAN DON’T YOU PLAY YOUR
GAMES WITH ME
(Larry Weigand, Dick Weigand, Dave Wagner)
Amaret 112
No. 19 January 10, 1970
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Crow frontman Dave Wagner began taking bass lessons in 1964. Within months, he was a plucking bassist
for the Aardvarks. Early in ’66, Dave changed groups joining Joker’s Wild; a Beatlesque band so named for
the Brian Hyland hit.
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Meanwhile, across town, responsible for nurturing the Trashmen, Gestures, and the CASTAWAYS (and
eventually Prince, MORRIS DAY, Jimmy “Jam” Harris, and Terry Lewis) were brothers Larry (bass) and
Dick Weigand (guitar). Active in sound production early on, the brothers formed the Knights in ’61; and
with future Castaway guitarist Lonnie Knight, the Rave Ons, in ’63.
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When in 1966, both the Rave-Ons and Wagner’s Joker’s Wild came under the managerial hand of David
Anthony Productions, things got the shake-up and the “best” members of each act were merged, becoming
South 40.
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Before their precarious perching as Crow–Wagner, the Weigand brothers, Dave “Kink” Middlemist
(organ), and Harry Nehls (drums)–South 40 worked as a Twin Cities bar band with their hard-edged R & B.
One album, Live at the Someplace Else, and two singles were issued locally and in limited numbers by
Metrobeat. South 40’s big break came when they won first prize in a talent contest sponsored by the
National Ballroom Operators Association in Des Moines, Iowa, in September, 1968–a recording session
with Columbia Records.
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Before the session, a name change was in order. Why Crow? “Well, a crow is a funky bird;’ explained Kink
for liner-note writer Jim Oldsberg. “It’s a scavenger, a nasty, hard-hitting kind of bird and our music is
kind of that way. Also, it’s a short name; one that’s easy to remember.”
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On January 31, 1969, Kink, the brothers, and the rest appeared as scheduled at the Columbia Recording
Studios in Chicago. Five tunes, including “Evil Woman;’ were taped. After listening to their demos,
Columbia passed on the group. Unbeknownst to Crow, Bob Monaco, co-owner with Bill Traut of the
Chicago based Dunwich/Amaret labels, was present at the Columbia session. Monaco felt the bird band
had something special to offer rock’n’roll listeners; Traut didn’t. Nearly a year passed before Traut
caved in to his partner’s insistence.
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In the spring of 1969, Crow was flown to Chicago to record a number of tracks, including what was to
become their lone hit, “Evil Woman Don’t You Play Your Games With Me.” By this point, Nehls had depart
ed and was replaced by Denny “Ludwig” Craswell, formerly of the Castaways and Blackwood Apology. The
line-up was now complete. Both Atantic and the tiny Amaret label were now bidding for the group’s
services. “Of course we wanted to go with the bigger company of the two;’ said Wagner to Oldsberg, “but
nobody listened to us. In a matter of months, it turned out to be the biggest mistake we ever made….”
Amaret issued “Time to Make a Turn” as the first single. Quickly it sank into oblivion. Label heads sug
gested issuing “Evil Woman” as the next release, but seasoned with overdubbed horns. The band balked at
the idea, but the label lads went ahead and did the deed anyway. “Amaret decided to add horns to get more
of a ‘Chicago’ sound like the Buckinghams. They had their own thoughts as to how to make our music
sound better;’ said Wagner. “The bottom line was; if we didn’t have the horns in it, they weren’t going to
put it out. That plucked our strings:’
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“Evil Woman”–with horns–became a national notable, but Crow disliked the “horrible” horns and refused
to duplicate the sound in their live performances. By years end, Crow had opened or headlined at the
Whiskey a-Go-Go and both the Fillmore East and West
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Two follow-ups charted, “Cottage Cheese” (#56, 1970) and “Don’t Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King
of Rock & Roll” (#52, 1970). Before the Crow crashed, four LPs of material were quickly issued.
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“We were becoming more and more disillusioned with Amaret by the day,” said Wagner. “We fought with
them (particularly Kenny Myers who ran Amaret) over our artistic direction.” Elektra Records showed an
interest in acquiring Crow, but reportedly Amaret refused to let the act leave with the rights to the Crow
name. “We were so tangled up in financial bullshit;’ said Wagner, “that I think we lost focus as to why we
were really there–for the music.”
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Feeling there was no way of disengaging the group from the financial and managerial malaise, Wagner left
Crow in 1971. The band carried on for a half year with vocals provided by Mick Stanhope, former of White
Lightning. Their final gig–June 26, 1971–was a benefit for Rapid City, South Dakota, flood victims, held at
Coffman Memorial Union on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
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Dave Wagner recorded a poor-selling solo album for Amaret Records; Denny Craswell returned to Min
neapolis, where he now owns a recording studio with former band mate Bob Folschow of the Castaways.
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Beginning in 1983, Wagner revived the Crow name, which continues into the present (late ’80s) as a touring
act; though no other original members are involved.
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