Bare Facts - LaPorte - 68-69

Wes brings us the "Bare Facts", from LaPorte, Indiana.
A couple of guys in a band, The Intruders, know a couple of other guys in another band, mix in that they all go to the same school - LaPorte High School - and the Bare Facts are born.

Wes England explains:
"We were known as the Bare Facts. We recorded a few records at Universal Studios in Chicago, 1968, 1969, We toured all over the Midwest, playing with most of the major artists of the time. Such artists are James Brown, New Colony Six, Buckinghams, Turtles, American Breed, Derek and the Dominos, Tommy James and The Shondells. We played all the Circuits, The Hullabaloo Clubs, The Top Deck in South Bend, Orchestra Hall in Chicago and many more venues."
Behold the Bare Facts: L - R

Ron Shaw - Lead Guitar / Horns
Bob Nebelung - Drums
Wes England - Bass
Dan Topolski - Rhythm guitar
Jim Sipe - Lead Vocals
Dave Curtis - Keyboards / Horns
The presenter of the trophy is Clark Weber - WLS personality.
Steve Kirkman - not pictured / lead singer replaced by Jim Sipe.

Wes:

"The biggest influences on the band were probably the brass or horns, along with harmonies, We were one of the only groups in the mid-sixties that actually played on stage with horns. Many groups recorded with horns, but did not actually have them. The Buckinghams is a good example. They did not have a horn section.

Also, we took great pride in our vocals. most groups had a lead vocalist, but did not really focus on tight harmonies. We did. Every guy in the group sang, or performed back up vocals on most every song, unless it was not required, of course. We also did songs that other groups did not perform. Songs like "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", "It's Not Unusual" along with most every Four Tops song.

We actually would be let out of High School at Noon on Friday's, so that we could make our first gig on Friday night. We would play Friday in Chicago, Saturday in Burlington Iowa and then Sunday in Springfield, Ill. The next week would be Detroit, Mi to Findlay, Oh, to Indianapolis, In. It was a great time.

We would actually bump into many big time bands, on the road, at rest stops etc."

The Bare Facts also had a recording session that resulted in a couple original tunes:

Does She Love Me / Think I'm Falling in Love


Wes is working on getting the tunes from reel to reel, don't think it made it to 45 stage. should be a treat when we can share it! And here's loads of thanks for all the cool pics. This is just a few of them!!!!

Night Watchmen - Ft. Wayne -1967 - Findlay OHIO....OOPS

Interesting ad from August '67. Playing at a W & D clothing store, we present the Night Watchmen.
I have no clue about any of the members, or the band, but look forward to finding out.

Clothing / Fashion stores were a popular gig in the mid '60s. I have photos of the Olivers playing at Wassons (1966), and The Boys Next Door had a show filmed by the owner of Dorothy's Fashions , Herb Levison, in November 1966. Dorothy's was located on 16th st, Speedway. Someone has to know if that tape is around somewhere.