(Dean Curtis hails the return of a favorite Bay area band with deep San Diego roots.)
When I moved to the Bay area in ’92, I was pretty out of touch with the local music scene. One night, I was browsing through the Bay Guardian’s music listings, and I saw “Ron Silva & The Monarchs” listed.
“Naw, it can’t be the same Ron Silva from The Crawdaddys!” I thought. I went and checked it out anyway. Sure enough, it was the same Ron, fronting a new band of hip R&B cats from San Francisco, put together in ’93 by ex-Loved One Nick Rossi. Ron’s voice sounded better than ever, and the band was top notch!
Read “Let the Good Times Roll: The untold story of the Crawdaddys”!
This was a dream come true for me, as I lost touch with Ron’s musical projects some time around 1988, when I moved away from San Diego to attend college at Humboldt State. (I was like a fish out of water up there!) Around this time Ron, Carl Rusk and Tom Ward (a k a the Nashville Ramblers) showed up in the Bay area after a brief stay in New York City and kept plenty busy playing together and with some of the talented young Berkeley musicians in the mod scene there.
Have you heard about the Nashville Ramblers?
I wasn’t there to witness it, but from the photos that I’ve seen and from what I’ve heard, the ’80s Berkeley mods were the sharpest and hippest of anywhere! Out of these musical collaborations came some great bands, including the Driving Wheels, the Loved Ones, and Ron Silva & The Monarchs.
Read more about our moves to the San Francisco Bay area!
This just in! Ron Silva & The Monarchs are back, with the lineup of Ron on vocals; Steve LaFollette, bass guitar and vocals; Nick Rossi, guitar and vocals; Ben Wayne, drums; and Bill Ungerman, saxophone.
Their debut is on Oct. 2 in San Francisco, followed by a performance on Oct. 3 at Tony Sanchez’s new club in LA called Mind Machine. And on Sunday, October 4, Ron returns to San Diego with the Monarchs to play at The Tower Bar. It’s an early show starting at 6:00 (with a BBQ at 5:00), so you can get to bed early and won’t be late for work on Monday.
All the details and more here, here and there
— Dean Curtis
If he sings “I Did My Part” by Irma Thomas -- and Allen Toussaint, it will be worth the price of entry by itself.
I never properly thanked Ron for the Crawdaddy’s rendition of this tune -- which is responsible for turning me on to the Toussaint-flavor, New Orleans R&B. I knew hints of the sound in some of my favorite Ray Charles tracks -- like “Movin’ On” and “Tell the Truth”. These now seem to owe more to Ray picking up a New Orleans sound than the Georgia roots, so often emphasised in biography. They were also in the Crawdaddy setlist. Being 16 and bound in San Diego, I was astounded that there were actual people who would play this stuff! I didn’t yet know about Irma (or even Otis Redding!) at that time, while still enthralled by Ray Charles and Booker T.
A proper tip of the wig is due, ‘cos I’m sure that there are many like myself who got themselves hipped to a bit more than Motown, through the talent, enthusiasm and delighted interests of Ron Silva.
If I guess correctly, “I Did my Part” was probably suggested by Keith Fisher, the Crawdaddys and Howling Men key-player in those days, but it was really brought to life by Ron, who did his own thing with the Irma Thomas vocal. It was a blast, digging him front this tune in performance. My best memories of the Crawdaddys are when they turned out this funky, juke-beat stuff -- and Ron became the most animated and dynamic on stage.
I haven’t seen Ron play a show in 22 years… Last we crossed paths was for for a moment, on a BART ride around ’97 and I was semi-conscious after work! So my recollections may be grossly out of step with today’s Monarch’s. It’s true, a man evolves. But the “atavist’s atavist” has probably developed his thread more than diverted it.
BTW: I used to live about 3 blocks from the Tower, in San Diego -- in an apartment with my mother and brother, just off Euclid Ave. The mention of it is the prompting for another kind of memory. It was just a restaurant with attached bar, in the day. It was very working-class, with decor that had been updated about 1947, in a style that the clientele would have taken for elegance. We ate there, as a family for a monthly night-out on my mother’s student income. It now seems strange, that those days -- 1977 -- are becoming rapidly as distant from today, as that time was itself removed from the construction of The Tower in 1932. The Art Deco pillar must have been as “swank” as it comes. Does the old, Egyptian Garage, with “Big City Liquor” , still stand on the corner? That must have gone back to 1929. A pharaoh’s palace, in stucco!
Yes, “I Did My Part” is in the band book and will surely be on the set-list at The Tower Bar. We (The Monarchs) did it first time around with Ron and recorded a version for Get Hip in 1994 with Keith Fisher on electric piano. You can hear it on the linked MySpace page. I believe it is pretty much the same arrangement The Crawdaddys used to do onstage, with a few touches we added (or copped back off the original).
This post has me looking up source material on Berkeley mods — a very elusive species to me, despite living in SF from 1987 to 2001. (I roomed with Ken Laddish and Kyle Chan when I first arrived in town; I believe they’d recently matriculated from that scene into their Peace Nazi incarnation.)
Here’s a gallery of “Cafe Milano Mods” by our own Eric and Ingred Chamberlin, who the caption indicates just returned to San Diego after their own extended stay in San Francisco. Welcome back, Chamberlins! (Your dreams were your ticket out.) 🙂
How great it is to see that Ron is still singing and playing…he is the real deal.
heff
Nick,
I gotta check out the Myspace! I didn’t know that Keith and Ron had much association after the “LA Period” in the mid-eighties, which saw the Howling Men disappear into a storage-room full of broken televisions, never to emerge intact…
Grand old time tho’, wasn’t it?
You were in the Loved One’s? I think I knew of two groups that were contemporary with the bands on this blog. You were the fab Mod/Blues outfit from Oakland, right? I think Heiko Adler and Kristof were my connection to seeing you in the late 80’s.
There were another “Loved Ones” but I think were from L.A. Had a great Joker named Robert, who palled with Rich Coffee and Mike Stax. Of course, I’m getting on in years, and could have some wires crossed in my recollections.
And…
When are we gonna see Ron show up on the blog? 🙂
When Bruce Joyner and Gary Heffern have both shown up, wow. Ron, you’re becoming conspicuous in your absence!
does Ron still drink his soda’s and burp alot? he was the loudest burper I’ve ever heard!
heff
Ron doesn’t really do the social media thing, but I know he is aware of this blog.
Bart Davenport and I put The Loved Ones together in Oakland/Berkeley in early 1991. We had done one gig at the end of the previous year as The Broken Hearted with Ron on drums -- but it was much of the same repertoire (i.e. A LOT of Chicago Blues and US R&B) we would soon focus on with the Loved Ones. “Mod/Blues” is a good name for it. The group was made up of a bunch of us that spent our weekends partying with the Berkeley mod crowd (Mike Therieau and I were immigrants from San Diego). Our intent was to play “authentic R&B/blues” (cough, cough) taking a huge inspiration from The Crawdaddys “Here ‘Tis” LP. The only non-Berkeley mod type involved was my ol’ school days buddy, John Kent, who I convinced to move up from suburban LA to join the group. I left the group in the Spring of 1992 and they went on to considerable success (there is a joke in there somewhere).
I recall that Keith Fisher turned up at a Loved Ones gig in LA in 1994 or so and jammed with them. The guys came back and told me about it and I started plotting to get him to play on The Monarchs EP which we were recorded that May. He did play a couple of gigs with us and it sounded great (we had 2 saxophones in the group by that time), but we didn’t really pursue it. Keith also recorded with The Loved Ones (“Better Do Right” disc) that same year and did some touring with them.
And Gary, Ron’s belching prowess has not diminished.
Jerry: Yes the old Egyptian Garage, where “Big City Liquor” still stands, City Heights looks about the sames as it did back in the 80’s and maybe even the 70’s which I think is great, time stands still in this part of town.
When I think of Berkley Mods, I thinks of The Birminghams which featured two future Loved Ones.
Well, Nick -- Say hello to Ron for me. No social media? Refer again to my “atavist” observation!
You may remember me from those old days, then too. I was just busting up my last group in ’91. We were pretty out there. We covered “St. James Infirmary” and “House of the Rising Sun” -- but it was more as if these had surfaced from a “For Your Pleasure” sesson…
Gary, you should remember that it’s not just soda, but specifically Pepsi. In glass bottles. Per “A Hard Day’s Night”, I believe.
Yes! Pepsi….I forgot about the bottles! Great reading here you guys!
I’m sorry to say that geography prevents my attendance. I’m sure these will be great shows. While I lived in the East Bay, I did have the great pleasure of seeing Ron’s fantastic band the Black Diamonds open for the Shambles at the Starry Plough in Berkeley, and headline a rollicking show at the sorely missed Ivy Room in Albany. He still rocks with the best. If you’re anywhere near Cali, do not miss this!
Yes, pepsi in a glass bottle. I watched as Ron once went through the entire Pepsi stock of the liquor store at Felton and Adams, just to get the old Pepsi logo’ed bottles, and make a six pack of them.
Looks like fun, I will definitely try to catch the SF show. I haven’t seen Ron perform since the show that Paul Kaufman mentions above (Black Diamonds/Shambles)… was that 1997?
I believe we all affected Ron’s Pepsi bottle affectation for a while…true fandom.
As I remember they had to be the OLD cursive font Pepsi bottles…referred to as “Pepsi in a God Bottle”.
Patrick Works
Switched to Coke
true Pat, ‘dat. It was the old cursive font bottles.
Perhaps to help with the thunder of belches….
In response to the first comment, Ron confirmed to me that he brought “I Did My Part” to The Crawdaddys. He had the tune on an early-60s Minit Records comp called “New Orleans Home Of The Blues”. He took Irma Thomas’s “Ruler Of My Heart” from this LP as well.
Is this Ron Silva and the Monarchs reunion a one-time deal? I missed the show last night and would like to see them.
No, they are playing in LA and San Diego this weekend and will be playing in SF at the House of Shields on Oct. 30th. And it was a fantastic show last night, I had a great time.
-Kristin
i heard Chris Mathis made a guest appearance on Harp. Someone do tell!
>>i heard Chris Mathis made a guest appearance on Harp. Someone do tell!
Better yet, somebody must have photos??
yeah chris
stopped by jus in
time for grits and eggs
I caught the SF and LA shows. Both were a blast! Wish I could have seen them in SD too. Chris on harp, woah.
I was lucky to be at the gig at the Tower last night. Ill keep it short. Words fail to describe how great it was. Left wanting more and more. Even got to meet Ron’s Mum. A perfect night. Anyone who missed it? Your loss. Couldnt sleep last night after it. Thanks to Jen R for showing me around. Action Andy delivered FULL STOP.
Thanks to all the Che Underground blog regulars who made it out to the Tower gig. We all had a blast! Yes, the group is a regular thing. And, yes, we will be back down in San Diego soon. Keep your eyes on our MySpace page (follow the link) and we will have a Facebook page up within this week.
>>Keep your eyes on our MySpace page (follow the link) and we will have a Facebook page up within this week.
Here’s the link to the Ron Silva & the Monarchs MySpace page.
>>I have two pix of the SD show, Matthew. Do you want them?
Megan: Heck, yeah!! 🙂
Wow! I hadn’t seen this Monarchs interview with Nick Rossi. Very slick!