Very few copies left (about twn!) of the limited reissue of this Sixties Garage Punk classic on Misty Lane records originally released in 2002. The 7" EP includes both Bold singles on Cameo and Dynovoice. A nice liner notes insert is included too, offering an exclusive an interview with former singer/guitarist Steve Walker. Gotta get it!
The Bold released one obscure, self-titled psychedelic album on ABC in 1969, though earlier they’d released two hard garage rock singles on Cameo and Dynovoice (one of them credited to Steve Walker & the Bold). One of those singles, the group original “Gotta Get Some,” was very much like Paul Revere & the Raiders at their toughest, and became a favorite among ‘60s garage collectors after its inclusion on Pebbles, Vol. 9. Another - a less distinctive cover of “The Train Kept a Rollin’,” showed up on Pebbles, Vol. 10. By the time of their ABC album, they’d gone psychedelic, and dropped the “the” from their “the Bold” billing. Produced by a young Bill Szymczyk (later to produce The Eagles, The Who, and several other stars), Bold is a minor but respectable and diverse LP, mixing harmony vocals, classically-influenced organ, and some of the folk-rock sensibility of Buffalo Springfield in that band’s harder-rocking moments.
Bold grew out of The Esquires, who formed at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, where one of their friends was the young, then-university student Taj Mahal. The Esquires released a pretty forgettable, early British Invasion-influenced single before changing their personnel, changing their name to Bold, and releasing their Cameo and Dynovoice singles in 1966 and 1967, respectively. Although they were popular regionally, opening for stars like Mahal, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Jimi Hendrix, their ABC album didn’t break them to a bigger audience, and they disbanded shortly afterward. Lead guitarist Bob LaPalm and drummer Tim Griffin formed Clean Living, who put out a couple of albums on Vanguard in the early 1970s, and Griffin briefly played drums for James Taylor. Everything released by Bold - including the ABC album, the two pre-ABC singles, and The Esquires single - is included on the Misty Lane CD compilation Lullaby Opus Four.