Al Gunzelman (guitar), Ned O’Byrne (bass), Pat Klevenow (drums), Vince Bankowski (sax), with vocalists Russ McKay and Ron Cucina. O’Byrne went on to join the Chaun-tels. The remainder of the group (sans McKay) became the Sierras.
These photos are circa 1959:
The photo below is interesting as it shows a stage full of many of the young performers of Baltimore in 1959. The stage is the Mergenthaler H.S. auditorium and the event was the WCBM Radio Talentsville USA contest, sponsored by Coca Cola. The performances included singers, dancers and other talents, as well as bands. The two bands kneeling are the Poker Chips (dark coats and Colonel Sanders bow ties) and the Vibra Tones (white pants). The two tall young men standing in dark suits with cross ties are the Picarelli Brothers, a well known Baltimore duo who sang in an Everly Brothers style. This is a great historical example of the kinds of venues and opportunities available at the time, fostering the explosion of young Baltimore musicians and entertainers. If you can identify any of the other people on stage, please send us the info and we’ll add it.
Taken on the campus of Towson State Teachers College.
L-R: top – Vince Bankoski (sax), Buzzy Herman (cornet), Allen Gunzelman (guitar);
bottom – Ned O’Byrne (bass), Ron Cucina (vocals), Pat Klevenow (drums).
Vibra Tones history: “Three Chords” by Russ Mckay aka Ricky Taylor
If you were lucky enough to have parents who had a car, with a garage, in 1957, and if you knew a few guys who had nothing better to do, you could start a Rock and Roll Band. Guitars were pretty
cheap, except the good ones, and a drum set could be gotten rather easily about a week after Christmas, from the parents who had made the mistake of gifting their son with one. Also, if there might be a kid in your class who was taking saxophone lessons, all you needed then were a couple of
choirboys.
Ron Cucina and I had just flopped starting a singing group called “The Hunters.” We were always hunting for someone who would listen to us for more than a few measures. We recorded our songs on my Dad’s RCA tape recorder, and the rear side window of his car featured my homemade sign promoting, “The Hunters” RCA Recording Artists.
With us two being the only “Hunters” left, we began searching for a Rock and Roll startup band that needed two singers. In Ron’s neighborhood we found what we and they, were looking for…The Vibra Tones! were born, or at least, adopted.
We all knew most of the popular songs, and in those days, we didn’t worry about copyrights, because we didn’t think that we’d ever become famous, just locally well known. Let ’em sue! We’d become famous for that! Besides, in certain parts of the city, the bad ones especially, I was known by my alias, Ricky Taylor… come find me!
If you could play, or in my case, sing three chords, G C and D, you could be a Rock Star! Ron and I used to rehearse together. The bathroom seemed to have the finest acoustics in my house, so we stood next to it and sang into the bathtub. The sonics were wonderful. We also harmonized rather well too. My voice was an octave higher than Ron’s, and we’d sing Everly Brothers songs, and others in harmony, as well as sing solos with the band. We went to high
school together at City College, so we’d rehearse in the bathrooms, and always drew a small crowd.
There were also a few jokes on the subject of our choice of the staging.
We actually would often hit notes that produced harmonics that we could hear, and almost feel, move back and forth between us. That’s when we knew we were right on key on a new song that we were trying out.
The Vibra Tones continued on after I went off to the Navy and sang in the First Official Navy Rock and Roll band, “The Nomads,” which toured Africa for 5 months. Ron and the guys became known as “The Sierras,” and opened for “The Kirby Stone Four” in night club shows in Atlantic City.
