Still Has a Voice: The Chocolate Watchband

The Chocolate Watchband are one of the most storied of the bands in this sub-genre we call ‘garage rock.’ In their initial go-round in the mid and late ‘60s, the band’s name wasn’t exactly a fixture of the Billboard charts. But their raw, blues-infused music gave them one of the most loyal followings for any band of that era. They also straddled the sometimes micro-thin line between garage rock and psychedelia.

And it wasn’t like they weren’t seen or heard from. In fact, they were one of the most visible bands of that era, thanks to appearances in films like the Love-Ins and the must-see for garage rock fans, Riot on the Sunset Strip.

That incarnation of the Chocolate Watchband ended in 1970. But, as we’ve seen time and time again, that didn’t mean the end of the story. Really, everything up to that point was more like a prelude.

The good news is – in case you hadn’t figured it out – is that the Chocolate Watchband is back with a new album on the way, This Is My Voice. Already, a single, “Secret Rendezvous,” is getting airplay, most notably on Little Steven's Underground Garage, where it has been in rotation thanks to being selected as a Coolest Song in the World.

The renewed interest -- and renewed airplay -- for the Chocolate Watchband is actually nothing new, though. It has been brewing for almost 40 years. Inclusions on compilations, such as the first volume of Nuggets, various reissues and greatest hits compilations have further exposed the band and helped it to garner succeeding waves of devotees, particularly college students.

“Having our songs on compilations like Nuggets has made our fan base grow organically,” explained Tim Abbott, guitarist for the Chocolate Watchband. “We’ve done no promotion. We got discovered by a lot of college students who heard us then went out and bought the records.  After a while bands started talking about how we were such a big influence on them. Punk wasn’t around then, but a lot of punk bands have cited us an influence.”

The other members of the band are David Aguilar, lead vocals and a fixture of the band since its earliest days; drummer Gary Andrijasevich, another longtime member; multi-instrumentalist Derek See and bassist Alec Palao.

Abbott talked to Garagerocktopia on the phone from his recording studio in Los Altos, California, about an hour away from the Bay Area. He recalled his amazement that, long after the band called it quits in 1970, the Chocolate Watchband seems to be more in demand and more respected than ever.

The band reformed in 1999. Initially, they were no big grandiose plans -- it was mostly to record music without interference from producers – more n that later. Abbott and company quickly found out just how in-demand their music and their services would be.

“Before we went to New York and Rome, we had decided to get together and record some music, and over a weekend we put an album together,” Abbott said. “We weren't even thinking Chocolate Watchband or any kind of legacy, we just thought about making some music.”

“We’d play around San Jose, the Bay Area and in the Los Angeles area a little bit, but we were just a bunch of California boys and we almost never got out of the state,” said Abbott, who joined the band the first time in 1967. “But back when we reformed in 1999, we started getting calls to play in New York, or to play in Rome, and I’m thinking, ‘yeah, right.” And then, two months later, we’re on a plane to New York, and then three months after that, we’re flying to Rome.”

“It was so weird to us that people would fly in from all over wherever we were playing to see us. When we were in Rome, people were flying there from the UK and all over Europe to see us. One couple flew all the way from Brazil to Italy just to see us.”

While nobody denies that the band was one of the rawest, yet most talented of that time, commercially they didn’t achieve what they deserved. The band saw almost perpetual personnel changes, frequent interference from the suits, and all the routine record label nonsense, all of which handicapped the band and kept it from gaining the kind of widespread commercial success many think it deserved.

The band reformed partly to correct some of that.

There are zillions of stories of producers monkeying with a band’s music, with results not always to the bands’ liking – or the public’s. The Chocolate Watchband had worked with Ed Cobb, whose record of success, truth be told, is not a matter of debate. That said, Abbott remembered Cobb’s approach was a little too hands-on.

“In 2010, 2011 or so, we wanted to do a greatest hits album where we played everything on it ourselves,” said Abbott. “A lot of people don't know this, but Cobb had put tracks played by other musicians on the songs. We wanted to go back and right the history.”

As anyone who’s listened to the blues for more than five minutes can tell you, in music, perfect doesn’t always mean good. We commonly rant here at Garagerocktopia about passionless music played by musicians whom, to our ear, aren’t particularly enamored with what they’re playing. Abbott says that’s precisely what the Chocolate Watchband will not allow itself to fall into.

“When we were doing our recording for the new album, it was important to us not to edit out all the little imperfections,” Abbott revealed. “I wanted to make sure to record us in such a way as to sound like humans, because we’re not robots. I do use some software, such as Melodyne, which does enhance our sound but not take the human quality out, but to leave all that feeling in.”

The Chocolate Watchband are often referred to as legends of garage rock. But some artists who fall into that designation actually take issue with it. Of course, those of us who are devotees understand the term refers to an attitude, not so much a level of talent or professionalism.

Many of the musicians were proficient on their musical instruments far before they ever cut a record, and many others had already put records out. The members of bands like the Music Machine and the Chocolate Watchband were anything but gawky teens noodling on their instruments.

“A lot of us did get together and play in garages and living rooms. That’s how a lot of bands formed,” acknowledged Abbott. “But ‘garage rock’ is not a label I'm fond of. The musicianship on the new album, for example, is very strong. I've been playing non-stop since I was 13 years old and I've been teaching guitar and singing for decades. It is raw, but it's not just-get-out-there-and-bang-away music.”

“That label doesn't quite work for me but I understand that people need to label things and I'm the same way. We all need a reference point.  If we have to have a label, I would say psychedelic music is more accurate.”

Besides a great body of music, the Chocolate Watchband also had a well documented wild streak. One legendary chapter involved what was supposed to be a planned pie fight with another band that quickly descended into chaos. 

Another story is one of the greatest rock and roll shade-throwing stories ever. At a show in San Jose, the CW preceded the legendary Los Angeles-based bands, the Seeds. Just for the heck of it, they decided to fill their set with songs from the Seeds' new album, something the latter wasn’t terribly pleased with.

“The Watchband was at the Continental Roller Bowl in San Jose, and just decided to do several of the Seeds’ songs,” recounted Abbott, who would join the Chocolate Watchband about a month later. “They were so upset they almost didn't play that night. I can see why punk bands might look to us for inspiration -- we really were kind of like the punks of our day.”

Abbott said there was no particular animus or rivalry between the bands. It blew over and years later, the Chocolate Watchband would find some connections to the Seeds. Most notably, Seeds keyboardist Daryl Hooper would join the band for studio cuts and live shows.

“In 2010, we got a call from a label that was doing a Seeds tribute,” said Abbott. “Daryl came in and sat in on two songs, 'Can't Seem to Make You Mine' (which also appears on the new album) and ‘Trouble Every Day.’ Daryl went on to play several shows with us. We're all buddies now. All is forgiven. In fact, we do a mini-Seeds set as a tribute. It's all come full circle.”

The new album, “This is Our Voice” is slated for February 28th release on the Dirty Water label. If you can get to a Chocolate Watchband gig, you can get it even sooner. There will also be a multi-color vinyl edition. Abbott said the band wanted the music to have a ‘60s feel to it, but yet not be slavish to the past.

“The reviews for the new album have all been good,” Abbott reported. “‘Secret Rendezvous’” has a ‘60s rawness to it, but with contemporary keyboards. it's a hybrid of 60s sound and modern music. We have another song, ‘Take a Ride,’ which has a Bo Diddley feel to it and we tried to bring some of that 60s sound to it also.”

“We're already planning our next project. We've got future plans. What we don't want to do is to just be a nostalgia band. We will continue to push the creative envelope because we’re not interested in resting on our laurels.”

We have some other features already in the works here at Garagerocktopia. Artists have been sending us some very cool stuff. As always, we don’t make any guarantees in stone but we’re happy to say we’ve gotten a lot of very promising music sent to us, and we’re always happy to spread the word about about bands that are playing the way-out kinds of music we profile here. Send us a line and we’ll talk.

Also, we do have a Facebook page for this blog. We don’t put personal stuff on it – no pictures of grandkids or our dinners or politics or anything like that. What we do post are announcements about upcoming features, maybe extra stuff about the bands, and any cool music, movies or TV Shows we stumble across that might have even the most tangential connection with the music featured here. While we don't spend all day thinking about it, we do like "likes" if you're so inclined ...