The Tangerine Zoo

The year was 1966, the town was Swansea, Mass. located 50 miles south of Boston. Three Zoo members Bob Benevides, Donald Smith and Tony Taveira along with two brothers from nearby Warren, R.I. came together to form the band called The EBB TIDES. All members had come from other local garage bands (Batmen, Rogues & Rockin Teens). The newly formed band soon began to play anywhere they could to get exposure. Such places included Clubs, Outdoor drive-ins, and even on the deck of a Battleship. Most of the songs on the set list were cover songs except for one song written by the lead singer called "My Baby's Gone" which was recorded on a 45rpm at a local label called Arco Records. This song was reissued on a compilation cd called Sixties Rebellion vol.4. Soon after the band parted ways with the two brothers and brought in two new members Ron Medeiros who had his own band called the Knight Rockers, brought his hammond organ and Wayne Gagnon brought his guitar and fuzz pedal. The band changed it's name to the Flower Pot at the time. The newly formed band was soon ready to hit the club scene under new management and a whole fuller sound featuring a Hammond B3 organ and added rhythm guitar. They soon picked up the following it had with the Ebb Tides and more. The hippy movement was starting to spread into the music from the streets and the times. Up in Boston a large college movement was also influencing the music. Management rented a large generator and decided that the band would play outside on the Boston Commons. Actually the band was the first band to so, despite the police coming and pulling the plug after playing for two hours. The next move by the band was to head to New York City to audition for record labels that had shown an interest in the band. First came Mercury records and RCA, both labels wanted to sign the band to a 45rpm then follow with a album if the single sold. Then came Mainstream who offered an album and a single to be released simultaneously. The band took the latter partly due the fact that at the time it was a great ego boost to five young musicians and Mainstream had just signed Big Brother and the Holding Company ( Janis Jopin ) and the Amboy Dukes( Ted Nugent ). The deal was signed and soon it was off to record the album in late 1967. Ten songs were recorded with the song "One More Heartache" as the first single. The band was confronted with another major decision which was suggested by the record company that the band's name had to be changed again due to the nature of the "Pot" in Flower Pot. February 1968 the long awaited LP and single are finally released. Seven of the nine songs are original songs written by the band. Six of these are psychedelic arrangements. The single is a remake of the Marvin Gaye tune "One More Heartache" Ironically, the song that was recorded and left off the album was a song written by Harry Nilsson called "One" which in three months later sprung the group Three Dog Night. The song "The Flight" is the most played song by radio and fans of garage psych music even today. With the release of their first album and single the band began touring, mostly on college campuses in the are playing as many as 2 or 3 shows per night, doable due to the close distance between them. While the tour is going on, the group is getting tied into the much publicized Boston Sound being promoted by the record company MGM who has signed Boston based groups, The Beacon Street Union, Ultimate Spinach & Orpheus. After the five months of during end the band returns to their hometown to rest and while there, more new songs are being written to record for the second album, due to be recorded in the late fall of 1968 in NYC. The band becomes a four piece band with the departure of Tony. The second album is released with nine songs. Eight tunes are original and one is a remake of the Moody Blues' "Another Morning." This album is titled "Outside Looking In" with the single "Like People" as the 45. This album doesn't have the same appeal as the first and the band ends in 1970. The band got together again for Reunions for fund raisers for local charities first in 1988 again in 1990 and the last being in 1993. These were played before packed houses. There are no current plans for another Reunion. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.