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ENLARGE
Zorba and the Greeks’ band leader, Dennis Senff, plays the trumpet, Les Stephens plays bass and Chris Johnson is on the drums during band rehearsal at the First Conservative Baptist Church in Roseburg on Friday.
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ENLARGE
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A 1966 photo of Zorba and the Greeks shows, from left, Chris Johnson, Dennis Senff, Jeff Jones, Frank Murphy and Chuck Myin. The band played for dances at Roseburg and other area high schools between 1965 and 1967.
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The rockers looked a little old as they practiced on last Friday’s sunny afternoon. Their voices not quite in key; their instruments not always hitting right in tune.
But if it took a bit for the Roseburg surf band to get in practice, it was no surprise: Forty years had passed since Zorba and the Greeks last had a real concert.
“This next song is an original song we recorded back in 1967,” said bass player Les Stephens, rehearsing at the Baptist church on Garden Valley Boulevard. “We went down to San Francisco and recorded an album and made a thousand copies, 999 of which are still in Chris’ garage.”
Zorba and the Greeks broke out into “One and Only Girl,” a tune that received airplay in San Francisco: “The one and only girl that I can call my own / I’ve left them all, all the ones I’ve known.”
Minus their lead singer, Frank Murphy, the Greeks came back together this weekend, traveling from Iowa, Washington, central Oregon and California.
After practice Friday, they performed at their Roseburg High School class reunion Saturday, dusting off the guitars, the keyboards, the drum set and the saxophone for one more show.
“It is unusual, I think, that a rock band in high school will get back together 40 years later,” said Chris Johnson, the keyboardist. Zorba and the Greeks played a couple of songs at their class reunion five years ago, but this time, more of them showed up, and they decided to actually practice and put on a bigger show.
From December of ’65 till the dawning days of the Summer of Love, 1967, they were the band in Roseburg. They played all the dances, homecomings and proms at Roseburg and several other high schools.
Then in 1967, they hit their peak, taking their mod Oregon surf sound to California, opening for the Yardbirds in Arcata and cutting a 45 rpm record in San Francisco under the Golden State label.
“Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were in the Yardbirds and they sat backstage,” said band leader Dennis Senff.
But then they left high school. The band split up. For most of the members, their life as musicians was over.
But if it took a bit for the Roseburg surf band to get in practice, it was no surprise: Forty years had passed since Zorba and the Greeks last had a real concert.
“This next song is an original song we recorded back in 1967,” said bass player Les Stephens, rehearsing at the Baptist church on Garden Valley Boulevard. “We went down to San Francisco and recorded an album and made a thousand copies, 999 of which are still in Chris’ garage.”
Zorba and the Greeks broke out into “One and Only Girl,” a tune that received airplay in San Francisco: “The one and only girl that I can call my own / I’ve left them all, all the ones I’ve known.”
Minus their lead singer, Frank Murphy, the Greeks came back together this weekend, traveling from Iowa, Washington, central Oregon and California.
After practice Friday, they performed at their Roseburg High School class reunion Saturday, dusting off the guitars, the keyboards, the drum set and the saxophone for one more show.
“It is unusual, I think, that a rock band in high school will get back together 40 years later,” said Chris Johnson, the keyboardist. Zorba and the Greeks played a couple of songs at their class reunion five years ago, but this time, more of them showed up, and they decided to actually practice and put on a bigger show.
From December of ’65 till the dawning days of the Summer of Love, 1967, they were the band in Roseburg. They played all the dances, homecomings and proms at Roseburg and several other high schools.
Then in 1967, they hit their peak, taking their mod Oregon surf sound to California, opening for the Yardbirds in Arcata and cutting a 45 rpm record in San Francisco under the Golden State label.
“Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were in the Yardbirds and they sat backstage,” said band leader Dennis Senff.
But then they left high school. The band split up. For most of the members, their life as musicians was over.
“I went into the Navy and didn’t touch a guitar for 35 years,” said Stephens, who now lives in Sacramento, Calif.
Saxophone player Jeff Jones moved to Sisters and got into real estate. Guitarist Chuck Myrin works for Boeing in Seattle. Johnson is an ophthalmologist and instructor at the University of Iowa.
Johnson played a little on the side when he was in college, sitting on for studio recordings and paying his rent working a piano bar. But only Senff, the drummer, made a career out of music. He lives in Bend and runs the Mountain View Music store there when he’s not playing in a band.
“They were just kind of the local favorite,” said Alice Savage Gardner, who organized the reunion. “It was just incredible they wanted to get back together.”
Gardner said in addition to the school dances, Zorba and the Greeks could be heard at the Jade Horse, a popular teenage dance club in the ’60s in downtown Roseburg.
“One person, he came up to one of the guys in tears — ‘I met my wife at one of your dances,’” said Dennis Senff.
Though they recorded only two songs, their music lives on in obscure compilations put out in the past few years. “One and Only Girl” was re-released on “Fuzz, Flaykes & Shakes, Vol. 2: The Day Breaks at Dawn.”
A surf guitar instrumental, “Shockwave,” written by Myrin, can be found on “Lost Legends of Surf Guitar 4.”
They cut loose at River Forks Park for the reunion, and for a few short hours, the class of ’67 twisted on the dance floor as the band played covers of the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout,” the McCoys’ “Hang on Sloopy,” and Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.”
“They were just all there was,” said Darlene Jarvis Ayres, standing with her high school girlfriends. “Many of us dated these guys at sometime or another.”
• You can reach reporter Chris Gray at 957-4218 or by e-mail at cgray@newsreview.info.
Saxophone player Jeff Jones moved to Sisters and got into real estate. Guitarist Chuck Myrin works for Boeing in Seattle. Johnson is an ophthalmologist and instructor at the University of Iowa.
Johnson played a little on the side when he was in college, sitting on for studio recordings and paying his rent working a piano bar. But only Senff, the drummer, made a career out of music. He lives in Bend and runs the Mountain View Music store there when he’s not playing in a band.
“They were just kind of the local favorite,” said Alice Savage Gardner, who organized the reunion. “It was just incredible they wanted to get back together.”
Gardner said in addition to the school dances, Zorba and the Greeks could be heard at the Jade Horse, a popular teenage dance club in the ’60s in downtown Roseburg.
“One person, he came up to one of the guys in tears — ‘I met my wife at one of your dances,’” said Dennis Senff.
Though they recorded only two songs, their music lives on in obscure compilations put out in the past few years. “One and Only Girl” was re-released on “Fuzz, Flaykes & Shakes, Vol. 2: The Day Breaks at Dawn.”
A surf guitar instrumental, “Shockwave,” written by Myrin, can be found on “Lost Legends of Surf Guitar 4.”
They cut loose at River Forks Park for the reunion, and for a few short hours, the class of ’67 twisted on the dance floor as the band played covers of the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout,” the McCoys’ “Hang on Sloopy,” and Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.”
“They were just all there was,” said Darlene Jarvis Ayres, standing with her high school girlfriends. “Many of us dated these guys at sometime or another.”
• You can reach reporter Chris Gray at 957-4218 or by e-mail at cgray@newsreview.info.
