by Brian Young and Dave Brown
by Brian Young and Dave Brown
Chances are you've never heard of Stephen Monahan: Singer. Songwriter. Just another Michigan native who, like Del Shannon and Fontaine Brown, created a name for himself in the early 60's as a fresh and promising new talent.
Monahan hails from Detroit, but is now a resident of Jacksonville, Florida. He is a chiropractor. He recalled his introduction to the music scene with us one night over the telephone:
Steve: I grew up in Detroit. Dan Bourgoise and I first met on tricycles. We remained very close friends as the years progressed. Nothing seperated us growing up except for the fact that Dan attended a private school, and I attended a public one. Other than that, we were nearly unseperable. We hung out with the same crowd and had similar interests. Namely music. We were both heavily into the music.
DSAS: You joined a group called the Tremelos?
STEVE: Yes. We had a record out called "Cackle" backed with "The Weird One." It was put out on Rayco.
DSAS: What year?
STEVE: Oh, I believe in was '59. Maybe '60.
DSAS: How did you get signed to that label?
STEVE: My father was a drum instructor. He got me signed to that label. I must have been about 16 years old at the time. There weren't too many options back then. Rayco was about the only label in Detroit other than Berry Gordy, who had just got one started. I think we tried to get on Fortune Records first, but the deal didn't go through and so we went with Rayco. And we had a second single with them as well, "Annabelle Lee."
DSAS: Then you got a record out on VeeJay as a solo artist around 1961, "Leaves of Fall" coupled with "Handsome Guy." You wrote the plug side.
STEVE: Yes. Bourgoise got me that deal. Come to think of it, I believe that was Dan's first record deal. We were both 17. He got me signed and negotiated the deal with Calvin Carter at VeeJay.
DSAS: Was there an audition or did you send them a demo tape?
STEVE: We sent them a tape. They called Dan about a week later and expressed their interest in cutting me.
DSAS: What kind of studio? Basement?
STEVE: Well, yeah, it was a basement-type studio. We recorded the tracks on a 1/4 inch reel. The Tremelos came with me to record the two tracks, but I was billed as a solo artist.
DSAS: Give us more background on the Tremelos.
STEVE: They were already an established band when I met them. They needed a lead singer. I applied and got the job. We would play at record hops, moose lodges, things like that. They were older than I was, and were looking for a younger guy to front the group, and I fit the bill.
We were a hot little group when our first single came out. "The Weird One" was an instrumental which received a lot of local airplay. There weren't too many groups out of Detroit at the time. We only had Johnny & The Hurricanes back in '59, and they were actually out of Toledo (Ohio).
DSAS: But close enough to be considered as Detroit rockers what with their management located there. When did you link up with Del Shannon?
STEVE: At a club. Norwest Lanes out in Southfield. Dan and I went out for a beer one night. I believe it was in early '64. The band at Norwest Lanes called Del up to sing a few songs. Del got on stage and sang some Buck Owens tunes. He was hot on the fact that Buck Owens was coming to town, and Del really loved country and western music. We were both Buck Owens fans, and we exposed his music on Dan.
Left to Right: Merle Lemmon of Gibson Guitars, Del Shannon, Stephen
Monahan, and Dan Bourgoise sport their favorite Buck Owens albums
From that point, it's obvious that you quickly became friends. There were some demonstration records that you cut with Doug Brown of The Omens (aka Fontaine Brown) and Del at United Sound Studios in Detroit. A then unknown teenager recorded some material with you. Bob Seger.
STEVE: Yes. I think he was on Alone In The Crowd" and maybe even "I Don't Mind." I've got some acetates of those early recordings, but I don't want to swear on it that Bob Seger is on there because Bob and Fontaine were extremely close vocally. They sounded nearly identical. So even to this day I have a hard time picking out who is singing on the record with me. "Is that Seger or is that Brown?" I'm not always sure. Bob and Fontaine were close friends of mine and it was Seger who joined Fontaine's band, "Doug Brown and the Omens."
DSAS: What inspired you guys to write?
STEVE: A lot of things. Events. Personal experiences. Each other for the most part. Del's wife, Shirley, was a major influence on what we did. Shirl was "one of the boys" and was a great inspiration. She was considered highly by us all and, speaking for Del, she was a great contribution to a stable career.
DSAS: There seemed to be a tribe of Michigan music men that made their pilgrimage to California: Del Shannon, Fontaine Brown, Max Crook, Harry Balk, The Robbs from Wisconsin. Dan Bourgoise and yourself jumped on the wagon train as well.
STEVE: Yes, because Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville were the three hot spots. They still are! If you wanted to make it in the music industry, you needed to live near one of those locations. Dan and I got into the Naval Reserve about a month apart. We had planned to move to California together, so that we could draw strength from one another. This was quite a monumental decision for me. My father had just died, my friends were moving to L.A., and there really wasn't much left to hold me back and stay in Detroit.
After "Keep Searchin'" and "Stranger In Town" came out, Dan had to leave for active duty. He was stationed in Tennessee. Del and I went together on tour. He was on "Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars." Along the tour, we came through Millington, where Dan was stationed. This was also to be the same base where I would later be stationed. After the tour, that's when I had to go into active duty. That's when Dan got out, and moved to California with Del and his family. Dan rented us an apartment, and when I got out, that eased the burden of moving. Del and Shirl lent us their Corvair for a few weeks, so we could get accustomed to the city of Los Angeles.
DSAS: In 1966 and 1967, you sang some background vocals on Del's "Total Commitment" and "The Further Adventures of Charles Westover" albums.
STEVE: Yeah. That was about a year after I got to L.A. I also worked with Snuff Garrett at Liberty on some other projects.
DSAS: In 1968, you had your own album come out on Kapp Records. What's the story behind that and Kapp?
STEVE: Again, Dan negotiated the deal for me. He was like my manager at the time.
DSAS: The album was co-published by "Bourgoise Music" and "Ten-East Music."
STEVE: That's right. "Ten-East" were the producers, Brian Stone and Charles Greene. They discovered Sonny & Cher. They were two guys that flashed for a brief time in Hollywood, and they were two guys "who could do no wrong."
DSAS: Who was Tom Lazaros? He co-wrote a number of songs off your album.
STEVE: I met him back in Detroit. He was another music friend of mine. He later collaborated on some very successful country songs in nashville.
DSAS: Your "City of Windows" was the only song of three Kapp singles to chart.
STEVE: I think it went to #78.
DSAS: Don Peake was your arranger for the album. He also arranged "The Further Adventures of Charles Westover"...
STEVE: That's right. That's why you can hear some similar strains in those two albums.
DSAS: Exactly! Where was the photo for the album cover shot?
Stephen Monahan's 1968 self-titled album on Kapp Records
STEVE: Laguna Beach. Bernie Yeszin took the photo.
DSAS: How did the writing of Del's "Colorado Rain" come around? You co-wrote the song with Del and Brian Hyland?
STEVE: Well, there's a long story here. "Colorado Rain" was actually a song that Del and I began working on together back in '65 while we were on the Dick Clark Caravan tour. We were passing through Colorado, and that was our inspiration for the song. But we never really finished it. Del and Brian Hyland later finished the song together up on Big Bear Mountain in California. That was their chief inspirational spot. We had a lot of writing sprees up there.
DSAS: In the early 1970's, you co-produced "Oh How Happy" with Bud Reneau, a known Nashville producer, for Del Shannon. Who's idea was it to do a cover of the old Shades of Blue hit?
STEVE: It was my idea. I was living there in Nashville, soing some studio work. Del came over to see me. He was wondering what to do (musically) at that stage in his life. I suggested that we do "Oh How Happy," "Black Is Black," and "I Fought The Law."
DSAS: Oh?! What happened to "Black Is Black" and "I Fought The Law"?!
STEVE: We cut them, but we didn't finish them. All of Del's vocals are on there (the master tapes), but they didn't get finished to our liking. We were having trouble getting the right sound with the band we were using. Anyhow, believe it or not, I talked to Bud Reneau a few weeks ago. We're getting the two inch master tape (of "Oh How Happy") for the Del Shannon boxed set that will be coming out soon. We want to use the master of "Oh How Happy" for the box. A fresh stereo mix. I think there might be a chance, with today's modern technology in sound etcetera, to finish off the other two tracks. I don't know for certain. I'll have to go in and listen to them again, and see if we can do anything with them I certainly hope so.
(At the time of this interview, the Raven Records 2-CD Anthology was in the works. The mono single was used for that set as tapes were not located in time. However, some tapes were located since then, including an underdub of "Oh How Happy" and the unfinished "Black Is Black").
DSAS: That would be something, wouldn't it?
STEVE: Yeah, but it's a longshot. I seem to recall that we never really did click with the other two tracks. We'll have to see. But I've seen a lot of "miracles" in the studio the past two or three years, and that's what got me thinking that maybe we could finish them.
DSAS: How did you hook up with Bud Reneau?
STEVE: When I moved to Nashville we got together on some things, and ended up co-publishing a hit for Ray Price and Roy Clark. In that sense, Tom Lazaros had a few hits through that collaboration.
DSAS: Can we ask you why you chose the song "Oh How Happy"? Did it have to do with it's history? The fact that it was a Detroit record or that Harry Balk had a finger in the original?
STEVE: Not at all. That was coincidental. I had always liked the song, and it had never been redone before, to my knowledge anyhow. So when Del came to me, and he was a little down at the time, I thought that record might cheer him up a little. I was looking for a hit tune for him. But then, I chose "Black Is Black" for a track too!
DSAS: Yeah, that was a "dark" track.
STEVE: One good thing did come out of all that. From that point forward, Del incorporated "Black Is Black" as a staple in his live shows. He'd sing it every chance he had. He really liked the beat and the licks to that song.
DSAS: Mmm, yes. Del mentioned on a radio program in England that he liked the beat and the licks to "Black Is Black," "Oh, Pretty Woman," and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Seems those three songs really got under his skin.
STEVE: Yeah.
Stephen Monahan sings background vocals
for Del Shannon in Nashville, 1984.
DSAS: You recorded Del Shannon's "Let's Dance" from his "Rock On!" album. Any reason behind that?
STEVE: I cut several of Del's songs from his last album. Like "One Woman Man." After he died, I was grieving quite heavily. I went into the studios and recorded a lot of his final work. Why? I don't know why. Maybe I cut them because that was my way of dealing with the grief. It was helpful for me to cut some of those songs, to get over his death.
DSAS: What have you been working on lately?
STEVE: Well, I have some new material that I'm getting together now. I'm hoping to get a new album out in the next year or two. I'll be shopping them in Nashville in a few weeks, trying to get a label deal. It's something that I don't need to do, but it's always fun for me to create.
DSAS: Indeed. Alright, we wish you the best with your new album. Let us know when it comes out okay? Some of Del Shannon's fans may be interested in picking one up.
STEVE: I'll do that.
DSAS: Thanks Stephen. It's been a pleasure speaking with you.
STEVE: My pleasure guys. Rock on!
Stephen Monahan Mini-Discography:1960 - The Tremelos "Cackle" / "The Weird One" Rayco
1961 - The Tremelos "Annabelle Lee" / "?" Rayco
1962 - Stephen Monahan "The Leaves of Fall" / "Handsome Guy" VeeJay 571
1967 - Stephen Monahan "City of Windows" / "Lost People" Kapp 835
1968 - Stephen Monahan "Play While She Dances" / "Iron Horse" Kapp 857
1968 - Stephen Monahan "Newberry Barn Dance" / "Long Live The King" Kapp 872
1968 - Stephen Monahan (LP) KAPP KL-1528 (Mono) / KAPP KS-3528 (Stereo)
1969 - Heroes of Cranberry Farm "Big City Miss Ruth Ann" / "Fellow John" Jamie 1386
1970 - Stephen Monahan "Flying Machine" / "A Little Bit" Jamie 1392
1971 - Stephen Monahan "Gonna Dream Me A World" / "You Didn't Mean To Make It Rain" Jamie 1404
If you have questions or additions related to Stephen Monahan or DELSHANNON.COM,
you may contact Brian Young, delshannon@comcast.net.
HOME | WHAT'S NEW? | BIOGRAPHY | DISCOGRAPHY | PHOTOS | SOUND
RUNAWAY | MERCHANDISE | FAN CLUB | CONTACT US | GUESTBOOK | LINKS
© delshannon.com is Copyright 1998-2007 Del Shannon Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
