THE STUDIO RECORDINGS:
1. I Want To Do It – Recorded 1965, Empire Broadcasting, New York, NY
Lead Vocals: Mongo Booth; Guitar: Bruce Bergman & Gary Gross; Bass: Jeff
Reckseit; Drums: Jeff Newman
2. I Said-A-Hey – Recorded 1966, National Broadcasting Studios, 730 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Lead Vocals: Larry Laufer; Backup Vocals and Bass: Gene Coggshall; Guitar: Bruce Bergman; Organ: Larry Laufer; Drums: Jeff Newman
3. Bye Bye Baby – Recorded 1965, Empire Broadcasting, New York, NY
Lead Vocals: Mongo Booth; Guitar: Bruce Bergman & Gary Gross; Bass: Jeff
Reckseit; Drums: Jeff Newman
4. The Waddle – As #1, above
5. The Memory of Your Lovin’ As #1, above – Remix of the 1965 recording
by Chris Hopkins (2025)
6. Life’s Too Short – Recorded 1963, Brooklyn, NY
Lead Vocals: Mark Wallace; Backup Vocals: The Echoes (Harry Boyle and
Tom Morrissey); Guitar: Bruce Bergman: & Gary Gross; Bass: Jeff Reckseit; Drums: Aaron Prestup
7. The Monkey Waddle – As #6, above
8. The Memory Of Your Lovin’ – 2nd version As #2 above – the first version recorded was at medium tempo. Here is speeded up and benefits from Larry’s organ work.
9. Tears Must Fall – Recorded 1966, National Broadcasting Studios, 730 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Lead Vocals: Mongo Booth; Guitar: Bruce Bergman; Organ: Larry Laufer; Bass: Gene Coggshall; Drums: Jeff Newman
10. The Memory Of Your Lovin’ – Original version from 1965 of #5, the
2005 remix
11. I Want To Do It – An alternate mix of #1
The Blossom Lounge, Live recordings – Summer 1963
It is miraculous that this tape too was made at all and that it survived, although only a small portion was usable. This was a real professional beginning for The Bravados: Mongo Booth, vocals, Bruce Bergman and Gary Gross on guitar, Jeff Reckseit on bass and, new to the group, Aaron Prestup on drums. The tracks conclude with an actual closing, their theme song, the great King Curtis instrumental, “Soul Twist”, Gary on lead here, Bruce doing the M.C. voice bidding goodnight.
12. Bye Bye Baby
13. He Don’t Love You
14. Village Of Love
15. Monkey Waddle
16. Soul Twist
The Sweet Sixteen, March 1963 – Live Recordings
17. Stick Shift
18. Drivin’ Back
19. RiffinIthaca

As related, The Bravados were a nascent, reforming, group in the summer of ‘63 when they returned from college. Only guitarist Bruce Bergman was musically active that year, playing regularly at Cornell and honing musical skills … selling his Danelectro and buying a Fender Jazzmaster in December 1962 to meet Cornell musical standards. In March ‘63 Bruce’s sister Fern was celebrating her sweet sixteenth at their home in North Woodmere, New York.

Bruce, home for the event, recruited Gary Gross on guitar – unfortunately no bass was available – the drummer is uncertain and the barely heard piano player was probably Larry Laufer, and most likely, Richie Goldman on drums. The voice-over intro to the event is by Larry Bergman, father of Bruce and Fern.

The ‘Last Recordings’ – Other discoveries on tape were recorded between
1969 and 1978
20. I Don’t Wanna Cry – Recorded: unknown location and date, probably 1969
Mongo Booth, lead vocal; Jeffrey Hyman, Hammond organ; probably, Rick Gerrard, drums and vocal
21. I’ve Had It – Recorded May 6, 1972, at Ultra Sonic Studios, Hempstead, Long Island NY
Rick Gerard, vocals and drums; Don Rodgers, lead guitar and vocals; Michael Axelrod, bass; Michael Hyman, rhythm guitar and vocals; Mongo Booth, vocals
22. It’s My Party – Recorded 1978 at a 50’s costume bash at The Marina Bay Yacht Club in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Charlotte Solomon, vocals; Michael Hyman, guitar; Jeffrey Hyman, organ and bass; Marty Kaye, sax; Bob Henderson, drums
23. My Pledge Of Love – Recorded May 6, 1972, at Ultrasonic Studios, Hempstead, Long Island NY
Mongo Booth, lead vocals; Michael Hyman, Guitar and background vocals; Michael Axelrod, bass; Jeffrey Hyman, Hammond organ; Rick Gerard, drums and background vocals; Bruce Bergman, background vocals
24. Medley: Those Oldies But Goodies; Since I Fell For You; Goodnight My Love; Donna; Silhouettes; For Your Precious Love; Sunday Kind Of Love; You Belong To Me; So Young; Those Oldies But Goodies – Recorded May 6, 1972, at Ultra Sonic Studios, Hempstead, Long Island NY
Rick Gerard, vocals and drums; Don Rodgers, lead guitar and vocals; Michael Axelrod, bass; Michael Hyman, rhythm guitar and vocals; Mongo Booth, vocals
25. Remember Then – Recorded May 6, 1972, at Ultra Sonic Studios, Hempstead, Long Island NY
Mongo Booth, vocal; Rick Gerard, vocals and drums; Don Rodgers, lead guitar and vocals; Michael Axelrod, bass; Michael Hyman, rhythm guitar and vocals

CD 2 – The Live Fraternity Party Recordings
For all Fraternity Party recordings personnel: Mongo Booth, vocals, Bruce Bergman, guitar (and occasional backup vocals), John DeWitt, bass, and Joe Mooney, drums.

The clubs in Ithaca in the sixties were terrific places to imbibe, dance and listen to top bands. These were havens for Cornell and Ithaca College students -townies too. But playing there was an adjunct to the extensive fraternity party scene in which The Bravado’s participated with such relish during their four year college tenure.

In the course of the ‘64 – ‘65 school year they played at least twice at Lambda Chi Alpha. Bass player John DeWitt serendipitously decided to set up a tape recorder on two occasions but there was insufficient planning given to placement of the microphone, so for one gig, it was near the bass, guitar and vocals then relegated more to the background. For the other appearance the mic position was reversed, de-emphasizing the bass. Nonetheless, this exciting example of the Ithaca sound is preserved. What precisely that remains difficult to define, but it was exemplified by a sharp drive with crisp treble on guitar, abetted by wide use of Fender guitars and amps, solid bass and some drum emphasis on the floor tom. Musically, Ithaca was both insular and worldly at the same time – isolated as an enclave in a rural county, incestuous, as an abundance of musicians played in various bands from time to time, but cultivated by interacting with the many well known outside groups that played at Cornell on the frequent major weekends. This was melded with being astute enough to adopt styles and sounds heard on black radio stations.

When this release was being contemplated in 2016, the breadth of Bravados’ studio material was limited and so inquiry was made as to the availability of anything else. Fortunately, the tape of the two jobs had been preserved by bass player John DeWitt. Years ago he put it on a cassette and gave it to guitarist Bruce Bergman – so he knew it existed – but the fidelity of that
version was unusable. Felicitously, the original tape survived fifty-one years in decent shape, allowing DeWitt to download it directly through a computer to a disk, which was then shipped to England so sonic wizards at Rollercoaster Records, could implement their engineering legerdemain.

The welcome result is that selections from those lost animated performances have been revived to remind what those precious moments sounded like – the energy and the joy of a Cornell fraternity party circa ‘64 -’65 reclaimed: The Bravados live at Lambda Chi Alpha.

The tracks are the story of great sixties songs, all worthy of context, but with only these few additional comments, for illustration:

NIGHT TRAIN (Bravados theme) – Mongo knew this James Brown number, obscure to most people. But it grabbed us; a riveting instrumental riff. It opens, and closes Disc 2, as the Bravados always closed their sets, sometimes with an overlay of patter, as heard here, the opener by Mongo, the closer by Bruce.

MICKEY’S MONKEY – As intoned by Mongo, “Is everybody ready?… Somebody must be ready!” And so they were. This was part of what the fun would be at parties, a good example of the Ithaca sound, particularly the lone guitar filling the solos with chords and notes.

A FOOL IN LOVE – Ike and Tina Turner were great even in 1963, but one had to listen to black radio stations, or be among the cognoscenti in Ithaca (as the musicians were) to appreciate them. So The Bravados were included as devotees and just loved this – obviously great for a party.

KANSAS CITY – Sure, Wilbert Harrison’s number one song from 1960 was played by all bands – like the Beatles – but for good reason. This is a particularly driving rendition.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD THE BLUES – this was a Lloyd Price B side known to few, but Ithaca bands discovered and loved it. So did the Bravados, who always played it with verve, a particular favorite.

THE WADDLE – This live version, a bit slower and grittier than the studio take, with air and inescapable underlying propulsion is – along with “Money” – the quintessential sense of what it was like to dance at a Cornell fraternity party in that era. Feel it.

MONEY – It needn’t be said that The Beatles knew their stuff, and they covered this Barrett Strong early Motown winner. Here though, the floor tom is so solid and elemental, the unison bass and guitar riff so infectiously repeated and driving that it rises to a special level, again capturing (as with The Waddle) the truest sense of a party at that time and place.

Many of the live recordings were made on domestic tape recorders and microphones; thus the quality of cases distortion and other defects may remain. However, we feel that the excitement of these live recordings will be appreciated as a bonus related to the masters and demos on CD 1.

CD 1: Studio And Other Historic Recordings
1 – I Want To Do It (Bob Feldman-Jerry Goldstein-Richard Gottehrer) Sony
ATV (2:17)
2 – I Said A-Hey (Larry Laufer-Bruce Bergman) Asterisk Music (1:57)
3 – Bye Bye Baby (Mary Wells) Jobete Music (2:28)
4 – The Waddle (John Perialas-Bernard Milton) Copyright Control (3:15)
5 – The Memory of Your Lovin’ 2025 Remix (Bruce Bergman) Asterisk Music (2:52)
6 – Life’s Too Short (Lee Bonner-Philip Huth) MCA Music (2:41)
7 – Monkey Waddle (John Perialas-Bernard Milton) Copyright Control (2:26)
8 – The Memory of Your Lovin’ – Original version (Bruce Bergman) Asterisk
Music (2:32)
9 – Tears Must Fall (Larry Laufer-Bruce Bergman) Asterisk Music (4:10)
10 – The Memory of Your Lovin’ – 2nd version (Bruce Bergman) Asterisk
Music (2:56)
11 – I Want To Do It – Slight return (Bob Feldman-Jerry Goldstein-Richard
Gottehrer) Sony ATV (2:15)
12 – Bye Bye Baby (Mary Wells) Jobete Music (1:56)
13 – He Don’t Love You (Curtis Mayfield-Jerry Butler-Calvin Carter)
Tristan Music (3:40)
14 – Village of Love (Nathaniel Mayer-Devora Brown) EMI Music (2:40)
15 – Monkey Waddle – 2nd version (John Perialas-Bernard Milton) Copyright Control (3:23)
16 – Soul Twist (Curtis Ousley) Peter Maurice Music (1:09)
17 – Stick Shift (Johnny Lageman-Henry Bellinger) EMI Music (3:01)
18 – Drivin’ Back (Bruce Bergman) Asterisk Music (2:54)
19 – RiffinIthaca (Bruce Bergman) Asterisk Music (2:34)
20 – I Don’t Wanna Cry (Chuck Jackson -Luther Dixon) EMI Longitude (2:28)
21 – I’ve Had It (Carl Bonura-Ray Ceroni) (2:51)
22 – It’s My Party (Seymour Gottlieb-Herb Wiener-John Gluck-Wally Gold) Chappell (2:44)
23 – My Pledge Of Love (Joe Stafford, Jr) Copyright Control (2:29)
24 – Medley: Those Oldies But Goodies (Various) Copyright Control (5:24)
25 – Remember Then (Beverly Ross-Tony Powers-Stan Vincent) Campbell
Connelly 3:09)

CD 2 – The Live Fraternity Party Recordings
1 – Intro – Night Train (Jimmy Forrest- Oscar Washington) Carlin Music (2:18)
2 – Mickey’s Monkey (Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland-Brian Holland) EMI/Jobete Music (4:13)
3 – A Fool In Love (Ike Turner) Warner Chappell Music (3:41)
4 – Land Of 1000 Dances (Chris Kenner) BMG Music (5:01)
5 – Pipeline (Brian Carman-Bob Spickard) Songs Of Universal Inc (2:34)
6 – The Memory Of Your Lovin’ (Bruce Bergman) Asterisk Music (3:41)
7 – Monkey Time (Curtis Mayfield) EMI Tunes (4:22)
8 – Louie Louie (Richard Berry) EMI Virgin (2:33)
9 – Sweets For My Sweet (Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman) Universal Songs (3:18)
10 – On State Street – On Broadway (Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller) EMI Music (3:51)
11 – The Waddle (John Perialas-Bernard Milton) Copyright Control (3:29)
12 – Money (Berry Gordy-Jane Bradford) EMI Music (3:19)
13 – It’s All Over Now (Bobby Womack-Shirley Womack) Abkco Music (2:03)
14 – Bye Bye Baby (Mary Wells) Jobete Music (2:40)
15 – When We Get Married (Donald Hogan) Warner Music (3:33)
16 – Have You Ever Had The Blues (Lloyd Price-Horace Logan) Peermusic (2:40)
17 – Hitch Hike (Marvin Gaye-Clarence Paul-William Stevenson) Jobete Music (2:58)
18 – Drip Drop (Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller) Universal Music (2:23)
19 – Kansas City (Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller) EMI Music (3:04)
20 – Once Upon A Time (Jimmy Johnson) Mercedes Music (3:31)
21 – Can’t You See That She’s Mine (Dave Clark-Mike Smith) Ardmore-Beechwood (2:39)
22 – I Want To Do It (Bob Feldman-Jerry Goldstein-Richard Gottehrer) Sony ATV (3:22)
23 – Outro – Night Train (Jimmy Forest- Oscar Washington) Carlin Music (1:51)