The “Golden Hits Of The 60s”
Main MenuConcept Refinement The Author..Wayne JancikGolden Age Of The 50sGolden Age Of The 60s1970s and There After
EVERY MOTHER’S SON
COME ON DOWN TO MY BOAT
(Wes Farrell, Jerry Goldstein)
MGM 13733
No. 6 July 8, 1967
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For five years, Dennis (b. Nov. 22, 1948) and Larry “Lar” Larden (b. Aug. 10, 1945) had been a two-
guitar folk duo, working clubs and pubs in New York’s Greenwich Village. Much like fellow folkies the
Lovin’Spoonful and the Mamas & The Papas, they went electric. It was early in 1967 when a mutual
friend introduced the brothers to a New York University dental student, keyboardist-to-be Bruce Milner
(b. May 9, 1943).
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“I was a Cabana Boy at this beach club, on the shore, in Brooklyn, that my parents went to,” explained
Dr. Bruce Milner in an exclusive interview. “God, you know how many years ago? … It was the Doveil
Cabana Club, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. It was ’65, and I was in this a cappella group–no name;
sang ’50s stuff. Larry and Denny were hired to walk around and serenade. We had a mutual friend and
without thinking we decided to get together as a group. Against my family’s wishes, I went out and
bought an organ.”
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The threesome hit it off, and by year’s end, two theater majors, drummer Christopher “Chris” Augustine
(b. Apr. 25, 1941) and bassist Schuyler “Sky” Larsen (b. Feb. 19, 1947), were added. Chris had acted in
New York’s Shakespeare Festival and the American Playwrights’ Festival in Maine; since the age of 11,
Sky had been making money in TV commercials. All the guys were New York-born and bred, and each
of them looked as squeaky clean as the boy-next-door.
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During this time, the group was approached by Peter Leeds. “Leeds was impressed, saw himself as a
manager, and wanted to get involved with us,” said Milner. “Later, he was involved in an off-track
betting scandal. He didn’t do right by us; had power of attorney and when the royalties came, he kept
them. He was a cheerful, confident guy; maybe he managed others. He was dashing, a ladies’ killer.”
Leeds connected them with noted songwriter/producer Wes Farrell. Wes, who had written “Boys,”
“Come a Little Bit Closer;’ and “Hang on Sloopy” signed them to his Senate Record Productions and cut
12 sides on the band. Included at Wes’ suggestion was a cover version of the Rare Breed’s bubble-
gummy “Come on Down to My Boat.”
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Industry legend has it that five major labels grappled to acquire the rights to the Sons sounds. MGM
won, and hastily issued the Every Mothers’ Son album and “Come on Down to My Boat.” Image-
constructing ads–playing on the boys’ natty neckties and closely cropped hair–depicted Every Mothers’
Son as cheerful, clean, courteous, friendly, healthy, kind, and loyal. Their “Boat” single cruised up the
charts, and the future looked bright for this wholesome bunch.
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During the “Summer of Love,” at a outdoor festival in Berkeley, they played along side JANIS JOPLIN
and Jefferson Airplane. “I went out on stage in this white suit” said Milner. “I had to be the only guy in
Berkeley wearing a suit and tie to this thing!
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“Right there from the start, they packaged us. We weren’t really that ‘squeaky clean,” as you say. It
was Peter’s package; Peter’s idea that we wear …straight-looking clothes. The name–Peter’s idea–it
came from Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer’s Night Dream.’ Now, this got old fast–especially for Denny and
Larry … after San Francisco. We just didn’t want to do it anymore.”
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As so often happens, instant success created instant dissension within the group. Rather than follow
Leed’s lead and Wes’s paternal advice, the Larden boys decided to produce and record their own tunes.
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“Larry and Denny were more interested, it seems, in putting out their own material. I always felt if we
had just listened to Wes, we could have followed things up better than we did,” says Milner.
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Three further 45s made Billboard’s Hot 100, but each one sold more poorly than its predecessor. By
1969, the group was relegated to playing small halls, high school hops, and hole-in-the-wall clubs.
“We wound up playing a senior prom in Connecticut in 1969,” Milner said. “It was embarrassing;
playing for drunks. That was the last time we played together.”
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Dennis Larden continued to rock and roll. In addition to supplying back-up vocals for Keith Moon’s Two
Sides of the Moon (1975) album, Dennis, for much of the ’70s, played guitar for Rick Nelson’s Stone
Canyon Band. Sky Larsen went on to become a bus mechanic in Pennsylvania. Chris Augustine was
spotted in the late ’70s as a contestant on “The Dating Game.”
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