Chosen Few
Chet Nichols has been performing music for over forty years and first found major success with his teen band The Chosen Few. Performing in and around Winnetka, Illinois, the band separated themselves from the rock and roll pack by performing a mixture of the popular songs of the day and originals written by Nichols’ himself. Some of these originals have been compiled on a CD that Nichols has released and that is available at his General information about my careers is available at Web site
. Nichols will be inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in March, an achievement that recognizes not only his accomplishments as a solo singer/songwriter, but his stint as a member of The Chosen Few as well.An Interview With Chet Nichols
60sgaragebands.com 60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Chet Nichols (CN): My dad and mom met in the church choir at St. Mary’s in Evanston, Illinois. Dad was an opera singer and known as “The Singing Dog Warden.” Our house was filled with music, records and people who’d gather around the family piano to sing. So, I guess, “music was in the air” at the Nichols’ house. All my brothers and my sister were into music. I began singing by the time I was three. I began playing piano when I was six and I began studying cello when I was seven. I eventually began competing in piano and cello competitions. When I was twelve, I was picked to be the concertmaster in the Chicago Archdiocese Orchestra as the first cellist, an honor usually bestowed on the first violinist.
60s: Was The Chosen Few your first band?
CN: No, I had a couple other bands. The first was a rock-a-billy, Elvis-type band. It didn’t last too long - five to six months. Then I had another band, The Fruits Of The Loom, which stayed together throughout high school and we usually played some high-school events. This was more of a “get-together band.” I also played in a folk-duo called, The Baymen for a few years, usually playing high school events at New Trier High School. I played in a folk-trio, too.
60s: Where was when was The Chosen Few formed?
CN: The band started in my sophomore year at New Trier in 1963. The band was the brain-trust of Phil Hagenah, who played bass, and I. We had a few other guys who were dying to get into the band. It was tough to turn some guys away but the rule was they had to be able to sing, too.
The initial line-up was: Chet Nichols – vocals, harmonica, and lead guitar; Phil Hagenah, – vocals and bass; Eric Schroeder – vocals and drums; and Mark Springer – vocals and guitar. Mark didn’t last too long because he hated to practice and he was replaced by Jeff Weinstein on vocals and guitar. Eric was a jazz drummer and didn’t have time for the band and we replaced him, with Phil Hagenah moving to drums and we added Tom Peck on bass. Initially Tom didn’t know bass at all, but he could really sing and he and I sounded great together. Phil taught him to play. Dang if he didn’t learn the song list in two weeks. It was amazing. This eventually led to a big problem though.
Phil was a good drummer, but not great. We found a new guy, Wayne Welch, who was a cross between Keith Moon and Dennis Wilson. He was a great singer, too. So, we pondered how to tell Phil he was going to be replaced. We drew straws and I drew the short straw and had to tell Phil. I know it hurt him, but he was cool about it and we are friends to this day. So the final and long-running line-up was: Chet Nichols – lead singer and lead guitar; Tom Peck – vocals and bass; Jeff Weinstein – vocals and rhythm guitar; and Wayne Welch – vocals and drums.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
CN: We played songs by The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Kinks, Elvis, Them and The Yardbirds—most of the popular bands of the day. What really set us apart from the other bands were the songs I wrote, “You Made Me Cry,” “Over and Over,” “Million Dollar Sandbox,” “If You See Kaye” and “Summer Love”...to mention a few. Eventually, our shows consisted of half the songs I wrote and half popular cover songs of the day. I actually had other area bands that approached me about playing my songs during their sets.
60s: What was the Winnetka rock and roll scene like in the '60's?
CN: It was very vibrant and very competitive. The competitive part bugged me. The old line of “Who was the best instrumentalist or vocalist” made me laugh. To me, it was all about the band sounding good and writing good songs. For us, it was all about “having soul.” Still, as a “scene,” we all respected each other and would go and catch each other’s shows. It was cool to see the diversity of sounds coming from all the bands in the area.
60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall?
CN: The Dell-Vetts, The Flock, The Dharma Bums, The Shadows Of Knight, The Buckinghams, and Mark Hannon’s band; it’s a rather long list. There was a lot of great music and great bands. Again, I loved hearing what other people were doing and appreciated what people were creating.
60s: How far was The Chosen Fews’ "touring" territory?
CN: We went into Chicago, the western and northwestern suburbs and, of course, the North Shore.
60s: Where did The Chosen Few typically play?
CN: We played everywhere. We played a lot of private high school and college parties. We played a lot of frat parties at Northwestern, debutante parties, Beautillions…you name it. We played at many events at New Trier, too. Also, we played all the clubs throughout Chicago. Our home club was The Rolling Stone in Winnetka. We played many battle of the bands and usually won them on the strength of my original songs. I don’t remember us ever losing one.
Tom Peck kind of acted as our manager, too. His mom helped out. Bob, the guy who ran the Rolling Stone, booked us a little bit and really wanted to be our fulltime manager. My mom balked at this. She knew the music biz and was a bit scared that I would go off and be a musician and not go to college. So, the band was sort of doomed. Wayne eventually went off to the Army and Tom, Jeff and I went off to college. We did play some dates during the summer when we were in college. But my solo career started to take off during my sophomore year at Kansas University, so I concentrated on it because I was playing great “listening clubs,” halls and colleges all across the country.
60s: How popular locally did The Chosen Few become?
CN: We were in high demand and played almost every Friday and Saturday. We made good money, too. I rarely ever had to ask my mom for money. When we played the clubs the places were packed, which was cool. It was great to play to a big crowd that was digging the music.
60s: Were any of the Chosen Few songs released on the CD that you offer released as 45s?
CN: No. Unfortunately, the tape that spawned the CD is the only one in existence. We did do another tape recorded in 1965, but it has been misplaced. I really want to find it because it has a bunch of our later originals and some really great covers.
60s: Where were the songs recorded?
CN: The first tape we recorded was recorded at Bill Bradley’s three-story house in Wilmette one Saturday afternoon. Bill had us spread out throughout the house to help separate the sound. His mom unexpectedly came back home in the middle of the session and almost flipped out. But, she let us finish. Bill went on to be the top engineer at the famed Universal Studios in Chicago. Eventually, he moved to Los Angeles were he recorded many artists and eventually ran Madonna’s record company, Maverick Records, before he passed away a few years ago.
60s: You were the band's primary songwriter. Where did you typically find your inspiration?
CN: As mentioned earlier, half our show was originals. I was the only writer in the group. I found my inspiration at that time about the life around me. Since we were all interested in girls, girls and girls…a lot of inspiration came from that.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? Does any home movie film footage exist of the band?
CN: Naw, we never did TV. I think there is some movie footage that was taken, but where it is is still a mystery.
60s: What year did the band break up?
CN: Our final shows were in the summer 1967,with college and the armed services taking us in different directions. Tom Peck went to Boston, Jeff went to Colorado, Wayne went into the army and was stationed in Oklahoma. I went to Oklahoma City University to study theater arts for a year. Wayne and I re-united a couple times while we were there.
60s: Which bands did you join after The Chosen Few?
CN: I went on and had a successful solo career for many years. I still play solo. I had a jam band in Lawrence, Kansas for a few years where we played long psychedelic sets at Be-Ins. But the band never went anywhere and I continued to play solo, which is where I had the success, writing outside-alternative-folk-rock songs.
60s: How often, and where, do you perform today?
CN: I still write and perform these days as a solo performer. I also write instrumental songs for use in films and TV. I have recently release two new instrumental CDs, Red Mesa Sunset and Earthways. I have a new release coming out in 2008 entitled, Peak To Peak. One of the songs on that CD, “Beijing Dawn,” was recently awarded a Special Mention in the Music Aid International Song Competition. I also have a new singer-songwriter CD which is scheduled to come out in 2008. To pay the bills, I act in films, on TV and work as an Interactive Producer producing Web sites.
60s: You were recently voted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. That had to be a tremendous honor.
CN: Actually, I am very honored and excited about this. The induction ceremony is on March 23, 2008. Being voted into The Kansas City/Kansas Musician Hall Of Fame really acknowledges my twelve-year touring career that followed my time spent in The Chosen Few. I recorded two records, “Time Loop” and “Waving Prairie,” for Kama Sutra Records. In the past 25 years, I have produced numerous singer-songwriter CDs. I met a lot of great people in Kansas City and in Kansas who are still good friends. Kansas City had a very vibrant music scene in the late ‘60s, ‘70s and beyond. I am still very active in music and love writing, performing and playing.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Chosen Few?
CN: It was one of the best times of my life. We had a band where everyone contributed to its success. We didn’t experience the friction I saw that took place in other groups. I learned a lot about writing songs and playing covers in The Chosen Few. I miss those guys. Wayne Welch and I are the only surviving members. Tom Peck and Jeff Weinstein have passed away. The CD, Raw ‘N Roll, that I just released contains the only surviving music from the band. I dedicated this CD to the memory of Tom Peck, Jeff Weinstein and Bill Bradley.
If people are interested in hearing my music they can visit:
http://www.broadjam.com/chetnichols
General information about my careers is available at http://www.chetnichols.net.
There is also a Web page at the site above with all the history of The Chosen Few.
Jeff Weinstein, Tom Peck and Chet Nichols
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Wayne Welch
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