Although they played primarily for high schools and frat parties, Chico, California’s’ Flight 13 (later known as Axis) also opened for many of the top acts of the era, including Them and The Turtles. Unfortunately, the group never parlayed their local success into a recording contract and their signature tune, the tantalizingly title ‘Hang Your Wash Out In The Pale Moonlight Naked With Strawberries All Over Your Body,’ is regrettably lost to time. Craig Murphy recalls the best years of his life, as drummer for Flight 13…
An Interview With Craig Murphy
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Craig Murphy (CM): My brother played in a band (Psycho) and after seeing them play several times I knew that's what I wanted to do.
60s: Do you recall the names of the members in Psycho? Did that band record?
CM: Yes they did record a 45. I believe the A-side was ‘You Need Me’ and the B-side was ‘You Think You Got Me.’ I remember shortly after they recorded the record they played up in Oregon with The Beau Brummels and the local radio station played it a lot for promotion. There was a lot of request for it after it was played. I liked both songs. The members of Psycho were: Ron Murphy, drums; Guy Williamson, lead singer; Bob Williamson, rhythm guitar; Jim Connely, lead guitar; and Marty Howard, bass.
60s: Was Flight 13 your first band?
CM: Flight 13 was my first official band. We were together 4-5 years.
60s: Where and when was Flight 13 formed?
CM: We formed the band in high school in Chico in 1965.
60s: Who came up with the name Flight 13? Where did the name come from?
CM: I honestly can't remember. We were just practicing one day in the garage and one of us just threw it out there and I guess we all liked it. We opened every dance with ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ by The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, so maybe that’s where the “13” came from.
60s: Who comprised the band?
CM: Larry Peterson, lead guitar; Perry Brown, rhythm guitar; Ollie Hines, bass; Denny Everett, lead singer; and Craig Murphy, drums.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
CM: We liked to take songs that did not get any airplay from groups like early Allman Brothers, Lovin’ Spoonful and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators. We also liked to do our own version of songs. We had people fooled.
60s: How did your interpretation of these songs differ from the originals? Were they "Vanilla Fudgish" treatments?
CM: I am not that familiar with Vanilla Fudge, but what I think I meant by fooling the audience is we did songs from albums that most people hadn't heard. For example: ‘Voodoo in The Basement’ by The Lovin’ Spoonful. People just thought we wrote it. But on a few songs we did like to do our own spin on it, like ‘She’s Not There’ by The Zombies and ‘Back In The U.S.S.R' by The Beatles. They went over really well.
60s:What was the Chico rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
CM: Chico was a great place to be if you were in a band. With two high schools and Chico State College, we were always in demand. There were times we actually played twice in one night, but we loved every minute of it.
60s:Where did the band typically play?
CM: We were Chico High School’s band. They wanted our band for all the major dances. We also played a lot for Pleasant Valley High School. We were also the most popular band for college frat parties.
60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
CM: Downtown Chico had a few clubs that we played at, but nothing that I can recall that stood out.
60s:How far was the band's "touring" territory?
CM: We probably played every town from Redding to Sacramento. We didn't really go beyond that. The big break never came, but I don’t think we were really looking for it either. We were just having fun.
60s: Did Flight 13 participate in any battle of the bands?
CM: We did play in a battle of the bands in Santa Rosa and did very well, but I am really having a hard time remembering the names of some of bands we played with.
60s:What other local groups of the era do you especially recall?
CM: The two groups that made the biggest impression on me were Psycho, and The Boy Blues. There were other good groups, but those were my favorite.
60s: Did Flight 13 have a manager?
CM: We had a manager for a while, but we really didn't need help getting work. He liked to get us jobs to be the opening act for bigger name groups. We were the opening act for Them (minus Van Morrison). I still thought they were great, but kids liked us better. We were also the opening act for The Turtles right after they came out with ‘Happy Together.’ The drummer for The Turtles asked me if I wanted to use his drum set and I had just bought my drum set so I had a hard time making up my mind if I wanted to use his or mine. I think he was pissed off that I had to think about it. I finally said I would use his. The cool thing was that next week they were on The Ed Sullivan Show and there were the same drums I got to play on. My wife has always said, “It doesn’t take much!”
60s: Why didn't Flight 13 record a 45-rpm single?
CM: Good question. We wrote a song that there is no doubt (in my mind anyway) would have been a hit. I wish we had recorded it just so I could have had something to hang onto.
60s: Did Flight 13 write many original songs?
CM: We didn't write that many songs, but the ones we did write were good. The song that I talked about in the question above was the most requested song at all the college frat parties. It was just a good old rocker. We couldn't think of a name for the song so Larry Peterson, our lead guitar player who also wrote the song, just decided one night at a gig to call it ‘Hang Your Wash Out In The Pale Moonlight Naked With Strawberries All Over Your Body.’ How's that for a song title?
60s: Fantastic! What did the song sound like?
CM: The song really had nothing to do with that title. It was just a good hard rocker that actually started out with the Gettysburg’s Address and went from there. We changed the tempo in the middle and then went back to the main rhythm. I truly believe it would have been a true golden oldie.
60s: Do any Flight 13 recordings exist? Are there any vintage live/rehearsal recordings, or unreleased tracks?
CM: We recorded a lot, but just not professionally. We did the old reel-to-reel and God knows where they are.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances, or does any home movie film footage exist of the band?
CM: I am sure there is footage out there that some of our friends took, but who knows?
60s: Did Flight 13 change names to Axis, or was Axis a completely different band?
CM: Axis was made up from some of the same members of Flight 13: Larry Peterson, lead guitar; Denny Everett, bass; John Peters, keyboards; Craig Murphy, drums; and Martin Taylor, lead vocals. I always felt that we all matured as musicians in Axis. John Peters was such a great musician that he raised the bar for all us. He had the ability to listen to a song just once and replay it note for note. We did a lot of Doors and John was so good that we had people come up to us after a dance and tell us that if you stood outside the building that you’d swear The Doors were playing.
60s: Why the name change names to Axis?
CM: We just felt we were going in a different direction by adding keyboards and I guess we just wanted a fresh start with a new name.
60s:What year did Flight 13/Axis break up?
CM: I think it was probably around 1968-1969. I am not real sure.
60s:How do you best summarize your experiences with Flight 13/Axis?
CM: They were the best years of my life without a doubt. My only regret is not holding on to some of the posters and pictures that we took along the way. But I have good memories.