Hailing
from Fremont, Ohio, Jeff
Yost has been
composing, performing,
and recording since he was a wee child. As a youth his musical tastes
were shaped by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Nat 'King' Cole, and Perry
Como. Then came Ricky Nelson. Then came The Beatles. He was now hooked
on being a musician for the rest of his life.
Yost joined
some fellow school mates to
form 'The Roamin' V' (Greg Taylor- vocals, Jim Post- guitar,
Phil
Wastler- drums, Jeff - guitar, Mike Carter- bass)
and
performed the top hits of the day at various
local dances, parties, and youth clubs. The boys also performed at
dances hosted by the very popular radio station CKLW.
(Tim Nitschke later replaced Greg on vocals).
The Roamin' V eventually
morphed into
The
Hamilton Peach when Jeff and Mike Carter joined forces with Corby
Herborn and John Ivy, this meant that the band now hailed from Fremont,
Clyde, and Bellevue, Ohio. ( Other H.P. members included Lynn
Middlesworth- guitar, Greg Gehrtstein- B-3 organ, and Bob Smeltz-
vocals. All for a brief period of time).
The Hamilton Peach
booked a local studio
to record two songs penned by Yost, "With The Girl That You Love"
b/w
"One Way Ticket Down".
It did very well in the area and was played on
radio across the country, and even overseas.
The band
added guitarist Jim Hoburg, and later Tim Nitschke, on bass
and Mike Carter switched to drums, changed their name to 'Wolfgang',
and headed in a heavier, yet more
eclectic direction. They played very well together, won
several
area music competitions, and went on to open for more popular area
bands before disbanding in 1969.
Jeff went
on to write and record
with
Hoburg and worked with drummer Jeff Noftz in several bands.
(tick-tick-tock-tick). He went through several lineup changes trying to
get his new band together, "Master Bates and the Beat Boys", all the
while visiting several studios and recording material he had
accumulated over the passing time. He also recorded a different version
of a song he had collaborated on with Jim Hoburg entitled "Once Upon A
Time", which was backed with Jeff's composition "Child". This
recording
was released as a 45 r.p.m. under the name 'Jefferson Yesterday', and
featured the talents of Jeff Noftz on drums, Mark Jackson and
Mike
Malteze on guitars, Dave Hartsel on bass, and Jeff on vocals and
keyboards. (Kevin Clark also contributed to some vocal tracks).
During this
time Jeff promoted concerts,
started a booking agency, a record label, a record store, and kept
composing. He got married, and had four children (Two girls: Free Star,
and Aqua Maureen; and two boys: Pryde Alexander, and Dash Allen). He
was working with some very popular acts and introducing some up and
comers. (Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Davy Jones, Ricky Nelson,
The
Stooges, Cheap Trick...). Jeff also went to live in London for awhile,
and also New York City on a few occasions. All the while he kept
composing and recording.
Master
Bates and
the Beat Boys slowly
became Jeff on vocals, Chris Martin ( who had traveled to London with
Jeff) on guitar, George 'Andy' Keller on
drums, John Shetzer on guitar, and Scott Spiers on bass. They
did some
recording of the almost exclusively Yost penned songs, and gathered a
growing cult audience for their legendary live performances. It is said
that Yost was as wild as Iggy Pop and was heavy into drugs (especally
LSD)
and alcohol at the time. The band would practice at Al Cole's T-shirt
shop, and show up for gigs in his old Navy hearse. Al was a great
supporter, and a friend of Jeff's since very early childhood. Al came up with the knife and blood finale for "It's A Nice Night (for a suicide)" in the boy's stage show.
The Beat Boys, with
a new lineup, went to
Ann Arbor, Michigan to record at former Brownsville Station
drummer/producer Henry Weck's School House Studio; the line up was
Jeff on vocals, John Shetzer on guitar, adding Cub Koda sidemen Joey
Gaydos on guitar, Pete Bankert on bass, and, 'Cool' Fred Schmidt on
drums. Long time friends Guy Schellkopf and Mike 'Ringo'
Schlea
helped with some background vocals. They recorded "It's a Nice Night
(for a suicide), "Lose Your Mind", "Johnny's Dancers", "Lou Reed",
and
"Time", all
written by Yost. (some of which are available as mp3s out
and about on the web). The band played several more shows with changing
lineups. (even as late as 2005).
Jeff
was picking up and writting with guitars more and decided
to go
busking
around the country with longtime friend Kevin Clark; calling themselves
'Kev-n-Jeff: The Buskers'. They had recorded the first release under
the name 'Jeff Yost', the 45 included "Growing Away" b/w
" "All Alone
(In New York City)". After an exhausting trip to Arizona,
the two
called it quits. This move allowed Jeff to try a shot at the traveling
minstral, he called this " The Jeff Yost World Record Concert Tour". He
went coast to coast with his electro-acoustic left-handed Fender
playing more than 1500 different venues within 180 days! He was even
asked to be the featured perform for the Paul McCartney after
concert party backstage in
Cincinatti, quite an honor for the Beatle/Paul fan! From New
York City to
Hollywood, Jeff would do up to 9 shows a day performing his
orginal songs, which appeared to be going over very well. During this
time Jeff performed with many of today's top artists. A phone call to
home revealed his 80 year old father had fallen while playing baseball
and broke his hip. Jeff stopped his tour at the halfway point to go
home and help his father. His father passed away at the age of
82. Jeff never picked up that tour again.
Back home
Jeff had started
buying components to start a recording studio, and was working with The
Beat Boys again... (more to come later).
Who is Jeff Yost?