Song:Laugh, Laugh
Album:The Best Of The Beau Brummels 1964-1968
The Beau Brummels may have seemed like a British Invasion group but they were actually from San Francisco and were designed to capitalize on the British Invasion sound. They should have been much bigger but were on a small label and then mishandled by Warner Bros. The co-founders of The Beau Brummels were guitarist songwriter Ron Elliott (born Oct. 21, 1943 in Haddsburg, CA) and singer Sal Valentino (born Sal Spampinato Sept. 8, 1942 in San Francisco). They knew each other in school. In 1964, Valentino was a singer looking for a band and Elliott was looking for a singer. They formed a band with drummer John Petersen and guitarist Ron Meagher and bassist Declan Mulligan. The group was spotted by San Francisco DJ Tom Donohue and signed to his Autumn label. Their 1964 debut album was produced by Sly Stewart, a DJ who would later become Sly Stone. Elliott wrote most of their songs and Just A Little reached #8 and Laugh, Laugh reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965. But Elliott was diabetic and couldn't handle touring. He continued to write but Don Irving replaced him on the road. The other problem was Autumn didn't have the distribution to handle the group. So The Beau Brummels signed with Warner Bros. and Warners had them record an album of cover songs. That killed the band and subsequent Beau Brummels albums had Elliott and Valentino with studio musicians. This Rhino comp covers their entire run. Elliott recorded a solo album for Warners and still records today. Valentino was a member of the 70s group Stoneground and still performs today. The Beau Brummels deserved a better fate back in the 60s. Here are The Beau Brummels performing Laugh, Laugh on Shindig 1965.
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