Song:Open Up Your Door
Album:Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968
Richard & The Young Lions were a garage band that should have been much bigger. They were completely mishandled by producer Bob Crewe. Open Up Your Door was one of only three singles and now considered a classic through this Nuggets box set. The group was from Newark, NJ and originally called The Emeralds in 1963 with guitarists Marc Lees and Bob Freedman, bassist Ricky Rackin, keyboardist Jerry Raff and drummer Norm Cohen. They were approached by singer Howie Tepp and he joined up and the band name was changed to The Original Kounts. They were discovered by Bob Crewe staff songwriters Ray Bloodworth and Larry Brown. Crewe renamed them Richard & The Young Lions because of Tepp's long hair and Bloodworth & Brown wrote Open Up Your Door. Crewe licensed the song to Philips Records. Unfortunately Crewe chose to use studio musicians on the record and only Tepp's vocal survived. They were so upset that they quit and Tepp recruited a band called The Orphans to go on tour. The story goes that Open Up Your Door did so well in Detroit that Motown wanted Richard & The Young lions to be their first white signing. But they couldn't get out of their contract with Philips. They disbanded in 1967 after two more singles. Of course like a lot of classic psychedelia, Open Up Your Door has got a big following through Rhino's Nuggets box set. Tepp organized a band reunion in 2000 and were recording a new CD when Tepp died in 2004. And there's a documentary about them. Remember Richard & The Young Lions only recorded three singles. Here's Richard & The Young Lions performing Open Up Your Door on the Windsor, ON TV show Swingin' Time 1966.
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