The Chosen Few - 1960 s Band - Anyone heard of them?

I've met an acquaintance who was in a band called The Chosen Few in the 1960s and 1970s. I had never heard of them but he said they toured with and opened for the likes of Three Dog Night, The Who and a few others that I can't recall right now.

I looked up some of the youtube videos, like "The Sun Is Up" and "It Just Don't Rhyme", which he actually sang lead on but they didn't sound familiar at all. Apparently, there have been several bands with that name, including a funk band, but the one I'm discussing is more rock/pop.

Anyway, I was just curious if anyone here was familiar with the band and which songs you know. Thanks for any input.

 

Bump

 

The Chosen Few that toured with Three Dog Night were from Muncie, Indiana.
http://www.garagehangover.com/chosenfew/
The released an LP on RCA, sort of soft rock with horns.
http://www.discogs.com/Chosen-Few-The-Chosen-Few/release/2584334
It's kind of meh, but has the drug song "Safrowillie"

 

They opened up for The Who on November 23, 1967 at The New Barn in Muncie, Indiana. For The Who it was their 4th and final tour of that year and was the first where they headlined most of the shows. Sorry, but that's all I can contribute to this thread.

 

Evolved into Limousine and then the Faith Band and signed with Brown Bag Records...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Band

 

"Maybe the Rain Will Fall," a local /regional pop hit...

 

Reading attentively, that garagehangover page sums up their history fairly well... except to say they were popular on WERK-AM...

"Pink Clouds and Lemonade"

 

I only have one song of theirs in my collection (if it's indeed the same band): 'The Earth Above, The Sky Below.'

 

As I remember it there were quite a few bands with the name "The Chosen Few" back in the 60s - UK and North America. A friend of mine had a band named The Chosen Few and then The Penny Farthing ... both names had to be changed.

 

There are quite a few Grande Ballroom posters with The Chosen Few and I think there is info in this book:

 

#1 in October 1969 on WERK radio in Muncie... "Talk With Me"...

 

No but they must be Jewish. Can I state that round here?

 

The popular AM radio station in the area, as mentioned, was WERK. From the mid-1960s into the 1970s they printed each week what was called "WERK sheets." Their charts. Many AM radio stations across the U.S. published their own charts. I own a full shoe box of WERK sheets, Muncie being my hometown.

The Chosen Few, the album shown above, was the "Pick Album" on October 11, 1969, the same week "Talk With Me" jumped from #14 to #1, meaning the album was released in late September or early October 1969.

The band was popular in the area. In fact, I'm thinking they may have played at my high school.

 

"Maybe the Rain Will Fall" was covered by The Cascades in 1969, hitting #61 on Billboard...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv56XnTObHs

 

Changing times. After parting with RCA Records and regrouping as Limousine... changing bassists and definitely changing the image as well as the sound... they signed with a different label, GSF Records.
This album came out in 1972. According to my notes, this album was released on Terry Knight's Brown Bag Records as Faith... with a different cover and even song titles in 1973. My copy is unavailable here for reference. Knight was then the manager of Grand Funk Railroad. With Faith, the front cover was in black and white with the five musicians turned from the camera to hide their identities. They were hyped as a "mystery band."

 

A friend just told me the location of The New Barn... the Muncie Fairgrounds. In 1967 Hendrix played two concerts in one day in the vicinity, the first, an afternoon show, at the Hullabaloo in Yorktown, then an evening show at the New Barn in Muncie. Comparatively small venues, the former a teen club, the latter less than 1,000 capacity.

 

Here's their "It Just Don't Rhyme" 45. It's very good garage rock. The flip is a remake of Little Richard's "Lucille".

 

I have the RCA album pictured above...since the early 80s.


sean