From St. Louis to Burlington, the Inmen = Beach Music

Two sets of outstanding Inmen

Images from "The Heeey Baby Days of Beach Music"

Top Image: Bob Kuban & The Inmen who had a top ten hit in 1966 with "The Cheater" and on the right side of the page is their lead singer, Walter Scott

Bottom Image: Don't Know why they dropped "Sensational" from the drum head because The In-Men Ltd. from Burlington , NC were sensational


Hi Greg

Re: http://www.heybabydays.com/More_Stories_03.pdf

I'm from St. Louis and was wondering if there could have been TWO In-Men that were considered beach music. Bob Kuban's was also known for a great horn section and the Cheater appears on a Beach Music comp:

GOOD VIBRATIONS-15 CAROLINA BEACH MUSIC CLASSICS DISC 1

but maybe that was a compiler's goof?

I went to Vandy in the early 80s and got to like Beach Music...

R. Emmett McAuliffe


Emmett,

Forgive my long reply but your question sparked a blog posting.

No goof, “The Cheater” is listed in the top 100 records of the Heeey Baby Days of Beach Music.” "Triple Shot of Rhythm and Blues” is another great one but was released well after the prime time of the Hey Baby Days.

One of the historic North Carolina beach bands was the Castaways (mentioned in Alabama’s “Dancing On The Boulevard”) J.D. Cash was lead vocalist for one of the derivations of that band, the Castaways Ltd. Well after the strange disappearance (murder) of Walter Scott, lead singer for Bob Kuban and the Inmen and the vocals in “the Cheater," J.D. joined what was then and now called Bob Kuban’s Brass. One day, J.D. told Bob that a lot of the music that Bob's band was playing at the time was "Beach Music." Bob did not know what J.D. was talking about, because he knew he wasn't playing Beach Boys or Jan & Dean music. After J.D. explained what Southerns considered Beach Music, Bob replied, "Oh, you mean Imperial Music" In Missouri, we might have titled the book" The Heeey Baby Days of Imperial Music.”

My understanding from one of my colleagues in St Louis is there is a dance called the Imperial, which looks like a relative of the shag.

Although, it says that it did not make the book, we were able to get More_Stories_No_3 in the book. We posted a few stories on the site known as More Stories that we had intended for the book but because of timing issues, most of the “More Stories” did not make the book. The part that relates to the In-Men in More-Stories_No_3 is as follows:

Greg

Just an aside. I remember playing a fraternity house on Milledge Avenue in the fairly
early stages of the band- we didn't even have a good P. A. system at that point.
Next door, a band was setting up to play, and we quickly learned they were Bob Kuban
and the In Men.We were intimidated (they had just released The Cheater) because they had
all the expensive instrumentality that we were yet to get, and they were already well known.
It was an eye opener that brought to light how good the bands were then, and what we would
haveto do to compete with all that talent.

The South was LOADED with young musical talent in the 60s. (Who needs Neil Young
anyhow?).

Glenn (Brown )


A follow up question for Glenn:

Glenn, in the paragraph above you reference Bob Kuban &The In-Men. Is there any possibility that the gig you reference was at the Chi Omegahouse on Milledge on Friday February 4,1966?
If so, the remarkable band you heard was notBob Kuban and The In-Men Ltd. from St. Louis but
the In-Men Ltd. of Burlington , NorthCarolina. They were an incredible show band.

Greg-

It's been too long ago for me to remember which sorority or fraternity it was but it was
basically across the street from the Theta house on Milledge. We were told it was Bob
Kuban, but maybe not. Whoever it was, they were good enough to intimidate the hell out of
us- I think I was still sixteen at the time. They were already everything we were trying to
become.

Glenn: The Chi Omega house is right across from The Kappa Alpha Theta house on
Milledge (same side of Milledge) Now, Could it have been February 1966 ?

Greg: I think you’re right.

As it turns out, the In-Men Ltd. of Burlington Carolina were contracted to play for Chi Omega at UGA on Friday night February 4, 1966. This was the night that the Athens Rogues were playing next door at the Theta house.

As to whether there was another band called the In-Men (other than Bob Kuban) that played Beach Music, the answer is a resounding yes, the In-Men Ltd. Of course, if the In-Men Ltd. were playing a gig in St Louis back then, they may have been accused of playing Imperial Music,

We met Bob Kuban prior to the publication of “The Heeey Baby Days of Beach Music”. He was very gracious in allowing us to use a few paragraphs from his great book, â"œ My Side of The Bandstand,” in the Hey Baby Days. Bob’s background and interests were so similar to many of the musicians that were in the Southeastern Beach Bands that his band’s inclusion in the book was a necessity.

Finally, there are 17 CDs in the Heeey Baby Days of Beach Music Series. Cuts from both Bob Kuban’s In-Men ( Brass) and Burlington, North Carolina’s In-Men Ltd. are included. There is a listing of all the music included in the series listed at www.heybabydays.com.

Thanks for contacting us.

Regards,

Greg Haynes