Paul Staack - The Contents Are

When and where were you born?

Davenport, Iowa—July 16, 1949

What was growing up like for you?

I was raised in a working class family. My dad was a sheet metal worker at Ralston Purina Co. and my mom worked odd jobs. Growing up in the 50’s was quite innocent. Things started changing drastically in the 60’s. My younger years pretty much revolved around my family.

When did you first become interested in music and what was it about the drums that initially interested you?

Actually, my dad was a musician. He played the accordion and just about anything else he wanted to play. I started playing drums in high school. I believe that the Beatles were the catalyst for my interest in music and the drums. I took some lessons in high school and my folks bought me my first set of drums from Sears. I extended a speaker down to my basement and played along with the groups of that time.

What was the music scene like in Davenport?

The music scene was blossoming in Davenport. There were a number of groups that came on the scene in the 60’s. The Contents Are was one of the groups. The Night People was the House Band at the top spot in Davenport—The Draught House. The Contents Are: gained notoriety with the release and success of their first ’45—Direction of Mind and I Don’t Know. Silver Laughter was another popular group rising up on the scene. Mick Orton and I ended up playing together in Silver Laughter—a group that was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. They put out 2 albums of original music. Handle with Care and Sailing on Fantasies. The Contents Are: became the house band at Al’s Lounge.

Where did you go to see bands?

We saw bands at the Masonic Temple. We saw Buffalo Springfield there as well as Canned Heat. I believe we saw the Turtles at this temple as well. The Col Ballroom was another important venue. Jimi Hendrix played there. We opened for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels in this Venue. We also saw Jethro Tull in Chicago.

When did it dawn on you that music was something you wanted to pursue?

In high school. I joined the Contents Are: when I was a senior in high school.

When you joined, was it still the Blazers?

 No, it was the Contents Are: However, I do remember hearing the Blazers play at our high school when I was an “underclassman.”

How did you originally meet the members of the band?

I met Dave Neumann in Junior High School. In the context of the band, I was introduced to Dave as a drummer by a mutual friend—Denny Cline. He told Dave I was a drummer when he found out the drummer for the Contents Are: was leaving the group to join the armed services.  I auditioned and they took me on as their drummer. The bass player at the time was not Larry Smith. Larry came on shortly after I did. As a footnote, I have been married to Dave Neumann’s first cousin for 42 years. We still communicate on a regular basis. In fact, we just went out there to see him in Oregon last summer.

What were your first impressions?

I was just excited to be chosen to play drums. I’m not sure about the origins of the band.

Tell me about those early jams and where the band would rehearse.

We rehearsed in the houses of the individuals, except for Larry Smith’s and Mick Orton’S. We were just learning the song list at first. Then we started working on original stuff, because Craig was such a prolific and polished song writer. He wrote a couple of the songs on Four Each Other when he was in high school. Eventually, we did original songs exclusively. When we lived in Colorado, most of us lived in the same house. We jammed a lot. We were “free-wheelers.”

What commonalities did you share?

Dave an I had a common history after elementary school. We went to the same Junior High School—Frank L. Smart; and we went to Davenport West together. We actually ran against each other for the treasurer of the student counsel in junior high school, and we swam against each other in the 100 yard breast stroke in junior high school. I won both events. I didn’t meet Craig or Larry until the band. Craig also graduated the same year that Dave and I graduated—1967.

What carved out the band’s tone and approach to music?

Of course, every band has influences. We were influenced by the Beatles, Stones, and the Byrds. There was also some influence from Jethro Tull. I will say that Craig had a musical sound that was unique as well. We were honored to record 3 albums. Through You was recorded when we were seniors in high school. (Larry Smith was a junior.) We recorded at Columbia Studios in Chicago with a producer from Columbia. We only recorded 4 songs. Then we recorded an album in Appleton, Wisconsin. This album has been lost for over 50 years. No one has a copy of it. (Of course, we would love to find one.) Then we recorded Four Each Other in Pekin, Illinois. That album was lost for 45 years.

No one had a copy of it. Then Dave got a correspondence from a man who used to follow the group. He said he found a real-to-reel tape in a trunk and he thought it was this recording. Amazingly it was the Pekin recording and it had not dissipated after all of those years. The man at Alona’s Dream records got ahold of it and released it. The live album was a tape in Mick Orton’s belongings a few years ago. Alona’s Dream released that in 2019. My point is, there is nothing on these recording that wasn’t original. Dave and Mick joined the song-writing force and Mick continued writing songs for Handle with Care and Sailing on Fantasies—the 2 Silver Laughter albums. Along with our musical influences, I believe we charted our own course as well.

What was the overall goal and vision for the band?

We wanted to develop, play, and record original music and create a live sound full of energy and musical skill.

Tell me about playing in Cedar Rapids and Rock Island. Were you guys doing original material, or covers?

I can’t tell you about playing in Cedar Rapids and Rock Island. We did do a combination of originals and covers until we were living in Colorado from 1972-1974. During this time, we started doing original music exclusively. In Colorado we opened for Joe Walsh at a place called Tulagi’s in Boulder. We also opened for Zephyr and Sugarloaf (Green-Eyed Lady). After Direction of Mind, we opened for the Beachboys in Lacomb, Illinois. In terms of writing music, the song writer would bring the song, and we each did our part to arrange it. Of course, we listened to each other as well.

Tell me about recording ‘Direction of Mind and Through You’.

We recorded these songs at a local studio name Fredlo Studio. This studio was mainly limited to polka music. We recorded the first ’45 in a 24 hour period. ROK was simply the label we came up with. Fredlo only had 2 tracks. So we had to do most of it live. Through You was recorded over a weekend at Fredlo. Then we recorded New Mexico and Future Days at Fredlo as well. We tried to “soup up” the recording of New Mexico. The cover for Through You was actually designed by my brother. Craig wrote all of the songs on Through You and his writings at the time were motivated by discontentment—With the government, with the war—with taxes, and so on.

Did you guys play shows after the release?

It was a thrill to have Direction of Mind on the local survey for 13 weeks, with 2 weeks at number 2 and 2 weeks at number 6. New Mexico was not so successful. The recording with ONK was a fiasco that was orchestrated by someone else. Craig says that he thinks they used them for Frisbees.

What happened after 1969?

The group moved to Colorado against the wishes of our manager at that time. We played some out in Colorado. The group disbanded in 1974. I moved to Florida and Mick went on the road with Silver Laughter. They called me in 1976 and asked me if I wanted to join Silver Laughter. Of course, I did. Craig continued to write music and record. I believe that he has recorded about 20 albums since we broke up. Dave is still playing music. I played drums in a church for 12 years. I am now the associate pastor of Speak the Word  Church International in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Craig lives in 4 corners in Colorado. Mick and another member of Silver Laughter went on to play a duo. They stopped and Mick ended up in San Francisco. Four Each Other is a treasure to us after losing it for 45 years. The man who runs Alona’s Dream was also affiliated with Golden Voice Studios. He was behind the release of Four Each Other, which by the way was recorded on only 4 tracks. The engineer was quite good. The live album was mostly recorded on one night. Craig set up a 2-channel Tascam recorder and recorded the sets. We didn’t even have monitors when we played those songs.

Did you continue playing music?

Yes, I played drums in church after I gave my life to Christ in May of 1980. I still sit behind the drum pad on occasion. Dave played at church for a number of years after he gave his life to Christ. The pastor of the church was none other than our old friend—Denny Cline—the one who suggested that Dave contact me about playing drums for the Contents Are:  When I play cuts off of Four Each Other for people, they are really impressed. They say that it is timeless. We are just blessed to have these recordings in our possession.

Dakota Brown