Farrell Wymore - Greylock Mansion (Pt. 1)
Butch Stienbach and Wymore’s first band together, The Mojos circa: 1964.
I was born in St Paul, Minn. I made stops in Madison, WI and Chicago, Ill before my parents and I ended up in Tucson where I spent most of my formative years. I have three younger sisters. My grandfather gave me a violin and lessons when I was quite young. By the time I was 9, I was a half-descent player. I later graduated from violin to piano to guitar - after I found an old B.B.King and his Orchestra record at a garage sale. My early influences was of course, B.B.King. From there, I learned about Muddy Waters, Guitar Shorty, Magic Sam, Wes Montgomery, Buddy Guy, and many others too numerous to list.
My first real guitar hero was Michael Bloomfield. There have been many more since. Prior to Greylock, I was in a couple other groups that gained some traction: The Floating Opera in Tucson and Love Special Delivery in Honolulu. The Floating Opera was formed with some high school buddies - circa 1965-67. We were heavily influenced by a Phoenix band called the Spiders - later to become Alice Cooper. The Spiders and the Floating Opera were occasionally on the same bill and we opened for one another.
The Floating Opera circa: 1967. L to R - Dave Curtis, Farrell Wymore, Martin Nordlof, Bill Lacky and Chuck Maultsby.
Love Special Delivery circa: 1968. L to R - Charlie Cane, Farrell Wymore, Chris Castaneda, Ron Conte and Jr. Hong.
In 1967, my father took a sabbatical in Honolulu. I was recruited into Love Special Delivery after their guitar player decided to leave. This group was quite popular locally. We opened for may touring bands and averaged 4 to 5 gigs a week. Upon returning to Tucson, Greylock was trying to find a replacement for Larry Lorenzen. The music scene in Tucson at the time was fairly small and most of the local musicians knew one another and have most likely jammed together at one time or another. So we already knew one another and had heard each other play. Greylock was already well formed and well managed by the time I came along. The band had already recorded ‘Amazon’ with Larry on guitar.
Greylock Mansion. Photo courtesy of the St. Albert Dream Vol. 2 - Lucid Electric Prophet - Lysergic Sound Distributors. 2021
Greylock Mansion circa: 1970. L to R - Aaron Zornes, Bill Ball, Farrell Wymore and Merl Regal. This photo was taken in late 1970, or early 1971 on the top step in front of the U of A's Old Main.
Photo courtesy of the St. Albert Dream Vol. 2 - Lucid Electric Prophet - Lysergic Sound Distributors. 2021
Larry left shortly after this recording when I was recruited into the band. I played guitar on Greylock’s subsequent recording, Over My Shoulder. This tune rose to #9 regionally. The band stayed together for several more years until, among other things, it was time for us to graduate from college. Merl and Aaron went off to find fame and fortune while Bill and I continued on to grad school. I supported myself playing music through grad school. After I landed a real job in the late 1970's, I decided to hang up the guitar to devote more time to career and a growing family. Thirty years later, I dug my guitar and amp out of my parents garage and started playing again in the San Francisco bay area first with the Night Caps and later with Feral Moon.
Photos courtesy of the St. Albert Dream Vol. 2 - Lucid Electric Prophet - Lysergic Sound Distributors. 2021
I didn’t realize the Purdy’s had resurrected some of those old Greylock recordings until Bill Ball contacted me asking if I would like a copy. This was rather flattering after so many years. After Feral Moon disbanded in 2018, I decided to devote more time to writing and recording. I am still occasionally invited to jam/sit-in with old band mates in the San Francisco Bay area. I also went on to produce a few solo recordings.
Lysergic Sound Distributors released and compiled unheard material of the band’s for this first time ever release in 2016.
Photo courtesy of the St. Albert Dream Vol. 2 - Lucid Electric Prophet - Lysergic Sound Distributors. 2021
The band’s song “Blue Sea Circus” was featured on the St. Albert Dream Vol. 2 - Lucid Electric Prophet - Lysergic Sound Distributors. 2021
Most of the recordings are available here: https://www.reverbnation.com/farrellwymore. When the pandemic began in early 2020, I did my best to turn a tragedy into an opportunity by writing and recording more songs, and building more guitar amplifiers.
Feral Moon Band.
The last photo of the first Greylock Mansion - Aaron Zornes, Merl Reagle, Bill Shears and Larry Lorenzen circa: 2008.
