Jeff Fowler - keyboards, vocals
Gary Becker - lead singer
Denny Hart - lead guitar, vocals
Joe Anderson - lead bass, vocals
Hal Meng - keyboard player
Rob Jones - terrible drummer
ALBUM REVIEWS - "Jammin' Jeff" - Jeff & the RF's (CRR 5124) "Heartbeat" - Ron Fowler (RF-1) (originally published in the Seahurst Times, 1994)
NW rock legends Jeff & the RF's are one of many bands to join in the box set craze with their two CD set, "Jammin' Jeff", on Columbia River Records. The box traces their career from its humble beginnings in Seahurst, on through their days as America's premiere junk rock band in the mid 60's, ending with their chart farewell in the early 70's.
Jeff Fowler started his group in Seahurst in 1958, and stumbled around for awhile with songs like "I'm a Rapper" before finding their niche as party animals on ABCDEFG's "High Action" in 1965. Songs like "Heidi", "Tales to Here", "Party Everyday" and "Here Come the Two RF's" stand up 30 years later as basic, three chord rock classics. Jeff's twin brother Ron is a good rock 'n' roll singer who also handles mid-tempo material like "Summertime Love" well. Producer Jay Donahue was effective at getting their raucous live sound onto record - records that sounded great on mid-60's AM radio. The first CD of the set goes up to 1967, when a personnel change in the band signals a change in direction. The lineup of Jeff, Ron, guitarist Paul "Pauline" Savanka, bassist Steve "Big STEVEN!!" Youngs (later replaced by A. J. "Albert" Thordarson) and drummer Jimmy "James Earl" Coin is the one many fans of the group consider to be the classic lineup. All their hit singles are here, as well as some unreleased live cuts from their first Columbia River sessions, including a scorching medley of Chuck Berry's "Carol" and "Little Queenie".
In the late 60's, Ron began producing the RF's and the sound became increasingly more studio oriented. The second CD contains the hits of this period, including "Making Dreams Reality" and "The Airplane Song". The RF's of this era - drummer Pat Wyman, guitarist Dennis Hardin, and bassist Chuck Delauro (replaced in mid-1968 by Chris Johnson) are a more accomplished lot instrumentally than their predecessors, although minus some of the raw energy of the originals.
In 1971, the RF's hit #1 with the romantic "Safe from Harm". The group's sound was mellower, and Ron apparently had total control in the studio. However, their time was just about over, as the song "Old Record" seems to admit. Ron even takes a swipe at the Rolling Stone magazine mentality in "Rock Critic", but it was too late to save their recording career, and Ron quit the band in 1975.
Jeff resurfaced in the 80's with a new band of RF's, playing the old hits at state fairs, festivals and bakeries. Of course, Jeff & the RF's haven't come up with a decent new song in years, so this box set wisely sticks to the Columbia River years. The remastered sound is impressive, although it also points out the inherent flaws in 60's recording technology. Sometimes the lack of bottom end leaves the tracks sounding thin, while other songs have noticeable tape hiss and distortion. Considering the source, though, Columbia River has done a good job at bringing these old tapes to life again.
The set comes with a booklet detailing the band history in a surprisingly frank way. All the important figures are intereviewed, including manager Bob Hartley, and producer Jay Donahue.
The star of the band during the 60's and 70's was Ron Fowler, and he is back in the spotlight with his first solo album in many years. "Heartbeat" is an all-acoustic collection of songs he recorded at his Lakewood apartment over the last year. With "unplugged" being a popular format for rock musicians these days, Ron may find a measure of success. His voice is as smooth as ever, and he harmonises with himself quite well. None of the songs are Fowler originals, though, making one wonder what happened to Ron's writing ability.
Most of the songs are folky, country-ish love songs like the Lovin' Spoonful's "Lovin' You", Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat", and Rick Nelson's "Never Be Anyone Else But You". Several songs show a darker side, such as Bob Dylan's "Idiot Wind" and a scorching cover of the old Knickerbockers hit "Lies". The recent Kinks song "Hatred (A Duet)" seems to be a message from Ron to a certain former musical partner.
"Heartbeat" offers evidence that despite his years of inactivity, Ron Fowler's talent remains intact. Whether he can follow this with a collection of solid new songs remains to be seen.
albums reviewed by Greg McDonald
JEFF & THE RF'S STILL ROCKIN' IN THE GRUNGY NINETIES!
(story by David Nelson, Tacoma News Tribunal, 1995)
Jeff Fowler returns to Sumner this week, for two performances at Sumner Summer Festival, with his new and improved RF's. Jeff & the RF's began their career in the Northwest thirty five years ago, playing teen dances and bakeries. In 1965, they starred on ABC's "High Action", and became national stars. A string of hits followed, including "Heidi", "Summertime Love", "War Games", and "Sanctuary-No Date for theProm". In 1968 and '69, Jeff and his brother Ron (the RF's lead singer) co-hosted ABC's Saturday morning music show "Sup". In 1971, their single "Safe from Harm" sold 3 million copies.
Jeff & the RF's still dress and act silly onstage, "Just like in the '60's" Jeff says. "Our show hasn't changed in 30 years - we do all the old hits, plus some of my favorites from the same era, and I still tell bad jokes."
Although members have changed many times over the years, Jeff says his current band has been together since the '70's. "Rob Jones, terrible drummer, has been with me over twenty years now. Denny Hart (guitar) came in right after that, and lead bassist Joe Anderson's been with me about twenty years, too."
Jeff retired briefly in the mid-70's "when disco was happening. There was no way I was gonna play that stuff, so I got into the cookie business, bought a chain of bakeries. After a year of that, I was losing my hair and getting ulcers, so I put a band together and got back on the road, eh."
What does he think of grunge? "It's loud, unproduced, and you can't understand the words! I love it!"
Jeff keeps his RF's on the road "365 days a year. We play all the showcase clubs during the winter months, then we hit the state fairs big time in the summer. These guys never get a vacation!"
At 48 years old, Jeff has no intention of slowing down. "We've just recorded a live album, and Ron put together a box set for Columbia River Records called "Jammin' Jeff". It's got all our old hits on it, plus some unreleased stuff we found in a dumpster behind the Hostess bakery."
Jeff says he keeps in contact with former band members, but there are no reunion plans at present. "This is the best band I've ever had, why would I want to bring back a bunch of old, fat, graying musicians?"
As for his brother Ron, Jeff claims "he's not really into doing live work. He's more of a studio bug, but we keep in touch with each other." Jeff downplays rumours of squabbling between the two brothers. 'He's a big fan of the group I have now, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him turn up at the show this weekend."
There are plans to release some of the original Jeff & the RF's albums on CD, although Jeff distances himself from that work. "Columbia River has gone back and digitally remastered a lot of that stuff, but I like analogue formats like records and cassettes better, those are anally remastered!"
Jeff expects fair crowds to be big, so plan on showing up early. "It'll be a party!"