The United Travel Service

The United Travel Service was an American garage rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1966. The group gained recognition as outsiders, taking a musical route that separated them from the trends set in the region by the Sonics and the Fabulous Wailers. Though largely overlooked on a national level, the United Travel Service has become revered for two psychedelia-tinged singles.

Over the years, the United Travel Service's material has appeared on numerous compilation albums, including Echoes in Time, Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 16, Sixties Archives, Volume 5, and Psychedelic Moods, Part Two.^[1] In 2009, Break-A-Way Records released Wind and Stone, an album that features.the group's complete discography, both released and previously unissued.^[2]

United Service band history - as found in TimeMazine

Energy is an amazing force. It can stir memories that have been sleeping for decades and bring to birth new dreams. The energy that brought the Sixties band United Travel Service into existence lay dormant for many years, but it began to reawaken in the minds and hearts of the band members at just about the same time. Since music is made of energy and energy creates change, it’s easy to see how this happened and where it has led.

The genesis of UTS was the brainchild of a young college student, John Reeves, attending Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon in 1966. John was dismayed at the Beaver State’s ignorance of his native Bay Area sound. Not one to let the grass grow under his feet, John placed a short ad on the Oregon State University school bulletin boards in the fall of 1966 – WANTED: DRUMMER.

John needed more than a drummer, because at this point he was a solo act. Dale Sweetland replied to John’s ad, and the energy of music then began to express its direction and momentum. After John introduced Dale to The Grateful Dead’s “Viola Lee Blues”, Dale was able to mentally integrate the music and the idea. The two young men connected with guitarist/songwriter Ben Hoff, who was attending the University of Oregon. Asked if he knew of any bass players, Ben replied, “Ray Doern”. Ray had played with Ben in the surfin’ group The Redondos, and briefly with Dale in a Portland group called The Classmen. Ray was contacted and invited in. A later posting on the Oregon State bulletin boards attracted OSU student and lead guitarist Jim Roberts, who played both lead and bass as needed.

In the beginning John suggested the band call themselves Virgin Forest. The group played their first gig at a lounge in Corvallis, which may have been the only time they performed under that name. Only Dale and John were available to play, along with a keyboard player whose name they can’t remember. As John recalls, it was a miserable start. When they asked the patrons for requests, one of the waitresses yelled, “Please leave!” Eventually their skill caught up with their talent, which led to gigs wherein they opened for such groups as The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Vanilla Fudge, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and The Brothers Four.

United Travel Service included a number of different players over the nearly three years of its existence. In addition to core members John, Dale, and Ben, Ray Doern played bass on and off with the group during and after his stint in the Army (1966-68). Jim Roberts played lead guitar with the group for a few of gigs (and bass on the final of “Gypsy Eyes”). John Carter filled in on 12-string rhythm when John Reeves entered the Air Force in July of 1969. Steve Bennett played bass with the group for a couple of jobs, but did not record.

UTS was different from most other Pacific Northwest groups of the late Sixties because they used a 12-string for rhythm. It added a subtle depth to the music and a unique richness. Using a 12-string for rock n’ roll was highly unusual for its time. Jim (who later changed his name to Roger) McGuinn of The Byrds, a group to which UTS has been compared, used a 12 string for lead, as did George Harrison in a couple of Beatles songs; but as a rule, 12-strings were mostly played by folk musicians. In addition, Ben is a gifted and insightful songwriter, and his material gave the group its signature sound.

The stage was now set and UTS was on its way. Ben and Dale connected with Rick Keefer, who operated a small recording studio in the basement of engineer Ken Bass’s house in Beaverton, Oregon until they opened a real studio around 1968, just across the Columbia River in the Vancouver, Washington area. Rick generously gave UTS unlimited time in the studio. This was quite a gift, since at this time most of the band members were ‘starving students’. In their first recording session they did six songs: ���Wind and Stone”, “Drummer of Your Mind”, “The Slightest Possibility”, “Snow”, “Like Me”, and “Gypsy Eyes”.

Many practice sessions were held at Ben’s home on Sylvan Hill, West Portland. Ben would often begin by saying, “I have a new song”. He played the song while the others listened intently. After several tries, they usually had it down. The way these young men resonated together was amazing. At this point, the group consisted of John Reeves, Ben, Dale, and Ray.

Biographies of the individual band members follow:

JOHN REEVES – 12-STRING GUITAR

John was born in Menlo Park, California and moved to San Mateo at the age of seven. He played clarinet in the seventh and eighth grades (around 1959-60), and played in the All City Honor Band. During junior and senior high school, John was exposed to the music of the San Francisco Bay Area groups, and during his senior year went to the Fillmore and Avalon venues every weekend to listen to the local groups of that time. He was heavily influenced by the LA group The Byrds, and in particular Jim McGuinn’s 12-string. He was a big fan of Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Steve Miller, Big Brother, Quicksilver, and other early rock bands playing the San Francisco scene.

After graduating from high school John enrolled at Oregon State University in Corvallis and taught himself to play guitar. Except for the Seattle-based group The Sonics and The Kingsmen (from the Portland area), he felt Pacific Northwest music lacked something vital. It was time to introduce a Bay Area-genre sound to Oregon.

John’s passion was enabled through the mentoring of his close friend Ron Clegg, who sent chords and music for him to learn during his school years. Today Ron is an accomplished classical guitarist and recently cut a CD, Trialogue, with pianist Emiko Hayashi and bassist Stan Poplin. Without Ron’s early mentoring, John says, United Travel Service might never have been.

John had a Hoyer acoustical electric 12-string, but no amp to play through. Once Dale was on board, John bought a Vox Berkeley II amp, on time, for $10/month payments. John was with UTS through college and entered the Air Force in July of 1969. In 1971 he completed the USAF pilot training program at Reese AFB, Texas and spent the next several years flying KC-135 air refueling tanker aircraft while stationed in Okinawa.

After his tour of duty ended, John formed a company band in 1983 and played for a number of years at picnics and other company events. He still owns the Rickenbacker 12-string that he used during those years. He also still has the Hoyer. John recently retired after 30 years with Honeywell Aerospace. He and his wife Dia live in Redmond, Washington.

DALE SWEETLAND – DRUMS

Not surprisingly, Dale’s beginning was a musical one: he is the son of Elliot Sweetland, all-around musician and author of music instruction books for various instruments, published by Belwin Publishing.

Dale started tap dance at age four. He moved on to accordion at age seven (between 1955 and 1960) and turned to drums when he was around 13. By the time he graduated from Cleveland High School in Portland in 1966, he was playing first chair both in the high school drum section and in the Portland All City Band.

Between 1963 and 1964 Dale played in the James Faunt Trio Plus 1 (Jamie played with Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist Chick Corea for a few years. He has a very exclusive music school in LA now called “The Faunt School of Music”). In 1965-66, Dale played with The Classmen, which is where he first came into contact with Ray. He was UTS’ one and only drummer from 1967-69. In 1970-72 he played with Sunday Morning, a Portland group. During 1969-71 he also played with the Corvallis group Shades of Blue.

Beginning in 1971 and through 1982 Dale played with various road groups. They included Sunshine Company, Genesis (“Not the famous one”, he says), Energy (a Las Vegas show group), and Breakaway (a Midwest recording group that cut two albums).

From 1982–1998 Dale lived in Portland and settled into playing with lounge groups, including Daffy, The Elliot Grant Band (TV shows – Portland Public Access Channel), and Santa Fe – a country rock band that won the “1998 New Country Band of the Year” award in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Since 1998, Dale has played with the Jerry Tiffe band, from Cleveland, Ohio - a very popular show lounge ensemble now in Las Vegas.

Early on in his road trips Dale met and married his wife Liz. He picked her out of the crowd at one of his shows in Springfield, MA. He and Liz have been married 32 years and make their home in Las Vegas.

BEN HOFF – LEAD GUITAR / SINGER / SONGWRITER

Ben’s musical experience began with clarinet. Eventually he began to pester his parents about buying him a guitar, and he ended up with a small Mexican job that cost less than its cheap carrying case. His parents figured he’d mess around with it for a few weeks, get discouraged and quit. They figured wrong. They gave in and hired a first-rate teacher: former big-band guitarist Eddie Covey.

Ben wanted to start a rock band, and came in touch with John Carter through his (Ben’s) cousin Phil. In their initial conversation John told Ben that all he knew how to play was chords, which was fine with Ben since he was looking for a rhythm guitar player. Two weeks later Ben and John were playing their first gig with the group The Cobras. In early 1965 Ben and John joined The Redondos and came in contact with bassist Ray Doern.

Ben has always been a wannabe harpsichordist, and his guitar playing tends to come out sounding like one (so he’s been told). Although he’s used fuzz and wah-wah on several UTS songs, he has always preferred a clear, ringing sound.

After UTS, Ben moved on to classical music. His current guitar collection includes a 6-string classical and 10-string “harp guitar” (both custom made); a modified Godin fretless long-scale bass guitar; a limited-edition acoustic-electric; a modified SoloEtte electric classical; and a Chinese imitation Stratocaster. He commissioned two guitar and circuit builders to transform his latest project into his idea of what an electric guitar ought to be. Ben built his own solid-body electric in high school, and he never stopped hot-rodding guitars, cars, and whatever else he can get his hands on.

In the early 1980s Ben became a published author. His international bestsellers include The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet. He also wrote a fascinating and moving biography of 1920s naturalist Opal Whiteley, The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow, which won an American Book Award. Ben is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.

Ben offers the following observation:

“I’ve ridden horses at full gallop. I’ve driven powerful cars very fast. I’ve climbed mountains, hot-dog skateboarded, mountain-biked in a make-it-or-die run down a steep, rock-paved logging road. But I’ve never experienced as much of an adrenaline rush as I did playing lead guitar and singing. And for a few years I had the great opportunity and pleasure to do so with United Travel Service!”

JIM ROBERTS – LEAD GUITAR

The group draws a blank on much of Jim’s past and where he is today (If you’re out there, Jim, give them a yell!) He attended college at OSU, far from his hometown, the Minneapolis suburb of Wayzata, Minnesota. Unforgettably, though, he drove a Dodge RT with a 426 Hemi. Trips with John Reeves between college in Corvallis and practice sessions in Portland were quite short in those days!

Jim was particularly good at covering artists like John Cipollina (Quicksilver Messenger Service). In fact, he could copy just about anybody, which served well to expand UTS’ repertoire of hit songs to mix in with their own music.

Jim and Ben took turns playing lead and bass, so in a way, UTS actually had two lead and two bass players. While Jim primarily played lead in the gigs, he played bass on one studio recording: “Gypsy Eyes”.

STEVE BENNETT – BASS GUITAR

Steve, a student at OSU, played a couple of gigs with the group while Ray was in the Army. After graduation he settled in Dallas, Oregon and started an earthmoving business.

JOHN CARTER – 12-STRING GUITAR

John recalls being musical from childhood, listening intently to the radio before he could even reach the knobs, and experimenting with anything that he thought might make music. He remembers sitting under his mother’s baby grand piano as a little boy and “feeling the music” as she played. One day John and his mother visited a neighbor and, as the two women talked, he entertained himself with a ukulele he discovered in a corner of the room. He returned home that day clutching the ukulele and an instruction book.

Around fourth grade John’s father gave him a record player. During the sixth grade, John acquired his first guitar – a Sears Spanish Acoustic. With the help of an instruction book he learned a few chords. As his record collection grew, so did his guitar playing, influenced by the likes of Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, Rick Nelson, and Duane Eddy. John owns every record Duane produced, and he taught himself to play them all.

In a seventh grade talent show John sang a Rick Nelson tune accompanied by his friend Phil (Ben’s aforementioned cousin) on guitar. For the next several years John and Phil played together, until John received a phone call from Ben, asking him to help form a rock group, The Cobras (1963). In 1965 Ben and John joined The Redondos and met Ray Doern.

After high school John enrolled at Mt. Angel College in Woodburn, Oregon. In December 1965 he was drafted into the Army. During the next three years he was involved with Special Services, playing guitar in a touring show. After his discharge he completed his education at Mt. Angel and joined United Travel Service to fill the gap left by John Reeves, who was now in the Air Force. In the summer of 1969 (July 20 seems to be the date, the same day Neil Armstrong did his famous moonwalk) the “basement tapes” were made, so-called because they were done in the basement of Ben’s apartment in Portland. John had a Roberts reel-to-reel tape recorder that produced amazing results for its time. At this point the group consisted of Dale on drums, Ben on lead, Ray on bass, and John on guitar (6 and 12-string). Out of that session came “Crystal Land”, “Beyond the Rainbow”, and “Plastic Paradise” – all Ben Hoff originals. These songs (along with the studio recordings that featured John Reeves on 12 string) are on the UTS album Wind and Stone.

In one sense UTS ended when its founder John Reeves entered the Air Force. But the group just would not die; it had a very special energy. From July through October of 1969 John Carter filled in for John Reeves and UTS played a few more gigs. In January of 1971, encouraged by Jerry Garcia, John purchased his first pedal steel guitar and became a full-time student of that instrument. John became a much sought-after steel player. He played with big names like Hank Thompson, Susan Ray, Del Reeves, Red Simpson, and the Hagger Brothers. He has been a part of opening acts for a number of shows that included Charley Pride, Gretchen Wilson, Randy Travis, and Carrie Underwood. John has his own recording studio and has created a CD of his music, Home Cooked Steel.

Today John is a teacher in Hillsboro, Oregon. He owns a 1962 Gibson ES 330 TD; a 1968 Martin D-35 12 string; two Emmons D-10 pedal steel guitars; a 1934 Rickenbacher Electro Fry Pan lap steel; a 1945 Oahu amp and Tonemaster Lap Steel; a 1978 custom made Dobro 10-string; and a fiddle that has been in his family for over a hundred years. He also regularly uses the Peavey Nashville 400 amp he’s had since 1984.

John relates that the last 45 years as a stage musician has made him a very satisfied player. And how sweet it is to have some of the 1969 basement tapes he played in end up on the very first UTS album released in June 2009 – some forty years later!

RAY DOERN – BASS GUITAR

Like Dale, Ray began his musical career playing piano accordion at the age of eight. He may have taken lessons at Dale’s father’s studio; it was so long ago he doesn’t remember for sure. What he definitely remembers is his instructor, Luigi Rangon, who placed him in a group called The Yankeys that played at an accordion festival held in June 1958 at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. They took third place performing “Battle Hymn of the Republic”.

After three years of accordion lessons Ray moved on to his parents’ old upright piano. Since pianos are anything but portable, he subsequently bought a cheap Harmony 6-string guitar and an instruction book, and taught himself to play.

Completely captivated by the bass sound of the early rock n’ roll groups, Ray especially resonated with the energy created by The Fireballs (from Raton, NM - still playing today). Bassist Stan Lark of The Fireballs was a big influence on Ray as he developed his own style.

In late 1963, just after enrolling at Portland State University, Ray bought a used Harmony H22 hollow body bass for $80. By the summer of 1964 he had joined The Targets, who later changed their name to The Ascotts. This group played many high school sock hops in the Portland area in 1964-65.

Like John Reeves, Ray had the instrument but no amp to play it through. While with The Ascotts he shared a small Fender amp with the lead guitar player. It’s truly amazing, he recalls, that the amp didn’t explode. It took the punishment.

Ray joined The Redondos in the spring of 1965 where he first met Ben Hoff and John Carter. It can be said that this group was the genesis for some of Ben’s early music. Nobody can remember why The Redondos broke up, but the drummer and Ray went on to form another group called The In Crowd (1965-66). After that group also broke up, Ray went on to play with The Classmen in the spring of 1966, where he met Dale Sweetland. Yet another group breakup occurred about three months later when lead guitar player Mike Smoke (now deceased) was drafted into the Army, followed by Ray a few months later.

While stationed near San Antonio, TX, Ray played standup bass in a folk group called Leon Snarf and the Boys Minus One Buffalo Fish. At Fort Lewis, WA, during 1967-68, he played bass with the four-piece group Vulture and the Body Lies.

During his Army days, Ray played on and off with United Travel Service from 1967 to the group’s end in late 1969. The first gig he played with the group was a Battle of the Bands in Portland on July 15, 1967, sponsored by KGAR Radio. A photo of the group (Ben, Dale, an unknown female fan, Ray, and John) appears in the band bio, which is included in the UTS album package. Nobody remembers who the girl was, or where or even if the group placed in the competition, or who took the photo. They were all high – on music!

Ray played with United Travel Service at various local high schools and college dances at Mt. Angel College. The last two gigs at Mt. Angel featured John Carter on 12-string, since John Reeves was in the Air Force by that time. To the best of their knowledge, UTS ended after those gigs at Mt. Angel.

Ray began his 35-year career at Nationwide Insurance in 1964 and married in March 1969, just before the group disbanded. He then became heavily involved in collecting and restoring Chrysler 300s and co-founded the Chrysler 300 Club, Inc. In the mid-Nineties, having developed new priorities, he sold all his 300s. He continues as a member and attends yearly club meets when they are held fairly close to home.

Today Ray and his wife Barbara are retired and live in Madras, Oregon. About a year ago Barbara, who loves the rich resonance of bass guitar, began to suggest very strongly that Ray return to his musical roots. In May of 2008 Ray found Ben through Google, and Ben put Ray in touch with John Reeves, Dale, and John Carter.

Ray currently owns a Harmony H-22 bass (a reissue just like the original, but with modern technology); a Sunn bass amp (two, actually – a 200S like the one he had in the Sixties, and a Coliseum 300), plus two Sunn speaker cabinets with twin JBL D140F bass speakers. Of their size Barbara says, “We could float down the river in them if we had to, they’re so big.” To which Ray replies, “Hey, they’re part of our disaster recovery plan!” Ray rocks again!

UNITED TRAVEL SERVICE – THE GIGS

UTS’ first performance was at a Corvallis lounge in the winter of 1966 under the name Virgin Forest. After this maiden voyage they played in a Battle of the Bands at the Masonic Temple in downtown Portland on July 15, 1967. The only remaining record of that gig is a picture of Ben, Dale, Ray, and John with an unknown fan. They must have done fairly well because they played a dance there the following Saturday.

The band still has the flyer from a dance at Oregon State University in the Memorial Union Commons Lounge, on October 18, 1967. One song they played was “Cream Puff War” (Grateful Dead). John Reeves’ friend Dan Reynolds got up on that big stage – John was on one side, Dan on the other - and they belted out the song. It was great!

One of UTS’ most memorable gigs was opening for The Doors at a concert at Gill Coliseum at Oregon State University on November 11, 1967. Soon after, on January 19, 1968 they played at the Great Balloon in Eugene, opening for Vanilla Fudge. After finishing their gig Ben and Dale went backstage into the band room to relax, and stumbled upon Vanilla Fudge. They were busy teasing their hair and applying make-up. Ben and Dale, never having seen guys do that sort of thing, were so shocked they left the room without saying a word.

In early February 1968, the band played at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, opening for Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Grateful Dead, who were on a tour called The Quick and the Dead. Interestingly, Dale and John ran into John Cipollina and Gary Duncan of Quicksilver in a Portland pawnshop before the show. Later that year UTS played at the Gill Coliseum at Oregon State University, opening for The Brothers Four…these were really memorable gigs!

In May or June of 1968 they played at the Air Force station in Crescent City, California. The base commander sat in the front row and complained that they were playing too loud. Jim Roberts became very frustrated with this. John simply turned off his amp, and Dale tried to soft-pedal the drums. After the commander left, word went out that it was okay to crank it up.

Afterwards, the plan was to sleep in the Redwoods that night, but the entire group ended up staying in one room at the Motel Trees, which was owned by one of the Airmen’s parents. The next morning they woke to one of the first space shots shown on TV – long before the first moon landing in July 1969.

One of the bands few gigs to be photographed was a dance at Milwaukie High School in Portland on Friday, September 8, 1967 to kick off the new school year. Another, a year later, was a dance at Franklin High School in Portland on September 27, 1968 – about a month after Ray returned from the Army.

John Carter finished his tour of duty with the Army in December 1968, eventually taking the place of John Reeves who entered the Air Force in July 1969. John Carter resumed his college education back at Mt. Angel College in Woodburn and landed UTS the final two gigs they have a record of. The first was a dance on Saturday, October 18, 1969, and the final one was a Halloween dance on Friday, October 31, 1969.

John remembers the last gig at Mt. Angel very well. It included a light show by Toad Hill Projection. The Commons area, where the dance was held, was a semicircle with a dome ceiling that they were able to project onto and cover nearly the entire room. At the close of the dance, the band broke down one member at a time. John was the first to put his guitar away and move his amp to the back of the room. He helped Ben take his equipment out to his car. Ben and John then helped Ray move out, which left Dale playing a drum solo. The three guitarists came back and each picked up a piece of Dale’s ensemble, leaving him with the snare and hi-hat. Returning yet again, John got Dale’s stool and Ray the hi-hat, and Ben grabbed the snare and walked Dale to the door as Dale played on, not missing a beat all the way to the car. It can be justly said that United Travel Service went down fighting (playing?).

UNITED TRAVEL SERVICE – THE MUSIC

All the band members have loved the energy of Ben’s music from the start. There was always a sort of electricity in the air whenever Ben announced he had written a new song. Fortunately, all of it was recorded – much of it on either John Carter’s or Ray’s Roberts reel-to-reel, which both still own today.

The first song Ben wrote was “13th Floor”, played with The Cobras in 1963. Ben’s other early songs were written while he was with The Redondos. Other Redondos members included John Carter, Ray, and Gerry Durham (drums), and the time frame was 1965-66. None of the songs were studio-recorded, but the tapes are pretty balanced. Songs included the instrumental “Ali the Sneak”, sort of a surfin’ tune, and others with vocals: “My Time is Beginning”, “True Love’s a Flame”, “I Know How it Feels”, “Why Do I”, and a really cool Orient-inspired song, “Rising Sun”.

UTS songs professionally recorded by Rick Keefer (Ridon Records) were “Gypsy Eyes”, “Drummer of Your Mind”, “Wind and Stone”, “Snow”, “Like Me”, “The Slightest Possibility”, and “Echo of You”. To the best of the band’s knowledge, except for “Echo of You” and “Gypsy Eyes”, all were recorded in Ken’s basement studio. The first song released as a 45, on November 6, 1967 in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, was Wind and Stone/Drummer of Your Mind. “Wind” did very well in the Portland and Corvallis markets. “Drummer” made Top Ten on the local Portland radio station KFLY charts.

The second 45 UTS released was Echo of You/Gypsy Eyes. There are actually several versions of “Gypsy Eyes”, one of which, recorded by Ben in 1965, has Ben playing and singing solo. If you heard this tape, you would think there were two guitars playing!

In the first studio recording Ray played bass. He admits there were far too many mistakes, and the pattern didn’t quite fit the song. His explanation: “I was in the Army and was not playing with the band very much by then.” The end of this version has a haunting lead pattern by Ben that is really great. The version that was released on the flip side of “Echo of You” featured Jim Roberts on bass. This was recorded on March 16, 1968 at Ripcord Studios in Vancouver, Washington.

Ben remembers that the lyrics for “Drummer of Your Mind” were inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s famous ‘different drummer’ quotation; the tune was inspired by clavichord and harpsichord minuets. “Gypsy Eyes”, his favorite, was written for a girl he saw at a downtown Portland bus stop. It’s possibly the first flamenco-rock song on record (the bus-stop girl was a flamenco-rock sort of girl, says Ben).

UNITED TRAVEL SERVICE – THE ALBUM

In 2008 Dale was contacted by Wolfgang Voelkel of Break-A-Way Records in Erndtebrűck, Germany to discuss production of an album, since United Travel Service has fans in Europe. Dale put innumerable hours into remastering the tapes of the songs included in the album, especially those from the “basement” recordings. The result is quite good and captures the truly special and unique sound of United Travel Service.

Wolfgang has been producing collector vinyl albums of Sixties rock groups since 2000. A friend of his in Italy finds groups with unusual names that are mentioned as song authors in Internet phone books. He contacts them to make sure they were actually members of the particular band, and if interest is shown he passes the information on to Wolfgang, who then pursues the idea of making an album.

In the case of United Travel Service, a longtime friend and customer of Wolfgang from the UK sent him a link to the UTS Web site, remarking, “They even have unreleased material!” Wolfgang was already familiar with the first 45 (Wind and Stone/Drummer Of Your Mind). Both songs are on countless garage/psych comps that have come out since the early 1980s. When he visited the Web site and listened to all the unreleased material he was, as he put it, “electrified” and impressed by the tracks, especially the second 45 (Echo of You/Gypsy Eyes). He says “Gypsy Eyes” was an immediate favorite of his. The resulting album, Wind and Stone, was released in June 2009.

Break-A-Way Records is a side project of Wolfgang’s mail order company. He notes that there is a solid group of collectors who are interested in music of the Sixties: garage, psychedelic, etc. It’s a small but well-organized music branch – a collector’s world within the music industry. Once an album has been produced, it goes to special distributors who then sell it to the specialized mail-order companies and record dealers that serve collectors of the Sixties genre.

Because Dale provided Wolfgang with an excellent pre-master, producing the album was relatively easy. Wolfgang’s associate Andreas, who works for a local newspaper, does the entire layout (artwork, story, photos, etc.). From this point it takes about four weeks to produce an album. Wolfgang briefly describes the process: “The test press arrives – sounds good. Records arrive – final heartbeat. Pressing plays well. Packing job starts. First records sold via mail order. After one week, one customer calls saying, “Great album” – first time relax. Band sends email saying “Great job”. Final relax. Start of enjoyment!”

Wolfgang works from his home, which was built around 1899. It’s extremely large and expensive to maintain, he says, but its size makes it easy to find space to store all the records, boxes, etc.

A big thanks from UTS to Wolfgang, et al, for having faith in their music and for all the work that went into producing the album that was over forty years in the making!

UNITED TRAVEL SERVICE – THE ALBUM COVER

The Wind and Stone front cover tells its own story. It features a psychedelic balloon (which, to the careful observer, is made of the stylized words “United Travel Service”). Ray discovered the original poster of this balloon in his memorabilia collection and noticed the name Angie Lawrence on one corner which, when he mentioned it to John Carter, joggled John’s memory. While John was stationed at Ft. Bliss near El Paso, Texas, Ben sent him copies of the first 45, Wind and Stone. John took it to various radio stations to promote it. Angie, John’s friend, came up with the idea of a stylized balloon as a band logo. John has recently located Angie, who now lives in Colorado. Her story follows:

“I was a sophomore at Austin high School in El Paso, Texas in 1968. I had painted and done artwork since I was very young (five or six maybe) and built model airplanes, boats, and monsters. Paint-by-number was something my parents got me and my brother into early on and my dad taught me the same things he taught my brother (pool, chess, and shooting…I was a tomboy in my habits and ways of doing things.) I took art classes in high school and won a scholastic art award at 14. I was the only girl in drafting class for three years.

My parents were notorious for inviting people into our home for meals and temporary living arrangements. They did this with some of my girlfriends, as I remember. They held bridge parties at the house and even taught bridge in different venues. This is how they met Neil Chambers, a GI stationed at Fort Bliss. He would come over for bridge lessons and occasionally for meals.

One Christmas Neil was invited to dinner and a fellow GI brought him to our house (I don’t think Neil owned a car). His friend, who turned out to be John Carter, was also welcomed into our home.

Eventually my parents invited John to stay with us. I don’t remember all the details but I remember that he helped my mom a lot because she did not drive. He drove her around and bought her things on base and, in addition, he became my “bud”. I remember a poster of an Indian I painted for him. It was on poster board and it was multi-colored and very cool. I wish I knew what happened to the pattern because I painted a couple of them for different people. This was one of the things I just liked to do. One day John asked me to paint some art for the album that the band United Travel Service was going to record someday. “Sure”, I replied.

I have been trying to remember how I got the idea for the balloon and here is what keeps coming to me. In my studio (a corner of our living room) stood my parents’ old record player and I am pretty sure they had the original 1956 soundtrack from Around The World in 80 Days (it has a balloon on the album cover). This was my inspiration. That’s my story and I am sticking to it…United Travel Service and a hot air balloon just go together! Back then I was into using fluorescent paint for who knows what reason, and I still have other paintings that I did using those bright pink and orange colors.

Fast-forward to mid-July 2009: I was sitting at my desk working and the phone rang. Caller ID said, “Carter, John”, and I thought: Could this be John, my friend from El Paso, who I have not been in contact with for over 40 years? I picked up the phone and said, “Hello”. When I heard John’s voice I immediately knew it was him, but I let him say his spiel: “Is this Angie Lawrence who used to live in El Paso, Texas, parents Steve and Frances who played bridge, brother Russell, sister Sally?” I replied, “Yes, it is”, with a giggle in my mind. That’s the story of how John found me. He told me about the United Travel Service album that finally happened and said he wanted to make sure I got a copy.

John flew to Aurora at the end of August to see me. You know what? We still have that wonderful friendship we had in the late Sixties. He brought me a copy of the album, too. It was great to see him again and to know that some things last – like a fluorescent painting for an album cover to fulfill a dream that a group of guys had for so many years – and, of course, our friendship.

Congratulations, United Travel Service, and thank you for bringing my friend John back into my life!”

UNITED TRAVEL SERVICE – THE FUTURE

Most of the UTS band members are back in touch after all these many years, which made this story possible. Dale has launched a band Web site: www.utsrocks.com.

What’s in the future for UTS? The band members live so far apart it’s impossible to get together on weekends to jam. The energy that led the group through its early years still exists, though, and it is growing stronger.

It would be amazing to do a live concert in Europe! Maybe a certain Sixties music buff in Erndtebrűck, Germany can make it happen. Or possibly the Time Lord in Tripolis, Greece would like to travel back in real time with United Travel Service!

In the meantime, you can groove to the unique sound of UTS on vinyl. Or listen to the songs from their Web site; they’re all there.

As Dale is so fond of saying – UTS ROCKS!!!

POSTSCRIPT – we were deeply saddened by the sudden, unexpected death of John Carter in February 2010 at his home in Forest Grove, Oregon. In October 2009 Ben, John and Ray got together at John’s home studio to record one of their very early songs, To Helen. It is based on the poem of the same name penned by none other than Edgar Allen Poe some 150 years ago. Ben set the poem to music, and since the original recording was of very poor quality, decided to record it again for the UTS CD. It’s a beautiful song that turned out quite well, and will be a very fitting memory to John whose whole life revolved around music.

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