In the mid sixties the group known as
Band of Oz had its humble beginnings
in eastern North Carolina (Grifton) . It
was a bunch of grammar and junior
high school guys ( because no one
was old enough to drive) being hauled
around in Ray Houston's Chevy station
wagon pulling a little red trailer. The
group at that time was called The
Avengers.
As the mid sixties would have it the
band was a guitar and keyboard group
playing the sock hops at area schools,
private parties and an occasional club
whenever the owner would risk having
them. The later part of the sixties saw
the group bring in a horn section which
brought a big change in the music.
Freddy Tripp (Band of Oz, Dynamic
Upsetters, Embers, Shakers, Breeze
Band etc.) and Jimmy Smith were the
first horn players. Until the name
change around 1970 three members
of the group had remained the same
Johnnie Byrd, Buddy Johnson and
Keith Houston.
As area available players (school
mates of members) ran out, the band
got its first player from the Greenville,
NC Chuck French on trumpet. When
the name was changed to the Band of
Oz in 1970 most of the group was from
the Greenville area, Chuck French /
Trumpet, Gary Warren/sax, Randy
Hignite/Keyboards , Jim
Heidenreich/drums, all of Greenville
and Johnnie Byrd/bass, Buddy
Johnson/vocals and Keith Houston
/guitar. Around 1971 another long time
member Billy Bazemore replaced
Buddy Johnson on vocals. Through
the early seventies they continued
playing the Frat parties private
functions and clubs in the southeast.
In late 1976 the band now comprised
of members from Raleigh to Greenville
decided to try it as a full time band.
Members were Chuck French /trumpet,
Bob Lynch/sax, Ronnie
Forbes/keyboards, Shep Fields/bass,
Freddy Tripp (returning)Trumpet, Billy
Bazemore/vocals, David Hicks /drums
and Keith Houston /guitar. They hit the
road traveling extensively in the
Southeast playing the club circuit.
In the late seventies the band decided
to try and cut back on some of the
traveling and concentrate more on the
Carolinas. They recorded and
released their first single ìShaggin'
written by Billy Bazemore and Keith
Houston in 1978. The radio airplay and
promotion seemed to catapult the
group to another level. In 1979 they
recorded their second single "Star of
My Life" written by Chuck French.
The next big personnel change came
in 1980 when John Thompson (
Monzas, Embers) and Butch Barnes
(Songbird) joined the group. John's
baritone vocal gave the group a new
facet and Butch's sax and stage
presence only enhanced the show. In
1982 (now working Mike Branch) the
group recorded Ocean Boulevard
written and produced by General
Johnson and Warren Moise. Ocean
Boulevard went on to be voted Beach
Music song of the year and the group
won Best New Group at the BMA show.
Their first album (real vinyl) "Keep
Keepin' It Up" ( title track written by
Tommy Red of Nantucket) was
released on Surfside Records. In
October of ë83 David Franks
Replaced Mickey Hardy on keyboards.
In 1985 Butch Barnes and Billy
Bazemore left the group and were
replaced by Chris Keaton (High and
Mighty The Kings) on sax and Doug
Adams (Entertainers, Bill Deal, Fat
Ammon's Band) . Doug left and was
replaced by Gary Brown. The group
started working their second album
containing " Over the Rainbow " which
was arranged by Chris. The album "
One More Step " was completed and
released on Metro Records in 19 . It
was one of first regional projects
released on CD.
After the release of " One More Step "
the group continued performing 200 to
300 shows per year.
In 1991 after being gone since 1985
Butch Barnes returned . Work on their
third CD began in the early 90's this
project was handled by the group
themselves and recorded at CMC in
Zebulon, NC, then released on Ripete
Records in 1995. This CD " Let It Roll "
contains "Shama Lama Ding Dong" the
People's Choice Song of the Year at
the Cammy Awards in 1995. It is still
one of the most requested beach
songs of all time.
1996 brought on big changes when
John Thompson decided to get off the
road. Jerry West was brought in as his
replacement. The change actually
expanded the versatlity of the group by
adding a high tenor lead voice that
was able to cover more and different
types of material. Once the transition
was made, the guys started working on
a third CD. Work on this project was
stopped mid stream when Jerry
decided to leave for Nashville. Rick
Strickland (ShagTime) from Columbia,
SC replaced Jerry on bass and vocal.
Within a year and a half Jerry was
back. The lineup at that time was
David Hicks /drums, Chuck French
/trumpet, Butch Barnes /sax, Keith
Houston /keys and guitar, Rick
Strickland /bass and Jerry West
/guitar. Within months of the release of
" Dancing in the Streets " Rick
Strickland left. At this time David
Franks rejoined the group on
keyboards.
After working on their last project for
over a year the Band of Oz released
their latest CD " Over the Rainbow "
They feel it is one of, if not their best
work ever.
In March 2005, Band of Oz owners
Keith Houston and David Hicks
decided to bring a new, youthful sound
to the band after Butch Barnes
announced that he would be leaving in
April 2005. At that time, Scott Fine
/Vocals and Trombone, Tim Morris
/Vocals and Trumpet, and Daniel
Morris /Saxophone and Vocals joined
the Band of Oz to bring a new youth
and a BIG new sound to the band.
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