Emperors

Hailing from Long Beach, California, the Emperors were one of the more memorable garage bands to emerge from the West Coast teen scene of the 1960s. They were as comfortable with raw, R&B-infused garage punk as they were with moody pop and upbeat dance tunes, and they were one of Long Beach's most popular bands of the era. The group's original incarnation never made an album, but the rare single sides they left behind were compiled on the 2024 release I Want My Woman, along with a handful of unreleased songs.

Formed in the early '60s, the Emperors featured Bill Hughes on guitar and vocals, Randy Siegers on lead guitar, Stan Foat on bass, Steve Watts on drums, and Brian Cameron and Mike Elam on saxophones. The band quickly made a name for themselves playing teen clubs, school dances, and regional "Battle of the Bands" competitions, and eventually found themselves opening shows for major stars like <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4b0WsB47XCa9F83BmwQ7WX">the Righteous Brothers</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6lHC2EQMEMZiEmSfFloarn">Peter & Gordon</a>, and making regular appearances on local TV. As the group's popularity rose, they were approached by a local label, Best Records, and under the name Steve & the Emperors, they cut a 1963 single featuring a revved-up version of the <a href="spotify:artist:2zyz0VJqrDXeFDIyrfVXSo">Jerry Lee Lewis</a> classic "Great Balls of Fire" and a taut surf arrangement of "The Breeze and I," made popular by <a href="spotify:artist:3xPpQCRiTBxgmL4PD8J5ek">Jimmy Dorsey</a> in 1940. With their moniker pared down to the Emperors, they moved to Best's sibling label Wickwire Records, and their second 45, appearing in 1964, included two originals from Bill Hughes, "A Fool for You I've Been" and "Searchin' Around the World." Later the same year, Wickwire treated fans to a second Emperors single, a cover of "Blue Day" (penned by <a href="spotify:artist:10D6CzP1JBJpHqK6wG633i">Tony Barber</a> of the Australian beat group the Aztecs) and a group original, "Laughin' Linda."

Sabra Records, an offshoot of the Texas-based Lynn Records, teamed with the Emperors for their fourth single, which was produced by Lelan Rogers, who would go on to work with <a href="spotify:artist:7xYxgSJaIf7yOFLmknYX38">the 13th Floor Elevators</a>. (He was also <a href="spotify:artist:4tw2Lmn9tTPUv7Gy7mVPI4">Kenny Rogers</a>' brother.) Credited to "The Emperor's" and delivering two Bill Hughes originals, the A-side, "And Then," was a moody folk-rock side with plenty of guitar jangle, but the flip, "I Want My Woman," was a potent garage punk rave-up that would eventually become their best-known tune, appearing on a number of garage-oriented compilation LPs. (Rogers also included it on an anthology of rarities from the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22International+Artists%22">International Artists</a> label, Epitaph for a Legend, even though the track never appeared on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22IA%22">IA</a> imprint.) It was released in 1965, and before the year was out, they'd cut another 45 for California's Two + Two label, the silly "Love Pill" and the low-key "You Make Me Feel So Good." The Two + Two release would prove to be the last release from the Emperors, but under the leadership of Steve Watts, the band would hold on to their local popularity, and by the 1970s they'd remade themselves into Emperor, who would cut a 1974 single for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a> and a 1977 album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Private+Stock%22">Private Stock</a>. Emperor called it quits in the 1980s, but after a well-received reunion show in Long Beach in 2002, the Emperors returned to duty playing oldies and classic rock as well as their local hits of the 1960s. The Emperors' single sides of the '60s were collected on an anthology release from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BeatRocket+Records%22">BeatRocket Records</a>, 2024's I Want My Woman, that added four unreleased recordings to the sequence. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi