Formation (1964) Sal Valentino grew up in the
North Beach section of San Francisco. Needing a band, he called childhood friend and songwriter/guitarist Ron Elliott, who recruited drummer John Petersen, rhythm guitarist/singer Declan Mulligan, and bassist Ron Meagher. Meanwhile, San Francisco disc jockeys
Tom Donahue and Bobby Mitchell were looking for new acts to bring to their fledgling
Autumn Records label. The group liked having a British-sounding name, and the legend has been, since it so closely followed The Beatles in the alphabet, the group also knew their records would likely be placed immediately behind those of The Beatles in record-store bins. The band's follow-up single, "
Just a Little", became the band's highest-charting single in the U.S., peaking at number eight in June. In 1966 Mulligan filed an unsuccessful lawsuit, claiming he was wrongfully dismissed from the group. Don Irving became Elliott's stand-in on guitar when the group performed live, and also recorded with them. Such songs as "I Grow Old", "Gentle Wandering Ways" and "Dream On", along with Valentino-composed tracks such as "Love Is Just a Game", "This Is Love", and "Hey, Love", would have most likely been included on the band's third album for Autumn. But before an album was completed and released, the entire Autumn roster, including the Beau Brummels, was transferred to
Warner Bros. Records. The non-album single "
One Too Many Mornings", a
Bob Dylan cover, was the band's sixth and final Hot 100 chart entry, peaking at number 95 in June. The three remaining members quit touring to focus on studio work. In 1968, Meagher was
drafted for military service, leaving the Beau Brummels as a duo consisting of Valentino and Elliott. The duo went to Tennessee to record their fifth album, and worked with prominent Nashville session musicians such as
Kenny Buttrey, a drummer on
Bob Dylan's albums from 1966 to 1969, and guitarist
Jerry Reed. The Beau Brummels were so pleased with the results at the studio that they named the album ''
Bradley's Barn'', after
the studio in which it was recorded. Petersen remained with Harper's Bizarre until the band broke up in the early 1970s. Although the band split up again soon after the album's release, the Beau Brummels continued to work in various incarnations from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, including shows with
The Smithereens, and often appeared in tandem with
Dinosaurs, the psychedelic-era "supergroup". The band also performed at shows such as the Baypop 2000 Festival In 2006, Valentino released ''Dreamin' Man'', the first solo album of his 50-year career. John Petersen died of a heart attack on November 11, 2007. The remaining original band members reunited to record a studio album,
Continuum, released in March 2013 on Bay Sound Records. The album features drum tracks that were recorded in 1965 by Petersen and contains 15 songs written by Elliott, along with re-recordings of "Just a Little", "Don't Talk to Strangers", and "Laugh, Laugh". ==Musical style==