1964–1971 The band was formed in 1964 as The Trenchcoats after Ralph Scala and Ron Gilbert met on the golf team at Dewitt Clinton High School. The original members were Emil "Peppy" Thielhelm "Peppy" Castro (vocals and guitar), Dennis LePore (lead guitar), Ralph Scala (organ and vocals), Ron Gilbert (bass) and Jon Finnegan (drums). The band made a name for itself in various clubs in
Greenwich Village, most notably the Night Owl Cafe. In 1965, the name had been changed to The Bloos Magoos, and by 1966, the band had settled on calling themselves the Blues Magoos. did not gain the band much recognition. Verve dropped them shortly thereafter. In early 1966,
Mercury Records signed the band to a
record deal with the help of Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus of Longhair Productions. Their first single, “Tobacco Road” b/w “Sometimes I Think About” was released in June 1966. The group's debut album,
Psychedelic Lollipop, was released in November 1966 – becoming one of the first albums to include the word "psychedelic" on the sleeve (after the
13th Floor Elevators'
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and
The Deep's
Psychedelic Moods, both also from 1966). They played often at the Chess Mate
Coffeehouse, a mostly folk venue in
Detroit owned by Morrie Widenbaum that also hosted bands such as Southbound Freeway and
Siegel-Schwall Blues Band. The group's most successful song was "
(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," which reached number 5 on the U.S. charts, and number 4 in
Canada. Starting in June 1967, the Blues Magoos embarked on a tour through the US and Canada with
Herman's Hermits and
The Who before replacing Munda with
Joey Stec, formerly of
The Millennium, and then going their separate ways after a dispute with ABC Records over the rights to the Blues Magoos name. Ralph Scala, Ron Gilbert, and Joey Stec later played in The Dependables. In 1969, the Castro-led band completed ''Never Goin' Back To Georgia
. The group released two albums on Atlantic Records, Room to Grow
(1972) and Touch
(1973). In 1981, Castro resurfaced again with the group Balance whose song "Breaking Away" reached No. 22 on the Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 35 in
Canada. In July 2008, the Blues Magoos, with original members Ralph Scala, Castro and Geoff Daking reunited for the first time in years for two concerts, including one with
The Zombies at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in New York City. In 2014, The Blues Magoos released their first new album in 43 years,
Psychedelic Resurrection. The Blues Magoos toured in 2015. In 2022, The Blues Magoos officially released their last recording, "Nowhere is Somewhere". The song and accompanying video were featured at the 2021 Woodstock Film Festival. On February 16, 2024, Ron Gilbert died in Los Angeles, California, as confirmed by the Blues Magoos official Facebook page. As of 2024, he is the only deceased original member of the band. ==Discography==