In 1965, MFQ began exploring a rock sound. Faryar saw the progression "as a logical outcome of how we think. We would have had to change our whole mental attitude to stay where we were". He also admitted being influenced by other bands: "
The Byrds whet our appetites for folk-rock. Whatever sweet music the Byrds came up with, they legitimized this transition from folk to folk-rock ... We had developed a rock set when we played with the
Lovin' Spoonful at the
Cafe Wha? in the [Greenwich] Village" (the Spoonful's
John Sebastian sometimes also sat in on drums with the MFQ between playing sets at a nearby club). Their first attempt to record rock was with producer
Charles Calello. A single "Every Minute of Every Day", backed with "That's Alright with Me" was released in April 1965 by Warner Bros. It was largely unnoticed and Faryar felt that the material was wrong for them. Spector went as far as to join MFQ onstage at a local club with a twelve-string guitar and performed "
Spanish Harlem" with the group. Despite their exposure at the clubs, an appearance on the television music variety show
Shindig!, and more college dates, Band members felt that the material and direction given to them by record producers were partly to blame. According to Faryar: "I think Herbie [Cohen, their manager] steered us into some situations, like with Charlie Calello, where they wanted us to think this kind of song, they wanted us to think that kind of song, and we did not thrive in the hands of that kind of direction. We were most successful inventing our own stuff". Yester added: "I wished we would have recorded that [a folk-rock album], but we never did. The group didn't embrace original material as readily as I thought it should have. If we would have stuck with Chip's and my songs, we would have gotten further in the folk-rock days". ==Later years==