The T-Bones were an American recording group on Liberty Records, existing from 1963 to 1966. The studio recordings of all of their albums except the last one were done by American session musicians, The Wrecking Crew.
They should not be confused with Gary Farr's British mid-1960s band of the same name. In Britain, the name "U.S. T-Bones" was used for the Liberty Records group.[ The T-Bones (UK)], AllMusic
When the T-Bones had a hit in 1966 with the single "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)", Liberty Records quickly recorded an album of the same name using session musicians from The Wrecking Crew, but those musicians were not willing to go on tour to promote the album as they were making sufficient money doing sessions in Los Angeles. So Liberty created a different "public" T-Bones group to appear on record covers, TV, and in concert. The "public" T-Bones were Judd Hamilton, Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo, Tommy Reynolds, and Gene Pello. None of them played on the hit record, nor did they play on the next album, Sippin' and Chippin. However, the "public" T-Bones did record the T-Bones' final album, Everyone's Gone To The Moon (And Other Trips). Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo, and Tommy Reynolds later formed the 1970s soft rock trio Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds.
"No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" was based on the melody from a commercial for Alka-Seltzer. The tune reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and its follow-up, "Sippin N Chippin", peaked at No. 62; the accompanying album hit No. 75 on the Billboard 200.
Members, December 26, 1963 Tracks: "Draggin, "Shut Down", "Boss Drag", "Revv' Buggy", "Hey Little Cobra", "Six Banger" Dave Pell - leader Steve Douglas - saxophone Ervan Coleman - guitar Tommy Tedesco - guitar Glen Campbell - guitar Lyle Ritz - M. Ray Pohlman - Plas Johnson - saxophone Hal Blaine - drums Perry Botkin, Jr. - Frank Capp -
Members, December 9, 1965 Tracks: "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)"; "Chiquita Banana"; "Fever"; "What's In the Bag, Goose"; "Let's Hang On" Dave Pell, leader Perry Botkin, Jr., OM, arranger Tommy Tedesco, guitar Victor Feldman Hal Blaine, drums Julius Wechter, percussion Ervan Coleman, guitar Buddy Clark Carol Kaye, electric bass guitar Lyle Ritz, upright bass Harold "Lanky" Lindstrot, engineer Evelyn Roberts, Martin Berman Roger Harris, copy Robert Ross, copy Joe Saraceno, producer
Members, 1966 George Dee Danny Hamilton - Lead guitar Judd Hamilton - Rhythm guitar Gene Pello - Drums Richard Torres - Organ
Song Hits Magazine, May 1966 - Page 20 T-BONES are in good shape, JUDD HAMILTONKRLA Beat, Volume 1 No. 48 February 12, 1966 - Page 15 From Commercials T-Bones to Success
Album: Everyone's Gone To The Moon (And Other Trips) Joe Frank Carollo — Bass Danny Hamilton — Guitar Judd Hamilton — Guitar Gene Pello — Drums Tommy Reynolds — Keyboards / vibraphone / percussion
Albums Boss Drag (1964) - Liberty LRP-3346/LST-7346 Boss Drag at the Beach (1964) - Liberty LRP-3363/LST-7363 Doin' the Jerk (1965) - Liberty LRP-3404/LST-7404 No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) (1966) - Liberty LRP-3439/LST-7439 Sippin' and Chippin''' (1966) - Liberty LRP-3446/LST-7446Everyone's Gone To The Moon (And Other Trips) (1966) - Liberty LRP-3471/LST-7471Shapin' Things Up'' (1965) - Sunset SUM-1119/SUS-5119
References