Exceptions to the rules:  The pre-Chicago bands

PAGE INITIATED:  OCTOBER 7, 2006.

LAST UPDATED:  APRIL 12, 2007!

(This page is still under construction!  Please be patient...)

THE PRE-CHICAGO BANDS:  A QUICK BACKGROUND

Think of the grunge rock scene ("garage bands") in mid-1980s Seattle and you'll have some idea about the rock scene in 1960s-era Chicago.

There was a plethora of great rock music coming out of The Windy City, especially once The Beatles and the wave of British artists that followed hit American airwaves in 1963.  It seems that every band was trying to achieve instant fame by writing the next Beatles-like hit.  The British Invasion caught college-educated and street-educated musicians alike in its wake.

Many different bands were formed and dissolved in the Chicago music scene during the last eight years of the decade, from 1963 to 1970.  Chicago is the only Chicago band formed during that time that is still together.  Yet, some of the members from the predecessor and related bands who didn't end up as members of Chicago played with them occasionally on stage during the early years, and in the cases of Marty Grebb and James Vincent, also on solo projects by Robert Lamm.

In this page, I'll go into more detail about those bands and the interconnections that make for far more than a footnote in rock history.

I would like to give a great big Thank You to Mac Macoy (editor of James Vincent's autobiography, Space Traveler) for additional source material used for researching the updates to this page.  Mac is in touch with all the former Exceptions except Kal David and Peter Cetera, and one of his motivations for writing me was to ensure that the original Exceptions drummer, Denny Ebert, receives due credit for his part in The Exceptions story.  With this page, he has.  :-)  Mac has been in touch with most of the former Exceptions/Aorta members as well as with Joe Mantegna, and I would also like to thank them for their contributions to this page.


THE MISSING LINKS:  ONLY THE BEGINNING...

As mentioned in the main Chicago page, Walter Parazaider and Terry Kath formed The Missing Links in 1965, adding Danny Seraphine and (on occasion) Lee Loughnane.  One of the bands that played gigs with The Missing Links was called The Apocryphals, who featured Joe Mantegna.  Mantegna revealed his rock and roll past during a 1995 or 1996 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, including his connections with the groups who came to be known as Chicago.  Mantegna's roots were also mentioned in Chicago's A & E Live By Request DVD, with Mantegna being a friend of Parazaider's "from way back".


WHO WERE THE EXCEPTIONS?

For those of us too young to remember their original recordings, The Exceptions and the many other club bands of the era are a footnote in rock history as small regional bands whose members found greater success either in other groups, or in other forms of entertainment.  However, those greater successes often came with a heavy price, especially when and where interpersonal relationships dissolved.

The Exceptions original lineup (originally billed as Kal David & The Exceptions):

Kal David (Vocals, Guitar 1962-1965)
Peter Cetera (a.k.a. Pete Cetera) (Bass, Vocals 1962-1967)
Denny Ebert (a.k.a. Denny Dean) (Drums, Backing Vocals 1962-1966)
Marty Grebb (a.k.a. Marty Grebe) (Sax, Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals 1962-1966)

Lineup changes and additions:

Billy Herman (Drums, Backing Vocals 1966-1967)
James Vincent Dondelinger (a.k.a. James Donlinger and James Vincent) (Guitar, Vocals 1965-1967)
James Nyeholt (Keyboards 1966-1967)


The Exceptions were the biggest Midwest club band of the era, with excellent vocal harmonies and skilled instrumentalists tuned to the sounds of their audiences.  Their styles varied from '50s Doo-Wop ("Down By The Ocean", "Dancing Danny"), to Beatles-esque numbers with horns and guitar ("As Far As I Can See", "Business As Usual"), and minor single hits such as "Daydreaming Of You" (1964) and "Come On Home" (1965), they became the in-demand band.

The Exceptions did not have a national hit or a major label recording contract, yet their success still caught the attention of others in the Chicago music scene.  The Rovin' Kind (soon to be renamed The Illinois Speed Press), whom JWG had signed to and was producing for Columbia needed a lead vocalist and guitarist, and recruited Kal David.  Kal's departure was on friendly terms, according to Denny Ebert.

Peter Cetera, newly hired guitarist James Vincent Dondelinger, and Marty Grebb now shared the lead vocal duties.  After The Buckinghams hit the national charts with "Kind Of A Drag", JWG recommended that they (The Buckinghams) invite Marty Grebb to join them.  Marty Grebb left after The Exceptions recorded their lone EP album, Rock 'N' Roll Mass (1966) (believed to be one of the first Contemporary Christian recordings), and James Nyeholt was recruited to fill Grebb's shoes.  Nyeholt was described as a "talented multi-instrumentalist" by Vincent, and they had worked together before.  Denny Ebert was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966, and Billy Herman (another former Vincent bandmate) was quickly brought on board behind the drum kit.

They continued the successful trend of minor hits, with Capitol Records releasing three of them nationally, billed as "The Exception".  By late 1967, the strength of their cover version of the Curtis Mayfield song "Why Do You Hurt Me" (a.k.a. "You Always Hurt Me") caught the attention of well-known R&B star Otis Redding.  The Exceptions had the honor of opening for Otis Redding on his last tour, just a few weeks before Redding's December 10, 1967 fatal plane crash.

At this point in music, psychedelica was starting to take hold in some markets, and Vincent, Nyeholt, and Herman wanted to pursue that musical direction.  Peter Cetera wanted to stick to the for-sure money-making formula of rock and roll.  According to Vincent, this resulted in Cetera's being fired by The Exceptions, the account of which Billy Herman and Jimmy Nyeholt concur with.  In addition to Cetera's conversation with The Big Thing, Terry Kath had asked Vincent about Cetera, and Vincent told them about their differences.

James Vincent's recollection of the conversation with Terry Kath:  "He said they needed a bass player, but they had declined to call him [Cetera] because he had a reputation for having a bit of a bad attitude.  I strongly urged him that night to give Pete a try and suggested that perhaps the few months of self-imposed exile had given him a fresh perspective.  While Pete was a strong vocalist, there were also concerns that his bass playing might not be up to the level they needed.  But Terry took my advice and they called him, tried him out, and liked him."
-- Space Traveler, p. 37

The Big Thing needed a real bass player and an additional tenor lead vocalist for the kind of music they wanted to pursue, and Cetera was well qualified in both areas.

Billy Herman recruited Bobby Jones to replace Cetera on bass and vocals.  (Bobby's early music career included being the lead vocalist and bassist for the Hollywood Argyles, a one-hit wonder with "Ally Oop".)  With The Exceptions now dead, they began to pursue psychedelica.  First, they changed the name of the band to Aorta, and then they, too, would be signed to Columbia by JWG, giving JWG the distinction of being the only producer who worked with all of the past members of The Exceptions/Aorta.


WHATEVER HAPPENED TO... ?

Kal David - The Rovin' Kind/Illinois Speed Press, a gig in a band with Marty Grebb called The Fabulous Rhinestones, and a whole lot more. See Kal's web site for the details.

Peter Cetera - Chicago (1967-1985), very successful solo career afterwards.

James Vincent - Aorta, Lovecraft, Coven, Santana, Etta James, Azteca, minor solo successes, guest appearance on Robert Lamm's Skinny Boy solo album, and still active as a solo artist.  Read his autobiography for the full details up through 2003.

Billy Herman - After Aorta, he spent 5 years with the New Colony Six.  After his time in the New Colony Six, he revived the name "The Exceptions" and used it for a number of years in clubs with various musicians.  In the early '80s he met his wife, Twyla.  They have performed continuously as a duo since 1984.  They moved to Mesa, AZ in 1992 and have been performing together in the same club for 12 years.

Marty Grebb - He is also still active in the music industry, and co-wrote songs with Robert Lamm for Lamm's fourth and fifth solo albums.  Marty has a HUGE discography of people he has recorded with, which you can find at his (sadly under-developed) web site http://www.martygrebb.com.  With his band "Padlock," he backed Bonnie Raitt on the road for over a decade, and appeared with Chicago, Leon Russell, Willie Nelson, Maria Muldaur, Stevie Nicks, Rosanne Cash and many, many more.  He is somewhat legendary as an L.A. session player.  He has one solo album out, called Smooth Sailin'.  His second album, High Steppin', was to be released by Leon Russell's record company, but the company went belly-up and the CD was never released.  Marty is currently working on his own autobiography.

Denny Ebert - After his stint in the Army, Denny played with a number of groups on the club scene, but his high point was a recording and touring band called Eddie Boy, which recorded a very excellent LP by the same name.  They opened for a number of big name acts, specifically, the Beach Boys.  Denny says that they were "let go," because they got a great deal more audience response than the Beach Boys did.  No surprise... their musicianship was light years ahead of the BBs.  Denny hasn't played the drums in years, but he'll soon be retiring from his day job.

James Nyeholt - Jim and his family are committed to finding a cure for Canavan Disease (canavanreaserch.org), a fatal neurodegenerative disease that his grandson, Max Randell is battling.  Jimmy is now also "disabled" as he has been fighting several cancer battles of his own over the years.  Jimmy adds:  "After the second iteration of Aorta, I was married, then divorced, and had custody of my son.  I stayed in the Chicago area (I wanted to move west but logistics wouldn't allow it at that time).  I went back to the jingle/studio/lounge circuit, playing with various groups.  Around the age of 27/28, I was considering leaving music but I got an offer to play with Tanya Tucker's band for a summer and that re-energized me.  After that, I taught music and was the musical director for a show lounge, arranging music and playing for different acts.  By the time that ended, I was re-married (& continue to be to this day) to Peggy my best friend and the love of my life.  We have now been married for 30 years and it is a match made in heaven.  We started writing jingles and performing together live.  I did that until I was 35.  At that time we dropped down to playing weekends only while I got my career in computers off the ground.  I achieved a Masters in Mathematics/Computer Science and earned an MBA as well.  I loved the creativity of computers as much as I did music.  After a few years, I stopped playing altogether.  Now that my health has stopped me from working (I am on disability), I consider my job as fighting cancer.  I have resurrected some of the classical piano pieces that I had worked on (but never really mastered) while earning my B.A. in Composition/Orchestration from the American Conservatory of Music.  This is a whole new chapter for me.  It is strictly for the enjoyment, not as a way to make a living.  I am grateful that I have been given this gift to make music."

Bobby Jones - After Aorta, he had a band called "Bobby Curtis & Jump Street", and he was a featured player on Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs And Englishmen album.  Bobby adds:  "I was among many singers and players with Stevie Wonder [and] was for all practical purposes living in the studio during those years, and I was able to play on several of his records.  One project I thought really had a chance, and one that I really liked and worked with was Chris Mancini - we had some great songs, super players, loads of potential.  I would still love to hear some of those cuts.  It's a weird business!  I got to play with Freddy King, and Albert King, at other times and at different times; fronted a great band called the Sass Band.  I was with the founding that project with a great pal, John Berman and I came up with the name talking about a radio show.  The plan was to have series with guest notables - it came to be known as the Sass Broadcast.  These kind of deals are SO difficult, but all the same, we did have some amazing gigs together as the Sass Band.  Super memories."

When Mac told Bobby about my interest in The Exceptions, Bobby's reply to Mac said:  "I'm blushing a little bit, if somebody is interested.  Very delighted to oblige, and give many feeble excuses again!  Many projects, and a few were on records.  Truth is, it's a story of a guy that had lots, and lots of fun, man!"

Joe Mantegna - He gave up rock and roll for a successful acting career, and is still good friends with Chicago today (check out the autographed copy of Chicago II hanging on the wall in his TV series, 'First Monday', which is pictured on Chicago's website) and also displayed in the A & E Live By Request DVD (the segment before "Dialogue").


Two Exceptions songs are included on the 1997 Collectibles CD compilation, The Quill Records Story:  The Best Of Chicago Garage Bands:  "As Far As I Can See" and "Business As Usual".  (Four members of The Exceptions are pictured on the CD cover.)

James Vincent undertook the remastering of the 17 Exceptions songs, and all are now available on the CD The Exceptions Collection, which can be ordered through his web site, along with both Aorta albums and the Lovecraft album.

THE LINKS!