The Laymen from Boulder!
We Are Proud to Induct King Louie & the Laymen Into the Pop Bop Rock Honor Roll!
I was very happy to hear from Taylor Schmidt, daughter of Robert Schmidt of King Louie and the Laymen and we were able to meetup to share information about her father and the band!
Taylor wrote in her email:
“I came across your email address on a website that lists the history of Colorado rock ‘n’ roll bands including King Louie and the Laymen.
My name is Taylor and my dad was Bob Schmidt (bass player in King Louie and the Laymen). My dad passed away three years ago. I just wanted to reach out and say thank you for posting the information and pictures you have about his band. It’s been fun to see information and to read the stories about the crazy parties back in the day they had with other bands.
I was wondering if you had any information you could share on locating any of the recordings they made? Another website I stumbled across references that there is a Denver studio that has an unreleased LP of theirs in their tape archives. I don’t know if this is true or not, but would love to be able to find a recording of theirs to hear his band. My dad tried so hard (unsuccessfully) to find copies of the recordings they made as a band. It was a great source of pride for my dad and I would be eternally grateful for help or info in trying to locate this LP or any other recordings (as would the rest of my family).”
And ironically, several months ago, I received a CD from Dan Newman, one-time member of Colorado garage band “The Exits” – a digital copy of the ‘long lost’ King Louie recordings!
Early members of the band included:
Larry Wilkins – guitar (deceased) – (Was formerly with the Rondells and Jaguars – Later with Freddi-Henchi and Soulsetters – Was with Sugarloaf, Eric Burdon & Animals – Chris Daniels and Kings – Gang Busters – Cocomo – Lannie Garrett Band – Looker)
Robert Schmidt – bass (deceased) – earlier with the Jaguars and the Chapparals.
Bill “Wheels” Gullette – drums/piano
Ed “Wheels” Wunsch – guitar/organ/piano (Chaparrals)
Chuck Prewitt – bass (played with the Wild Ones)
Other Members
Rusty McLerran – guitar (The Impressions – Boulder group; The Coachmen)
Wayne Bond – guitar
Leslie McLerran – guitar
Jerry Canty – organ (temporary member filled in for Wunsch while he was in the Army reserves)
Kevin Loughran – guitar
The Chapparals included Denver’s Dick Whetstone and Rich Shamach. Whetstone would play with the Edgar Winter Band and both did some work with “Electric Prunes” of “I Had Too Much To Dream” fame.
From Dan Newman of Colorado’s “Exits”
Dear Craig,
Dan Newman of “The Exits” here.
Just read your wonderful write up on Bob Schmidt and The Laymen. I thank you.
I first met that crew at my graduation party, from Colorado Academy, 1966. Kim Loughran did the party and King Louie played the gig.
That summer was my first in Boulder and The Layman were big time on my fun and amazement list. Serious parties. Got my sister to go to one of them and she was shocked to find an alligator in the bathroom’s bathtub. Remember another one where the furniture from the rented house was piled on the front lawn and gasoline was poured on it from the tank of a BSA Victor motorcycle. CRUMPH! Seems to me that someone also got shot with an arrow that night.
Last saw Bob and Ed Wunsch in 1993 at great friend Kim Loughran’s life remembrance party after his death.
Jerry Canty also played with “BLOODSTONE” for a short time. He also lived at the band house on Canyon Blvd that I reported in your very nice article on “The Exits”.
All of us “Bloodstones” thank you for that.
Thanks for the fun,
Dan Newman (August 2022)
Local Venues
(Information based on an interview with the late Robert Schmidt conducted by Tom Lundin author of the one-time Facebook site “The Denver Eye”.)
The band was managed at one point by Ed Weimer, owner of the Galaxy 3.2 nightclub located on Alameda in west Denver.
King Louie played a venue in Estes Park called “Jax Snacks” and they would back nationally known Tim Hardin there. They also regularly played at Tulagi’s in Boulder, a 3.2 beer venue close by the University of Colorado campus situated in a neighborhood known as the “Hill”. Boulder’s famed Astronauts were a regular band at that venue. A band called the “Imperials” also were featured there and many others passed through.
Other venues included Galena Street East in the mountain ski town of Aspen (where the owner would let them crash & party at his mountain home), the Family Dog in west Denver, the Galaxy on west Alameda, and the Rock Inn in Estes Park.
The Laymen opened for the Beach Boys, the Monkees, Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys and these were most likely concerts staged at the Denver Auditorium as Robert Schmidt recalled.
King Louie and the Laymen recorded a long play at the long-since-gone Western Cine under the direction of producer Fred Arthur in 1968 or 69. A digital copy of that LP surfaced in 2021 provided by Dan Newman who had been in a garage band in the Denver area in the 1960s called the “Exits”.
One of the selections on the Western Cine recording includes an “unusual arrangement” of “Satisfaction” according to Schmidt.
Also, Schmidt related that both he and Wilkins also recorded commercial jingles at Western Cine with Fred Arthur one of which was for the “Red Barn” chain of burger outlets.
Based on the strength of these recordings, the band nearly signed with Capital Records with producer Nick Venet, for what would have been a significant sum for a three-record-per-year long play deal but when the Laymen hired a lawyer to look over the fine print, he advised them to turn the offer down, which they did.
From Dan Newman – The Exits: August 2022: (In a letter to Taylor Schmit regarding the King Louie LP:
“Here is the story of how that recording survived.
At some time soon after it was recorded King Louie lent me his copy so I could duplicate it for myself and think some other people, who I do not remember but one of them was my brother in law. It travelled around with me in Colorado, New Mexico, Montana and Washington State. In 1985 I returned to New Mexico after living in Washington for 8 years. Soon after that a family member sent everything I had saved since I was a kid to the city dump, including my copy of Sunfox.
Fast forward to the early 2000’s. I was visiting my brother in law in Boulder. One day he was cleaning out his garage and getting rid of junk. I spied an old 2 track TEAC recorder in a corner of stuff and noticed a bunch of tapes also. He asked me if I wanted all of it because he was going to throw it away. YES!
Pawing thru the tapes, to my amazement, I found gold, the copy of Sunfox I had made for him back in ’68 or’69. Returned all to Santa Fe and quickly began the process of getting Sunfox onto a CD.
The biggest problem was that the playback head on that Teac was worn down into the head about 1/8 of an inch. The signal that it reproduced would fade in and out, left or right channels would stop working intermittingly, it sounded horrible and I felt like crying! I wanted that recording.
Figured out that I could lever the playback head carefully with a screwdriver and if I could maintain precise compression on it I could get the full signal.
There was not enough built-in alignment capability in the deck to do what was required. Many hours ensued, working on each tune multiple times until I got something I was happy with. I did not have another tape deck and didn’t know anybody that did and was not going to trust the tape to a commercial copying business.
I remember wondering if Bob and Ed had a copy after all the years, but it was pre computer days for me and so had no way to find a connection.
It made me sad to read that your Dad searched all those years without finding it, and I had it. If only something else had happened, a common human lament.
I would like to send you that tape. I am certain that there must be a place in the Denver area that would be able to process that tape into a pristine CD copy.
You would not want them to do any re-mastering or in any way process the recording except for this, if necessary. It was a very high-quality recording for its time.
It is possible that this recording is not in tune due to different tape deck speeds caused by wear and usage, it may be slower or faster than the tape recorded from. When I was working on it I didn’t check the playback speed with a tuning fork or a generated note in the key of the song because there was no way to adjust tape speed on that deck.
Today there are processes that can speed or slow a recording and maintain perfect pitch, the recording will sound the same except the tempo will be faster or slower.
Also, you father was a potent bass player, listen to the way he drives a tune. I have played with many bass players over the years and many of them would have learned something by listening to Mr. Robert Schmidt.
That album still has authority to this day.”
King Louie & Laymen Play CU Sorority Sock Hop – Boulder – November 1965
King Louie & the Laymen Play Galena St. East in Aspen – December 19th, 1965
King Louie & the Laymen Play Aspen New Year’s Eve – December 31st, 1965
King Louie & Laymen at Clancy’s Fort Collins – March 1966
King Louie & Laymen at Tulagi – Boulder, CO – September 1966
King Louie & Laymen at the Huddle – July 1967
King Louie & Laymen at Tulagi – July 1967
King Louie and Laymen at Greeley Central High dance in 1967
King Louie & Laymen at the Matterhorn – Fort Collings – August 1967
King Louie & Laymen at the Matterhorn – Fort Collins – October 1967
King Louie & the Laymen Play CSU Homecoming – November 10th, 1967
King Louie & the Laymen Play Estes Park High Homecoming – November 1967
King Louie & Laymen Play Metro College – November 22nd, 1967
King Louie & Laymen at the Skunk Kreek – January 1968
King Louie & Laymen Play Aurora Hinkley High Dance – January 20th, 1968
King Louie & Laymen Support Fairview High Fund Raiser – March 1968
King Louie & Laymen Play Fairview High Boulder “Barefoot in the Park” – March 1968
King Louie & Laymen Play Mines College Dance – with Stone Poneys – April 1968
King Louie and the Laymen Play Red Garter Dance at CSU Dorm in Fort Collins – May 10th & 11th, 1968
King Louie Becomes “Sun Fox” – September 1968
King Louie Becomes “Sun Fox” – October 1968
The same lawyer would later perform the band’s management duties and arranged an engagement in New York City at the Bitter End club where they were booked by Sid Bernstein. According to Schmidt the same lawyer would have the band change their name to “Sunfox”. While they were in New York, Atlantic Records also took an interest in their songs, but nothing came of that
Things did not work out for the band in New York. They became disillusioned with the music scene there and the “Sunfox” name and so returned to Colorado and soon broke up around early 1970.
More on Robert Schmidt
Robert Warren Schmidt was born on May 26th, 1946 in Littleton, Colorado – a community south of Denver, He attended and graduated from Littleton High School in 1964 and then attended the University of Colorado in Boulder where he studied business and music.
Bob was an accomplished musician proficient on several instruments. While in Boulder, Bob would join a band called “King Louie & the Laymen. Prior to that, he was first a member of a local garage band called “The Jaguars” where he met Larry Wilkins, and then “The Chapparals”.
After his time with King Louie, Robert would open his own successful men’s clothing store in Boulder in 1974 called “The Bugle”. A bit later on he would open a second store in Fort Collins, Colorado called “Robert Schmidt Clothiers”. He moved that business back to Boulder where he served the community for several years.
According to daughter Taylor, as the times changed and at-work dress codes became much more relaxed, Robert decided it was time to enter a new career field and he became a “RE/MAX” realtor for 15 years in Boulder.
Bob was very active in the Boulder community where he was a member of the Foothills Rotary in Fort Collins and then the Boulder Rotary. He loved the CU Buffs and was a long-time season ticket holder for CU football and basketball games.
His children attended Fairview High School and Robert was an active parent supporter of their programs.
Bob Schmidt lost a courageous battle to bone marrow cancer on November 17th, 2018.
Rusty McLerran
Rusty McLerran took up guitar at the age of 14 while still in junior high and continued while in high school, playing dances at Boulder High, including after football games and proms with his band “The Coachmen”.
After high school Rusty would join up with Larry Wilkins as a guitar player for King Louie and the Laymen. Rusty was very proficient playing rock or the blues and fit in nicely with the Laymen. In 1966 Rusty was drafted and departed the Laymen.
From Rusty:
“After being drafted into the Army, I eventually ended up in Fulda Germany and worked at a Hawk Missile site, where we defended the East/West border.
Loving music I immediately started a Rock Band playing top 40 American music and our first and one year gig was at the Eden Saloon in downtown Fulda Germany. The owner of the Eden Saloon loved the band and asked us if we’d mind naming the band Eden’s Kinder, which is Eden’s Children in English.
We played every weekend at the Saloon and the owner loved the history of American Cowboys, so the ceil of the saloon had 10 large wagon wheels, and the kids in Fulda loved the saloon and packed the place. The owner then found out that Germany was having its first battle of the bands and set everything up so we could compete in the battle, and we ended up winning 1st place in the competition.
A bunch us us Army guys should have never won that battle, I still feel sad we won. They had Rock Bands in Germany and part of the draw for that the two best bands played for the crowd, and they were The Rattles and The Petards.”
After that, Eden’s Children would tour Germany with one of the most popular German bands, “The Petards”.
Rusty’s brother Rob McLerran was a songwriter and bass player and was contracted by major labels such as RCA Victor and MCA while working in Los Angeles. His nephew, Joey McLerran would win first place honors in 2009 competing in the “International Blues Challenge” in Memphis, Tennessee.
Larry Wilkins Discography Involvement
Freddie/Henchi – The Record Company – “Funky To the Bone” b/w “I Want To Dance, Dance, Dance” – 1972
Larry Wilkins co-composer – guitar
Freddi/Henchi and the Soul Setters – Reprise Records – “Funky To the Bone” b/w “I Want To Dance, Dance, Dance” – September, 1973
Larry Wilkins co-composer and guitar
Freddi and Henchi – Reprise Records – “Mr. Funky” – 1974
Larry Wilkins Co-composer and guitar
Humble Pie – A&M Records – “Street Rats” – 1975
Co-composer on “Funky To the Bone”
Smoked Sugar – 20th Century Records – “Smoked Sugar” – 1975
Larry Wilkins guitar and vocals
Jerry Corbetta – Warner Brothers – “Jerry Corbetta” – 1978
Patricia Lauren – Track Records – “Patricia Lauren” – 1984
Larry Wilkins production
Chris Daniels – Harmony Records – “Has Anyone Seen My Keys?” – 1985
Larry Wilkins lead guitar
Chris Daniels & The Kings – Redstone Records – “That’s What I Like About the South” – 1989
Wilkins backing vocals
Chris Daniels & The Kings – Provogue Records (Netherlands) – “In Your Face” – 1992
Larry Wilkins production
Eric Burdon Brian Auger Band – SPV Records – “Access All Areas Live” – 1993
Larry Wilkins guitar and vocals
Eric Burdon’s Band – Flying Eye Records – “The Official Live Bootleg” – 1997
Larry Wilkins guitar and vocals
Eric Burdon – The Five Miles Press Records (Australia) – “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” – 2003
Larry Wilkins Production
W.I.N.D. – Artesuono (Italy_ – “Walkin’ In a New Direction” – 2010
Larry Wilkins Co-composer “Funky To the Bone”
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