The Remains

Barry Tashain. The Remains.
We won't even attempt to offer a detailed introduction because anybody that has frequented this website is no doubt familiar with both the man and his group. Since so much has been written on the band - including Ticket To Ride, Barry's recollections of the Beatles' '66 tour - we didn't attempt our usual career overview interview. Instead we opted to ask some random questions that we've always been curious about, and thank Barry for providing his responses. Hodge Podgin' With Barry Tashain

60sgaragebands.com: Is it true there are still four unissued Remains singles from recordings done for Spoonfed - or have these been released on the various CD reissues?

Barry Tashain (BT): This is not true.

60s: The Remains traveled to Nashville to cut some tracks. Did this trip lay the seeds for your future interest in Country music, or were you always interested in Country?

BT: I suppose that trip must have layed the seeds for something. I don't recall hearing too much country music when we were down here then. We were pretty much concentrating on our own recordings. We never went to the Opry or anything.

60s: Why did you perform Let Me Through, a song that the band never recorded, on ED SULLIVAN? It's a fantastic song, so the question really is....why wasn't it recorded?

BT: I think we were disappointed in the way the band sounded on SULLIVAN. Back then we were. Now I think it's fine. At any rate, we pretty much discontinued playing it after that. So it never ocurred to us to do it in the studio.

60s: The Remains released Diddy Wah Diddy at about the same time that Captain Beefheart did. Do you recall whose version was released first? What did the Remains think when you learned of Beefheart's version? What do you think of Beefheart's version?

BT: I'm not sure who's version was out first. I think Capt. Beefheart's version is great. I was not happy when I learned that there were two versions out at once!

60s: Don't Look Back was also recorded by the Instincts and the Rising Storm. Do you know if you recorded the song first?

BT: I think The Remains recorded it first. I have not heard the other versions.

60s: I Can't Get Away From You was covered in the '60's by the Downliner's Sect from the UK. Do you know how they were introduced to the song?

BT: I'm sorry but I really don't know.

60s: What were the circumstances leading to N.D. Smart's replacement of Chip Damiani?

BT: Chip Damiani had a path to lead. He was suffering from ulcers at the time and felt he needed relief from the stress of being in the band. That was one thing. He just wanted to do his own thing for awhile. ND happened on the scene as we were preparing for The Beatles' tour and just dropped into the slot that Chip left vacant.

60s: You've been called the "white James Brown". Your thoughts?

BT: I think it was a publicist who came up with that though I don't know for sure. I used to dance around and scream and stuff but nowhere near as much as Mr. Dynamite himself did!

60s: Please describe a typical night at the Rathskeller...

BT: Oh, just your normal college bar. Pitchers of beer, juke box during our breaks, dancing, a lot of fun playing any ol' song we felt like: Louie Louie, I've Got My Mojo Workin', Walkin' the Dog, etc. We played a lot of covers. The patrons loved it. It was a magical time. We played weeknights. At closing time a burly Boston cop would come down the stairs and yell "All right everybody, closing time, drink up and go home!"

60s: What do you recall about the band's appearance on HULLABALOO?

BT: I recall that we were festooned by shaving cream when Paul Anka threw a "pie" at Soupy Sales. We were standing right behind him and some of the foam sort of flew past him and hit us.

60s: How soon after the Remains split did you and Briggs become involved with the Flying Burrito Brothers?

BT: The Flying Burrito Bros was a name coined by Ian Dunlop, of Gram Parsons' International Submarine Band. We were a bar band that played around Los Angeles for about a year. It consisted of Gram and some of his band and Briggs and I from the Remains. That began around March of '67.

60s: Please detail your association with Chirco. What was your role with that band?

BT: I was not in the band Chirco. They recorded a song of mine and sort of disappeared after that. It was led by drummer-extraordinaire Tony Chirco, of Connecticut.

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