Dave and the Essex Part 1

Dave & the Essex at Millis H.S. February 1,1969
In the late 1960’s there was a band of youngsters from Framingham known as Dave & the Essex. Fronted by 16 year old and ultra talented Dave Amato on lead vocals and guitar the band played all over metro west at high school dances, restaurants and private parties. They won several local battles of the bands with inspired renditions of James Brown’s I Feel Good and The Beatles Hey Jude. Other members included Mark Mariani on guitar and vocals, Peter Guardiani on Bass, Tom Dowd on the Farfisa Deluxe organ and me Tom Brodeur on drums.
By the time of this recording at Millis HS on February 1, 1969 our manager and Mark’s dad Alex Mariani had saved enough gig money to buy an old Wonder bread delivery truck which was painted white and had the band logo emblazoned on it so we could lug our gear to gigs. I remember he drove us to Howdy’s after this gig where we each ordered five cheeeburgers for 15 cents each with fries and cokes.
I found this old 8-track tape and had it converted to digital. I was thrilled to hear it after 53 years and thought you all might enjoy this brief trip into our musical yesteryear.
These songs from our last set of the Valentines dance include:
Rascals - Ain’t Gonna Eat Out my Heart Anymore
The Beatles - And I Love Her
Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin’ On
Gear included Daves white hollow body Gretsch with a Super Beatle amp, Mark with a Guild guitar and what looks like a Silvertone 6x-10’s amp, Pete with the Gibson SG Bass and Fender Bassman, Tom Dowd with the Farfisa Deluxe dual keyboard and Leslie and me on a red sparkle Ludwig Hollywood drum kit.
The gig was recorded by Pete’s brother Eddie Guardiani on an old reel to reel tape deck of unknown origin.
Our PA was a Shure Vocal Master head and four Shure columns with SM-56 mics.
The audience response leaves much to be desired! But the band sounds tight, vocals and harmonies are great and rhythm section appears to be firing on all cylinders.
Enjoy a little blast from the past.