Watch Band

Watch Band

Mark Loomis acted as somewhat of a leader during this time, although the band never really had a definite leader. Sean Tolby obtained the latest in Vox equipment while Mark Loomis provided the space for daily rehearsals. The band performed at various places in the teen-circuit in San Francisco's South Bay, playing a range of blues cover songs and even more obscure import tunes cranked up to a level even the original writers never imagined. Very different from the jam bands they were playing with (Grateful Dead), led by Dave Aguilar, the Watchband had a knack of instantly splicing different songs seamlessly on stage in real time. One night at the Coconut Grove in Santa Cruz, "Season of the Witch" turned into the full 8-minute version of "Going Home". Other bands in the Bay Area covered popular Stones songs but nobody had the gravitas to pull off "Going Home".

The Chocolate Watchband's success and popularity was beginning to pick up at the same time as an interest in signing the band began. The band were offered a management deal by Bill Graham after a show in which they opened for The Mindbenders at the Fillmore in San Francisco. However, having signed with their new manager Ron Roupe a week earlier, the band eventually secured a deal with Green Grass Productions and began working with producers Ray Harris and Ed Cobb. Cobb gave the band a song he had written called "Sweet Young Thing", which was recorded and released in December 1966 on Tower Records, which featured the group's cover of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" as the B-side.

Watch Band

 Watch Band

 Watch Band

 Watch Band

 Watch Band

 Watch Band

 Watch Band

 Watch Band

 Watch Band