RFI: The Bones/Faragher Brothers

Are they related in any way to Davey Faragher, who replaced Bruce Thomas as Elvis Costello's bassist?

He was in the band:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davey_Faragher

Bump one time. Anyone? George?

Bones charted a regional hit in 1972 with a remake of Huey Smith's "Roberta." All they needed was a harmonica player and they could have out-Geilsed the J. Geils Band! Uptempo bar-band boogie with a piano solo that just flies off the vinyl. I also dig the B-side, "The Bust Song," where the narrator tells how he bailed his girlfriend out of jail ("So I sold my stock, put/Myself in hock/It wasn't too much time/As you can imagine/This whole thing was/Blowwwing my miiii-iiiind...").

Now what I want to know is...what was the deal with the Peppermint Trolley Company doing the theme song to THE BRADY BUNCH during their first season? (Watch the closing credits to any of the early episodes where the Bradys are NOT singing their own theme song...the PTC's name is listed.) Was that the same guys, or some anonymous studio singers assuming the name? For the longest time, I assumed the PTC was some whitebread flower-pop group, 'cause this theme naturally sounds closer to the Peppermint RAINBOW than the lost psych band they're supposed to be. (And then they turn up three years later under a different name and record a screaming rocker like "Roberta"?!?)

The Peppermint Trolley Company album is definitely sort of light flower psych. No idea if they had any issues with record company or producer wanting to use outside musicians (no reason to assume so, really - band members are credited with writing eight of the eleven songs on the album), but it's the same four piece band who became the Bones. Sounds like the same lead singer on the Brady Bunch theme. Here's a video clip for one of their singles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUV508WEJgI&search=peppermint%20trolley

That song pretty much sounds like what I'd expect from the band that did the original BRADY BUNCH theme. This is my first time hearing one of their other songs, and it's closer to sunshine-pop like the Cowsills or the Free Design.

DAMN, did they change!

The difference between the Peppermint Trolley Company and Bones is like the diff between a vanilla malted and a shot of MD 20/20! The real story is what forced the change of image, 'cause they do NOT sound like the same band...not even when you consider the three- or four-year gap in between.

The general musicality is at a pretty high level on that Peppermint Trolley Company album, so perhaps no wonder that not only would they be inspired to do something totally different but that they could really pull it off as well.