The I Band

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Shrouded in mystery, lost in history.

The legend of a trio of gifted songwriters, but players of questionable talent, has been around the music world since the 60's.

"The I Band" - An Artist's Rendering

Dubbed "The I Band" by Lionel Twanes, a modern day researcher in 2005, in reality the legend gives us no clue to what they actually did call themselves during their brief tenure in the music scene from 1959 to 1966.

What the legend does say, however, is that they ghostwrote a large portion of the hit songs released from 1962 to 1966.

Could the legend be true?

There was an abrupt shift of musical style in popular (or young people's) music in the early 1960's. The use of the reliable "C, Am, F, G" progression and simple themes began to fade as new, more complex music came on the scene. Songs by The Beatles, Dave Clark Five, Bob Dylan, and others began to show up on the charts. Soon, even established acts, began to release songs in this new musical style.

Were these actually written by this legendary trio? Did they actually change the face of popular music?

Or is it just ... a myth.

The Early Years

Early on the morning of December 8th, 1941, three babies were found on the doorstep of Our Lady of Perpetual Motion Orphanage in Staten Island, NY. Each one had a note pinned to their blankets with their name, heritage and religion written on it, as was the custom of the time.

They were probably left by the wives of overzealous young men who ran off to war (WWII) in the wake of Pearl Harbor. The wives most likely wanted to present their husbands with new babies after they returned from the war and were afraid that these babies would not be suitable for the conquering heroes' return. Not knowing how long the war would last, the wives were afraid that the babies would have acquired that "old child" smell by the time their husbands returned.

Anyway, the notes read: "Alevio (call him Lev) Friedland, German, Jewish", "Harlan Willoughby, English, Jehovah's Witness", and "Nestor Gleason, Puerto Rican/Irish, Roman Catholic".

Their early years are shrouded in mystery - and probably too boring to recount here. Nevertheless, by the time they were teens, they were back at the orphanage, eating gruel and sleeping on the floor covered by threadbare blankets - or so we can assume based on what we know of orphanages in the late 1950's. They were most likely beaten by the Nuns in order to reinforce the religious instruction. Hi-ho. Hi-ho.

The Teen Years

Information regarding their teen years has been gleaned from old police reports and the diary of one of the older nuns at the orphanage, Sister Mary Incontina.

Sister Mary Incontina - Circa 1956

The research was difficult because the police records were salvaged from a fire in 1972 and stored in a damp basement, and there were unidentified brown stains on the pages of the diary.

The police reports that were legible detail the usual teenage pranks of the day - public urination, gambling, lewd behavior in a school district, killing small animals, kidnapping and arson.

The diary, however paints a different picture.

From the diary - Lev, Harlan and Nestor, circa 1957

At Calumet College - The Musical Awakening

On June 29, 1958, an incident occurred in Birmingham, Alabama.

On that evening’s news, there was a report that a bomb was discovered in the Bethel Baptist Church during an evening service. Fortunately, it was removed to a nearby open field and safely exploded killing only a few cows, destroying one cornfield and vaporizing old Beauregard McDonald, an itinerant laborer who was hunting snipe in the moonlight.

The pastor, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, was a Civil Rights activist and this bombing attempt was obviously the work of the local KKK or, possibly, an experiment gone wrong by the local high school chemistry club, who met in the church basement on alternate Tuesdays.

This event deeply affected Lev, Harlan and Nestor, who were incoming freshmen at Calumet College in St. Joseph, Indiana - a Roman Catholic school of little note.

Calumet College, St. Joseph, IN - circa 2013

On the advice of Sister Mary Incontina, they had arrived on campus two months early to assure that they could find their way to their dorm, and because of the warrant out for them in Staten Island.

They understood the need for equality because of their own situation – a Jew, a Jehovah’s Witness and a Puerto Rican/Irish Catholic. From personal experience, they knew the value of mixing cultures – deli sandwiches, fear of transfusions, alcohol, eight days of presents, long walks, alcohol, borsht, meeting new people, alcohol … and their love of Pasteles.

They resolved to leave behind the safe, childhood pursuits of education, God and alcohol, and take up the battle for civil rights.

So … they decided to create a folk trio to sing protest songs.

The Band - Starting Out

They figured that the first thing they had to do (even before learning to play instruments or seeing if anyone could sing) was to pick a name.

At that time, group names were very important. There were acts named The Elegants, The Crickets, The Monotones and The Drifters, to name a few. Even in the folk music world, with The Weavers and The Kingston Trio, names were important.

They tried names like The Calumet Trio, The Knitters and Three Angry Guys before settling on The Heebie Geebies (sometimes spelled Heebie Jeebies). Note the similarity to The Bee Gees, who were formed around this time.

Coincidence? Perhaps not.

Anyway ... For six months they tried to get booked at local venues with no success. They were clueless as to the reason until one night as they were returning from a long walk with several bottles of Boone's Farm Apple Wine, they were grabbed, their heads covered with black hoods and they were thrown into a van. When they arrived at their destination, and the hoods were removed, they found themselves in a clearing, deep in the woods. Then suddenly, out of the darkness, came a dozen figures in pointed, white hoods and robes with a strange symbol ... a white German Cross within a red circle ... over their left breast.

File Photo, circa 1958

The leader spoke to them. "Listen here, boys. We don't like no Jew stuff around here. Saint Joseph, Indiana is a white, Christian community. You boys better stop this foolishness ... or else."

As quickly as they arrived, their heads were again covered with black hoods, they were shoved into a van, and before they knew it they were dumped out of the van at the exact spot where they were abducted.

Nestor, always the optimist, looked around and exclaimed, "Oh My God! The wine is still here! Are we lucky or what?" He quickly got the bag and hugged it to his chest (getting a little wet because two of the bottles had broken).

Harlan came to life, "Guys! Do you know what this means!! We have FANS!!!!" He began to dance around.

Lev looked up at them and said, "Hey, you goyish schmendricks. Can we get serious for a moment. Something just happened to us. Something PROFOUND. You know what's going on here?"

Nestor stood quietly as the wine started to wet his pants and Harlan stopped dancing.

Lev looked them both in the eyes, "It's clear to me. It should be clear to you. Our name is TERRIBLE. We have to change it if we are ever to get gigs and spread our message of Brotherhood, Equality and Freedom! Those folks did us a real favor."

Based on their experience, they went into seclusion in their dorm room. Weeks later, they emerged. They finally came up with a new name. And that name was ... Well, we don't really know what that name was, and so we use the name given to them by Twanes, et al - The I Band.

On to Minnesota

In August of 1959, right before the start of their sophomore year, the boys made a momentous decision that set them on the path that led to their becoming the legend that they became.

They had only gotten three gigs since January - performing as a clown trio at a child's birthday party, hiding the eggs for the Easter celebration at the Saint Joseph's Home for the Aged & Infirm, and setting up the chairs for a Pete Seeger concert at the college. It wasn't their dream, but it was show business.

After three weeks of discussion, they decided to go to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

File Photo, circa 1958