Beau Brummels: Stellar Studio Band

ONCE THE all-engulfing wave that was the British Invasion of 1964 had begun to subside, it began to be possible for some home-grown talent to break through to national exposure. Among the first groups to attempt an American resurgence were native San Franciscans who nonetheless struck some people as just another band coasting in on fashionable red coatails. Appearing on The Lloyd Thaxton Show in the winter of '64-'65, The Beau Brummels came across as five elegant fops miming a record that droned on like the best of The Searchers. 'Laugh Laugh', of course, went on to become a certified smash, and the artists responsible proved to have talent enough to carry them through the last dregs of the decade.