DC Share Revival: Psychedelic Jukebox: [1967] Stoics

The Stoics originated in San Antonio, Texas, a city that during the mid-1960s had a lively, though fragmented, youth music culture. The band’s lineup, pieced together from collector interviews and scattered liner notes, comprised Bill Ash on lead guitar, Al Acosta on lead vocals, Roy Quillan handling rhythm guitar, Mike Marechal on bass, and Sam Allen behind the drums. Though the group's exact formation year is unknown, evidence from San Antonio music archives and concert flyers suggests they were active between late 1965 and mid-1967. Bill Ash is perhaps the most traceable member, later joining The Children, a San Antonio psych-rock band known for their 1968 album “Rebirth” on Scepter Records.

The A-side track, “Enough Of What I Need,” is paired with the B-side “Hate,”. These tracks were recorded in early 1967 in an unnamed local studio, likely a modest facility in San Antonio. The session appears to have been recorded live to tape on four-track equipment, a detail corroborated by the raw, unpolished sound quality and occasional tape hiss evident on the 2023 Okto-Bone Rekkids reissue (catalog OB-16). This reissue, the first official and authorized since the original pressing, sourced the original master tapes, preserved in private hands by a collector identified only as “J.T.” in liner notes. The remastering was overseen by engineer Luis Hernandez, who described the original tapes as “remarkably intact, with a vibrant midrange and punchy drums that retained their 1967 authenticity.”

“Enough Of What I Need” showcases a brooding minor-key progression that aligns with the darker currents of mid-60s garage rock. The song opens with a descending bass riff by Marechal, underpinned by Marechal’s use of a Fender Precision Bass, a favored model among Texas players at the time. This bass line, combined with Ash’s distorted guitar—reportedly played on a 1964 Gibson SG—sets an ominous tone that is interrupted intermittently by Acosta’s plaintive vocal delivery. Acosta’s voice has been described by Texas music historian Clara Estrella as “a tortured lament that balances adolescent desperation with a nascent punk attitude, hinting at the angst that would later fuel 1970s punk.” The lyrical refrain, partially reconstructed from collector recordings, runs: “You got to, gotta love me babe... give me enough of what I need,” encapsulating themes of dependency and emotional turmoil rather than the more common love-and-fun tropes of contemporaneous garage songs.

The B-side, “Hate,” carries a heavier, more aggressive feel. Its opening drum pattern—a syncopated floor tom rhythm performed by Allen—provides a militaristic backbone over which Quillan’s rhythm guitar churns. The songwriting credits list J. Cutrer for “Hate,” a name otherwise lost to history, though speculation among Texas music collectors suggests Cutrer may have been a local songwriter or roadie who contributed compositions to area bands. The lyrics of “Hate” are even more elusive; however, one line widely quoted from a surviving demo tape fragment reads: “Hate is the fire that burns inside, can’t cool it down or run and hide,” which amplifies the raw emotional edge of the recording. The track ends abruptly, consistent with a live-tape take that likely eschewed post-production overdubs.

The Stoics’ existence is barely documented beyond this single. No Billboard or Cash Box listings mention the band, and archival searches of regional newspapers like the San Antonio Express-News from 1966-68 yield no concert reviews or ads for the group. Their presence on regional radio was minimal, though oral histories from collectors suggest that KTSA Radio played “Enough Of What I Need” briefly before allegedly banning it. This purported ban was possibly due to the song’s emotionally intense vocal style or the ambiguous, possibly suggestive lyrics, though no station logs or memos confirm this.

The band reportedly performed at local teen clubs such as The Hideaway and The Panther Room, which were San Antonio hotspots for emerging garage acts. An intriguing note comes from an interview with Carlos Mendoza, a local DJ active in the 1960s, who recalled the Stoics “had a street-level following in the West Side barrio and were closely tied with the Capinch gang, which ironically gave them protection and an audience but also limited their appeal beyond that community.” This intersection of gang culture and music scenes was a hallmark of San Antonio’s fractured social scenery during the period, providing a rare ethnographic dimension to the band’s ephemeral career.

The Stoics’ sole 45 is now one of the most coveted Texas garage collectibles. Prices for an original pressing have reportedly reached as high as $1,200 in mint condition at specialist auctions and private sales. Their inclusion on compilations such as Acid Visions Vol. 3 (released 2009 by Radioactive Records) and Texas Psych: Volume 1 (2021, Sundazed Music) helped introduce them to a wider audience, yet their mystique remains intact due to the absence of further material.

The reissue of “Enough Of What I Need” in 2023 by Okto-Bone Rekkids was accompanied by an extensive liner essay by garage historian Alaric Stone. Stone describes the band as “a sonic snapshot of a group caught between adolescent yearning and the wild, unpredictable cultural forces of 1960s Texas.” He notes that the track’s “distorted guitars and clipped vocal phrasing anticipate the punk explosion a decade later, situating the Stoics as proto-punk prophets hidden in plain sight.”

Friday, August 1, 2025

Psychedelic Jukebox: [1967] Stoics - Enough Of What I Need

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