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Mouse and the Traps
Mouse and the Traps was the name of an American garage rock band from Tyler, Texas, United States, that released numerous singles between 1965 and 1969, two of which, "A Public Execution" and "Sometimes You Just Can't Win", became large regional hits. The leader of the band, nicknamed "Mouse", was Ronny Weiss. Two of their best known songs, "A Public Execution" and a cover of "Psychotic Reaction", are not actually credited to this band but, respectively, to simply Mouse and Positively 13 O'Clock instead. Their history also included one single that was released under the pseudonym Chris St. John. The band are not to be confused with the girl group Mousie and The Traps who recorded for Toddlin' Town records around the same time.
Ronny (Mouse) Weiss (né Ronald Lon Weiss; born 1942) and Dave Stanley (né Samuel David Stanley; born 1946) were members of a local band named Jerry Vee and the Catalinas (or simply the Catalinas) in 1964. Weiss had also performed on a regional hit single "Lucky Lips" by Steve Wright and The Catalinas that was later released nationally by Dot Records.
In this time period, they met Bugs Henderson (or Buggs Henderson), lead guitarist for a local instrumental band, the Sensors. Weiss and Knox Henderson – no relation to Buddy (Bugs) Henderson - co-wrote "A Public Execution" and brought the song to Robin Hood Brians, who manages Robin Hood Studios that is still in operation in Tyler, Texas today. This song – which strongly resembles Bob Dylan's music in the mid-1960s – was released as the band's first single in 1966 under the name Mouse. Jerry Howell (who was also in Jerry Vee and the Catalinas) and Ken (Nardo) Murray joined the group shortly thereafter, and most of their remaining music was released under the name Mouse and the Traps. Besides Brians, other musicians that have played in various incarnations of the band over the years include Bobby Delk, Don (Levi) Garrett and Tim Gillespie.
After releasing several singles on the Fraternity Records label, Mouse and the Traps also recorded two singles for Bell Records that were produced by Dale Hawkins. The band also performed on two of Hawkins' singles and contributed toward his 1966 album on the label, L.A., Memphis and Tyler, Texas. The band broke up in 1969, but all members remained in music except Jerry Howell (who became a Baptist minister).
By 1966, the members of Mouse and the Traps – along with Robin Hood Brians and Doug Rhone – were working with singer Jimmy Rabbitt, who was attempting to launch a band under the name, Positively 13 O'Clock. Continuing their Dylan connection, the name is an obvious play on Dylan's hit in the same time period, "Positively 4th Street". A Los Angeles studio session at Hanna-Barbera Records in September 1966 resulted in their only recorded single, that included a frantic version of Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction". However, a planned album for the band never materialized.
The first single by Mouse, "A Public Execution," has been described as more Dylanesque than any of their later music and reached No. 121 on Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart. The single was released on REO Records in Canada as well and became a regional hit in Ottawa, where many local bands frequently covered the song. In the original liner notes of the Nuggets compilation album, Lenny Kaye states of this song: "There are some who say that Mouse does Dylan's Highway 61 period better than the Master himself". Another reviewer remarked: "['A Public Execution'] is to Dylan what the Knickerbockers' 'Lies' is to the Beatles: one of the few rip-offs so utterly accurate that it could easily fool listeners into mistaking it for the original article".
Their second, punkier single was "Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice",. Although the song did not repeat their earlier chart success, it appears on more compilation albums than the better-known "A Public Execution".[citation needed] The next single was a novelty song that went in a completely different direction. Titled "Would You Believe", it was a take-off on the running gag of that name by Don Adams on the television sitcom Get Smart. A promo exists that shows the artist of this third single as only Mouse. However, a more subdued, later single "Sometimes You Just Can't Win" spent one week at No. 125 and was a regional hit in Tyler, Texas, Nashville, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky.
AllMusic describes Mouse and the Traps as "a fine band who was probably too chameleon-like to find their niche in the national market".
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Mouse and the Traps
Mouse and the Traps was the name of an American garage rock band from Tyler, Texas, United States, that released numerous singles between 1965 and 1969, two of which, "A Public Execution" and "Sometimes You Just Can't Win", became large regional hits. The leader of the band, nicknamed "Mouse", was Ronny Weiss. Two of their best known songs, "A Public Execution" and a cover of "Psychotic Reaction", are not actually credited to this band but, respectively, to simply Mouse and Positively 13 O'Clock instead. Their history also included one single that was released under the pseudonym Chris St. John. The band are not to be confused with the girl group Mousie and The Traps who recorded for Toddlin' Town records around the same time.
Ronny (Mouse) Weiss (né Ronald Lon Weiss; born 1942) and Dave Stanley (né Samuel David Stanley; born 1946) were members of a local band named Jerry Vee and the Catalinas (or simply the Catalinas) in 1964. Weiss had also performed on a regional hit single "Lucky Lips" by Steve Wright and The Catalinas that was later released nationally by Dot Records.
In this time period, they met Bugs Henderson (or Buggs Henderson), lead guitarist for a local instrumental band, the Sensors. Weiss and Knox Henderson – no relation to Buddy (Bugs) Henderson - co-wrote "A Public Execution" and brought the song to Robin Hood Brians, who manages Robin Hood Studios that is still in operation in Tyler, Texas today. This song – which strongly resembles Bob Dylan's music in the mid-1960s – was released as the band's first single in 1966 under the name Mouse. Jerry Howell (who was also in Jerry Vee and the Catalinas) and Ken (Nardo) Murray joined the group shortly thereafter, and most of their remaining music was released under the name Mouse and the Traps. Besides Brians, other musicians that have played in various incarnations of the band over the years include Bobby Delk, Don (Levi) Garrett and Tim Gillespie.
After releasing several singles on the Fraternity Records label, Mouse and the Traps also recorded two singles for Bell Records that were produced by Dale Hawkins. The band also performed on two of Hawkins' singles and contributed toward his 1966 album on the label, L.A., Memphis and Tyler, Texas. The band broke up in 1969, but all members remained in music except Jerry Howell (who became a Baptist minister).
By 1966, the members of Mouse and the Traps – along with Robin Hood Brians and Doug Rhone – were working with singer Jimmy Rabbitt, who was attempting to launch a band under the name, Positively 13 O'Clock. Continuing their Dylan connection, the name is an obvious play on Dylan's hit in the same time period, "Positively 4th Street". A Los Angeles studio session at Hanna-Barbera Records in September 1966 resulted in their only recorded single, that included a frantic version of Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction". However, a planned album for the band never materialized.
The first single by Mouse, "A Public Execution," has been described as more Dylanesque than any of their later music and reached No. 121 on Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart. The single was released on REO Records in Canada as well and became a regional hit in Ottawa, where many local bands frequently covered the song. In the original liner notes of the Nuggets compilation album, Lenny Kaye states of this song: "There are some who say that Mouse does Dylan's Highway 61 period better than the Master himself". Another reviewer remarked: "['A Public Execution'] is to Dylan what the Knickerbockers' 'Lies' is to the Beatles: one of the few rip-offs so utterly accurate that it could easily fool listeners into mistaking it for the original article".
Their second, punkier single was "Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice",. Although the song did not repeat their earlier chart success, it appears on more compilation albums than the better-known "A Public Execution".[citation needed] The next single was a novelty song that went in a completely different direction. Titled "Would You Believe", it was a take-off on the running gag of that name by Don Adams on the television sitcom Get Smart. A promo exists that shows the artist of this third single as only Mouse. However, a more subdued, later single "Sometimes You Just Can't Win" spent one week at No. 125 and was a regional hit in Tyler, Texas, Nashville, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky.
AllMusic describes Mouse and the Traps as "a fine band who was probably too chameleon-like to find their niche in the national market".