The Paragons – Abba
No, not that Abba. You’re not going to find your great aunties and uncles grooving along to this at a wedding anytime soon. The Paragons formed in North Carolina around 1965 or so under the name of The Barons, a group of barely-teens heavily into The Rolling Stones, Yarbirds, Hollies, and Left Banke “just trying to sound like everything that we liked,” says singer/guitarist Pat Walters.
The Paragons gigged mainly around the North Carolina area, playing a set of covers at schools, teen clubs and local YMCAs. Their one original tune, Abba, was recorded at a Charlotte, NC studio owned by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith, (whose name might be recognized by eagle-eyed end-credits scrutinizers as the author of Duelin’ Banjos from the film Deliverence. His studio is also notable as the place where James Brown lay down Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag.)
Although the band themselves never played further afield from their Charlotte hometown than Myrtle Beach, Abba quickly became a favourite on the regional airwaves and on local jukeboxes, and today is one of those impossible-to-find G45 rarities – original 45s of this sunny little slice of 1967 garage rock go for silly money (a “VG” copy fetched nearly $900 in one auction pretty recently). Those of us not obsessed with owning originals can pick it up on vinyl on the Teenage Shutdown series, and The Fuzztones do a pretty mean version.
MP3: The Paragons – Abba
Photo and additional info courtesy of 60sgaragebands.com