The American Breed Pop Band
The American Breed: Chapter 1 (Written By Music Historian Kenneth Voss)
Before the American Breed four musicians from Chicago’s west side and near west suburbs united in the early 60s to form Gary and the Knight Lites — the initial lineup being Gary Loizzo (guitar/vocals), Chuck Colbert Jr. (bass guitar/vocals), Al Ciner (guitar/vocals) and Jim Michalak (drums). Lee Graziano later replaced Michalak on drums.
The beginnings to back to 1963 during Loizzo’s high school days attending Lindbloom High School, and the first band he was part of called Phil DeMarco and The Valiants. Just teenagers, this was Loizzo’s first experience in a recording studio as the group released two singles — “Come On Let’s Go” https://youtu.be/u9JU-6FOJ4U b/w “Lonely Hours” https://youtu.be/xxjCNNL0rwU (Corland C-114) and “Lonely Guy” https://app.box.com/s/26dfvo46hb b/w “Be On Your Way” https://youtu.be/Gm3gfPJM90E (Debby D-065).
After a brief stint with The Valiants, Loizzo wanted to start his own band, and with his parents’ permission turned their basement into a rehearsal studio.
Guitarist Al Ciner started performing when he was just 15 as part of the Fabulous Centuries, who were worked regularly at the famed Holiday Ballroom in Chicago thanks to legendary promoter/manager Carl Bonafede. They enjoyed regular work there alongside the likes of The Buckinghams, P.C. Limited, etal. Ciner was an addition to the Knight Lites with strong vocal presence along with his lead guitar ability.
Growing up in Chicago’s industrial southwest suburbs, after high school Chuck Colbert started up a vocal doo-wop group with his cousin Charles Davis (who would later go on to success with the Dukays) in 1958 called the Trinidads. The group released one single “One Lonely Night” https://youtu.be/e3G42Zxa5fM b/w “When We’re Together” https://youtu.be/iSxvHkYKHBs (Formal FR-1006). After a three-year tenure, Colbert joined the Daylighters, a Chicago group that had a history backing Betty Everett. The Daylighters released a number of singles on the Tip Top label (owned by Colbert’s father) and enjoyed a minor hit with “Cool Breeze” https://youtu.be/iNGgcoVLWXo (Tip Top 2002) in 1962. Incidentally, one of the key members of the Daylighters was Gerald Sims, who went on to become a pivotal figure in Chicago soul history teaming with Producer Carl Davis working with the likes of Gene Chandler and Mary Wells; and taking over ownership of the Chess Records studios in the early ‘80s.
Colbert’s father owned a number of record labels (Nike, Tip Top, Jive, Mellow, Chapel and Cool), and was approached by Loizzo’s father who was searching for a record deal for his son. While Chuck Colbert was primarily known as a vocalist, he was also a bass player. Chuck Colbert Sr. suggested the idea that the Knight Lites needed a bass player and to have his son becoming part of the group. And while Colbert remained with the Daylighters through 1964, including taking top billing as Chuck and the Daylighters on the single “Whisper of the Wind” b/w “I Can’t Stop Crying” (Tip Top 2008), at the same time he began moonlighting with Gary and the Knight Lites.
Filling out the original lineup was drummer Jim Michalak. Soon, the group came to realize Michalak’s heart was not into making the commitment as a full-time musician. With gigs booked, one particular week Michalak had taken off to Las Vegas and they needed someone to fill in for the weekend. They called Lee Graziano, a graduate of the Bishop Quarter Military Academy in Chicago, who had been gigging with local show bands The Fabulous Royals and then with Jimmy Beck and The Young Stars. Drumming was a part-time gig for Graziano who had recently become engaged and holding down a full-time job. The double duty almost spelled the end of his musical career. “We were playing all these lounges ’til three in the morning. It was insanity,” Graziano remembers. “I had a full-time job and getting up at six in the morning. And I couldn’t handle it. I finally told Jimmy I just couldn’t do it anymore.” But not one week later, Graziano gets a call from Lou Loizzo, the father of Gary Loizzo who was managing Gary and the Knight Lites. “They asked me if I could fill in for a weekend, and I thought it would be fun.” One weekend became two, and then three. Michalak finally returned and expected to step right back in. As the group balked, he threatened to quit. And they let him, offering Graziano the job.
Their first record was issued on a small independent Kedlen label in April of 1963 with “Take Me Back” https://youtu.be/C5vJySkMt7g b/w “If I’m Lonely Tomorrow” https://youtu.be/4GjpqmUtwRg (Kedlen 2002). The end of that year saw them released their second single, this time on Colbert’s Nike label with “I’m Glad She’s Mine” https://youtu.be/ZU0VC39szeU b/w “How Can I Forget Her” (Nike 1020) in 1963. The beginning of summer of 1964 saw Gary and the Knight Lites move to another label, this one owned by famed jazz trumpeter Louis Prima, with “I Can’t Love You Anymore” https://youtu.be/GT3GSAmzOOE b/w “Will You Go Steady” https://youtu.be/X5Hep-H5iU4 (Prima P-1016), with promises of more national distribution. But when the Prima label failed to secure a distribution deal, leaving Gary and the Knight Lites once again looking for a new label.
As it turned out, Graziano had an old school classmate Bob Monaco, who was his platoon sergeant when he attended the military academy. Monaco had become involved with Jim Golden, who ran the record distribution company Allstate Distributors, the two starting up the U.S.A. record label. In March of 1966 their next release “I Don’t Need Your Help” https://youtu.be/EVdh8OYTVXA b/w “Big Bad Wolf” https://youtu.be/cRP5WAr11cY (USA 833) gave them the local support and distribution they needed to achieve more notoriety. As a small label, it was enjoying hit success with a group called the Buckinghams, leaving Gary and the Knight Lites, along with any number of other local rock artists on the label, without any support. Colbert’s dad was next able to secure a deal with Bell Records for their next release “So Far Away From Home” https://youtu.be/wwx6dHGWrkc b/w “Lonely Soldier’s Pledge” (Bell 643).
In Chicago, doing jingle sessions as the Knight Lites, they connected with producer Bill Traut who at the time was hawking music for Seeburg, the jukebox and background music company and looking to start up their own record company. Traut was scouting for new talent as he was in the process of starting up a new record label. Attending a Teen Fair at McCormick Place he first heard Gary and the Night Lites. “I thank Jimi Sohns from the Shadows of Knight for getting us on that bill,” recalls Ciner. Meeting the band at the event’s Pepsi booth, they connected on working together.
As the Knight Lites, Traut used his studio time at Universal Studios, with those 1965 sessions being released on the Seeburg label intended for jukebox use only as “Take Me Back” https://youtu.be/pQnjPmv1FYA b/w “Sweet Little Sixteen” (Seeburg 3016) and “Bony Maronie” b/w “Glad You’re Mine” (Seeburg 3017).
And once Traut got his new Dunwich label up and running, he released one single in 1967 crediting the band as the Light Nites with “One, Two, Boogaloo” b/w “Same Old Thing” (Dunwich DN-149).
As Gary and the Knight Lites they released five singles. But when they signed a record deal with Acta/Dot Records in January of 1967, “They told us Gary and the Knight Lites sounded a little dated,” Loizzo said in a story in the Chicago Tribune. “So we put a bunch of names in a hat and pulled out American Breed.” Graziano spins the story of the name slightly different. “There was a suggestion of The New Breed, with the label feeling their needed to be an American feel to the band — and we became the American Breed.”
