Continental Drifters
Drifted: In The Beginning & Beyond - Liner Notes

-Scott Schinder
May 2015

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Carlo Nuccio: In 1991, I was living in L.A., playing with a lot of different people as a hired gun, and writing songs and not doing anything with them. My buddy Ray Ganucheau, who I'd played a lot with in New Orleans, had just moved to L.A. to work for Microsoft.

Ray Ganucheau: I'd been living in Dallas, and I ran into Carlo when he came through with the Circle Jerks. I told him that I was thinking of moving to L.A., and if I made it out that way, did he want to play some music together?

Mark Walton: I first met Carlo when he was The Dream Syndicate's drum tech, and after that I played with him in a bunch of bands in L.A. He was a great drummer, but then I heard him sing, and he was really good. Carlo told me that he had a friend who'd moved to town who was a great guitar player. And then Gary Eaton was playing a gig, and his band couldn't make it. So, he asked Carlo to fill in, and I happened to be in the room, so Carlo suggested me. We really enjoyed playing with Gary, and he had some cool songs, so we brought him into our thing.

Gary Eaton: l became buds with Carlo after we played together in a cowpunk band called The Devil Squares. Carlo told me that he was putting something together with Mark and Ray, and he invited me over to Ray's house to jam with them.

Carlo Nuccio: Not a lot of thought went into it at first, but we realized pretty quickly that this was a good deal. It was a weird time for music in L.A. Singing and songwriting had gone out of fashion and I think that we were all feeling a longing, for real songs and real singing.

Mark Walton: We didn't start with the intention of it being a serious band. To me, it was just a fun way to play music with people that I liked and who had similar ideas about music. We just started playing, and the sound evolved out of that. After playing with The Dream Syndicate and Giant Sand and being involved with the whole alternative world, it was nice to play with musicians who had a different take on music.

Carlo Nuccio: A lot of it was centered around food and drink. Mark and I had a place up on Buena Park Drive, which Susan and Vicki later dubbed the "batch pad," and we'd get together there or at Ray's place. I don't think we ever did any electric rehearsals; it was just the four of us sitting on the couch with acoustic guitars, running the songs dowry and working on vocals and stuff. Every guy had already accumulated a bunch of good songs, but they were never as good as the ones that were conceived when we were playing guitars on the couch.

Gary Eaton: The chemistry was always there, and there was never a 1ot of explaining necessary In my other bands, it could be a struggle to get


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people to learn new song,. But with the Drifters, I'd show them the chords, we’d count it in, and bam, the song would be there. The arrangements would write themselves. I’d never experienced anything like that before, and it was revelatory. And it had always been a challenge teaching people harmonies. but with the Drifters you’d go into d rehearsal. and Ray and Carlo would just knock out the harmonies effortlessly.

Ray Ganucheau: Carlo and I had alwaus liked the name Continental Drifters, which had been the name of a New Orleans band that Carlo had been in with Tommy Malone, John Magnie, and Johnny Ray Allen before they formed The Subdudes. Carto called John Magnie from my house lo ask if he could use the name and Magnie said, "Sure.” I think he sent us one of their old banners that they used at their gig.

Mark Walton: We had been sitting around at home playing casually and thinking, “Wow, This sounds great; we should do a gig.” So, we booked a one-off show at Club Lingerie, and that went really well. By then, we had added Danny McGough on keyboards. We Iiked Danny a lot; he had a band called 7 Deadly 5. which opened for us several times at Raji’s, and Carlo knew him, because he’d been playing keyboards with Peter Holsapple’s solo band.

Carlo Nuccio: I was the house engineer at Raji’s and I had played there every Tuesday night with the Billy Bremner band until Billy dropped out. We took Tuesday nights,a nd Raji’s became the Drifters’ base.

Mark Walton: We played even single Tuesday night of 19912 at Raji’s, except for one night when I couldn't rally enough people for a band. We had just recorded our first demo, so instead of playing, I handed a copy of our demo to whoever showed up at the door. Without the Raji’s residency, we wouldn’t have been a band. We’d play four, five hours, pretty much until they turned out the lights. We chose Raji’s, because that situation fit the way we saw ourselves as a band. They let us play whatever we wanted, and they let us keep 100 percent of the door and drink as much beer as we wanted, so we were happy. It was more like our own private party than a regular club gig and you never knew what was gonna happen.

Ray Ganucheau: Developing the songs in that live, spontaneous atmosphere definltely influenced the way the band evolved. The band became a living organism, and took on its own personality. There wasn’t a leader, and no one was in control. It just sort of moved forward spontaneously and evolved on its own terms.

Gary Eaton: There were a few other bands around L.A. at the time who were kind of rootsy, but we loved a lot of different kinds of music. So we could go from sounding like The Band or NRBQ. to sounding Iike a pop band or a punk


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band a minute later I got to a point where I was sloughing off on all of my other projects, because the Drifters was so much more satisfying. Those Raji’s gigs were great, and I felt like a big shot, just because it was so good.

Robert Mache: I had originally met mark at an audition for Steve Wynn’s band. I got that gig despite the fact that I fell asleep at the audition, and I ended up playing with Mark in Steve’s band for two or three years. Mark became my brother, and my roommate on the road. Mark was the best man at two out of three of my weddings, and I was the best man at his wedding. I started sitting in with the Drifters at Raji’s as half of the “Bob and Bob show,” which was me on mandolin and Robert Lloyd on accordion. I think that all of us were aware that something special was happening at Raji’s. It was the sort of thing you’d always want to happen, but which doesn’t happen if you tried to make it happen.

Steve Wynn: I spent many a Tuesday night at Raji's watching the Continental Drifters-just about every week, in fact I'm sure I saw them play live more than any other band. I was drawn in at first because of my old Dream Syndicate bandmate Mark Walton, and because Raji’s was pretty much the coolest club in the coolest location. Every Drifters lineup was great, but that first one was a revelation, because at the time the idea of a band that had not one but three incredible singers and songwriters was a pretty novel thing in our little indie-underground Hollywood scene. I ended up writing and recording with every one of them, except Ray. Ray was the one I knew least well but he had a voice that would stop you dead in your tracks. But the thing was that they were all that good.

Carlo Nuccio: We started backing other people up pretty early on. lt started with our friends, like Steve Wynn, Victoria Williams, and Syd Straw, and eventually we had people like Jackson Browne wanting to do it. It got crazy, but it was really fun, and learning all this material and playing with all these people was a big education for us.

Danny McGough: Peter Holsapple had just gotten done with his R.E.M. gig and would sit in with us more and more on Tuesday nights. l'd set the piano up on one side of the stage and the organ and Leslie on the other, which made for a pretty crowded stage. And Susarn. Cowsill and Vicki Peterson started coming around and singing and were great. They both always sounded like hit records walking.

Peter Holsapple: The dB's had broken up, and I had quit R.E.M. the day they got their Grammy for Out Of Time. Carlo, who I'd known from New Orleans, said that I should come and hear his band – and they were great. Then Carlo said that Ray was gonna be out of town, and asked if I and our friend Dave Catching would sub on guitar that night.


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That was fun, and I came down and set in a bunch more times. Then Carlo told me that Danny was going off to do something else, and would I like to join the band? I wasn’t looking to join another band, but I said that I’d love to try producing them.

Mark Walton: The first thing that we recorded was a three-song demo: "The Mississippi," "Karen A," and "Green." I think we also recorded a version of "New York" during those sessions. Danny was still in the band, and he played on that stuff. Peter produced it and Susan and Vicki sang on "The Mississippi," which became the A-side of our single on the Singles Only Labe;. The B-side, "Johnny Oops," was from a live show in New Orleans. Eventually Peter agreed to join the band. He had been sitting in with us just about every Tuesday and was really enjoying himself. Danny was too, but Peter seemed to have a stronger connection to what we were trying to do.

Danny MeGough: I never really felt like a full-fledged member of the band, more like a guy that sat in with them and was friends with them. I still had 7 Deadly 5 going and was doing sessions and live gigs around town at least three nights a week. Carlo called me up to say they didn’t need two keyboard players anymore, and I was fine with that. It felt like the right thing – until two weeks later when they opened for Bob fu**** Dylan at the Pantages!

Peter Holsapple: I agreed to become a Drifter, but I said that I didn't want to play guitar, and I didn't want to sing. I just wanted to play keyboards and get really good at that. I felt like I'd been such a disaster as leader of the dB's after Chris Stamey left. So I liked the idea of joining a group like the Continental Drifters, which already had great vocal and instrumental prowess and which would allow me to hone my keyboard skills and not have to worry about the other stuff. My job description changed as time passed, but at the time, I was happy to keep a low profile.

Vicki Peterson: I remember running into Mark at Uncle, the rehearsal studio that he and his brother ran, while I was briefly playing with The Cowsills. I hadn't seen him in years, because I'd spent most of the '8os touring with The Bangles. Mark said I had to come to Raji's and see this band, the Continental Drifters. A week or two later, I went with Susan. We were performing as The Psycho Sisters at that point, and we just fell in love with this band. We sat in the back of the club and said, "OK how are we gonna get these guys to be our band?" Soon afterward, we started getting up to sing backups with them and became part of the Drifters auxiliary club.

Susan Cowsill: I think I became aware of the Drifters when my brother Barry brought Peter to a Cowsills show. Then Vic and I went to Raji’s and we both became gigantically smitten.


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Vicki Peterson: I had never seen anything like them. The songwriting was so good and the performances were so incredible. It seemed like every original they sang was a classic old country song or an unknown song by The Band. And I had never seen a band where the cover songs were so well integrated with the originals, and their songwriting was so high-quality that the covers didn't overshadow the originals. Their covers played a huge part in who they were and how they presented themselves.

Peter Holsapple: I think that the impetus for the Drifters to start recording was that we realized that you can only play Raji's for so long and that we had to start doing things so that more people could know about us. For the album, we went into the studio with me producing and Mark McKenna engineering. I was a member of the band by that point but I still didn’t want to be the lead singer on anything, so I had Gary sing my song, "Invisible Boyfriend." I did play some mandolin and guitar on the album, including my terrible attempts at pedal steel on "Mr. Everything.”

Ray Ganucheau: We cut the tracks at a place in Glendale, and then did some more recording and overdubs at a little studio in Santa Monica called Mad Dog; then Peter took it to Bearsville studios and mixed it there. I think it’s a pretty good snapshot of what the band sounded like at the time. It wasn’t as loose and as spontaneous as our gigs were, but the spirit of it is there.

Mark Walton: After Susan and Vicki joined the band, we recorded three more songs – “Who We Are, Where We Live," "The Rain Song,” and a new version of "The Mississippi” - with the seven-piece lineup.

Susan Cowsili: The whole thing escalated pretty quickly. I was dating Peter, Vicki was dating Gary; and I was living half the time up at the batch pad. The way I remember if we were sitting in the foyer at Uncle Studios, and Carlo said, “Well, the girls are obviously in the band." And I remember Vic and I looked at each other and went "Uhhh, did we miss a memo?" But at the same time, I guess we kind of knew it. It was perfect timing. Vicki had just de-Bangled; I had just ended my relationship with Dwight TwilJey; and we were both emotionally ripe for a whole new life to happen.

Vicki Peterson: The band was a refuge for me, as it was for most of the people in it. I was still coming off the dissolution of The Bangles and the death of my fiancee. I wasn't looking to be in mother band, and I wasn’t even sure that I still wanted to be in music. But the Drifters was so effortless and so welcoming and so beautiful that it became a healing force for me. It was a wonderful collection of writers and singers and humans and friends, and it was as much a social and drinking club as it was a band. For my first few years in the Drifters I pretty much sang backup md played auxiliary guitar, and I didn't feel the need to push myself or push my songs. It was amazing to just be able to get on


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stage in a flannel shirt and no makeup. All I had to do was show up, sing and have a good time.

Carlo Nuccio: It was around the time of the riots in L.A. that I decided to go back to New Orleans. I sat down with the band and said, "I can make way more money playing around New Orleans, so I'll be able to fly wherever I have to fly to play with the Drifters." Then Ray said he was ready to move back too.

Ray Ganucheau; I'd been living in L.A. for a while, and had young children, so we were just ready to go back. We thought we could try to keep the band together, even if everyone wasn't in lhe same place. But then Peter and Susan and Mark and Vicki decided to come along.

Mark Walton: Gary didn't want to leave the band, but he couldn't leave his son in Los Angeles. He was divorced and the only one of us who really had ties in L.A., and he couldn't move. It made me sad that Gary got left behind, because he wrote good songs, played great guitar, and sang really well and I really think he shines on the album.

Susan Cowsill: Peter and I moving to New Orleans was a real Grapes Of Wrath moment, because I was pregnant and hoping to get to the orange orchard before I give birth. But New Orleans welcomed the Drifters with open arms, and it was obvious that this was where we were all supposed to be. When we got our residency at The Howlin' Wolf it pretty much became a continuation of wha had been were doing at Raji's. New Orleans affected the evolution of the band and of our individual lives -to a degree that we'd never imagined. We aII became New Orleanians, even after the band ended, and the only thing that tore that up was [Hurricane] Katrina.

Vicki Peterson: I didn't think I would be moving, because I was still reeling from large life changes. But I helped )Peter and Susan pack up their truck, and I drove to New Orleans with them and helped them get settled. Then I fell in love with New Orleans, which began a two year period for me where I commuted from L.A. to New Orleans, and stayed there for months at a time, before I finally moved.

Ray Ganucheau: I continued playing with the band for a little over a year in New Orleans. Then I had some health problems that I couldn't really overcome while remaining in the band, so I had to drop out. I really missed it, but I didn't really have much of a choice.

Robert Mache: When I got the call, I was living in Tucson and having the worst time of my life and thinking "How the f*** do I get out of this?" So I was, "OK, l’ll be right there." I commuted from Tucson for Drifters gigs for about a year and a haIf.

Carlo Nuccio: Back then, I was smoking a lot of dope and snorting as much coke as I could,


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and it got to the point where I was a full-blown junkie. That's what led to the falling out between me and the Continental Drifters.

Robert Mache: No one ever kicked Carlo out. We agonized over it at great length, and we sat him down and told him that he had to choose between the band and getting high, and he didn't choose the band.

Carlo Nuccio: When they did the intervention on me, I was like, "I've taken this band as far as I can take it," which ls the most arrogant, idiotic thing I've ever said. Eventually, I woke up, and now I'm still alive, which is a f***in' miracle. They had gotten somebody to play drums, and Peter asked me to come down and hear them at Carrollton Station, and I said, "You think that guy does what I do?" And Peter goes, "Well, who do we get?" And I said, "Russell Broussard, that's the guy to get."

Vicki Peterson: Fairport Convention was one of many musical worlds that I was introduced to by the Drifters, and there was most definitely a big Fairport/Drifters connection, which was cemented when we had the opportunity to do a few shows with lain Matthews as an honorary Drifter. That, and the beautiful, expansive show that Peter steered at St Ann's Church in New York, when we performed Sandy Denny songs with a variety of guest singers. That was one of the best and worst nights of my musical life; all this incredible music, the Drifters as house band - and I had bronchitis and a 102-degree fever that left me sounding like Maurice Chevalier.

Peter Holsapple: At times, it felt like the band was a huge locomotive, and the velocity could get to insane levels, but you wanted to hang on because it was thrilling. There were nights when I felt like I was in the best band ever, period, end of story. There would be times when we'd get through a song and somebody has just pulled off something miraculous, and you're standing there at the end of the song looking around at everybody and thinking, "How did we just do that?" Those moments just lifted you off the ground, and they happened on a regular basis. It was everything I had ever wanted in a band - musicianship, camaraderie, love, harmony, and alcohol - and I'm grateful for the experience.

Susan Cowsill: The Drifters took me to places that I'd never imagined going, and it was beautiful from beginning to end. Even at the end, when things started to get a little weird on the personal side, we didn't let it affect the music. The gory details are always going to be the gory details, and nobody goes out without some drama. But as a band, I don't think we ever did anything to embarrass ourselves. We had to go to our own corners for a while, but that's life, and that stuff passes. The Continental Drifters was a pretty love-based operation, and in the long run, we’re still each other’s best friends.


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Disc One 1. Who We Are, Where We Live (Early Version)* (Vicki Peterson) 2. Side Steppin'The Fire (Carlo Nuccio) 3. The Mississippi (Carlo Nuccio / Ray Ganucheau) 4. Match Made In Heaven (Gary Eaton) 5. Karen A (Demo)* (Carlo Nuccio) 6. The Rain Song (Early Version)* (Susan Cowsill) 7. Dallas ( Alternate Mix)* (Gary Eaton) 8. Here I Am (Carlo Nuccio) 9. Mr. Everything (Alternate Mix)* (Gary Eaton) 10. No One Cares (Ray Ganucheau) 11. Green (Demo)* (Gary Eaton) 12. I Didn't WantTo Lie (Ray Ganucheau) 13. Invisible Boyfriend (Peter Holsapple) 14. New York (Demo)* (Carlo Nuccio) 15. Let It Ride (Gary Eaton) *Previously Unreleased

Personnel: Susan Cowsill: Vocals. acoustic guitar, percussion (Tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7) Gary Eaton: Vocals, guitar, harmonica (Tracks 1-15) Ray Ganucheau: Vocals, guitar(Tracks 1-15) Peler Holsapple: Vocals, acoustic guitar, slide & 12-string guitar, keyboards, accordian (Tracks 1-4, 6-10, 12-13, 15) Danny McGough: Keyboards (Tracks 5, 11, 14) Carlo Nuccio: Vocals, drums (Tracks 1-15) Vicki Peterson: vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar (Tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7) Mark Walton: Bass (Tracks 1-15) Tracks 1, 3,6: Produced by Continental Drifters Engineered & Mixed by Jim Scott Recorded at Music Grinders Los Angeles, CA, December 1992 Track 3 originally issued on Ninteen Ninty-Three, Blue Rose Records BLU CD0304 (2003) Tracks 2, 4, 7-10, 12-13 & 15: Originally issued on Nineteen Ninty Three Blue Rose Records, BLU CD0304 (2003) Produced by Peter Holsapple Engineered by Mark McKenna Recorded at Milagro Sound, Glendale, CA. and Madd Dog Studios, Venice, CA. by Mark McKenna, summer 1992 Mixed at Bearsvllle by George Cowan with lhe Assistarce of Todd Voe, except Tracks 7 & 9 Mixed by Mark McKenna Track 5, 11 & 14: Produced by Peter Holsapple Engineered by Doug Messenger Recorded February 1992

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Disc Two 1. You Don't Miss Your Water (Live)* (William Bell) 2. Crescent City (Live)* (Lucinda Williams) 3. A Song For You (Gram Parsons) 4. Tighter, Tighter (Demo)* (Tommy James/Bob King) 5. I Can't Let Go (Al Gorgoni/Chip Taylor) 6. Some Of Shelley's Blues (Campfire Mix)* (Michael Nesmith) 7. When You Dance I Can Really Love (Neil Young) 8. Turn Back The Hands Of Time (Live)* (Jack Daniels/Bonnie Thompson) 9. Farmer's Daughter (Live)* (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) 10. Dedicated To The One I Love (Live)* (Lowman Pauling/Ralph Bass) 11. At The End Of The Day (Live)* (Sandy Denny) 12. Listen, Listen (Sandy Denny) 13. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (Richard Thompson) 14. The Poor Ditching Boy (Richard Thompson)

15. You're Gonna Need Somebody (Richard Thompson) 16. I'm A Dreamer (Sandy Denny) 17. Matty Groves (Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) 18. Meet OnThe Ledge (Studio Version) (Richard Thompson) * Previously unreleased Personnel: Russ Broussard: Drums, Frottoir (Track< 2, 7, 9, 12-18) Dave Catching: Guitar (Track 1) John Convertino: Drums (Track 1) Susan Cowsill: Vocals, acoustic guitar percussion (Tracks 2-18) Gary Eaton: Vocals, guitar, harmonica (Tracks 1,3) Peter Holsapple: Vocals, acoustic guitar slide & 12-string guitars, keyboards, accordion (Tracks 1-18) Rob Ladd: Drums (Track 4) Robert Mache: Vocals, guitar, mandolin (Tracks 2, 4-18) Carlo Nuccio: Vocals, drums (Tracks 3, 5, 8, 10) Vicki Peterson: Vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar (Tracks 1- 18) Martin Phillips: Acoustic guitar(Track 3) Mark Walton: Bass (Tracks 1-5, 7-18)

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Track 1: Live broadcast of Morning Becomes Eclectic, KCRW, Los Angeles, CA July 15, 1992 Hosted by Chris Douridas Produced by Ariana Morgenstern Engineered by Jerry Summers Track 2: Recorded at Grant Street Dance Hall, Lafayette, LA, November 3, 2000 Recorded & Mixed by Kent Fontenot Track 3: Originally issued on Commemorativo: A Tribute To Gram Parsons, Rhino R271269 (1993) Credited as Peter Holsapple & Susan Cowsill With The Walkin’ Tacos Produced by Gavin MacKillop & Peter Holsapple Engineered by Gavin MacKillop & Matt Pakucho Recorded “Live” in Northern Burbank, 1993 Track 4: Recorded as a demo for Mercury Produced, Engineered & Mixed by Kevin Salem In New Orleans, LA. 1994 Track 5: Originally issued on Sing Hollies In Reverse, Eggbert, ER80018CD (1995) Recorded & Mixed by Continental Drifters With Robinson Mills Recorded at The Egyptian Room, New Orleans LA, Mardi Gras 1995 Track 6: Engineered by Robinson Mills, Carlo Nuccio & Harvey Moltz Recorded at The Egyptian Room, New Orleans LA, and Wavelab Studio, Tucson, AZ 1994

Track 7:: Originally issued on This Note’s For You Too! A Tribute to Neil Young Inbetweens IRCD004 (1999) Produced by Continental Drifters Recorded & Mixed by Mike Mayeau Recorded at The Howlin’ Wolf, New Orleans, LA 1999 Track 8: Live broadcast of Mountain Stage, Berkley, WV, October 30, 1994 Track 9: Recorded live at Carrolton Station, New Orleans, LA, April 28, 2009 Recorded by Jeff Peters Mixed by Robert Mache Track 10: Recorded live in Bremen, January 24, 1996 Track 11: Recorded live, venue unknown, 2000 Track 12-17: Originally issued on Listen, Listen Blue Rose, BLU DPO265 (2001) Produced by Continental Drifters Track 12: Recorded at Ground Floor Studios, Meraux, LA August 13, 2001 Engineered & Mixed by Mike Mayeau Track 13-17: Recorded at HO*T FM, Hof Germany, November 1, 2001 Engineered by Otto Geymeier Mixed by Mike Mayeau Track 18: Originally issued on a 7” single Black Dog (1997) Produced by Continental Drifters Engineered by Jeffrey Reed Mixed by Mike Mayeau Recorded at Route 1 Recording, Monticello, MS 1997

Back of Phamphlet:
Compilation Produced for Release by Pat Thomas & Cheryl Pawelski
Associate Producer: Mark Walton
Mastered by Gavin Lurssen & Ruben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering, Los Angeles, CA
Additional restoration by Michael Graves at Osiris Studios, Atlanta GA
Licensing: Bryan George
Art Direction & Design: Greg Allen | Photography by Greg Allen
Except New Orleans (1956) images by William David Allen
Liner Note: Scott Schinder | Editorial: Eileen Lucero
Special Thanks: Lynn Bertles, Billy Bizou (RIP), David Culpepper, Fred Drake, Jimmy Ford, Martha Gehman, Hutch, Kevin Jarvis, David Jenkins,Robert Lloyd, Brett Milano, Brian (Disco) Oden, Frank Quintini, Michael Steele & Rob Stennet