At the end of 1957, a band with a special line-up began operating in Los Angeles, California. Electric guitars, bass, drums and saxophone. Their name was the "CHAMPS" band, which performed the famous hit "Tequila" and many others. I got the record, paid for it with trembling hands and started learning the melodies. An imitation band was formed called the Indonesian band "Crazy Strangers", which included an Israeli vocalist, a saxophone player named Doron Cohen, who later sang and played in the band "The Ambassadors". Both bands performed rock and roll style songs based on a basic and simple twelve-bar blues harmony. The level of the Indonesian band, unfortunately, did not match the original.
A chance meeting in Haifa with two friends, fifteen-year-old guitar players. A meeting that gave birth to a special band that was different from all the bands I had played with. Danny Raviv and Danny Litani. The idea quickly took shape and we began rehearsals.
Danny Litani later participated in many plays and musical performances. A certain period of his life was dedicated to black music and, in his scratchy voice, he performed many blues songs while accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica. His friend Danny Raviv was a gifted boy who excelled in everything he did. He later studied civil engineering at the Technion as part of the academic reserve and was also the national champion in youth tennis. The late Danny Raviv, a cadet in the IDF officer course, fell while performing his duty.
We chose several songs from the repertoire of the band 'The Champs' and in the same style, two electric guitars and a saxophone, we worked on the perfection of the performance. A large part of the show was large and exaggerated movements. I knelt on the floor with the saxophone and raised it high towards the ceiling, a movement that was supposed to tear the sky and elicit cries of enthusiasm from the audience. All the exaggerated display of movements did not improve the quality of the sound at all.
An audition was scheduled at the theater club in Haifa. Yigal Sela, who was a regular drummer at the theater, heard us play and was enthusiastic. The audition team was enthusiastic about the idea and scheduled our first performance for April 13, 1962, on Saturday. Yigal Sela joined us. The performance was a great success and the club wanted us to perform regularly in an organized manner. Due to many commitments and previous commitments, this did not work out.
Danny Flores, the saxophonist for the Champs, wrote the song 'Tequila' and the record was released in the fall of 1957. Is our rendition as good as the original? It's hard to tell. Listen to the original.
A few years ago I met Danny Litani and reminded him of our successful show and I was sorry to hear that he doesn't remember such a composition. Either his memory is flawed or mine, which forced me to rummage through the private archive and find the golden vision. It's not my handwriting or the neighbor's.
The band survived several performances that drew enthusiastic cheers from the audience. The ensemble is special as a souvenir and each of us turned to our commitments. This style of playing has passed away after going through several incarnations. If it returns, perhaps I can contribute from my extensive experience.
If any of the readers know anyone from the Raviv family, which was a famous contractor family in Haifa, they might be happy to read about the prolific talent of their late family member. Sad!
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