Michael "Quint" Weakley obit

Michael “Quint” Weakley of the Electric Prunes

 He was not on the list.

Michael “Quint” Weakley, the original drummer for the Electric Prunes from 1965 to 1967 and again in the late 1990s, has passed away. He was also a member of The Fabulous Silver Tones, a rock and roll and R&B band, in the 1950s.

The psychedelic garage band Electric Prunes formed in Los Angeles in 1965. Their founding members were Ken Williams (guitar), James Lowe (vocals, autoharp), Michael Weakley, and eventually Joe Dooley (drums) and Mark Tulin (bass). They were initially called The Sanctions and later Jim and the Lords. Dick Hargrave joined on organ, though he soon left to pursue graphic design, and Kenny Loggins briefly joined as well. They secured a recording session and solidified their lineup as Electric Prunes with Jim Lowe, Ken Williams, rhythm guitarist James "Weasel" Spagnola (who died in 2000), Mark Tulin (who died in 2011) who also played keyboards, and Preston Ritter, who replaced Michael "Quint" Weakley.

They began collaborating with producer Dave Hassinger, who had worked with the Rolling Stones on the albums "Out of Our Heads" and "Aftermath," as well as producing the Grateful Dead and engineering Jefferson Airplane and The Seeds. They recorded the 1966 single "Ain't It Hard" with "Little Olive" on the B-side, followed by "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)," a Nancie Mantz and Annette Tucker song given a psychedelic twist, which reached number 11 on the Billboard charts. They then released the single "Get Me to the World on Time" and their first LP, "The Electric Prunes" (1967), featuring other original tracks such as "Train for Tomorrow" and "Luvin'."

For their second album, Ritter was replaced mid-recording by Weakley, and Mike Gannon (who died in 1972) replaced Spagnola. "Underground" (1967), as the album was titled, contains very edgy tracks such as "Dr. Do Good," "The Long Banana Hoax," "Hideaway," "Children of Rain," "Wind-Up Toys," and "Long Day's Flight." As on their previous album, they continued to play songs by Tucker and Mantz, although Jim Lowe and Mark Tulin were beginning to have a more prominent songwriting role. Although Ritter is not credited on "Underground," he played almost all of the drums.

They didn't achieve the same success as with their first LP, which affected the band's morale. Their third full-length album, "Mass in F Minor" (1968), featured compositions and arrangements by David Axelroad, performed by session musicians and some members of the Collectors. The album had a clear religious theme, and it was followed by another ambitious work, "Release of an Oath" (1969), with orchestrations and a combination of Jewish and Christian liturgy. By this time, the Electric Prunes had session musicians such as singer Mark Kincaid, guitarist Ron Morgan (who died in 1989), bassist Brett Wade, and drummer Richard Whetstone. Their final album was "Just Good Old Rock'n'Roll" (1969). They disbanded the following year.

In 1997, the well-known live album "Stockholm 67" was released, and in 1999, Lowe, Tulin, Williams, and Weakley reunited to play together. In 2001, they released a new album titled "Artifact," and Lowe's son, Cameron, joined the band until 2003. The following year, Steve Kara and Jay Dean joined, and they released a new album called "California." In 2006, a new drummer, Walter Garcés, joined, and they released a new album called "Feedback." Tulin died at the age of 62 on February 26, 2011, while working underwater, and the band went on hiatus. They returned in 2013, and the following year, a new album called "WaS" was released. Preston Ritter passed away in 2015.