"One of the fascinating things about the music business is the wide latitude in which songs and sounds may be developed…. With the emphasis on sound, the Beatles even toyed with an Indian sitar. There was even an attempt to play bagpipes on a rock ‘n’ roll date, but that particular record never got off the ground. A group of Southern Californians, more Italian in nature than Mexican, banded together to form a trumpet dominated instrumental group which shook the record industry to its foundation.
"Then just a short time ago, four sharp young college students from Salem College in Clarksburgh, West Virginia came to Pittsburgh to make their recording a debut, and a new musical sound came into being. Enter the Dynatones, bringing with them a unique brand of music spotlighting the fife, an instrument written about down through the ages. Under the guiding hand of Jules Cruspir, who was also responsible for the emergence of the Marcels, The Dynamics and The Cameos, among other, these four stalwart students were solidly accepted by the record listening public, and all by means of one single hit record – 'The Fife Piper.'
"The Dynatones have been performing together for about five years, having started in high school. The fife player is 23 year old Ray Figlar (he also plays the saxophone), whose lilting, almost jazz-like quality sound is the lead instrument. The fife, with its flutish sound, is capable of riding mightily above the bass guitar, electric piano and drums. Ray has been on the teaching staff of a West Virginia high school since graduating from Salem. Drummer Jack Wolfe, 21 is a Salem junior, majoring in music, as is bass guitarist Gary Van Scyoc, 19, the youngest member of the group. Gary handles the vocal chores for the Dynatones, but since the success of 'The Fife Piper,' everybody forgot about vocalizing, and the word has been, 'play man,' not 'sing, boys.' Electric pianist Eddie Evans, 21, a senior at Salem, also majoring in music, worked with The Dynatones during their formative years, but has been replaced by Pat Wallace.
"The happy sound of the fife and the clean definition of other instruments is a happy excursion and one certainly out of the realm of today’s power happy young musicians. With The Dynatones, although their name belies it, there is a subtlety and understatement in their playing. Perhaps it is because they are just now on the verge of entering the fiercely competitive world of top 40 records that their style has not yet become overpowering, and thus stands out with a fresh coat of creativity….
"The Dynatones are a freshly scrubbed, serious appearing group, eschewing the tendency to flip out, wear rakish mod clothes, or fluorescent colors. Their collegiate mien also helps set them apart. But their driving sound, their pneumatic chug-alug, setting down a granite foundation for that happy, willowy fife, labels them at the top of the class of new-bred entertainers. Perhaps it’s within the province of the The Dynatones to launch a new instrumental trend. Who knows, maybe by the time you’re playing this album, you’ll be playing the fife also."
