We the People

One of the most versatile mid-'60s garage groups -- indeed, they were for the most part too accomplished and pop-savvy to truly merit the garage band tag -- We the People had some big hits in Florida, but never broke out nationally, despite releases on the large RCA and Challenge labels. Veterans of Orlando garage combos the Trademarks, the Offbeets, and the Nonchalants all found their way into We the People, which made their first single for the local Hotline label, "My Brother the Man," in early 1966. "My Brother the Man" was a smoking, almost-crazed, hard garage-punk number, a path the band continued to follow on their early Challenge singles "Mirror of Your Mind" and "You Burn Me Up and Down." Grinding guitar chords, organ, aggressive vocals, and crazed guitar distortion (particularly on the swooping noises and feedback that introduce "You Burn Me Up and Down") were their initial trademarks. Yet at the same time they could throw in gentler and more lyrically and melodically subtle originals, like the beautiful, tremolo-laden ballad "(You Are) the Color of Love," on the B-side of "Mirror of Your Mind." Unusual for a garage band, they boasted two prolific and talented songwriters in Tommy Talton and Wayne Proctor. Proctor was the more interesting of the pair, penning one of the great raga-rock tunes (the gutsy "In the Past," covered by the Chocolate Watch Band), the baroque-psychedelic "St. John's Shop," and "(You Are) the Color of Love." All had uncommonly elusive, vague, but evocative lyrics for a young regional band of the time; Proctor even wrote a love song to a nun ("Love Wears Black (None)"), although that wasn't issued until more than 30 years later. We the People had a good share of chart success in Florida, but suffered a major setback when Proctor left...