The Castaways

A Band for All Seasons. Classic Durham Band Holds Concert Reunion
Written By Melanie Credle, The Durham Herald-Sun, November 8th, 1999
Story used with permission from the Durham Herald-Sun

Claiborne "Skeets" Brady thinks the year was 1961 when it all began. He and buddy Bill Carden were ninth-graders at Northern High School.

"We were friends and we would get together and play guitar at his house and my house. We thought we'd come up with a band," Brady said. "Back then there were just weren't any bands playing around this area. Bill came up with the name Castaways. He even designed business cards with the name. We were thinking this could be fun, and he and I played together well."

Four generations later, members of The Castaways still load their gear and head out for weekend concerts. These days, it's usually to private parties or wedding receptions. More often than no, members past and present will run into someone who have their own youthful Castaways memories.

Since that start nearly 40 years ago, The Castaways have seen numerous personnel changes and changes in styles of music, and it's no surprise that the band's history, which stretches over five versions, remains open to interpretation.

Still, past and present members agree on one thing: the longtime Duham-basesd group must be doing something right, because they're still entertaining audiences with their renditions of popular tunes from today and yesteryear.

And this Saturday, members from all editions will come together at the Durham Armory to play tunes and raise money for Make-A-Wish Foundation. "I miss the brotherhood I had with those fellas," said John Nichols, who led the band's second generation. "There's nothing wrong with the band I have now, but that Castaways brotherhood still carries today and has made this reunion thing that we are doing today so special. I don't think there's anything in my life that I would have enjoyed any more. It's a labor of love for all the people that are participating."
Of course, bringing all The Castaways versions together has stirred up memories for people like co-founder Brady.

In the pre-Beetles era when The Castaways were formed, Brady and Carden listened to music by The Impressions, The Temptations and The Tam Tams. Soon, the fledgling Castaways picked up a drummer and played parties around town and the Northern High School sock hops. Then came the bookings for the Fraternity Parties. They did instrumentals or Carden sang lead. When Carden decided to leave the band after about 1 1/2 years to concentrate on school athletics, Linda Griffin, another Northern student, replaced him.

Griffen excelled at songs like "Heat Wave," "My Guy" and "He's a Rebel," Brady recalled. In the early days, The Castaways earned maybe $25 apiece for a gig and Castaways drummer Sonny Goss used his Ford Falcon to transport the band to and from the show. They practiced one night a week, mostly played weekends, but toured more extensively than North and South Carolina during the summer.

The initial group appeared on local TV and even recorded a couple of original songs for a 45 record.

Funny thing, though, no one in that first lineup had any intention of being a rock 'n' roll star. By the end of 1964, once Brady had graduated from high school, the Castaways decided to disband.

"Most of us realized it was a great opportunity to do it while we could. Nobody wanted to move to New York or Nashville," he said. "We made a couple of records and had fun."

The Castaways could have faded into a local legend, both John Nichols stepped in to write the second chapter around 1967. He had his own band called Solid Sound, Nicols recalled, and asked Brady if he could use The Castaways name.

Nichols led what he called The Castaways Ltd. until 1971 or '72.

"The Fact of the matter was it was more keeping the name going and the fact that The Castaways has a good reputation. Ours wasn't bad either, but theirs was established," Nichols said. "We capitalized on the name of The Castaways and enlarged the group. At one time, we had 12 pieces."

The second version was also heavily populated by Durham residents, many of them from Northern and Southern High Schools. The band covered popular tunes of the era from groups such as Chicago, Fifth Dimension and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

"We were much more complex with the horn section," Nichols said. "We did Marvin Gaye, and even a little Creedence Clearwater Revival. We were really on the cutting edge of the contemporary music with the college crowd and the high school crowd."

Ken Haywood, who played with The Castaways through the 1970s, knew very well about the band and its reputation. He grew up next to Brady's grandmother in Durham. Haywood, how has worked at IBM for 23 years, still play's music on weekends.

His feelings about the Castaways who were the house band at the now defunct Someplace Else on Erwin Road, run the gamut.

"There was a period in the early years where I was just the guitar player, and as the years went by, that role changed dramatically. By the end of '73, beginning of '74. Stan Swinson had left the group and turned it over to me. I t took away a lot of the fun having to deal with the bookings and making sure the group existed," Haywood said.

"This whole Castaways story is not one of fun and games. It is a one of struggling in most cases to try to keep a group together and keep harmony in the group, keep people from killing each other. Of course, the same thing happens with every group that lasts for any amount of time."

When they got on stage, it was all about the music and pleasing the audience.

"We got to a point where we could go and play about any type of gig we needed to play, and people loved it. Nobody ever made a lot of money," Haywood said.

As for the present Castaways, J.T. Long has been with the group for 22 years. He joined after he graduated from high school, impressed with its reputation and regularly scheduled shows. Long plays saxophone and does lead and backing vocals. He said the current group mixes up the music for a show from disco and funk, to old R&B and adult contemporary.

"We actually were a full time band from '81 to '84, but we changed because we wanted to have a life. It was fun when we were young, but everybody wanted to be home and not live out of hotels and spend many hours on the road," Long said. "And there's something about the smell of cigarettes and beer after awhile that gets to you."