The Showmen

From the SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA suburb of Mill Valley, the Showmen were the precursors towards the almost-equally obscure band Butch Engle & the Styx. They produced in 1963 as the remnants of the music group that included vocalist Engle and potential Sons of Champlin member Costs Champlin; Engle overran the music group and renamed it. In 1964 the Showmen released their just one, “Inform Me Make sure you” b/w “YOU UNDERSTAND All I’D LIKE,” on the tiny MEA label. Both songs were typical, energetic British isles Invasion-sound-alike music, performed rather sloppily. The Showmen transformed their name to Butch Engle & the Styx and produced several singles in 1966 and 1967 in a far more folk-rock-ish design that owed very much towards the Beau Brummels (whose songwriter, Ron Elliott, composed or co-wrote everything Butch Engle & the Styx documented). Both edges from the Showmen one are on the 2000 Compact disc THE VERY BEST of Butch Engle & the Styx: NO REAL MATTER WHAT You Say.