[1968] The Bojax - Don't Look Back

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Greenville, SC, freakbeat combo Bojax formed in 1964. Originally dubbed "the Knights," the group was founded by singer/guitarist Bobby Holliday, guitarists Roy Woods and Edwin Bayne, bassist Mack Sanders, and drummer Lyn Cook. Changing their name to the Bojax -- a moniker inspired by the box artwork of a Big Daddy Roth model kit, according to an interview with Holliday at the website www.60sgaragebands.com -- the band regularly played local school functions, but with a median age of just 14 years old, most venues were off-limits. After Holliday assumed lead vocals on "Know a Lot About Love," a single by fellow Greenville band the Wyld, Bojax began making plans to cut their own record -- signing to the local Panther label, in late 1967, they issued their debut single, "Hippie Times," a local hit now better known for its B-side, "Go Ahead and Cry," a "Like a Rolling Stone"-influenced rocker that resurfaced decades later on the popular Back to the Grave reissue series. Bassist Jim Summey replaced Sanders for the follow-up, a cover of the Remains' "Don't Look Back" that proved a local smash in the spring of 1968. The third Bojax single, "So Glad," was written by Jim Stafford of "Spiders and Snakes" fame, who also overdubbed lead guitar on the session. College and military duties soon forced the group to disband, although in 1969 Holliday and Cook formed a new Bojax lineup with guitarist Philip Maynard and bassist Van Stout. After he was wounded in Vietnam, Bayne returned to Greenville in 1970 and recruited Holliday, Sanders, and Cook to form a new group, a heavy rock band dubbed William Goat. This iteration of the band called it quits in 1971. Holliday later recorded a pair of solo albums, Home Grown and Another Stage, in addition to serving as a staff songwriter with the Nashville-based Milsap/Galbrath Publishing. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi