Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Formed
1966, Windsor Locks, CT, United States
Disbanded
1971
Members
Al Anderson (guitar, vocals), Al Lepak Jnr. (drums), Andy Lepak (drums), Ray Zeiner (keyboards, vocals), Bob Dudek (bass, vocals), Martin "Skip" Yakaitis (percussion)
Related Artists
NRBQ
It's the stuff of pop music legend: in the late 60s, a young band with a scorching style and a regional number-one song drifted into obscurity. Meanwhile the band's frontman, then-teenage Al Anderson, went on to a highly visible career that includes a decades-long stint with the hugely popular band NRBQ. Anderson moved on to become one of the most sought after songwriters in Nashville, and he's still going strong after 40 years of musical adventures.
This is the tale of The Wildweeds, a band that by all accounts was always slightly out of step with prevailing musical fashions. In retrospect, the band seemed to exist to set the stage for Al Anderson's future. But, as this new collection from Confidential Recordings, "No Good To Cry: The Best of The Wildweeds," reveals and affirms, the music that the group produced stands on its merits as an important contribution to the pop lexicon.
The influences which made the band seem in the minority musically are today acknowledged as masters of soul. True the Beatles and the Stones popularized and emulated crossover rock and roll artists like Chuck Berry. But The Wildweeds worshipped the likes of Ray Charles, The Impressions and Billy Stewart. Perhaps The Weeds were ahead of their time. Listening to "No Good To Cry: The Best of The Wildweeds," a compilation of the band's singles and unreleased material, shows just how fresh that take is today.
By the late 50s/early 60s, rock and roll had moved out of the south, and was not strictly the domain of the big cities any more, so this group of Windsor, CT boys was able to follow their musical ideals with impunity.
The Hartford area had a strong music scene. The young players typically shifted in and out of various combos. Bands with names like The Blues Messengers, The Altones, The Six Packs and The Futuras shaped them. The Weeds finally gelled in late 1966. Shortly thereafter, the name was expanded to The Wildweeds.
While the band was still in its early stages, Andy Lepak's father, Alex Lepak Sr., a professional musician and teacher, started managing them. He provided a stabilizing influence, paying them a salary and instilling in them strong ideals about their music.
Wildweeds' sole album (they were no longer called "the" Wildweeds by the time it came out) was cut with assistance from top Nashville session men Charlie McCoy, Weldon Myrick, and David Briggs. This Akarma reissue adds three non-LP tracks from 1971 singles.
Discography
Albums
- Wildweeds (1970)
Singles & EPs
- Someday Morning / Can't You See That I'm Lonely (1967)
- It Was Fun (While It Lasted) / Sorrow's Anthem (1967)
- No Good to Cry / Never Mind (1967)
- I'm Dreaming / Happiness Is Just an Illusion (1968)
- And When She Smiles / Paint And Powder Ladies No. 2 (1970)
- Baby Please Don't Leave Me Today / Ain't No Woman Finer Lookin' (1971)
- Al Anderson With The Wildweeds - C'mon If You're Comin' / Goin' Back to Indiana (1972)
Compilations
- Greatest Hits...& More! (1988)
- The Best and Rare (2001)
- No Good to Cry - The Best of the Wildweeds (2002)
- I'm Dreaming (2024)
- In the Tall Grass - (a collection of rare trax and demos)
V/A Compilation
- 68 WRKO-Now Radio Boston: 30 Now Goldens (1968)
- WPOP's POP Explosion (1968)
- Dick Bartley Presents One Hit Wonders of the '60s, Vol. 2 (1990)
- Don't Press Your Luck! The IN Sound of 60's Connecticut (2008)
- Electric Sound Show: An Assortment of Antiquities for the Psychedelic Connoisseur (2011)
- Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels - The Blissed-Out Birth of Country Rock, Vol. 3: 1970 (2015)
Bootleg / Unauthorized
- Various Artists - Appears on: US Psychedelics: Volume Three
Source
- discogs.com/artist/374807-The-Wildweeds
- therockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/11/wildweeds-wildweeds-1970-71-us-strong.html
- rateyourmusic.com/artist/the-wildweeds
Sites
- wildweeds.net
This video didnt upload for monetization. If you think this video violates the law of copyright please contact with me through email instead of contact with YouTube.
Formed
1966, Windsor Locks, CT, United States
Disbanded
1971
Members
Al Anderson (guitar, vocals), Al Lepak Jnr. (drums), Andy Lepak (drums), Ray Zeiner (keyboards, vocals), Bob Dudek (bass, vocals), Martin "Skip" Yakaitis (percussion)
Related Artists
NRBQ
It's the stuff of pop music legend: in the late 60s, a young band with a scorching style and a regional number-one song drifted into obscurity. Meanwhile the band's frontman, then-teenage Al Anderson, went on to a highly visible career that includes a decades-long stint with the hugely popular band NRBQ. Anderson moved on to become one of the most sought after songwriters in Nashville, and he's still going strong after 40 years of musical adventures.
This is the tale of The Wildweeds, a band that by all accounts was always slightly out of step with prevailing musical fashions. In retrospect, the band seemed to exist to set the stage for Al Anderson's future. But, as this new collection from Confidential Recordings, "No Good To Cry: The Best of The Wildweeds," reveals and affirms, the music that the group produced stands on its merits as an important contribution to the pop lexicon.
The influences which made the band seem in the minority musically are today acknowledged as masters of soul. True the Beatles and the Stones popularized and emulated crossover rock and roll artists like Chuck Berry. But The Wildweeds worshipped the likes of Ray Charles, The Impressions and Billy Stewart. Perhaps The Weeds were ahead of their time. Listening to "No Good To Cry: The Best of The Wildweeds," a compilation of the band's singles and unreleased material, shows just how fresh that take is today.
By the late 50s/early 60s, rock and roll had moved out of the south, and was not strictly the domain of the big cities any more, so this group of Windsor, CT boys was able to follow their musical ideals with impunity.
The Hartford area had a strong music scene. The young players typically shifted in and out of various combos. Bands with names like The Blues Messengers, The Altones, The Six Packs and The Futuras shaped them. The Weeds finally gelled in late 1966. Shortly thereafter, the name was expanded to The Wildweeds.
While the band was still in its early stages, Andy Lepak's father, Alex Lepak Sr., a professional musician and teacher, started managing them. He provided a stabilizing influence, paying them a salary and instilling in them strong ideals about their music.
Wildweeds' sole album (they were no longer called "the" Wildweeds by the time it came out) was cut with assistance from top Nashville session men Charlie McCoy, Weldon Myrick, and David Briggs. This Akarma reissue adds three non-LP tracks from 1971 singles.
Discography
Albums
- Wildweeds (1970)
Singles & EPs
- Someday Morning / Can't You See That I'm Lonely (1967)
- It Was Fun (While It Lasted) / Sorrow's Anthem (1967)
- No Good to Cry / Never Mind (1967)
- I'm Dreaming / Happiness Is Just an Illusion (1968)
- And When She Smiles / Paint And Powder Ladies No. 2 (1970)
- Baby Please Don't Leave Me Today / Ain't No Woman Finer Lookin' (1971)
- Al Anderson With The Wildweeds - C'mon If You're Comin' / Goin' Back to Indiana (1972)
Compilations
- Greatest Hits...& More! (1988)
- The Best and Rare (2001)
- No Good to Cry - The Best of the Wildweeds (2002)
- I'm Dreaming (2024)
- In the Tall Grass - (a collection of rare trax and demos)
V/A Compilation
- 68 WRKO-Now Radio Boston: 30 Now Goldens (1968)
- WPOP's POP Explosion (1968)
- Dick Bartley Presents One Hit Wonders of the '60s, Vol. 2 (1990)
- Don't Press Your Luck! The IN Sound of 60's Connecticut (2008)
- Electric Sound Show: An Assortment of Antiquities for the Psychedelic Connoisseur (2011)
- Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels - The Blissed-Out Birth of Country Rock, Vol. 3: 1970 (2015)
Bootleg / Unauthorized
- Various Artists - Appears on: US Psychedelics: Volume Three
Source
- discogs.com/artist/374807-The-Wildweeds
- therockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/11/wildweeds-wildweeds-1970-71-us-strong.html
- rateyourmusic.com/artist/the-wildweeds
Sites
- wildweeds.net
This video didnt upload for monetization. If you think this video violates the law of copyright please contact with me through email instead of contact with YouTube.
