Biography
Several 1960s ensembles bore the name Esquires, among them the soul group behind the hit "Get On Up" and the Texas act that produced garage staples "Judgment Day" and "Come On, Come On." The version from Springfield, Massachusetts, stood apart from those outfits. Lineup shifts eventually turned the band into the Bold, whose 1966 garage single "Gotta Get Some," styled after Paul Revere & the Raiders, later surfaced on Pebbles, Vol. 9. Before the change, the Esquires managed one little-noticed mid-'60s 45 on the small Salem label, pairing a standard cover of "Shake a Tail Feather" with "Down the Track," a British Invasion-inflected garage number written by member Steve Walker. Both sides of that single are included on the Bold compilation Lullaby Opus Four, which also holds the group's full 1969 album and the two earlier singles issued under the names the Bold and Steve Walker & the Bold.