Preston Epps

Preston Epps entered the world in 1931 in Oakland, California, and continues to appear at venues across Southern California and the Southwest. This one-hit wonder achieved a number 14 pop placement in 1959 via the track “Bongo Rock,” yet later releases met with indifference. During his Korean War service in Okinawa he acquired skill on bongos and additional percussion instruments. Once discharged, he left Northern California for Southern California, supporting himself through various temporary work while immersing himself in the developing beatnik and hippie circles by visiting coffeehouses and performing for receptive audiences.

Discovered by DJ Art Laboe at one such intimate coffeehouse, Epps joined the roster of the newly established Original Sound Records. His “Bongo Rock” supplied the label with its inaugural success; Laboe followed with the 1960 single “Bongo, Bongo, Bongo,” which landed sixty-four slots lower on the chart. The debut album Bongo Bongo Bongo appeared that same year shortly after the second single and enjoyed modest reception. Additional 45s—“Bongo in the Congo,” “Bongo Rocket,” “Bongo Boogie,” “Flamenco Bongo,” “Mr. Bongo,” “Bongo Shuffle,” along with further bongo-themed titles—failed to attract listeners. The LPs Bongola (1961) and Surfin’ Bongos (1962) likewise passed unnoticed, although scattered Epps recordings surface on assorted vinyl and CD anthologies.

Epps co-authored the instrumental “Bongo Rock” with Arthur Egnoian, a pen name used by Arthur Laboe. The Incredible Bongo Band revived the piece and carried it to number 73 in 1973. On screen, Epps portrayed a bongo player in the 1969 film Girl In Gold Boots, a story centered on a draft-dodger, a drifter, and the drifter’s aspiring-dancer girlfriend whose involvement in a murder intersects with drugs, sex, and rock & roll during the late 1960s. Beyond his own releases, Epps contributed to numerous sessions, among them the debut album by Gypsys on Metromedia Records. He remains active at clubs such as Monteleone’s West, the Lozano Restaurant, and the Atlas Supper Club.