Sweetarts

Formed in Austin during 1965, the garage combo known as the Sweetarts brought bassist Ernie Gammage and drummer Dwight Dow back together following their earlier stint in the frat-rock outfit the Fabulous Chevelles. That first version of the group stood out for featuring two African-American musicians—keyboardist Erbie Bowser and an obscure guitarist—making it an uncommon sight in an era when multiracial garage bands seldom existed; had stylistic clashes not broken the lineup apart, the Sweetarts might have left a deeper mark. Gammage switched to guitar, clearing space for bassist Pat Whitefield, while singer and percussionist Mike Galbraith plus keyboardist Tom Van Zandt—a distant cousin of Texas music legend Townes Van Zandt—completed the refreshed lineup. The band soon built a loyal audience on the University of Texas fraternity scene, and 1966 brought a deal with Dallas-based Vandan Records that yielded the debut single “So Many Times,” which became a regional radio staple. Victory in a local battle-of-the-bands contest led to their becoming the first act signed by the newly established Sonobeat Records, the label run by KAZZ station manager Bill Josey that would later introduce blues-rocker Johnny Winter. Their lone Sonobeat release, the psych-punk favorite “A Picture of Me,” surfaced in 1967 and marked their final official single; four tracks cut mid-1968 at the studio owned by International Artists’ Walt Andrus remained unreleased. The Sweetarts dissolved the next year, although Gammage, Dow, Van Zandt, and Whitefield carried on together under the name Fast Cotton.