Sonobeat Artists

The Ohio Express

A famous teeny bopper band
takes the express lane to new sounds.

The Ohio Express
Sweet Genie

Home base: Mansfield, Ohio
Genre: Progressive Rock
Recorded with Sonobeat: 1970
No Sonobeat releases


The Ohio Express

Eschewing bubble gum

Approaching the end of 1969, one of Buddah Records’ star acts, The Ohio Express, notoriously famous for its late-’60s top 40 radio hits Yummy Yummy Yummy, Sweeter Than Sweet, and Chewy Chewy, was ready for a serious musical change away from the bubble gum pre-teen fodder that had made it famous. In 1969, a new incarnation of The Ohio Express, organized by Doug Grassel and featuring Grassel, Scott Steelman, Bruce Knott, and Doug Wimmer, toured through Austin, pausing quite literally to figure out “what’s next” for the band. Buddah had just released the band’s swan song single. Ironically, that single, Sausalito, wasn’t even recorded by any of The Ohio Express lineup that arrived in Austin (or, for that matter, by any former members of the band), but, instead, was the product of a collaboration of studio session musicians and future members of the band 10cc. Nonetheless, Buddah credited the single to The Ohio Express to capitalize on the band’s name brand recognition.

The Ohio Express moves on below ↓



Sonobeat Artists


The Ohio Express


Retooling for “cool”

The history of “The Ohio Express” is complicated if not bizarre: the band began as a construct of producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz via their Super K Productions, which had a close alliance with national record labels Cameo, Kama Sutra, and Buddah. The Ohio Express’ first credited hit, Beg, Borrow and Steal, was actually recorded and released in 1966 by New York band The Rare Breed but got no traction with the public and flopped. It was then re-released in 1967 under The Ohio Express name even though at the time there was no actual band by that name nor was the track different in any way from The Rare Breed’s. But that didn’t stop the single from becoming a bona fide national hit under the fabricated Ohio Express moniker. Next, Mansfield, Ohio-based Sir Timothy and the Royals was pressed into service by Super K (which also produced hot ’60s top 40 acts Crazy Elephant, Music Explosion, 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Lemon Pipers, and Shadows of Knight) and rebranded as “The Ohio Express”. It was in this first actual version of the band, recording for Cameo Parkway Records, that Doug Grassel made his appearance, having been a founding member of Sir Timothy. Under Super K, The Ohio Express cranked out one bubblegum pop hit after another, initially for Cameo Parkway and then for Buddah, but Super K constantly used studio session musicians and other bands to record the singles and albums that bore The Ohio Express name, much to the annoyance of those who remained from the band’s origins as Sir Timothy, and who had been touring North America on behalf of Super K. Frustrated with Super K, Grassel defected, organizing a new incarnation of The Ohio Express and touring Canada, the U.S. midwest, and Texas out of an old school bus. Grassel’s unit operated independently of Super K and Buddah and was sanctioned by neither and ignored by both. Eventually arriving in Austin in 1970, Grassel’s Ohio Express played a gig here, a gig there, and occasionally jammed with local bands at many of Austin’s hottest nightclubs and music halls.

While touring, Grassel’s Ohio Express began experimenting with a new musical direction, steering itself away from Super K’s bubblegum groove. The band’s new sound was a rock-jazz fusion with a touch of arena rock, a logical progression from the trendy pop rock the previous Ohio Expresses had pioneered for pre-teen record-buyers.

Entering 1970, Sonobeat co-founders Bill Josey Sr. and Rim Kelley“Rim Kelley” was the pseudonym used by Sonobeat co-founder Bill Josey Jr. as a radio deejay in Austin, Texas, during the 1960s and as a Sonobeat producer from 1967 to 1970. seemed to bump into The Ohio Express all around Austin, including at downtown Austin’s hippie music hall, The Vulcan Gas CompanyThe Vulcan was Austin’s first successful hippie music hall, opening in 1967 in an old warehouse at 316 Congress Avenue and closing in 1970. Its better known successor was Armadillo World Headquarters.. Eventually the Joseys introduced themselves to members of the band. Hoping to produce a hit single with the nationally-established and well-known Ohio Express, Bill Sr. offered to record the band, and Grassel agreed. According to Rim, the resulting sessions, which he produced with Bill Sr. and engineered, had a weird, magical vibe, yielding three original songs: Sweet Genie, Beauty So Deep, and Greyhound Shuffle, all written by Grassel. Although both had long running times, Sweet Genie (3:50) and Beauty So Deep (5:15) were strong candidates for a Sonobeat stereo 45 RPM single release, but it turned out Super K and Buddah owned the names “The Ohio Express” and ”Ohio Express” (“The” was dropped from the band’s recording name with the release of the single Mercy in 1969, but not from the touring groups’ name), so Sonobeat put its tentative release plans on hold while Grassel discussed the situation with Super K and Buddah execs.


the Ohio Express tape box
A mix-down of The Ohio Express’ Sonobeat recordings

In March 1970, anticipating Grassel would be able to sort things out with Buddah and clear the way for Sonobeat’s release of the band’s Sonobeat material, Rim created a set of mono trial mixes designed for AM radio airplay. But soon it became clear Buddah wouldn’t agree to let Sonobeat release the recordings under “The Ohio Express” name, so Grassel and company considered renaming themselves “January”. Eventually, though, the tracks were relegated to the vault, which is unfortunate, because Grassel’s new incarnation of The Ohio Express was a solid commercial experiment blending pop jazz with a strong base of power rock that was pretty, um, yummy.

In 1971, Scott Steelman returned to record at Sonobeat as a member of Columbus, Ohio-based progressive rock band, Synthesis, which sounded nothing like The Ohio Express. Later in life Scott shifted from composing and performing to painting. In 2013, after years of continuing to tour as The Ohio Express, Doug Grassel succumbed at age 64 to fibrosis of the lungs.


The (Grassel) Ohio Express
  • Doug Grassel (guitar)
  • Bruce Knott (drums)
  • Scott Steelman (bass)
  • Doug Wimmer (Hammond organ and lead vocals)

Recording details
Unreleased recordings
  • Beauty So Deep (Dave Grassel) • 5:15
  • Greyhound Shuffle (Dave Grassel) • 5:54
  • Sweet Genie (Dave Grassel) • 3:50


Produced by Bill Josey Sr. and Rim Kelley

Engineered by Rim Kelley

Recorded at Sonobeat’s Western Hills Drive studio, Austin, Texas, in January-March 1970

Recorded using...

  • ElectroVoice 665 dynamic, ElectroVoice Slimair 636 dynamic, and Sony ECM-22 electret condenser microphones
  • Scully 280 half-inch 4-track, Stemco half-inch 4-track, and Ampex AG-350 tape decks
  • Custom 10-channel portable stereo mixer
  • Fairchild Lumiten 663ST stereo optical compressor
  • Blonder-Tongue Audio Baton 9-band graphic equalizer
  • Custom steel plate stereo reverb
  • Ampex 681 tape stock

Listen!
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The Ohio Express
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Thanks!

Our thanks to Scott Steelman for recollections of the version of “The Ohio Express” that Sonobeat recorded and for passing along Bruce Knott’s recollections, too. Thanks, also, to Scott for identifying the musicians who performed on the Sonobeat sessions.

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