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John Winfield, Jr., "Laugh" c/w "She Passes This Way," Doré 752 (rel. 1/1966)

 


Among the principal products of California's Inland Empire are a proliferation of John Winfield Juniors. I believe the performer of today's single is still with us, and lives in Eureka, California. I have his land line number and am tempted to call it. The man would be in his 80s now. Six decades ago, he was just another songwriter trying to make it in the LA music scene. He first got onto records as half of the teen duo Rick and Johnny, on a 1961 ABC-Paramount single. In 1963, as 'Tod Tyler,' he performed "Emancipation Proclamation" for Ditto Records. That year, white harmony group The Innocents covered the Rick & Johnny song "You're Never Satisfied." Darwin Lamm, a Pacific Northwest artist, recorded Winfield's death song "Little Gold Locket" for Doré Records, the LA equivalent to Detroit's Fortune Records (altho' with much better audio quality). Three years passed without incident and then he recorded three sides for that label in the au courant brooding folk-rock style.
    We'll hear the first of his two Doré discs today. An obvious debt to The Beatles connects hundreds, if not thousands, of small-time American records from 1964-67; they're most often called garage, but some are more rugged, hard-hitting pop/rock, as is John Winfield, Jr.'s material. He sings with a fine, sprightly voice and the acoustic guitars in support give both sides of this single a powerful feeling. 

    I warn you: "Laugh" is a major earworm. I lost a night's sleep due to this record. I couldn't get it out of my head. Somewhere in-between The Beau Brummels and P. F. Sloan,  "Laugh" is a memorable, haunting tables-are-turned song with a catchy vocal hook, moody chord changes and the typical rough and ready LA sound of its day.
    It's easy to imagine a Del Shannon version of this song; it's rooted in rock 'n' roll's recent past to fine effect. And one can't deny that "Laugh" is catchy as the dickens, with its tricky mix of major and minor chords and that damnable ha-ha-a-ha hook. I may get this one lodged in my brain once again; it's worth it, as I love this record!


"She Passes This Way" is a bit more arranged and produced, and suffers a little from the results. Winfield remains in strong form as singer and songwriter, but the vocal chorus isn't needed, though it's mixed low in the track. Winfield accompanies himself on harmonies on a striking song about a guy who's lovestruck over a total stranger, whom he sees in the daily crowd; this lonely fellow gets a lift from her vision, and imagines what might happen if he introduced himself.
    Quite different from the Beatle-esque "Laugh," this impresses with its earthy self-duet, tempo changes and ambitious chord structure. On hearing again, I like it more than I had before, but "Laugh" has won my heart, it seems. Still--quite good and I give it credit for sounding different from its companion side.


"Laugh" was re-issued later in 1966 with the popsike* grail** "She Touched My Soul," which changes hands for up to 200 dollars in nice condition. Fuzz guitar, blah blah blah...all the things that collectors of such records fetishize and covet. I wouldn't refuse a copy, were one to cross my path for a reasonable price, but it's not a patch on today's single in my humble opinon.

* popsike: a collector term for pop and rock records with elements of psychedelic rock, but reined in just enough to qualify as a chart-friendly item.
** grail: any record that a collector has desired and searched for without fulfillment for longer than 20 minutes.

John Winfield Jr. appears to have given up on the music biz, post-1966; if he's one of the 40 or so men with his name living in California, I hope his is being, and has been, a happy life. And good luck getting "Laugh" out of your head. As earworms go, it's a great one.

Tomorrow: more unsuual sounds from Southern California: the outsider country music of Honey Bee, via an obscure release on the Ikon label--also from 1966.

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Comments

  1. DeanSeptember 5, 2026 at 10:44 AM

    Thanks for the obscure and fun post, Frank! "Laugh" shares some "vocal hook DNA" with the later "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" by Crazy Elephant, and Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer." And the second cut is actually really growing on me! I think there's a pretty affecting song buried in this particular quirky arrangement/recording...wish I could hear a little more stripped down version...maybe something like was done in Keith's "98.6."

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  2. Bill H.September 5, 2026 at 7:51 PM

    Two cool songs set smack dab in the "Sounds of 1966."(Add echo here.) I was surprised to find that Winfield's "She Passes This Way" preceded The Hollies' "Bus Stop" by half a year. Like minds... "Laugh" does have much the same point as the Beau Brummell's 1964 hit "Laugh Laugh" —the age old story of the joke's on you, baby. "Laugh" does have that stand-out 12=string frenetic acoustic guitar instrumental in the middle.

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