posted 11/6/2007 6:00:43 PM

Ron Matelic, Anonymous & J. Rider

by Patrick Lundborg

You can’t keep great music down. No matter how humbly recorded, or how obscure its first appearance, anything truly creative and original will survive and in time reach its audience.

Few LPs illustrate this phenomena as well as “Inside The Shadow” by Indianapolis band Anonymous. Originally released as a very limited pressing in 1976, and briefly made available again in 1981, its dazzling contents weren’t really discovered outside the hometown borders until the 1990s. In the last 15 years the Anonymous legend has grown slowly but steadily, nourished by a couple of reissues, but even more so by its intrinsic quality, which has recruited fans in circles wider than the usual collectors of rare local releases. At the same time, many of its admirers are unaware that the Anonymous album is just one facet of a long musical career that goes back to the early 1960s, with excellent (yet obscure) music created at almost every turn.

The main creative force behind Anonymous was songwriter-vocalist-guitarist Ron Matelic, who formed his first band in the pre-Beatle days (1963), playing instrumental surf music. As the members left high school, the band evolved into Sir Winston & the Commons, who adopted “the new sound from England” and became one of the biggest groups in mid-1960s Indianapolis. On the strength of two outstanding 45s, Sir Winston & the Commons have become famous among garage fans today, appearing on retrospective releases such as Back From The Grave vol 3, Hoosier Hotshots, and a 4-track EP from Sundazed.

The band's first recording was a 45 track called "Thunder & Lightning", as backing band to local solo act Rojay Goatee. This was followed by their first real 45, the legendary "We're Gonna Love"/"Come Back Again", with the B-side written by Ron Matelic. Energetic live shows helped the band become quite popular in the region, although the 45 wasn’t a commercial success. This was equally true for their second and more folkrock-psychedelic style 45 "One Last Chance"/"Not The Spirit Of India" in 1967, with the atmospheric B-side written by Matelic. Sir Winston & the Commons occasionally left Indiana to play in Chicago, New York and toured in California before breaking up in the late 1960s.

As a previously undocumented post script to their story, ex-Commons member Herb Crawford put out a 45 as International Grapefruite, featuring a Ron Matelic composition on one side. “Every Night” is a good track with a definite ring of the westcoast-influenced style that Matelic would embrace in the 1970s, although he professes no involvement with the release of this obscure 45.

After Sir Winston & the Commons, Ron Matelic would continue to write and perform music with various local bands during the early 1970s, often in collaboration with ex-Commons drummer John Medvescek. The seeds for what would become Anonymous had already been sown:

RON MATELIC: “We met Marsha and her sister, Patty, through another mutual friend. Around the last year of Sir Winston [circa 1969], we used to go their house for informal gatherings. I would take my acoustic guitar and our good friend and roadie at the time, Geoff Gould, would take his. We would would sit around and sing songs, mainly Beatles, Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Marsha could sing the high harmonies right off the bat so it was a lot of fun and, for a while, turned in to almost a nightly affair. That's how we first started singing together.”

The bass player Glenn Weaver joined the frey in a similar manner:

RON: “Marsha had joined a band called Madison Zane that was formed by former Sir Winston member, Joe Stout. I think John played drums for them for a while. At some point, Glenn became the band's bass player and I joined the band for a short time so that's how I met Glenn. We were musically connected in a lot of ways. He was a huge Grateful Dead fan and loved Jack Cassidy of the Airplane and Hot Tuna. He also liked Neil Young a lot and Fleetwood Mac. He made me aware of the Buckingham/Nicks album and I was hooked on them. He also liked writing songs, so we wrote a couple of things together. He, John and I started to jam on Sunday afternoons and those jams turned somewhat into the Anonymous album.”

"Inside The Shadow" came out in 1976 on the Milwaukee-based A Major Label, which also had releases by artists such as Major Arcana, and was founded by Jim Spencer.

RON: “Jim Spencer was a good friend of mine who used to live down the street from me in Indy. We used to write songs together. He could write a song at the drop of a hat and was always eager to co-write with me. He eventually got married and moved to Milwaukee but managed to stay in touch. He did some albums and then gave me the opportunity to record an album. Anonymous was never really a playing band. We started jamming on Sunday afternoons and eventually I wrote most of what would become the Anonymous album. I owe that to Jim Spencer - a true artist. I was deeply saddened when he died unexpectedly.”

One of the most striking things about the Anonymous LP is the natural, organic feel it has, which has led some to believe it was recorded "live in the studio". This wasn’t really the case:

RON: “The bass, drums and rhythm guitar were recorded first. Some of the guitar leads may have been included in that, but mainly the other guitars were overdubbed. We did all the instrumental portions in one day. We went back a few weeks later and added the vocals. We had practiced the harmonies with the instrumental tracks, so the vocals were also done in one day as I recall. I know it was only an 8 track machine so we had to mix down some of the instrumentals before we had the vocal track availability so that's where some of the album's weak sound comes from - generation loss. That may be part of the reason for the 'live' feel.”

Only 300 copies were pressed of the 1976 release, making it almost impossible to find today. A few years later Jim Spencer made some money on a children’s album, and used part of the profits to produce a second pressing of “Inside The Shadow”, with an altered front cover. Again, only 300 copies were made. After this 1981 re-print the Anonymous album seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth for the next 10 years or so, a well-kept secret among a few record collectors in possession of copies. The 1990s revival was gradual and hardly set the world on fire, but over time reissues appeared, word of mouth got around, and the circle of fans kept growing wider and wider. In 2007 it is considered a classic among local 1970s albums.

Q: What are your feelings about the Anonymous LP today?

RON: “I don't think about it too much. It's only because of people like yourself that the subject even comes up. I guess I feel proud of the good reviews it has produced and if it stirred a few musical souls, well, then that's a good thing. I wish I had all the copies I sold for $5, trying to get rid of them. Who knew? But then they may not have made their way into a lot of lives. I am truly grateful for that opportunity.”

As an effect of the growing interest in Anonymous, Matelic’s subsequent recording project J Rider also saw a posthumous release of their recordings, originally laid down in an Indianapolis studio 1977. The J Rider (named after a song on “Inside The Shadow”) sound is similar to Anonymous, both in terms of songwriting and band setting. Unlike the earlier project however, J Rider did play local live gigs.

RON: “We formed the band J Rider after we did the Anonymous album and added another guitarist, Justin Garriot. We didn't play very much, but it sounded pretty good. During one particular 2 or 3 day gig there was a argumentive band 'blow out', and Glenn quit the band. We eventually met bassist Greg Reynolds who joined the band and has played bass with myself and John to this day. He also remains a close friend. He, Marsha and myself formed an acoustic group at one point, and played a few shows. As far as J Rider, Marsha was married and became pregnant so she left the band, and Justin eventually left. But the 3 remaining members, John, Greg and myself kept going, but essentally abandoned the original tunes in order to get some paying gigs.”

Q: Do you recall how much time was spent in the studio for the J Rider recordings? Were the sessions different in any way to the Anonymous sessions?

RON: I think the instrumentals were also done in one day. Most of Justin's leads were recorded simultaneously with the basic tracks, but a few were done afterward. I also added a few parts. This studio was much better and we added the vocals later.

In recent years Ron Matelic went into the studio to record some new material, which is strongly reminiscent of the melodic westcoast style of Anonymous and J Rider, and indeed features the same circle of musical friends once more. Several of the tracks are outstanding and likely to delight any fans of the earlier projects.

RON: These songs were played by a combination of John, Greg, Marsha and myself. There was another added percussionist, Mark Cutsinger, on one song, and Geoff Gould sang a harmony part on one. Five of the songs were originally recorded with only John on drums and myself on rhythm guitar. Another five had Greg on bass. Some of the songs are all me except for the drums. I didn't particularly care for that arrangement, but I was the only one available at the time. The album would be called "Lunar Escapades" (editors note: the title was later changed to 'Lunar Dust'). I hope to add a track or two. The current recorded titles are "Blue Moon Delight"; "Carry Me Over" ; "Quartet + 1"; "Silent Sunrise"; "Renegade Heart"; "It Isn't Any Trouble"; "Look Out Your Window"; "Love On"; "Moon Horizon"; "M-Day Dream".

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