The Montaris

While no evidence turned up to support Farfisa tickler Chris Slatinsky’s claim that Plattsburg, Missouri’s Montaris was named after a computer on Star Trek, the quintet’s ripping version of Love’s “7 And 7 Is” is confirmation that the Montaris were the town’s first proto-punk band. Helmed by singer Dave Tinnen and filled out by guitarist Tommy Barnett, bassist Lowell Hartrell, and drummer John Mabry, all the Montaris were doing hard time at Plattsburg High.

Skip Tinnen had big dreams for his son, and paid for the July, 1967, Cavern session on spec. With no originals prepared, the Montaris set down serviceable versions of the Yardbirds’ “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” and Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” alongside Every Mother’s Son’s “Come On Down To My Boat”—#3 on the Billboard charts when Cavern reels rolled. Dave Tinnen selected “7 And 7 Is,” and the other Montaris did their level best to keep up with his frenetic, Arthur Lee-inspired pace. But while they managed to follow Tinnen in the studio, the rest of the group was a few years younger, and upon his leaving for college in the fall of ’68, the Montaris fell out of time.