The Montclairs performance of "Come Back Home" from the movie FEELIN' GOOD is now posted on YouTube

September 26, 2016 - James A. Pike, president of Pike Productions, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts, who wrote, produced and directed the 1966 color, widescreen feature film, FEELIN' GOOD, asked his son, Travis, who had already begun writing eight songs for the movie, to compose two more songs for the still-to-be-determined winners of the first Massachusetts Jaycees Battle of the Bands. To that end, Travis was taken to the competition on the day, so he'd get an idea of the style and instrumentation of the ultimate winners.

According to Travis, "I had forgotten that I'd attended the Battle of the Bands until I saw a production still of me, sitting in the bleachers. I don't remember meeting The Montclairs that night, and probably didn't. I was on leave from the Naval hospital, it had been a long, damp, and chilly day, I'd been sitting for hours, and my back and ankle were screaming.

"From where I sat, away from the crowd for my own protection, I could not see The Montclairs (Benny Melanson, Tom Cooley, Johnny Ferro, Stephen Cooper, Walter Cooper and Brian Houston), the six-man band who won first prize, but I was obviously impressed by their sound. Having grown up listening to rhythm and blues, I was already familiar with the style, and these guys sounded every bit as good as anything I'd heard on my transistor radio."

When all was said and done, Travis wrote "Feelin' Good," the title song, and "Come Back Home" especially for The Montclairs, with the idea that the bluesy, R&B style ballad, would be a lyrical bookend to "Feelin' Good," and provide an excellent flip-side to a proposed 45 rpm single. And of course, The Montclairs brought 'Come Back Home,' all the way home in style.

Ultimately, Pike Productions did issue a 45 single of The Montclairs performing the "Feelin' Good" title song, but the flip-side was "Don't Hurt Me Again" one of the songs performed by Travis Pike and the Brattle Street East, a song Travis re-recorded with his brother, Adam, for his FEELIN' BETTER CD in 2014, when it was believed the movie and all its songs were lost.

Preparing this press release, we were surprised to discover that on October 25th, 2015, "Ginger Breadman" uploaded this original 1966 FEELIN' GOOD 45 rpm version of "Don't Hurt Me Again" to Youtube. If you let it run after the first song, The Montclairs recording of "Feelin' Good" will play, too.

Click the images above to view the photos, view the movie clips or hear the songs. For review copies, contact infoatotherworldcottage.com