The Merced Blue Notes

Formed in 1956 in their mid-teens to back Roddy Jackson (but never on record), the band was sponsored by the local Civitan Club at the urging of Fire Chief George Coolures. A blues-loving harmonica player (heard on Do The Pig and Fragile), "Chief" Coolures guided his young charges toward more originals and R&B, even joining them onstage after Jackson left. By the summer of 1960, after some personnel and name changes, the band was set as the Merced Blue Notes