Koffee Beans “Ad Man”
Warren Marshall Raymond, 58, horticulturist and rock drummer
By Jacques Kelly (The Baltimore Sun, 2/8/2005)
Warren Marshall Raymond, a Columbia Association horticulturist and former drummer in several area bands, died of cancer Sunday at his Columbia home. He was 58.
Born in Baltimore and raised on Regester Avenue in Idlewylde, he was a 1964 graduate of Towson High School. He attended what was then Catonsville Community College.
Mr. Raymond began playing drums at age 9 and worked his way into performing with the Towson-based RaVons, and the Jetsons, which featured 1960s soul tunes.
Friends said he answered a newspaper ad that read “drummer wanted.” He became a full-time musician and played for nearly 15 years with the Koffee Beans, house band at the old Lantern in Irvington, Judge’s in Waverly and the Mardi Gras in Hamilton in the late 1960s and 1970s. The group played original songs and cover versions of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones.
Koffee Beans “Been A Long Time”
“Warren was a rock-steady drummer who could be depended on to deliver a solid beat,” said fellow Koffee Beans member and friend, Jimmy Mays. “He was also a good vocalist and was known for his excellent harmony work. It was a golden era for rock music.”
With other band members, he cut two singles, “Been a Long Time Now” in 1969 and “Orange-Colored Penguin” a year later, on the Format label and recorded at the old Bradley Studios on Howard Street. The songs were played on local radio stations, and Mr. Raymond and his group appeared on the Kirby Scott television show. The pressings sold out, but the band members made no money from the recordings.
“He was attentive to his dress and hair. He had an orange brocade Nehru jacket and later wore a leather vest,” Mr. Mays said.
Continue reading at The Baltimore Sun.
Various Artists “Psychedelic States: Maryland In The 60s” (Gear Fab Records, 2014)
I love that there was a recording studio on Howard street. I’ve always wondered where my dad’s band, The Melody Heirs, recorded their records back in the early 60’s.
This is great, I hope the history is included in the book “Baltimore Sounds”.Thank you
Good times and great music from the “Beans “. Good buddies too.
The first drummer I had a crush on. Rest in Drummer Paradise my friend.