What started out as a school joke turned into a three year run from 1965-67 for The Apocryphals. While attending Morton East High School, three classmates were asked to create a class project. In an era when The Beatles were kings, they decided to create a parody band, calling themselves The Weasels. The project was so popular, their drama teacher Bill Hammack suggested they perform the skit as a school assembly. Adding a fourth member, buying Beatle wigs and having one of their mothers make Beatle jackets they performed one song and the students loved it. Next they played a school sock hop.
That was the impetus for the foursome to actually become a band. But they needed a more creative name. The drama teacher who inspired the project in the first place came up with one – The Apocryphals – Neal Sordelli (guitar), Joe Mantegna (bass, vocals), Tom Massari (drums) and Chris Montegna (guitar, vocals). As they started as a parody of The Beatles, the definition of the band’s name describes their initial intent, an adjective describing a situation “of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as true.”
During the heyday of the Chicago teen club circuit came The Apocryphals became regulars on the circuit at clubs like the Blue Village, Jaguar, Deep End and Cellar and as an opening act at The Cheetah and Aragon.
Bass player Joe Mantegna remembers one event in particular. They were playing a battle of the bands in Berwyn. “There was someone standing in front of the stage looking at us,” and later commenting on how well he liked the band. “So we invited him to come sit in on the recording of our first single. We let him play tambourine.” That person was Jim Peterik of the Ides of March.
Mentored by their drama teacher, they self-produced their first single “Bernadine” b/w “Gloomy Sunday” (Cannon) in 1965. While they played at the teen clubs, no one quite knew how to properly spell the band’s name and it was often wrong in the promotional materials.
As their popularity grew, Joe Sugarman brought them to a “more established” record label, Tommy Jones’ MAD Records. Sugarman acted in an unofficial role as the group’s manager (going on to his own fame as inventor of Blu Blocker sunglasses). Over the next two years, MAD released three singles which generally consisted of covers of hits by The Temptations, Miracles and Eddie Floyd.
And while the records failed to garner any commercial acclaim, they helped solidify their credibility and popularity continuing to play clubs, American Legion halls and ballrooms. “Our success was from the fact that we knew how to fit our music to the audience,” says Mantegna. They even had a fan club.
That led to the band moving to the U.S.A. label, a local record company that was gobbling up local Chicago bands enjoying success at the time with the likes of The Buckinghams. They re-cut their original record “Gloomy Sunday” and coupled it with a cover of “Tossin’ and Turnin’”.
During their tenure, they were also close friends with another Chicago band – The Missing Links (members including future Chicago Transit Authority personnel including Terry Kath and Danny Seraphine).
“We were playing the Cheetah and they came by to see us,” recalls Mantegna. “They said they were starting a new band with Terry (Kath) moving from bass to lead guitar and adding horns to become a seven piece. I told them they had to be nuts,” as the money the bands made in those days was not enough to support seven members. All remained friends as members of both bands attended DePaul University. Mantegna remained at DePaul and went on to a successful acting career. And the Missing Links added James Pankow (trombone) Lee Loughne (trumpet) and Robert Lamm (keyboards) and ultimately became the Chicago Transit Authority – better known today simply as Chicago.
In 1973, Sordelli was in a trio HorseFly with John Rankin (bass) and Denny Gurin (drums).
Massari says he “is Creator of Energy Meditation Music,” and involved in healing and meditation.
Mantegna launched his acting career as a member of the Chicago company of the Broadway hit “Hair” in 1969. He then joined the Organic Theatre Company, one of the early experimental companies in Chicago’s “Off-Loop Theatre” scene of the 1970s. With them he helped bring to the stage such hits as “Bleacher Bums” and “Bloody Bess.” He also taught acting at Columbia College Chicago. His career went national when he appeared in “Working,” Stephen Schwartz’s musical adaptation of Studs Terkel’s book, which opened at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre before transferring to Broadway. His fame skyrocketed when he won the Tony Award for his performance in “Glengarry Glen Ross” by David Mamet, who also started his career in Chicago at the same time as Mantegna.
Mantegna has gone on to be a popular actor, as his run on the TV crime drama Criminal Minds has moved into its 14thfinal season. He is currently director of the theatrical production “I’m Not a Comedian…I’m Lenny Bruce” at the Royal George Theater in Chicago. He has had two streets in Chicago named in his honor – in 2017 Chicago dedicated Joe Mantegna Way on a section of Armitage Avenue where he lived in his early days of acting; and with an honorary street sign “Joe Mantegna Boulevard” on the northeast corner of Austin Boulevard and 25th Street in front of his alma mater.
And Mantegna takes pride in his days with The Apocryphals, even still owning the car the group used in their press photo as a fond memory.
Discography
Bernadine b/w Gloomy Sunday (Cannon CA 1001/1002) 1965
Baby, I Know I’m Losing You b/w Mickey’s Monkey (MAD 1203)
Listen to “Baby, I Know I’m Losing You” – https://youtu.be/RR08kdvwIB0
All Alone Am I b/w Knock On Wood (MAD 1204)
Listen to “All Alone Am I” – https://youtu.be/CEZtw2zrTTo
Little Man b/w Images (MAD 1205)
Listen to “Little Man” – https://youtu.be/fhdYFvacI0M
Listen to “Images” – https://youtu.be/r6q2S4ig7gU
Gloomy Sunday b/w Tossin’ N Turnin’ (USA 846)
Here’s a video recollection from Tom Massari – https://youtu.be/CEZtw2zrTTo