The Dunwich Label was owned by Chicagoan Bill Traut, and initially distributed by Atco. Well known as a manager and promoter in Chicago in the mid-1960s, Traut latched onto the Shadows of Knight when they were playing teen nightclubs in their suburban hometown, Arlington Heights. Chicago disc jockey Clark Weber mentioned to Traut in 1966 that if he could find a "clean" version of Van Morrison's "Gloria" (which had been out by Morrison's group, Them, but censored off the airwaves), he could sell a million. Traut took him up on it and had the Shadows of Knight record it in a "teen-clean" vein, and it indeed sold a million, putting both the group and Dunwich Records on the map.


The Shadows of Knight had the world in their palm from the time "Gloria" hit in early spring, 1966, until the end of the year. It was their year. The original recording lineup for the Shadows of Knight was Jim Sohns (lead vocal), Warren Rogers (lead guitar), Jerry McGeorge (rhythm guitar), Joe Kelley (bass), and Tom Schiffour (drums). Their followup to "Gloria" was "Oh, Yeah," a Bo Diddley oldie that appeared on the first album as a completely different take from the snappy 45 version released in early summer, 1966. The Shadows continued to put hard-driving records onto the mid-reaches of the national charts, but high on the local Chicago charts. "Bad Little Woman," released in late summer, was followed by a psychedelic version of "Willie Jean," the old folk tune, and then in December by "I'm Gonna Make You Mine," two-plus minutes of fuzz guitar and growling lyrics like "I'm gonna take, girl, and you're gonna give."

By the fall of 1966, the second album was issued. Kelley and Rogers had switched instrumental roles, Kelley taking over lead guitar. Although their second album, Bad Little Woman, didn't chart nationally, it was a blockbuster of rock-blues, arguably even better than their excellent debut album. Both have since become collectors' items. Soon after the album was cut, Rogers left the band due to personal problems, and for various reasons the band took a nose-dive off the charts, both national and local, and essentially broke up.

Jim Sohns found other musicians to back him in a new group, resurrecting the name Shadows of Knight with Kasenetz-Katz in 1968, and scoring with "Shake" on the Super-K label. In fact, Sohns became one of the generic, nameless lead singers used by Kasenetz and Katz on their formula bubblegum records on the Buddah label. By 1970, he was back at Atco for a one-shot single, but the curtain had come down on the group's chart career. During the 1990s, the Shadows of Knight have made appearances in Chicago, where they are always warmly welcomed.

Traut also recorded other Chicago bands, such as the Byzantine Empire, who he signed to Amy/Mala/Bell. Byzantine Empire bassist/vocalist/writer (now attorney) Bruce Kerr recently wrote to us with the following insights. "Bill Traut was our band's producer for two years, 1968-69. We first were called the Five Bucks, then changed to Byzantine Empire when we went with Bill. We'd played Chicago summers and Ann Arbor, MI, winters where we were in college (U of Mich.), in '68. Bill signed us as his follow on to success with the American Breed ("Bend Me, Shape Me"). He signed us to Amy/Mala/Bell Records, released three 45s (four original songs, two covers). Bill had his downtown Chicago hotel piano playing buddy, Eddie Higgins, and another guy, Bobbie Schiff do the studio production with us. Bill always played it by the book, very fair and open. (His being a lawyer from the University of Wisconsin Law School landed me following in his footsteps there in '69 when the band graduated.) By the way, he also signed REO Speedwagon and Styx. I don't have all the details of that, but by then he had moved to L.A."

In 1970, from California, Traut released a compilation of Dunwich material on a various artists compilation on the Happy Tiger label. Bob Irwin's Sundazed label has reissued both the Shadows of Knight albums on CD in the late 1990s.

The label on the first Dunwich album [Dunwich 666/S666] is a purplish pink with black printing. On the Gloria album, the figure of a woman playing a musical instrument is a black ink drawing, with "IT'S DUNWICH MAN" in a yellow cartoon speech balloon above the center hole. The drawing of the woman is cut off on the bottom by a horizontal line running about an inch below the center of the record label. On the Bad Little Woman album [Dunwich 667/S667], the figure of the woman has changed to a black and white photo, and is not cut off by the horizontal line, which is no longer on the label. The label color on the second album is red. At the bottom of the label for both is "DISTRIBUTED BY ATCO RECORD SALES 1841 BROADWAY, NY., N.Y." Promotional copies of the label were white with black print, with the same graphics.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail at dunwich@bsnpubs.com. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Atlantic Records. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 2000 by Mike Callahan.