The Swingin' Machine

1960s garage punk band from Portsmouth, Virginia. The precursor to The Swinging Machine (The Chevelles) was formed in 1963 by high school friends. The band’s first paid performance was a dance at Willard Junior High School, Norfolk. The band met with little success, but three members Evan Pierce, Jr (lead guitar), Richard (Dick) H. Bocock (drums), and W. Steven (Steve) Curling (saxophone) didn’t let that stop them. Evan had the good fortune to meet Esdras ben Lubin at Old Dominion University (at that time Old Dominion College), where they became friends and, eventually, roommates at an off-campus apartment. Esdras was with the group The Wanderers as lead guitar, but was looking for a change. Evan was only too happy to hand over lead guitar duties to Esdras and switch to bass with the creation of a new group. Esdras didn’t care for the name Chevelles (naming bands after hot cars had been the rage but was passe) and suggested that we use the title of a tune by Mose Allison: The Swinging Machine. While The Chevelles had played a lot of west coast surfer tunes, Esdras expanded the repertoire of The Swinging Machine with songs by Ray Charles, James Brown, and other popular black artists. TSM became well known playing for fraternity parties at ODU (especially Imps), with Esdras providing vocals.