Zanesville, 1966-9
One Way Street (Note - they billed themselves as One Way Street not Streets, the record was wrong) was started in early 1966 by Terry Mace and Bill Malcom. It was Terry's idea to start the band and he recrutied the musicians, starting with Bill, whom Terry had met hanging out at the music store where Terry worked. The first line-up included Bill Malcom (Bass, formerly with the Hangmen), Mike Zimmerman (Drums), Terry Mace, Tom Miller (all from Zanesville), Rick Yarnell (Lead Guitar) and Sonny Dickens (Guitar and Vocals) from Cambridge. Shortly after the band was working Tom Miller left, and they were just left with the 5 of them. Terry was a couple years older than the other members and he hustled for gigs, pushed the band to practice daily, and secured the financial backing. The financial backing was provided by Dr. Ben Jilliote, a 'real great guy' according to Terry. Dr. Jilliote had his attorney available for legal advice. They played around at local dances and such for a few months and decided they needed to cut a record to sell at their gigs. Terry Mace worked at a music store and it is though a contact there that they got in contact with Rev. Brian Jones at Sunrise Studios in Hamilton, Ohio.
They now needed a couple of songs to record so they penned the now classic "We All Love Peanut Butter". Contrary to popular belief the song is not about an acid trip, but rather a tongue and cheek song about 2 teens shooting up with peanut butter. They had recently read about the Kentucky teens in a newspaper article. The other song they chose was the song "Jack The Ripper", originally recorded by UK/European acts Screaming Lord Sutch and Casey Jones and the Governors. It was Sonny Dickens who brought this song to the band and he played it off as his own. Sonny had just recently moved to the USA from Germany and must have heard the song over there. The other band members had no idea that it wasn't an original.
The day of the recording Terry Mace had to work so only the other 4 members loaded into Sonny Dickens' mom's station wagon to head to Hamilton. After recording these great tracks of teen madness, it has been reported that they packed up their stuff and in the process lifted a $100 microphone in the process. Band members confirmed that it was possible one of the band members may have taken the mic, but if so, what comes around goes around! In 1967 they opened a show for the Blues Magoos and after returning from the gig they found out that the Magoos made off with one of their $100 mics! They did play both songs live as part of their set.
Anyone familiar with the recording of "We All Love Peanut Butter" was probably wondering what the actual words are. The song as recorded says this:
People On Earth They're Gonna Die
Boys Just Die and Girls They Die
You And I Will Tahe A Trip Now
And Do The Things That Superman Did Now
We'll Take A Feather And Fly It For A Loop
Maybe Do A Swan Dive From A Roof
Some Say It's A Craze And Some Say I'm A Nut
Peanuts Are Nice But The Acid Is Rare
With Your Butt On Hands Thats Written On The Page
With The Atom Bomb You'll Be Up In A Cage
My Story Is Coming Close To An End
Make Sure It's A Story And Not Your Best Friend
However, Terry recollects the original words to be:
People On Earth They're Gonna Know
Boys Just Die and Girls They Cry
You And I Will Take A Trip Now
And Do The Things That Superman Did Now
We'll Take A Feather And Fly It For A Loop
Maybe Do A Swan Dive From A Roof
Some Say It's A Craze And Some Say I'm A Nut
Peanuts Are Nice But The Acid Is Rare
With Pen In Hand It's Written On The Page
With The Atom Bomb You'll Be Up In A Cage
My Story Is Coming Close To An End
Make Sure It's A Story And Not Your Best Friend
Sonny would on occasion forget (not always unintentionally) the original lyrics and ad lib his own, which was the case on the recording.
After a few post-recording gigs the line-up changed again. This time Terry Mace departed the band. He said he knew that he would never be a good musician so he became their manager. Also around this time they also parted company with the singer Sonny Dickens. When Sonny left John Smith became a member of the One Way Street. From what the band has said John was a gifted musician and songwriter. Throughout 1967 Terry Mace was working hard to promote and book the band. He landed an endorsement with the Goya Guitar Company and they in turn furnished them with all their equipment. They were listed in several Goya brochures and catalogues in 1967 and 1968, as using Goya equipment. Previously, on the 45, lead was a Chet Atkins Gretsch, Bass was a Fender, the other guitar was a Stratocaster, Fender Amps, and Shure Mics. The band's set included the usual songs by the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, and later, Cream, Hendrix, Young Rascals, and Buckingmhams.
On August 5th, 1967 One Way Street went into a still unconfirmed recording studio in Columbus (most likely it was Musicol, or Magnetic) and recorded a 10 song demo tape of 9 originals and 1 cover. They shopped the tape around to record companies but no one was interested. John Smith departed the band to concentrate on his studies at collage. The band went through some more personnel changes in 1968, Mike Zimmerman got drafted and Terry Demattei was his replacement. They also added a keyboard player, Jim Eveland, and a bass player, Philip Matz. By 1969 One Way Street had run its course with the founding members Bill Malcom and Rick Yarnell heading to college. They disbanded in mid 1969.
Story and research by Matt Baker