Tracklist front / back album covers
"Let's Talk About Girls" (Manny Freiser) – 2:30
"In the Midnight Hour" (Steve Cropper, Wilson Pickett) – 4:26
"Come On" (Chuck Berry) – 1:50
"Dark Side of the Mushroom" (Bill Cooper, Richard Podolor) – 2:26
"Hot Dusty Roads" (Steve Stills) – 2:26
"Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)" (Don Bennett, Ethon McElroy) – 2:24
"Gone and Passes By" (David Aguilar) – 3:09
"No Way Out" (Ed Cobb) – 2:25
"Expo 2000" (Podolor) – 2:33
"Gossamer Wings" (Bennett, McElroy) – 3:34
No Way Out... Plus bonus tracks
"Sweet Young Thing" (Cobb) – 2:57
"Baby Blue" (Bob Dylan) – 3:13
"Misty Lane" (Monty Siegel) – 3:16
"She Weaves a Tender Trap" (Cobb) – 2:39
"Milk Cow Blues" (Kokomo Arnold) – 2:57
"Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (Les Chadwick, Les Maguire, Freddie Marsden, Gerry Marsden) – 2:51
"Since You Broke My Heart" (Don Everly) – 2:51
"Misty Lane" (alternative take) (Siegel) – 3:06
The Chocolate Watchband Band Members / Musicians
David Aguilar – lead vocals
Gary Andrijasevich – drums
Bill Flores – bass guitar
Mark Loomis – lead guitar
Sean Tolby – rhythm guitar
Don Bennett – lead vocals
Unknown — organ
Ed Cobb – producer
Bill Cooper – engineer
Richard Podolor – engineer
No Way Out is the debut album by the American garage rock band The Chocolate Watchband, and was released in September 1967 on Tower Records. It blended both garage and psychedelic rock influences, and was marked by distorted guitar instrumentals that were early examples of protopunk. It features the band's harder-edged interpretations of songs, with only three original compositions. The album was preceded by two non-album singles, "Sweet Young Thing" and "Misty Lane", and track singles, "No Way Out" and "Are You Gonna be There (At the Love-in)". However, none of the singles managed to chart. Like its singles, No Way Out failed to reach the Billboard 200, but it established the group as a popular live act, and later became noted as a garage rock classic.
The Chocolate Watchband is an American garage rock band that formed in 1965 in Los Altos, California. The band went through several lineup changes during its existence. Combining psychedelic and garage rock components, their sound was marked by David Aguilar's lead vocals, songwriting, as well as proto-punk musical arrangements. The band's rebellious musical posture made them one of the harder-edged groups of the period with many critics labeling them as America's answer to the Rolling Stones.
The Chocolate Watchband was signed to Tower Records in 1966 and released their first single, "Sweet Young Thing", in 1967. Later in the year, the band released their debut album, No Way Out. Though the album did not chart nationally, the band had a huge following in San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1968, their second album, The Inner Mystique, was released and included the band's most popular song, a cover version of "I'm Not Like Everybody Else". By 1969, with Mark Loomis dropping out in the middle of the recording sessions, the band released a final album, One Step Beyond, however it did not include David Aguilar on vocals and was not as highly regarded or indicative of their past work. The Chocolate Watchband officially broke up in 1970 with no intent of ever reuniting again.
The Chocolate Watchband Band Members / Musicians
Danny Phay - lead vocals (1965; 1968–69)
David Aguilar - lead vocals, harmonica, keyboards, guitars, synths (1966–67; 1999–present)
Bill Flores - bass, backing vocals (1966–69; 1999–2001)
Mark Loomis - lead guitar, keyboards (1965–67; 1968–69)
Sean Tolby - rhythm guitar (1966–67; 1968–69)
Gary Andrijasevich - drums, backing vocals (1965–67; 1968–69; 1999–present)
Chris Flinders - lead vocals (1967)
Tim Abbott - lead guitar (1967; 1999–present)[
Mark Whittaker - drums (1967)
Ned Torney - guitar (1965; 2003-2004; keyboards 1968-69)
Michael Reese - guitar (1999–2001)
Alec Palao - bass, backing vocals (2001–present)
Derek See - guitar, vocals, keyboards (2015-present)
Jo Kemling - keyboards (1965–66)
Rich Young - bass (1965)
Daryl Hooper - keyboards, guitar (2012-2015)
The Chocolate Watchband Discography Full
1967 "Sweet Young Thing" b/w "Baby Blue"
1967 "Misty Lane" b/w "She Weaves a Tender Trap"
1967 "Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)" b/w "No Way Out"
Studio Albums
1967 No Way Out
1968 The Inner Mystique
1969 One Step Beyond
2000 Get Away
2001 At the Love-In Live!
2012 Revolutions Reinvented
2019 This Is My Voice
Compilations
1983 The Best of the Chocolate Watchband
1984 Forty Four
2005 Melts in Your Brain... Not On Your Wrist!
