1960s Northfield Garage Rock: The Night Crawlers

I was having a chat with an old guy the other day and we came to the subject of local bands that were active in the 1960s. A former student of Carleton College in the ‘60s, he brought up a band that I hadn’t heard of yet–The Night Crawlers. 

The Night Crawlers were a band formed in Northfield, MN in 1965 made up of students from Carleton College and evidently Owatonna High School, too. The lineup consisted of Marc Reigel (Class of ‘67) on piano and organ, Mark Headington (Class of ‘67) on bass, Mike Jines on guitar, Bill Redeker on drums, and Barry Gillespie on vocals.

 

Image taken by David Gray during 1965-1967 uploaded by Carl Grad on Flickr

They released only one 45 in 1966 with the songs “You Say” written by Barry Gillespie and “Night Crawlin’” written by Marc Reigel and Mark Headington. It’s not bad garage rock at all, though it leans more toward folk-rock and has a jangle-pop quality that makes this single stand out a bit more stylistically compared to the other Twin Cities garage bands of the time. 

The Night Crawlers also have a Facebook page and despite having disbanded have gotten back together multiple times throughout the years. There's also a great album of pictures from then and now of the band taken by David Gray and Ken Wedding uploaded on Flickr. 

You Say/Night Crawlin’ (1966)