Gary Puckett & The Union Gap - Young Girl (1968) STEREO

Back in the 1960s brought to all of us some great male and female singers, instrumentalists, bands and much more... One of these bands or groups was Gary Pucket and the Union Gap... I came across them today as I was previewing material... for today's early Afternoon Music Interlude, I give you Gary Puckett and the Union Gap performing "Young Girl"! I bet most of you older folks will remember them well...

Background:
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (initially credited as The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett) was an American pop rock group active in the late 1960s. The group, formed by Gary Puckett, Gary 'Mutha' Withem, Dwight Bement, Kerry Chater and Paul Wheatbread, who eventually named it The Union Gap, had its biggest hits with "Woman, Woman", Young Girl", "Lady Willpower", "Over You", "Don't Give In to Him, and "This Girl Is a Woman Now". The members featured costumes that were based on the Union Army uniforms worn during the American Civil War. Jerry Fuller gave the act a recording contract with Columbia Records. The group eventually grew unhappy with doing material written and produced by others, leading them to stop working with Fuller. The band eventually disbanded, and Puckett went on to do both solo work and collaborations.

The group’s lead singer, Gary Puckett, was born on October 17, 1942, in Hibbing, Minnesota, and grew up in Yakima, Washington – close to Union Gap – and Twin Falls, Idaho. He began playing guitar in his teens, graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1960, and attended college in San Diego, California. There, he dropped out of college and played in several local bands before joining the Outcasts, a local hard rock group, which produced two singles, but they were unsuccessful.

Following the breakup of the Outcasts, Puckett formed a new group he called Gary and the Remarkables, comprising bassist Kerry Chater (born August 7, 1945, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), keyboardist Gary 'Mutha' Withem (born August 22, 1944, San Diego), tenor saxophonist Dwight Bement (born December 28, 1945, San Diego), and drummer Paul Wheatbread (born February 8, 1946, San Diego).

In 1966, the band toured the Pacific Northwest without Wheatbread, who was recruited as the house drummer on the television series, Where the Action Is; he later rejoined the line-up. Under manager Dick Badger, the team was renamed The Union Gap in early 1967, and its members outfitted themselves in Union Army-style Civil War uniforms as a visual gimmick. They then recorded a demo, which was heard by CBS record producer and songwriter Jerry Fuller. Impressed by Puckett's tenor voice and the band's soft rock leanings, Fuller signed them to a recording contract with Columbia Records.

The band recorded their first single "Woman, Woman", a song about a man's fears that his female partner might be considering infidelity, that had been written and composed by Jim Glaser and Jimmy Payne, in August 1967. It became their first hit, reaching No. 3 in Cashbox and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was quickly certified as a million-selling Gold disc.

LYRICS:

"Young Girl"

Young girl
Get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run, girl
You're much too young, girl

With all the charms of a woman
You've kept the secret of your youth
You led me to believe you're old enough
To give me Love
And now it hurts to know the truth

Whoa, oh, oh, young girl
Get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run, girl
You're much too young, girl

Beneath your perfume and make-up
You're just a baby in disguise
And though you know that it's wrong to be
Alone with me
That come on look is in your eyes

Whoa, oh, oh, young girl
Get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run, girl
You're much too young, girl

So hurry home to your mama
I'm sure she wonders where you are
Get out of here before I have the time
To change my mind
'Cause I'm afraid we'll go too far

Whoa, oh, oh, young girl
Get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run, girl
You're much too young, girl

Young girl
Get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run, girl
You're much too young, girl

Young girl
Get out of my mind
My love for you

Writer(s): Jerry Fuller