VIDEO SPECIAL "Ron & The Starfires" Bee Jay Video - 1967 Eric Schabacker of Bee Jay Booking Agency and Recording Studio did, what I believe to be, some of the very first music videos ever made in order to showcase the various acts he acted as agent for. Audio recorded in the original Bee Jay Studio in Orlando, FL and the video shot outside in the parking lot. • Broadband Version • 56k Modem Version

In early 1967, Charlie Brown left the Starfires to give full attention to his law studies at the University of Florida. His place in the group was filled by Muggins Willard of Groveland, Florida, an organ and piano player that was lured from the Nation Rockin' Shadows, a rival band from the Leesburg area. Muggins (his real name, although he later had it legally changed to George Clayton Weir) was an enthusiastic addition to the Starfires and worked really hard to do some of the more technical songs that we had not before been prone to attempt. The group was near it's technical peak- although it was probably at the expense of that raw edge that had characterized the Starfires for so many years.
The band's music was still about a 50/50 mix of top 40 rock and rhythm & blues made up from English and American covers with a healthy slice of Memphis soul.

After a few months, Ron & the Starfires decided to fulfill a long-time dream and added horns to the group. The first additions were two trumpets, played by Howard Shumate from Auburndale and the other was Roy "Cowboy" Burns from up around the Groveland area. This sound would prove to be a little thin and eventually the configuration was changed to locals, Howard Shumate on trumpet, Don Flentke on saxophone and Larry Howard on trombone. Larry would later become a guitarist with the notable southern rock band, Grinderswitch. It is regrettable that there are no pictures of these extended versions of the Starfires. Although the music was probably the best the group ever made, the eight-way split made for some difficult times in the money department. The band still played a lot of fraternity parties, teen centers, proms, and the occasional show.
During June, 1968, Ron & the Starfires played their first full fledged bar gig (other than some one nighters played at the Temple Bar on Friday nights in Gainesville during the fall) at Griggs’ Sword and Sirloin located in the Southland Shopping Center in Auburndale. Griggs was an upscale (for a small town) dinner club on the edge of town. But unfortunately, the restaurant was razed by fire on a Sunday morning just before the band was booked to start their second stint there that following Monday. On the positive side, they had not already loaded in their equipment for that coming week.

"Ron & The Starfires" w/ horns - Live Medley - 1967
The Martinique (Daytona) / The Auburndale Teen Center
Ron Whitney: vocals / Jesse Chambers: bass / Carl Chambers: guitar /
Allen Keefer: drums / Muggins Willard: organ, piano/
Howard Shumate: trumpet / Roy Burns: Trumpet

"Ron & The Starfires" w/ horns - Live Medley - 1968
Griggs' Sword and Sirloin - Auburndale, FL
Ron Whitney: vocals / Jesse Chambers: bass / Carl Chambers: guitar
/ Allen Keefer: drums / Muggins Willard: organ, piano /
Howard Shumate: trumpet / Larry Howard: trombone / Don Flentke: sax and flute

"Ron & The Starfires" - Bee Jay Studio Session - 1968
Produced by Eric Shaubacker
1. Be Sincere (R. Whitney) 2. The Grass Is Greener (R. Whitney)
3. You Don't Love Me Baby (Willie Cobbs)
Ron Whitney: vocals / Jesse Chambers: bass , bu vocals /
Carl Chambers: guitar, bu vocals / Allen Keefer: drums /
Muggins Willard: organ, piano /
Howard Shumate: trumpet / Larry Howard: trombone

Toward late 1968, the group dropped the horns for monetary reasons but retained Howard Shumate for a short time as a second keyboardist. [photo]  Carl Chambers left the group to play with the group "We The People" out of the Orlando/Winter Park area and was replaced on lead guitar by their former trombonist, Larry Howard.
The seventies would all but bring an end to Ron & The Starfires although most of the group did reappear in 1970 as "Cinnamon" and then again in the mid-70s as a lounge act going under the name "Matanzas".
Not until 1990 would the original band members play together again in a reunion show for the Auburndale High School Class of  '65 and again in the following year for the Class of  '61.
On January 19, 2001, the original members once again played a few tunes (to the delight of the audience) at the PolKats Reunion Show that featured many of the former Polk County residents who had gone on to make a mark on the national music scene.
In April 2001, Gear-Fab Records released the CD, "Psychedelic States: Florida in the 60s, Vol. 2" which includes the original Ron & the Starfires recording of "Why Did You Cry", along with recordings by 27 other Florida garage bands of the 60s (CD available at Amazon.com).