1970
Prior to the arrival of Bub Thomas on the scene, Neel Tyree (Bunster Freely Quartet)  originally had a quartet for the park from the Manhattan Beach Chapter (Neel on bari, tenor Steve Dix, bass Herman Engen (The Supersonics,) and possibly Warren Grant (The Terpsichords,) on lead. Eventually Neel assembled another group which had more songs and a more polished routine that worked regularly on weekends in 1969 (Neel on bari, tenor Mel Brown, lead Dick Kneeland and Bruce Brann on bass. Later entertainment manager Sonny Anderson asked Neel to work Bub Thomas into the quartet. Sonny had been a drummer in the '40s and '50s at Club Moderne (Long Beach) and the Colony Club (Gardena) where Bub's quartets had performed and at Bub's nightclub Roaring 20's in Torrance.