Bobby Mason wanted to go solo and see if he could make alone. In 1966, he gave his notice to the band. Bobby would be missed very much, as he was a real showman. The Gould Brothers, decided that they didn't want to pay for the sixth man any longer and told Larry that he couldn't replace Bobby. The Illusions were reduced to a five-piece band now. Larry took over playing bass and Randy started playing lead guitar. Bobby had the master tape from the Sunset studio recording session. One of the songs on the tape was an original by him called 'People Say'. He took it to Imperial records and made a deal with them to remake it and add more horns and some female voices in the background. It was released as a single that year. By now most of the band members were married and starting families and the Pike was preparing for a redevelopment program. It was just a matter of time now until the Pike would be gone. Larry Ellis was married now and thinking more of a steady five day-a-week job. He could see that marriage and the music business were a bad combination. He chose a married life, and gave notice to the band. With Larry leaving, Randy Ritter assumed the leaders position. A short time later, Tom Brown decided to move on also. With the original band members gone and the pike slowly being shut down, the crowd started to grow smaller. By 1969, the pike was a ghost town compared to the early sixties. The Beatles dominated the music scene, and music in general had changed. The early sixties bands were getting burned out and changing careers making room for the next generation of younger, naive starry eyed musicians. Thc Pike was closed, and with it a piece of Long Beach history vanished from the scene, The Lido Ballroom.... Built before the turn of the century to accommodate horse drawn carriages bringing visitors to enjoy the activities on the boardwalk and the beautiful waves along the white sandy beaches. As time progressed, the boardwalk grew into an amusement zone with roller coasters, Ferris wheels and a bathhouse. The Lido was converted into a ballroom as soon as the horse and buggy became obsolete. Few pictures remain of the Lido from long ago, and as time goes on, fewer memories remain. The Illusions were gone, all of the members went their separate ways, and contact between them was lost. This article has very little information on the group's history from the time they disbanded up until December 1996. The story continues after December 1996. . . When Larry Ellis left The Illusions, he sold all of his equipment and took a job completely away from the music business. He and his wife Carol had two sons, Troy and Rodney. They grew up hearing mom and dad talk about the Pike and the Lido all of their lives. Rodney was looking for a Christmas gift for his father and while looking through some books on bands from long ago, he was shocked to see a picture of the Illusions in a book by John Blair called "The Illustrated Discography of Surf Music", At Christmas Larry opened the package and said in a jokingly way "I wonder if the Illusions are in here?" He was shocked when he looked at the index and found the Illusions listed. Larry turned to the page, and saw a picture of the band that was taken in front of the stage at the Lido to be passed out to people coming in the front door during the holidays in 1964. Below the picture, was a small article about the band and their records, "Jezabel and Earthquake". It went into detail concerning the fact that Jezabel was recorded without a bass It also gave the names of the band members at the time when each record was recorded. Larry was completely baffled, "how did they know this, and where did they get this picture"? He asked! Now Larry was hooked, he wouldn't rest until he unraveled this mystery. The book was published by Popular Culture, Inc. Located in Ann Arbor Michigan. The following Monday, Larry called the publisher and identifled himself as a member of the Illusions and that he would like to get in touch with the author, John Blair. The publisher wasn't very friendly toward Larry, but he finally gave in and told Larry that he would forward a letter to John if Larry would send it to him first. No time was wasted, Larry sent a letter the same day telling John that he would like to talk to him about his book and asked him how he knew all the details about the band. Larry expected a reply soon and anxiously waited. A couple of months went by, with no reply from John Blair. Larry hadn't been idle during this time; his curiosity had the best of him. In the front of the book were the names of the individuals receiving special thanks for contributing information and pictures for the book. Robert Dalley gave the picture of the Illusions to John Blair. Now Larry began searching for Robert Dalley. One day Larry and Carol were in Wenzels record shop in Downey, they went there occasionally to locate old records. While talking to the owners, Larry asked if they had ever heard of Robert Dalley? The owner said, "Sure, we have his book right here". Larry and Carol opened the book, and found the Illusions in the index. The book was called 'Surfin' Guitars' turning to the noted page, they were shocked to see several pictures of the band plus an entire story. As they read the story, the mystery started to unfold. The story was written in 1981, from an interview with Tom Brown and that's where the pictures came from. Larry asked the owners if he could buy the book from them, but they said no, because it was their only copy. They said that Robert Dalley was releasing the second edition of the book and he could call him for one. Larry got Robert Dalleys home phone number; he lived in Salt Lake City Utah. No time was wasted; Larry was on the phone as soon as he got home. Robert Dalley was glad to hear from a member of any of the bands he wrote about in his book. They spoke for a while and Robert wanted to know if Larry had any old pictures of the Illusions playing? Larry had plenty of them and told Robert that he would be glad to send him copies so he could pick the ones he wanted for future editions. Robert told Larry that their record Jezabel was re released by Rhino records on the 'Coowahunga Surf Box Set'. It was a four CD set on the history of surf music from the beginning to present day. Dalley's book was also in the 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? and that meant that the Illusions were there too. Robert Dalley was one of the major influences responsible for the rebirth of surf music in the eighties. He was the leader of the band called 'The Surf Raiders'. Larry ordered the book over the phone and asked Robert if he would autograph it for him. When the book arrived, the autograph read: To Lany & Carol, Thanks For The Boss Surfin' Sounds Of The Illusions And their Hit "Jezabel" (check out page 143) Yours in Reverb, Robert Dalley. Robert gave Larry Tom Brown's address. Tom was living in Venice Beach California, which wasn't that far from Long Beach. Larry wrote Tom a letter and as soon as it arrived, Tom called Larry and Carol. They got together the following week at Larry and Carol's house and reminisced about the sixties and what had happened between then and now. Long forgotten memories started coming back. Tom asked if Larry had a copy of the record 'Lonely Lonely Nights'? and Larry said that he never had a copy to begin with. Tom had one, but it vanished back in the late sixties. This would be the start of a rare record search for both of them. They exchanged old pictures and stories, and Tom showed Larry an album that he had found in a record store called 'Surfer's Mood' that had the flip side of 'Jezabel' on it... 'Nitemare'. The back of the LP, read: 'Nitemare / The Illusions if your still way out there and the sun's beating down on your hack... well another song's gotta come on, right? From Long Beaeh, this is the flip side of their genius "Jezabel" 45 on Round Records. That put a smile their faces, somebody actually remembered them. Tom only had one copy of the record, so Larry transferred it to cassette. Tom said that he had also lost contact with the other band members. They both wondered, what ever happened to Bobby Mason? Tom stayed involved in the music business performing with various groups and at one time he did a tour in Europe. Tom recorded with the Wedge and made some Eps' and LPs' with Rhino Records. Tom eventually settled into a management position with Rhino Records in 1981. Tom told Larr,v that Robert Dalley approached him in 1981, for an interview when he was putting together the first edition of his book. Tom was the only member of the Illusions that could be found. When the book was released, Tom thought that surely somewhere out there, one of the Illusions will read this hook and contact me. It took a very long time for that to happen. A few weeks later, Tom brought his drums over to Larry and Carol's house and they set up in the garage and played. Although Larry quit the band and the music business, he never quit playing guitar. He bought Carol a guitar and taught her how to play. They used a drum machine for a stronger sound. Later he taught one on his sons to play bass, and they would play at parties occasionally. The day that Tom brought his drums over, they made an Illusions' sign for the bass drum patterned after some old pictures. It felt good playing together again and brought back a lot of memories. Carol and Larry met at the Lido when she used to dance every weekend to the Illusions music, and now she was playing guitar and singing with them. Larry and Tom started working together to locate some rare records. Tom contacted a record collector on the East Coast, who knew a record collector on the West Coast who specialized in anything by Little Julian Herrera. Tom got his home phone number and called. His name was Steve Propes, and he had the record. Steve played it over the phone to Tom so there would be no mistake. It was a coincidence that Steve lived only a few blocks from Larry in Long Beach. Tom gave Larry Steve's phone number and he called him. Steve was a highly respected recorded collector with over twenty thousand records. Steve had a special interest in the Illusions when he found out that they recorded a record with Herrera on what could have been one of his last records. Little Julian dropped out of sight after he was arrested for unknown reasons at the peak of his career while on his way to becoming a super star. Johnny Otis was his mentor and promoting him all the way. To this day, music historians are trying to find out what happened to him and if he is dead or alive. Steve arrived at Larry's house with the record. Larry put a cassette in and recorded it. Steve interviewed Larry concerning the recording session with Herrera, it was a very long time ago and difficult to recall all the details but he tried. The 'A' side Lonely Lonely Nights, was done in two or three takes and the flip side ' I Want To Be W-th You' was probably done in two. They didn't spend that much time socializing with Herrera, and then there was the problem of not being paid. Larry couldn't give Steve very much information. Steve was also an author and was getting ready to publish another book about the bands in Southern California in the early sixties. They went through Larry's pictures and band-related posters, documents and contracts. Steve took many of them to Kinko's and made laser copies to show to his publisher. While they were at Kinko's, Larry made a copy of the record label of Lonelv Lonelv Nights, so he would know what to look for when he started searching for the record in magazines Larry made a cassette tape of all of the Illusions songs. They were all worn and scratchy except for Jezabel which was restored by Rhino Records, but Steve didn't care he said, it was part of music history. Larry made a copy of the tape and sent it to Tom Brown. Now Larry was hooked and determined to track down Bobby Mason and any and every record that the Illusions made or were involved in. He became a dedicated reader of Goldmine magazine for record collectors. The 'Surfn' Guitars' book noted the Illusions Discography, on the last page of their story. It listed the two 45 records and the Cowabunga Surf Box Set and a remake of People Say by Bobby Mason with Imperial records. It also mentioned two albums: 'Surfers Mood ' and 'Diggin' Out '. The EP and LP by the Wedge were noted because Tom Brown was the drummer on them. Larry didn't know about the remake of People Say until Tom told him. Tom only saw the record briefly after it was released in 1966, but he never had one. The LP 'Diggin' Out' was rare and Tom had never seen it. Larry started going through each and every issue of Goldmine with a fine toothcomb looking for all of these records. He mailed out dozens of post cards and twice as many e-mail letters. It paid offi He found a copy of 'Little Julian Herrera's', Lonely Lonely Nights on the Essar (1012) Label. A record dealer in Tacoma Washington had it for sale. Larry wanted two copies so he could give one to Tom Brown. It just so happened that there were only two available at $25.00 each, a very rare record. Larry bought them and when they arrived, they were in mint condition unlike Steve Propes record which was a little worn. He put the record on the turntable to hear the difference in quality and to record it so that he wouldn't have to play it again, keeping it in mint condition. There was no doubt that this was the record Lonely Lonely Nights by Little Julian Herrera and the Illusions but, something was different about it compared to Steve Prope's copy. He took it off and put on the other copy. It was also different. The lead guitar on Propes copy was more in the background and the Iyrics on the second verse were different than Larry's copy. The flip side was the same as Propes copy. Larry called Tom to tell him the good news about finding the record and to tell him that his copy would be in the mail tomorrow and also to tell him about the difference between Steve Propes record and the one from Tacoma. Tom works in the music business and explained it as just one of those things that happen now and then when too many hands get in the pot in the final mixing of a record. Somebody probably liked one cut better than the other, and ended up using both of the takes on the same record It still had Larry puzzled, but he had to move on and started looking for People Say again. People Say was written by Bobby in 1964, and was on the acetate recorded at the Sunset recording studio. Larry had a copy of the acetate and Tom also had one. They were probably the only copies remaining after all the years and they were extremely worn. On the flip side of 'People Say Bobby recorded a jazz standard called 'Laura', using studio musicians. He sounded a little like Ray Charles on this one. July 5, 1997, Larry receives a letter from John Blair: My pubtisher forwarded your letter to me. I see it was dated back in December. I got it several days ago, so I'm not sure what took the publisher so damn long! The letter went on and said that Johns band; Jon & The Nightriders recorded a version of "Earthquake" on their CD, "Fiberglass Rocket" John was curious about the details on the original recording of the song by Marlow Stewart and the Illusions. Larry wrote the complete story of how the record originated live at the Lido and mailed it to John and thanked him for writing. Then Larry hurried over to the local record store and bought a copy of John's CD. The Nightriders version of Earthquake sounded great. It was recorded in a studio with excellent recording equipment compared to the live recording at the Lido. John Blair had Marlow Stewart's first record 'Riptide' listed as the all time worst surf record. He wrote that The Illusions made Marlow sound surprisingly on-target on their recording of Earthquake. It wasn't long before Larry found a copy of the LP 'Surfer's Mood' listed in Goldmine. He ordered it, and it was in near mint condition. Now the search for 'Diggin' Out', and Bobby Mason's remake of 'People Say' would be top priority. Finding a copy of 'People Say ' on the Imperial label was beginning to seem impossible. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. One day Larry received a letter from a rare record dealer in New Jersey. He opened it and found a photo copy of the record with a note that read "I found it, Send money order for $15.00, and if 's yours." Larry called the dealer hoping that he would have two copies so he could give one to Tom Brown. Only one record was available. The dealer (Val Shivley) was curious why Larry wanted two copies, so Larry briefly told him about The Illusions, and was surprised that Val had heard of them. He told Larry that he would keep an eye out for another copy. The record arrived a week later. It was in mint condition. Larry played it once and taped it, so it would be preserved. It sounded clear and alive unlike the old scratchy records in Larry's collection. Imperial added some horns and female background voices, and they also eliminated Roy's sax solo so they could shorten the record. Never the less, it still sounded good. He mailed a taped copy to Tom Brown. Everything seemed to be coming together for Larry in his quest for The Illusions music. One day Larry and Carol went to a rare record store in the city of Orange called Mr. C's. They were looking for the LP 'Diggin' Out'. The clerk asked what they were looking for, and Larry told him he was looking for an old surf music LP called 'Diggin' Out'. He said he didn't have it but he had other surf music albums. Larry asked if he had albums with The Illusions on it? He wanted to know why he was interested in The Illusions. Larry told him that he was one of The Illusions. At that time, the clerk pulled out a 45' record and said, "I've got your record 'Jezabel ' righf here " He put it on the turn table and played it. Larry and Carol just stood there stunned and listened. When it was over, he said, "You can buy it for $80. 00 ". Larry said, " I cam't afford to buy that record, even if it is the Illusions. The clerk opened up a book called 'Goldmine's record collector's price guide'. He showed Larry the page with 'Jezabel' listed for $80.00 in near mint condition and less depending on the shape it's in. Larry bought the book when he got home, and started cataloging all of his old 45' records. He was surprised to see how many of them were worth some money. Larry was sending away for every free catalog he could find in Goldmine searching for 'Diggin' Out'. He was beginning to wonder if there were any Gopies left. Then one day two catalogs arrived in the mail from different dealers. One of them was from Eugene Oregon, and the other one from New York. Both of them had 'Diggin ' Out' listed for sale. Larry thought he would ensure getting at least one of them if he sent away for one from each dealer. He sent them both a check for the LP. A few weeks went by with no response. Carol called the bank to see if the checks were cashed. The one in Oregon had, but the one in New York had not. Larry called the dealer in Oregon, and found out that the record was lost and then found by the post office and returned to him. He apologized for the mistake, and told Larry that he would have the album within three days. Now Larry called Norton Records in New York. Their catalog had a picture of the LP. And 'Jezabel ' was the lead song on side one. Below the picture the following was written: "The best surf compilation ever, " sez customers world-over! This check had never cleared the bank, so Larry thought that maybe they never received it.