How do you turn a regular song into a party song? Record a party.

The number of rock & roll bands formed by teenagers grew exponentially in the early to mid 1960s, and this growth also led to greater diversity. Brothers Lawrence and John were Mexican-Americans who grew up in San Gabriel, CA, just east of Los Angeles. Like many other bands tagged with the garage rock appellation, they started playing in their actual home garage.

Having dubbed themselves The Premiers, the brothers and their bandmates played weddings, parties, and anywhere else that would let them make a teenage racket. They were a jukebox band, playing all the hits of the day with a ragged enthusiasm.

The boys’ mother encouraged their musical aspirations and managed to get them an audition with Billy Cardenas, a manager and producer who had worked with other up and coming Chicano artists in the Los Angeles area. In 1964, Cardenas signed the group and suggested they record a cover of an obscure R&B song from 1959 called “Farmer John.” He hoped The Premiers could replicate the success of “Louie, Louie” by The Kingsmen, a big hit from the previous year which also rocked up an old R&B song.

The boys headed into the studio and bashed their way through a rough and ready version. But Cardenas and co-producer Eddie Davis wanted something more raucous, a party on the record that would create an instant party wherever it was played. To that end, they repeated a trick they had employed on a single by another group and threw a “party” at the studio. Cardenas invited members of the all-girl Chevelles Car Club in Los Angeles to join The Premiers in the studio, and as the tape played, everyone joined in with whoops and hollers and singalongs over The Premiers’ original recording.

“Farmer John” now sounded like a live recording at a house party, and when the single came out in March of 1964, it shimmied its way into the US Top 20. The group appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, TV’s #1 music show, and followed that with a national tour. Further success proved elusive, however, and the band never made the charts again. But they served as pioneers for a Chicano music scene in Los Angeles that grew in popularity in the ensuing decades and left behind a garage rock classic as their legacy.

So have a little chat with Farmer John… and The Premiers.