Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap is a pop rock group from San Diego, United States, active from 1967 to 1971. The group is led by singer Gary Puckett and includes Mutha Withem, Dwight Bement, Kerry Chater and Paul Wheatbread.

Formation and early line-up

The group begins as The Outcasts, a local hard rock band formed by Puckett after he quits college in San Diego and plays in several local bands. Puckett grows up in Yakima, Washington, near Union Gap, and also lives in Twin Falls, Idaho. He starts playing guitar in his teens and graduates from Twin Falls High School before moving to California. The Outcasts include Kerry Chater on bass, Gary “Mutha” Withem on keyboards, Dwight Bement on tenor saxophone and Paul Wheatbread on drums. In 1966 the band tours the Pacific Northwest without Wheatbread, who is working as house drummer on the television series Where the Action Is before later returning to the group.

Rename, image and recording contract

Under manager Dick Badger, the band becomes The Union Gap in early 1967 and adopts Union Army-style Civil War uniforms as a visual gimmick. A demo reaches CBS producer and songwriter Jerry Fuller, who signs the group to Columbia Records after being struck by Puckett’s baritone voice and the band’s softer rock approach.

Chart success

Their first single, “Woman, Woman,” is recorded in August 1967 and becomes their first hit, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold disc. It is followed over the next two years by “Young Girl” and “Lady Willpower,” both reaching number 2, “Over You” at number 7, and “Don’t Give In To Him” at number 15. Fuller produces these records and writes “Young Girl,” “Lady Willpower” and “Over You.” “Young Girl” reaches number 1 in the UK singles chart and is later reissued there, where it reaches number 6. “Young Girl” becomes the group’s second million-selling single, while “Lady Willpower” and “Over You” also receive gold discs.

Later years

The group heads a White House reception for Prince Charles and also performs at Disneyland in 1968. It receives a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1969, losing to José Feliciano. Puckett wants the group to write and produce its own material and resents singing Fuller’s power ballads. In 1969 Fuller prepares a 40-piece studio orchestra for a new song, but Puckett and the band refuse to record it and the session is cancelled, ending Fuller’s work with the group. The band returns to the charts with “This Girl Is a Woman Now,” produced by Dick Glasser, but later singles do not reach the Billboard Top 40.

Personnel changes and split

Kerry Chater and Gary “Mutha” Withem leave the band, and Dwight Bement moves to bass guitar while Barry McCoy joins on keyboards and Richard Gabriel on horn. In 1970 Puckett begins recording as a solo act, but the Union Gap continues as his live backing band until they are dismissed after an appearance at the 1971 Orange County Fair. His recording contract ends the following year.

Recognition

In 2009 Gary Puckett & The Union Gap is inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.