The Half Dozen

The Half Dozen was a popular Long Island, New York rock group from 1963 to 1966. The original lineup consisted of Joe Beneke on lead vocals, Mark Vetter on lead guitar and vocals, Allan Sherman on rhythm guitar, Tony Carlone on bass guitar, Danny Kochinsky on organ, and Tommy Ladd on drums. In 1965, Beneke decided to replace Mark Vetter with Dave Belser and Tony Carlone with Les Butnick from Commack, New York. The group didn't write any of their own material, but were regarded as one of the greatest Long Island teen groups and were successful enough to open up for The Vagrants at Commack North High School in 1966. The group rearranged many popular tunes of the day, such as "Devil With The Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly" by Mitch Ryder, "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown, "Signed D.C." by Love and "Get Out of My Life, Woman" by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The group disbanded in 1966 after singer Beneke tragically died in a car accident.

	1. 21-03-2009 17:45
	Some of the information and timelines are incorrect. The Half Dozen was a band formed with some members of a group known as the Escorts. The Half Dozen started playing in 1965 with Joe Beneke as lead singer, Ricky Bohr on lead guitar, Clay Cottrell on rhythm, me, Les Butnick on bass, Danny Kulchinsky on organ and Tommy Ladd on drums. We won a Battle of the Bands on Long Island and as a result, got local recognition and bookings with the WMCA Good Guy shows with Jack Spector. We played with the Leslie West and the Vagrants, The Critters, The Standells, Shangri-las, Lenny Welch and many others. Joe Beneke did start writing original material which we recorded along with many covers at a recording session at a radio station on Long Island. We also played Murray the K's World with the 5 Illusions (later the Illusion) and the Happenings or Jay and the Americans (it was a long time ago). Dave Belser and Mark Vetter later joined the group replacing Ricky Bohr and Clay Cottrell. The group disbanded in May 1967 after Joe Beneke was killed in an auto accident. Guest