The Ravens

The Pacifics (the Raven’s first name)

Dates: 1964 - 65

Band Members: Ray Renz, Moffit (lead guitar), Mel Bauer, Moffit (lead rhythm player), Alan “Cousy” Moch, Hazelton (drums), Duke Rosendahl, Hazleton (2nd rhythm player), and Harvey Jahner, Hazelton (bass guitar).

Instrumental 50’s and 60’s rock (no vocals)

 

Ray and Mel were playing with a band called the Pacifics along with two other musicians out of Bismarck in 1963. The two musicians from Bismarck quit the group in early 1963. Right around the same time frame, Cousy was learning to play the drums and had been jamming with some guys from Hazelton. Ray stopped by and listened to the jam, joining in and showing the younger guitarists a few tricks and chords. A few weeks later Ray and his brother Bobby and cousin Kenny decided to play for the high school talent show in Hazelton and since they needed a drummer, Ray suggested giving Moch a try at practice. The quartet ended up winning third place in the show, playing the Venture’s instrumentals Ghost Riders in the Sky and Ric-a-Tic. After the show, Ray and Cousy sat down and brainstormed. The two decided to start a new rock band. Ray said he could bring a real good rhythm player into the group (Mel Bauer) and Cousy said he would look for another rhythm player and a bass player. Excited about the prospects of forming a rock band, Cousy headed down town to tell his buddy Duke about it. Duke was sleeping at the time and Cousy ran upstairs, woke him up and said, “Hey Duke, do you want to be in a band”? Without hesitation or explanation Duke rubbed his sleepy eyes and replied, “Sure”! Next up, a bass player. Cousy knew that another buddy of his had gotten a new guitar and amp as a present from his mom and brothers recently. So, Duke and Cousy headed down to Jahner’s to visit with Harvey (they figured he could play bass notes on his guitar). Harvey agreed, and to everyone’s surprise Bertha, Harvey’s mom, went out and bought him a brand new bass guitar and amp. The band practiced in Ray’s garage and readied themselves for their first gig, a Halloween dance at Moffit Hall in October 1964. Also, since Ray still had an ample amount of Pacific’s posters, the new band decided to call themselves “The Pacifics”.

Ray and the Ravens

Dates: 1965 - 67

Band Members: Ray Renz, Moffit (lead guitar - lead vocals - harmonica), Mel Bauer, Moffit (2nd lead guitar/rhythm vocals), Alan “Cousy” Moch, Hazelton (drums), Duke Rosendahl, Hazleton (rhythm player - vocals), and Harvey Jahner, Hazelton (bass guitar - vocals), and in early 1967, Allan Bosch, Hazelton (lead guitar), and Les Job, Hazelton (bass guitar).

Top Forty 60’s rock (featuring 1950’s and 60’s instrumentals)

After the first gig in late 1964, the band decided to play a talent show in Streeter during the spring of 1965. They could not use the Pacifics name because only amateurs were allowed to participate. They decided to play the show under the name of Ray and NoDaks. On the way over to Streeter, Moch suggested a new name for the group - Ray and the Ravons (Rave on being a classic Buddy Holly hit that fit with name of the groups founder, Ray. It was Harvey Jahner who first coined the name “ravens” while kidding Moch about his inspiration, and as soon as he said it everyone looked at each other and said, Ray and the Ravens - it stuck, and has stuck for 41 years. After the Streeter show and band got busy practicing (almost every Friday and Saturday until the first gig as Ray and the Ravens - an Easter dance at the American Legion Hall in Hazelton, April 1965. The band continued a very successful run for the next year and a half, playing in Moffit, Hazelton, Linton, Strasburg, Wishek, Napoleon, Bismarck, and Mobrige, Selby and Herried, South Dakota. In 1966, both Jahner and Bauer left the band, Bauer moved to the west coast and Jahner got married. In late 1967, Moch left the band and joined the Navy. Moch, Bauer and Jahner were replaced by Al (Bart) Bosch (drums) Linton, Allan Bosch, Hazelton (lead guitar), and Les Job, Hazelton (bass guitar)

1965

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