Pat Farrell

This Pennsylvania-based '60s band released a couple of singles for the Diamond label, and was fronted by Pat Farrell (real name Pat Sickafus). The group was originally called the Triumphs, and they were briefly known as the Razor's Edge before settling on Pat Farrell and the Believers. Sickafus wrote most of the Believers' songs, which were much too pop to be comfortably described as "garage." Many of them were pop-rock ballads, sometimes with a tinge of country, that sounded rather close to early-'60s pre-Beatles pop-rock crooning, though scattered numbers like "Gotta Find Her" and "Bad Woman" had an organ-driven, frat-rockish soul-rock sound. Their melodramatic late-'60s single "War Boy" had a little bit of chart success, but nothing else was in the offing for the act prior to their 1969 breakup. The band's two singles, plus a bunch of unreleased originals and Pat Sickafus demos, were compiled for CD release in 1998. Sickafus eventually changed his name to Pat Garrett and made some country recordings, including a hit for Polygram in the early 1980s, "Sexy Old Lady." ~ Richie Unterberger