Running with the Devils in Itaewon, 1968-70

Larry Tressler performing with the Devils (and the girl group Happy Dolls) at Seoul Citizens' Hall, June 1970. (Courtesy of Larry Tressler.)

A decade or more ago, I bought CD reissues of the first two LPs by the Devils, a Korean rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was surprised to see, in the accompanying booklet, photos of the band with an American. “Who in the world is he?” I wondered. In 2022, I found out it was Larry Tressler, and conversations with him (on Facebook, email, and in person during his visit to Korea in October) provided the basis for my latest Korea Times article.

Not included in the article is this list of songs (covers) that the band used to play:

From what I remember, some of the songs in our normal set included:

Proud Mary – Ike and Tina Turner

Soul Man – Sam & Dave

Security – Otis Redding

I’ve Been Loving You Too Long – Otis Redding

Na Na Hey Hey, Kiss Him Good bye – Steam 

Land of a Thousand Dances – Wilson Pickett

96 Tears – Question Mark & the Mysterians

Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf

Everyday People – Sly & the Family Stone

Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Get Back – The Beatles

Evil Ways - Santana

Dock of The Bay – Otis Redding

My Girl – The Temptations

I Got That Feeling – James Brown

Arirang (Sung by me, the American, in Korean)

하얀집 / White House [based on the 1968 song ‘Casa Bianca’ by Marisa Sannia, and sung by the Pearl Sisters] - it was classic back then - with a rock beat.  

Nima – Pearl Sisters

Released in late 1968, the latter song was the first rock(ish) song to become a hit in Korea, making the Pearl Sisters and songwriter/guitarist Shin Joong-hyun hugely popular and ushering in the age of Americanized pop music in Korea.

Many thanks to Larry for sharing so many of his memories.

[Note: The Devils were unique due to their focus on soul music, though covers of such music are absent from their LPs (their first album only features a cover of 'Proud Mary'). A number of the rock bands that had come out of the US Eighth Army stage (미군무대) scene recorded English-language covers of rock songs such as the Key Boys (Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild") and Shin Joong-hyun and the Questions (Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"), or devoted entire sides of their LPs to covers, such as He6 ("Proud Mary," Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," The Archie's "Feeling So Good", Fifth Dimension's "Aquarius Let The Sunshine In," and Santana's "Evil Ways"), Trippers (Santana's "Evil Ways," CCR's "Molina," Tony Orlando and Dawn's "Knock Three Times," the Archie's "Feeling so good," and Glen Campbell's "By the Time I get to Phoenix"), and the Pearl Sisters (though they sang their covers of songs like Scott McKenzie's "If you're going to San Francisco" or the Temptations' "Get Ready" in Korean).]