The Apostles Pt 3 aka I'm Back! (cough...)

Greetings all! I have returned (but more on that later...) What's more important, is that the saga of the mystery band The Apostles and the uber funky track 'Six Pack' (as blogged here back on January 23rd) carries on to yet another iteration, this time carrying with it more information (and a question). While I was infirmed, I recieved the following e-mail communique: "Larry, I wish to set the record straight regarding the Apostles. My name is Bob Rogger from St. Louis, Missouri. I was the drummer for the Apostles on all of our recordings including Six Pack. My stage name was Bob Regan. I formed a band known as Bob Regan and the Renegades in 1964. It was a very popular band with a horn section. We worked with Buster Jones of KATZ radio, a singer and recording artist. Upon his departure from St. Louis, I and the Renegades hooked up with Chuck Cunningham also with Katz radio and he got us a show backing the "Esquires" (Get on Up). In 1967 I merged the Renegades with the then small group known as the Apostles. Bill "Bunky" Shepard promoter and manger of The Esquires, Gene Chandler, Tyrone Davis and more recorded our first single "Soulful" at the studois of Oliver Sain here in St. Louis. When Chuck Cunnigham Left St. Louis for another radio market I asked Donnie "Soulfinger" Brooks to be our new promoter. He did and he was responsible for us recording Six Pack. He owned a Night Club called The Twenty Grand in Gaslight Square where we backed such performers as Gene Chandler, Tyrone Davis, Rufus Thomas, Eddie Floyd, Barbara Mason and The Delfonics to name only a few. We were an all white band as Joe said:Bob Rogger (Regan) Drummer & Former Renegade, Chuck Klein, Bass player and originator of The Apostles, Mike Menke, Lead Guitar who joined the Apostles one week before me, Gary Scott, Organ and Horns & former Renegade, Mark Trentmann, Tenor Sax & former Renegade, Bob Hoffarth, Trombone & former Renegade, Jim Kalbfeld, Trumpet, & former Renegade. These are the musicians performing on all our recordings.As you can see I had a great influence on the group and would never have left it but......at the ultimate peek of our success, I and the terrific guitar player you enjoy, were drafted into the United States Army during Viet Nam. The Apostles tour which I negociated through Bob Youri of Columbia Records and which Joe speaks of would not include Mike and myself. I was first replaced by Jerry Zehnle as the drummer and he was replaced by Joe. I have so many memories and friends from this experience and my son John helps me keep those wonderful memories alive.I am so thrilled that you have posted this for all the world to see and I would be happy to answer any questions about us that anyone including yourself might have. Thank you Mr. Grogan. " You're quite welcome Mr. Rogger. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that posting a track as obscure (and high quality) as 'Six Pack' would elicit not one, but two responses from members of the band. This is the kind of info I would have killed for for the Funky16Corners web zine (pictures and everything!). Normally I would have had to beat the bushes, e-mailing connection after connection to get this kind of stuff. I post the tune on my blog and it all falls into my lap. Go figure. Anyway, if you go back and read the letter I got from Joe Pipitone back on January 30th, and compare it to the letter from Mr. Rogger, there seems to be some disagreement between these former Apostles in regard to who was in the band and when (though most of the key facts seem to line up). Would it be too much to ask for a third Apostle to approach the Funky16Corners blog from neutral territory and get things into line?? And in other news, I have returned. First of all, I’d like to thank all of those that sent get well messages. They were much appreciated. Things went pretty much as expected, but during the surgery my back got injured and I spent the better part of a week crying like a baby and getting pumped full of SERIOUS pain medicine. So much so that I was barely lucid enough (or physically able) to sit down at the computer and produce coherent sentences. Today is really the first time I’ve been able to think and type enough at the same time to get anything posted here, and I figured the new Apostles update would be the way to do it. Sometime this week I will definitely get some new MP3s and info posted, and hopefully by next week I’ll be back on my old schedule. In the meantime, bear with me (please). Thanks Larry