Rare ’60s Chicago garage rock from Arlington Heights’ The Cellar unearthed in new album of vintage vinyl

also hugely beloved,” St. John said.
• The Flock, a jazz rock band with an electric violin player who would eventually play with Chicago.
“Anything with a garage door, that’s where we stopped and set up and played,” St. John said. “Some of the bands (on the album) are ones I’ve never even heard of. Some of them, like The Flock, we never crossed paths. but I knew of them playing down South.”
Guitarist Keith Allen was on most of those bands’ drums on the album.“He used to buy his drums with the money he’d earn delivering the Daily Herald,” St. John said. “And his mom would let him put rocks in his drums and flatten his snare drum, too.”
Before he was the CEO of ENTA, the genetics testing and counseling nonprofit, St. John was a cabinetmaker by trade — and he’d make some of those drums, too.It all adds up to a lot of shared memories among those who knew each other at The Cellar, but St. John said that’s hardly the end of the tale.
He recalls going to the Chicago International Amphitheatre and The Kinetic Playground in Chicago’s Uptown to see the big names play. But other than one-off shows in places like DePauw University’s basketball gym, he remembers few venues in the northwest suburbs other than The Cellar.
“The Cellar was that place,” he said. “The music was about to ‘bro, then what are you going to do?’”

Overall, the new album provides a unique glimpse into the history of Arlington Heights’ music scene in the 1960s. The collection of rare tracks from bands that performed at The Cellar sheds light on the local talent that otherwise may have been forgotten, and pays tribute to the era where these musicians got their start. Through the efforts of individuals like Bill St. John, Sean Hoffman, and Pete Kuehl, the memories and music of The Cellar and its bands live on, allowing new generations to appreciate the once-vibrant scene that existed in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. By preserving these songs and stories, the album ensures that the legacy of this influential time in music history endures for years to come.