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Even if you don't answer this WI, continue reading, because you need to know this band exists and you need to know especially if you work with alternate history of the 1960s.

The Remains were a Rock group out of Boston, who have been called the greatest group you've never heard of. They were huge on the Boston scene, were very accomplished and eclectic musicians, and were very much critically acclaimed. They were one of the opening acts for the Beatles during their 1966 US tour, and were critically reviewed as being just as good as the band they opened for. And they have been reviewed as being just as good, if not better, than many contemporaries who did make it. To quote Mark Kemp of Paste Magazine in 2007, "Had these Boston bad boys stuck it out beyond their 1966 debut, we might today be calling them--and not the Stones--the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band. As it is, The Remains most certainly are America's greatest lost band."

They very much come off like an American Beatles. They were a major local group, were four guys, were very capable and eclectic musicians, replaced their drummer shortly after they made it, played the Ed Sullivan show, were a good live band, played a place called the Rathskeller, and everyone was expecting them to make it big. Legitimately, this post should be a DBWI rather than a WI, and this post sounds like a DBWI of the Beatles.

The band was signed with Epic records, and had attempted to get signed with Capitol but were turned down. One major issue for the group was that during their recording sessions they felt they were failing to get the raw emotional energy of their live performances in the studio. Another was failing to get a hit in their albeit short run. After failing to get a hit, Barry Tashian (the group founder) decided on an emotional basis to end the group in 1966. Their self titled album was released by Epic after the band was already dissolved, with little promotion.

More can be found here
http://books.google.com/books?id=jzabxWx_vCYC&pg=PA70&dq=the+remains+boston+rock&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qGW3UcCQO4jR0wGVk4CYBA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=the%20remains%20boston%20rock&f=false
http://books.google.com/books?id=Q-...Q#v=onepage&q=the remains boston rock&f=false
http://books.google.com/books?id=1-...g#v=onepage&q=the remains boston rock&f=false

To quote AllMusic
This Boston, USA-based garage band was formed in 1964 by guitarist/vocalist Barry Tashian. Inspired by a trip to London, where he heard British groups playing material he loved - Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker - Tashian put together the Remains with Bill Briggs (keyboards), Vern Miller (bass) and Chip Damiani (drums). They made their debut in 1965 with ‘Why Do I Cry’, a melodic slice of R&B. It was succeeded by the equally persuasive ‘I Can’t Get Away’ and an assured reading of ‘Diddy Wah Diddy’, but the Remains’ crowning moment came with their fourth single, ‘Don’t Look Back’. This engaging slice of riff-laden pop was later immortalized on Lenny Kaye’s seminal 60s punk compilation, Nuggets. The Remains moved from Boston to New York in 1966, shedding Damiani in the process. Tashian now feels this undermined the dynamics of the group. N.D. Smart joined the line-up which enjoyed a support slot on the final Beatles tour before breaking up later that year. The Remains was compiled and issued following the break. Tashian and Briggs then forged the original Flying Burrito Brothers, a name later appropriated by his friend, Gram Parsons. Tashian accompanied the latter on his classic GP and Grievous Angel albums - N.D. Smart also surfaced in Parsons’ ‘road’ band - and subsequently performed with Gram’s erstwhile partner, Emmylou Harris. He now works with his wife in a country duo, Barry And Holly Tashian.
To quote Barry Tashian about their "What If"

"In hindsight, I think Epic did all they could do"..."It wasn't enough, though. You can't shove a record down the public's throat and make it a hit. They could have probably pushed our singles harder. But Epic's priority at the time were the Yardbirds, Bobby Vinton, Ed Ames, and Mike Douglas. Sure, sometimes I wonder if we'd stayed with it, what would have happened. But there's no telling. We may have never had a hit."
Perhaps some sort of progress could have been made, he acknowledges, by "merely sticking with it longer and trying to achieve some sort of balance of the live, raw intensity we had and the more muted studio techniques. If the Remains had stayed together, we would have stayed with traditional-based music, meaning rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and blues styles. I never got into psychedelic music. It was not for me. I expect our original tunes would have tried to keep within that framework, and yet try to be commercial enough to garner us a hit."
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