The Ardells was a band started by Steve Miller in 1961 when he attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In the fall of 1962, Steve lived in a rooming house at 515 North Henry St. in Madison and also pledged the Chi Psi fraternity on fraternity row near Langdon St. Steve taught another fellow student, Jos Davidson, to play rhythm guitar and then bass, and formed a campus band: Steve Miller and the Ardells. Steve was featured on guitar, vocals and harp, and played a version of Texas shuffle blues that hadn't been heard in the upper Midwest. Also featured in the band were a local 16-year-old high school piano player named Brian Friedman, and Ron Boyer a drummer who worked a day job as a manager in a local Kelly's Hamburger drive in. The band played mostly the University party circuit, plus a few gigs in Madison and local clubs and a couple of concerts and the Dane County Fairgrounds. Later, Davidson joined Corky Siegel and Jim Schwall and was the bassist for the Siegel-Schwall Band from 1964 to 1967. Later, at the end of the 62-63 school year, Steve left Madison and came down to Chicago. There, Steve was accompanied by Boz Scaggs, Micheal Krusing, Denny Berg, Ron Boyer, Ben Sidran. The group performed at local clubs in Chicago's Old Town and burgeoning blues scene through 1965 and covered a variety of song styles from the 1950s and 1960s, including Texas blues, rhythm & blues and solid rock 'n' roll. Three part vocal harmony by Miller, Scaggs and Berg was their trademark and made them one of the premier groups on campus. Steve Miller went on to form the Steve Miller Band, Boz Scaggs has an extremely distinguished vocal career and Ben Sidran became a professor of music as well as a major force in the modern day history of jazz and rock & roll. Micheal Krusing settled down to have a family and Ron Boyer runs The Village Green bar and tavern in Middleton, WI along with his wife and children..
Florida Band
The Ardells was a band from West Palm Beach, Florida that had been together since 1959: Bill Ande, Tom Condra, Vic Gray, and Dave Hieronymus. They were originally The R-Dells. In 1964, their manager —Bob Yorey— changed their name to The American Beetles as a joke, and they toured in South America, then changed names again to The Razor's Edge in 1966 and had a hit with "Let's Call It a Day Girl" on Pow! Records.
Pennsylvania Band
"The Ardells" was another band from Chester, Pennsylvania formed in the early 1960s by members Dave Hentosh and Sal Cardile. An instrumental recording by the band, "Stronger Than Dirt", appears on the garage band compilation album titled "Tougher Than Stains" and has received limited airplay on a few retro radio stations playing garage band music.
