Thursday, May 24, 2018

543: 10 Forgotten Bands From The Golden Age of Rock!

Yes, I lived through that time. The years after the British Invasion and before anyone heard the term "disco." During these years old record producers would say,"I don't know what it is, but let's give it a try" and that led to the most productive era n music. With such a wealth of music, many bands never had the chance to crack the top 20...or 100 for that fact, but they still deserve a listen, so here we go with

10 The Molochs - Night At The Possum
09 Mount Rushmore - I´m Coming Home
08 Shiva's Head Band - Come With Me
07 Space Farm - Gypsy Queen
06 Merryweather - Mrs. Robert's Son
05 Song - Banana High Noon
04. A.B. Skhy - Camel Back
03 Sweet Linda Devine - I Love My Dog
02 Stoneground - Added Attraction (Come And See Me)
01 Appaloosa - Now That I Want You



10  Moloch is are a pioneering Memphis blues-rock band led by the exceptional guitar player Lee Baker, released its sole album at Ardent in 1970. They promoted the release of this album by playing a show with Iggy Pop and MC5 at the New York State Pavilion. However, their sound is purely 12 bar-blues with delta slide guitar, harmonica, frenzied guitar solos and tight drumming. Moloch was highly influenced by Blue Cheer, Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Faces and countless other blues-influenced 60's rock groups. The band was first to release the song, Going Down, made famous by Freddie King and covered by countless other bands. Lee Baker,who learned guitar from Mississippi Fred McDowell, went on to produce and play guitar on Alex Chilton and Big Star's swan song Big Star 3rd.

09  Mount Rushmore was a rock band in the late 1960s from San Francisco, California that played a heavy blues rock style with psychedelic elements. They formed in early 1967 in the Haight-Ashbury district. In June and July 1967 they were featured on posters for shows at the Avalon Ballroom with many other bands including The Doors, Procol Harum, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Grateful Dead, Steve Miller, Santana, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. In June 1967 Mount Rushmore the KFRC Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival one week before Monterey Pop Festival which is considered the world's first "Rock Festival". The group made only two albums.


08 Shiva's Head Band was an early Texas psychedelic rock band that formed in Austin in 1967. Original members included fiddler Spencer Perskin and his wife Susan, keyboardist Shawn Siegel, guitarists Kenny Parker and Bob Tom Reed and drummer Jerry Barnett. The group was the house band at the Vulcan Gas Company, a late 1960s Austin nightcluband was credited with a significant role in the founding of the Armadillo World Headquarters as the first band to play the hollowed hall.  In 1973, the band had an onscreen performance in the film, The Thief Who Came to Dinner, starring Ryan O'Neal and Jacqueline Bisset.

07 Space Farm was formed in 1971 in New Zealand. The band only played together for two years and included Glen Absolum on drums, Harvey Mann on guitar, Billy Williams on bass, and Bob Gillette on saxophone. They only recorded one album for Zodiac Records which was largely ignored by the public, but the band continued to pull crowds and they remained at the forefront of the underground movement until their demise in 1973. Towards the end of the band, Harvey began to forego drugs and alcohol and these changes were reflected in his song writing and performances. After the group ended, Harvey took a sabbatical and when he returned to the scene it was as a member of the Krishna faith.

06 Merryweather  was a late 1960s Canadian rock band that relocated to California in the autumn of 1968 and recorded for Capitol Records. Before the release of the band’s  debut album, Neil Lillie changed his surname to become Neil Merryweather. The band’s second was recorded in Los Angeles and included guest players Steve Miller, Barry Goldberg and Charlie Musselwhite, and Dave Mason. The group was advertised as playing at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood with Mountain on July 29, 1969. Most of the band subsequently formed Salt 'N' Pepper with Rick James.

05 Song formed in 1969, recorded and released one album in 1970, and were history within a year. The band featured Mickey Rooney's son, Mickey, Jr. and are quite delightful sounding like Badfinger, the Nazz and Merry-Go-Round all rolled into one.  Pretty much pure power pop, but they also featured  heavier rock and jazz infused tracks that veer away from it. The musicianship is solid.







04. A.B. Skhy  formed in Milwaukee in the late 1960s as New Blues, the band comprised Dennis Geyer (guitar, vocals), Jim Marcotte (bass guitar), Terry Anderson (drums), and Howard Wales (keyboards). Wales had previously played with  James Brown and Freddie King. After they relocated to San Francisco, the band  changed its name to A.B. Skhy and  built a following withtheir live performances.  After the band split members went on to play with Harvey Mandel, Jerry Garcia, and The Grateful Dead.

03 Sweet Linda Devine was Linda "Tui" Tillery,an American singer, percussionist, producer, songwriter, and music arranger. She began her professional singing career at age 19 with the Bay Area rock band The Loading Zone. As early as 1968, Tillery was performing as a solo artist around the Bay Area under the name Sweet Linda Divine. She signed with CBS Records and released her debut album titled Sweet Linda Divine in 1970 , produced by Al Kooper who also played piano, organ and horns on selected songs. Tillery provided lead vocals and played percussion on the recording, which garnered some enthusiastic reviews but did not sell well. The album earned Tillery two consecutive "Jammies" (Bay Area Jazz Awards) for Outstanding Female Vocalist.

02 Stoneground was formed in 1970 in the San Francisco suburb of Concord, California. The original lineup consisted of Tim Barnes (guitars, vocals), Luther Bildt (guitars, vocals), and Mike Mau (drums) but it expanded to a 10-piece band by the time of their eponymous 1971 debut album. The group appeared in two films, Medicine Ball Caravan (1971) and Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972). The band was a "traveling house band" for the movie, Medicine Ball Caravan, which documented the 8,000 mile cross-country trip by 154 people in a "hippie caravan" of buses, trucks and musical groups, was directed by François Reichenbach—with Martin Scorsese as associate producer—and released in 1971.


01 Appaloosa defied classification. Led by John Parker Compton and Robin Batteau, the band performed in record A and R man, Al Kooper's outer office as an audition. Here is the link to the album's liner notes which explains things muck better than I: http://www.richieunterberger.com/appaloosa.html

Sweet, sweet music!

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