Goin to Clarksdale, Mississippi
The Mississippi experience: http://tinyurl.com/34pa39ur
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November 11, 2012 by Bob Netherton – The Los Angeles based Hardwater was a quartet of two guitars, bass and drums, who released just one album of psychedelic pop in 1968. Perhaps this was a case of the wrong band at the wrong time. Even though this was released on a major label (Columbia), it quickly disappeared into obscurity, and that is a genuine shame. The 10 tracks on the album contain some of the best psych pop of the era, yet few know them by the name Hardwater. This is ironic as they were once one of the more popular surf rock bands of the decade: The Astronauts.
Between 1963 and 1967, The Astronauts produced nine albums of surf rock, some instrumental and some with vocals. They also made appearances in at least four movies, such as Wild on the Beach. One such performance comes from Surf Party, and one of their more creative pieces, Firewater. Rich Fifield is the one to the left of the drummer who has the sweater on when the camera is facing him and off when the camera is behind the band.
As popular music was getting more creative, thanks in large part to the psychedelic bands on the west coast, The Astronauts relocated from their home in Boulder, Colorado to Los Angeles. Having already recorded several songs by Boyce and Hart, the band tried out for The Monkees, but were unable to pursue that opportunity when RCA wouldn’t let them out of their contract.
They recorded a single under the name Sunshine Ward, but when guitarist Mark Bretz left, they changed their name again, this time to Hardwater. Now a quartet of Rich Fifield (guitar, vocals), Pedro Wyant (guitar), Rob McClerren (bass) and Tony Murillo (drums), they were soon signed to CBS Records. David Axelrod (Lou Rawls, Canonball Adderley and The Electric Prunes) produced their sole record, squeezing every bit of West Coast psych out of them. The result is a brilliant piece of psych pop, with more than enough to thrill a fan of Moby Grape, The Electric Prunes or even Buffalo Springfield.
The opening track is a long two part medley and firmly establishes them as Buffalo Springfield influenced West Coast psych, with layered vocal harmonies, some killer fuzz guitar leads, and a twangy rhythm guitar….. MORE
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/hxc2affy
References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Astronauts_(band)
| January 15, 2023 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Dentist Beast, Sugarloaf, The Electric Prunes, The Moonrakers, Three Dog Night, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band |
Super Band – A Forgotten Colorado 60s Rock Band
Listing Of Some Of The Main Characters (plus a simplified index of their bands):
Roger Bryant – Beast, Super Band, Diamondhead
Jerry Corbetta – The Brambles, The Moonrakers, The Half Doesn’t. Chocolate Hair, Sugarloaf, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, The Classic Rock All Stars
Bob MacVittie – The Moonrakers, The Vaqueros, Beggar’s Opera Company, The Classics, Sugarloaf, Brother Sun
Ron Morgan – The Wild Ones, Super Band, The Leather Souls, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Electric Prunes, Three Dog Night
Bobby Pickett – Maul & The Cut-ups, Sugarloaf, Detective
Myron Pollock – The Galaxies, Super Band, Big Bird & The Steam Shovel, Chocolate Hair, Orange, The Daily Planet, Sugarloaf
Bob Raymond – The Soul Survivors, The Vaqueros, The Esquires, Beggar’s Opera Company, Chocolate Hair, Sugarloaf
Bob Webber – The Moonrakers, The Vaqueros, Beggar’s Opera Company, The Classics, Chocolate Hair, Sugarloaf
Richard Whetstone – Climax, Mayfield Spinning Wheel, The Electric Prunes, Stallion Thumrock
Bob Yeazel – Super Band, The Leather Souls, Beast, Sugarloaf, Diamondhead, Brother Sun
The Electric Prunes: Then Came The Dawn
Complete Recordings 1966-1969, 6CD Box Set
ORDER: https://tinyurl.com/47zs89ub
The Electric Prunes: Then Came The Dawn – Complete Recordings 1966-1969, 6CD Box SetElectric Prunes (The)
ORDER: https://tinyurl.com/47zs89ub
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/qIVAfDap_v4
Video preview from Roy Delaine Moore’s new album titled “Mountain Tracks” recorded at SCPrecording.com, produced (mixed & mastered) by Bob Webber.
The CD new release from Roy Delaine Moore was produced by Bob Webber and recorded at Sugarloaf Canyon Productions studio – located in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, west of Denver. The ten song selection is the first release from Mountain Trax Records, 
and it features several special guest musicians who contributed to all ten of the tracks performed by Roy Delaine Moore. Nine of the ten songs are originals written by Roy Delaine Moore.
Song styles fall into multiple flavors of American roots music, which many currently refer to as Americana music – country rock, folk and blues…and according to Roy, “Not necessarily in one camp or another.”
Website: www.roydelainemoore.com
Podcast: http://www.scpdigitalrecording.com/scp-podcasts.html
Bob Webber, a previous and founding member of Sugarloaf (Band), has launched a new Colorado recording studio in the nearby Denver foothills. His international recognition and experience, as the guitarist with Sugarloaf, on the hit recordings of Green Eyed Lady and Don’t Call Us, has proved to be a valuable launching ground for his new venture: Sugarloaf Canyon Productions in the Colorado foothills near Denver
Bob explains the evolution of his new studio: “Initially, the studio I put together was a project studio, with enough room to produce stringed instruments, groups, singer/songwriters, vocal over-dubs, enabling me to record the tunes that I have written and wanted to record. I was naturally interested in this process because of my passion for the art of mixing – taking raw tracks and turning them into a record. The need for a studio became apparent after the last album I was evolved with, where six musicians were in my living room for a recording session (6 to 12 hrs each) on sixteen different occasions. I needed to get them out of the living area into a separate area – that’s how the studio is evolving…”
As a recent inductee into Colorado’s Music Hall of Fame, Bob has parlayed his hit making recording experience, by producing, engineering, and mastering with his state-
of-the-art Pro Tools & UAD-2 system, and has already produced several albums by Colorado artists.
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Additional Notes and Background Links:
The Colorado Music Hall of Fame, currently located in the 1stBank Center concert venue, has been created to honor those individuals who have made outstanding contributions, to preserve and protect historical artifacts, and to educate the public regarding everything that’s great about our state’s musical history.
– damprock Blog –
John Susi, a Colorado Winemaker and owner/winemaker at J. Susi Winery in the Colorado area, has migrated to Tennessee, where he is now the head winemaker at Natchez Hills Vineyard, Hampshire Tn.
Early in his career, prior to being a noted winemaker, he was road manager and security for storied legends like the Rolling Stones, The Who, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top, Sugarloaf and The Electric Prunes. His travels around the world took him through many a wine country, where he discovered the art of winemaking and developed an appreciation for wine from varied regions.
“I am blessed to find myself at Natchez Hills,” John shares, “making wine in a beautiful facility that combines all of my loves in one place: music, food, wine and people. It doesn’t get any better than this!”
HARDWATER – CD Reissued 2011
Their début LP, produced by David Axelrod for Capitol Records, – released in 1968 – has been reissued by Cherry Red Records in the UK. Hardwater, a talented group of song writers and vocalists, now has their first CD from that original master almost forty years later.
The Grammy winning producer David Axelrod, whose credits included producing Cannonball Adderley, Lou Rawles, Don Randi, etc. was contracted to complete the inaugural album for the group. Two singles were launched from the album.
Cherry Red Records/TuneIn in the United Kingdom has reissued (2011) the Hardwater CD in an impressive package, full of background, stories, and history of the band, is also available through Amazon.com and Ebay. This is the first CD reissue for Hardwater’s highly-rated psychedelic rock album, produced by the legendary David Axelrod (Electric Prunes et al).The LA-based band recorded their sole album for Capitol back in 1968. Hardwater had evolved out of Denver Colorado’s premier surf band the Astronauts (RCA). Combining elements of psychedelia and
country rock, they explore the same dusty roads as The Byrds and the Buffalo Springfield. Alongside their original compositions, they seamlessly fitted in interpretations of three tracks written by John Carter and Tim Gilbert of fellow Denver band the Rainy Daze.The complete album from the master tapes for the first time on CD with copious liner notes and a plethora of rare photographs.
Band Members: Rich Fifield (Guitar & Vocals), Pete “Pedro” Wyant (Guitar),
Rob McLerran (Base & Vocals), Tony Murillo (Drums)
Additional Links: MrPedro.com | LittleJoeMclerran.com | Cherry Red Records
A 1968 recording made in Los Angles at the Sound Factory was recently sampled and the track, (along with the vocals) has found its way onto a current CD and single recorded by the legendary hip-hop/rapper/MC Rakim on his latest CD, titled The Seventh Seal (SMC).
“Here we are, some 50+ years since the original recording of Holy Are You, by the Electric Prunes, which was packaged into the 1968 LP, Release of An Oath. The last two Electric Prune CDs were re-issued in 2006. One of the tracks has resurfaced on a current hip-hop CD and a single,” says Richard Whetstone, vocalist on the original recording…”it’s hard to imagine that that album has been sampled numerous times, because the tracks were solid.” The original album has subsequently been re-released in the UK, US, and Australia in 2012.
During a time when concept albums were beginning to emerge, Release Of An Oath utilized the arrangements of David Axelrod, along with a group of top LA session musicians to complete the ’68 LP that would be re-released in 2006 on Collectors Choice Music/Rhino.
Hip-hop artist Rakim utilized the version of the original recording by the Electric Prunes on his The Seventh Seal, released in Nov. 2009. Rakim’s CD debuted in the #3 spot on the hip-hop charts.
The track is titled Holy Are You, and maintains the same title on Rakim’s CD and his first single from the CD on the SMC label. The track includes the vocal loop performed on the original 1968 recording with Earl Palmer and Carol Kaye on bass, along with Howard Roberts on guitar, Don Randi on keyboards, Pete ‘Pedro’ Wyant, guitar, etc. among other top LA session players.
The current recording of Holy Are You on The Seventh Seal by Rakim features the instrumental track, along with the vocals of Richard Whetstone from the original Electric Prune recording.
Even more ironic is concept for the original Release Of An Oath built the Kol Nidre (also known as Kol Nidrei and Kal Nidre) (Aramaic) which is an Aramaic declaration recited in the synagogue before the beginning of the evening service on every Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Though not a prayer, this dry legal formula and its ceremonial accompaniment have been charged with emotional undertones since the medieval period, creating a dramatic introduction to Yom Kippur on what is often dubbed “Kol Nidrei night”.
David Axelrod composed and conducted Release Of An Oath, working with Dave Hassinger, the Electric Prunes producer and owner of the Sound Factory. All of the material for that record was composed and arranged by David Axelrod, shortly after coming off triumphs as the producer for Lou Rawls and Cannonball Adderley. The original recording took three nights to complete and the first single to be released from the album was Holy Are You, sung by Whetstone. Add four decades, and you can now hear the hip-hop version on Rakim’s CD and single.
Resources:
YouTube Rakim Website | Sampled track comparison
| The Seventh Seal | Billboard.com
Damprock Blog 