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Cold Blood | |
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Also known as | Lydia Pense and Cold Blood |
Origin | Oakland, California, U.S. |
Genres | Rock, Urban contemporary, Blue-eyed soul, East Bay Grease |
Years active | 1969–present |
Labels | San Francisco/Atlantic (1969); Reprise (1972); Warner Bros. Records (1974); ABC (1976); Dig Music (2005) |
Members | Lydia Pense Dana Moret Fred Ross Steve Salinas Steve Dunne Evan Palmerston John Halbleib Rob Zuckerman T. Moran |
Past members | Rich Armstrong Rock Hendricks Larry Field Danny Hull Larry Jonutz Pat O'Hara Raul Matute Jerry Jonutz David Padron Rod Ellicott Frank Davis Sandy McKee Alex Sarmiento Skip Mesquite Rob Moitoza Billy Stogden Michael Sasaki |
Cold Blood is a long-standing R&B horn funk band founded by Larry Field in 1968, and was originally based in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. [1] The band has also performed and recorded under the name Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, due to the popularity of their lead singer, Lydia Pense .
The band first came to prominence in 1969 when rock impresario Bill Graham signed them after an audition, [1] and they played the Fillmore West in San Francisco. [2] Pense has been compared to Janis Joplin, and it was Joplin who recommended the audition to Graham.
The term "East Bay Grease" has been used to describe the San Francisco Bay Area's brass horn heavy funk-rock sound of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s; Cold Blood was one of the pioneer bands of this sound. [3] Another was Tower of Power. [3] The Tower of Power horn players have performed with Cold Blood on a regular basis since the early 1970s. Skip Mesquite and Mic Gillette have been members of both Tower of Power and Cold Blood. [4] [5]
The band disbanded in the late 1970s. [1] Pense suspended her music career in the early 1980s to raise her daughter Danielle, before re-forming the group in 1988. [3] The band stabilized with its current membership in the 1990s.[ citation needed ] Cold Blood continues to record and perform today, and some former band members such as Raul Matute (and some from Tower of Power) appear on the band's most recent album.
Cold Blood were featured playing "You Got Me Hummin'" live in Fillmore: The Last Days , a documentary of the last concerts at the Fillmore West auditorium during July 1971. [6]
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Original band members were founder Larry Field (lead guitar), Lydia Pense (vocals), Danny Hull (tenor saxophone and songwriter), Larry Jonutz (trumpet; born March 15, 1947), Pat O'Hara (trombone; born May 25, 1946 (?), died August 1977 of an overdose), Raul Matute (Hammond organ, piano, arranger and songwriter, born February 19, 1946), Jerry Jonutz (baritone, alto and tenor saxophone; born March 15, 1947), David Padron (trumpet; born May 4, 1946), Rod Ellicott (bass), and Frank Davis, [1] who was replaced on drums by Sandy McKee (real name Cecil James Stoltie, born July 12, 1945, died October 10, 1995) during the Sisyphus sessions.
Current personnel are Pense (vocals), Steve Salinas (keyboards), Steve Dunne (guitar), Mike Morgan (percussion), Evan Palmerston (bass), Rich Armstrong (trumpet, cornet, percussion), Rob Zuckerman (alto, tenor, baritone saxes, and flute) and Donny Baldwin (drums).
Current members | Additional personnel
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Over the years there have been various incarnations of the band, including singer/trumpet player Max Haskett (born 7 March 1947, died 15 September 1999, ex-Rubicon); Tower of Power horn player Mic Gillette; Journey keyboardist Stevie "Keys" Roseman on Hammond B-3 organ; Sons of Champlin drummer Jim Preston; Starship drummer T. Moran; guitar player Michael Sasaki (born June 24, 1951); Tower of Power guitarist Jeff Tamelier; Boz Scaggs horn player Tom Poole; Elvin Bishop sax player Bill Slais; bass player Michael White and others.
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Their initial four albums, Cold Blood (produced by David Rubinson), Sisyphus (produced by Fred Catero), First Taste of Sin (produced by Donny Hathaway), and Thriller (produced by David Rubinson), remain their best-known work.
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a wide range of musical styles. Their sound has merged rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band jazz.
Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the band between early 1973 and late 1974, the period of their greatest commercial success. They have had eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100; their highest-charting songs include "You're Still a Young Man", "So Very Hard to Go", "What Is Hip?", and "Don't Change Horses ".
Mic Gillette was an American brass player, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay. He is best known for being a member of the bands; Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and The Sons of Champlin. He played in the horn section with Tower of Power for 19 years.
The Sons of Champlin are an American rock band, from Marin County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, formed in 1965. They are fronted by vocalist-keyboardist-guitarist Bill Champlin, who later joined rock band Chicago, from 1981 to 2009, placing Sons of Champlin on hiatus from 1981 to 1996. They brought to the late ‘60s music scene in the Bay Area a soulful sound built around a horn section, sophisticated arrangements, philosophical themes, Bill Champlin's songwriting and blue-eyed soul singing, and Terry Haggerty's jazz-based guitar. They are one of the enduring 1960s San Francisco bands, along with Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Moby Grape.
Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now is an album by Tower of Power released in 1976, the band's first record on Columbia Records. Ron Beck takes up the drummers spot after David Garibaldi exited for a second time.
Tower of Power is the third album release for the Oakland-based band, Tower of Power. This is their most successful album to date, which was released in May 1973.
Lydia Pense is an American rock-soul-jazz singer who, since 1969, has performed with the band Cold Blood. Critics have compared her style to powerful singers including Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin.
New Directions is the eighth and final studio album by the funk group The Meters. Produced by David Rubinson in California, it is the band's only album produced outside New Orleans. The album features the Oakland-based Tower of Power horn section.
Fred Catero was an American record producer and engineer. Catero was originally from New York City, where he worked for CBS Records/Columbia, recording artists such as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Invited by producer Roy Halee, Catero moved in the 1960s to San Francisco to work for Columbia Records there. In San Francisco, Catero worked on albums by Bob Dylan, Al Kooper, Tower of Power and Santana, many of these under producer David Rubinson at the Automatt. He also produced and engineered recordings with Aaron Copland, Janis Joplin, Linda Ronstadt and Mel Tormé. He also worked for the Automatt Studios, recording musicians such as Herbie Hancock and Santana.
East Bay Grease is the debut album by the soul and funk group Tower of Power, released in 1970. The band was one of the early music groups to be signed by Bill Graham's Fillmore Records, which released the LP.
Soul Vaccination: Tower of Power Live is the second live album by the soul/funk group Tower of Power. It was recorded live in California during their 1998 world tour at two venues: The Fillmore in San Francisco and the Fox Theatre in Stockton.
Back to Oakland is the fourth album by Bay Area based band Tower of Power, released in early 1974 on Warner Bros. Records. It was voted by Modern Drummer magazine as one of the most important recordings for drummers to listen to. The cover photography was by Bruce Steinberg at San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, San Francisco, California.
Back on the Streets is an album by the American band Tower of Power, released in 1979. It was their last album with Columbia Records. The title derives from the song "Back on the Streets Again" from their debut album East Bay Grease. David Garibaldi returns to the drummer's spot a third time, only to leave after this album, again. It also marked the debut of bassist Vito San Filippo and guitarist Danny Hoefer. This would be Hoefer's only album as a member of Tower of Power.
Fillmore — also known as Fillmore: The Last Days, and as Last Days of the Fillmore — is a music documentary film, primarily shot at the Fillmore West auditorium in San Francisco, California, from June 29 through July 4, 1971. It was released on June 14, 1972.
Live and in Living Color is a 1976 live album by Tower of Power and is their last album on Warner Bros. Records. It features a few of their biggest hits and some gems from their first album East Bay Grease. David Garibaldi left the band again after this album.
Cosmo is the first solo studio album by former Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford, released shortly after that band's breakup.
First Taste of Sin is the third album by the Oakland, California band Cold Blood. This album is noted for being produced by soul singer/musician Donny Hathaway. It also includes the original version of Hathaway's "Valdez in the Country", which Hathaway himself would record the next year for his 1973 album Extension of a Man.
Thriller! is a 1973 album by San Francisco funk group Cold Blood. Lydia Pense and the rest of Cold Blood were backed by The Pointer Sisters.
Cold Blood is the first studio LP album by Cold Blood, originally released in 1969. It was produced for San Francisco Records and distributed by Atlantic Records.