Haymarket Square (band)

Last updated
Haymarket Square
Origin Chicago
Genres Psychedelic rock
Years active1967–1974
Past membersGloria Lambert
Marc Swenson
Robert Homa
John Kowalski
Ken Pitlik
Robert Miller

Haymarket Square was a Chicago-based psychedelic rock band in the late 1960s and early 1970s. [1] Their album, Magic Lantern, released in 1968, was pressed in an edition of 80 - 100 copies, and despite its rarity is well considered by fans of psychedelic rock music even today. [2] [3] The music of the album was used to accompany the Baron and Bailey Light Circus at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Magic Lantern was reissued on CD by Gear Fab Records in 2001.

Contents

History

In 1967, drummer John Kowalski and guitarist Bob Homa were in a Chicago-area garage band called the Real Things. When the Real Things broke up, they decided to form a new band, and placed ads in several newspapers, seeking additional musicians. On the strength of their auditions, Marc Swenson became the lead guitarist, and Gloria Lambert the lead vocalist. Homa switched from guitar to bass. [4]

The new band named themselves Haymarket Square, a reference to the 1886 Haymarket Square Riot. They soon became popular and played at various venues in the Chicago area. They performed on the same bill as more well-known groups, including the Yardbirds and Cream. [1] In 1968, they played as part of the Baron and Bailey Light Circus, a sound and light show that was produced by two college professors, and which was performed at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. [1] Later that year, the band's only album, Magic Lantern, was released by Chaparral Records, but not put on general sale, instead being used for promotion and handed out to some MCA visitors.

After the recording of Magic Lantern, Homa left the band, and was replaced by bassist Ken Pitlik. Robert Miller joined the band and played rhythm guitar. This reconfigured lineup stayed together until Haymarket Square disbanded in 1974. [4]

Gloria Lambert and Marc Swenson married, had two sons, and subsequently divorced. [4] Lambert works at a high school in Wisconsin as a Spanish and English teacher. Bob Homa received his bachelor's degree in architecture and has spent most of his career managing projects in shopping mall development and renovation.

Magic Lantern

Magic Lantern
MagicLantern.jpg
Studio album by
Haymarket Square
Released1968
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length46:56
Label Chaparral
Producer Haymarket Square

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]

On Allmusic, Dean McFarlane wrote, "From the opening cut, it is fairly apparent why the original album is so sought after — Magic Lantern is as fine a display of American psychedelia as late-'60s albums by It's a Beautiful Day and Jefferson Airplane. This will appeal to fans of the fuzzed-out guitar antics of Cream and Blue Cheer." [2]

Track listing

Side 1

  1. "Elevator" (Gloria Lambert) – 7:06
  2. "Train Kept A-Rollin' (Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, Lois Mann) – 7:20
  3. "Ahimsa" (Marc Swenson, John Kowalski, Robert Homa) – 8:14

Side 2

  1. "Amapola" (Swenson) – 10:43
  2. "Phantasmagoria" (Lambert) – 4:08
  3. "Funeral" (Lambert) – 9:23

Personnel

Haymarket Square

  • Gloria Lambert – vocals
  • Marc Swenson – guitar, vocals
  • Robert Homa – bass, vocals
  • John Kowalski – drums

Production

  • Recording engineer – Laddie Oleson
  • Photography – Bill Bailey, Bill Baron, Gerald Wenner
  • Management – Dan Kovacevic
  • Equipment manager – John Rantz

Related Research Articles

Cream (band) 1960s British rock supergroup

Cream were a British rock band formed in London in 1966. The group consisted of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Bruce was the primary songwriter and vocalist, although Clapton and Baker also sang and contributed songs. Formed from members of previously successful bands, they are widely regarded as the world's first supergroup. Cream were highly regarded for the instrumental proficiency of each of their members. Tensions between Bruce and Baker led to their decision in May 1968 to break up, though the band were persuaded to make a final album, Goodbye, and to tour, culminating in two final farewell concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on 25 and 26 November 1968 which were filmed and shown in theatres, then in 1977 released as a home video, Farewell Concert.

The Shadows of Knight

The Shadows of Knight is an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, that plays a version of British blues influenced by their native city. When they began recording in 1965, the band's self-description was "the Stones, Animals and the Yardbirds took the Chicago blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch," to which rock critic Richie Unterberger commented: "The Shadows of Knight's self-description was fairly accurate."

Ed Kuepper Australian musician

Edmund "Ed" Kuepper is a German-born Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the punk band The Saints (1973–78), the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns (1979–85) and the grunge-like The Aints!. He has also recorded over a dozen albums as a solo artist using a variety of backing bands. His highest charting solo album, Honey Steel's Gold, appeared in November 1991 and reached No. 28 on the ARIA Albums Chart. His other top 50 albums are Black Ticket Day, Serene Machine and Character Assassination. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 he won Best Independent Release for Black Ticket Day and won the same category in 1994 for Serene Machine.

Steve Kimock

Steve Kimock is an American rock guitarist who has spent most of his life around San Francisco. He has been compared to Jerry Garcia, who was a friend of his, and he has been affiliated with musicians connected to the Grateful Dead, including the bands Zero, the Other Ones, and KVHW. Garcia cited Kimock, along with Frank Gambale and Michael Hedges, as his favorite guitar players during the later part of his life.

Blind Illusion

Blind Illusion is an American progressive thrash metal band from Richmond, California, United States. Formed in 1978 by lead guitarist and main songwriter Marc Biedermann, the band had an extremely unstable lineup and went through several stylistic changes during their time. Blind Illusion is also notable for featuring future Primus members Les Claypool and Larry LaLonde, who performed bass and guitar respectively on their 1988 debut album The Sane Asylum. After a 20-year hiatus, Biedermann reformed Blind Illusion in 2009. A new EP entitled 2018 was released in February 2019 and includes remakes of their older songs.

The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, also known as Soapbox Circus or Matchbox, were an Australian jug band formed in 1969. It centred on Mic Conway on lead vocals, washboard and ukulele; and his brother, Jim Conway, on harmonica, kazoo and vocals. They issued four studio albums, Smoke Dreams, Wangaratta Wahine, Australia and Slightly Troppo (1978), before they disbanded in September 1980. The Conway brothers reformed the group in 2010 as Captain Matchbox Reignited and disbanded again two years later.

<i>The Second</i> 1968 studio album by Steppenwolf

The Second is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, "Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the original ABC LP cover was a shiny "foil", in contrast to later LP issues and the modern CD sleeve.

The Leaves

The Leaves were an American garage rock band formed in San Fernando Valley, California, United States, in 1964. They are best known for their version of the song "Hey Joe", which was a hit in 1966. Theirs is the earliest release of this song, which became a rock standard.

Godstar were a psychedelic pop band which formed in 1991. The group's founding mainstay, Nic Dalton, is a multi-instrumentalist who was also in Sneeze and The Lemonheads, and ran the Half a Cow record label. Other long term members were Allison Galloway on drums (ex-Jupiter) and Tom Morgan on bass guitar and vocals. In September 1993 the band toured nationally promoting their debut studio album, Sleeper. In July 1995 their second album, Coastal, appeared and was followed by another national tour. The group disbanded later that year. Dalton's Half a Cow label issued further Godstar material under the name Godstar Reminder. Dalton formed other groups including The Kombi Nation and The Ultimate Vanilla, and also had a solo career. Galloway and Morgan were also members of Smudge, an indie pop band, during their time with Godstar.

Tamam Shud is an Australian psychedelic, progressive and surf rock band, which formed in Newcastle in 1964. The initial line-up were known as Four Strangers with Eric Connell on bass guitar, Dannie Davidson on drums, Gary Johns on rhythm guitar and Alex "Zac" Zytnik on lead guitar. At the end of that year Johns was replaced by Lindsay Bjerre on guitar and vocals as they trimmed their name to the Strangers. By late 1965 they had become the Sunsets. They took the name Tamam Shud in late 1967 after replacing Connell with Peter Barron on bass guitar. The group released two albums, Evolution (1969) – after which Tim Gaze replaced Zytnik on lead guitar – and Goolutionites and the Real People (1970) before disbanding in 1972. After a lengthy hiatus they reformed in 1993 to release a third album, Permanent Culture in 1994, but disbanded again in 1995. Beginning in 2008 the group worked together periodically on new material: it took eight years to complete their fourth album, Eight Years of Moonlight.

Circus Maximus was an American band in the late 1960s, which combined influences from folk music, rock, and jazz into a form of psychedelic rock.

<i>Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow</i> 1974 studio album by Marc Bolan & T. Rex

Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow is a 1974 album by Marc Bolan's band T. Rex, the ninth since the debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968. It was released on 1 February on the T.Rex record label, distributed by EMI. It was the first and only album to be credited to "Marc Bolan & T. Rex".

Steve Balbi Australian musician and record producer

Stephen Vert Balbi is an Australian musician and record producer. He was the founding bass guitarist in pub rockers, Noiseworks in 1986 and formed a psychedelic pop group and production duo, Electric Hippies in 1993 with fellow Noiseworks member, Justin Stanley. He joined Mi-Sex in 2011. Balbi issued his debut solo album, Black Rainbow, in October 2013.

T. Rex (band) English rock band

T. Rex were an English rock band, formed in 1967 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band was initially called Tyrannosaurus Rex, and released four psychedelic folk albums under this name. In 1969, Bolan began to change the band's style towards electric rock, and shortened their name to T. Rex the following year. This development culminated in 1970 with the song "Ride a White Swan", and the group soon became pioneers of the glam rock movement.

Headband were a progressive, blues rock band formed in Adelaide in February 1971 by bass guitarist Chris Bailey; drummer Joff Bateman; singer-songwriter and keyboardist Peter Beagley ; and singer-songwriter and guitarist Mauri Berg. The group supported Elton John, The Rolling Stones at their Sydney performances. The band finished third in the 1972 Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds – a national performance competition between the best groups representing each state. Headband released an album, A Song for Tooley and four singles before disbanding in 1974. Bailey later joined The Angels and then GANGgajang, Berg joined Fraternity and Head formed Mount Lofty Rangers and later went solo.

<i>Dedication</i> (Gary U.S. Bonds album) 1981 studio album by Gary U.S. Bonds

Dedication is an album released by Gary U.S. Bonds in 1981, the first of two on which he collaborated with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, the second being On the Line, released the following year, 1982. The musicians accompanying Bonds on the album include many members of the E Street Band and the Asbury Jukes. The album includes three songs written by Bruce Springsteen, one written by Steve Van Zandt, and several covers of songs from the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and others. It also features a duet between Bonds and Springsteen on the track "Jole Blon". Bonds' early 1960s sound had been a major influence on both Springsteen and Van Zandt. The songs written by Springsteen, including the cover of "Jole Blon", were originally intended for his 1980 album, The River, but he felt they fit better with Bonds and his versions of them have never been released although he has performed most of them live, often featuring Bonds as a special guest.

Christopher Mark Bailey was an Australian bass guitarist and vocalist. He was a member of various rock groups including Headband (1971–1974), The Angels, Gang Gajang (1984–2013), and The Stetsons. Bailey died of throat cancer, aged 62.

James Taylor Move was a short-lived Australian/British psychedelic pop, progressive rock group from Adelaide. It was formed by Kevin Peek on guitar, Trevor Spencer on drums, Alan Tarney on organ, and Robert John Taylor on lead vocals and bass guitar.

Terry Wilkins is an Australian-born Canadian musician, composer and producer.

Yesterday's Children were an American psychedelic rock band formed in Cheshire-Prospect, Connecticut, outside of New Haven, in 1966. The group's earliest release was the psychedelic rock-influenced single "To Be or Not to Be". Though, at first, Yesterday's Children were a standard garage band, they transitioned into a psychedelic proto-heavy metal outfit that released one cult classic album in 1970 before disbanding.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Swihart, Stanton. Haymarket Square at AllMusic. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 McFarlane, Dean. Magic Lantern at AllMusic. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  3. Magic Lantern at Music Station. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Kowalski, John (August 2001). Magic Lantern CD liner notes: "The Story of Haymarket Square".