The Sons of Champlin | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | The Sons, The Opposite Six, Yogi Phlegm, The Nu Boogaloo Express, The Masterbeats |
Origin | San Francisco, California, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 1965–1970, 1971–1977, 1985, 1997–present |
Labels | Capitol, Columbia, Ariola, Arista, Goldmine Records, Trident Records, Sons of Champlin, Dig Music, Big Beat |
Members | Bill Champlin Geoffrey Palmer Tim Cain Tamara Champlin Tal Morris Jeff Lewis Bill Gibson DeWayne Pate Douglas Rowan |
Past members | Terry Haggerty John Prosser Jim Meyers Al Strong Bill Bowen Jim Beem David Schallock Bill Vitt James Preston Mark Isham Michael Andreas Phil Wood Alan Hertz Richard Mithun Steven Frediani David Farey Rob Moitoza Mic Gillette Tom Saviano Carmen Grillo |
Website | SonsofChamplin.com |
The Sons of Champlin are an American rock band, from Marin County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, formed in 1965. [2] [3] [4] [5] 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. [6]
Champlin started his musical career in high school (Tamalpais in Mill Valley) as a member of a local band, The Opposite Six. One of his teachers encouraged Champlin to drop out of school and pursue music full-time. In 1965 the draft claimed the drummer and bass player of the Opposite Six, and Champlin joined forces with guitarist Terry Haggerty, [7] sax player Tim Cain, bassist John Prosser and drummer Jim Meyers in the band that became the Sons of Champlin. By late 1967 the line-up had changed to include keyboardist/saxman Geoff Palmer, trumpeter Jim Beem, bassist Al Strong, and drummer Bill Bowen, creating a Hammond B3-and-horns sound that was distinctive from the rest of the Bay Area's psychedelic guitar bands.
The Sons recorded their first album, Fat City in 1966-67 for Trident Records, owned by The Kingston Trio manager Frank Werber. They released a single, "Sing Me a Rainbow", (B-side "Fat City") which got airplay in the Bay Area but did not crack the national charts. [8] The plan was to follow this release with another song from the album, a Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil composition called "Shades of Grey", but The Monkees released their version before this could happen. The album was not released and the Sons left Trident Records. In February 1999, this collection was released on a British CD under the title Fat City.
During the late 1960s, The Sons of Champlin performed regularly at the San Francisco venues, the Avalon Ballroom, Winterland, the Fillmore West and the Chateau Liberté, [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They shared billing with, among many others, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe and the Fish, and The Youngbloods. They were also the opening act at The Band's first concert, along with Doug Kershaw and The Ace of Cups. [14]
In 1968, the Sons of Champlin signed with Capitol Records, releasing their double-album debut Loosen Up Naturally in April 1969. The group followed up with The Sons released that fall. To promote this album The Sons set out on a two-month national tour, culminating with an engagement at the Fillmore East. However, this tour strained relations between the members and in February 1970, The Sons broke up. Bill Champlin moved to Santa Cruz, where he joined Moby Grape guitarist Jerry Miller in a short-lived project called The Rhythm Dukes. [15]
The Sons reformed in late 1970 as a five-piece band without Cain to record Follow Your Heart, their final Capitol LP. However, The Sons broke up once more following the album's release in April, 1971. When the group reformed again in the summer it featured a new rhythm section, with drummer Bill Vitt and bassist David Schallock (from Big Brother and the Holding Company) replacing Bowen and Strong, respectively. [16] Briefly, the group went by the name Yogi Phlegm, [17] as which they played one of the last concerts at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West on July 3, 1971. In 1972, James Preston replaced Bill Vitt on drums, and the band once again went by the name Sons of Champlin.
After recording their 1973 Columbia album, Welcome to the Dance, as a five piece, The Sons once again added a horn section, which included Mark Isham, now a film scorer and composer, on trumpet and synthesizer.
In 1975, The Sons recorded The Sons of Champlin in their own studio, and released it on their own label, Goldmine Records. This was purchased and re-released by Ariola America. The next two albums, Circle Filled With Love and Loving is Why, were also released on Ariola.
On August 6, 1977, the Sons of Champlin played what many assumed to be their last gig at the Kirkwood Meadows ski resort opening for Elvin Bishop and Dave Mason. After this performance, Champlin left the group to pursue work as a session vocalist in Los Angeles.
The Sons released seven albums between 1969 and 1977, including Loosen Up Naturally, Welcome to the Dance, and Circle Filled With Love. The albums were generally well-reviewed, but were low sellers. In 1977, Champlin went solo, recording Single (1978) and Runaway (1981), before joining Chicago in 1981.
After Bill Champlin departed, The Sons did continue briefly, through 1978, with former Pablo Cruise singer Bud Cockrell in place of Champlin.
On November 25, 1985, the Sons reunited for the first time in a surprise appearance at the Fillmore in San Francisco on a bill with Huey Lewis and the News, KBC Band and a reunited Country Joe and the Fish. The reunion comprised Champlin, Terry Haggerty, Geoffrey Palmer, Tim Cain, David Schallock and James Preston with Huey Lewis and the News drummer Bill Gibson sitting in as well as the Freaky Executives Horn Section, who provided the brass.
The 1985 show proved to be a one-off as Champlin returned to his regular gig with Chicago. But in 1997, the Sons got together again for a series of reunion gigs, then recorded and released their first live CD in 1998. Beginning in 2002, The Sons put out several CDs, Hip L'il Dreams and Secret (both produced by Gary Platt, [18] Bill Champlin [19] & Tom Saviano [20] ), among them, and have also remastered much of their back catalog.
The Sons of Champlin appeared with original members Champlin, Palmer, Schallock, Preston and Cain. Haggerty was replaced by Tal Morris then Carmen Grillo. [21] Tom Saviano [22] and Marc Russo of The Doobie Brothers were saxophone players during Cain's absence from the band. Tower of Power alumnus Mic Gillette handled trumpet, trombone, and tuba parts until his death in January 2016. [23] After James Preston's death in 2014 [24] Alan Hertz joined the band as its drummer with Jeff Lewis on trumpet. Bobby Vega was part of the band on bass upon the departure of Schallock, followed by Richard Mithun. Tamara Champlin was added as a vocalist [25] and Douglas Rowan as the saxophone player. Solo artist, finalist on the Voice (TV series), Will Champlin, [26] has guested with the Sons as a player and vocalist.
Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band achieved wide popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe, and several of their albums ranked in the Top 30 of the Billboard Pop charts. They were part of the new wave of album-oriented bands, achieving renown and popularity despite a lack of success with their singles. Though not as commercially successful as contemporaries Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver was integral to the beginnings of their genre. With their jazz and classical influences and a strong folk background, the band attempted to create an individual, innovative sound. Music historian Colin Larkin wrote: "Of all the bands that came out of the San Francisco area during the late '60s, Quicksilver typified most of the style, attitude and sound of that era."
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success during the 1970s, the group's current lineup consists of founding members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, alongside Michael McDonald and John McFee, and touring musicians including John Cowan, Marc Russo (saxophones), Ed Toth (drums), and Marc Quiñones (percussion). Other long-serving members of the band include guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (1974–1979), bassist Tiran Porter and drummers John Hartman, Michael Hossack, and Keith Knudsen.
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some initial personnel changes, the band became well known with the lineup of vocalist Janis Joplin, guitarists Sam Andrew and James Gurley, bassist Peter Albin, and drummer Dave Getz. Their second album Cheap Thrills, released in 1968, is considered one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic sound of San Francisco; it reached number one on the Billboard charts, and was ranked number 338 in Rolling Stone's the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album is also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
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William Bradford Champlin is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago from 1981 to 2009. He performed lead vocals on three of Chicago's biggest hits of the 1980s, 1984's "Hard Habit to Break" and 1988's "Look Away" and "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love". During live shows, he sang the lower, baritone, vocal parts originally performed by founding guitarist Terry Kath, who had died in 1978. He has won multiple Grammy Awards for songwriting.
Grateful Dead is a live album by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released on September 24, 1971 on Warner Bros. Records, it is their second live double album and their seventh album overall. Although published without a title, it is generally known by the names Skull and Roses and Skull Fuck. It was the group's first album to be certified gold by the RIAA and remained their best seller until surpassed by Skeletons from the Closet.
Leigh Stephens is an American guitarist and songwriter best known for being former lead guitarist of the San Francisco psychedelic rock group Blue Cheer.
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.
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. 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 .
"Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)" (commonly referred to as "Stormy Monday") is a song written and recorded by American blues electric guitar pioneer T-Bone Walker. It is a slow twelve-bar blues performed in the West Coast blues-style that features Walker's smooth, plaintive vocal and distinctive guitar work. As well as becoming a record chart hit in 1948, it inspired B.B. King and others to take up the electric guitar. "Stormy Monday" became Walker's best-known and most-recorded song.
Limp was an American pop punk band formed in 1994, with strong influences in both rock and ska, hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. Limp released three studio albums on Honest Don's, a subsidiary label of Fat Wreck Chords, as well as an EP released on Fueled by Ramen, before their 2002 breakup.
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Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West is a live double album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on April 10, 1970, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, shortly after the release of the trumpeter's Bitches Brew album and the recording of Jack Johnson (1971). Black Beauty was produced by Teo Macero, Davis' longtime record producer. A jazz-rock and fusion album, Black Beauty captured one of Davis' first performances at a rock venue during the early stages of his electric period. At the concert, he led his band—saxophonist Steve Grossman, bassist Dave Holland, keyboardist Chick Corea, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and percussionist Airto Moreira—through one continuously performed set list which functioned as a musical suite for soloists to improvise throughout. He signaled changes from one piece to the next with phrases played on his trumpet.
First Pull Up, Then Pull Down is the second album by Hot Tuna, released in 1971 as RCA Victor LSP-4550. The album was recorded live with electric instruments, instead of the acoustic instruments used on the previous album, Hot Tuna. The album rose to No. 43 on the Billboard charts. In 1996, RCA released the CD box set Hot Tuna in a Can, which included a remastered version of this album, along with remasters of the albums Hot Tuna, Burgers, America's Choice and Hoppkorv. In Canada, the album reached No. 30 in the RPM Magazine charts where it was shown as Hot Tuna Electric Recorded Live.
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Beefy Red was an American, San Francisco Bay Area music band (1969–1972) based in Marin County, California, United States, which played at various Bay Area venues, including Bill Graham's Fillmore West from October 22–25 in 1970. Beefy Red performed frequently at San Anselmo's 'The Lion's Share', a club often cited as one of the most historic in the history of the Marin County music scene. The group was most noted for playing "swinging R&B" but played other syles like blues and jazz.
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Live at Fillmore West is an album by King Curtis, released in 1971. The album showcases the concert he played with his band the Kingpins at the Fillmore West venue in San Francisco in March 1971 who were supporting and backing soul singer Aretha Franklin. A week after its release in August 1971, Curtis was stabbed to death outside his brownstone apartment in New York City.
Tamara Champlin is an American singer-songwriter who started her career as a session singer in Houston, Texas, later moving to Los Angeles. She has performed with and written for singers such as Elton John, Leon Russell, Nicky Hopkins, Steve Lukather, Andreas Carlsson, husband Bill Champlin, and son Will Champlin.
Fat City is the debut album on the Sons of Champlin, formerly known as the Opposite Six. It was released in 1967 by Trident Productions. The Sons of Champlin was a rock band who made many recordings from 1966 to 1967. The record is more concise in structure and effort than their later, looser psychedelic material that they released in the late 1960s.
Chateau Liberté...Six miles from downtown Los Gatos... exhibit at New Museum Los Gatos