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The Rhythm Dukes was a short-lived band featuring Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson of Moby Grape, subsequently joined by Bill Champlin, of the Sons of Champlin, and later of Chicago.
In the late summer of 1969, following the release of Truly Fine Citizen , Moby Grape's last album for Columbia, Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson joined with John Barrett (bass) and John "Fuzzy" Oxendine (drums) to form The Rhythm Dukes. [1] Don Stevenson played guitar, rather than drums. It is speculated that he left the band shortly after its formation for that reason, preferring to remain a drummer. [2]
The band came together at Jerry Miller's initiative, at a time when the future of Moby Grape was uncertain. Moby Grape members had been shocked by Bob Mosley's abrupt departure to join the Marines, shortly after the release of Moby Grape '69 . This added to uncertainties that commenced at the time of the 1968 departure of Skip Spence from the band, as the result of a six month involuntary psychiatric committal during the course of recording Wow/Grape Jam . The recording of Truly Fine Citizen in 1969 had been similarly strained, in that Columbia Records had imposed a three day limit on recording time, thus demonstrating little support for Moby Grape's future. [3]
The band lived together in Santa Cruz and, following Stevenson's departure, was joined by Bill Champlin on organ and vocals. The future of Champlin's band, The Sons of Champlin, was at that time uncertain, similar to the situation which Miller and Stevenson had faced. Champlin, along with Miller, became the group's principal songwriters. The Rhythm Dukes shared the stage with such artists as Albert Collins, Lee Michaels, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Canned Heat, The Grateful Dead and Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys, generally being second-billed. They recorded one album in 1970, which saw release in 2005 as Flashback. [4]
The band existed from 1969-1971. Despite Columbia's attitude towards Moby Grape, Miller was still subject to contractual obligations to Columbia, which were disruptive to Rhythm Dukes commitments. [2] Champlin consequently left the band, to continue with the Sons of Champlin. Miller, Barrett and Oxendine continued the band for a short period thereafter, with such musicians as guitarists Russell Dahneke and Ned Torney, the latter being a founding member of the Chocolate Watchband. [2] Miller would later rejoin Stevenson and the other original members of Moby Grape to record 20 Granite Creek , (1971), which effectively ended The Rhythm Dukes. Champlin would continue playing and recording with The Sons of Champlin for the balance of the 1970s, prior to commencing a solo career and later joining Chicago.
Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966. Part of San Francisco's psychedelic music scene, the band merged elements of rock and roll, folk music, pop, blues, and country. They were one of the few groups of which all members were lead vocalists and songwriters. The group's first incarnation ended in 1969, in part due to members Bob Mosley and Skip Spence suffering from mental illness. The group has reformed many times afterwards and continues to perform occasionally.
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.
Alexander "Skip" Spence was a Canadian-born American singer-songwriter and musician. He was co-founder of Moby Grape, and played guitar with them until 1969. In the same year, he released his only solo album, Oar, and then largely withdrew from the music industry. He had started his career as a guitarist in an early line-up of Quicksilver Messenger Service, and was the drummer on Jefferson Airplane's debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. He has been described on the AllMusic website as "one of psychedelia's brightest lights"; however, his career was plagued by drug addiction coupled with mental health problems, and he has been described by a biographer as a man who "neither died young nor had a chance to find his way out."
Jerry Miller is an American songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. He performs as a solo artist and as a member of the Jerry Miller Band. He is also a founding member of the 1960s San Francisco band Moby Grape, which continues to perform occasionally. Rolling Stone included Miller at number 68 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time and Moby Grape's album Moby Grape at number 124 from listed 500 greatest albums of all time. Miller's longtime guitar is a Gibson L-5 CES Florentine guitar which he calls "Beulah".
Moby Grape is the 1967 debut album by rock band Moby Grape. Coming from the San Francisco scene, their reputation quickly grew to immense proportions, leading to a bidding war and a contract with Columbia Records. The album peaked at #24 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in September 1967.
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, after leaving the group in 1977, joined the rock band Chicago from 1981 to 2009, reforming the Sons of Champlin in 1997. They brought to the late ‘60s music scene in the Bay Area a soulful sound built around a horn section, Hammond B3 organ, sophisticated arrangements, philosophical themes, Bill Champlin's songwriting and blue-eyed soul singing, and Terry Haggerty's unique jazz-based guitar soloing. They are one of the enduring 1960s San Francisco bands, along with Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Moby Grape.
Wow/Grape Jam is the second album by the rock band Moby Grape. It was first released in April 1968. It is different from most double album releases in that it was released as two different albums in separate covers, but packaged together and sold for only one dollar more than price of a single LP.
Moby Grape '69 is the third album by the psychedelic rock band Moby Grape, released on January 30, 1969.
Truly Fine Citizen is the fourth studio album by American rock band Moby Grape. It was released on July 30, 1969, by Columbia Records. After completing the album, the band went on hiatus until 1971 when they reunited with Skip Spence and Bob Mosley to record the reunion album, 20 Granite Creek.
20 Granite Creek is the rock band Moby Grape's fifth album. After recording their last album for Columbia Records, Truly Fine Citizen, the band went on hiatus until 1971 when they reunited with Skip Spence and Bob Mosley and recorded this reunion album for Reprise Records; their only album for the label. David Rubinson, who produced most of the band's Columbia albums, was back as producer here, as well as serving as the band's manager.. The album title refers to an address near Santa Cruz, CA but there is no record that any band member ever lived there. The rights to this album are now owned by the band after previous manager, Matthew Katz, lost them when the band successfully sued him in 2007.
Great Grape is a compilation album released by Columbia Records in 1972 that compiles songs from three of Moby Grape's Columbia albums - Moby Grape, Wow, and Moby Grape '69. It has been speculated that Columbia's decision to release this album was based solely on trying to capitalize on any interest generated in Moby Grape by the then-recent release of a new studio album, 20 Granite Creek, on Reprise Records. For some unknown reason the album was never issued on a cassette tape, although it was issued on an 8-Track tape.
Don Stevenson is the American drummer and a singer and songwriter for Moby Grape, a band which was formed in San Francisco in 1966 and continues to perform occasionally today.
The Place and the Time is a compilation album of demos, outtakes, alternative versions and live versions of songs by Moby Grape, released by Sundazed Records in 2009 in CD and double LP format.
Vintage: The Very Best of Moby Grape is a retrospective collection of Moby Grape songs, many previously unreleased, originally issued in 1993 as part of Columbia Records' "Rock Artifacts" series. Included in the collection was the entire eponymous first album of the group, generally considered to be one of the most important albums of its era. Noted rock critic David Fricke wrote the liner notes to the compilation.
Crosstalk: The Best of Moby Grape is a 2004 compilation album by Moby Grape, released by Sony International. It was released at a time when the legal status of ownership of Moby Grape recordings was uncertain.
Listen My Friends! The Best of Moby Grape is a compilation album by Moby Grape, released in 2007 by Columbia Records as part of its "Legacy" series. The title of the album is a reference to lyrics repeated in the song "Omaha" on the group's debut album.
Legendary Grape is an album by Moby Grape, released by Dig Music in 2003.
Live Grape is a 1978 album by Moby Grape, released by Escape Records, of live performances of the band at two venues in California, the Shady Grove in San Francisco and the Inn of the Beginning in Cotati.
Fine Wine is an album released in 1976 by Polydor Records in Germany, by a group of the same name. The four-person group included two members of Moby Grape, Jerry Miller and Bob Mosley, who also wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on the album. For these reasons, the album is often regarded as a Moby Grape album.
Moby Grape '84 is a 1984 album released by Moby Grape on the San Francisco Sound label. It is also known as "Silver Wheels" album, after the introductory song on the album, and as the "Heart Album", as referenced to the album cover.