Blue Mountain Eagle was a short-lived American
psychedelic/
acid rock
Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelic subculture. Named after lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), the style is generally defined by heavy, d ...
group that evolved out of New Buffalo Springfield in August 1969 and recorded a lone album for Atlantic/Atco Records, which they were personally signed to by label founder
Ahmet Ertegun.
Origins
Rhythm guitarist/vocalist David Price (born on September 23, 1944, in Ballinger, Texas) and drummer/vocalist Don Poncher (born on July 29, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois) were original members of The New Buffalo Springfield, formed in September 1968 by
Dewey Martin, the drummer in the original
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...
.
David Price had previously played with Austin, Texas group, The Chelsea in the mid-1960s and (briefly), L.A-based Armadillo in mid-1968. Price was also Davy Jones's stand-in in ''
The Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...
'' TV show thanks to his connections with his old friend
Mike Nesmith. Don Poncher, who'd worked with
Tex Williams
Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams (August 23, 1917 – October 11, 1985) was an American Western swing musician. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)", which held th ...
when he was 16 years old, had also played with Brothers Keepers in the San Fernando Valley in the mid-1960s.
The new version of the legendary group, which also included lead guitarist Gary Rowles, bass player Bob Apperson and horn player
Jim Price, played extensively between November 1968 and February 1969 before imploding when
Stephen Stills and
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...
took legal action to prevent Martin from using the "Buffalo Springfield" name.
In spring 1969, Dewey Martin and David Price formed a second version of New Buffalo Springfield with bass player/vocalist Randy Fuller (born on January 29, 1944, in Hobbs, New Mexico) (formerly of
Bobby Fuller Four) and lead guitarist/vocalist Bob BJ Jones (born on November 9, 1942, in
Woodbury, New Jersey
Woodbury is the county seat of Gloucester County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the South Jersey region of the state.[Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...]
), who'd worked with
Little Richard briefly. The new line up, now going by the name Blue Buffalo, recorded some tracks for Atlantic which were never completed and in June added second lead guitarist Joey Newman from L.A band, Touch. Newman (b. Vern Kjellberg, August 29, 1947, Seattle, Washington) had previously worked with Don & The Good Times, The Liberty Party and
Merrilee Rush & The Turnabouts.
After a tour of the North West (billed as New Buffalo Springfield) in July 1969, the musicians sacked Dewey Martin and returned to Los Angeles where they added Don Poncher from the earlier line up.
Signs to Atlantic Records
In August, the group adopted the name Blue Mountain Eagle, which the musicians had taken from a newspaper in Grant County, Oregon during their time with Dewey Martin. After Ahmet Ertegun personally signed them to Atlantic Records, the band recorded its lone album live in one session at Wally Heider's studios in Los Angeles in December 1969. The group toured extensively, opening for
Santana
Santana may refer to:
Transportation
* Volkswagen Santana, an automobile
* Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles
* Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer
Boats
* Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...
,
Jimi Hendrix,
Love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...
,
Pink Floyd and many others.
During April 1970, Randy Fuller left to briefly join Dewey Martin's Medicine Ball and the band recruited studio bassist David L. Johnson (born on October 21, 1945, in Burbank, California) from the
Beach Boys
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
and
Dr John
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B.
Active as a session musician from ...
's touring band. The following month, Atlantic released the group's eponymous lone album which only sold a few thousand copies. The group then recorded a version of Stephen Stills's "Marianne" as a single but when that failed to become a hit, the group disbanded around September 1970.
Blue Mountain Eagle 1970
Tracks:
01. Love Is Here (Joey Newman) - 4:24
02. Yellow's Dream (Joey Newman) - 2:44
03. Feel Like A Bandit (David Price) - 3:01
04. Troubles (Meyer/Jones) - 3:03
05. Loveless Lives (Don Poncher, Bob Jones, Joey Newman) - 3:30
06. No Regrets (Don Poncher, David Price) - 4:09
07. Winding Your String (Joey Newman) - 2:56
08. Sweet Mama (Randy Fuller) - 4:18
09. Promise Of Love (Joey Newman) - 3:00
10. Trivial Sum (Furlong/Bowen) - 3:11
Bonuses:
11. Marianne (stereo) (Stephen Stills) - 2:30
12. Marianne (mono) (Stephen Stills) - 2:24
Personnel:
- Joey Newman - lead guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Bob "BJ" Jones - lead guitar, vocals
- David Price - rhythm guitar, vocals
- Randy Fuller - bass, guitar, vocals
- Don Poncher - drums, vocals
- David L. Johnson - bass, vocals
+
- Bill Halverson - engineer, producer
BJ Jones and Johnson went on to form
Sweathog (band) in 1971. Newman went on to Stepson and Poncher did numerous sessions.
Sources
Nick Warburton's interviews with David Price, David L. Johnson, Randy Fuller, Joey Newman, Bob Jones and Don Poncher, March–April 2008 A second album would have produced hits for Ahmet / Atlantic and satisfaction for all members of BME. Great live sound. Joey
External links
link
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 1969
American psychedelic rock music groups
Atco Records artists