The Daily Flash are an American

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

and

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

bandMike Stax, liner notes, '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968'' (1998 CD), p. 63. founded in 1965, active until 1968 and reformed in 2002.Nick Warburton
The Daily Flash
on the site of the group Rhinoceros (band); dated 2001, but clearly updated since that time. originally based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and later in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The group was composed of guitarist/singer Steve Lalor, lead guitarist Doug Hastings, bass player/singer Don MacAllister and drummer Jon Keliehor. According to Mike Stax, they "had become a major force in the growing Seattle underground scene by 1965." Their sound, which incorporated elements of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

as well as

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

stood in contrast to the

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

sound typical of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

at the time, anticipating the sound that came to be identified with

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Origin

Don MacAllister and Steve Lalor first met in early 1964 on the Seattle folk music scene. MacAllister was in a bluegrass trio called The Willow Creek Ramblers; Lalor had dropped out of college in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in January 1963, spent some time in San Francisco where he had met future core members of

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

and Quicksilver Messenger Service, then traveled north to Seattle, where he made some good connections and ended up appearing regularly for a time on Seattle Center Hootenanny which aired on

KING-TV KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). Both stations share studios at the Home Plate ...

. At this time he was performing with Alice Stuart and Mike Hall as the Upper University District Folk Music Association and Mandolin Society and Glee Club and they recorded a single, "Green Satin", for

Jerden Records Jerden Records was an independent record label which operated from May 1960 through April 1971. It was based in Seattle and majority owned by Jerry Dennon and Bonnie Guitar, both of whom had been involved with Dolton Records and the careers of Th ...

. MacAllister and Lalor began to play together informally. Lalor played for a time in the Driftwood Singers, which he formed with Lyn Brooks and Courtney Branch. Courtney dropped out and was replaced by

Billy Roberts William Moses Roberts Jr. (August 16, 1936 – October 7, 2017) was an American songwriter and musician credited with composing the 1960s rock music standard "Hey Joe" (of which the best-known version is the hit by The Jimi Hendrix Experience). B ...

, writer of "Hey Joe". They became the house band of the

hungry i The hungry i was a nightclub in San Francisco, California, originally located in the North Beach neighborhood. It played a major role in the history of stand-up comedy in the United States. It was launched by Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, who sold i ...

. The band broke up and MacAllister convinced him to move back north and form a group in Seattle with another guitarist, Doug Hastings, still in college at the time and occasionally sitting in with another local outfit, The Dynamics. They planned to recruit drummer Don Stevenson (later of Moby Grape), but instead Stevenson joined the established local band The Frantics and that band's departing drummer Jon Keliehor (who had a background in jazz and classical music) joined MacAllister and Lalor.

Heyday: the original lineup (1965–1967)

From the outset, two things characterized The Daily Flash. Their eclectic blend of folk, blues, pop and jazz set them apart from the " garage band" sound that dominated the Pacific Northwest. Their flair for publicity was such as to get the band press before they even got their first gig. They devised a sound system that suited their tight harmonies, pioneered new venues and aimed beyond a teen audience, and aligned themselves with the emergent

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

counterculture. Around the end of 1965, local record distributor Ron Saul got the group a deal with Parrot Records, a division of

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. Their first single was a cover of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "

Queen Jane Approximately "Queen Jane Approximately" is a song from Bob Dylan's 1965 album ''Highway 61 Revisited''. It was released as a single as the B-side to "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" in January 1966. It has also been covered by several artists, including ...

". The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

was originally supposed to be Dino Valenti's "Birdses", but Saul shelved that, releasing the funkier " Jack of Diamonds," recorded at the same

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

studio favored by

The Wailers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. The latter track would eventually find its way onto the 1998 CD re-issue of '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968''. The single, released in spring 1966, was not a commercial success. However, it did get them the attention of Sonny & Cher's then-manager Charlie Greene. On the lookout for additional acts to manage, that year he signed both The Daily Flash and

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", relea ...

. The band headed to

to record a stronger version of "Queen Jane Approximately," but that also met a lukewarm response in the market. Still, their reputation as a live act was growing. On the way south they headlined a pair of Chet Helms-promoted shows at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom, supported both nights by the

Rising Sons Rising Sons was an American, Los Angeles, California-based blues rock and folk music band, which was founded in 1965. Their initial career was short-lived, but the group found retrospective fame for launching the careers of singer Taj Mahal and g ...

(a band that included future stars

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

and

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

); the additional act on Friday night was a pre-

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

version of Big Brother & The Holding Company and on Saturday The Charlatans (featuring Dan Hicks). At the end of July 1966 they played the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Trips Festival. According to Keliehor, that was the only time they ever played a gig under the influence of a mind-altering substance ( LSD provided by

Owsley Stanley Augustus Owsley Stanley III (January 19, 1935 – March 12, 2011) was an American-Australian audio engineer and clandestine chemist. He was a key figure in the San Francisco Bay Area hippie movement during the 1960s and played a pivotal role ...

). The band—now based in Los Angeles but probably more popular in San Francisco and viewed as hometown heroes in Seattle—traveled the West Coast, supporting acts such as

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

and The Turtles in Los Angeles and playing repeatedly in San Francisco at the Avalon Ballroom on bills with such bands as Country Joe & The Fish and the Quicksilver Messenger Service. Their repertoire ranged from Dylan and

Eric Andersen Eric Andersen (born February 14, 1943) is an American folk music singer-songwriter, who has written songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead and many others. Early in his career, in the 1960s, he ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

and Gabor Szabo. Early in 1967 their second single was released: Ian Tyson and

Sylvia Fricker Sylvia may refer to: People *Sylvia (given name) *Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter *Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive *Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer credi ...

's "French Girl" b/w

Dave Van Ronk David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...

's "Green Rocky Road" on the L.A.-based UNI Records. Greene arranged the band's first East Coast tour to coincide with the release, kicking off with a successful one-month residency at the Club Ondine in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. They also played a gig with the Jefferson Airplane at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

. The single did well in California (though less so elsewhere), netting the band a guest appearance on the TV show ''

The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. ''The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction TV series starring Stefanie Powers that aired on NBC for one season from September 16, 1966, to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and used the sam ...

'', which in turn led to a regular spot as a house band on a local Los Angeles teen-oriented TV show ''Boss City''. They continued to gig, in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle playing on bills with British supergroup

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Steve Miller Band,

and, in Seattle,

The Seeds The Seeds were an American psychedelic garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest charting single "Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savage (b ...

and Paul Revere & The Raiders.

Changes and breakup (1967)

In an era when it was more and more presumed that bands would have original material, none of The Daily Flash's members were inclined to write songs. Most of their

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

ed originals were really just reworkings of folk material in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

. The band began to grow apart, with members increasingly playing in other configurations. Hastings left to replace

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 Furay ...

in the Buffalo Springfield (a short-lived gig, as Young soon returned to that band) and was replaced by Craig Tarwater. Shortly after that, drummer Keliehor was booted after he chose a

Transcendental Meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...

workshop over a gig, and was replaced by Tony Dey. The reconfigured band added a few original songs, written by Steve Lalor. They played the Avalon Ballroom in July 1967, warming up for

The Grass Roots The Grass Roots are an American rock band that charted frequently between 1965 and 1975. The band was originally the creation of Lou Adler and songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In their career, they achieved two gold albums, two ...

, then warmed up for the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

at Seattle's Eagles Auditorium and Vancouver, BC's Agradome/Dante's Inferno, returned to play some shows in Los Angeles, followed by another Pacific Northwest tour in late September and early October, including a show at Eagles Auditorium that was recorded: their version of Herbie Hancock's 'Cantaloupe Island' from that show is on the 1985 ''I Flash Daily'' album. After that they supported

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

on a short tour, but in late October this lineup also split, with MacAllister and Tarwater going one way and Lalor and Dey another. Lalor and Dey briefly formed one further incarnation of The Daily Flash in November 1967, playing six dates in Seattle and

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

with a returned Doug Hastings and Tony Dey's brother Rick, but this was understood by all involved to be a stopgap to raise some money before moving on to other projects.

Aftermath

The various members of the Daily Flash went on to a variety of careers. Hastings played in several bands the next few years, including

Rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, but in June 1970 returned to college and pursued a career in petroleum geology. MacAllister and Tarwater went on to a band originally called 'Nirvana' and later 'Two Guitars, Piano, Drum and Darryl'; its other members were Jeff Simmons (previously with

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

's Mothers of Invention), Ron Woods (formerly of the Seattle-area band The Dynamics, later a Buddy Miles sideman), and former Iron Butterfly vocalist Darryl De Loach; they had one single on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

and recorded the soundtrack for the film '' Pit Stop''. MacAllister became a session player and a support player in several major touring bands, but died of a drug overdose in late 1969. Lalor and Keliehor continued as musicians. Both went on to play in Bodine, who had an album on MGM records in 1969. Lalor moved back to Seattle, where he performed a variety of folk and blues music before founding a revived Daily Flash in 2002. Keliehor's career has been much more varied, ranging from an appearance on Jeff Simmons' album ''

Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up ''Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up'' is the debut album of American musician Jeff Simmons (musician), Jeff Simmons. Released in 1969, the album was produced by Frank Zappa, who wrote two songs for the album under the pseudonym "La Marr Bruister". T ...

'' to composing music for contemporary dance, ballet, film, television and theater. His career has been mainly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, though he has returned at times to the United States. Both Dey brothers recorded a 1972 album on CBS Records with

Barry Melton Barry "The Fish" Melton (born June 14, 1947) is the co-founder and original lead guitarist of Country Joe and the Fish and Dinosaurs. He appears on all the Country Joe and the Fish recordings and he also wrote some of the songs that the band re ...

and Jay Levy as Melton, Levy & The Dey Brothers. Tony Dey was a session player in the 1970s and '80s before settling in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

and working in a record store. Rick Dey died of an overdose.

Compilation album and revivals

Keliehor and Lalor worked with

Bob Jeniker Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

and

Peter Blecha Peter Charles Blecha is an American historian, curator, essayist, author, musician, and director of the Seattle-based Northwest Music Archives. He is primarily known for research related to aspects of Pacific Northwest musical history. In additio ...

to put together a Daily Flash compilation, ''I Flash Daily'', released by UK label

Psycho Records Psycho may refer to: Mind * Psychopath * Sociopath * Someone with a personality disorder * Someone with a psychological disorder People with the nickname * Karl Amoussou or Psycho, mixed martial artist * Peter Ebdon or Psycho, English snooker pl ...

in March 1985. The compilation consisted of the group's two released singles and various unreleased tracks. US-based Sundazed Records released a 45 RPM EP in 1996. The sleeve lists the songs as "Jack of Diamonds", "Girl From North Alberta", "When I Was a Cowboy" and "Grizzly Bear". However, it does not contain "Jack of Diamonds", but another song recorded by The Daily Flash called "Bonny Ship the Diamond". Hastings, Lalor, and Keliehor played a one-off revival in Seattle in 1985. Lalor was the only original member in the revived version of the band active from 2002 to Lalor's death in 2018. This current configuration of the Daily Flash includes two members of

The Kingsmen The Kingsmen are a 1960s rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and ha ...

Members

Original lineup

* Don MacAllister (b. 1942, Seattle, Washington; d. 1969 Los Angeles, California): bass, vocal * Steve Lalor (b. Sept. 12, 1944, Glens Falls, New York; d. 2018 Seattle, Washington): guitar, vocal * Jon Keliehor (b. Oct. 18, 1941,

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

): drums * Doug Hastings (b. June 21, 1946, Seattle, Washington): guitar :Reference:

Replacements

* Craig Tarwater replaced Doug Hastings on guitar July–October 1967 * Tony Dey replaced Jon Keliehor on drums July–November 1967 * Rick Dey replaced Don MacAllister on bass for the band's last six performances in November 1967 :Reference:

Revived lineup

Beginning August 2002: * Steve Lalor: guitar, vocal (of Driftwood Singers) * Barry Curtis (of The Kingsmen): guitar, vocal * Don Wilhelm: bass, vocal (of Army, Shyanne, White Heart, Heart) * Steve Peterson (of The Kingsmen): vocals, percussion, mandolin, whistles :Reference:

Notes

External links

The Daily Flash is back!
official site of the present-day Daily Flash * Nick Warburton

on the site of the group

, quite a detailed history, including photographs and posters
The Daily Flash (1960s Bands of Puget Sound)

The Daily Flash
on AllMusic.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Daily Flash, The American folk rock groups Musical groups from Seattle Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 1965