Edward Hoh (October 16, 1944 – November 7, 2015) was an American rock drummer who was active in the 1960s. Although primarily a
studio session and touring drummer, Hoh exhibited a degree of originality and showmanship that set him apart and several of his contributions have been singled out for acknowledgment by music critics.
Often uncredited and unknown to audiences, he played the drums on several well-known rock songs and albums, including those by
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
and
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 conc ...
. He also performed at the seminal 1967
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix ...
as a member of
the Mamas and the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of A ...
touring band. In 1968, he participated in the recording of ''
Super Session'', the highly successful 1968
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his ...
/
Al Kooper
Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...
/
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has com ...
collaboration album. However, his flurry of activity came to an end by the early 1970s and he remained out of the public eye until his death in 2015.
Early career
Hoh was born and raised in
Forest Park, Illinois
Forest Park (formerly Harlem) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, United States. The population was 14,339 at the 2020 census. The Forest Park terminal on the CTA Blue Line is the line's western terminus, located on the ...
, a western suburb of Chicago. While a teenager, he played with several local bands and met area musicians
Michael Bloomfield and
Barry Goldberg
Barry Joseph Goldberg (born December 25, 1942) is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's ve ...
. After Hoh relocated to Los Angeles in 1964, he became known on the club circuit and drummed for the Joel Scott Hill groups the Strangers and the Invaders. Hill recorded several singles and the Strangers were an opening act for the 1964 ''
T.A.M.I. Show
''T.A.M.I. Show'' is a 1964 concert film released by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England. The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civ ...
'', headlined by
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
and
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
. However, they did not appear in the concert film and it is unknown if Hoh recorded with Hill.
![Phil Spector with MFQ 1965](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Phil_Spector_with_MFQ_1965.png)
In September 1965, Hoh joined members of the
Modern Folk Quartet
The Modern Folk Quartet (or "MFQ") was an American folk music revival group that formed in the early 1960s. Originally emphasizing acoustic instruments and group harmonies, they performed extensively and recorded two albums. In 1965, as the Mode ...
as the group was venturing into electric
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 ...
.
Jerry Yester
Jerome Alan Yester (born January 9, 1943) is an American folk rock musician, record producer, and arranger.
Biography
Yester was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and grew up in Burbank, California. He formed a duo with brother ...
,
Cyrus Faryar
Cyrus Faryar ( fa, سیروس فریار; born February 26, 1936) is an Iranian-American folk musician, songwriter and record producer. He was active in musical, theatrical and performance events in high school. After graduating from high school ...
,
Henry "Tad" Diltz, and
Chip Douglas
Douglas Farthing Hatlelid (born August 27, 1942), better known as Chip Douglas, is an American songwriter, musician (bass, guitar and keyboards), and record producer, whose most famous work was during the 1960s. He was the bassist of the Turtle ...
made up the quartet and each became involved in various aspects of the music industry and Hoh's career. The group was renamed the Modern Folk Quintet (usually shortened to MFQ), and
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
decided to become their producer. Despite a lot of time spent with Spector in rehearsals and recording at
Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world.
Founded ...
, only one song came out of their association, "This Could Be the Night". To the group's dismay, it was not issued as a single, but was used as the theme to ''
The Big T.N.T. Show'', the 1966 follow-up concert film to the ''T.A.M.I. Show''. In March 1966, MFQ recorded a single for
Dunhill Records
Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distributed b ...
, produced by Spector associate
Jack Nitzsche
Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...
. The song "Night Time Girl", written by
Al Kooper
Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...
and
Irwin Levine
Irwin Jesse Levine (March 23, 1938 – January 21, 1997)
- accessed April 11, 2012 was an American songwriter, who co-wrote ...
, reached number 122 on
''Billboard'' magazine's
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...
on April 16, 1966. A second Dunhill MFQ single, the double A-side "Don't You Wonder" backed with "I Had a Dream Last Night", was released in 1968, but Hoh's participation is unknown. The MFQ were a fixture on the Los Angeles club scene and opened for such groups as the
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...
, Donovan,
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 ...
, Mamas and the Papas, and
the Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...
. They undertook a college tour across the U.S., however, a breakthrough eluded them and they disbanded by July 1966.
In 1966, Hoh contributed drums to Scottish singer
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
's third album, ''
Sunshine Superman''. The album was recorded at the CBS studios in Hollywood and included songs such as "
Season of the Witch", "Fat Angel", and "The Trip" (the
title track
A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title.
Title track may al ...
was previously recorded in London with a different drummer). Hoh accompanied Donovan during area engagements with ex-MFQ member Cyrus Faryar on electric violin. Donovan's experiences at the Trip club were recounted in "The Trip" and Hoh's "fine drumming" was noted in a review of the song. ''Sunshine Superman'' became Donovan's most popular record and reached number eleven in the
''Billboard'' 200 album chart.
1967
In 1967, Eddie Hoh's recording and touring activities accelerated. In March 1967, he performed with the Byrds' former singer-songwriter
Gene Clark
Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best ...
. Clark, who had recorded a country-influenced album with the
Gosdin Brothers, was continuing to develop his
country rock
Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...
sound. With Hoh, guitarist
Clarence White
Clarence White (born Clarence Joseph LeBlanc; June 7, 1944 – July 15, 1973) was an American bluegrass and country guitarist and singer. He is best known as a member of the bluegrass ensemble the Kentucky Colonels and the rock band the Byrds, ...
, and bassist
John York
John C. York (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American cancer research pathologist, married to Marie Denise DeBartolo York, and former co-owner and current co-chairman of the San Francisco 49ers.[Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...]
and the
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin.
History
The winn ...
. However, according to York, Clark was largely indifferent to audiences and the group did not last long:
Country rock biographer John Einarson writes that Gene Clark's band with Hoh, White, and York never recorded, while a White website indicates that around the same time, they recorded Clark's aborted Columbia single, "The French Girl"/"Only Colombe" (eventually released on Clark's 1991 ''Echoes'' album).
Around the same time, Hoh recorded with a studio group named the Giant Sunflower, which included future record producer
Val Garay
Val Garay (born May 9, 1942, in San Francisco, California, United States) is an American recording engineer and record producer who has worked with Kim Carnes, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Neil Diamond, and others. Garay also co-founded Los An ...
. Their first single, "February Sunshine", was released by two record companies simultaneously in April 1967: Take 6 Records and
Ode Records
Ode Records (also known as Ode Sounds and Visuals) was an American record label, started by Lou Adler in 1967 after he sold Dunhill Records to ABC Records. It was distributed by CBS's Epic Records except between 1970 and 1976, when the label was ...
, where it was the first record issued by producer
Lou Adler
Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of iconic musical artists, including The Grass Ro ...
's new record label. Ode won out and "February Sunshine" debuted at number 106 on ''Billboard's'' June 3, 1967, extended pop chart. Promoted as a
flower power
Flower power was a slogan used during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and nonviolence. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsber ...
/
sunshine pop
Sunshine pop (originally known as soft pop) is a subgenre of pop music that originated in Southern California in the mid-1960s. Rooted in easy listening and advertising jingles, sunshine pop acts combined nostalgic or anxious moods with "an appre ...
record, it was followed in October by the second Giant Sunflower single "
What's So Good About Goodbye
"What's So Good About Goodbye" was a 1961 hit single recorded by R&B group The Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label, later included on their 1962 album '' I'll Try Something New.'' The single was the Miracles’ second Top 40 Pop hit, peaking ...
". Without a touring band, a Los Angeles folk-rock group,
the Rose Garden (without Hoh), sometimes performed as the "Giant Sunflower" and later recorded "February Sunshine" and two unrecorded Gene Clark compositions for their debut album.
Hoh became a part of
the Mamas and the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of A ...
touring group and on June 18, 1967, they appeared as the final act at the Monterey Pop Festival (singer
John Philips
John Philips (30 December 1676 – 15 February 1709) was an 18th-century English poet.
Early life and education
Philips was born at Bampton, Oxfordshire, the son of Rev. Stephen Philips, later archdeacon of Salop, and his wife Mary Wood. H ...
was one of the event's organizers). Although several songs were filmed, only "
California Dreamin'
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 1 ...
" and "Got a Feelin'" made the final cut of the ''
Monterey Pop
''Monterey Pop'' is a 1968 American concert film by D. A. Pennebaker that documents the Monterey International Pop Festival of 1967. Among Pennebaker's several camera operators were fellow documentarians Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles. The ...
'' concert film. The complete Mamas and the Papas set was released on an album in 1970 and additional film footage was included in ''The Complete Monterey Pop Festival'' DVD set in 2002. A review of the album described Hoh's drumming as "first rate". During the extended instrumental introduction to their first song, Eddie Hoh plays an improvised drum part; at the conclusion of their set, Hoh and studio drummer
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...
play in tandem as the singers leave the stage. While touring with the group, Hoh took part in after-hours club jams. Another touring musician recalled
Also in June, Hoh recorded the ''
Goodbye and Hello'' album with experimental folk singer-songwriter
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ja ...
. The album was produced by former MFQ member Jerry Yester, which critic Matthew Greenwald called "a revolutionary album that was a quantum leap for both Tim Buckley and the audience".
[
] Greenwald singled out "Once I Was" and "Pleasant Street" as "tracks
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
are easily among the finest example of Buckley's psychedelic/folk vision".
Rough
outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DV ...
material from the album session was released in 1999 on Buckley's ''
Works in Progress''.
Eddie Hoh also became
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 conc ...
' studio drummer (following Hal Blaine) and played on many of their songs. From their beginning in 1966, producers used a variety of session musicians to record the Monkees' material, including Blaine and several others from
the Wrecking Crew. It is unclear which, if any, of the songs on their first three albums include Hoh. However, starting with their fourth album, ''
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'' (with ex-MFQ member Chip Douglas now as their producer), Hoh has been identified as the drummer on many Monkees' songs released in 1967 and 1968. Among his contributions are "
Pleasant Valley Sunday
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, most famous for the version recorded by the Monkees in 1967. Inspired by a street named Pleasant Valley Way and their move to suburban West Orange, New Jersey, Goffin an ...
", the jazz-influenced "Goin' Down", "
Daydream Believer
"Daydream Believer" is a song composed by American songwriter John Stewart shortly before he left the Kingston Trio. It was originally recorded by the Monkees, with Davy Jones singing the lead. The single reached No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard ...
", the second studio version recording of "Words", "
Zor and Zam
"Zor and Zam" is a song written by Bill and John Chadwick and recorded by The Monkees for their 1968 album '' The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees''. It was also featured in the final episode of season 2 of the band's popular television series, entit ...
", and "
Star Collector
"Star Collector" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1967 and recorded by The Monkees (with lead vocals by Davy Jones). The song is included on their fourth album '' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'' It was featured ...
", which ends with extended improvised drumming.
1968
In 1968, singer/organist
Al Kooper
Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...
, who was working for
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
after he left
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Ny ...
, put together a recording session with former Paul Butterfield Blues Band/
Electric Flag
The Electric Flag was an American soul rock band, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield f ...
guitarist
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his ...
. According to Kooper, Bloomfield chose Hoh as the drummer. When Bloomfield was unable to finish the session, Kooper called guitarist
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has com ...
, who was between gigs with
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 ...
and
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member, ...
. Upon hearing that Hoh was the drummer, Stills readily agreed, describing Hoh as "an old friend of mine". The resulting album, titled ''
Super Session'', became an unlikely hit. The first half of the album features mostly electric blues-style instrumentals with Bloomfield, while the second with Stills is rock oriented with vocals. Hoh and bassist
Harvey Brooks are the rhythm section for the whole album (
Barry Goldberg
Barry Joseph Goldberg (born December 25, 1942) is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's ve ...
contributes electric piano to one song). All of the ''Super Session'' participants had performed at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival – Hoh with the Mamas and the Papas, Kooper as a solo act, Stills with Buffalo Springfield, and Bloomfield, Brooks, and Goldberg with the Electric Flag.
One of the songs with Stills is an eleven-minute version of "Season of the Witch", which Hoh had originally recorded with Donovan in 1966. It became a staple of late-sixties "
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground (S ...
" FM radio and a review of the song noted Hoh's "flawless drumming which laid down as solid a groove as Stills and Kooper could have ever hoped for". Another Kooper/Stills song is a rendition of
Willie Cobbs
Willie C. Cobbs (July 15, 1932 – October 25, 2021) was an American blues singer, harmonica player and songwriter. He is best known for his song " You Don't Love Me".
Life and career
Born in Smale, Monroe County, Arkansas, United States, C ...
' blues classic "
You Don't Love Me". Hoh's drum part is prominent with the heavy use of
flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and not ...
(a sound processing effect) on the track. ''Super Session'' reached number eleven in the album chart and became one of Columbia's best-selling albums of the late 1960s. It was also the best-selling album of both Bloomfield's and Kooper's careers and Stills' first gold record. Although Hoh had already played drums on several well-known songs, he was relatively unknown to audiences. However, with ''Super Session'' he acquired a higher public profile, with his name and photograph given equal prominence on the back album cover.
In addition to ''Super Session'', Hoh participated in several album recording sessions for blues-oriented musicians from Chicago, including singer/harmonica player
Charlie Musselwhite
Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...
, guitarist
Harvey Mandel
Harvey Mandel (born March 11, 1945) is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career.
Early life
Mandel was born in Detroit, Michigan, a ...
, and keyboard player Barry Goldberg. The three had recorded the ''
Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band'' album in 1967.
[
] With Hoh and new backing musicians, Musselwhite recorded his second album, ''Stone Blues''.
Hoh also contributed drums to the mostly instrumental
fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
1968 album by Mandel, ''Cristo Redentor'', featuring another staple of late-sixties FM radio, "
Wade in the Water
"Wade in the Water" (Roud 5439) is an African American jubilee song, a spiritual—in reference to a genre of music "created and first sung by African Americans in slavery." The lyrics to "Wade in the Water" were first co-published in 1901 in ...
". As part of the Barry Goldberg Reunion, he was the drummer for ''There's No Hole in My Soul''.
[
] Other recordings with Mandel and Goldberg included ''Mighty Graham Bond'', the Goldberg-produced album by the English blues-band leader/organist
Graham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond (28 October 1937 – 8 May 1974) was an English rock/blues musician and vocalist, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s.
Bond was an innovator, described as "an important, und ...
.
Eddie Hoh also contributed to singer/organist
Lee Michaels
Lee Eugene Michaels (born Michael Olsen, November 24, 1945) is an American rock musician who sings and accompanies himself on organ (music), organ, piano, or guitar. He is best known for his powerful soulful voice and his energetic virtuosity o ...
' debut album ''Carnival of Life'' (both he and Michaels earlier played with Joel Scott Hill). When Michaels' album was released, the personnel listing seemed to indicate that Hoh had only recorded one of the songs, "My Friends". However, in an album review, Greenwald described "excellent performances by Michaels and especially drummer Eddie Hoh". Later, Michaels and Hoh recorded four demos with
Richie Furay
Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member (with Buffalo Springfield). He is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruc ...
,
Jim Messina, and
Rusty Young after their
final recordings for Buffalo Springfield. With a new lineup, they became the country rock group
Poco
Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassi ...
, but the material from the demo sessions has not been released. Hoh is also credited with the drums for
Kim Fowley
Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...
's ''
Outrageous'' album.
1969
During 1969, Hoh continued to record and perform with Barry Goldberg (''Two Jews Blues'', ''Barry Goldberg & Friends'', and ''Recorded Live Barry Goldberg & Friends'') and Harvey Mandel (''Righteous''). Critic Eugene Chadbourne commented in a review of ''Barry Goldberg & Friends'':
In April, he performed with Mandel at a Mercury Records-sponsored festival called the ''Flying Bear Medicine Show'', portions of which were released on an album by the same name. Also performing at the festival was Tongue and Groove, described as "something of an offshoot of the legendary, but little recorded, early San Francisco hippie group
the Charlatans".
[
] Hoh contributed drums to their only album, the self-titled ''Tongue & Groove''. He also drummed on ''What That Is'', the 1969 album by
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
performer
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of s ...
. Hoh joined
Judy Henske
Judith Anne "Judy" Henske (December 20, 1936 – April 27, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter, dubbed "the Queen of the Beatniks" by producer Jack Nitzsche. Initially performing in folk clubs in the early 1960s, her performances and r ...
and Jerry Yester for the songs "Horses on a Stick" and "Charity", which were included on ''
Farewell Aldebaran
''Farewell Aldebaran'' is a 1969 album by American musicians Judy Henske and Jerry Yester. Originally released on Frank Zappa's Straight record label, it contains an eclectic mix of songs in a wide variety of styles and is also notable for its ...
'', the duo's 1969 folk/psychedelic album.
Goldberg and Hoh participated in a demo session with ex-''
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' is the sixth album by American rock band the Byrds and was released in August 1968 on Columbia Records. Recorded with the addition of country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, it became the first album widely recognized as c ...
''-Byrds
Gram Parsons
Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, ...
, who was looking to form a new country rock group. The session yielded a remake of Parsons' earlier song "Do You Know How It Feels". When Parsons later hooked up with other musicians to form the
Flying Burrito Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris ...
, he invited Hoh to become their drummer. He played on their early recording sessions, but by then had started to develop a substance abuse problem. According to the group's
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman (born December 4, 1944) is an American musician. He was the original bassist of and one of the original members of the Byrds, which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke.
With frequent ...
, "Eddie would come to the sessions and fall off of the drum stool he would be so out of it". Only "Sin City" and the demo song with Parsons (with later overdubs) were used for the group's debut album, ''
The Gilded Palace of Sin
''The Gilded Palace of Sin'' is the first album by the country rock group the Flying Burrito Brothers, released on February 6, 1969. It continued Gram Parsons' and Chris Hillman's work in modern country music, fusing traditional sources like folk ...
''. Jon Corneal, who was brought in to drum on several of the album's songs, recalled "As I understand it they gave Eddie Hoh an equal share of the cash advance
rom the record companyand then he split. He ended up with my money". Corneal's account was echoed by Parsons.
Later years
Some time after a last album with Harvey Mandel (''Games Guitars Play'', released in 1970), Eddie Hoh apparently stopped recording and performing. In a 2002 quote about the Mamas and the Papas,
Denny Doherty
Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty (November 29, 1940 – January 19, 2007) was a Canadian singer. He was a founding member of the 1960s musical group the Mamas and the Papas for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
...
believed Hoh had died. A 2006 biography in ''Great Rock Drummers of the Sixties'' concluded he "reportedly has been out of the music business for some time, down on his luck". Hoh was out of the public eye for the remainder of his life. He died in a nursing home in Westmont, Illinois, on November 7, 2015, aged 71, from undisclosed causes.
[
]
Discography
Since most of Hoh's recordings were as a session drummer, his credits are sometimes unclear or nonexistent. Albums with some tracks known to have been recorded without Hoh are marked with an asterisk (*). He appears on several compilation and career retrospective albums by artists with whom he worked.
* "This Could Be the Night" (''
The Big T.N.T. Show'' soundtrack) –
Modern Folk Quintet (frequently listed on reissues as "Modern Folk Quartet") (11/1965)
* "Night Time Girl"/"Lifetime" (single) – Modern Folk Quintet/MFQ (3/1966)
* ''
Sunshine Superman''* –
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
(9/1966)
* "February Sunshine"/"Big Apple" (single) – The Giant Sunflower (4/1967)
* "
Pleasant Valley Sunday
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, most famous for the version recorded by the Monkees in 1967. Inspired by a street named Pleasant Valley Way and their move to suburban West Orange, New Jersey, Goffin an ...
"/"
Words
A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consen ...
" (single) – The Monkees (7/1967)
* ''
Goodbye and Hello'' –
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ja ...
(8/1967)
* "
What's So Good About Goodbye
"What's So Good About Goodbye" was a 1961 hit single recorded by R&B group The Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label, later included on their 1962 album '' I'll Try Something New.'' The single was the Miracles’ second Top 40 Pop hit, peaking ...
"/"Mark Twain" (single) – The Giant Sunflower (10/1967)
* ''
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.''* –
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 conc ...
(11/1967)
* ''Carnival of Life''* –
Lee Michaels
Lee Eugene Michaels (born Michael Olsen, November 24, 1945) is an American rock musician who sings and accompanies himself on organ (music), organ, piano, or guitar. He is best known for his powerful soulful voice and his energetic virtuosity o ...
(2/1968)
* ''
The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees''* – The Monkees (4/1968)
* ''
Super Session'' –
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his ...
/
Al Kooper
Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...
/
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has com ...
(7/1968)
* ''Cristo Redentor''* –
Harvey Mandel
Harvey Mandel (born March 11, 1945) is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career.
Early life
Mandel was born in Detroit, Michigan, a ...
(1968)
* ''There's No Hole in My Soul'' –
Barry Goldberg
Barry Joseph Goldberg (born December 25, 1942) is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's ve ...
Reunion (1968)
* ''Stone Blues'' –
Charlie Musselwhite
Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...
(1968)
* ''Mighty Grahame Bond'' –
Graham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond (28 October 1937 – 8 May 1974) was an English rock/blues musician and vocalist, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s.
Bond was an innovator, described as "an important, und ...
(1968)
* ''
Outrageous'' –
Kim Fowley
Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...
(1968)
* ''
Head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
''* – The Monkees (12/1968)
* ''
Monterey Pop
''Monterey Pop'' is a 1968 American concert film by D. A. Pennebaker that documents the Monterey International Pop Festival of 1967. Among Pennebaker's several camera operators were fellow documentarians Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles. The ...
'' (film) –
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...
(12/1968, filmed 1967)
* ''
The Gilded Palace of Sin
''The Gilded Palace of Sin'' is the first album by the country rock group the Flying Burrito Brothers, released on February 6, 1969. It continued Gram Parsons' and Chris Hillman's work in modern country music, fusing traditional sources like folk ...
''* –
The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris ...
(2/1969)
* ''
Instant Replay
Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live.
The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...
''* – The Monkees (2/1969)
* ''Two Jews Blues'' – Barry Goldberg (1969)
* ''Righteous''* – Harvey Mandel (1969)
* ''Flying Bear Medicine Show''* – jam with Harvey Mandel and members of
Linn County,
the McCoys
The McCoys were a rock music, rock group formed in Union City, Indiana, Union City, Indiana, United States, in 1962. They are best known for their 1965 hit single "Hang On Sloopy". Their name was changed from Rick and the Raiders to The McCoys, ...
,
Buddy Miles Express, and
Sir Douglas Quintet
The Sir Douglas Quintet was an American Rock music, rock band, formed in San Antonio in 1964. With their first hits, they were acclaimed in their home state. When their career was established (subsequent to working with Texas record producer Huey ...
(1969)
* ''Tongue & Groove''* – Tongue and Groove (1969)
* ''What That Is'' –
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of s ...
(1969)
* ''
Farewell Aldebaran
''Farewell Aldebaran'' is a 1969 album by American musicians Judy Henske and Jerry Yester. Originally released on Frank Zappa's Straight record label, it contains an eclectic mix of songs in a wide variety of styles and is also notable for its ...
''* –
Judy Henske
Judith Anne "Judy" Henske (December 20, 1936 – April 27, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter, dubbed "the Queen of the Beatniks" by producer Jack Nitzsche. Initially performing in folk clubs in the early 1960s, her performances and r ...
and
Jerry Yester
Jerome Alan Yester (born January 9, 1943) is an American folk rock musician, record producer, and arranger.
Biography
Yester was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and grew up in Burbank, California. He formed a duo with brother ...
(1969)
* ''Barry Goldberg & Friends'' (w/various names) – Barry Goldberg (1969)
* ''Games Guitars Play'' — Harvey Mandel (1970)
* ''Historic Performances Recorded at the Monterey International Pop Festival'' – The Mamas & the Papas (1970, recorded 1967)
* ''Barry Goldberg & Friends Recorded Live'' (w/various names) – Barry Goldberg (various dates, recorded circa 1969)
* ''
Works in Progress''* – Tim Buckley (1999, recorded 1967–1968)
* ''The Complete Monterey Pop Festival'' (DVD set) – The Mamas & the Papas (2002, filmed 1967)
* ''
Good Times!
''Good Times!'' is the twelfth studio album by American pop rock band the Monkees. Produced mainly by Adam Schlesinger (with some additional bonus tracks produced by Andrew Sandoval), the album was recorded to commemorate the band's 50th anniversa ...
''* –
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 conc ...
(2016, features some basic tracks recorded as early as 1968)
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoh, Eddie
1944 births
2015 deaths
American session musicians
American rock drummers
Musicians from Chicago
People from Forest Park, Illinois
Modern Folk Quartet members