Holy Moses was an American

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 ...

band based in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

. They released one album on

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

in 1971.

Background

The roots of the band lie in the

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 ...

band Kangaroo, which formed in 1968 around

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

Barbara Keith Barbara Allen Keith (born 1946) is an American folk-rock singer-songwriter who recorded two solo albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She re-emerged in the 1990s with her family band, The Stone Coyotes, who have released 12 albums and cont ...

, multi-instrumentalist

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

, guitarist Teddy Speleos, and drummer/vocalist N. D. Smart (previously of the Remains). Speleos (born Theodore Edward Speleos, 1951) was a virtuoso guitarist who had previously replaced

Roy Buchanan Leroy "Roy" Buchanan (September 23, 1939 – August 14, 1988) was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan worked as a sideman and as a solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career and two lat ...

, and played with Hall, in

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

band the British Walkers, and whose style was sometimes compared with

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. The British Walkers
Retrieved April 12, 2019 Bruce Eder, Biography of Teddy Speleos, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved April 2, 2019 In his autobiography ''

Born To Run ''Born to Run'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on August 25, 1975, by Columbia Records. As his effort to break into the mainstream, the album was a commercial success, peaking at number thr ...

'',

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

wrote that he and Steve Van Zant used to see Speleos playing in bands in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, and used to "sit there slack-jawed at his sound, technique and nonchalance... ". The group, Kangaroo, came to be based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and developed an enthusiastic live following. They released a self-titled album on

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

. Reviewer

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

said of the album that "there are few other albums of the late '60s... on which so much talent is evident, but so little coheres into satisfying results." Richie Unterberger, Review of ''Kangaroo'', ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved April 2, 2019 The band split up in early 1969. Hall moved on to form the band Orleans before becoming a politician; Smart later formed

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

with

Leslie West Leslie West (born Leslie Abel Weinstein; October 22, 1945 – December 23, 2020) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Mountain. Life and career Early years: 1 ...

; and Keith began a solo career. Jason Ankeny, Biography of Kangaroo, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved April 2, 2019

Formation and career

Speleos then formed a new band, Holy Moses, in Woodstock, New York, with David Vittek (rhythm guitar), Marty David (bass, tenor sax), and Chris Parker (drums). They were joined by singer, songwriter and pianist Billy Batson, a California native who had recorded for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in 1966, performed in clubs in California and

, and had several of his songs recorded by duo

Hedge and Donna Hedge and Donna were an American folk and folk-rock duo comprising Keene Hedge Capers (born February 21, 1945) and Donna Marie Carson (November 13, 1946 – November 21, 2019). They recorded six albums between 1968 and 1973. On their final album ...

. Batson's songs gave a new focus to the band, and they performed regularly in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...

. They rejected a management offer by

Albert Grossman Albert Bernard Grossman (May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986) was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music and rock and roll scene. He was famous as the manager of many of the most popular and successful performers of folk and ...

, but were seen by

Michael Jeffery Major General Philip Michael Jeffery, (12 December 1937 – 18 December 2020) was a senior Australian Army officer and vice-regal representative. He was the 28th governor of Western Australia from 1993 to 2000, and the 24th governor-general of ...

, who was looking for a new band to manage after the death of his client, Jimi Hendrix. Jeffery was impressed by Speleos' guitar style, and gave him one of Hendrix's guitars. Billy Batson, "A Cowboy's Dream", ''Billy Batson Music''
Retrieved April 3, 2019 The band won a contract with

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, and in 1970 recorded their album, ''Holy Moses!!'', at the

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.Weston Blelock, "Holy Moses, it's Billy Batson!", ''Woodstock Arts'', September 17, 2009
Retrieved April 3, 2019 All the songs were written by Batson, and the album was produced by Mike Esposito of the

Blues Magoos The Blues Magoos are an American rock group from The Bronx, a borough of New York City, United States. They were at the forefront of the psychedelic music trend, beginning in 1966. They are best known for the hit song " (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Ye ...

and Kim King of

Lothar and the Hand People Lothar and the Hand People were a late-1960s American psychedelic rock band, known for their spacey music and pioneering use of the theremin and Moog modular synthesizer. The band's unusual appellation refers to a theremin nicknamed "Lothar", wit ...

. Alex Gitlin, "Holy Moses", ''AlexGitlin.com''
Retrieved April 2, 2019 Released in 1971, together with a single, "A Cowboy's Dream", the album failed to chart, despite having "all the ingredients of a bonafide classic". "Holy Moses: "Agadaga Dooley"", ''The Devil's Music'', June 20, 2013
Retrieved April 3, 2019 Esposito later described the band as "unusually unstable". Jeffery was killed in an airplane crash in 1973; some of the band's equipment including Speleos' guitars were stolen; and Speleos, who reportedly had problems of mental health, moved back to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

to start a family. The band then split up.

Later activities

Parker joined

Paul Butterfield 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 ...

's Better Days; Speleos reportedly later spent some time in a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

; Marty David became a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

. Batson was later a member of The Hypstrz, with Ernest Batson, Randy Weiss, and John Haga. They released an album, ''Hypstrization!'', on Voxx Records in 1980. The Hypstrz, ''First-Avenue.com''
Retrieved April 3, 2019 David Vittek died in 2012."David Vittek RIP", ''Woodstock Arts'', November 20, 2012
Retrieved April 3, 2019 Billy Batson died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

on September 5, 2017.

References

External links

Ted Speleos at Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy Moses Musical groups established in 1968 Rock music groups from New York (state) American country rock groups Musical groups disestablished in 1973