Kingfish is an American

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

led by

Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as ''Game for a L ...

, a musician, singer, and songwriter who plays guitar and harmonica. Kelly co-founded Kingfish in 1973 with

New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred ...

bass player

Dave Torbert David Edwin Torbert (June 7, 1948 – December 7, 1982) was a Bay Area musician, best known for his associations with the Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. He played bass for the latter group, replacing Phil Lesh during the se ...

and fellow

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

musicians Robbie Hoddinott (lead guitar), Chris Herold (drums), and Mick Ward (keyboards). Ward died in a car accident later that year, and was replaced by Barry Flast, another keyboardist from San Francisco. In 1974, Kingfish became more well known, and signed their first record contract, after

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, ...

guitarist and singer

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

, a long-time friend of Kelly's, joined the band. (Kelly had previously been a guest musician on the Grateful Dead album ''

Wake of the Flood ''Wake of the Flood'' is the sixth studio album (tenth overall) by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released October 15, 1973, it was the first album on the band's own Grateful Dead Records label. Their first studio album in nearly three years, it ...

''.) Weir toured with Kingfish and was a band member on their first two albums, '' Kingfish'' and '' Live 'n' Kickin'''. When the Dead started touring again in 1976, Weir left Kingfish, along with Hoddinott and Herold, who were then replaced by Michael O'Neill (lead guitar) and

David Perper David Perper is an American drummer. Since 1970, David has played and recorded with national and local Bay Area artists and bands including Kingfish, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, Jesse Colin Young, the Youngbloods, the Mamas & the Papas, t ...

(drums). (Kelly later appeared on the Grateful Dead albums ''

Shakedown Street ''Shakedown Street'' is the tenth studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead, released November 15, 1978, on Arista Records. The album came just over a year after previous studio album ''Terrapin Station''. It was the final album for Keith and ...

'' and ''

The Closing of Winterland ''The Closing of Winterland'' is a four-CD live album by the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert performed on December 31, 1978. The concert was also released as a two-disc DVD. The title derives from the fact that it was the last c ...

'', and on Weir's album '' Bobby and the Midnites''. In 1995 he became a founding member of Weir's band

Ratdog RatDog is an American rock band. The group began in 1995 as a side project for Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. After the Dead disbanded later that year, RatDog became Weir's primary band. They performed some Grateful Dead songs, a mix ...

.) The lineup of the band continued to change, with Kelly and Torbert remaining at the core. Then, in 1979 Torbert and Kelly parted ways and Torbert formed a new lineup with Danny "Rio" DeGennaro and Michael O'Neill on guitars and sharing lead vocals. Also part of that lineup were Steve Shive (drums) and Ralph Liberto (keyboards, saxophone). Dave Torbert died of a heart attack in 1982. Starting in 1984, Kingfish would regroup from time to time and go on tour with a gradually evolving lineup of musicians led by Matthew Kelly. In 1987, Kelly also released a solo album called ''A Wing and a Prayer''. In 1999 Kingfish released a new studio album, ''

Sundown on the Forest ''Sundown on the Forest'' is an album by the rock group Kingfish. It was recorded over a period of several years with different combinations of musicians, and released in 1999. It was the first studio album by Kingfish since ''Trident'' in 19 ...

'', recorded over a period of several years with different combinations of musicians, including Bob Weir and a number of other Kingfish veterans. Kelly had left RatDog the year before, and was living in Hawaii. Kingfish did not perform live again until February 2022. Danny DeGennaro was shot to death on December 28, 2011. Robbie Hoddinott died of liver failure on March 6, 2017, one day before his 63rd birthday. On February 20, 2022, in Mount Holly, New Jersey, Kingfish performed their first live show since 1999, with a lineup of Michael O'Neill (guitar, vocals), Steve Shive (drums), Danny Galvano (keyboards, vocals), and Paul Baroli (bass, vocals).

Discography

Kingfish released the following albums: * '' Kingfish'' – 1976 (Round) U.S. #50 * '' Live 'n' Kickin – 1977 (Jet) U.S. #103 * ''

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

'' – 1978 (Jet) * '' Kingfish'' – 1985 (Relix) * ''

Alive in Eighty Five ''Alive in Eighty Five'' — also known as ''Alive in '85'' — is an album by the rock band Kingfish. It was recorded at Sweetwater in Mill Valley, California in 1985, and released by Relix Records as a vinyl LP later that year. It was re ...

'' – 1985 (Relix) * '' Kingfish in Concert: King Biscuit Flower Hour'' – 1996 (King Biscuit) * ''Relix's Best of Kingfish'' – 1997 (Relix) * ''A Night in New York'' – 1997 (Relix) * ''

'' – 1999 (Phoenix Rising) * ''Live'' – 2000 (EMI–Capitol Special Markets) * ''From the Front Row... Live'' – 2003 –

DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The sta ...

(Silverline) * ''Greatest Hits Live'' – 2003 (King Biscuit) * ''I Hear You Knockin – 2004 (Disky)

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingfish Rock music groups from California Grateful Dead Bob Weir Musical groups established in 1973 Relix Records artists