Raven was a rock band with

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and soul influences, formed in 1967 in Buffalo, New York, and active until 1970.

History

It was composed of Tony Galla (lead vocals), Jim Calire (piano/vocals), Gary Mallaber (drums), John Weitz (guitar), and Tom Calandra (bass guitar). Managed by Marty Angelo, the band played throughout the United States, appearing at such popular venues as the Electric Circus (nightclub), the Fillmore East, Steve Paul's Scene, Unganos in New York City, the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Chicago's Kinetic Playground, and many others.Billboard - 26 April 1969 - Page 12 "Raven, which previously featured James Calire, a highly- talented organist and pianist, had better balance in its presentation as lead guitarist John Weitz stood out. Drummer Gary Malabur and bass guitarist Tom Calandra also were solid The unit has two good strong-voiced vocalists" The group formed after

Stan Szelest Stanley Martin Szelest (February 11, 1942 – January 20, 1991) was an American musician from Buffalo, New York, known for founding an influential blues band in the 1950s and 1960s, Stan and the Ravens, and later as a keyboardist with Ronnie Hawki ...

's group "Stan and the Ravens" broke up in 1967. Two of its members, Calandra and Mallaber, joined Galla, Weitz, and Calire, in the group Tony Galla and the Rising Sons. In 1968, they changed the name of their group to simply "Raven". Raven toured in England in 1969 and were offered a recording contract by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

via Peter Asher with Apple Records. They turned it down to sign with

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 ...

instead. And although they played at the Woodstock Sound-Outs a year earlier, they declined invitations to appear at the Woodstock and Isle of Wight Festivals.

Discography

Singles

* ''Feelin' Good / Green Mountain Dream'',

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

/ CBS, 1969 * ''Children At Our Feet / Here Come A Truck'', Columbia/CBS, 1970

Albums

* ''Raven'',

/ CBS, 1969 * ''Live at the Inferno'', Discovery Records, 1969 (recorded 1967)

References

* Richard DiLello, "

The Longest Cocktail Party ''The Longest Cocktail Party'' is a book by Richard DiLello, published in 1972 by Playboy Press in the US and Canada and Charisma in the UK, and reprinted in 1981, 1983 (Pierian Press) and 2005. ''The Longest Cocktail Party'' is one man's account ...

" - ''An Insider's Diary of the Beatles, Their Million Dollar 'Apple' Empire and Its Wild Rise and Fall''. - pg. 119 - George Harrison instructs Peter Asher to "look up" the Raven (U.S. band) while in New York City. () * Patti Meyer Lee and Gary Lee, ''Don't Bother Knockin' -- This Town's A Rockin (Buffalo Sounds Press, October 20, 2000). . * Marty Angelo, ''Once Life Matters: A New Beginning'' (Impact Publishers, 2005–2006), .

External links