Swampwater was an American

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, that formed and started out initially as

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

’s backing group in the late 1960s, soon after she went solo. They are famous for incorporating

cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

and

swamp rock Swamp rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the mid-1960s as a fusion of rockabilly and soul music with swamp blues, country music and funk. The genre originated in Louisiana by artists such as Tony Joe White, but was subsequently po ...

elements into their music. Its members included cajun

fiddler A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Although in many ...

Gib Guilbeau Floyd August "Gib" Guilbeau (September 26, 1937 – April 12, 2016) was an American Cajun country rock musician and songwriter. As a member of Nashville West, Swampwater, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and later The Burrito Brothers, Guilbeau h ...

John Beland John Edward Beland (born July 24, 1949) is an American songwriter, session guitarist, recording artist, producer and author. Beland's career as guitarist started out in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, playing sessions and local live gigs with K ...

, before either of them joined

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 ...

, with Stan Pratt, Thad Maxwell, and Eric White (

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 Byrd ...

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 ...

' brother). Swampwater would go on to back Ronstadt in 1971 on TV's ''

The Johnny Cash Show ''The Johnny Cash Show'' is an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969, to March 31, 1971, on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

'', and their appearance on the show would help Swampwater secure a recording contract with

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. They combined California country rock with influences from bands such as

, The Dillards, Hearts & Flowers,

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

and the

Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

. Their stylized guitar riffs would coincidentally be influential in the early records of

the Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...

Career

Guilbeau and Gene Parsons had released a few early country-rock

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

in the late 1960s, as well as an album which was released in 1970, although recorded in 1968. The two recruited Clarence White in 1968 to record the ''Nashville West'' album. Eric White was also in the band and, prior to forming Swampwater, had been in the Kentucky Colonels. Swampwater made two albums in the early 1970s without Linda Ronstadt's involvement. Swampwater's first album, titled ''Swampwater'', was released on Starday King Records in 1971. The album was recorded in four days in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, at a four track studio owned and operated by the record producer, John Wagner. The band was in between touring with Ronstadt. The band's second album was also titled ''Swampwater'', but this time was released by RCA. The album was recorded in Hollywood, California as well as in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. In Nashville, Swampwater used

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

ists,

Curly Chalker Harold Lee Chalker (October 22, 1931 – April 30, 1998), known professionally as Curly Chalker, was an American pedal steel guitarist. Born in Enterprise, Alabama, Chalker began playing the lap steel guitar while still in his teens and made ...

and Jimmy Day. Reviewing the 1971 ''Swampwater'' LP,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981): "On their own Linda Ronstadt's backup boys prove honest country-rockers, which is like (and probably is) honest folkies with more chops. Very tuneful in a variety of styles, with Gib Guilbeau's fiddle pushing toward the

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

s and John Beland's guitar pulling 'em back to L.A. But their best lyric is about a dancing bear, and their version of 'Headed for the Country' is less bathetic than

Johnny Darrell Johnny Darrell (July 23, 1940 – October 7, 1997) was an American country music artist. Darrell was born in Hopewell, Alabama but grew up in Marietta, Georgia. After a stint in the army, he moved to Nashville and began managing a Holiday Inn ...

's only because they couldn't project big emotions if they wanted to." Swampwater can be heard on Larry Murray's

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

debut album, ''Sweet Country Suite''. After leaving Ronstadt, the band went to work with the singer-songwriter,

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...

, touring the country and appearing with him at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

. Beland left the group to embark on a solo career, and was signed to

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...

while on tour in the UK in 1972. The band continued on for a few months with Guthrie, but soon disbanded. Guilbeau went on to join the Flying Burrito Brothers, as well as a brief stint with the

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 ...

. A reunion was attempted in 1979 with Mickey McGee on drums. This resulted in the album ''Reunion'' that was not released until 1987. By 1980, both Beland and McGee joined Guilbeau in the Flying Burrito Brothers. This re-union led to nine hit country singles in the 1980s. In 2016, a possible reunion funded by a kickstarter campaign began but has since gone dormant.

Members

– vocals, guitar, piano (1968–1971, 1979) *

– vocals, guitar, fiddle (1968–1971, 1979) * Eric White – bass (1968–1969) * Thad Maxwell – bass (1969–1971, 1979) * Stan Pratt – drums (1968–1971) *

Herb Pedersen Herbert Joseph Pedersen (born April 27, 1944 in Berkeley, California) is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past fifty years including Country music, country, ...

– guitar/vocals (1971) *

Mickey McGee William Michael "Mickey" McGee (born October 25, 1947, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States - died July 20, 2020) was an American drummer. Biography McGee spent his formative years in and around Phoenix, Arizona. While touring with the band ...

– drums (1979)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:60 top:10 right:100 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1968 till:01/01/1980 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:lead_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:guitar id:fiddle value:yellow legend:fiddle id:bass value:blue legend:bass_guitar id:drums value:orange legend:drums id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1968 BarData = bar:JB text:"John Beland" bar:GG text:"Gib Guilbeau" bar:EW text:"Eric White" bar:TM text:"Thad Maxwell" bar:SP text:"Stan Pratt" bar:MM text:"Mickey McGee" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:JB from:01/01/1968 till:07/31/1971 color:guitar bar:JB from:01/01/1968 till:07/31/1971 color:vocals width:3 bar:JB from:01/01/1979 till:12/31/1979 color:guitar bar:JB from:01/01/1979 till:12/31/1979 color:vocals width:3 bar:GG from:01/01/1968 till:12/31/1971 color:guitar bar:GG from:01/01/1968 till:12/31/1971 color:vocals width:3 bar:GG from:01/01/1968 till:12/31/1971 color:fiddle width:5 bar:GG from:01/01/1979 till:12/31/1979 color:guitar bar:GG from:01/01/1979 till:12/31/1979 color:vocals width:3 bar:GG from:01/01/1979 till:12/31/1979 color:fiddle width:6 bar:EW from:01/01/1968 till:06/01/1969 color:bass bar:TM from:06/01/1969 till:12/31/1971 color:bass bar:TM from:01/01/1979 till:12/31/1979 color:bass bar:SP from:01/01/1968 till:12/31/1971 color:drums bar:MM from:01/01/1979 till:12/31/1979 color:drums

Discography

* ''Swampwater'' (1970) * ''Swampwater'' (1971) * ''Reunion'' (1987)

References

{{Authority control American country rock groups Musical groups established in 1968