The Lower East Side Band was an American rock band from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York.

History

Formed to support David Peel in 1967, the Lower East Side Band originally consisted of Harold C. Black and Billy Joe White. They soon became popular enough in New York City's then thriving downtown counterculture that they were signed to Elektra Records in 1968. With the addition of Larry Adam and George Cori to the line-up, the band recorded with David Peel on the '' Have a Marijuana'' album conceptualized by

Danny Fields Danny Fields (born Daniel Feinberg; November 13, 1939) is an American music manager, publicist, journalist and author. As a music industry executive from the 1960s to the 1980s, he was one of the most influential figures in the history of punk ...

as a collection of drinking songs for pot smokers. In 1970 The Lower East Side Band recorded their second album, ''The American Revolution'', which was also released by Elektra Records (now part of

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

) on the

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehre ...

imprint. In 1971, after the record was released and the band toured in support of it, Harold C. Black and Billy Joe White left to form the glitter rock band Teenage Lust. Harold went on to run New York City's after-hours nightclub the 210 Club. They were replaced by Tommy Doyle, Frank Lanci and Billy Minelli. In the mid-seventies, the Lower East Side band was produced by its long-time friend and admirer

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

for

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 Ma ...

. Lennon then produced Peel's album, ''The Pope Smokes Dope'', which was banned in several countries outside the United States and Canada. In the late 1970s, the Lower East Side Band included Eddie and his brother Moses from the Bronx, as well as Andi Anderson aka Andrew Stergiou. They regularly appeared with David Peel on Michael Luckman's ''Underground Tonight Show'', an early cable TV program broadcast on

Sterling Manhattan Cable TV Sterling may refer to: Common meanings * Sterling silver, a grade of silver * Sterling (currency), the currency of the United Kingdom ** Pound sterling, the primary unit of that currency Places United Kingdom * Stirling, a Scottish city who ...

public broadcast channels. Sterling Manhattan Cable was later to become part of HBO in the Time-Warner group. The Lower East Side band was part of the

Plastic Ono Band The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 for their collaborative and solo projects based on their 1968 Fluxus conceptual art project of the same name. Lennon and Ono began a personal and artistic relati ...

that appeared on ''The David Frost Show'' with

and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

. They also performed at the first Manhattan New York City smoke-in hosted by the

Yippies The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on D ...

, as well as the first Washington, D.C. smoke-in, which was broadcast on both television and radio.

References

External links

*
David Peel and the Lower East Side homepage
* 1972 clip of the Lower East Side Band on the David Frost Show performing "New York City Hippie" (with David Peel, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Tommy and Eddie,

Elephant's Memory Elephant's Memory (also billed as Elephants Memory, without the apostrophe) was an American rock band formed in New York City in the late 1960s, known primarily for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from late 1971 to 1973. For live performance ...

). {{DEFAULTSORT:Lower East Side Rock music groups from New York (state)

History

See also

References

External links