The Oxford Circle was an American

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

and

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band from

Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Da ...

, near

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, who were active from 1964 to 1967. They became a popular

act with a

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wit ...

sound influenced by

Them Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...

and other blues-based bands of the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...

, that, in addition to heavy guitar feedback, came to encompass psychedelia. The group began to make appearances in San Francisco, where they became a top draw in venues such as the

Avalon Ballroom The Avalon Ballroom was a music venue in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco, California, at 1244 Sutter Street (or 1268 Sutter, depending on the entrance). The space is known as the location of many concerts of the counterculture move ...

. They taped a show at the Avalon in 1966 and, after lying in the vaults for years, it was rereleased in 1997 on the ''Nuggets from California: Live at the Avalon 1966'' anthology. In 1967, they released the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Foolish Woman" b/w "Mind Destruction", which is also included, along with several other studio outtakes, on the ''Nuggets from California'' compilation. In 1967, drummer

Paul Whaley Paul Gene Whaley (January 14, 1947 – January 28, 2019) was an American drummer best known as the drummer for rock band Blue Cheer. He was the son of country music singer Paul Edward Whaley. He grew up in the towns of Vallejo and Winters, Califo ...

left to play in pioneering heavy rock act

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style, and ...

. Lead vocalist and guitarist

Gary Lee Yoder Gary Lee Yoder (January 25, 1946 – August 7, 2021) was an American musician who was part of several 1960s San Francisco psychedelic rock bands, including the Oxford Circle, Kak, and Blue Cheer. Yoder was born in Pasadena, California. Oxfo ...

and bassist Dehner Patten left to form Kak, who recorded for

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. Yoder subsequently went on to join

in one of their later configurations. The Oxford Circle began as the Hideaways in 1964 and they were from Davis, California, which is a university town just outside of Sacramento, and Northeast of San Francisco. Their membership consisted of Gary Lee Yoder on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Dehner Patten on lead guitar, Jim Keylor on bass, and Paul Whaley on drums. They quickly became popular in the regional teen scene and in 1965 changed their name to the Oxford Circle (a small street in Davis), in deference the popular

, particularly some of the tougher blues-based bands such as

, led by

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, who were particularly influential. The group became known for their intense live performances which included occasional use of heavy feedback from their guitars. Sensing a new market for their style of playing, the Oxford Circle began to make trips to San Francisco to play in the psychedelic pattern-projected, strobe-lit ballrooms there, where they became a popular live act, on several occasions sharing the bill with

the 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, ...

Quicksilver Messenger Service Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band achieved wide popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe, ...

, and

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some in ...

. They played at venues such as the

, operated by Family Dog and Chet Helms, where they made a live recording that would remain in the vaults for years, which is highly indicative of their performances at the time in which they mix garage-based proto-punk with psychedelic experimentation. At that show they performed a nine-minute feedback-laden version of "Mystic Eyes", previously recorded by Them, a version of the Yardbirds' "

Mister, You're a Better Man Than I "You're a Better Man Than I", alternately listed as "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" or "Better Man Than I", is a song first recorded by the English rock band the Yardbirds. It was written by brothers Mike and Brian Hugg, and became the opening tra ...

", and blues "war-horses" such as "Baby Please Don't Go", later recorded by

the Amboy Dukes The Amboy Dukes were an American rock band formed in 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, and later based in Detroit, Michigan. They are best known for their only hit single, "Journey to the Center of the Mind". The band's name comes from the title of a ...

and

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

's " I'm A Man". In January 1967, they released the single "Foolish Woman" b/w "Mind Destruction" on World United Records. Drummer Paul Whaley eventually joined heavy rock pioneers

, but it created a vacuum in the band which led to their eventual dissolution. Future blues star

Joe Louis Walker Joe Louis Walker, also known as JLW (born December 25, 1949) is an American musician, best known as an electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. His knowledge of blues history is revealed by his use of older material and playi ...

played with the group briefly. Yoder and Patten left to form Kak, who recorded for Epic, and Yoder subsequently joined Blue Cheer in one of their later configurations. By the end of 1967, the Oxford Circle were no more. In recent years the Oxford Circle's reputation has grown amongst psychedelic and garage rock enthusiasts. Their entire 1966 concert recorded at the Avalon Ballroom, along with the single, "Foolish Woman" (both the live and studio versions of the song are included) and other studio tracks, were released in 1997 in pristine sound quality on the ''Nuggets from California: Live at the Avalon 1966'' anthology, put out by Big Beat Records. The studio version of "Foolish Woman" was released on the 2004 deluxe 5-CD box set compilation ''Trash Box'' issued by Hit Records and on '' Uptight Tonight: The Ultimate 1960s Garage Punk Primer'', put out by Big Beat Records.

Membership

(lead vocals and rhythm guitar) *Dehner Patten (lead guitar) *Jim Keylor (bass) *

(drums)

Discography

45 r.p.m. single

*"Foolish Woman" b/w "Mind Destruction" (World United 002, January 1966)

Anthology/Live album

*''Nuggets from California: Live at the Avalon 1966'' (Big Beat, 1997)

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford Circle 1964 establishments in California 1967 disestablishments in California American blues rock musical groups American protopunk groups Garage rock groups from California Musical groups established in 1964 Musical groups disestablished in 1967 Psychedelic rock music groups from California