Tommy Flanders was lead vocalist in the
Blues Project
The Blues Project is a band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and originally split up in 1967. Their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles. They are most remembered as one of the most artfu ...
for several periods in the band's history from 1966 to 1972.
He appears on two Blues Project albums, their debut ''
Live at the Cafe Au Go Go
''Live at The Cafe Au Go Go'' is the debut album by the American band The Blues Project, recorded live during the ''Blues Bag'' four-day concert on the evenings of November 24–27, 1965 at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City. The recording finishe ...
'' (
Verve Folkways
Verve Forecast is a record label formed as a division of Verve Records to concentrate on pop, rock, and folk music.
Founding
Jerry Schoenbaum of Verve and Moe Asch of Folkways created Verve Folkways in 1964 to take advantage of the popularity ...
, 1966) and a reunion album
eponymously titled ''Blues Project'' (
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
, 1972), as well as on various compilations and greatest hits collections.
After his first departure from the Blues Project in 1966 (Flanders left before the debut album was issued), he signed with
Verve Forecast
Verve Forecast is a record label formed as a division of Verve Records to concentrate on pop, rock, and folk music.
Founding
Jerry Schoenbaum of Verve and Moe Asch of Folkways created Verve Folkways in 1964 to take advantage of the popularity ...
, for whom he issued two commercially unsuccessful singles and one largely ignored album, ''The Moonstone'' (1969). In a review at
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, rock journalist
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...
panned the album, saying, "Despite some top-flight backup musicians in
Bruce Langhorne
Bruce Langhorne (May 11, 1938 – April 14, 2017) was an American folk musician. He was active in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s, primarily as a session guitarist for folk albums and performances.
Biography
Early life
Langhorn ...
,
Dick Rosmini
Richard John Rosmini (October 4, 1936 – September 9, 1995) was an American guitarist, at one time considered the best 12-string guitarist in the world. He was best known for his role in the American "folk revival" of the 1960s.
Life
Rosmini was ...
, and
Jerry Scheff
Jerry Obern Scheff (born January 31, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley from 1969 to 1977 as a member of his TCB Band and on the Doors' '' L.A. Woman''.
Biography
Scheff grew up in Vallejo, California. After ...
, it was a fairly forgettable record, and certainly a low-energy one, the mellowness threatening to dissolve into sleepiness. It's one of those albums where nothing's especially wrong, but neither is anything especially right."
His 1967 Verve Forecast single, "Friday Night City" c/w "Bad Reputation," was produced by former
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
-producer
Tom Wilson. Both sides featured
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
(then of
the Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.
Originally an R&B band ...
) on guitar, and Zappa reportedly arranged and conducted both sessions as well. ("Friday Night City" was composed by Flanders; "Bad Reputation" by
Tim Hardin
James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...
.) Flanders' final solo release was a single, "First Time, Last Time" c/w "Between Purple and Blue," issued on
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
in 1970.
He later went into
artist management
A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of entertainer, artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee t ...
; his clients included
Carolyne Mas
Carol Patricia Mas (born October 20, 1955), professionally known as Carolyne Mas, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and producer. She broke out of the Greenwich Village music scene boom of the late 1970s, along with other ar ...
.
Carolyne Mas bio at Carolynemas.com
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanders, Tommy
The Blues Project members
American rock singers
20th-century American male musicians