Black Pearl was an American rock and roll band, formed in San Francisco, California, and active from 1967 to 1978. Black_Pearl_Boulder_1968_1_of_2

History

Black Pearl was composed of Bernie "B.B" Fieldings (vocals), Bruce Benson (guitar), Oak O'Connor (drums), Geoffrey Morris (guitar), Tom Mulcahy (guitar), and Jerry Causi (bass). Fieldings was a showman who based his stage presence on that of James Brown. His admiration for Brown was evident on the group's live album, which contains a twelve-minute version of Brown's "

Cold Sweat "Cold Sweat" is a song performed by James Brown and written with his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single on King Records was a No. 1 R&B hit, and rea ...

". As noted by one reviewer, "Black Pearl crank out some hard rockin' psych-rock music with the most ferocious drumbeats you've heard in a while." The band's three guitar lineup was considered powerful, being a format also found in contemporaries

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...

and

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...

. Black Pearl released two albums, ''Black Pearl'' (1969) and ''Black Pearl - Live!'' (1970), with the second being less well-received than the first. By the time of the 1970 release of the second album, the original band had broken up. Morris, O'Connor and Mulcahy continued as Black Pearl, playing initially as a

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

. Later musicians were Bobby Mason (vocals), Tom Becker (harmonica, vocals) and E. Rodney Jones (bass). The band finally broke up in 1978, followed by reunion shows in 1988, 1996, and 1999,

The Barbarians

Three of the members of Black Pearl, Morris, Causi, and Benson, had been members of the Barbarians, a 1960s

garage band 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 ...

noted for their single, " Are You a Boy or Are You A Girl". Causi and Benson had appeared on '' The T.A.M.I Show'' live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1964, and had a handful of appearances on ''

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Moulty, refused to travel to Boulder, Colorado, for a two-week engagement, new drummer, Oak O'Connor, plus Mulcahy and Fieldings, joined with ex-Barbarians Morris, Causi, and Benson, all initially based in Boston, to form Black Pearl in 1967. The band relocated from Boston to San Francisco, after a period of time in Colorado. The band, after fulfilling the Boulder, Colorado engagement, became quite popular in that city, influencing local bands such as Zephyr, featuring guitarist

Tommy Bolin Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American guitarist and songwriter who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), The James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), in addition to maintaining ...

(d. 1976) and lead singer Candy Givens (d. 1984). Givens was greatly influenced by Fieldings' stage presence, and through Fieldings, met his then girlfriend, Janis Joplin, who commented favourably on Givens' stage performance.Allan Vorda
Zephyr: A Volcano of Dreams
; www.tbolin.com.

B.B Fieldings

Bernie Fieldings was born on August 14, 1946, and was the vocalist for the band. He died on March 13, 2005, at the age of 58.

Geoffrey Morris

Geoffrey Morris was born in the mid 1940s in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He had joined the Barbarians in 1965, replacing their original guitarist Ronnie Enos.

Members

* Bernie "B.B" Fieldings - Vocals (1967 - 1970) (Died 2005) * Bobby Mason - Vocals (1970 - 1978; 1988; 1996; 1999) * Tom Becker - Vocals, Harmonica (1970 - 1978; 1988; 1996; 1999) * Bruce Benson - Guitar (1967 - 1970) * Tom Mulcahy - Guitar (1967 - 1978; 1988; 1996; 1999) * Geoffrey Morris - Guitar (1967 - 1978; 1988; 1996; 1999) * Ronnie Enos - Bass Guitar (1967 - 1970) * E. Rodney Jones - Bass Guitar (1970 - 1978; 1988; 1996; 1999) * Oak O' Connor - Acoustic Drum Kit (1967 - 1978; 1988; 1996; 1999)

Discography

* ''Black Pearl'' (1969) * ''Black Pearl Live!'' (1970)

References

{{Authority control Rock music groups from California