Ace of Cups is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band formed in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1967 during the

Summer of Love The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people, mostly young people sporting hippie fashions of dress and behavior, converged in San Francisco's neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury. ...

era. It has been described as one of the first all-female rock bands. The members of Ace of Cups were Mary Gannon (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

), Marla Hunt (

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

), Denise Kaufman (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

), Mary Ellen Simpson (

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

), and Diane Vitalich (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

were sung by all members of the band except Vitalich, and all five sang

backup In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "back up", w ...

. The songwriting, too, was divided among the band members.

Background

Gannon was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and moved to San Francisco in the early 1960s. She played bass for a short while in a band called Daemon Lover. Hunt, who had grown up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, had been playing the piano since she was three. Like Gannon, she also moved to San Francisco in the early 1960s. Hunt was introduced to Gannon through a mutual friend, and Gannon suggested that they form an all-female rock band. Simpson was from

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...

. She began playing the guitar when she was 12. Like Gannon and Hunt, she moved to San Francisco in the early 1960s. Vitalich, a San Francisco native, was a veteran of several bands. She once played drums with

Bill Haley and the Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

. Simpson and Vitalich joined Gannon and Hunt's band around the same time. The last woman to join Ace of Cups was Kaufman. She also had the most colorful background of the group. Kaufman had been arrested during the Free Speech Movement at

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, and she was involved with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters (who dubbed her "Mary Microgram").. She had been engaged to Jann Wenner when they were 20 years old, before he started Rolling Stone magazine. In a 1995 interview, Hunt remembered her first impression of Kaufman:

I'll never forget when she walked in. She's wearing cowboy boots, a ''very'' short skirt, a wild fur coat and a fireman's hat. Her hair's stickin' straight out on the side. She's got these big glasses and this big guitar case—she's like 5'3" and it's almost as big as she is. Even in San Francisco she stood out.

The band was named Ace of Cups by their manager, astrologer Ambrose Hollingworth, after the

Ace of Cups Ace of Cups is a card used in Latin suited playing cards (Italian, Spanish and tarot decks). It is the Ace from the suit of Cups. In Tarot, it is part of what card readers call the "Minor Arcana", and as the first in the suit of Cups, signifies ...

tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

card, which shows a cup with five streams of water. He told the women that the streams represented the five of them, and that they should "go with the flow" to see where the music would take them.

Management

Hollingworth, who also managed Quicksilver Messenger Service became a paraplegic as a result of an automobile crash near Muir Beach, California in 1967. Hollingworth's stewardship transferred to

Ron Polte Ronald Thomas Polte (April 24, 1932 – September 14, 2016) was an American manager in the California Bay Area rock and roll scene. He was well known as the manager of the psychedelic music groups, The Ace of Cups quintet, one of the earliest al ...

. Polte was known for going to great lengths to accommodate the welfare of his musicians. When perennial studio musician

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

joined Quicksilver in 1969, it was the first and only band that included him in its performing and recording revenues.Quicksilver Messenger Service manager Ron Polte dies in Mill Valley at 84
'' Marin Independent Journal'', Paul Liberatore, September 16, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2021. Hollingworth died in 1996, and Polte in 2016.

Late 1960s

Ace of Cups made their debut in the early spring of 1967. In late June,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

invited the band to

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

for him at a free concert in

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

. In London that December, Hendrix told ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'': "I heard some groovy sounds last time in the States, like this girl group, Ace of Cups, who write their own songs and the lead guitarist is hell, really great." In San Francisco, Polte had the Ace of Cups and Quicksilver playing regularly, the Cups headlining at smaller clubs such as The Matrix and performing as the opening act at larger 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 ...

and

the Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...

. In mid-1968, the band appeared on a local television program, ''West Pole'', along with San Francisco legends

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

and 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, ...

. In 1969, they opened for The Band's first concert as The Band along with

The Sons of Champlin The Sons of Champlin are an American rock band, from Marin County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, formed in 1965. They are fronted by vocalist-keyboardist-guitarist Bill Champlin, who later joined rock band Chicago, from 1981 to 2009 ...

. Several record companies were interested in signing Ace of Cups, but Hollingworth and then Polte felt the band was worth more than the record companies were offering. Also, some of the band members were concerned that a record contract might require the band to tour, and they were worried that family pressures would interfere. Consequently, Ace of Cups never made any professional recordings of their own, although in 1969 they contributed vocals to Jefferson Airplane's ''

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

'',

Mike Bloomfield Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his ...

's '' It's Not Killing Me'', and Nick Gravenites' ''My Labors''. At the Altamont Speedway Free Festival that December, Kaufman (who had married saxophonist Noel Jewkes and was pregnant) was hit in the head by a full beer bottle. Nobody knew who threw the bottle, but

Ralph J. Gleason Ralph Joseph Gleason (March 1, 1917 – June 3, 1975) was an American music critic and columnist. He contributed for many years to the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', was a founding editor of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, and cofounder of the Monterey ...

wrote, " Hell's Angels played catch with full beer cans all afternoon". She suffered a fractured skull and needed emergency surgery at San Francisco's Mt. Zion Hospital to remove a quarter-sized piece of bone above her eye.

1970s

Several factors led to the break-up of Ace of Cups. Some of the band members were frustrated at the group's lack of commercial success. Others were interested in other pursuits. Several members had children and found it difficult to balance motherhood and a musical career. In the early 1970s, several men joined the band to replace the women who had left. Kaufman was the last remaining member from the original line-up when the band folded in 1972.

2000s

In 2003, Ace Records released ''It's Bad for You But Buy It!'', a CD of "rehearsals, demos, TV soundstage recordings, and in-concert tapes" of Ace of Cups. The CD was generally well received. The band's performances on the 1968 television program ''West Pole'' were released on DVD in 2008 by Eagle Vision.

2010s

As the decades passed, band members pursued various other personal and creative endeavors, occasionally playing music both individually and collectively when opportunities arose. On May 14, 2011, Ace of Cups played Wavy Gravy’
75th birthday party and SEVA Foundation benefit
George Baer Wallace, founder of High Moon Records, was there to talk to the band about releasing archival concert recordings. He was so moved by their spirit and spark that he offered the Ace Of Cups the opportunity to record their first ever studio album. In 2016, the band began work on their debut studio album. Four of the band's original members took part in the recording: Mary Gannon (claps), Denise Kaufman (bass, harmonica), Mary Ellen Simpson (lead guitar), and Diane Vitalich (drums). The album was produced by Dan Shea (

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

), and features contributions from Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady (

Hot Tuna Hot Tuna is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist). Although it has always been a fluid aggregation, with musicians coming and going over the ...

David Freiberg David Freiberg ( ; born August 24, 1938) is an American musician best known for contributing vocals, keyboards, electric bass, rhythm guitar, viola and percussion as a member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, and Jefferson S ...

( Quicksilver Messenger Service),

Barry Melton Barry "The Fish" Melton (born June 14, 1947) is the co-founder and original lead guitarist of Country Joe and the Fish and Dinosaurs. He appears on all the Country Joe and the Fish recordings and he also wrote some of the songs that the band re ...

( Country Joe & The Fish), Pete Sears (

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

Steve Kimock Steve Kimock (born October 5, 1955) is an American rock guitarist. He was a member of San Francisco Bay Area bands Zero and KVHW. His tone and some of his playing approach has been compared to Jerry Garcia, who was a friend of his, and he has ...

(Zero, RatDog), Terry Haggerty ( Sons of Champlin), Norman Mayell (

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

), Sid Page and

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...

, as well as lead vocal turns by

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

(

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

and Peter Coyote. On November 9, 2018, the band released ''Ace of Cups'' on High Moon Records. The Ace of Cups today is Mary Gannon, Denise Kaufman, Mary Ellen Simpson, Diane Vitalich, and Dallis Craft.

2020s

The Ace of Cups released their sophomore album ''Sing Your Dreams'' on October 2, 2020 via High Moon Records. The album is a collection of 12 songs and stories, produced by Dan Shea (Santana, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Bruce Hornsby), and features collaborations with Jackson Browne (who duets on album closer ‘Slowest River’), Sheila E. and the Escovedo Family, Bakithi Kumalo (whose iconic bass-playing was integral to the sound of Paul Simon’s Graceland), jam-band guitar luminary Steve Kimock (Jerry Garcia named him his ‘favorite unknown guitarist’), peace activist and counterculture icon Wavy Gravy, Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna), and David Freiberg (Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane/Starship).

Discography

Albums

* ''It's Bad For You But Buy It!'' ( Big Beat/2003) compilation * ''Ace Of Cups'' 2XLP/2XCD (High Moon/2018) * ''Sing Your Dreams'' (High Moon/2020) * Shouting Out Loud cassette (Noods Radio) - "Stones"

Compilation appearances

* ''Girls In The Garage Volume 5'' (Romulan/1988) - "Grass Is Always Greener" * ''Love Is The Song We Sing (San Francisco Nuggets 1968-1970)'' 4XCD (

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

/2007) - "Glue" s The Ace Of Cups* ''Cocktail Mo1618v'' 2XCD (La Bande on De La Revolte) (Le Maquis/2001) - "Glue" s The Ace Of Cups* ''Girls With Guitars'' (

Ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

/2014) - "Stones" s The Ace Of Cups* ''The Rebel Kind: Girls With Guitars 3'' (Ace/2014) - "Stones" * ''Girls In The Garage-A Collection Of Girl Garage And Girl Groups From The 60s! Volumes 1-6'' 6XCD (Past & Present/2018) * ''Girls With Guitars Gonna Shake'' (Ace/2022) - "Circles" s The Ace Of Cups

Notes

External links

* * *Video
The Ace of Cups, the Haight's (Almost) Forgotten All-Girl Band
(2017) from

KQED KQED may refer to: * KQED (TV), a PBS member station in San Francisco * KQED-FM KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both ...

Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Ace Of Cups, The All-female bands Rock music groups from California Musical groups disestablished in 1972 Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups from San Francisco 1967 establishments in California Musical groups reestablished in 2017