Sunday Snow Job - Win A Hundred Bucks!!!
A Grand Prize Quiz for Sunday! Who were these guys? All I know is they were out of - and back into - Cleveland, Ohio before anyone noticed. Almost impossible to find anywhere on the internet - even the discogs page takes some finding - their lone '68 album on Epic is the stuff of pop-psych dreams. It kicks off harmlessly enough, with a few playbook harmony pop numbers, which by themselves are swell enough to recommend it, but then turns interesting, with a surprising rock edge sharpening things up nicely. The discogs reviewer notes a Peanut Butter Conspiracy/Aorta feel (I'd add Chrysalis) and says "the tour de force Caterpillar pulls out all the stops and ushers the
listener through more effects and key changes in three minutes than
seems possible - as boldly experimental as anything from
this period," which saves me some work [But not me - Ed.]
There's a grand cash prize of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS* to the commenter who can tell us about the band! Hoo boy! One hunder-ed dollarinis! Some fun, huh, kids?!
* Papua New Guinea dollars. Offer void where state law prohibits. Subject to ratification. Taxes and fees applicable. Anyone just mentioning the songwriting credits will be summarily and harshly dealt with.
ReplyDeleteFlakes.
Snow was one of the lucky few bands that released an LP for a major record label, releasing one eponymous LP for Epic that included an interesting and often excellent mix of Beatles influenced psychedelica.
ReplyDeleteSnow was formed from the demise of Muthers Oats. MO members Jim Sikela and Dan Mahoney hooked up with Will Ryan and started writing and peforming original songs. The group got an audition with CBS who suggested they add a female singer. The group became Snow and recorded the LP for Epic. For some reason, live performances of this group were infrequent.
Around 1970, members of the group, minus the female singer, started performing around town using their surnames. Sometimes all four of them (Sikela, Morris, Ryan, and Mahoney), sometimes three, and sometimes solo. Sounding a bit like CSNY Probably not accidental. The sound was folk/rock. In the mid 70s Will Ryan formed a duo with Phil Baron called Willio and Phillio.
The Snow
*Jim Sikela - Guitar
*William (Will) Ryan - Vocals
*Tom Morris - Vocals
*Dan Mahoney - Drums
Please take my one hundred (Papa New Guinea) dollars, and give them to Cody. After the trauma of being fired and re-hired, she needs a little treat.
Columbia must have had hopes for them because they worked with renowned arranger Charlie Calello (who arranged for people like Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Al Kooper, Bruce Springsteen, Laura Nyro and Barbra Streisand) as well as engineer Roy Halee, who worked with Simon and Garfunkel.
ReplyDeleteThanks for these great comments! Bob gets the one HUN-der-ed dollarinis, which I have put into an escrow account for Cody as per his request.
ReplyDeleteFrom The Lakewood Observer:
The Muther’s Oats was composed of three Lakewood High students - Ed Senko, lead singer; Dave Darmour, piano; and Tony Miraglia, saxophone. Added to this mix were three west shore students - Jim Sekala, lead guitar; Dan Mahoney, drums; and Rik Melvin, bass.
According to the web site Buckeye Beat, the Muther’s Oats competed in the 1966 Cleveland Press band contest and was named one of the region’s top five bands. As a result of their strong showing, the group won an opportunity to perform as opening act for Paul Revere and the Raiders at Public Hall.
“Ten thousand people on a revolving stage, flash bulbs going off at a blinding rate. Who could ask for more? It was a childhood dream,” recalled Muther’s Oats lead singer Ed Senko.
Among the other rock legends the ‘Oats shared a stage with were the Lovin’ Spoonful, Bobby Goldsboro, Chad and Jeremy, the Union Gap, Moby Grape, the Shadows of Night and the Young Rascals.
According to Senko, in 1968 “...the group broke up basically because of college. When we started we were all in high school. But the year after (high school graduation) Jim, Rik and Dan were off to John Carroll and Case Western, I was going to Cleveland State and David was going to Kent and Tony to the Cleveland Institute of Art. As a result our practice time went down and other priorities went up.”
(no mention of Snow in this piece.)
I can find no mention of who the female vocalist was, despite her picture being on the cover.
ReplyDeleteMuthers Oats link: http://www.buckeyebeat.com/muthersoats.html
Snow link: http://www.buckeyebeat.com/snow.html
She left a comment somewhere (under an alias) saying she was now in the legal profession. Her identity remains shrouded in mystery.
DeleteGreat album! The female vocalist (calls herself Mozkeeper) wrote a four star "review" at RYM in 2007:
ReplyDelete"Amazing. I was the female vocal on this album back in 1968. After recording, the guys went back to Ohio and I stayed in New York to advance my musical career. (I'm in BANKING)
It's fun to see that people occasionally listen to this record or buy it!
Should I be getting paid?????????????????"
Moahoohah, yes, you should be getting paid. It's a passion of mine that every commenter should receive remuneration for their efforts. FMF© will be the first blog to pay commenters a decent working wage.
DeleteHaha - that's not me but how Mrs. Mozkeeper ends her review.
DeleteWell, all my plans to pay commenters are now canceled.
DeleteFrom Cleveland, Ohio, this band were originally known as the Muther's Oats. The awful folk-ballad 'A' side can be ignored here. The flip however is an incredibly strange slab of psych-pop which is somewhere between The Beatles' I Am The Walrus and Sweetwater's My Crystal Spider. Truly a relic of the era. Both 45 cuts also appear on their eponymous album, of which Catapillar and Song Of The Sirens are the standout tracks. The band's female singer was recruited by the record producers to change their sound.
ReplyDeleteOn the album, the first three tracks are pretty bland multi-voiced folk-rock, although the short guitar incisions are promising. What follows on Side One is strangely melodic acid-rock with oblique harmonies on the brilliant Engelbert, and a kind of twisted Peanut Butter Conspiracy influence, with a sharp tempo change and toytown psych on You Let Me Know. Side two is even better, starting with the piercing guitar on Song Of The Sirens, another track reminiscent of PBC. A coiled waltz similar to Aorta, The Flying Miraldos follows suit, whilst Sweet Dreams and Bab's Song are pompous but cultivated baroque harmony pop with lush arrangements. The venom is in the tail where the tour de force Caterpillar pulls all stops and ushers the listener through more effects and key changes in three minutes and sounds as boldly experimental today as anything from this period.
Will Ryan later recorded as Willio And Phillio in the seventies and eighties.