Maybe their manager convinced them that any deal was better than no deal. Maybe they didn't have a manager. But Kapp was a weird home for Sundance, a New York label with no clear direction and an aisle-end dump-bin roster that was the envy of nobody. The label was merged into Uni Records in '67, and the last Kapp record appeared in '73. The lone Sundance album was dead on arrival in '71, and it's tough research, even with an internet. The band was straight outta Chico, Butte County CA (there's a song dedicated to local womenfolk on the album), and if there was a lively local music scene back then I can't find mention of it, or them.
The first thing that hits you on cueing it up is the jolt of the rhythm section - they're locked into a solid, urgent pulse that changes gear with the song. The arrangement and harmonies are tight, and it's as impressive an opener as you could wish for, the six and change minutes not wasting a single beat. The quality doesn't lapse throughout the thirty-eight minute run time - these guys could clearly put on a show, dynamically paced country-inflected rock, with no studio sweetening. The 'sixties were already history, the kaftans had been burned, but one pair of striped pants remained.
Some of youse bums blagged this first time around, so this is for them as missed it. And if anybody knows anything more about the band than I do (which is, leave us face it, Jack Shit) tap out a comment with that stick strapped to yer forehead.
https://workupload.com/file/XEUqpAv68kg
ReplyDeleteI'mma from Bar-Cell-oh-Na!!! I know nothin"!!!
ReplyDelete'Sundance' guitarist Fred Campbell was a member of 'New Riders of the Purple Sage' (later incarnation) and 'Kingfish'.
ReplyDeleteWho else was a member of 'Kingfish'?
Bob Weir!
Who needs Kevin Bacon, when we have Bobby?
Yes, I went down that rabbit hole but I ended up on Allmusic as well.
DeleteThe entry linked to below seems like two people - a NRPS/Kingfish guitarist and someone else entirely who plays Gershwin. Could there be two Fred Campbells?
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/fred-campbell-mn0001744399
To which I reply - definitely! Similar confusion happened when I tried to trace Steve Cooley who was white in Sundance but became black in Discogs!
DeleteFred Campbell also crops up on that same Allmusic profile as a gospel singer...
DeleteIf it's the same Fred Campbell as the Sundance guitarist, he also played with David Nelson, Tom Constaten and Brian Godchaux (Keith's brother) on the Dead Ringers album.
DeleteSeems like a stretch for it to be the same guy though. Someone with the name plays guitar for an obscure band in 1971, then essentially vanishes for 19 years before joining NRPS on bass in 1990?
Can't say I've listened to it yet (*ducks*) but I was smart enough to grab this the first time around here and it looks like even a second time around somewhere else. It's crammed between Sunburned Hand of the Man and Sunday Morning (?) and I don't know if I'll ever pry it free from the mold and mildew that binds everything together here but it comforts me to know that I am well-heeled and sophisticated enough to have it (twice!) in the library.
ReplyDeleteMold and mildew? Do you live in a tomb?
DeleteCentral Florida!
DeleteI picture your house like Will Elder's tilting shack in the EC MAD spoof "Heep" (I think).
Deletehttps://postimg.cc/YhB4TvYN
DeleteHeep is one of my favorite things of all time. My father gave me his torn and dogeared copy from a MAD pocketbook while we were in the Philppines in the late 50s/early 60s. Before I could even read I looked at the pictures. To this day, I love that story.
DeleteElder's art is unforgettable. I first saw it in a pocketbook, too - which was when I discovered MAD had been a comic before it was a magazine, which for me was like finding Tutankhamun's tomb. In the 'sixties, I pored over MAD, Marvel comics (DC not so much - too stiff), and Hot Rod magazine for my culture fix.
DeleteMe too mad and Marvel, but rather than Hot Rod the trifecta was completed by Famous Monsters of Filmland
DeleteI bought those whenever I found them. Always disappointed by the dull interior after the lurid masterpieces on the cover. Also loved making the Revell model kits - I had Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy.
DeleteChico was a "party school."
ReplyDeleteYou bet!
DeleteHere's an obit on the guy who seemed to be the group leader:
ReplyDeleteRandy Reaves - 1949 - 2019
March 30, 2019 | Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Section: Obituaries
RANDY REAVES Randy Reaves, beloved husband, father, and local musician passed away on March 22nd at age 69. Randy was born on April 4th, 1949 to Mike and Dusty Reaves. A long time Chico resident, he attended Rosedale, Chico Jr. and Chico Sr. High. On May 11, 1981, he married Rita Ellis. They raised two sons, Ryan and Robbie. Randy was a full time musician and played in countless bands throughout his career including The Boy Blues, Sundance, and most recently Cottonwood. He was known for his sense of humor, his quick wit, his infectious smile, and his spirited debates. He loved his family, his friends, his community, and he will be greatly missed. A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, April 7th, 2019 at the Chico Guild Hall on Nord Ave at 3 o'clock p.m.
Yes, there's a human being just like us behind every name we pick up on around us.
DeleteQuite a sobering thought.
There's also this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ2BcMyxzy0.
ReplyDeletePre-Sundance band Gunge
Great find, Elmer! This goes up to eleven, doesn't it?
DeleteMartin Taylor - vocals, harmonica
Fred Campbell - lead guitar (later Sundance)
Steve Cooley - rhythm guitar (later Sundance)
John Campbell - bass
Loren Fauchier - drums (later Sundance)
Seems Randy Reaves was crucial in the change of sound. Also, he was bass player/main composer/lead singer - an interesting and unusual combo. I'm guessing that the Campbells were bros, like Bob n' Thomas Weir.
Here's the album with scans.
Deletehttps://workupload.com/file/B95qett8hdj
Thank 'ee!
DeleteHere's the CD rip of Sundance, with scans.
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/WZSk6hTFKsX
Thank 'ee! Shame the cheap-ass label put zero effort into sleeve notes ...
DeleteThree stories about Sundance from the Chico Enterprise Record from '70, '71, and '72. There may be more but I'll have to dig, as there's a lot of "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid" fogging up the searches. Rar file, with jpgs of the entire newspaper page: https://mega.nz/file/3VhhlAAJ#_5pGmf6T3dJ1tlVMo3TmLXHVy2Fy2TviWk-waWsvyA0
ReplyDeleteFantastic. I love the context of the local newspaper. Played the Fillmore, slated to record a second album, which never happened.
Delete