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pyewacket - marin county's pop-psych band.




About a year ago i contacted john mckindle of 'pyewacket' hoping he could supply me with details of the bands history and so he wrote back and i immediately put a track up from a whole bunch he sent along plus a short biog of the band.Here though i want to expand on that so that we all have a better picture of the band and its place in the san francisco music scene...

1965 and with beatle mania still in the air many high school bands were formed,played aa gig or so and vanished leaving little behind...one or two got the opportunity to record a self written song and probably payed for by put upon parents! out of this came a marin county group 'the abdo-men' who's line-up was :john mckindle/dave olson/steve bennett/dennis arnold/paul stoop and rounded off by brian woodyard.Playing a heavy mix of beatle-ish tunes they did the usual round of high school dances & local venues where teens would concregate to dance/meet girls and talk about their cars...


By 1966 the band had folded with members going off to college etc...at marin college '67 mckindle met drummer bill lambardo and guitarist steve simone where plans were made to start a band which would later be called 'pyewacket'...the initail line-up of the group was : john mckindle/steve simone/bill lombardo/scott cady and shannon myhill (mckindles  sister) on vocals.their trade mark sound was a combination of pop/invasion sounds with ringing 12string and amazing harmonies.They quickly started to play the ballrooms of san francsico such as the avalon and fillmore and everything inbetween.They did enter the recording studios of dick vance in oakland cutting several tracks of which you can hear at this blogs end.Shortly after this shannon left to be replaced by mark moulin a great singer and player.Hearing the demo's layed down at that studio it really surprises me that no label picked them up as mckindle was writing constantly throughout the bands life time with the group getting more and more work...


the original line-up of pyewacket 1967.

Of those demo's cut over in oakland there is only one that features heavily shannon's voice plus some rehearsal tapes that mckindle says are aweful sounding (but i'd still love to hear 'em..) his writing was definitely as he puts it 'a beatles/byrds hybrid' with psych-ish overtones ...suddenly in '68 mckindle ups and leaves the band and joins up with his friend scott inglis in another local band making waves 'freedom highway' but very shortly rejoined 'pyewacket' why this happened i dont know but john did say that losing shannon the band lost agreat deal of its appeal and sound.




1968 also brought about another change in the band when scott cady left which left the band as a four piece.Shows were plentiful and well recieved but still no record deal...mckindle says he was fine with the song writing end of things but the business end wasn't for him..

 
a four piece pyewacket 1968.





For a band with so much potential its amazing that they simply faded away leaving only poster's to remind us of their existence so please check out my youtube channel to hear 'reflections in a crystal spring' and hear that ringing 12string of mckindle and his sister's glorious vocals.....click on link....a reader here (echinops ritro..) has furnished me with a link to a live show the band played at the fillmore west 28th june 1969 and what a glorious find it is...not the best quality but hey! its the band.... i have included a link below...

pyewacket.




                                           


                                                       

three nice newspaper clippings i recently found.

pyewacket live.

 

rare poster from 1969.



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Comments

  1. Echinops ritro4 February 2021 at 08:58

    Pyewacket is one of those many bands that I know of largely through SF ballroom posters, such as those you've included here. It's a shame they didn't blossom into something more. I need to go over to your Youtube page to hear the recordings you posted. Not sure if you are aware of this, but a few years ago a live tape of the band playing at the Fillmore in June 1969 (the poster you show with them at the bottom of a bill with Spirit and Lee Michaels) surfaced at a yard sale in northern California. It's a bit rough, but nevertheless a nice 25 minute artifact. If I might make a suggestion, please consider using another font for your blog posts. This font is very difficult to read on screen and the longer the entries, the more difficult it becomes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sf scene12 February 2021 at 00:13

      thankyou for the reply and the wonderful news that a live tape has surfaced after all these years and i will oof course be checking it out....will take on board your suggestion and look hope you keep checking back for mor blogs....david.

      Delete
    2. Echinops ritro16 February 2021 at 15:26

      The tape I reference can be heard here: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/
      Type "Pyewacket" into the search box. Here is what is known of the tape's origins.
      http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/Pyewacket1969-06-28FillmoreWestSanFranciscoCA.html
      The Lee Michaels set survives in its entirety, but only a portion of Spirit's. You should be able to listen to both at this same site as well.
      Keep up the great work. I have been listening to all the stuff you've posted on your Youtube page. It's been quite a lesson for my on the SF Scene---lots of stuff I was not familiar with. You have an amazing collection and are generous to share it and your knowledge with us. I collect poster art and live tapes from the various ballrooms.

      Delete
    3. sf scene19 February 2021 at 00:43

      will head on over there this morning to check it out and a big thankyou for the tip off...david.

      Delete
    4. sf scene21 February 2021 at 01:07

      was over on the site and was bowled over with whats on offer...i of course downloaded the pyewack set immediately...not the best quality but just great to hear them live! again i thankyou for your help....david.

      Delete
    5. Echinops ritro1 March 2021 at 09:18

      glad you were able to hear it. yes, sound isn't great, but can't look a gift horse in the mouth! as i wrote previously, that tape was found at a yard sale!

      the sugarmegs site is just a repository of music that is shared on dimeadozen.org. dime is a worldwide community of people who freely share unofficial live music of all different genres. sugarmegs only has a fraction of what gets shared.

      I have several unidentified recordings made at concerts in the Bay Area circa '69-'70 that are very good sound quality, complete sets, but no one seems to know who they are. They might be bands that never recorded. But, I thought, with your knowledge of the scene, maybe you might want to take a crack at trying to ID them? If so, please let me know. I'd be happy to share them. I can be reached directly at listadadigandia [at] gmail [dot] com

      Delete
    6. Echinops ritro8 March 2021 at 06:57

      Thanks for contacting me directly. I wrote back to you on Saturday with one recording and wanted to make sure my email didn't end up in your spam.

      Delete

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