This is another band that i've never seen anything written about over the years or listed on a poster (but am sure some exist..) all the musicians involved were in earlier bands...The bylanders were an el cerrito group of :kyle hunter/gary kennings & roger sabine by all accounts a covers band playing the normal teen haunts circa '65/'66.. third half (the third half?) i have been unable to find anything but there was a third half from berkeley with mark minzyk and john oxendine but i dont know if its the same group?..The sewer are another i know zero about except one member was art dolan..and finally The tempests with jim thorsen on guitar & further info on these bands would be helpful. By 1968 some of these players would end up in an oakland outfit 'dirty filthy mud' who released a stunning piece of work 'the forest of black/morning sun' worex records '68......
Nothing seems to be known about them except the band members names : kyle hunter/roger sabine/jim thorsen/art doran/gary kenning/mark minzyk and rounded off by len? who played synthesizer... further info required...this record is unlike anything else coming out of the bay area at the time and a work of sheer genius! produced by the bands kyle hunter it remains an elusive find for collectors but i just wish we knew more...I have infact been in contact with roger sabines sister who tells me he was a'troubled soul' and cutting himself off from the family but says she may be able to help with a photo of him and information...much more was recorded by the group but the tapes were 'lost' by band member kyle hunter who had a bi-polar condition with the tapes having a 11minute version of the title song....recorded in berkeley at sierra sound ....
Now 'hades or hades blues works' (an earlier name) formed in or around '68/'69 with an initial line-up of : jim thorsen/steve wright/john cuniberti/jon hammond and later shortening the name to hades when guitarist graig ferreira joined in 1970...i do understand three members ( jim thorsen/john cuniberti/steve wright) had also been in a group 'traumatic experience' but again info needed to confirm.I haven't been able to much in the way of live shows played but it looks as if a residency at 'the babylon club' in berkeley was played for a while.When researching this i again found a live date when they were 'hades blues works' at provo park 9/7/69 the line-up for that show was : jim thorsen/jon hammond/greg boykin/eddie sanchez & steve wright.
 |
| hades blues works at their rehearsal space carlson blvd. |
Managed by jerry figone they were a superb musical outfit playing a terrific blend of jazzy blues-rock with thorsens guitar and hammonds keyboards really shinning thru the material.a live tape of the band at provo park berkeley is a testament to their playing skills and please click on the link to hear a track.Recorded live & again i cant confirm the date even after looking at a pretty good provo park concert list.The tape has no song titles so i have guessed the tracks title from lyrics.Here at provo park the band sounds so at ease with the material it would have been a pleasure to have been there.
 |
| a four piece hades l-r steve wright-bass/jim thorsen-guitar/dave danza-drums/jon hammond-keyboards. |
Just found another live date for the band playing as 'hades' at 'homer's warehouse' in palo alto 17/3/72 so quite when the band called it quit's is anyones guess and again if you can help with info please get in contact....
It seems the band were from the berkeley/el cerrito area and i have since writing this found another live tape with the band playing a show at 'the babylon club' 1970 as 'hades blues works' tracks were : can you hear me/love makes the world go around/i wanna know/two trains running/moments of peace and most intriguing two tracks jewel lake & valdez/propositions 2&1 being studio demo's?' and again more info required...a date was played funny enough at 'jewel lake' and also dates opening for 'tower of power/quicksilver & mike bloomfield..'
 | ||||
| guitarist graig ferreira circa 1970. |
Recent info has jon hammond saying the hammond organ his playing was brought from bos scaggs!...with the band rehearsing 5 days a week at their rehearsal space on carlson blvd where they also stored their very own large p.a.system plus they had two roadies and a van with a 'hades' number plate!.hammond was and is a champion accordian player and i have placed two photo's with one from '66 and another when in 'hades' from '71....
 |
| hammond winning young jazz champion award 1966. |
 | |||||
| hammond circa 71 with incredible trousers! |
 |
| L-R : jim thorsen/dave danza/steve wright & jon hammond. |
Found some dates the band played over in berkely at the 'babylon club' 2504 san pablo ...all played as by 'hades blues works'
4th jan/18th jan/25th jan then 11th feb/18th feb/20th feb then 11th march/18th march all 1970 ...the club must have enjoyed what they were hearing to rebook the group so many times and i await further news on shows played.
 |
| nice little poster from the babylon club 1970. |
Comments
Post a Comment