Κυριακή 27 Ιανουαρίου 2008

Goose Creek Symphony - Established (The First Album 1970 US Psychedelic Jam Band Folk Country Rock)

If the Grateful Dead had come from Kentucky instead of San Francisco, they might have sounded much like these guys. "This song might sound kinda strange, but it's got more soul than Home on the Range," they accurately sing in "Talk About Goose Creek and Other Important Places," an eight-minute psychedelic showstopper complete with Beatles-style tape tricks. This album is a fun listen that can suck even a city slicker into a stoned, good-time, backhills vibe.



The Goose Creek Symphony is an American rock band, originally a side project for Richie Hart and the Heart Beats and best known for their 1972 cover of Janis Joplin's song, Mercedes Benz. The band signed to Capitol Records in 1970, and new members were added: Mike McFadden of Superfine Dandelion, Bob Henke, Fred Wise on banjo and fiddle and Paul Spradlin, a guitarist credited as Paul Howard. They continued recorded to 1976, then reformed in 1990. The band has continued touring to popular acclaim


Paul Howard Guitar, Vocals Charles Gearheart Acoustic Guitar Michael McFadden & Paul Spradlin Guitars Bob Henke Guitar Keyboards, Vocals Pat Moore & David Birkett Bass Chris Lockheart Drums Jim Tolles & Fred Wise Fiddle Harold Williams & Randall Bramblett Horns Goose Creek Symphony Producer Steve Forman Horn Arrangements Tim Ramsey Engineer

AMG Biography
by Zac Johnson
Goose Creek Symphony found its roots in the Phoenix, AZ, area originally as a countrified side project for Richie Hart & the Heart Beats. Vocalist and guitarist Charles Gearheart (aka Richie Hart) spent his childhood "up Goose Creek Hollow" in Floyd County, KY, and when he put together his good-time country-rock group, he drew upon his home's rich musical heritage as well as its name. In 1970, Gearheart and a group of local studio musicians assembled a handful of songs and presented them to Capitol Records.




Capitol signed his project, forcing Gearheart to assemble a touring group. Banjo player and fiddler Fred Weisz was brought in to complement existing guitarists Paul Spradlin (listed as "Paul Howard" on the album), Bob Henke ("Williard"), Mike McFadden (following the breakup of his psychedelic group Superfine Dandelion), as well as a rotating cast of bassists and drummers.With a sound very similar to what the Band was doing at the same time, Goose Creek Symphony were rock & rollers who played a very faithful brand of country music, all the while layering rhythms and harmonies along the same lines as Buffalo Springfield and the Grateful Dead.



They released albums through the mid-'70s, with that streak ending in a long hiatus from 1976 to 1990, when the group decided to re-form and record again.Their marriage of earthy instrumentation and easygoing vibes have been able to give the group a certain longevity. Into their third decade, Goose Creek Symphony is drawing strong groups of fans to their summer festival appearances, similar to what the Dead and Jimmy Buffett have known.

Charlie Gearheart today







Goose Creek Symphony has developed their own style of jam-band original Americana music since the mid-'60's. They perform at the Jammin at Hippie Jack's Americana Music Festival in Overton County, TN.


Goose Creek Symphony is considered by many to be one of the most original bands of their time. Major record labels (Capitol & Columbia) of the 60s/early 70s didn't know what to do with a band that played a mixture of rock and roll, folk, jazz and country with an undeniable hillbilly influence, a hippie attitude and a reckless sense of instrumental daring. They used horns and fiddles as well as effects and blended it with psychedelic rock and roll. The true definition of "Cosmic American Music".


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