Eli Radish Band
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The Eli Radish Band were pioneers of "outlaw" and "alt.country" music. As author Deana Adams said in her 2003 rock history book, “They were country when country wasn’t cool. They were country rock when there was no such thing. Eli Radish practically defined the term “alternative.” (reprinted by permission)
After recording for Capitol Records, then Olympia Records and even with rumors of a live concert in the can at Sun Records, the group had disbanded by the late 1970s. However, various members still influence the entertainment business today:
Eli Radish founder and bassist Danny Sheridan has continued to compose and/or produce songs for artists like David Crosby; Scarlet Rivera and many CD, TV and film projects. His management skills launched then girlfriend Nina Blackwood’s MTV career, and Sheridan continues to produce her national radio shows. He co-hosts a radio show on 97.1 KLSX-fm in Los Angeles and is a frequent speaker on various songwriter and music industry panels, often performing for charity events ranging from Farm Aid to the Los Angeles Musician’s Picnic. His own hard rock / blues based Bandaloo Doctors gave ex-wife Bonnie Bramlett’s career a much needed comeback, and Sheridan has enjoyed several acting parts on TV and in film.
Rick "Muskrat" Kennedy plays acoustic solo shows at various resorts. Pedal steel player/guitarist Tom "The Foss" Foster tours the nation with several groups, and violinist Little Eva Karasik, who has recorded on a number of CDs including Jorma Kaukonen's Quah, now spends half of her year with the San Fransisco symphony; the other half with The Moscow Opera.
The Eli Radish Band kick-started David Allan Coe’s major and long-running country solo career as well. When he began writing a string of hits that included “Would You Lay With Me” for a then teen-aged Tanya Tucker, and the ultimate anti-labor tune, “Take This Job And Shove It”, Coe called on Sheridan to join him on his tours. He has racked up a string of very big hits, like “You Never Even Call Me By My Name”. It was Coe’s “Willie, Waylon, And Me” that put outlaw music on the radio, and the lyrics of his "Longhaired Redneck" memorialized the concerts he did while fronting the Eli Radish Band.
