We Five

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We Five on the cover of their first album

We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian and Sylvia's "You Were on My Mind", which reached #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The group was together for five years, releasing four albums.

1 Personnel
2 Trivia
3 Discography
4 External links

[edit] Personnel

The ensemble played acoustic guitar and electric guitar and sang harmonies. The original line-up included:

Jerry Burgan (Tenor, 6-String Acoustical Guitar)
Michael Stewart (Baritone-Bass, 5-String Banjo, 6-String Acoustic Guitar, 9-String Amplified Guitar)
Beverly Bivens (Low Tenor to High Soprano)
Peter Fullerton (Tenor, Acoustic & Fender Bass)
Bob Jones (Baritone-Tenor, 6-String Electric Jazz Guitar, 12-String Electric Guitar).

Later editions included Frank Denson, who went on to write music for television shows, including Magnum, P.I., Tales of the Gold Monkey, and Blossom.

Michael Stewart passed away on November 13, 2002, at age 57.

[edit] Trivia

We Five were the fifth group to record songs live in San Francisco, and were also the first commercial artist to record music for Coca-Cola. They were Grammy-nominated as Best New Artist of 1965, but were beaten by The Beatles.

Michael Stewart's son, Jamie Stewart, is the vocalist for experimental indie band Xiu Xiu.

Michael Stewart's brother is singer/songwriter John Stewart, best known for being a member of the Kingston Trio during the 1960s and for his Top Five 1979 hit song "Gold."

We Five's only other chart hit aside from "You Were On My Mind" was "Let's Get Together," which reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was later a Top Five hit and a million-seller for The Youngbloods as "Get Together."