Clamtones

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Clamtones
Origin	Portland, Oregon, United States
Associated acts	The Holy Modal Rounders
Former members
Jeffrey Frederick Jill Gross Robin Remaily Richard Tyler Dave Reisch Teddy Deane R. "Willy" North

Clamtones is the name of Jeffrey Frederick's most famous band. Most of the band's lineup also performed with The Holy Modal Rounders at one point.

[edit] Biography

Based out of Portland, OR, the Clamtones usually comprised Jeffrey Frederick (vocals and guitar); Jill Gross (vocals); Robin Remaily (mandolin, fiddle, guitar, other strings); Richard Tyler (piano); Dave Reisch (bass); Teddy Deane (woodwinds and horns); and R. "Willy" North (drums). As the Clamtones, Jill, Reisch and Remaily joined Jeffrey, Peter Stampfel, Michael Hurley and friends on the 1976 Have Moicy (Rounder Records) ("Best album of the year," Village Voice ). However, the definitive recording of the full band was the following year's Spiders In The Moonlight. Some of the tracks from that album and from Have Moicy were included in 2003's Rounder compilation I Make A Wish For A Potato. In 2007, the original album was digitally remastered to correct issues with which Frederick and the other band members were never satisfied, three studio tracks from the later Jeffrey Frederick Band were added, and the work republished on CD as Resurrection of Spiders In The Moonlight.

The best documentation of what the Clamtones sounded like in their heyday can be found on Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones B.C. (Frederick Productions, 2005), remastered from a 1976 radio broadcast of their show at Rohan's Roadhouse in Vancouver, B.C.. One reviewer wrote, "Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones is the best hippie jam band you've probably never heard of. The real deal, that is, original 1970s hippies, not any Phish or Blues Traveler or Donna the Buffalo-style latecoming wannabes." (Gary Whitehouse, Green Man Review).

The Clamtones were part of an unusual arrangement in which the same band members played by that name when Jeffrey Frederick took the stage, but as the Holy Modal Rounders when Steve Weber "fronted," typically as alternative "sets" in the same show. Weber's portion of the above-referenced Vancouver performance has been released as Steve Weber, The Holy Modal Rounders, B.C. (Frederick Productions, 2005). It is remarkable how the band shifted styles as they moved between these two identities. The Clamtones, without Jeff and Jill, also performed on the Holy Modal Rounder's Adelphi recording,Last Round, recorded about a week after Spiders In The Moonlight.

Although Frederick and Tyler are deceased, the rest of the Clamtones continue to be musically active. When he is not touring with Michael Hurley, backing the Holy Modal Rounders or on some other project, Dave Reisch sings and plays basswith Portland, OR's wildly popular cult band, the Freak Mountain Ramblers [1] along with R. "Willy" North -- creator of the North Drums -- on percussion. Remaily also plays with the "Freaks" on occasion, at Holy Modal Rounders reunions, as well as with a number of musical collectivities on the Oregon Coast. Teddy Deane had an active theatrical and musical career in Portland, OR, most notably leading the Swingline Cubs, a seven piece swing band for 17 years, before trying to retire to the San Juan Islands. Despite that intention, he has continued to play and sing, currently as part of the duo, the Play-Rite Boys [2]. Deane is currently (2007) recording a new album of original songs with the remaining Clamtones and others. Jill Gross performs from time to time in the Boston, MA area, and appeared on Michael Hurley's recent CD, Sweetkorn as well as an upcoming tribute album, St. Jeffrey's Day: The Songs Of Jeffrey Frederick, Volume One, along with the living Clamtones and other musicians from the Northwest and around the U.S.