The Charlatans (U.S. band)

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The Charlatans were an influential psychedelic rock band that played a pivotal role in the development of the San Francisco music scene in the 1960s. More akin to earlier jug band and blues influences than the later heavy psychedelia from the same scene, the Charlatans set the stage with their rebellious attitude and appearance. Their recorded output was small, and their first nationally distributed album (The Charlatans) was not released until 1969 (see 1969 in music), long after the band's heyday. This band was the first commercial appearance of Dan Hicks, later of Hot Licks fame.

[edit] Early Years: 1964–1965

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, San Francisco, New York City, and Boston were dominated by the so-called "Folk Revival" which was boosted by the Bay Area's Kingston Trio in 1958, then dominated in the early 1960s by Greenwich Village–based folkies such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. On February 9, 1964, the Beatles made a legendary appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. In the following months of 1964, American radio was dominated by British rock bands previously ignored in the United States, a period which became known as the British Invasion. This turn of events encouraged many former folk artists in America to exchange their acoustic guitars for electric ones. Among the first to do so was San Franciscan George Hunter, who formed a rock band called the Charlatans in the summer of 1964. He was joined by Richard Olsen (bass), Mike Wilhelm (lead guitar), Mike Ferguson (piano/keyboards), and Sam Linde (drums). Linde was soon replaced by Dan Hicks.

Rehearsing incessantly, the Charlatans are often cited as being the first group to play in the "San Francisco Sound" style, since most of their eventual peers (such as the Grateful Dead and Country Joe and the Fish) were still playing folk music in 1964 and early 1965. At first, this was somewhat of a disadvantage for the group as area venues were small, scarce, and apt to book folk acts rather than rock bands. As rock concerts became the norm in San Francisco during late 1965, the group's fortunes changed dramatically.

On June 1, 1965, the Charlatans began an extended residency at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada, just across the border from Northern California. This two-month-long stint was important for at least two reasons. First, Charlatans guitarist Mike Ferguson and George Hunter together produced a rock concert poster in advance of the residency to promote these performances. This poster — identified by poster art enthusiasts as "The Seed" — is almost certainly the first psychedelic concert poster. Later in the year, San Francisco's Family Dog organization copied the idea to promote their concert productions. In 1966, when the Fillmore Auditorium began booking rock acts nightly, they, too, used the idea. Through to the end of the decade, rock concert poster artwork became a mainstay of San Francisco's music scene, led by poster artists Wes Wilson, Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, and Victor Moscoso.

(NOTE: there were actually two "Seed" posters, which look almost identical. They are differentiated by the date. The first lists the band as playing "June 1–15", while the second states, "Opening June 21". The second "Seed" poster can be seen here.)

The second reason that the Charlatans' extended stay at the Red Dog Saloon was important was that, immediately before their first performance at the club, the band members took LSD. Purportedly, this was by accident, as they didn't know they would be performing that night. This is the first time a musical group performed under the influence of LSD. As a result, the Charlatans are sometimes called the first acid rock band, although their sound is not indicative of what later acid rock bands would sound like.

The group was also famous for their style of dress during concerts. They clothed themselves in late 19th Century fashions, as if they were Wild West gunslingers during San Francisco's Gold Rush. This eye-catching choice made them hard to ignore, and as the 1960s wore on, many young San Franciscans dressed just as outlandishly — whether they were in a rock band or not.

The Charlatans returned to San Francisco at the end of the summer of 1965 and, in September, were given the chance to audition for Autumn Records, a label headed by local deejay Tom "Big Daddy" Donahue. Autumn didn't sign the band, partly due to lack of money: the label was on the verge of bankruptcy and sold to Warner Bros. Records early the following year. (Incidentally, the Grateful Dead, under the temporary name "The Emergency Crew", auditioned for Autumn Records in November 1965, and they, too, were turned down.)

[edit] Later Years: 1966–1969

The failed Autumn audition proved to be only a minor setback as the Charlatans signed with Kama Sutra Records in early 1966. As home to the Lovin' Spoonful, one of the earliest folk-rock bands to find success, the group thought the label would be the ideal home for their music. This, however, turned out to be completely wrong. The Charlatans recorded nine songs for their debut album, but when they insisted on releasing the song "Codine" as their first single, the record company balked and refused to release it. Ironically, the tune penned by folk artist Buffy Sainte-Marie spoke of the dangers of drugs, rather than promoting their use, but Kama Sutra was adamant in its refusal. Kapp Records did release two songs from the Kama Sutra sessions, "The Shadow Knows" as the band's first single (with the b-side "32-20 Blues"), taking out industry ads and with a very rare promotional-only picture sleeve. However, it flopped. The other seven songs intended for the debut album remained unreleased until finally issued by the Sundazed Records label in 1996, thirty years after being recorded.

Mike Ferguson was fired from the Charlatans in 1967, and Dan Hicks moved from drums to rhythm guitar before he, too, left the group in 1968 to form his own band, Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks. The Charlatans' founder, George Hunter, soon left as well, leaving Richard Olsen and Mike Wilhelm to carry on the band with new personnel. Despite a promising audition in 1967 and another in 1968, the Charlatans failed to gain a new recording contract until 1969. The resulting album, titled simply The Charlatans, was released in 1969 on the Philips Records label. Unfortunately, by this time, their sound was outdated, and the new lineup only tangentially shared the charm of the original band. Further, so many of their peers from San Francisco had gained fame and fortune during 1967 and 1968 that there began a backlash against the "San Francisco Sound" and all things hippie-related. Their chance had come too late to gain the fame their historical importance could have afforded them. By 1970, the Charlatans had broken up for good.

In 1996, a documentary was released entitled The Life and Times of the Red Dog Saloon, in which the surviving members of the Charlatans were interviewed about their heady days at the Red Dog (Ferguson passed away in 1979 from complications from diabetes), resulting in a minor resurgence in the Bay Area. The following year, the Charlatans rehearsed for a series of top secret gigs at the legendary Sweetwater club in Mill Valley, followed by a series of reunion performances at the Fillmore. The band, composed of Hunter, Hicks, Wilhelm, and Olsen, were not heard from again until 2005, when they performed at a memorial concert for Family Dog founder Chet Helms in Golden Gate Park. The foursome returned to Golden Gate Park on September 2, 2007 for what would be their final performance ever as a band at a free concert commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love in San Francisco.

Despite their lackluster recording career, the Charlatans earned a unique place in the history of rock and roll. Being the first of the underground San Francisco bands of the mid-1960s, their importance is felt by the dozens of successful Bay Area bands that emerged later in the decade, and to all the bands that those groups influenced.