White Witch (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (September 2007)
This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (September 2007)
The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia.
Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(December 2007)


White Witch was a Southern rock band from Tampa, Florida. Upon the recommendation of Greg Allman, they signed with legendary Southern rock label Capricorn Records.

Contents

[edit] History

Formed in 1971, White Witch was named as a paean to good magic, contrary to the "black magic" of a group like Black Sabbath. The band originally featured the almost screechingly-high range of singer Ronald "Ronn" (or "Ron") Goedert, guitarist Charles "Buddy" Richardson, keyboardist Hardin "Buddy" Pendergrass, drummer Robert "Bobby" Shea and bassist Loyall "Beau" Fisher. Fischer left the group sometime after the first album and was replaced by Rabbi Barbee.

New musicians were added to the band during the making of the second album. They included bassist Charlie Souza and drummer Bill Peterson. Buddy Richardson left the group after the second album was released and was replaced by guitarist George Brawley, who had spent the past year as a session guitarist in Los Angeles after leaving the southern rock group "Brother" from Columbia, SC. Drummer Bobby Shea stayed with the group as percussionist and back-up singer. A third album was in the making and four tracks were recorded on demo, but the group broke up in the late 1970s before a third album was recorded. After White Witch, Goedert made some solo recordings, Pendergrass wrote commercial jingles and opened a recording studio, and Richardson played in other bands ("Revolver"). Pendergrass, Sousa, and Shea had previously been in the successful regional group "The Tropics".

As the story usually goes for unique bands that pushed the musical envelope in that era, especially those whose record company doesn't support the effort, the band recorded two albums for Capricorn that faded into cut-out bins everywhere. Their lyrics were indeed as venturesome as their music, with wildly-varying lyrical references that appeared to be leftovers from 1960s psychedelia. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics of the song "Class of 2000" are as incredible in hindsight now as they were in foresight in 1974 and could easily be compared (in reverse form) to the Pollyanna, retro-hindsight of the Donald Fagen album The Nightfly, in which the main theme plays upon an expected, foreseen future that never was, although wearing silver suits could be the all the rage if greenhouse gases and rogue nuclear nations do indeed prevail.

Most of the songs on their first album were written by Goedert and Pendergrass, with contributions from the other band members. All of the songs on the second album were written by Goedert, Pendergrass, and Richardson.

It is rumored that the first album sold enough copies to qualify for an RIAA gold album, but the accounting was not done. The first album reportedly reached number 51 on the album charts and the single "And I'm Leaving" reportedly reached number 48 – without any promotion from the record company. Rolling Stone panned both albums, giving the first album one star (out of five) and the second two stars. Both albums were released on CD in 1999 but quickly went out of print. The songs are available as legal downloads.

Goedert died on July 16, 2000; Pendergrass died March 16, 2003, both of cancer. The group was inducted into the Florida Rock and Roll hall of Fame in Tallahassee.

[edit] Discography

  • White Witch, LP (1972, Capricorn Records 0107)
  • A Spiritual Greeting, LP (1974, Capricorn Records 0129)
  • "And I'm Leaving", 45 (1972, Capricorn Records)

[edit] White Witch songs

First album
First album
  • all songs by Goedert and Pendergrass except as noted
  1. Parabrahm Greeting/Dwellers of the Threshold (Goedert, Pendergrass, Richardson, Shea, and Fischer)
  2. Help Me Lord
  3. Don't Close Your Mind (Goedert, Pendergrass, and Richardson)
  4. You're the One
  5. Sleepwalk
  6. Home Grown Girl
  7. And I'm Leaving
  8. Illusion
  9. It's So Nice to be Stoned (Richardson and Fischer) YouTube
  10. Have You Ever Thought of Changing/Jackson Slade
  11. The Gift (Goedert, Pendergrass, Richardson, Shea, and Fischer)

[edit] Spiritual Greeting songs

  • All songs by Goedert, Pendergrass, and Richardson
  1. We'll All Ride High (Money Bag$)
  2. Slick Witch
  3. Walk On
  4. Class of 2000
  5. Showdown
  6. Crystallize and Realize YouTube
  7. Black Widow Lover
  8. Auntie Christy/Harlow

[edit] References

  • The Rolling Stone Record Guide, edited by Dave Marsh with John Swenson, 1979, ISBN 0-394-41096-3

[edit] External links