The Chesterfield Kings

The Chesterfield Kings
Origin Rochester, New York, USA
Genres Garage rock
Years active 1979–present
Labels Sundazed, Mirror, Wicked Cool
Website www.chesterfieldkings.com
Members
Greg Prevost
Andy Babiuk
Paul Morabito
Mike Boise
Jeff Okolowicz
Past members
Orest Guran
Richard Cona
Doug Meech
Walt O'Brien
Mike Pappert
Andy Pappert
Paul Rocco
Brett Reynolds
Kris Hadlock
Ted Okolowicz

The Chesterfield Kings are a rock band from Rochester, New York, who began as a retro-1960s garage band, and who have heavily mined 1960s music, including some borrowing from the 1960s recordings of The Rolling Stones. Core members are former Distorted Level singer, underground music journalist and avid record collector Greg Prevost, and Andy Babiuk (16 years old at the time of the band's founding);[2] others have come and gone. The band, named after a defunct brand of unfiltered cigarette, was instrumental in sparking the 1980s garage band revival that launched such groups as the Unclaimed, Marshmallow Overcoat, The Fuzztones, The Malarians, Mystic Eyes, The Cynics, The Optic Nerve, the Secret Service, and the Stomachmouths.

Contents

History

The early Kings were a late-1970s recreation of a mid-1960s garage band sound. Their self-released first single (Living Eye Records, LSD-1) was a cover of The Brogues' 1965 "I Ain't No Miracle Worker" b/w The Heard's 1967 "Exit 9".[3] In a deliberate effort to create their own rare garage-band collectible singles, only 500 copies were pressed.

Their first broader public exposure came when a track on Greg Shaw's 1981 Bomp! Records compilation Battle of the Garage netted them a series of dates at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. They continued with this 60s garage sound through the mid-1980s, releasing two albums—Here are the Chesterfield Kings (1982) was entirely covers, and Stop! (1985) introduced their first originals—then turned to a harder-edged rock sound for Don't Open Till Doomsday (1987), which Piero Scaruffi describes as "uninspired and confused",[2] and Berlin Wall of Sound (1989), featuring the blues guitar work of new band member Paul Rocco, followed by an acoustic blues record Drunk On Muddy Water (1990).

Their Let's Go Get Stoned (1994) is a mix of slightly post-Aftermath Stones covers and worthy originals in the Stones' style. Surfin' Rampage (1997) showed that they were fully capable of pop harmonies; Where the Action Is (1999) was a return to garage band roots, a mix of covers and 1960s-styled originals.

The Mindbending Sounds of the Chesterfield Kings (2003) pays tribute to the more baroque side of the 1960s underground, evoking at times the sound of the Electric Prunes ("Transparent Life", "Disconnection"), and featuring appearances by Jorma Kaukonen on two tracks.[2]

The Kings' full-length feature film Where is the Chesterfield King? (2000) is described on their web site as "A comedy/drama in the vein of The Bowery Boys, Batman, The Monkees Show, A Hard Day's Night, Hawaiian Eye, and The Munsters, with a little Three Stooges slapstick to boot…"[4]

In 2004, Babiuk published Beatles Gear, a book which details exactly which guitars, drums, amplifiers and keyboards The Beatles used throughout their career.

Line up

Partial discography

Albums

Singles

Bootlegs

Notes and references

  1. ^ Chris Morris, "Bayside's Exec Shift; Kings Get Stoned", Billboard, April 23, 1994, p. 73.
  2. ^ a b c Piero Scaruffi Chesterfield Kings, accessed 14 January 2006
  3. ^ The Brogues original "I Ain't No Miracle Worker" can be found on Nuggets; some information about The Heard can be found at The Heard Story, accessed 14 January 2006
  4. ^ The Chesterfield Kings: History
  5. ^ Greg Prevost, Chesterfield Kings' official site, accessed 5 December 2006
  6. ^ Andy Babiuk, Chesterfield Kings' official site, accessed 5 December 2006
  7. ^ a b c Blair Buscareno, The Chesterfield Kings, Teen Scene #59, 1999.
  8. ^ De Blase, Frank (2009-03-24). "OBIT: Paulie Rocco". Rochester City Newspaper. http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/music/blog/2009/03/OBIT-Paulie-Rocco. Retrieved 2011-08-21. 
  9. ^ a b c According to videocrypt.com, in the band at the time of the film Where Is The Chesterfield King? (this site says released 2001, IMDB says 2000).
  10. ^ Paul Morabito, Chesterfield Kings' official site, accessed 5 December 2006
  11. ^ Mike Boise, Chesterfield Kings' official site, accessed 5 December 2006
  12. ^ Official discography: Rarities
  13. ^ Official discography: singles for entire list, except as noted, accessed 14 January 2005.

External links