Blues Magoos

Blues Magoos
The band in 1967.
Background information
Origin	The Bronx, New York, United States
Genres	Rock, psychedelic rock, garage rock, blues
Years active	1964–1970, 2008–present
Labels	Mercury, Verve, Ganim Records, ABC, Repertoire, Collectables
Members	Ralph Scala Emil "Peppy" Thielhelm Ron Gilbert Mike Esposito Geoff Daking Jon Finnegan John Leillo Eric Kaz Roger Eaton Richie Dickon Dennis LePore

The Blues Magoos are a rock music group from The Bronx, New York. They were at the forefront of the psychedelic music trend, beginning as early as 1966. They are best known for the hit song "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet".

History

1964 - 1971

The band was formed in 1964 as "The Trenchcoats". The original members were Emil "Peppy" Thielhelm aka "Peppy" Castro (vocals and guitar), Dennis LePore (lead guitar), Ralph Scala (organ and vocals), Ron Gilbert (bass) and Jon Finnegan (drums). The band made a name for itself in various clubs in Greenwich Village. By 1966 the band had changed its name to fit in with the psychedelic vibe of the times – first to the Bloos Magoos, then to the more familiar Blues Magoos. They also made some line-up changes, bringing in Mike Esposito as lead guitarist and Geoff Daking as drummer.

Like their name, the group's sound was of the psychedelic variety. Their single "So I'm Wrong and You Are Right" b/w "The People Had No Faces" on Verve Records did not gain the band much recognition. However, in late 1966 Mercury Records signed the band to a record deal and the group's debut album Psychedelic Lollipop was released shortly thereafter – one of the first records to contain the word "Psychedelic" on the sleeve (along with the 13th Floor Elevators' first album, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, and The Deep's Psychedelic Moods, both also from 1966). They played often at the Chess Mate^[1] Coffeehouse, a mostly folk venue in Detroit owned by Morrie Widenbaum that also hosted bands like Southbound Freeway and Siegel-Schwall Blues Band. In a tour of the US in 1967 the Blues Magoos were the opening act, followed by The Who and the headliners Herman's Hermits.

The group's biggest song, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet", whose bass ostinato and Vox Continental organ seem to mirror a riff in the 1962 Ricky Nelson cover version of "Summertime" (Deep Purple also quote the riff in their hit "Black Night", as did Liverpool Five in the song "She's Mine"), was released as a single in 1967 with "Gotta Get Away" as the b-side. The song reached number 5 on the US charts, although it did not fare nearly as well in the UK.

The next single by the Blues Magoos, "There's A Chance We Can Make It," was only a minor hit, with its b-side "Pipe Dream" actually charting higher (though neither side hit the top 40). After one more minor chart single with "One By One," subsequent singles were largely ignored by record buyers. Neither of the two albums released after Psychedelic Lollipop (Electric Comic Book and Basic Blues Magoos) had much success. By 1968, the band was discouraged and they split up.

The group's management had other plans. The band was signed to ABC Records, but most of the members did not go along with this plan. Only Castro agreed and started up a revamped Blues Magoos, with Eric Kaz, Richie Dickon, John Leillo and Roger Eaton. The other Blues Magoos moved to the west coast, enlisted Ted Munda, and released the "Let Your Love Ride" b/w "Who Do You Love" single on Ganim Records in 1969 before replacing Munda with Joey Stec, formerly of The Millennium, and then eventually going their separate ways. Ralph Scala and Joey Stec later resurfaced as members of The Dependables. In 1969, the Castro-led band completed Never Goin' Back To Georgia, but that release did not attract public attention either. Eaton left the band, and the other Blues Magoos used session musicians for the follow-up Gulf Coast Bound. It did poorly as well and though the Magoos struggled for another two years, they eventually parted ways.

1972 - present

After a stint with the rock musical Hair and recording with Mercury label mate Exuma (Tony McKay), Peppy Castro formed Barnaby Bye with fellow cast members Bobby and Billy Alessi.^[2] The group released two albums on Atlantic records, Room to Grow (1972) and Touch (1973).^[3] In 1981, Castro resurfaced again with the group Balance whose song "Breaking Away" reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In July 2008, the Blues Magoos with original members Ralph Scala, Castro and Geoff Daking reunited for the first time in years for two concerts, including one with The Zombies at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in New York City.^[4] In December 2009 they traveled to Spain for the Purple Weekend festival.^[5]

In 2014, The Blues Magoos released their first new album in 43 years, titled Psychedelic Resurrection. The Blues Magoos are now touring in 2015.

Discography

• Psychedelic Lollipop (1966)
• Electric Comic Book (1967)
• Basic Blues Magoos (1968)
• Never Goin' Back to Georgia (1969)
• Gulf Coast Bound (1970)
• Psychedelic Resurrection (2014)

Re-releases on CD

The original group's output on CD is now complete. Repertoire Records has released their three albums in deluxe digi-packages with detailed liner notes. Each CD has bonus tracks which include mono versions of single releases, fan club exclusives, and obscure early recordings. Additionally, Collectables Records still has the doubled-up Psychedelic Lollipop/Electric Comic Book CD for sale and Mercury's Kaleidoscopic Compendium anthology is still available as well. The post-1969 group's output has not been released on CD to date. In 2011 Sundazed Records reissued Psychedelic Lollipop and Electric Comic Book on limited edition (1000 copies) vinyl and CD from the first generation Mercury master tapes with greatly improved sound quality compared to earlier reissues.

Line-ups

References

External links

• Official website
• Official band MySpace
• Official 2012 Blues Magoos PSYCHEDELIC RESURRECTION Facebook page
• The Dependables - Cherry Records page
• Blues Magoos on classicbands.com
• Blues Magoos on allmusic.com
• Ralph Scala facebook page