PsychepediA

From: Greeley, NE, USA

Although born in rural, central Nebraska on August 13, 1939, Jim Sullivan spent most of his childhood growing up in sunny San Diego, CA where he learned to play guitar and eventually joined a local band in the mid 60s called the Survivors that his sister-in-law was already singing in. The group ended up releasing one 45 ('Quoth The Raven' b/w 'Midnight Mines') in 1966 with both songs written by him.

In 1968, Sullivan relocated to Los Angeles where he played high-end clubs in Malibu and was discovered by actor Albert Dobbs who founded Monnie Records and funded the recording of Sullivan's 1969 debut solo LP titled U.F.O., which features top "Wrecking Crew" session musicians Don Randi, Jimmy Bond and Earl Palmer. This painfully obscure album is quite good and contains the standout, folk-psych tracks 'Highways' and 'Rosie' featured here on TWOS. Around this time, Sullivan also hung out with higher profile celebrities including Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton, and even made an uncredited appearance as a commune guitarist in the 1969 classic hippie film Easy Rider. 1972 saw Sullivan issue a self-titled second LP, but like the first record, it gained very little traction. In 1975, Sullivan began a cross country drive from L.A. to work in Nashville, TN as a session player, but while traveling through New Mexico, he mysteriously disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again.

If you have any further information on this group, please e-mail to paulmaze@techwebsound.com.

Artist information sources include: The book, 'Fuzz, Acid, and Flowers Revisited' by Vernon Joynson.