PsychepediA

From: Milwaukee, WI, USA

This rather short-lived Milwaukee outfit formed in early 1968 and was initially known as New Blues. Original members of the foursome consisted of Dennis Geyer (guitar, vocals), Jim Marcotte (bass), Terry Andersen (drums, vocals) and Howard Wales (keyboards). It should be noted that most of their output consists of extremely straight-forward, "roadhouse band" blues-rock except for a few very well-crafted psychedelic numbers. During the spring of '68, the group changed their name to A.B. Skhy and relocated to San Francisco with the hopes of making it big. Wales had previously played with James Brown and Freddie King, which quickly helped the band score gigs at the Avalon Ballroom opening up for the Steve Miller Band, Kaleidoscope and the Family Tree. It wasn't long before people took notice of the ensemble's musical prowess, which led to shows at the Fillmore West supporting the Jefferson Airplane, Iron Butterfly and even the Who. In late 1968, the group also opened up for Pink Floyd at the Sound Factory in Sacramento.

In the summer of 1969, the group was awarded a record contract with the MGM label and subsequently released a self-titled debut LP that autumn. The album mainly contains a collection of well-played blues-rock cuts, but also includes the soulful, keyboard and horn-filled instrumental 'Camel Back', which was penned by Wales and closely popped into the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #100. The standout track on the record however is the psychedelic boogie 'Love Isn't' co-written by Geyer and featured here on TWOS. Unfortunately the album did't sell that well prompting the departure of both Anderson and Wales who were replaced by Rick Jaeger (drums, percussion) and former Steve Miller Band member James "Curley" Cooke (guitar). It was this lineup that issued a second LP during the summer of 1970 appropriately titled 'Ramblin' On', which was produced by Kim Fowley and also gives credit to West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band member Michael Lloyd as "A&R Coordinator". The album has a similar vibe to their first effort and includes the Cooke penned highlight 'Hope For The Future'. This record didn't break commercially either however and after commencing some work on a third LP, the group decided to call it quits later that year. As a side note, Wales went on to collaborate with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and even played keyboards on three classic American Beauty LP tracks. He also released several solo albums from 1976 through 2018 before passing away in 2020.

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