PsychepediA

From: San Francisco, CA, USA

The Mystery Trend was one of the first Bay Area psychedelic rock bands, forming at San Francisco's Art Institute in early 1965. They took their name from a misheard line in Bob Dylan's song 'Like A Rolling Stone' (the lyrics actually being "with a mystery tramp"). They were founded by Ron Nagle (keyboards) and Larry Bennett (bass), who joined forces with Larry West (guitar), Bob Cuff (guitar) and John Luby (drums).

The group gigged at various local area venues, including a disused roller rink in the Fillmore district and the Primalon, which was a hub for the early San Francisco music scene. The band also performed at the Mime Troupe benefit in November 1965; however, they didn't record their debut single ('Johnny Was A Good Boy') until October, 1966, and it wasn't issued until the spring of 1967 on the Verve label. By the time the 45 was recorded, West had already departed from the lineup, and soon after that, Cuff also left the band and was quickly replaced by John Gregory (guitar). This lineup failed to release any more vinyl, but continued playing live until they finally broke up in the summer of 1967. Their first single continued to be the band's only release until in 1999, when a compilation album (So Glad I Found You) was issued containing their complete studio recordings.

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