Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
I didn't realize you were limited to 1965-75. No, Lili Hayden
postdates that by quite a bit, I'm pretty sure.
  

    
As do Wendy and Lisa. There were no women playing instruments in
Funkadelic during that period, either. 

I think you're going to find slim pickins in that time-period,
actually, although there are a few all-girl garage bands, including one
that Suzi Quatro was in that I have a couple of tracks by that kicked
major ass. 
  

    
Lisa's band was going strong in '68, I think, that would be within that
time frame.
  

    
(That's Lisa Kindred, of course, not LIsa whatzis of Wendy And). 

Quatro's band: The Pleasure Seekers. See Live at the Hideout, Norton
Records

And a fine forgotten band out of San Francisco which really had a lot
of potential, the Mojo Men. I have no idea why they vanished, except
maybe they weren't psychedelic enough or there was politics involved,
but despite being "Men," their secret weapon was Jan Errico, drummer
and vocalist, and boy was she good. Makes me wonder -- and you should
ask her if you can find her -- if she was related to Gregg Errico,
drummer with Sly and the Family Stone (and sometime SF cab driver,
apparently: I was in his cab once). But there's a reconstructed Mojo
Men album, There Goes My Mind, on Sundazed. 
  

    
Patti Smith plays instruments, doesn't she?
  

    
She "plays" the clarinet and guitar. Also: see time period.
  

    
Earl, thanks for the info on the UFOs. Do you know if they ever
recorded? I read about Alice Stuart's Full Time Woman and there also
seems to be a Zappa connnection. 

Ed, Suzi Quatro's first album came out in '74 and she had songs in the
British Top Ten that year. I will check out the garage tracks too. Any
idea if Mojo Men recorded? I'm trying to limit this to folks who have
product out that students, scholars, and interested listeners can hear.
I believe that this set of posts demostrates that there are women out
there, some of whom may have been regional or one hit folks (I'm
thinking Barbara Lynne)but they are out there and there hasn't been a
systematic study of their work and interviews with as many as are still
around. I have about 25+ names right now, most of whom are still
alive. 

Sharon, yes I will include Patti Smith a bit in this book, as I did
the last one (I discuss some of the reviews of her Max's Kansas City
show with Phil Ochs, which has to be the weirdest double bill I've ever
heard of.). Her career was just getting started. 

Many thanks to all and I can tell I have a lot of work to do.
  

    

Greg Errico was recording at Fantasy last week when I was there on other
business.  So I'm sure a message could be gotten to him - at least to fid out
if he's related to Jan Errico.

Wendy and Lisa are currently working on the NBC series "Crossing Jordan." My
friend Allan Arkush is the executive producer of that show, and he has high
praise for their methods and their results.
  

    

Rik Elswit <rik> knows a bit about Lisa Kindred, I think.
  

    



John Adams writes:



I figured Maureen Tucker was the canonical example.

It would be very much worth at least a preliminary look into Lorrie
(Lawrencine) Collins of the Collins Kids. I know Larry got more notice as an
instrumentalist, but if nothing else, it's quite a story.
  

    

The Mojo Men had a hit with Stephen Stills' song "Sit Down I Think I Love
You," right around the time Buffalo Springfield was recording.
  

    


John Adams writes:


re: 152, where Ed says: "I think you're going to find slim pickins in that
time-period"

That'll make it harder--much, much harder--but more interesting. There have
to be a jillion bar bands and garage bands out there that never got anywhere,
and that's where you'll find those unknown women instrumentalists. (I'm not
thinking of the Shaggs here, either.) There's a good chance you'll turn up
some real gems in the process, too.

And yes, Patti Smith plays guitar and clarinet. I think she plays piano, too,
but didn't really need to while Richard Sohl was alive.
  

    
I was pretty sure that Patti Smith was playing by 1975.

Melanie played, didn't she?
  

    
Patti was playing out in duet with Lenny in '74. 

Lisa, I mentioned that Sundazed has an album of the Mojo Men out. 

Lorrie Collins is a brilliant suggestion. Not sure she's still alive,
though. 
  

    
David, would be most appreciative if you see Greg, if you could ask
him. I will email Rik and see if he knows Lisa. Thanks for the Mojo Men
discography. I will see if I can find the record.

Sharon, I recall seeing pictures of Melanie with a guitar, but I would
have to check her album credits. Thanks for bringing her up, she was
much maligned by the rock press during that era but I always really
liked her work and her passion.

Ed, my hazy recollection of the Collins Kids (Bill Bentley played some
of their stuff for me in LA 20 years ago) was that they were country.
Are these the same artists? thanks for the Mojo Men info.
  

    
I don't know if the UFO's band recorded...Lisa Kindred certainly 
had solo albums, and other albums.  Diane Tribuno, likewise.
  

    
I'd call the Collins Kids sort of proto-rockabilly on a lot of their
recordings. They were "hot" country, at the very least. 
  

    
The venerable John Goddard had the Collins Kids play at one of his
Village Music paties at the Sweetwater in Mill Valley a few years ago,
and may still know how to get in touch with them.

My hazy recollection is that Bo Diddley had two female guitarists in
his band back in the early Sixties. But perhaps just one. 
  

    
I know Lisa pretty well, having been in three bands with her.    And we
roomed together in North Beach back in '69, subletting Gale Garnett's
apartment.    She just released an album, backed by Audie DeLone and the
usual gang of Mill Valley suspects.

I knew her in LA, when she was in the UFOs, and we were all part of the
Troubadour clique in 67-68.  We reconnected in North Beach, working the
coffee houses in a floating gang of musicians that included Mike Wilhelm,
from the Charlatans, Billy Roberts, Guy Clark, Ginny Reilly (Reilly and
Maloney) and a bunch of others, most of whom never made it off of Grant
Avenue.

Lisa and I were recruited by Jay Kellum for a band we called Ripple and we
had a bit of local success with almost a year's run as the Saturday night
house band at the Catalyst, in Santa Cruz, and as the Sunday show at
Gatsby's, in Sausalito.  Lisa played 12-string and would damned near blow
out the back wall of the club on vocal power alone.    When she was on, she
was stunning.    The band had another woman in it, though.   A singer almost
as talented as Lisa, named Nancy Brown, who also played bass.  We self
destructed after almost a year becuase of animosity between them..

Lisa is a lifer blues singer, and I'll bet that if you catch her on that
good night, she can still blow out the back wall.   She is also an all-
around good person.

BTW, Linda LaFlamme was the keyboard player in It's A Beautiful Day.   Patty
was the thrush.
  

    
Oh, and Diane Tribuno was Diane Gravenites for most of the late 60s-early
70s. She and Nick parted, but if she's still around, he'd know where.
  

    
Steve, would be most grateful if you could put me in touch with John
Goddard, or ask the question yourself if privacy is a consideration. I
know that Lady Bo played guitar with Bo Diddley, Gillian Gaar has a
good history of her in "She's A Rebel" but I don't think she was still
playing with him in '65. She has a website.http://www.ladybo.com/

Ed, agreed, what I heard was definitely hot country/rockabilly. I will
include her and find out more.

Rik, Great info! Do you know if UFO recorded and the same question
about Ripple? Were you doing your own material or covers? I thought
that the male LaFlamme played the violin. Good to know about the
keyboards. I will also, as suggested by an earlier post, make sure I
have the correct Linda LaFlamme (although the concept of there being
two women named Linda LaFlamme boggles the mind!). Lisa has a website
and I will try and contact her there. Would you mind if I interview you
at some point to get some backstory? I had heard of Diane Tribuno as
Diane Gravenites. Thanks for letting me know that they are the same
person. That is the kind of thing that can drive you crazy as a
researcher.

You folks are so helpful and such fonts of information. Thank you.
  

    
>  Hal, all I can find on Moskowitz and Rizzo says says they are
>  vocalists. Thanks for the heads up on Tucki Bailey.

On the Paris Sessions Album (released 9/73) Dorothy is credited 
with piano & vocals, Anna Rizzo is credited with drums, steel
guitar, vocals and spoons.

  <http://www.marcogiunco.com/dischi/002662.htm>
  

    


ohn Adams writes:



Lisa, your desire to feature artists with work available to the reader is the
right way to do it, but there's also something to be said for putting a CD
into that book with the things that just aren't available, especially if you
can find some unknown instrumentalists that just kicked butt and have the
tape to prove it, and if you can get your publisher to go for it.

I don't know that Lorrie Collins played, but believe she did. (Pretty Water,
Oklahoma--it just tells a story, y'know?)

It'd be really interesting to hear from people like, say, Wanda Jackson, who
was known as a singer but who did play some, as to whether she experienced
pressure from management or the record companies not to play.

And I personally would like to hear about similar pressures (if they existed)
from Bonnie Raitt. It seemed from her album covers in the seventies (_The
Glow_ being the prime example) that whatever label (Asylum? I think) she was
on then thought she was the next Linda Ronstadt, which she surely wasn't. I
never have heard a studio recording of her that I thought did her justice as
a player.

Oh, and ask around about the Akron/Cleveland and Dayton mid-seventies scenes.
My memory is there were women players all through there, but since I wasn't,
it's hard to be sure.

One other name--Scarlett Rivera. I've never understood the slagging she took
from critics, but there she is, right out front on some of Dylan's finest
work. _Desire_ would be lacking without her.
  

    
Country Joe's All-Star Band had Dorothy on piano, Tucki on sax, and Anna on
slide guitar and drums in the early 70s.   I'd previously known Dorothy when
she was in the United States of America down in LA, but I wasn't ready for
what a great barrelhouse piano player she was.    It was the best band I
ever saw Joe with.   Oh, Peter Albin was on bass, and I even think they had
Dave Getz as the other drummer.    Hard to say since those were the memory
damage years.

Ripple never recorded.   We were negotiating with Reprise when it all blew
up.   Lisa and I hooked with Billy Roberts in a very loose operation called
Grits and Nancy went off to find something she could be the star of.


Don't know if the UFOs got anything released, but they did do some recording

John Goddard can be reached at Village Music, in Mill Valley.  He knows
everything about everybody.    415-388-7400
  

    
Rizzo should be easy to find...here's a photo of her I took in "68 or so:
http://www.humbead.com/skyriver/sk35222.jpg
I can track her down if you need to, I suspect.