The members were John Armour (lead guitar, vocals), Bob Blumenthal (keyboards, songwriter, vocals), Dave Green (drummer), Gary Knaus (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Bill Steed (bass, vocals).
This group of teenagers from Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago in the USA (Illinois) formed in late 1966 and came up with the name Graf Zeppelin after seeing a 1930 postage stamp commemorating the German aircraft. Drummer Dave Green mis-spelled zeppelin on his drumkit. and, instead of going out and buying a new one, the band opted to go with the incorrect spelling of "Zepplin". So it stayed as it was: Graf Zepplin!
Their name more or less originated when Steed misspelled "Zeppelin" on his bass drum and, instead of going out and buying a new one, the band opted to go with the incorrect spelling of "Zepplin". As a side note, the Graf Zeppelin was a World War II era German aircraft carrier.
In March 1968 Graf Zepplin won a Battle Of The Bands out on Navy Pier, Lake Michigan, their prize being some free recording time at Recordings Unlimited Studio in Chicago.
'You're On My Mind' written by farfisa organist Bob Blumenthal would have been a moody garage number but the sound engineer added some wild sound effects from an oscillator which completely transformed the song into a classic psych mindbender.
The flip 'Sunset' is a mellow trippy folk ballad and quite charming it is too.
500 records were pressed and were given away to friends and sold at gigs. Copies are now sought after.
The band broke up after its oldest member (Bob Blumenthal) graduated high school in 1969. In the interim, they played at everything from basement parties to fashion shows and pool parties at Chicago’s (then-) biggest hotels. After a “battle of the bands” in Chicago’s Navy Pier, they won recording time at Orlyn RCA, and made their one 45 rpm record (A side: You’re in My Mind; B side: Sunset).
The band members’ last reunion (no public performances) was in 2004.
No comments:
Post a Comment