In most corners of America in late 1960s, kids were growing their hair long and partaking in the cultural explosion of the times. Utah, on the other hand, remained staunchly Mormon and conservative. Amid that atmosphere, Merkin sprang out of the small town of Orem. Rocky Baum and Ralph Hemingway were high school friends, and occasionally, Hemingway would sing along with Baum's guitar playing as something of a lark. By the summer of 1969, after a few years of playing together, the duo felt the absence of a backbeat, so they set out to make the twosome a rock band. Drummer Alan Newell, bassist Kent Balog, and guitarist Doug Hinkins were added to fill out the combo, and they came up with the odd name Merkin, derived either from the dictionary or from an obscure B-movie. The band rehearsed at Hinkins' house, playing cover versions of popular songs. Soon they were writing original material, most of it composed by Baum, and with the addition of schoolmate Rod Olsen as manager, the band began attaining gigs at local high schools, colleges, and other assorted youth hangouts. Newell was replaced by Balog's twin brother Gary in 1970, and Robert Barney replaced Hinkins as lead guitarist. Richard Leavitt was also added on keyboards to round out the Merkin sound. In 1971, the band recorded a live demo that caught the attention of Gay Young of Kommittee Productions, and a recording session was arranged for the band in Los Angeles in 1972. The subsequent album, Music from Merkin Manor, was recorded in four days and gained some airplay in San Francisco, enabling the band to tour Colorado, but the album was not officially released (in a pressing of only 200) until early 1973, by which time Merkin had returned to Utah, and any commercial momentum was stifled. In addition, Baum had received sole songwriting credit on the album, infuriating the rest of the band. He was asked to leave, and Merkin limped on, finally calling it quits in 1974.
More info about the album "Music from Merkin":
Release Date: 1972 Total Time: 53:48 Genre: Rock
Music from Merkin Manor is a strangely interesting album, as might be expected from a group of young longhairs playing a combination of psychedelic, country, and hard rock in smalltown Utah in the early 1970s. The album opens up with "Ruby," a song on which Merkin sound something like the Association on acid singing harmonies that sound slightly off-kilter while being backed by Blue Öyster Cult. Odd, to say the least. There are many recognizable influences on the album, but many of the influences wouldn't seem as if they should be within miles of each other. As a result, a song such as "Take Some Time" has the druggy ambience of early-'70s stoner rock moving into pop verses, before it somehow evolves into a jazz jam. "Todaze" again sounds not unlike the Association (a comparison that consistently holds throughout the album) in terms of the vocals, but only if that pop act was backed by a groovy hard rock band fronted by Carlos Santana that was capable of shifting rhythms at the drop of a dime. "Sweet Country," just as the title implies, tries on country-rock without batting an eye, and many of the songs graft similarly across-the-board influences together, and somehow generally do so in a tidy pop song framework of three to four minutes. It is terribly intriguing to listen to at least once, but unfortunately, the influences simply do not jibe well enough most of the time to sustain any sense of enjoyment or appreciation for the music. The album showed promise, but was far too haphazard to make much of an impression. Rocky Baum showed a nice flair for quirky songwriting, and when it worked, it worked well, but sonically Music from Merkin Manor is only half-baked. Merkin "Music From Merkin Manor" - Goodbye (1973) : https://youtu.be/dFiIe-L_oQs :
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