Mother Earth was an eclectic American

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

band formed in 1967 in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, fronted by singer Tracy Nelson. Nelson, who hailed from

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th ...

, began her career as a solo artist, but formed the Mother Earth ensemble after moving to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. The group performed at the

Avalon Ballroom The Avalon Ballroom was a music venue in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco, California, at 1244 Sutter Street (or 1268 Sutter, depending on the entrance). The space is known as the location of many concerts of the counterculture move ...

and Fillmore Auditorium in the late 1960s, and was included on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

to the 1968 film ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

''. The group signed to

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it ...

, recording four albums. Mike Bloomfield played guitar on their 1968 release ''Living with the Animals'', and

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. An early bandmate of Steve Miller in The Ardells and the Steve Miller Band, he began his solo career in 1969, though he lacked a major hit until ...

was a member of the group on their 1969 release ''Make A Joyful Noise''. In addition to blues, the early incarnation of the group displayed influences from gospel, R&B, jazz, country and even a touch of psychedelia. After the first album, Mother Earth moved their base of operations from the Bay Area to a farm outside of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. The nucleus of the band solidified around Nelson, keyboardist Andy McMahon and guitarist John "Toad" Andrews. Their manager and producer was Travis Rivers. Nelson was an astute judge of up-and-coming songwriters and was an early supporter of then largely unknown names like

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded ...

, Steve Young, and

Eric Kaz Eric Justin Kaz (born January 21, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter born in Brooklyn, New York. Besides his solo work, Kaz was a member of Blues Magoos for their fourth and fifth albums, ''Never Goin' Back to Georgia'' and ''Gulf Coast Bound ...

. Mother Earth's version of Young's "

Seven Bridges Road "Seven Bridges Road" is a song written by American musician Steve Young, recorded in 1969 for his '' Rock Salt & Nails'' album. It has since been covered by many artists, the best-known versions being a five-part harmony arrangement by English m ...

" predates the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

' cover by about nine years. After two LPs with

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

and one with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

the ensemble continued to tour as Nelson's backup band but did not record anymore. They finally called it quits in early 1977. Tracy Nelson meanwhile returned to recording as a solo artist in 1974, issuing LPs on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

Adelphi Records Adelphi Records is an American independent record label founded in 1968 and incorporated in 1970 by Gene Rosenthal. History The label name was crafted by Rosenthal to suggest a combination of the Greek oracle, nearby Adelphi, Maryland, as well ...

Flying Fish Records Flying Fish Records was a record label founded in Chicago in 1974 that specialized in folk, blues, and country music. In the 1990s the label was sold to Rounder Records. Bruce Kaplan, the label's founder, was a native of Chicago and the son of ...

, and others.

Members

1967: Tracy Nelson,

Powell St. John Rayward Powell St. John (September 18, 1940 – August 22, 2021) was an American singer and songwriter, active on the mid-1960s Austin, Texas campus folk/bohemian music scene. He was an occasional member of various Austin rock groups, includin ...

, George Rains, Wayne Talbert, Ira Kamin, Jance Garfat. 1968: Tracy Nelson, Powell St. John, John Andrews, Bob Arthur, George Rains, Luis Gasca, Mark Naftalin. 1969: Tracy Nelson, Powell St.John, John Andrews, Bob Arthur,

, Lonnie Castille. 1970: Tracy Nelson, John Andrews, Andy McMahon, Bob Cardwell, David Zettner, Karl Himmel, James Day. 1971: Tracy Nelson, John Andrews, Andy McMahon, Bob Cardwell, Karl Himmel,

Tim Drummond Timothy Lee Drummond (20 April 1940 – 10 January 2015) was an American musician from Canton, Illinois. Drummond's primary instrument was bass guitar and he toured and recorded with many notable artists, including Conway Twitty, Bob Dylan, Jame ...

. * Tracy Nelson *

* Wayne Talbert (early member prior to first album) * Ira Kamin (early member prior to first album) * John Andrews * Bob Arthur * Mark Naftalin * George Rains *

* Ronald Stallings * Lonnie Castille * Clayborne Cotton * Johnny Gimble (not actually a member, but a frequent contributor on albums) * Bob Cardwell * Karl Himmel * Andrew McMahon * David Zettner * James Clayton Day (Jimmie Day) *

* Jack Lee * Steve Mendell *

Jerry Carrigan Jerry Kirby Carrigan (September 13, 1943 – June 22, 2019) was an American drummer and record producer. Early in his career he was a member of the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later worked as a session musician in Nashville for over ...

* Beau Dollar * Luis Gasca

Discography

*''Living with the Animals'' (Mercury Records, 1968) U.S. No. 144 *''Mother Earth Presents Tracy Nelson Country'' (Mercury Records, 1969) - Tracy Nelson's solo album, recorded with the participation of some members of the band. *''Make A Joyful Noise'' (Mercury Records, 1969) U.S. No. 95 *''Satisfied'' (Mercury Records, 1970) *''Bring Me Home'' (Reprise Records, 1971) U.S. No. 199 *'' Tracy Nelson/Mother Earth'' (Reprise Records, 1972) U.S. No. 205 *''Poor Man's Paradise'' (Columbia Records, 1973) U.S. No. 210

References

{{Authority control 1967 establishments in California 1977 disestablishments in California American blues rock musical groups Musical groups from San Francisco Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups disestablished in 1977