Geronimo Black was a short-lived
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
band founded in 1972 by drummer
Jimmy Carl Black
James Inkanish, Jr. (February 1, 1938 – November 1, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Carl Black, was an original member of the Mothers of Invention, providing drums and vocals. He is known for introducing the songs “ Are you Hung Up?” a ...
. He named the group for his youngest son Geronimo.
The performers included members of other bands, principally from
Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention (also known as the Mothers) were an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band ...
:
* Jimmy Carl Black, drummer, from The Mothers of Invention
* Andy Cahan, keyboards, previously worked with
Dr. John
* Tjay Cantrelli (John Barberis),
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...
, previously from the band
Love
Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...
*
Bunk Gardner (John Leon Guarnera), horns, from The Mothers of Invention
*
Buzz Gardner (Charles Guarnera), horns, from The Mothers of Invention
* Tom Leavey, bass
*
Denny Walley, guitar, member of
Captain Beefheart's Magic Band and also worked with Frank Zappa (1975-1979)
The group recorded an album for the
Uni Records
Uni Records (short for the label's legal name Universal City Records and rendered as UNI) was a record label owned by MCA Inc. The brand, which long featured a distinctive UNi logo, was established in 1966 by MCA executive Ned Tanen and develop ...
label at
Sound City Studios in Los Angeles in 1972. The
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
was
Keith Olsen who later went on to produce
Fleetwood Mac's ''Rumors'' album.
After their manager
Russ Regan
Russ Regan (born Harold Rustigian; October 15, 1928 in Sanger, California – May 27, 2018 in Palm Springs, California) was an American record executive who was President of both Uni Records, UNI Records and 20th Century Records and was vice-pre ...
stopped working with the group, according to guitarist Denny Walley,
''no one... really knew what to do with the band in the company or how to promote us and they were really afraid of us. We were rowdy, drank a lot, did everything a lot. We were pretty uncontrollable and they wound up banning us from even coming onto the lot and that was the end of the record deal.
After the band broke up, they briefly reformed to record a later album entitled ''Welcome Back, Geronimo Black'' for the Helios label. This album included ex-Magic Band guitarist Gerry McGee.
A later version of the group also recorded the album by "Geronimo Black Two", formed in 2003 by Jimmy's sons, Geronimo and James D. Black, which released a
CD under their father's Inkanish Records label.
In 2019, Munster Records released Freak Out Phantasia, a collection of unreleased live and studio recordings.
Discography
*''Geronimo Black'' (1972, Uni)
# Low Ridin' Man (Black, Cantrelli)
#Siesta (Cahan, Contrelli, Gardner)
#Other Man (Leavy, Walley)
#L.A. County Jail '59 C/S (Cantrelli)
#Let Us Live (Cahan)
#Bullwhip (Cantrelli)
#Quakers Earthquake (Cahan)
#Gone (Walley, Leavy)
#An American National Anthem (Moreno, Black)
#'59 Chevy (single B-side - bonus track on CD re-issue)
* ''Welcome Back Geronimo Black'' (1980, Helios)
* ''Freak Out Phantasia'' (2019, Munster)
References
*
*
*
External links
*
Geronimo Black- AllMusic.com
Feenstra.co.uk- Short review of Geronimo Black Two
American hard rock musical groups
Musical groups established in 1972
{{US-rock-band-stub