Mad River was an American

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band, who were briefly popular in the late 1960s. They released two albums on Capitol Records. Mad River formed at

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

Yellow Springs, Ohio Yellow Springs is a Village (Ohio), village in northern Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,697 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area and is home to Antioch ...

in April 1966. The band took its name from the nearby Mad River. By March 1967, they had relocated to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. There they came to the attention of cult author

Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. He wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. Brautigan's work has been publi ...

who launched the band into the growing

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

culture. They released an EP on the independent Wee label before signing a contract with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in February 1968. The group's lead songwriter was Lawrence Hammond, but all of the members sang vocals. They released two albums before disbanding in July 1969. Lawrence Hammond put out several solo albums in the 1970s and 1980s, and Greg Dewey later joined Country Joe and the Fish, as well as playing with two of

Marty Balin Martyn Jerel Buchwald (January 30, 1942 – September 27, 2018), known as Marty Balin (), was an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. Early life Balin was born Martyn Je ...

's post-

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

groups. Greg Druian (corrected spelling of early member)

Members

*David Robinson - guitar *Rick Bockner- guitar, vocals *Lawrence Hammond - bass, lead vocals *Tom Manning - bass, vocals (April - September 1966 / 6 & 12 string guitar - March 1967 - December 1968) *Greg Dewey - drums, vocals *Greg Duian - guitar (April - 1966 - March 1967)

Discography

*''Mad River'' (

, ST-2985, 1968) *''Paradise Bar and Grill'' (

, ST-185, 1969) U.S. No. 192

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in W ...

, ''The Billboard Albums''. 6th edition (2006), p. 639 :Both albums have been reissued by both Edsel and Sundazed Records.

References

External links

Brautigan.net article
(accessed 5-25-10) Musical groups established in 1965 Musical groups disestablished in 1970 Psychedelic rock music groups from California Yellow Springs, Ohio Rock music groups from Ohio {{US-band-stub