McKendree Spring is a
progressive folk-rock band, formed in 1968 and particularly active in the early 1970s. The band, originally known as McKendree Spring Quartet, formed at
Adirondack Community College
SUNY Adirondack is a public community college in Queensbury, New York. It serves residents in Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties in New York State with over 30 academic programs of study. It was founded in 1961 as Adirondack Com ...
in Queensbury, New York. The group's leader was Fran McKendree (vocals and guitar); their first bass player was Larry Tucker then Fred Holman; Dr. Michael Dreyfuss (electric violin, viola, Moog, Arp, Mellotron); and Martin Slutsky (electric guitar). Christopher Bishop replaced Holman on bass as of the 1973 release ''Spring Suite''. Some of their music ventured into
avant-garde
In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
or
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
territory, such as "God Bless the Conspiracy" from their album ''3'', with its violin/viola/synthesizer solo by Dreyfuss.
Steve Anderson (bass and vocals) and Alan Stoker (drums and vocals) were added for the "Live at the Beachland" live performance recording and 2007 release. In addition, Dave Morrison (harmonica) also played on the live album.
In the summer of 2010, Christopher Bishop (bass and vocals) rejoined the group for the recording of 5 songs for "McKendree Spring: Recording No. 9". This recording also featured Alan Stoker (drums/percussion/vocals), Paul Hollowell (keys) and Fred Mollin (synth).
The band reunited for one final show at the legendary Douglas Corner club in Nashville, May 2013, which was video recorded and released in Dec. 2015 on DVD as McKendree Spring: Times Like These. Fran McKendree, Mike 'Doc' Dreyfuss, and Marty Slutsky, the three founding members of the band, are supported by bassist Chris Bishop, keyboardist Paul Hollowell
olly Parton Nashville standouts Alan Stoker (drums and vocals) and Rock Williams on sax, along with harmony singing by Carol Anderson and Sharon Ferrara Slutsky.
According to the official site, Michael Dreyfuss died on September 25, 2017.
Fran McKendree (born Robert Francis McKendree on May 9, 1947, in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
)
died of cancer on June 10, 2021, at age 74.
Retrieved February 8, 2022
Albums
Charted singles
References
External links
Official siteMcKendree Spring on Facebook
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American folk rock groups
{{US-folk-band-stub