Raven was a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band with

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

influences, formed in 1967 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, and active until 1970.

History

It was composed of Tony Galla (lead vocals), Jim Calire (piano/vocals),

Gary Mallaber Gary Mallaber (born October 11, 1946, in Buffalo) is an American musician from Los Angeles, mostly known as a drummer, but plays percussion, vibraphone, and keyboards. In addition, he is a songwriter, arranger, composer, producer, engineer, a ...

(drums), John Weitz (guitar), and Tom Calandra (bass guitar). Managed by

Marty Angelo Marty Angelo worked in the entertainment business from 1965 to 1980 as a television producer ( Disco Step-by-Step), record promoter, restaurant/nightclub owner and personal manager for rock 'n' roll bands (Raven and Rob Grill and The Grass Roots ...

, the band played throughout the United States, appearing at such popular venues as the

Electric Circus ''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') is a Canadian live dance music television program that aired on MuchMusic and Citytv from September 16, 1988, to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a nightclub that once existed at Citytv's fir ...

, the

Fillmore East The Fillmore East was Promoter (entertainment), rock promoter Bill Graham (promoter), Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue near 6th Street (Manhattan), East 6th Street on the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, ...

Steve Paul's Scene The Scene was a nightclub on West 46th Street, Manhattan, New York City operated by Steve Paul between 1964 and 1969. It was notable for historic performances by Tiny Tim, The Doors, the Buffalo Springfield and Jimi Hendrix, among many others. ...

, Unganos in New York City, the

Grande Ballroom The Grande Ballroom ( ') is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in the Petosky-Otsego neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and original ...

in Detroit, Chicago's Kinetic Playground, and many others.Billboard - 26 April 1969 - Page 12 "Raven, which previously featured James Calire, a highly- talented organist and pianist, had better balance in its presentation as lead guitarist John Weitz stood out. Drummer Gary Malabur and bass guitarist Tom Calandra also were solid The unit has two good strong-voiced vocalists" The group formed after

Stan Szelest Stanley Martin Szelest (February 11, 1942 – January 20, 1991) was an American musician from Buffalo, New York, known for founding an influential blues band in the 1950s and 1960s, Stan and the Ravens, and later as a keyboardist with Ronnie Hawk ...

's group Stan and the Ravens broke up in 1967. Two of its members, Calandra and Mallaber, joined Galla, Weitz, and Calire, in the group Tony Galla and the Rising Sons. In 1968, they changed the name of their group to simply Raven. Raven toured in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1969 and were offered a recording contract by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

via

Peter Asher Peter Asher (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and re ...

with

Apple Records Apple Records is a British record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists inclu ...

. They turned it down to sign with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

instead. Although they played at the

Woodstock Sound-Outs Woodstock Sound-Outs or soundouts were mini-festivals held outside Woodstock, New York from 1967 to 1970. They were the brainchild of John "Jocko" Moffitt, a roofer and drummer. He had heard about a number of folk festivals in his native California, ...

a year earlier, they declined invitations to appear at the

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

and

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. Th ...

Discography

Singles

* "Feelin' Good" / "Green Mountain Dream," Columbia/

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, 1969 * "Children At Our Feet" / "Here Come A Truck," Columbia/CBS, 1970

Albums

* ''Raven'', Columbia/

, 1969 * ''Live at the Inferno'', Discovery Records, 1969 (recorded 1967)

References

* Richard DiLello, "

The Longest Cocktail Party ''The Longest Cocktail Party'' is a book by Richard DiLello, published in 1972 by Playboy Press in the US and Canada and Charisma in the UK, and reprinted in 1981, 1983 (Pierian Press), 1997 (Popular Culture Ink) and 2005. ''The Longest Cocktail ...

" - ''An Insider's Diary of the Beatles, Their Million Dollar 'Apple' Empire and Its Wild Rise and Fall''. - pg. 119 - George Harrison instructs Peter Asher to "look up" the Raven (U.S. band) while in New York City. () * Patti Meyer Lee and Gary Lee, ''Don't Bother Knockin' -- This Town's A Rockin (Buffalo Sounds Press, October 20, 2000). . *

, ''Once Life Matters: A New Beginning'' (Impact Publishers, 2005–2006), .

External links