St John Green
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St. John Green 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 released one self-titled LP, produced by
Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed the Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...
and Michael Lloyd, in 1968. The album has been described as "by turns frightening, dark, funny and stupid as it reeks of bad trip freak outs in matte black painted rooms with no furniture lit only by a single red bulb and burning cigarette ends.... weirdly dark and epic."


History

In 1967, two students at Pasadena City College, keyboard player Michael 'Papabax' Baxter, and vocalist, Victor 'Vic' Sabino, wanting to create a new entity, began a search for compatible musical comrades. They found bass player and aspiring poet Ed Bissot through an audition, added guitarist Bill Kirkland, a
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
native, and drummer Shelly Scott, a resident of the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
, just north of Los Angeles, to complete the band line-up. Bissot wanted to perform his own material under the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
"St. John", and, as a compromise, the group name St. John Green was agreed. The band was managed at first by local entrepreneur Harry Snegg, and performed around the Los Angeles area playing songs written either by Bissot, or by Baxter and Sabino together.. Retrieved 1 February 2015 Early in 1968 they met record producer and promoter Kim Fowley, who encouraged them to develop what he called the "Canyon Sound", unique to the local
Topanga Canyon Topanga (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is an unincorporated community in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow southern ...
. The group performed alongside other local bands including
Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American blues rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and ...
and Spirit, and became the house band at the Topanga Canyon Corral. Interviewed in 2001, Fowley described singer and songwriter Ed Bissot as "tortured", saying: "Kim Fowley: Sins & Secrets of the Silver Sixties"
originally published in ''
Ugly Things ''Ugly Things'' (''UT'') is a music magazine established in 1983, based in La Mesa, California. The editor is Mike Stax (born 1962 in England). The magazine covers mainly 1960s Beat, garage rock, and psychedelic music ("Wild Sounds From Past Dime ...
'', #19, 2001. Retrieved 1 February 2015
"In between sets he threw up blood on a cot. He lay on the cot and he puked blood. He had bad lungs and he chain-smoked. Then he would go up on stage and give this performance and the all the groupies were madly in love with him, and then he’d go back to the cot and puke more blood....He was tragic and near death in the band, and as soon as the band stopped he got healthy and stopped smoking, I guess. Ed Bissot. I mean, what a genius. This fucking guy was Jim Morrison and Leon Russell... He had the stage presence of Morrison and a young Leon. The band played as tight as Vanilla Fudge, minus the fucking bubblegum. What a band! And dripping with darkness. Every heroin addict and gun dealer and radical black person from Venice to Malibu and Hollywood would all come to prowl and just worship this guy."
Baxter later said:
" im Fowleylaid out to us what was essentially a plan to create and record a "new style of music"—"The Canyon" sound. We were to be his muse as he wove this "mystical tale about the Dark Shadows of the Canyon and the Mysterious Canyon people who had left the world behind to become one with nature" and all that "jazz"." Fowley did not play a musical instrument. He would collect pieces of music from one recorded source or another to create his musical idea. (Interesting technique)...Then I would sit down and put them together as one to create the musical composition."
The band was signed by
Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American politician, record executive, and philanthropist who served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California, lieutenant governor of California from 1979 to 1983. He is the founder of Curb Recor ...
of
MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...
to the company's subsidiary label, Flick Disc, and the album was co-produced by Fowley and by Curb's 19-year-old protégé Michael Lloyd, a founder member of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band who later became the producer of
the Osmonds The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (the Osmonds). The group has c ...
,
Shaun Cassidy Shaun Paul Cassidy (born September 27, 1958) is an American singer, actor, writer and producer. He has created and/or produced a number of television series including ''American Gothic (1995 TV series), American Gothic'', ''Roar (1997 TV series ...
, and the ''
Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romance film, romantic drama film, drama Dance in film, dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tel ...
'' soundtrack. Baxter said: "I always got the impression from Michael Lloyd that... there was a separate agenda that we were not privy to.... Our music was compromised... and our album twisted into a bizarre Kim Fowley project. In my heart, I knew it was nothing like the album I hoped it would be. We went forward in good faith, but I am sure the other guys felt disappointed as well." Fowley said of the album: "What a record! I have people come up to me and cry and stuff when I go to Europe. They cry and they start shaking and stuff. That’s the way people respond to that record... It’s a great record. There’s only a handful of records that I’ve made that are great." Shortly after the album was released in 1968, Shel Scott and Bill Kirkland both left the band, and were briefly replaced by Bob Desimone (drums) and Brad Delavalley (guitar). However, musical differences between Bissot, Baxter and Sabino soon led to the band's disintegration and no further recordings were released. Bissot retained the rights to the band name.Liner notes to St. John Green reissue CD, Relics Records The album was reissued on CD by Relics Records in the UK in 2014.


''St. John Green'' album


Track listing


Side one

* 7th Generation Mutation (Bissot) * Canyon Women ( Fowley) * Devil and the Sea (Baxter / Sabino) * Do You Believe (Bissot) * Help Me Close the Door (Bissot) * Messages from the Dead (Bissot)


Side two

* Goddess of Death (Bissot) * St. John Green (Fowley) * Spirit of Now (Baxter / Sabino) * Love of Hate (Bissot) * One Room Cemetery (Fowley) * Shivers of Pleasure (Bissot / Baxter / FowIey)


Later activities

After St. John Green broke up, Baxter and Sabino formed their new band, Jumbo, with Delavalley (later replaced by Jim Pitman of
Strawberry Alarm Clock Strawberry Alarm Clock is a psychedelic rock band formed in 1967, originating in Glendale, California, a city about ten miles north of downtown Los Angeles. The band is best known for its 1967 hit single " Incense and Peppermints." Their music ...
), Richard Pisula (bass), and Neil Olson (drums). The band performed widely in California in 1969, before signing to
Lou Adler Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of high-profile musical artists, including The G ...
’s
Ode Records Ode Records (also known as Ode Sounds and Visuals) was an American record label, started by Lou Adler in 1967 after he sold Dunhill Records to ABC Records. It was distributed by CBS's Epic Records except between 1970 and 1976, when the label w ...
. They recorded their one and only album with producer Gary Le Mel. They performed back-up duties for Ode by accompanying vocalist Merry Clayton and John Phillips (of
The Mamas and the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...
), two members of Adler's “stable” of artists. The Jumbo album was never released, for reasons unknown, and the band split up in 1971. Baxter worked as a
session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...
in Los Angeles and Hawaii in the 1970s and 1980s. He performed with
Bonnie Bramlett Bonnie Bramlett (born Bonnie Lynn O'Farrell, November 8, 1944) is an American singer and occasional actress known for performing with her husband, Delaney Bramlett, as Delaney & Bonnie. She continues to sing as a solo artist. Life and career ...
,
Tim Rose Timothy Alan Patrick Rose (September 23, 1940 – September 24, 2002) (unofficial website by long-term correspondent of Rose's) was an American singer and songwriter who spent much of his life in London, England, and had more success in E ...
, and others. Baxter returned to writing music in the late 1980s and released one CD of originals, ''Urban Rituals''. He started performing again live on select gigs in the Pacific Northwest. In 2022, Baxter and wife retired and relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has since connected with the local music community and performs on select musical engagements. Kirkland formed a trio, William Saint James, with Anne Willcocks and Jim Wilson. They released a self-titled album on
ABC-Dunhill Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...
in 1972. Kirkland died in 2010. "William S. Kirkland 1948-2010", ''PapaBax.com''
Retrieved 17 September 2021
Sabino retired from music after Jumbo, creating several successful salon businesses in both California and Arizona. Scott went on to work with many name musicians throughout the 1970s and '80s, releasing an album with his band, Song, in the early '70s. He is still performing today in venues in and around Southern California. Bissot has continued to write and create his poetry and music, and headed several musical groups and studio projects both in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.


References


External links


St. John Green at Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. John Green Musical groups from Los Angeles Psychedelic rock music groups from California