Blues Magoos - a group that picked up the wave of garage rock that was developing in the early 60s of the XX century. It was formed in the Bronx (New York, USA).
Blues Magoos did not "inherit" in the history of the development of world music, like their mainland or some overseas counterparts. Meanwhile, The Blues Magoos boasts such achievements as almost half a century of musical silence. The group released a sudden album or organized a tour in support of it.
The guys in the biography have an entertaining story within the collective relationship, as well as the release of 6 full-length albums. All of them have been awarded a full (extended) reissue - which cannot but indicate the attentive attitude of showbiz to the heroes of bygone days.
Rock Blues Magoos from garages
The psychedelic of the 60s was walking around the US cities with might and main. The Byrds are born in 1964. The MC5 and Lynyrd Skynyrd are just beginning their triumphant entry into the musical corridors and nooks and crannies. Across the ocean, The Who and The Troggs get together, while in the Bronx, a few guys decide to work together under the name The Trenchcoats:
- Emil "Pippi (Castro)" Tilham - guitar and vocal duties;
- Dennis LePo - guitar parts
- Ralph Skala - organ and additional vocals;
- Ron Gilbert - bass
- John Finnegan - sits down at the drum kit.
The team arranges concerts in various clubs in Greenwich Village, a quarter located in Lower Manhattan. For 2 years the musicians have been mastering the instruments. They play covers and try to write their own material until 1966.
New team name
In the same year, clinging to the sources of the psychedelic wave that beat at full power, or rather its underground direction, the group changed its name to the ornate "Bloos Magoos".
The name of the group can be loosely translated as sad (from the English "blues" - spleen, sadness) magicians (from the Spanish "magos"). Then the name is transformed into a more digestible for the English-speaking public "Blues Magoos". And it is supplied with a significant prefix "The" - they say not some there ... but the most specific.
Blues Magoos first recordings and line-up change
By the time of the name change, Finnegan and LePoe had left the lineup, replaced by Jeff Ducking (drums) and Mike Esposito (guitar). The above-mentioned composition can be marked as "gold" for the team. After all, it was he who was destined to issue the classics of the group's work.
First, the guys enlisted the support of the Verve label. She releases her first full-length single to the public with the original song "So I'm Wrong and You Are Right" and the b-side (second side of the record) "The People Had No Faces".
Debut album "Psychedelic Lollipop"
The material did not attract the attention of the "progressive" public at all, but the group did not stop working on itself. By the end of 1966, she received a contract for Mercury with full obligations to release a full-length LP. The debut album, called "Psychedelic Lollipop", is interesting because one of the first to put the word "psychedelic" in the title of the album. In 1967, the group's first record received relatively little recognition:
- No. 21 on the US Pop Albums chart;
- 5th place for the single "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet";
- only 71st place for the single "One By One".
Such "achievements" did not at all dampen the ardor of the musicians, and in subsequent years they diligently released full-length albums. The guys followed the given vector and successfully developed the technique of performance and recording. Efforts were crowned with success, and 1967 allowed the team to ride across the United States, along with overseas colleagues The Who and Herman's Hermits.
Until 1968, the group released singles and full-length creations with varying success - Electric Comic Book (1967), Basic Blues Magoos (1968). A variety of singles and albums themselves could not interest the public enough.
The releasing labels did not really want to continue cooperation with the team. It got to the point that publishing companies completely ignored the support of artists with the release of singles and promotions. This alignment completely unsettled the musicians, and they decided to disperse. However, as is customary in the music business, binding contracts with record companies forced the creative unit The Blues Magoos to release material.
Breakup of the Blues Magoos
The band's management (oddly enough) insisted on working on new songs. But only one of the founders, Pippi Castro, decided to continue his musical path. Thus, in 1969, an almost completely updated line-up was assembled:
- Emil Tilhelm - vocals and guitars
- Roger Eaton - bass guitar
- Eric Kaz takes over keyboards;
- John Laillo takes on percussion;
- Richie Deacon on drums.
By the way, before the reorganization of the line-up, the turnover was sufficient and such musicians as Ted Manda and Joey Stack played in the group. But this did not save the team from "sagging".
After fiddling around with different material, changing members, the band ended up grinding out the 1969 album Never Goin' Back to Georgia. And already in 1970 she presented the Gulf Coast Bound to the public. The material was frankly ignored, and the renewed team collapsed completely.
Rebirth
In 2008, the members of the first two "gatherings" of the group - "Pippi", Skala and Ducking decided to shake off the dust from the instruments. The guys invited Michael Zilberto as a guitarist and Peter Colman on bass to hold several concerts in their native country. The following year, The Blues Magoos traveled to Europe, where they played a number of shows in Spain. Including as part of the local Purple Weekend festival.
By 2014, the resurgent band had collected material for an entire album. It was called "Psychedelic Resurrection". Management in connection with the "promotion" pounced on the Internet space and launched an official page on Facebook. The following year was scheduled for a whole tour in support of the latest release.
To date, the band's "classic" catalog has been reissued by several companies in expanded editions with additions and bonuses. The material was restored, the band sounded better. Five participants are happy to share information about their lives on the open spaces of official public pages on the network. They even delight the listener with rare but interesting preparations. Who knows, maybe it's time to release some more material, and not wait fifty years?
