As he continues to explore rock-‘n’-roll history via his radio collaboration with Vanilla Fudge’s Vince Martell, Gary Ra’chac generously took time out to share some great memories with Che Underground: The Blog.
“Hey Matthew,” Gary writes, “I love these shots!! San Diego’s own, the Joel Scott Hill Trio (with Joni Lyman) December 1965, Whisky a Go Go, Sunnyvale, Calif.” (Editor’s note: Read this post on Rock Prospography 101 for information on the abortive Sunnyvale franchise of the Whisky a Go Go.)
“The great Johny Barbata (Turtles, CS&N, Jefferson Airplane) on drums; Bob Mosley (Misfits, Moby Grape) on bass; and Joel Scott Hill (the Invaders, Canned Heat, Flying Burrito Bros.) on guitar.
“As a kid growing up in the same neighborhood (Linda Vista) as Mosley and Hill, I was lucky enough to see them quite a few times,” Gary continues. “They were legends even then. I remember meeting Joel, in the ’70s, at a show in Hyde Park, London, with Canned Heat, when he replaced Al Wilson, and thinking how far away from home I really was!!!”
I’m in Sunnyvale, this very moment. God. I wish anything that interesting or cool were happening within 40 miles of this place. 😉
I do believe, however, that the smart-looking young lady with the beret -- in the first photo -- She’s the grandmother in the lime pant-suit, looking for parking in the Yahoo! lot.
FYI nope not the grandmother in the lime pant-suit lol…….still kicking and on facebook……It was a lot of fun in those days we are old but still young at heart…..Joni Lyman
Joni,
Heh. Glad to hear it. I’m with you!
HI: I heard Joel when he was playing music in a trio in San Diego, Ca. at the Quad room in a Bowling Alley. He was one of the greatest artest around. That was about 1964 or so. Those were some great days. Ed
Joel did not play guitar on Kathy Young’s records! That was Lamarr Eugene Syrios aka Gene Lamarr. Joel is one of the biggest liars I’ve ever known! He’s “trying” to steal several of my songs right now. He might even get away with it, but I’ve got hundreds more. He has nothing that he didn’t steal. I guess you have to steal when you have no talent!
The Sunnyvale, CA, franchise of Whisky-a-Go-Go has come up recently because of the new Batman trivia posts. Because this is also Sunnyvale’s 100th year, the City has been running historical trivia posts. We would like to run the photo that you have of the Trio on our social media sites. Would you be able to grant permission to use the photo if credited for providing it to the city?
Thank you,
Shonda Ranson, City of Sunnyvale Communications Office
Web Specialist/Digital Communications
Shonda,
I think the pictures were supplied to this blog entry by Gary Ra’chac -- but don’t originate from him. The photos can be linked at RockProsopography.
That blog is maintained by Cory342 and The Yellow Shark.
They can ID provenance on these photos. Their “backgrounder” on the Whiskey in Sunnyvale -- later Wayne Manor -- is linked in the original entry at the top of this thread.