GERONIMO BLACK
''WELCOME BACK''
1980
36:32
**********
01 - Trail Of Tears 03:41 (Jimmy Carl Black)
02 - Low Ridin' Man 04:26 (Jimmy Carl Black, Tjay Contrelli)
03 - Teenage Credit 02:28 (Tom Leavey)
04 - Other Man 02:50 (Tom Leavey, Denny Walley)
05 - (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (Live) 05:04 (Willie Dixon)
06 - Lovesick Blues 02:39 (Cliff Freind, Irving Mills)
07 - Return To Mayonnaise Mountain 03:48 (Ray Collins)
08 - Thunderbuns Vs. The Knumb Nut 04:51 (Tjay Contrelli)
09 - An American National Anthem 06:42 (Jimmy Carl Black)
**********
Bass, Harmonica, Backing Vocals – Tom Leavey
Congas – Joe Lala On 02
Drums – Meatball On 02, 03
Drums, Vocals – Jimmy Carl Black
Guitar – Jerry McGee On 06
Guitar, Slide Guitar, Vocals – Denny Walley
Harmonica – James Harmon On 03
Piano, Organ, Drums, Backing Vocals – Andy 'Panda' Cahan
Saxophone, Flute, Bass Clarinet, Vocals – Tjay Contrelli
Mini Moog Synthesizer – Don Preston
Trumpet – Buzz Gardner On 01, 03
Vocals – Ray Collins On 07
Woodwind – Bunk Gardner
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Eugene Chadbourne
This band represented the unlikely combination of a Native American perspective on rock, combined with the freaky legacy of Frank Zappa's original Mothers of Invention. Names such as Jimmy Carl Black, Bunk Gardner, and Ray Collins go all the way back to the earliest Mothers' albums. Here they are heard doing music without the nasty Zappa satirical edge. The main political concern seems to be anger over the lot of the native American, as evidenced in two classic protest tunes written by Black, a Cheyenne hailing from El Paso, Texas. The Geronimo Black band, named after one of Black's children, was given a big label push for its debut album, but a change in the label's head honcho led to pink slips. By the time this second effort was released in 1980, the group had pretty much broken up. In fact, this effort was recorded before the band's major-label release and consists largely of demos done in preparation of that album. Some argue that it is better than the official one. It may not be a better recording, but it definitely has better jamming, and a wide range of styles. On the smorgasbord besides the aforementioned Black originals are some trashy rock & roll tunes, extended concept pieces with jamming, and a pair of classic blues and country covers. Slide guitarist Denny Walley also served as a stunt guitarist for Zappa. Tjay Contrelli on reeds and flute was a former member of '60s psychedelic outfit Love.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Stewart Mason
Geronimo Black would be just another of the hundreds of all but forgotten semi-progressive hard rock bands of the early '70s but for the pedigree of the group's members. Geronimo Black was formed by former Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black in 1970, shortly after Frank Zappa broke up the original Mothers. Named after his youngest son (who has since grown up to be a musician himself), Geronimo Black was Black's band all the way, although he was one of two lead singers and everyone in the band contributed to the songwriting. Besides Black on drums and vocals and his Mothers bandmate Bunk Gardner on keyboards and reeds, the group also included sax player Tjay Cantrelli (who had previously been in the second lineup of Love), guitarist and singer Denny Walley (who ironically would later work for Frank Zappa for several years in the late '70s and early '80s), bassist Tom Leavey, and drummer and keyboardist Andy Cahan (who would later join another set of ex-Zappaites, Flo & Eddie). This lineup signed with MCA Records and released their first album, Geronimo Black, in 1972. Though it's a surprisingly solid album with a varied and occasionally experimental sound, the record attracted almost no attention and the group split up shortly after its release.
Normally, that would be that, but the entire original lineup of Geronimo Black re-formed in 1980 to record a new album, Welcome Back Geronimo Black, for the indie Helios label. Besides including new versions of three songs, "Low Ridin' Man," "Other Man," and the Native American epic "An American National Anthem" from Geronimo Black, the album featured contributions from three more former members of the Mothers of Invention: Don Preston, Ray Collins, and Buzz Gardner. This expanded version of Geronimo Black is the group that for all intents and purposes evolved into the controversial Grandmothers, the group of former Mothers of Invention members who re-formed in the early '80s to play new material and Frank Zappa covers, much to Zappa's displeasure.
**********
WIKIPEDIA
**********
TO THE TOP
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''WELCOME BACK''
1980
36:32
**********
01 - Trail Of Tears 03:41 (Jimmy Carl Black)
02 - Low Ridin' Man 04:26 (Jimmy Carl Black, Tjay Contrelli)
03 - Teenage Credit 02:28 (Tom Leavey)
04 - Other Man 02:50 (Tom Leavey, Denny Walley)
05 - (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (Live) 05:04 (Willie Dixon)
06 - Lovesick Blues 02:39 (Cliff Freind, Irving Mills)
07 - Return To Mayonnaise Mountain 03:48 (Ray Collins)
08 - Thunderbuns Vs. The Knumb Nut 04:51 (Tjay Contrelli)
09 - An American National Anthem 06:42 (Jimmy Carl Black)
**********
Bass, Harmonica, Backing Vocals – Tom Leavey
Congas – Joe Lala On 02
Drums – Meatball On 02, 03
Drums, Vocals – Jimmy Carl Black
Guitar – Jerry McGee On 06
Guitar, Slide Guitar, Vocals – Denny Walley
Harmonica – James Harmon On 03
Piano, Organ, Drums, Backing Vocals – Andy 'Panda' Cahan
Saxophone, Flute, Bass Clarinet, Vocals – Tjay Contrelli
Mini Moog Synthesizer – Don Preston
Trumpet – Buzz Gardner On 01, 03
Vocals – Ray Collins On 07
Woodwind – Bunk Gardner
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Eugene Chadbourne
This band represented the unlikely combination of a Native American perspective on rock, combined with the freaky legacy of Frank Zappa's original Mothers of Invention. Names such as Jimmy Carl Black, Bunk Gardner, and Ray Collins go all the way back to the earliest Mothers' albums. Here they are heard doing music without the nasty Zappa satirical edge. The main political concern seems to be anger over the lot of the native American, as evidenced in two classic protest tunes written by Black, a Cheyenne hailing from El Paso, Texas. The Geronimo Black band, named after one of Black's children, was given a big label push for its debut album, but a change in the label's head honcho led to pink slips. By the time this second effort was released in 1980, the group had pretty much broken up. In fact, this effort was recorded before the band's major-label release and consists largely of demos done in preparation of that album. Some argue that it is better than the official one. It may not be a better recording, but it definitely has better jamming, and a wide range of styles. On the smorgasbord besides the aforementioned Black originals are some trashy rock & roll tunes, extended concept pieces with jamming, and a pair of classic blues and country covers. Slide guitarist Denny Walley also served as a stunt guitarist for Zappa. Tjay Contrelli on reeds and flute was a former member of '60s psychedelic outfit Love.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Stewart Mason
Geronimo Black would be just another of the hundreds of all but forgotten semi-progressive hard rock bands of the early '70s but for the pedigree of the group's members. Geronimo Black was formed by former Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black in 1970, shortly after Frank Zappa broke up the original Mothers. Named after his youngest son (who has since grown up to be a musician himself), Geronimo Black was Black's band all the way, although he was one of two lead singers and everyone in the band contributed to the songwriting. Besides Black on drums and vocals and his Mothers bandmate Bunk Gardner on keyboards and reeds, the group also included sax player Tjay Cantrelli (who had previously been in the second lineup of Love), guitarist and singer Denny Walley (who ironically would later work for Frank Zappa for several years in the late '70s and early '80s), bassist Tom Leavey, and drummer and keyboardist Andy Cahan (who would later join another set of ex-Zappaites, Flo & Eddie). This lineup signed with MCA Records and released their first album, Geronimo Black, in 1972. Though it's a surprisingly solid album with a varied and occasionally experimental sound, the record attracted almost no attention and the group split up shortly after its release.
Normally, that would be that, but the entire original lineup of Geronimo Black re-formed in 1980 to record a new album, Welcome Back Geronimo Black, for the indie Helios label. Besides including new versions of three songs, "Low Ridin' Man," "Other Man," and the Native American epic "An American National Anthem" from Geronimo Black, the album featured contributions from three more former members of the Mothers of Invention: Don Preston, Ray Collins, and Buzz Gardner. This expanded version of Geronimo Black is the group that for all intents and purposes evolved into the controversial Grandmothers, the group of former Mothers of Invention members who re-formed in the early '80s to play new material and Frank Zappa covers, much to Zappa's displeasure.
**********
WIKIPEDIA
**********
TO THE TOP
********************