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Rocking The World + 2
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Quantity in Basket:
None
Price: $25.00
Artist:
Earth Quake
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Most people who remember think of Earth Quake as a mid-'70s
band, but the group's roots go back a decade earlier. Indeed, the band started
out as part of the mid-'60s band scene in San Francisco, where -- originally
known as Purple Earthquake -- they were more than a little bit unusual. The most visible groups working in the city at
the time tended to put a combined druggy/folkie spin on electric music, but
Earth Quake, consisting of John Doukas (vocals), Robbie Dunbar (guitar, piano,
vocals), Stan Miller (bass, vocals),
and Steve Nelson (percussion,
vocals), were more of a power-pop-cum-hard-rock outfit. They were much closer in spirit to the Flamin' Groovies or the Chocolate Watchband than, say,
to the Grateful Dead. They were good enough to
attract the attention of Matthew King Kaufman, an aspiring manager who
hoped to carry them to national fame and, toward that end, landed them a
contract with A&M Records in 1970. At the time, A&M, which had
specialized mostly in MOR pop and light jazz releases, was signing some acts
with harder and more diverse sounds (it was around the same time that Tarantula was added to their roster), and
Earth Quake was among the first hard rock bands on the label. Unfortunately, the label never knew how to
market them, and a pair of albums -- a self-titled debut and “Why Don't You Try Me?” -
failed to ignite any interest from the public. They left the label in 1972, frustrated with
their lack of success, though there was one fortuitous event during this period
that enabled both the band and their manager to move past this experience in
short order -- for reasons that are not exactly clear, the makers of the movie “The
Getaway” (1972), a high-profile, big-budget (and highly successful) thriller
starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw, used
some of the band's music without getting the proper clearances. After filing a lawsuit against A&M, Kaufman used a portion of the settlement
money to set up his own record label, Beserkley Records. Earth Quake, along with Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, The
Rubinoos and Greg Kihn comprised the core of the label's
roster. Their Beserkley debut, “Rocking the World”, was
assembled from live performances and captured the group - now a five-piece with
the addition of Gary Phillips (late of Copperhead) on guitar and vocals - in some
pretty inspired moments, and got them more notice than either of their A&M
LPs. They became something of the house band at Beserkley, playing behind Richman on his signature tune,
"Roadrunner". Their later
records for the label also included backing vocals by Greg Kihn. The group's final album, “Two Years in a Padded Cell”,
showed up in 1979, and the band finally called it quits a couple of years
later. "Rockling The World" is a live album of local concerts released in 1975. Includes 2 bonus tracks. GREAT!!
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