Saturday, July 21, 2012

SNAKE BYTE

Link
Copperhead was a band organized by guitarist John Cipollina after he left Quicksilver Messenger Service in 1970. Cipollina, who had been a member of Quicksilver since its formation and whose lead guitar playing was its signature sound, had grown increasingly dissatisfied after the return of band founder Dino Valenti from a prison term, when the group grew larger and he found he had less space to play. He had also grown increasingly interested in playing sessions, which the band discouraged.

The early days of Copperhead were casual, with the group consisting of a loose aggregation of people playing gigs with Cipollina. Eventually it coalesced into a quartet consisting of Cipolliana on lead guitar; Gary Philippet on vocals, second guitar, and organ; Jim McPherson on vocals, bass, and piano; and David Weber on drums. The group was initially signed to the Just Sunshine label run by Michael Lang, one of the organizers of Woodstock.

But in 1972 it was signed to a major-label record deal by Clive Davis at Columbia and recorded its debut album, Copperhead, released in the spring of 1973. Unfortunately, Davis was fired from Columbia shortly after the album's release, an action that doomed any developing band that had been signed under his aegis. The album went nowhere, and when Columbia refused to release their second album, Copperhead folded. Cipollina went on to play in many different bands before dying in 1989.

Tracks

1. Kibitzer
2. Drunken Irish Sailor
3. Wang Dang Doo
4. Spin Spin
5. Kamikaze
6. Chameleon
7. Pawn Shop Man
8. Rocket Ship
9. Bigelow

The Band

John Cipollina Lead Guitar
Gary Phillipet Vocals, Guitar
Jim McPherson Keyboards
David Weber Drums Percussion
Hutch Hutchinson Bass, Vocals

2 comments:

john said...

I remember going to a record store and seeing the copperhead album turning it over and seeing John Cipollina on the back. Could not believe it. later seeing bootleg cds. Thanks for the copperhead music.

Anonymous said...

Copperhead played free one afternoon at "Family Dog" on the great highway, S.F.Ca. They were just developing their sound ! They also did a radio broadcast (Ksan, Kmpx, Pacific High Recording?) with interview announcing their album release.

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